Lochgorm at CD0GG

Lochgorm in the scenic section at CD0GG

Lochgorm ran at Carlisle on Saturday on the CD0GG club layout with a short train of HR stock, a fish truck, a covered van and a guards van. And very well she did too, not only by her smooth performance on the layout but also, with the help of the crew that Pete designed especially for her, winning the annual model competition.

Lochgorm Tank Painted

HR57 Lochgorm Tank 0-6-0T

I completed the construction of this scratch built Lochgorm Tank engine in time to have a picture of her included in Vol.7 No.108 of the HR Journal for early 2014. It was not until later in that year that I realised that the transfers that I had hoped to have printed for the name "Lochgorm" were not going to materialise, the quotes I had from transfer printers were sky-high and interest in the job was marginal to say the least so reluctantly I abandoned the idea and turned to Dave Studley, a painter of some repute whom I'd heard was good with lettering.

The Highland Railway water slide transfer sheet supplied by Guilplates was Dave's starting point. The lettering on the sheet provided the initial "L", which is slightly larger than the rest of the name, along with the letters "G" "H" and "R". The numerals on the sheet supplied the "0"s  which left only the final "M" annoyingly missing. Dave contrived this from an "M" from Guilplates' LBSCR transfer sheet, some subtle work with a fine brush was necessary on this letter to persuade it to adopt the uniformity of the rest. I think you'll agree that the lettering works well.

The crew were painted by myself and are figures from my own "Heroes of the Footplate" range, they are designed specifically for this loco though I'm sure they'd fit nicely in the cab of many another engine.

        



HR57 Stroudley Lochgorm Tank

 

On Saturday HR57 will be taking to the rails in finished form for the first time on the Carlisle Club's layout, I hope to have some photos of her in action at CD0GG with a train next week. 





HR 53 Strathpeffer Tank 0-4-4T

HR 53 0-4-4-T Chassis motorised

I think it's important to have a locomotive project under way to maintain readers' interest in this Blog and in pursuance of this idea I've made a start on a new HR locomotive project. This is that little Strathpeffer 0-4-4 Tank, built in Jones' time as loco superintendent of the HR. In original form and numbered HR13 until 12/1899 the engine ran as a saddle tank, her rebuilding in 1901 as a side tank much improved her appearance and this is the condition in which I intend to model her.

I have a pair of HR number plates which I commissioned from Guilplates as well as their transfers for the name "Lybster" with which she ran in later HR days in plain Drummond II livery; though I must admit the engine probably looked her best when the LMS painted her in their red passenger livery as 15050... I'm much tempted by this.

This is a scratch building project of course as there is no kit available and I doubt whether there ever will be a kit for a pre-grouping class which only ever had one member! I've been collecting parts and fittings for some time and have a chimney and dome, which are not available commercially, which have been turned by pals with a lathe at the Carlisle Club, more of this later. The gearbox is an ABC Mini Gooch with a Mashima 1824 motor and an MSC Models flywheel. The wheels are Slaters' and the machined coupling rods are from Premier Productions. The chassis runs smoothly so I intend to cut out the main components of the superstructure next from 0.4 nickel silver sheet.

For reference I have a reasonable selection of photos of the engine from Am Baille and a drawing from Peter Tatlow's "A History of Highland Locomotives".