Garden Railway Forum

I've been busy....................

1) finished off a HGLW flat wagon to "ready to paint" state

2) Regauged an IP Engineering coach which was not a good runner, due to the whells being wide to gauge - easy to cure with some gentle dismantling and a few gentle taps with a hammer

3) Finished the repaint of my ancient (1989) WLLR van so it can run between RINCEWIND and the passenger rake and hlep to do away with the MASSIVE difference in roof height

And Finally.........................

I've built a HGLW Jay Coach (couldn't have called it an iCoach 'coz Apple would've sued) which has gone together as easily as I would have expected.




AS you can see, it's a nice little 4-wheel coach............



............. the body of which is so designed as to almost be foolproof!



The underframe can be built as a separate unit whilst the body is "going off"............



................ and features the HGLW patent underframe design which, if built with care, results in absolutely NO glue coming anywhere near the axle bearings.

I've done the easy bit: it's now got to be painted, glazed (supplied) door handles fitted and maybe interior lit - THEN the roof can go on!

Looks good, they're great kits for killing a few hours in an afternoon and once painted don't look bad either, ive been adding a cab to my Andel models Ffion but for some reason i cant upload pictures of it, oh well

Kits like this make it a lot easier for newcomers to the hobby to get something running quickly - MUCH easier than when I started, twenty-mumble years ago!

indeed

That looks nice Brian. I have to agree that the HGLW kits fall together. They also produce a model that is sturdy enough to last well. Compared to stuff that was available 20 years ago (when I started doing stuff in 16mm) they are light years away and cheap into the bargain.

I remember building a 'beginners kit' made by some long defunct supplier that consisted of a few bits of un cut plasticard and some iffy castings. This cost around the same as the HGLW stuff does now and produced a funny looking open 'coach' of such a fragile nature that longevity was not an option.

We should count ourselves lucky that stuff like this is about. I do miss the eccentricity of some of the long gone suppliers but the kits that are around now knock spots off them.

Hi Brian,

That's a nice job. How tall does is stand? Are they still available? I couldn't see them on the HGLW web site.

All the best,

Andrew

nothing.

Soar Valley Light:106837 wrote:That's a nice job. How tall does is stand? Are they still available? I couldn't see them on the HGLW web site.

It stands (reaches for ruler) 135mm from bottom of flange to top of roof, they're not yet available which is why they're not on the Web Site! This is in fact a review model................

Thanks for the info Brian. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the production version. Let us see the finished article won't you?

It's now in primer.........................

MDLR wrote: they're not yet available which is why they're not on the Web Site!

Well I picked mine up last month so I thought they are available to order direct, just not made it into the web shop yet. I've promised to take photos of mine being built up for use in the instructions (same applies to my open wagon kit).

Chris Cairns

Ah! He STILL hasn't written the instructions!

I'm seeing David on Wednesday so I'll confirm the situation regarding availability of the 'J' coach kits.

Chris Cairns

u mean the coachs i asked him to build for me to match my tram that i said was ok for him to also sell.. mine are very slightly diffrent and mine have flat buffer beam as i wanted centre buffers from roy woods..
when partly built and test run.


then the hglw loco of mine with compleated coach J at matt towels line on there first actual public running day.


still being built..




top tip as well I added a bit more weight to mine as my sprung loaded point would derail them plus as wheels are bearings are new they make a slight rattle sound this has almost gone on them as bearings are run in now...i painted my roofs white and rest red with black underframes.. if anyone ever wants to see mine as well as diesel loco they are welcome as i travel round midlands/warwickshire (I actually live in bidford on avon)
I also agree they are well cut and easy to build you can build and paint 1 in a day i actually built all 3 coachs in a few hours and painted over next day only because i didnt have the paint to hand which is just halfords spray car paint,I use the primer for the car paint on the loco its been painted just over a year and was left outside in pouring rain before now to no effect..

David confirmed yesterday that he just needs to produce the instructions so that this kit can be added to his online shop.

I've just sent him a set of photos from my Coach 'J' build so hopefully it will be available very shortly.



Chris Cairns

Am currently rebuilding a Graupner Glasgow paddlesteamer, powered by Wilesco.

Will that feature in your garden railway?

Ah no, just another use of live steam and RC.

Ok, good luck, i wouldnt like to try boat modelling i would be to scared it would sink

Build the hull first and test it before fitting out.  A principle that served me well in the days when I was into model boats.

Rolling stock projects at the moment.

1. Rather a large bogie coach - on which I am trying some new ideas.  Every now and again I ask myself if I can make something; make a mental note of it of what it was; and then it appears later in a REV - Robinson Experimental Vehicle.  Having had a go, it then feeds back into the general rolling stock building programme.
2. Continued shifting couplings up to 33mm centres as 25mm is too low for 3' gauge stock in the main. This occasionally involves changing out wheel sets on vehicles.
3. I have a 17 scale foot chassis that needs something on it.  Another brake van or a tram coach perhaps?

Nothing finished since - just plenty of on-going projects with which I have played around and shoved back in the box!


Cheers,
Peter in AZ