Garden Railway Forum

Splendid.
I think you are right about the introduction of railcars on various ng lines. It never happened in the UK but it could have done.

Happy New Year Chaps!

I managed to fit in a couple of days in the workshop over the Xmas break so I have a little update.

Hope you like it. Loads more to finish but it is definitely getting there.

I have got the trailing car made up now, I haven't included lots of pictures of the construction as its essentially the same as the leading car!




The roof sections have been bothering me for a while, I was kind of dreading them. I don't like plasticard really, it seems to distort in heat and this roof needed to be removable. I did consider making one from resin but the amount of silicone needed would have been really expensive for just 2. I tried out a new method and I am quite happy with the results. I like the roof to have a little texture as they would have in the real world:

Masking tape, sticky side up:


I then stuck 24 sections of Mahogany stripwood (3mm x 5mm) to the tape using black lines on my bench to keep it square:



Next step is to cover the model with masking tape and drape the roof over the model, in the correct place:



Then I coat the wood strips in casting resin which gets sucked into the gaps in the wood strips which then hardens, keeping the roof in its shape:


Once left overnight to cure, the roof can be removed and the making tape peeled off and then I use a palm sander to remove the excess resin and make the ends square which leaves a smooth roof in the exact radius to match the model:





Another pair of bogies, one with lateral bolsters and one without:


Then came the best part.... a run in the garden between showers, first time with both cars together. Really happy that all worked well:




Back to the bench for the rest of the paintwork, wiring, lighting, detail work and interiors!

Thanks for all the lovely comments so far, very much appreciated.

Cheers

Jim

Have some more lovely comments - That really does look nice, love the colour.

Hi Jim,

They look absolutely outstanding, the livery really sets them off. The view of them in the bay platform is really superb.

All the best,

Andrew

I rather like those. Another cracking job!

Cheers,
Peter in VA

Hi Jim.
What a fantastic method of fabricating a roof. Looks fabulous. Like I usually do, you want it removable. How is it held on. Mine have a thin frame glued to them that just fits inside the coach sides.
I might try this fabricating method with my next model if that's ok.
D.

A real work of art Jim and such a clever idea of making a rigid roof. They look wonderful.

Very nice, I love the removeable roof, not a technique I've ever seen anyone else use before but the end result looks great.

River Lin wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:09 pm Hi Jim.
What a fantastic method of fabricating a roof. Looks fabulous. Like I usually do, you want it removable. How is it held on. Mine have a thin frame glued to them that just fits inside the coach sides.
I might try this fabricating method with my next model if that's ok.
D.

Hi David

Of course you can use the roof method, I'd love to see how it works out for you.

On this model the roof is held on with 3 x 2mm screws, 2 into tapped tabs on the back just under the eaves (which will be hidden by equipment) and the other in the exhaust funnel above the cab which screws into a brass strip fitted over the cab roof.

Cheers

J

bazzer42 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:45 pm Have some more lovely comments - That really does look nice, love the colour.

Cheers! , there is, by chance a very nice bridge in the background!

IrishPeter wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:00 pm I rather like those. Another cracking job!

Cheers,
Peter in VA

Cheers Peter!

Soar Valley Light wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:52 pm Hi Jim,

They look absolutely outstanding, the livery really sets them off. The view of them in the bay platform is really superb.

All the best,

Andrew

Thanks Andrew... I built the bay platform with the idea that one day in the future there would be a railcar or two there

laalratty wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:38 pm Very nice, I love the removeable roof, not a technique I've ever seen anyone else use before but the end result looks great.

Thanks for that. really appreciate your words. I wasn't sure what technique to try, this was also quite quick, hopefully it will stand the test of time

Nice to see a new way of doing things.

Ooooo - I like that method of making the roof - even a dullard like me could manage that

And I also love the bay platform - there is something about platforms like this and having either railcars or pushpin services operating from them - very branch line!

I can only repeat what everyone else has said regarding the roof, and the shot in the bay platform James. All this railcar stuff starts the thought wheels turning.
Grant.

'fraid its another "Me too". The the whole thing, and the bay shot, just lovely.

Big Jim wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:04 pm Splendid.
I think you are right about the introduction of railcars on various ng lines. It never happened in the UK but it could have done.

Most of our narrow gauge went just a little bit too early, so although a few lines tried to use petrol locomotives as mainline locos, e.g. Col. Stephen's experiments on the Nogger and the Welsh Highland, but the technology was not quite far enough on, or cheap enough, for it to make it to British NG. One thought that crosses my addled mind is what would have happened had someone had a go with a Simplex based railcar. Motor Rail cut its teeth building petrol trams for the Raj in the Edwardian period. Develop that technology a bit, and make sure they can reliably do 15 - 20 mph and you might have had a winner. Certainly, the Rye and Camber, with its pseudo-Simplex and one coach was only one developmental step off a petrol railcar. One thing that is for sure, the Simplex drive train was very reliable, as evidenced by the geriatric fusiliers still working in places like Leighton Buzzard, and on the Lincs. Coast Light.

To be really pedantic, though, the Clogher Valley Railway operated the first Walker Articulated Railcar from 1931-1941, and was in the UK, just not in Britain.

Cheers,
Peter in Va

Just adding my admiration to the cacophony James A really novel way achieve the correct curve for the roof, and one that will come in useful when I roof my remaining stock - so much easier than fitting the planks to a frame which you hope maintains its shape! And that bay platform is grand

James

superb work. I have wanted a railcar for some time. Yours is inspiration indeed. Captures the look and feel perfectly and you haven't finished yet.

Thanks

Dave

Brilliant work. They look stunning. Neat idea with the roof!

Sorry, only just catching up with this thread. Somehow seem to have missed it over Christmas.

Rik

Excellent job Jim,
As others have said, the roof idea is fantastic.