Lochgorm Tank No.49 running with a fish truck on my track in the studio. There are four points and crossings to negotiate in a run of 16ft, which provides a pointer to how the engine will perform when a return to normality allows a visit to the CDOGG layout in Carlisle. The engine has been built without the aid of a kit, though using many castings from Laurie Griffin. Wheels are from Slater's, with my own design of etched wheel overlays. Motive power is provided by an M1824 motor with flywheel, mounted in an ABCgears Mini Gooch gearbox.
The livery is plain unlined Drummond II which was introduced on the Highland in 1902. My model depicts No.49 c.1910 when a rear bunker was added. I mixed the Highland green myself as Precision Paints no longer carry stock of their own version of the colour. The transfers are Guilplates and again are no longer available, they are Methfix and have no carrier film, which can be a problem with those available from Fox.
The fish truck seen in the video is made from my own cast resin sides and ends, the model being completed from commercially available bits and pieces and a few parts cut from nickle-silver sheet.
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The sand boxes, which sit on the footplate beside the smokebox, are my own w/m castings, the sanding mechanism was contrived from rod, tube, washers and n/s sheet. The right hand forward bunker carries a handrail, presumably the bunker had a hinged lid and the handrail acted as a handle. Some photos of these engines show the bunker open with the lid in a vertical position.
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The domed roof of these engines is a challenge, I made it from four equal triangular segments, soldered onto a voided rectangular base, to which I added a surround from 1mm right-angle section brass.
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Cab interior showing the forward coal bunker still in use after the rear one was fitted. I think there should be a driver's brake valve in there somewhere too. Reversing lever and boiler backhead scratch-built with fittings modified from LGM castings.
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| Cab interior showing the coal hole and the brake stanchion. The corner boxes may have originally been sand boxes though by 1910 no longer used. Shovel and oil can are my own castings. |
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Salter safety valves, showing the manner in which they were fitted to projecting lugs on the base of dome. Also in view is the tube which leads inside to the pressure gauge.
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A driver and fireman from Invertrain's "Heroes of the Footplate" range help bring the engine to life.
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| The poses of the crew help make the most of the limited space available in the cab. Note the protective wooden plank and mesh covering to the rear windows. |
