O9 joins Blackcloud's Railways

[Blackcloud Railways]

A second dummy loco for the ghost wagon is now completed.

In theory it has been bought second hand from a miniature railway but doesn't look as if it's been looked after very well by its previous owners.

Just a tad rusty here and there... And very rusty everywhere else.

[Blackcloud Railways]

Having completed the small Matchbox loco I turned my attention to the pile of debris laughingly referred to as my work bench and picked up the diecast body that I used to experiment with filling wheel aches on. This has been finished off as another railcar for use on the Lochside Estate.

Battered and rusty, as are most of the LE&FLR railcars, but another useful addition to the fleet.

The donor was a bus, and under scale for use as such on the layout, but the front end looks as if it could be from a small car instead so it'll do the job.

[Blackcloud Railways]

How does your mind work? I know mine tends to go off on a tangent every now and then.

I've just spotted an empty printer cartridge which SWMBO had instructed me to throw out months ago when we got a replacement. It didn't make it to the bin and I have a suspicion that it's not going to either.

I can't say for sure how much it will resemble this when finished, it certainly won't use the discarded Matchbox chassis. I'm thinking along the lines of a single door on the rear of the cab and very small windows, as if it's a former military loco with heavy armour. This would explain the lack of other external details nicely.

[Tomo]

Bob,

Very creative and divergent thinking, that cartridge was meant for your layout! I hope the innards aren't too messy to clean out...

[Cross Kitter]

Absolutely inspired

The cartridge even has a ready made recess for the exhaust stack on the bonnet. You could even make it look like it had a sliding vent on the cab roof.

Can't wait to see the result.

[Blackcloud Railways]

The 'exhaust' on top of what will be the engine compartment is in the middle of what could be a lift-off access panel, so I'll try to keep this moulded detail when removing some lettering from the same area. The cab roof will definitely need a hatch of some sort to cover the bits where the toner is meant to come out.

I've not figured out how to get the lid off yet and may end up sawing a thin sliver from what will be the bottom of the loco if all else fails. Yep, I know it's going to be messy so it will be done well away from the layout.

Not sure if it will want rivet detail adding or if an armoured loco would be of welded construction, that might also depend upon its supposed age. The Lochside line was sold to the estate by the WD after 1918 but the loco may have originated elsewhere and been purchased at a much later date.

Isn't freelance history wonderful? Just make it up to fit the model.

Edit - Update at 0730, the lid has been removed, not nearly as messy as expected but it did need the hacksaw. The cartridge is now soaking in water to remove as much of the remaining toner as possible. I'll have another look at it when (or if) sprog MkIII has her morning nap. Next job - putting some small windows in the cab.

[Blackcloud Railways]

Work on the toner cartridge is progressing well, but this post is going back a bit to the loco made from a pair of Matchbox shunters.

I have found a chassis which fits, though it has not been used for well over twenty years and may not be a runner. I will test it sometime tomorrow before making a few alterations to the loco body so that it is better fit. Originally from a Kato DD51 diesel, of the same vintage as the multiple unit chassis used under the large freight motor.

The toner loco can be seen in these photos coupled to the motorised wagon because it is currently riding on an unpowered underframe pending a suitable mechanism being found. It may fit an N scale 08 which I have (somewhere) but I don't know for sure until I can find it.

[Broadoak]

Very ingenious Bob,

The little cartridge loco reminds me of a McLaren 0-4-0 ic locomotive found on the Ashover Light Railway. The cab was entered by a side door on the McLaren otherwise it is very similar.

[Blackcloud Railways]

Time for another motorised wagon to push these dummy locos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0G5ry7c2SU

Just completed and given a test run, still needs painting and weathering, but that's a job for tomorrow.

[Blackcloud Railways]

I've used some of the leftovers from the Kato DD51 (donor for the double Matchbox diesel's mechanism) to make a freebie. The centre bogie, fuel tanks and part of one of the engine bonnets have been put together as an industrial sized loco.

