Garden Railway Forum

I like the sound and look of this layout will be watching with interest.

Afternoon all,

The Chocolate Factory project took a small step forward with this week, with the arrival of a cheap-ish O Gauge train set from E Bay:

It doesn't look much like the old Fry's Sentinel at the moment of course, but most of it will end up in the bin, it was this I was after:

I reckon this should be just about the right size to power my model of the Fry's shunter, and if it will run well on just 2 C batteries instead of the intended 3 I should be able to fit them in the loco - if not they'll have to follow behind in a van. I can't test that at the moment because I've broken the connection between one of the wires and the motor - I'll post in the Help and Advice section about that!

I'll probably put the two tipper wagons up for sale at some point to help fund the project. They're not exactly super-detailed but would look OK painted and weathered I think, in either 16mm or 7/8ths - I haven't tested them through pointwork etc yet so don't know how they run, but when I have I'll put them in the Sale section on here. If anyone wants them untested in the meantime I reckon a tenner for the pair would be about right...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Waiting to see the building of this Andrew..

Half an hour with a hacksaw and all that's left of the big yellow diesel is this - the power bogie, battery box and on/off button:

I've replaced one of the batteries with a dummy and it now trundles round at a much more suitable pace. The strange bogie flat wagon (with only 4 wheels, the others are moulded fakes!) will join the loco in the bin soon, but for now it's useful for lugging the batteries around because it has the same strange coupling as the bogie currently retains. I spent lunchtime today messing around with the photocopier at work to re-scale a drawing of a BR box van - that will take the role of battery tender, because they're not going to fit in the loco...

More progress as it happens, although I fear it may not be rapid, it seems to be a busy time of year...

Cheers,

Andrew.

My brain isn't at it's best at the moment Andrew...I have no idea how this is working...How the heck do you use a dummy battery to get it to run at a more reasonable pace.. No doubt mate you will explain it to this simple soul....

You are quite right Andrew, it is a busy time...I have to make Anne a Christmas Box....I know, at our age asking for a Christmas Box.....

Hi Rod,

My wooden dummy is just a battery-sized lump of wood with a screw in each end and a length of wire running between them. That way it does the conducting part of the battery's job without providing any power, so the loco's got a third less oomph than it had before and trundles round more slowly - but I can swap another battery back in if I ever want it to go faster again.

I'm with Anne on Christmas - Grace and I still put out our stockings for Father Christmas. They get filled, too...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Thanks Andrew.

It makes sense now....

I love Christmas too Andrew, I am on with making the box, but it's getting very cold in the garage, so all marked out for now...

Boxing Day - it's called that because traditionally it's used to build models of box vans, right? I started this on the 26th, and here's where it's currently at:

It's based on a BR standard 12t box van, but tweaked in size to fit "C Scale". "C" is for "chocolate", and the scale must combine standard gauge prototypes with 32mm track and look roughly right with Playmobil figures. Luckily you can mess about with all sorts of things on modern photocopiers, which helps keep the proportions of tweaked drawings vaguely right even if the size isn't, if you see what I mean...

Here's what the real thing looks like:




This van will be permanently coupled to the yet-to-be-built Sentinel loco to act as a battery tender. I might start work on the loco soon-ish, I'll let you know...

Cheers,

Andrew.

The box van, or ventilated van as it's also known as, is looking great. The finished wagon will look superb.

That box van is looking as good as a box of chocolates. ( OK, I'll get my hat! )

IanC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 31, 2018 1:23 pm The box van, or ventilated van as it's also known as, is looking great. The finished wagon will look superb.

Is it called a ventilated van because it has vents?

It looks superb Andrew!

I like the corrugated ends, nice job, will look good when painted.
Grant.

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:57 pm

IanC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 31, 2018 1:23 pm The box van, or ventilated van as it's also known as, is looking great. The finished wagon will look superb.

Is it called a ventilated van because it has vents?

It looks superb Andrew!

It is called a ventilated van because of the vents on the ends. Not all standard gauge wagons were fitted with vents.

I just think it looks brilliant Andrew. Another one of your excellent builds coming to the "Chocolate Factory" line.

I have had one of those, (I really can't think of its name), train sets that Tesco were selling still in it's delivery package now for 18 months. Maybe after the garage build, I will have a look at doing something with it.

Blimey, that van looks good - even in the nude.

Rik

I hope you checked the contents Rod, it might be too late to send it back!

I haven't Peter, it's one of those things that kept getting forgotten about.....

Your 'C-scale' box van is very pleasing and I've a mind to set up a production line to do a few copies... Are the sides scored sheet or are they planked? If you don't mind me asking.

Hi all, glad you like the van...

Bertie, I had your "B Scale" stuff very much in mind when I was making it. It's made from 5mm PVC foamboard using various techniques I've picked up her - scribed with an old screwdriver, grain added using course sandpaper etc etc. It's wonderful stuff to work with, very well suited to make-it-up-as-you-go-along type building. I was keen to make the planked version of the van because I believe they were most common, but if I were to make more BR vans I'd be tempted to go for the ply bodied variant, which would probably be quicker. There are lots of good pictures here - https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brwagons - and, if it helps, the drawing I used as a starting point is here (just scroll down a little): https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brwagons

I've moved on from my original tipper truck plan for chocolate delivery and now need a sliding door van for that purpose. There's an LMS design I'll probably use for that, and then I'll probably make a GWR "Mink A", which I think would've been the van most commonly seen at Somerdale.

Rod, I'm intrigued by your parcel - you must open it to put us out of our misery!

Cheers all,

Andrew.