The BNR (another way)

[GeraldH]

Here's another bit a freelance coach bashing... the new Hornby 4 wheel brake coach

4wheel_sm.jpg (46.63 KiB) Viewed 7081 times

Well it's actually the underframe, ends and roof of the Hornby 4 wheel coach with Ratio 4 wheel brake sides grafted in. The Ratio coach, which the sides came from, had already been a bit bashed around and poorly painted, so I could have done a better job with new sides.I seem to have slightly pushed the ends out a bit at the top as well, so the roof is now barely long enough. I might have to add a bit of plasticard to the ends of the roof to compensate.

[D2850]

I like the 4' 1 1/2" narrow gauge idea. The stock looks nice as well, especially that 4 wheel brake coach.

Any chance of a track plan?

[GeraldH]

I like the 4' 1 1/2" narrow gauge idea. The stock looks nice as well, especially that 4 wheel brake coach.

Any chance of a track plan?

It's a shame Hornby don't make a 4 wheel brake coach to match their existing one. I'm sure they'd sell enough to make a profit as those 4 wheel coaches turn up on all kinds of layouts - even grown ups use them

A track plan is a good idea, I'll have to draw one up at some point. I've actually cheated a bit as some of the pics are from the old layout so it might appear more extensive than it is. It's basically an end to end with a junction station (the one that's on most of the pictures) connecting two lines. One goes down to the fiddle yard and the other rises above the fiddle yard serving a halt and little terminus. Only the junction station has scenery as the layout will probably have to move in the Spring. It will then hopefully expand

[Tiddles]

Love the concept behind the railway plus the history

Think I had better put pen to paper about the history of my model world


Tiddles.

[lairadepot]

hi ya
i just wanted to say that it is an interesting way of using a 3 way point
peter

[GeraldH]

How it all started. I think I was about 13 when I hacked about a hornby GWR brake van with a Swiss army knife and plonked it onto a Hornby Hymek motor bogie. I added buffers made from track pins with bits of card stuck on the end and made a cow catcher out of a cereal packet. There was no money in those days.

I always planned to do a better tram later on and in the end I bought a Bachmann Toby to chop up. The kids love love Toby so much that he's going to keep his moving eyes for now

Tram.jpg (24.82 KiB) Viewed 6875 times

[GeraldH]

I've been hacking about some more bits and bobs to produce a nice little diesel. I aquired a cheap Hornby Toby chassis and attached it to an old Lima body and a Hornby Class 06 cab to create my new masterpiece

The Toby chassis is a real pain to fix things to as it doesn't have very good mounting points. The pickups also needed some adjustment to get it running smoothly. The motor and its mounting brackets mean that you need a pretty wide loco body to fit around it. It was my plan to use the chassis in an old Triang Nellie, but it just wouldn't fit.

It just needs the rear coupling sorting, a lick of paint and some glazing to finish it off.

Shunter.jpg (55.75 KiB) Viewed 6751 times

[GeraldH]

Here's another old shot. This is a Lima continental loco which can be picked up pretty cheaply. They can be made to run quite well with a bit of extra weight. This station, on my old layout, was perched on a window sill. The track used to get a bit flooded as it suffered from bad condensation in the winter.

Mars.jpg (34.79 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

[Infrontcat]

Hi Gerald

Just enjoyed looking through your thread for the first time and was most struck with your ideas and imagination, both of which are evidently splendid! Glad to see you had the idea of creating your own livery too. And what with having the limitation on the stock availabe, well...given yoursef the proverbial blank cheque on modeller's license

That wee brake carriage is great and I hope it will encourage you to go for a more eclectic carriage fleet. Almost like the Isle of Wight railway but a regular service, not just a preserved line The possibilities are endless...andI look forward to seeing them develop!

Cheers fella

Tim

[GeraldH]

Just thought I'd put in a shot of the loco shed with some of the preserved fleet. Bulldog (just out of the picture) is due for some special BNR treatment when I get a bit of free time. I'm going to add buffers, repaint and glaze the cab.

I also need to paint the interior of the engine shed dirty grey to make it look a bit more authentic.

BNRShed.jpg (50.72 KiB) Viewed 6560 times

[GeraldH]

I do like my Triang coaches, they are shorter than the modern scale ones which means I can run trains with more carriages and they go better round my tight curves. They are also very cheap and a good basis for a bit of freelance modelling.

Most of my coaches are the 9 inch ones, but I recently picked up a shorter 6 inch one. Some of the earlier short coaches suffered from banana syndrome, but this is one of the later generation with stable plastic and Mk 3 couplings. Unfortunately one of the bogies was damaged, so I put new ones underneath. I had to take quite a bit off the bogie pivot on the body to get the ride height down as the original bogies only had 10 mm wheels.

Coach.JPG (35.48 KiB) Viewed 6486 times

So far I've put some glazing in and made an interior. This is becoming a lesson in recycling: the interior is made from cardboard packaging and bits of second hand balsa from a previous layout, while the glazing is also from packaging. I filled some of the chips in the balsa wood with wood filler from the hardware store.

Interior.JPG (26.3 KiB) Viewed 6485 times

The next job is finishing the interior, painting the exterior French Blue and adding some passengers

[GeraldH]

I thought I'd put something a bit more conventional up for a change . A BR Class 50 is waiting to take the parcels train out in the winter sunshine. The train is a mix of BR and BNR stock and leaves for England most nights of the week usually behind a 50 or a 47.

The loco is a renamed and detailed Lima one I've had for 25 years or so and runs very well with a nice growl.

BRMail.jpg (52.51 KiB) Viewed 6390 times

[GeraldH]

Shots taken from track level often seem to come out well. This one shows my Linka coaling stage on the left and my very noisy (in reverse) Dapol J94 on the right. The J94 makes a good station pilot with its low gearing, but despite many attempts at lubrication and realignment the gears still wake the dead.

TrackLevel.jpg (37.7 KiB) Viewed 6261 times

[GeraldH]

A better view of the Linka coaling stage and the diesel refuelling plant made with some hormby parts, a bit of old ply, a coffee stirrer, a kebab stick and some cardboard packaging. I should have paid a bit more attention to those glaring white bits on the pumps

Coaling.jpg (44.67 KiB) Viewed 6196 times

[mikem64]

Super layout, should have said this ages ago, I'm impressed with your creative thinking turning bits & bobs into something that can be used on the layout, I like that.

Keep uploading the photo's please.

Thank you,
Mike.