Garden Railway Forum

Hello Folks,

As someone with a limited budget but keen to get steam ASAP, I am curious as to what relatively simple modifications people have made to "basic" live steam locos to make them look more prototypical or a little different.

So, if you've re-done your Ragleth, kit-bashed your Caradoc or modified your Millie, post a picture!

Here is Minnie, my moderately modified Millie and this is what differentiates her from a standard Millie;
Painted rear face of buffer beams, cylinders & wheels black, inside of cab front sheet white, handrails & tank fillers maroon but they could do with some attention.
Locoworks step covers, firing irons and rests, mechanical lubricator, axle lubricators & buffer beam bolts.
Narrow Planet name, works & number plates.
Roundhouse safety valve bonnet & lamp irons.
Chuffed 2 Bits regulator handle which is smaller than standard Roundhouse handles.
Brandbright vacuum brake pipe on rear, the front one fell off one time too many.
Roy Wood Models cosmetic whistle.
Pendle Valley (I think) tea can.
And a bit of good old fashioned natural weathering in places.


Since this photo she's been modified again however. The water filler valve has been moved to the water gauge blanking plug to make way for a valve that works a whistle behind her RH tank.

My Millie's had a cab, safety valve bonnet, lubricator on the side if the smokebox, toolbox and jack and a bucket on the smokebox door......



................ whilst the Bertie has had a pair of Roundhouse sand boxes on the front of the saddle tank (which makes it look totally different) plus lamp brackets, toolbox and jack as before.

Both locos have had cream cab interiors and were lined by Geoff Munday and had name and number plates ordered through Brandbright. I've just replaced the "droopy" whistle on the Millie with a standard cab roof whistle from Roundhouse - it serves the double purpose of not drooping and fixing the cab roof down! I've got one for the Bertie in the round tuit box.

My Edrig turned into this by plonking a Mortimer cab on and having a bash at lining.

My Ragleth 'Purdy', mods as follows,

Second coal basket, toolbox and working front lamp, rear coal bunker, Swift Sixteen safety valve cover, smokebox hand rail, whistle, rear spectacle sheet and finally nameplates by Narrow Planet.

These locos are just crying out for modifications  :)

I think this "Billy" is a "classic series" rather than a "basic" series, but the details on it can all be used on any engine, as it's still a "generic" type. Most is not all of the bits I used can also be stuck onto a "Bertie" or a "Millie" or any accucraft engine too.

I've added so much stuff to it, it's hard to remember what it is.

-Roundhouse tender with home-made fall plate

-DJB whistle

-Locoworks running boards, mechanical lubricator, leaf springs, lamp irons, firing irons, and dummy feed water valves and pre-painted bolts to replace the Roundhouse screws in the buffer beam and body

-"Chuffed 2 Bits" working LNER style lamps and little bucket

-name and number plates, I forget where (sorry)

-The rear leaf springs (under the side tanks) are from Roundhouse, I modified the white-metal ones they supply for the tender

-Summerland chuffer (inside the chimney, you can't see it but it makes the exhaust beat louder)

-Replacement gas regulator handle from "Gremlin" who is on this forum

-little dummy lubricators. Can't remember where these come from either, but probably DJB or "chuffed2bits" I should think.

-Like everyone else I have blackened the wheels. Only the outside on mine, but it does look better.

I'm thinking of getting a British-style smokebox handle. I was also going to order spectacle glazing but then I realized when I was running it that I often poke my finger through the left spectacle to push the reversing lever, as it's rather difficult to get two fingers in the cab from the back without touching something hot!

Hopefully this gives you some inspiration. I'm glad I haven't kept track of what it has all cost up till now.

If you are keen to get into steam, may I suggest you look into the kits offered by Roundhouse for some of their engines? That is how I built this one, and it saved me a decent amount of money as well as being quite interesting and exciting. It wasn't all that difficult either, they supply the little spanners and the instructions are easy to follow. It was my first locomotive too. I made a thread about building it on this forum.