Doors Time

With the toast rack project passed over to Himself for the roofing and painting stage I've not got any excuses left for not tackling the doors on WHR diesel 9.

As you may have read in previous posts on this blog, the idea is to make this up from a test etch for a potential new kit from RT Models running on an adapted Farish 08 chassis.

Because it is a test, a few of the details will need to be altered before it goes into production, including the side doors on the bonnet which were not the same as the ones being carried by the WHR example based at Dinas.

In the kit these were meant to be metal overlays to be positioned on top of the perforated bonnet former.

I think I shall try to make a very thin masters out of styrene and attempt to cast copies. 

Keep following the blog to see how I get on....

Tall Slim Aussie

While I was away Himself was making progress on the test etches from RT Models for the Dinas shunter number 9.

At this stage the bonnet and cab are just resting on the footplate, and in the case of the bonnet it's just a basic former which will need some thin door and grill pieces scratch built on top.

What surprised me was how comparatively thin it appears, probably on account of the cab being so tall.

The most important developments have been down below where the chassis has had its Farish fly cranks replaced with brass ones from Meridian Models and the jackshaft drive has been grafted on.

Himself has decided not to use the replacement keeper plate supplied with the kit but to insert a brass tube through the rear of the chassis to hold the unpowered axle.

Its been reassembled and test run on the layout.

The next stage will be for me to do something with the bonnet.

Australian Adaptations

Himself has begun making the alterations to the Farish 08 chassis which will power our model of No. 9 - the large, yellow, ex-Australian shunting diesel at Dinas.

In the search for a more authentic look, with chunky fly cranks, he's replacing the plastic extensions which create the false outside frame effect on the 08 with a couple of packets of brass cranks we had in our strategic reserve of bits and pieces.

These were once produced by Meridian Models (item MP24) but so far as we can tell are not available at the moment - which is a shame because they're very handy to have.

They are fitted over the stubs of the overlong axles on the wheel sets on the chassis.

Quartering is as simple as it can ever be because you can line up the crank with the inset in the wheel where the original plastic cranks were positioned.

The jackshaft drive will be created using the clever replacement chassis keeper plate supplied by RT Models and employing a fourth set of these cranks.

The Agony Of Choice

I made an impulse purchase in Hull. One of these:

Well, the price was as good as anything you find online, if not better, so why not indulge myself with an early Christmas present?

These outside frame Farish 08's have become very popular with OO9 modellers, especially when combined with RT Models range of etched brass valve gear to fit on it.

But the question is what to use it for?

For a while now I've intended to (get Himself to) build a replacement Mountaineer adding valve gear and some fake bar frames.

Our existing Alco has a very nice body, with the cab re-profiled to the current Fairlie-style outline, but it runs on an inside frame Arnold chassis with tiny wheels and, frankly the whole thing looks very toy train.



I've already got an unmade GEM kit in stock because I'd prefer to build it around the Farish chassis rather than attempt to hack the old one about.

Now, however, I'm beginning to have some doubts.

For one thing the Alco is currently sitting out of use, and although there are and increasing number of FR supporters making a noise about getting it going again for its centenary it's very much at the bottom of the railway's priority list - and with Lyd and the Ladies around there's no shortage of medium-sized locomotives on the FR.

What's more, although Mountaineer had two spells working out of Dinas on the WHR in the early days of the restoration it never got further south than Waunfawr. So it really would be modeller's licence for it to turn up at Beddgelert.

So can I justify another Alco when instead we could use the chassis on one of these?

In Fiji's favour is that it has made a number of trips to Beddgelert - when it was the FR's favourite plaything last summer - and it would certainly look interesting on the layout.

On the other hand we would have to completely scratch build the body.  (I'd probably even attempt the bodywork myself if Himself handled the mechanicals) It would be an entertaining project, but it could be quite time consuming.

What should we do?