Ultima Bug box

A freebie from Ultima were a couple of 'bug boxes'. A delightful little addition to the railway.  This is the first time I've attempted to make anything from brass etchings and they are really easy to fold. I've decided to make the roofline high so will need something at the ends to fill it in.

Now just to add a floor, seats paint and glazing. You may notice the red on the side of the folded coach. I may add white around the windows. Black or red for the ends?

Ballast Wagons

One easy conversion was this 009 narrow gauge wagon. The wheels and axle are metal but with a plastic isolator in between. This means with a bit of prising the gauge can be altered. Et voila one NN3 wagon.

Ultima Models and coach update

Well today I've ordered some bits and bobs from Ultima Models. A couple of coaches which I'm hoping will will be thin enough to fit the gauge and some NN3 bogies for the Kestrel Designs coaches as I'm now using the Marklin coaches for something "a bit different!". This is mainly due to the bogies being too long with the couplings unless I cut the Kestrel chassis to bits.

I'm pondering whether to buy one of their railbus bodies and splicing it in half to make a narrow gauge railbus or using one of my spare Minitrix VT98 bodies.

Kestrel coach

A lucky find on e-bay were three Kestrel NN3 coaches.

The kit is a simple six piece design where the bodysides glue directly onto the chassis.

Unfortunately there are no instructions in the kit so I've bought a Marklin coach to see if the bogies will fit the chassis.

Commer rail service van

All railways need service vehicles and this was a quick fifteen minute conversion. This was done by purchasing a cheap Oxford Commer van at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway during a quick visit on the way to this years Cosford Airshow.

Firstly I removed the wheels by prising the hubs from the axle, then I used a junior hacksaw to cut through the chassis before pressing in the plastic Z gauge wheels.

I'm not sure if the BR decals will remain.

Peco NG652 update

The Peco saddletank is slowly coming along now. The main work at the front of the loco has been altering the front so the boiler support is now vertical rather than splayed, the saddle has been extended towards the cab front.

The rear has seen the coupler and buffers changed. I'm thinking about making the bunker larger either by extending it upwards between the (now drilled) windows or changing its shape so it overhangs the buffers.

The cabside will be amended with larger hole, and grabrails.