It's not big but it does run (when pushed by a motorised wagon).

More pictures, and video, on my blog.
http://blackcloudrail.webs.com/apps/blog/show/21560929-leftovers-

[Willow Creek Traction]

Some really neat stuff going on here Bob
Toner cartridge, who would have guessed!
But then, a bit earlier today for an On30 project, did a Google image search for Ruston locomotive and man are a bunch of them about the same proportions as that cartridge.

[Blackcloud Railways]

did a Google image search for Ruston locomotive and man are a bunch of them about the same proportions as that cartridge.

Rusty - Diecast Ertl Thomas the Tank series - works well as a cheap and cheerful O scale Ruston. A bit long in the bonnet so I shortened one to fit a Bachmann N gauge Plymouth as an O9 loco. An unaltered body will fit on one of the old style 44 tonner motor bogies for use with On30.


Back to the toner cartridge, if you put the cab door on the side it'll look more like a modern loco due to its clean lines.

The overall size is good but it's just too narrow to fit an Underground Ernie mechanism. I've not tried it on the 44 tonner bogie though. However, if you take my approach to it and make the loco a dummy you could mount the cartridge on an HO freight car bogie instead.

It's riding a bit high in the photo below but the bogie could be recessed if suitable cut outs were made in the sides of the cartridge.

[Blackcloud Railways]

An update on the double Matchbox, the loco has been painted and weathered, all that remains to be done is glazing the cab and adding a driver to hide the mechanism inside.

It yaws a lot entering the curved siding on Lochside but looks a lot better than I thought it would on the tight radius of Allt-Na-Ballt, either way though the length of the loco does not cause problems when coupling to the wagons because the couplers are bogie mounted.

[bandmbill]

Could you post more pictures of Rusty please?

[Blackcloud Railways]

Rusty, as requested...



The loco body is a shortened Ertl diecast toy running on a Bachmann Plymouth mechanism.

Rear coupling missing following an accident, it will (eventually) be replaced with a OO9/HOe type coupler so that the loco can run with my Roco tubs as well as the Rapido fitted wagons.

The insulation tape is to prevent shorts between the diecast body and the split frame mechanism.

The last photo shows the loco with a Unit Models van for size comparison.

[Blackcloud Railways]

Lochside and Allt-Na-Ballt will be at the Rainhill model railway show, 2nd and 3rd March 2013. Any Gnatterboxers visiting are cordially invited to sit down for a Gnatter. Not sure which room I'm in yet but I shouldn't be hard to find, just look for the two smallest layoutswith the oddest collection of locos and stock on them.

[Blackcloud Railways]

I went to the 7mm NGA open day with Allt-Na-Ballt yesterday. Across the aisle from my layout was Chris Ward's 3D printing trade stand... Needless to say temptation got the better of me and I bought an O scale tank engine from the discount box (always the skinflint). These photos were taken while work was in progress on the loco. It will eventually be in the standard LE&FLR livery - rust.

First impressions yesterday was that it was too large for the LE&FLR, that's why it was after lunch before I finally decided to buy it, and it is indeed just to big for Allt-Na-Ballt. Having tempoariliy fitted a mechanism, hence the Blutack, it turns out that the cab roof fouls the tunnel but the loco will run OK on Lochside so it has a little back story. It's too heavy for the bridges on the line between Lochside and the junction so it is confined to the section between the pier and the cannery, much as the aluminium factory in Fort William used a steamer between the pier and the factory but only lightweight diesels and speeders on the line from there to the dam at Loch Treig.

She is unarguably a big one, probably the maximum possible on 18 inch gauge... I mean the loco, not the young lady on the footplate! This is because the model was designed for 1:43 so I will add a false floor in the cab to make it better suit the 1:48 or 1:50 scale figures used on Lochside.

