Llwyndrissi Halt.

[Daniel]

...and here the light at the end of the tunnel!

Great to see you have already a broad panorama covering all fronts.

Those barn and shed transformations are always a source of plenty of fun.

I follow, of course!

Daniel

[Mountain]

Yes. Exciting plans... It will be nice to have my modelling tools somewhere nice because at the moment I have everything squashed into my bedroom. It will give me space... Uhmmm, when I first make space in the shed...

[Daniel]

A workplace is really important for a modeler and certainly for you and it is that what fuels whatever it may take to get it. No doubt. But meanwhile a modeller as you may also make wonders with a hobby knife and some card and PVA glue using only 2 square feet of the kitchen table and a bit of his joy for that.
I know very well dat a maker may suffer without tools and materials but I also know of some fellows in Texas who, not having the resources for buying a compressor, used to sit on a well inflated inner tube of a car wheel for using the airbrush...
Probably, emptying, cleaning and re-organizing the shed will requiere a lot of energy. I understand you are feeling much better but not yet with de load of energy for big work. You will smile seeing that changing when your joy of working on what you love generates all the necessary energy.
Life is só beautiful and mysterious...!

Daniel

[Mountain]

As can be seen, these graiin wagons do offer some potential to convert for NG use so I am making a start on an interesting project to build a small rake of them. (I will withdraw some wagons from being on sale as they just have too much potential! A little bit of an expensive way of making narrow gauge wagons if I dis not already have them, but as I have them I may as well use them).

Now as can be seen, the dimentions are roughly the same. Some of rhe details will need removing so that they will look more like a narrow gauge waggon. It is often easier then we think to convert what we have for narrow gauge use which is a good thing.

This wagon is my prototype. Though it is is from the Triang/Hornby era, they were in their day quite well detailed so that the new ones (The other six I have remamining) are actually the exact same, so all I need to do is remove the details, remove the buffers, mount new buffers and coupling loops, remove their roofs and give the things a repaint so it should not be too difficult to do.

I thought it good to show these to share how easy it is to model in 7mm narrow gauge. Some modellers in this scale and gauge do use the tension lock couplings and if you do then it is one thing less to deal with when one makes a conversion.

I will update things as I go along.

[Mountain]

The roofs on these wagons should come off pretty easily as can be seen. This wagon has a plastic rectangle on the side which used to display a company logo. This has been removed. It did take a small pice of plastic ribbing with it, but narrow gauge waggons did go through some abuse so it will blend in.

On looking at how the body is made, I can remove most of the thin side supports without leaving the waggon look odd.

I don't know if you will be able to see it, but if I remove all the thinner supports and just leave the two main supports on each side, it will disguise its grain wagon origions and now begin to look like a proper narrow gauge waggon.

[Mountain]

Filing in progress taking care to make sure that I don't accidently file off the chassis retaining tabs. Mind you, superglue will work if I do make a mistake.

[Bufferstop]

Hi Mountain
You can't keep avoid idea down. About 50yrs ago some one suggested something similar but using 00 bodies on TT chassis for 3foot gauge NG wagons. I wanted something closer to two foot, stuck it on the back burner for a while and shoved the TT wagons in the loft. A couple of house moves later they resurfaced, and I started thinking about them. In the meantime I'd been to South Africa and seen the two foot gauge with Cape Gauge bodies on double bogies, so when in Cheltenham Model Centre I spotted a box of loose N gauge bogies, some missing a pair of wheels or a coupler I dug deep like it was a sweetie jar and handed over a satisfyingly small amount of cash.
N gauge bogies under TT3 bodies along side 4mm locos and stock gave a convincingly good representation narrow gauge. Had them on a transfer siding for a few years, before another house move when I passed them on to a mate.

[Mountain]

With some chassis modification here we are. The foundation for a nice 7mm narrow gauge hopper wagons awaiting paint, narrow gauge coupling loops and buffers.

[Mountain]

Hi Mountain
You can't keep avoid idea down. About 50yrs ago some one suggested something similar but using 00 bodies on TT chassis for 3foot gauge NG wagons. I wanted something closer to two foot, stuck it on the back burner for a while and shoved the TT wagons in the loft. A couple of house moves later they resurfaced, and I started thinking about them. In the meantime I'd been to South Africa and seen the two foot gauge with Cape Gauge bodies on double bogies, so when in Cheltenham Model Centre I spotted a box of loose N gauge bogies, some missing a pair of wheels or a coupler I dug deep like it was a sweetie jar and handed over a satisfyingly small amount of cash.
N gauge bogies under TT3 bodies along side 4mm locos and stock gave a convincingly good representation narrow gauge. Had them on a transfer siding for a few years, before another house move when I passed them on to a mate.

I think most narrow gauge model waggons start life like this... It is surprisingly easy to do. Just takes a little patience and imagination. I was looking at the one unboxed grain wagon I had which I was not sure what to do with as it had a buffer missing. I am thinking of doing the other six soon as everything has gone together nicely.

Here is something my ephew made out of my spares box. A hopper body he glued onto a Dapol chassis. He did not know that they need weight added and he has not finished it yet. I am not sure if he is interested or not in carrying on in the hobby as he has lots of interest and young brothers and sisters where if they played with this stuff it may not survive! Not to say that it is not durable, but there are limits. He can see them when he comes up here for now.
I was trying to get him to finish it off but he did not have the patience to make the coupling loops and wanted me to make them for him and I could not at the time. I have lots of buffers and coupling loops to make and fit on... No hurry but I will need to form a production line when I get myself a workshop to make things easier.

[Mountain]

I bought this little thing secondhand recently so I cn convert it to 7mm narrow gauge. Though it has a plastic body like the Triang shunter next to it, it is actually noticably heavier.
It is designed to run on 16v DC so I had in mind to try to convert it to run on a different mechanism but when testing using an old Hornby third amp trainset controller I found it ran fine, and its top speed with that controller was certainly no slower then some modern 12v shunters. I am happy! An unusual and rather useful find!

[glencairn]

A nifty little loco, Mountain. Are you going to give it a name?

Glencairn

[Mountain]

Yes. When I upscale it. It will need to be a short name to fit when I make the nameplates for it.

It will have to have a 7mm scale cab made as there is a motor assembly to hide. If I used another drive mechanism I could make it open cab but this would spoil its weighty character. Maybe I can make a partial copy with a different mechanism so I can make an open cab loco as well? Uhmmm. Ideas! But this one will need a nice cab.

[glencairn]

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch would be a nice name for the locomotive.

Seriously. I bought my nameplates from Narrow Planet (no affiliation. Just a happy customer). In 2020 they are part of Light Railway Stores.

https://www.lightrailwaystores.co.uk/co ... d-products

They deal in various gauges. Yours in particular.

Glencairn

[Mountain]

Yes, but if I buy them they will be too perfect and show up my homemade ones that I have on the other locos.

[glencairn]

Yes, but if I buy them they will be too perfect and show up my homemade ones that I have on the other locos.

You do yourself a great injustice. You put many of us to shame with your modelling.

Glencairn