Garden Railway Forum

These ex M.O.D. 70 hp diesel mechanical locomotives are to be found on the Bredgar and Wormshill light railway and the Bala Lake railway. The model is based on these locos and is gauge adjustable. The locomotive is available in two control options, a manual speed controlled version and a radio control version. In the radio control version both 2.4GHz and 433MHz systems will be available. The pictures show the three standard colour choices but others will be available to order

Look excellent! Well Done Andy!


http://www.andelmodels.co.uk/

Brilliant!

I was thinking of getting an Essel one (we have an ex-Dean Hill Baguley at Amberley), so I'll be interested how they weigh up against each other in terms of specs., price etc.

Video posted of the Baguley Drewry

Regards, Andy
AnDel Models

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZfJai16hu4

The Baguley Drewry is now on the website,

This has taken slightly longer than previously to get the various options right.

Regards, Andy

Has anyone got one yet????

Well the Westwood & Loscoe Light Railway now has one of these loco's on shed, so, what do you get?

First off, the model arrives in a substantial sized box stuffed full of styrene wotsits.
Delving in here (I always love doing that!!) there's another box containing the loco along with a single sheet of "instructions", and for me since I took the ordering option of including the battery charger (an excellent discount to be had there), a second box with said charger.
Overall excellent packaging for delivery.

Opening the loco box, you would be excused for thinking that you'd purchased a metal bodied model - there's a sheen to the completed bodywork (and I suspect, if unlike me you have the "mass blocks - 354g of encapsulated lead" fitted in place) a heft to the loco that belies its resin construction.
I'd asked Andy to leave my "mass blocks" unfitted to widen my options when fitting the Acme sound unit. A recommended option if you're thinking of doing the same, since the main "block" would take up the space you'll need under the loco bonnet.

Inspecting the new loco reveals a very nice, crisply detailed model with (on my option) manual control.
There's a discreet "on/off" push switch disguised as a round panel on the side of the bonnet, rotary speed control masquerading as the air filter and an "Fwd/Off/Rev" switch on the rear buffer beam to one side of the centre coupling while the charging socket is located on the opposite side.
My first thought was "why two "On/Off" switches"? It quickly occured to me that the body mounted switch would act as a very convenient "Emergency Stop" switch in the event of any running problems!

The loco arrived set to 32mm gauge, but there's a supplied alan key for re-gauging so this was the first job - and where I hit the first prob!
The wheels are typical Andel resin castings, glued to the adjusting collars. For some reason the two starboard wheels were unstuck and thus freewheeling!
A quick session with the araldite and the wheels were secured - BUT - I would suggest that this could be a weak point. Unfortunate really since the motor, gearing and brass bushes all combine to produce a heavy duty model. The drive is supplied via two sets of delrin style chains to axle mounted sprockets so obviously the axles are driven, if the wheels come loose on the axles, the drive will be lost.

Next thing was to see about removing the body to fit the sound unit and "mass blocks" prior to running trials.
Here's the second problem. This is not a kit, so the instructions are for operation, care and running maintenance of the loco. There's no strip down information.
Pity really since I suspect that most purchasers of the loco will want to get the body off, if only to pick out the moulded in-cab detailing and / or fit a suitable driver.
A request to Andy via his website for info has, at the time of writing, yielded no response so "trial and error" it was.
There's a healthy array of crosshead screws under the chassis and here's what they do.
The outer screws release forward and aft cover plates, revealing more screws which, along with the four inside the "wheel well" release the body.
Connections between the body and chassis electrical components are handled via three connectors on a multi block. The wires are too short to allow the body to be laid flat alongside the chassis and must be unplugged to allow you to work comfortably. This shouldn't be a problem but............
Problem three was a poorly made off three way plug where the wire simply came away from the connector. Releasing the captive female socket showed that it had been crimped onto the multi-strand wire without first tinning it with solder.
I wasn't going to strip all eight connections, so once I'd soldered the wayward wire I left well alone. (There was also a suspect looking joint on one of the wires to the captive plug. Everything worked, but while the iron was hot I remade it to avoid any future failure.)

I'll follow up this "inspection" with an "operational" review in the next couple of days, subject to time and weather

I reckon that fitting the sound unit falls outside of a "review", so I'll save you from that for now. (yes it's in and working! I'll post details elsewhere for anyone thinking of doing the same)

Hello to all and thank you for your comments,

This is just a quick update following the previous comments, firstly I am investigating a better way of providing a dual gauge wheel set for the locomotives, but until this problem has been rectified I have reduced the option to either 32mm or 45mm gauge.

Another point raised was the on off switch, this needs to be separate from the reversing switch as the speed controller will draw current and flatten the batteries over a period of time if this is not fitted. On certain models in the AnDel range a triple pole double throw switch is fitted to allow on/off and reversing on the single switch. The body of this switch will not fit in the space provided and also the push switch is a standard feature of the model as this is where the fuel gauge is fitted on the prototype and near the correct size.

With regards tinning the wires before crimping, this is not the preferred method in the electrical industry, but in future I will double check the security. I will also add a section to the instructions giving a brief overview to the removal of the body.

