Still More Stuff - And Some Progress

I think Raymond must have been bitten by some kind of bug. I wonder if there is a cure?

Today, Monday, I picked up two big cartons from the Post Office. The postal clerk just grinned at me as he handed them over. He handed over the first then said “Hang on, I have another”. I had to make too trips. These were more purchases by Raymond one from a manufacturer and the other an E-Bay purchase.

The first was from Accucraft in the UK. It is a 16 mm Scale live steam War Department Baldwin 4-6-0T. This is a 2ft gauge model, of one of 495 built by Baldwin in the United States for use by the British Army in France during World War 1. It is an absolutely beautiful model running on 32 mm Gauge (O Gauge) track. The locomotive is gas-fired. It would be fantastic if Accucraft produced a WD Hunslet
4-6-0T. Raymond already has several Slaters WD D Class bogie wagon kits in 16 mm Scale to run with this loco. He will absolutely have to get stuck in building his Garden Railway.
Accucraft Baldwin WD 4-6-0T. This is a butane gas fired live steam built to 16 mm Scale and runs on 32 mm gauge track.
Another view of Raymond's latest Garden Railway acquisition. The British War Dept. 4-6-0T built by Baldwin in the United States.

The other carton contained several custom built/rebuilt locomotives. One is a Bachmann Porter 0-4-2T so heavily rebuilt and weathered you would not recognise it. It is fitted with a DCC sound chip. The second locomotive is a Backwoods Miniatures Davenport diesel. Again it has a DCC chip and is heavily weathered. It did not travel well as the exhaust pipe had broken off but is repairable.
The rebuilt Bachmann Porter 0-4-2T Raymond bought on E-Bay.
A Bachmann Davenport 0-4-0DM with a Backwoods Miniatures body. The weathering and additional details are superb.

The final loco is a custom rebuilt and weathered Bachmann Climax. Unfortunately, when it was packed there was major damage done to the locomotive. The worst being one of the bogies was ripped out of its mounting bolster. Raymond has yet to assess whether it is repairable. The owner/seller should not have tried to fit (sorry “force”) it into the pre-formed Bachmann plastic box. Rather, he should have gingerly wrapped it in bubble wrap and then used Styrofoam “peanuts” (actually they are a real curse to dispose of) to fill up the Bachmann cardboard carton.
The customised Bachmann Climax as it appeared when received. Raymond has started repairing this and it now runs very well. It is another E-Bay purchase.
One of six MoW wooden 4-wheel work wagons bought on E-Bay.
Another MoW flat car
And a third. Notice the vice on the front corner. One of the many fine details on these customised models.

Raymond missed out on an E-bay auction again. This time it was an MMI K-28. He put in a maximum bid of $600 which I would have considered very fair for a second-hand loco considering there seems to be a few up for sale around E-bay and other dealers. But no, just before the auction closed his bid was gazumped by a ridiculous margin. I am convinced that some people have no idea on the true value of an item or think they are going to command a higher price if they want to resell it.

It was Tuesday Nighters week this week. Craig came around to pick me up as Raymond was working and couldn’t go. PK and Barry were also in the car. We had a great evening down at Bob’s place as we haven’t been there for quiet a while. He had made some additions to his layout since our last visit.

I spent a couple of evenings during the week making a scale drawing of the new station and yard along the right hand wall. I want to get this right so when I install the joists I don’t locate them where a Cobalt point motor will need to be positioned. We had enough problems with this on the left hand side of the shed.
Saturday morning, Raymond inspected the custom Climax he had received earlier in the week to see if it could be fixed. He partly disassembled it and managed to re-fit the bogie. Reassembled, it ran pretty well. There are still a number of detail items to be refitted, but overall he is happy with this E-Bay purchase.

I spent the morning shopping for bathroom fittings with SWMBO. An expensive morning!

Raymond test ran his Backwoods Miniatures Bachmann “dress-up” Davenport which ran well. Next he tried the Bachmann 0-4-2T that had been heavily modified. It too ran well. He tested it with a train using the six MoW 4-wheel wagons he had received. They looked good together.

I spent Saturday afternoon redrawing the yard on the right hand side and discussing with Raymond what our outcomes should be.
The track plan as modified, thanks to Craig. The right hand end has not yet been finalised.


Sunday afternoon, I installed another joist along the back wall and the plywood for the track. The first section was the short piece still required to bring the track up to the start of the 5 foot long bridge. Then I installed the plywood base for the track along the back wall on the right hand side and the curve around to the right hand wall.
The main line on the left hand side of the rear wall can now be brought up to the proposed big bridge.
Ready for track laying on the right hand side of the rear wall starting from the end of the big bridge.
The curve around from the rear wall to the station along the right hand wall is now ready for some track laying.

I will now look at using the large sheets of paper and the Peco pointwork photocopies that Darren had given us, to lay out the trackwork full size according to the “scale” plan I have drawn. This should allow us to locate the joists we need to install so as not to interfere with any point motors. It will also allow us to work out where we need to install the plywood.

Looking forward to more progress next week.