Garden Railway Forum

The new cranks in action...

Here we go. I named her 'Esme' - after a character from my favourite books (the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett) and also as a pun - the name stems from the French word for 'to esteem'. https://youtu.be/l2dDYWfRal4 I hope this thread was of use / entertainment to someone. I had great fun buildin...

And here she is finished, in the summer sun!*
And running on my brother's line
* I have since added a slomo, custom nameplates, doors, backsheet and a driver ----- photo / video to come!

I added a summerlands chuffer at this point but neglected to take any pictures. Then on to the bodywork!

Bending the pipework was daunting, but ultimately surprisingly straightforward and satisfying. And with that all done, how could I resist!! After emptying what looked like half a boiler of water at first, she ran beautifully on the second firing.

I got the cranks from pdf models and they worked well. Came with some bushes for the rods too

Cylinder covers and running boards on. covers and boards.gif At this point there was an incident in the works and the chassis got bent (by falling off the table :shock: ). After completely despairing for a few hours / overnight, I took the whole project apart. Basically back to the start... I assume...

Thanks for the help everyone.
PDF Models indeed look like they have a solution - so particular thanks to John!

I added the running boards available from locoworks, and used the Lady Anne shape for the front buffer (U-shape rather than oval). I like the look of the boards but for the price I must admit I was expecting slightly thicker brass than you get - they feel a bit flimsy in the hand although that is ob...

A satisfying early win is fitting the decoration to the smokebox. I was really pleased with the look here. Used BBQ paint.

Hi everyone. I recently built an IP Jessie (just need to tidy the wires as you can see!). It's a good kit for the price but I am quite disappointed with the plastic fly cranks - both for the look and the functionality.
Does anyone know where I could buy some metal ones to replace them?

I cheated when I built my Katie, I done everything except the pinning. For this, I went back to Roundhouse, presented them with my work of art ( :lol: ) and they for a small sum of money, they timed, drilled and pinned it for me. It is SUPER smooth and I am glad I let them do that part, it's a one ...

The painting starts early on in the build - really once the frame is together you'll need to start on this. I also started on the body kit at this point so I could do most of the painting all together. Roundhouse have made the folding of the body parts very simple, and at the risk of repeating mysel...

I built one of these some time ago. It's very easy and straightforward except for one small detail. The return crank needs to be set at 45 deg and then pinned in position. I wasn't brave emough at first to drill and pin the crank pin so just relied on doing up the clamp screw as tight as possible. ...

Somewhere in lockdown 1, having saved a lot of time from not having to commute, I decided I needed a hobby / something to do. After messing about with an MSS meths fired loco kit for a bit, it became clear a bigger project was needed. Money saved on commuting was therefore directed to a Roundhouse K...