Longstone 2

[chris stockdale]

Hi Graham,

I love all the little details. No wonder it’s taken a couple of years to bring it all together. A great depiction of a small railway ambling through countryside.

I checked my dictionary: bucolic seems to sum it up nicely.

Cheers,

[Grum]

How did it go at Eastleigh Bill?

Yes, we get a lot of rain up on these 'ere hills, it's all lush and green at the moment.

(But mainly caused by my new camera, - I can't get used to it yet. The reds were coming out weak and pink so I boosted the colour settings.)

"Bucolic", I thought it was an illness, so I had to look it up too. Yes, good description.

Thanks

Graham

[Grum]

Another white ghost has appeared at Longstone. This time, a sort of rail car thingy.
I wanted to see if I could scratch build such a machine onto a second hand Hornby 06 chassis that I had. I decided to re-wheel it, and now it runs very well. A dummy footplate/frame was glued on to the chassis to test the size I had chosen around the main layout, and apart from clipping the wall in the mill yard it ran round OK. So it was shortened slightly by 3mm.


Here is the chassis and the initial body 4-bay parts made from 1mm plasticard.

Today it looks like this:



It's all uprights, post's and supports at the moment.

Next, I will have to decide on what interior details I want and how they are going to fit. I am hoping to make the roof from a solid piece of wood so I can get four curves on the sides and ends. I then would like to add dummy side frames to the chassis sides, and a silencer and exhaust. It's all very "bus-like", can't think where I get that from.

[MickT]

Nice one Graham!

Mick

[chris stockdale]

Graham,

Colonel Stephens would be proud.

Cheers,

[nu2ng]

Hi Graham
It was great to meet you and your good lady at the Beds and Bucks show yesterday, The layout looks superb.

Looking forward to seeing the Railbus running sometime soon..

Andi

[Grum]

It was very good to meet you too Andi.

The layout all worked quite well apart from one or two tiny niggles and the odd brain malfunction. One of the locos, the Hunslet - Triton, needed some more weight, which I have already addressed.

This is the state of the railbus at the moment:


It has been painted and glazed, and has new dummy frames and leaf springs etc. At the moment I am trying to shoe-horn a driver into the cab. He is a chopped about cheap Chinese figure who used to hold a briefcase on his lap. Once I have a couple more passengers in, I will sort out the roof.

All the best
Graham

[Bilco]

The railbus is looking great, Graham! I'm sorry I didn't make the Beds & Bucks show to see Longstone - it sounds like a good day.

I have used a couple of those Chinese Preiser rip-off chaps - the only really useful one from the sets they sell on eBay. Harry Ramsden is 'of that ilk' ...

[Grum]

Thanks Bill.

I was secretly hoping you might turn-up at the Beds & Bucks day, but never mind, I'll bump into you one day again I hope.


For anyone else too, we are exhibiting at Narrow Gauge East on Saturday June 2nd, at Bressingham Steam Museum (along with it's many other attractions). It's the place that inspired me to get into narrow gauge modelling way back in the 1970's.

Regarding that Chinese Preiser copy, yes I've already used another clone of him at the Mill Halt on Longstone. It's the only decent figure in the pack, as you say, and the only one displayed on the layout. The rest of mine are hidden inside coaches. Funnily enough, I was given some 1:22.5 Chinese Preiser figures (from what looks like the same manufacturer) and they are much better moulded.

Regards
Graham

[nu2ng]

I would love to visit Bressingham and NG East but the 270 mile round trip is far too much for me at the moment..

Perhaps next year

[Grum]

A month, a whole month it’s taken me (in spare time) to build a taxi with flanged wheels! (a quite enjoyable exercise though.)





This is No.7 "Bay" on a test run. "Bay" means seventh born.
It seats four people comfortably, plus the driver who has a throttle lever and brakes in the cab. I need to find a suitable headlight to fit yet though. No.7 now has horns on the roof, a silencer and exhaust. The roof was made from a small bit of birch hardwood, but it was a lot more difficult than I thought.
Photographs are cruel though, they always show-up faults. The black lining clearly needs some touching-up, yet looking at the model in the flesh it is hardly noticeable??

Graham

[Thorness]

Looks great!

[Boghopper]

Splendid! A work of art. Well worth the time spent.

[Geeky Gecko]

Good looking railbus you've got there, Graham.
Can I ask about the windscreen wiper, please?
Did you make it yourself, or is it a bought in part?

Cheers,
Stefan

[lesmond]

Fabulous

[Grum]

Sorry, I haven't kept up to date recently.

Stefan, The windscreen wiper was from a kit of 1:24 truck or pick-up parts that I was given a couple of years ago. I don't know what make it was.

Graham