Tank Waggon Test Run

A coat of varnish has completed the Maenofferen tank waggon and now its been taken for a test run with the rest of the vintage freight stock and Palmertston.

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.

It's a very distinctive shape and if I say so myself I seem to have captured it, when comparing this to a similar picture in the 2020 FR calendar.

The first batch of my kits for this waggon have sold out and there's a reservation list for the next batch.

Email Boston Largs Works to secure yours.

Triple Whammy

Three things are conspiring to restrict the amount of construction content I'm able to post on the blog currently.

I'm still working through a large order of kits for the FR shop - yes, still! 3/4 done now, by the way.

While that's tying up my time Himself has not had anything to contribute. In fact he's going to be out of action for a few more weeks.

And lastly my elderly laptop has expired and there's only so much copy you can type with one thumb on a smartphone before it becomes terminally tedious.

So here's another snippet of video to keep you entertained in the meantime.

MOTW - Palmerston

A real favourite of mine on Model Of The Week this time.

I love the England engines.

In fact I would go so far as to say that if I were forced to choose between an FR without England engines or without Fairlies I would wave goodbye to the Fairlies.

Palmerston was the second of our two Englands to be built from the venerable Langley whitemetal kit and we incorporated a few lessons learnt with Prince.

Although it still sits on the Ibertren chassis the kit was designed for the power comes from a Mashima can motor.

We also drilled out the huge lump of cast metal masquerading as coal in the tender and replaced it with some real crushed coal. Not only does it look better but it also saves a lot of weight which is an important consideration for operating Dduallt with its fierce gradient.

Palmerston has made quite a few appearances on the WHR at galas or on photo charters. He and his brother Prince make a terrific contrast to the giant Garratts and their jumbo-sized carriages as they potter about on Bron Hebog with a comparatively modest vintage train formation.