The unfenced nature of the line means that a steam loco needs skirts fitting to protect other road users in the area around the pier. This will hide the Kato mechanism nicely when done.

[Blackcloud Railways]

A serious accident befell the steam loco this morning. The plastic used by the printing process is very brittle, while stuffing the boiler with modelling clay to add weight I managed to break the cab. The footplate snapped just behind the boiler backhead and the narrow beams above the doors both came off.

The damage has been repaired using coffee stirrer splints below the footplate and rocket sticks above. The rocket sticks also support the raised footplate so they were a planned addition anyway. I'm not going to try and refit the beams above the doorways because they're too fiddly.

Skirts and dummy cylinders have been added under the tanks and smokebox area, these make a big improvement to the loco's appearance.

Still lots of work to do but I'm happy with the way the kettle is brewing.

[Gerry Bullock]

A serious accident befell the steam loco this morning. The plastic used by the printing process is very brittle, while stuffing the boiler with modelling clay to add weight I managed to break the cab. The footplate snapped just behind the boiler backhead and the narrow beams above the doors both came off.
]

Not on a par with Shapeways then Bob.
I bought one of their Loco Printies awhile back and have repeatedly thrown it (no power unit) at floor, twisted it, squashed it and it always recovers.
Only damage is loss of my paint finish on corners as a result of impacts.
Would I buy again - NO except if I wanted a skip when finish would be acceptable.

[Blackcloud Railways]

In fairness I was being quite heavy handed when stuffing the modelling clay into the boiler.

This winter weather's no good for paintwork. She's gone all rusty!

This view reveals the raised footplate well.

The head on photo shows loading gauge compared to track gauge, this is a big loco by 18 inch gauge standards.

Finally, for today, the classic 3/4 front view as preferred by trainspotters.

[rue_d_etropal]

Bob, nice paint job.
Apart from strength how would you compare this model with the one you got from Shapeways. All the photos I have seen of the ones Chris Ward produces look less smooth, although that would not matter for me. I have some of the Shapeways produced models including one of the slightly bigger centre cab locos(as well as the OO9 body), and they look a lot smoother. Is it just the camera effect?

[Blackcloud Railways]

Some areas of the loco would have needed a lot of rubbing down if it was going to have a decent paint job instead of the rusty finish I am aiming for.

This particular print was nothing like as ready to use as Shapeways products but some of Chris's diesels looked ready to paint, even the ones in the bargain box that I got the steamer from. The dome in particular almost put me off buying the model until Chris explained how to rub it down with the back of a knive blade or a piece of hardwood.

I've asked him to do a shortened version of a Ravenglass open coach that he had on the stand. As it is the vehicle is far too long for both Lochside and Allt-Na-Ballt but a three compartment version, designed to fit on a modified N gauge underframe, should fit well. I'll post more details of how that compares to Shapeways when it arrives.

[rue_d_etropal]

thought it wasn't just the photo. Interestingly Voie Libre has an article/revue about Chris's models, and the centrefold drawings are of a rather wide 18in loco as mentioned elsewhere.
I have noticed in some loco catalogues that manufacturers state some locos can be supplied in various gauges, so a 2ft gauge loco on 18in is not out of the question, assuming centre of gravity is low enough.

[Brack]

Depends which material of shapeways it is - the WSF gives a dodgy finish (but can be worked into a smooth surface with filler and sandpaper) but is pretty strong and cheap (though I've found it doesn't glue that well if you do snap something).

FUD on the other hand is great for detail, but fairly brittle. However it breaks very cleanly and superglues back together fantastically well.

I spoke with chris a while ago when drawing Sipat, and my conclusion was that his machines coudln't offer the same resolution as FUD. Some of his products do look rather nice though.

[rue_d_etropal]

think I had the cheapest offered by Shapeways. I did go for a more expensive option for one of my pieces as I was using as part of one of my moulds, and wasn't sure what effect wet paper mash would have.