I thank you for your comments and feedback as this is the way that a product can be improved, I also thank you for your patience in the delivery of this loco as illness caused some backlogs to my production program.

Regards, Andy

P.S. I was in Kent playing with the Kent area group at the weekend, so sorry for not answering your email.

Thanks for the clarifications Andy, if I could take the opportunity to reply;

It's a shame that you've had to go to a choice of gauge - being gauge adjustable is definitely a boon in these "enlightened times" and I really hope that you can come up with a solution.
A suggestion would be to have "nipples" or castellations on the collars which aligned with corresponding holes in the wheels?

The main on / off switch (fuel gauge) is a definite advantage doubling up as an "emergency stop" switch in the event of a real emergency! I understand the electrical implications you explain and it's honestly not meant as a criticism and as for the crimping - I've always held a suspicion about crimping multi-strand wires (especially micro connectors) and prefer to solder the joint as I have done with the repair, but I bow to your expertise.

I reckon the instructions for body removal would be a help as I mentioned - most people these days defer from the "Marie Celeste" syndrome and fit drivers. A factory fitted driver would be too much of an ask because of personal preference of styles, from "cartoony" to "scale model".
(Also as I said, you've cast some nice detailing in the cab which is just crying out to be highlighted with a lick of paint.)

As for late delivery? All I will say under the circumstances is that the loco arrived well within the six weeks delivery quoted on your website .

This is a lovely loco and one that I'm pleased has joined the fleet here at Westwood.

More importantly, did you get the baguly in DVLR blue?

You should never tin wires if they are to be crimped. This is a sure way to get a poor connection. You need the "spring" of the copper wire to ensure good contact. Crimping if done properly is a perfectly adequate method - just look at cars.

Michael

Biodegradable foam chips and green biodegradable bubble wrap is used in AnDel products. The only deviation from this is the thin foam used to wrap and pack the locos within the "inner box" this is an original product that was purchased over two years ago and will be replaced with a biodegradable alternative when this is used.

Thank you for your environmental concerns,
Andy

Update:

First job while the body was off was to pick out the excellent moulded in-cab details. A couple of gauges, switches and works plate adorn the cab front and certainly add "life" to the generous cab space.

As I mentioned earlier, the loco is supplied with two "encapsulated lead" mass blocks, (normally pre-fitted), a smaller block (92g) which locates at the rear of the loco between the charging socket and Fwd/Off/Rev switch, and a large block (262g) which goes under the bonnet.
I fitted the small block in place, but the large block occupied the space I needed for the sound card and speaker so this has been substituted with physically smaller weights distributed around the body.
I routed the wiring for the sound unit PP9 battery and switch to the front of the loco and filed a recess in the chassis floor panel for access to the switch. The battery weighs 45g which left me 217g to find.
Three square section brass rectangles weighing 50g each have been added in a "u" shape around the front of the loco bonnet, with a fourth across the rear. With a 15g offcut of flattened lead pipe under the drivers seat (plus a couple of grammes for the complete sound unit and driver figure), she's now up to her "fighting weight"! - and I must say, as anticipated, presents you with a nicely "hefty" feeling little workhorse.

I was sorely tempted to wait until the Lincoln show on saturday to pick up a driver, but impatience won over and I fitted the Busybody who used to drive the Simplex so that I could re-assemble the loco and crack on

Name and number plates have been fitted and I've picked out the crisp "Baguley" plate which comes attached to the front of the loco bonnet.
The final touch at this stage has been to paint the window surrounds. Again, the clean moulding of these made the job a doddle.


So, there she is - freshly arrived at Brinsley Lodge and ready for work. At some point in the near future I intend to add Windscreen wipers, lamp irons and apply a light "work-a-day" weathering, (but can't ever bring myself to do that to a newly aquired loco )

As soon as the weather permits she'll be out on running trials but at this stage, it's been "rolling road time" and I've got to say that the speed control is excellent - can't wait to get out on the line with her

Overall, a smashing addition to the fleet and I'm well pleased with her  :thumbup:

Glad to see you have her in CVLR green mate. Does look like a really nice workhorse as well. Look forward to continued review regarding power and duration testing. How's she compare to the Jessie?

Cheers Shane!
(Any similarity with CVLR livery is purely coincidental )

Even at this stage, I know I made the right decision with the replacement programme Watch out for the final "review" instalment which will (hopefully) include some vid footage

I take it these are no longer available?

ste234:54572 wrote:I take it these are no longer available?

Hadn't noticed that it been removed from the website - I know Andy was having probs with the re-gaugeable wheels and was offering it as 32 or 45mm but I wasn't aware of any other issues!

It's a shame if they have been discontinued, if they were cheap enough I was looking into possibly getting one, they look like they can take a decent rake in Andy's video!

They aint "cheap", but definitely well geared with dual delrin chains, a great speed controller and very good endurance battery!

The Baguley Drewry will be available again soon I hope. The switch that I used is not currently available from my suppler and I need to find a replacement from an alternative source. once sourced or an alternative found then the loco will be available again.

Regards, Andy