Love Me Tender

Fired with enthusiasm (oil-fired in this case, of course) Himself has set about work on 'Blanche II' with gusto.

We happened to have a spare Parkside Dundas tender - as you do - so that's been knocked up, apparently using some bits from the Backwoods kit too (Himself hasn't said which bits) but still using the whitemetal roof because the brass version was too thin and the rooflines didn't match.




All it needs now is a double line of rivets where the cab bit joins the main part of the tender and the job's a good 'un.



With a Backwoods front half and a Dundas rear - which sounds a bit like a 009 pantomime horse - I suppose it could become known as a Backside kit!



There's been progress on the business end, too.

Himself also happened to have a spare pair of coupling rods - acquired from the ever-helpful Mr McParlin - and these have vastly improved the running of the locomotive.

It's moving smoothly and the compensation on the front axle is working again as it should. Himself believes he had made the holes in the old rods too big and they therefore had too much free play.

Taking all these 'learning points', as educationalists would say - or realising how he buggered up the first one, as Himself would say - he's also recommenced assembly of the Backwoods 'Linda'.

This is a development which begs a very big question - what colour to paint it?

Green like our existing one, or maybe Midnight Blue, or perhaps lined Penhryn Black?

Choices, choices.....