Friday Update: Twenty-seven Two Twenty-six…

It has been a busy week but there is little tangible to show for it as I’ve spent hours working on ‘Cameos’ which is edging towards completion and looking and feeling rather magical, and I reflect on now lucky I am to be working on such a project…

Meanwhile on the work bench I’ve finished off another Class 25 and the 0-16.5 Dolgoch so they will appear in dedicated posts over the next couple of weeks. That ‘clearing of the deck’ leaves just the 16mm Ruston seeing tangible progress this week.

The etches arrived on Monday and this spurred things on somewhat so now, what you see, is very close to completion. I have scratch-built the extra bodywork on the bonnet around the laser cut frame and then assembled the 3D parts in the cab. Work has progressed on panels and bolts - there is still a little way to go today but I’m confident she will be in primer by this evening. Some fresh commissions will be on the bench next week.

I have been taking slow but deliberate steps forwards on Cwmbach. I hate track laying and wiring nearly as much as building baseboards but it’s important to get this right, especially with the fine Code 40 trackwork. The points are laid and the frogs wired - these work, beautifully and I’m really pleased with the simple mechanism - nothing rocket science but it’s slim line and works well. Since then I’ve installed three of the under track magnets and covered them with lining tape. The track has begun to be installed, carefully supergluing the sleepers down to get the awkward flowing shape I had in mind, ensuring trains can still be propelled with buffers touching - which is a success so far. Next up is wiring these new tracks up, before making a few more lengths of the flex track to finish the sidings off. Once this is done, and wiring tidied up I’m not sure if I’ll paint and ballast it all before adding the rest of the cameo box framework? I’m still putting off building the traverser too!

I’m very excited too about ‘Modern Goods’. This week saw the wonderful Revolution Class 66 weathered - but more has been happening. A few months ago I fitted a decoder into the yellow 08. This was a sound decoder I’d picked up for effectively £40 when buying a new 08 chassis for a customer project. I was somewhat concerned though about reliability of a small 0-6-0 chassis at exhibitions - and so for the second 08, this RSS example, I have fitted both another Farish sound decoder but also a Lais small rectangle/cube stay alive in the cab. This wasn’t as hard as others have made out! I just cut off the metal part of the body casting at the cab slot, and glued the cab to the body. This thing transforms play value - check out the video by clicking on the image…

Earlier in the week I went exploring for more photo locations and whilst the light isn’t great in this shot of the steel train, I do like the puddles and contrast in the field and the nearly side on un-cluttered view of the train. Perhaps one to return to on a brighter day? Seeing the prototype humbly power through this wide landscape put me in mind of how timeless our railways can be… steel moving steel. Not forever, but for a long time, the motive power and stock have evolved but the train still runs… still doing what rail does best.

Wednesday I launched Ribbons to the email subscription list. Yesterday I shared it here and on Facebook, and whilst there is no ‘fixed’ print run in mind, I’m hoping we can do about 400 copies this time. That means as of this morning I’ve sold 20% of the run already. I’m overwhelmed once more by the support and thank each and every one of you. If you have a friend who saw your copy last time but missed out on their own, perhaps you could let them know. Equally if you have a website, blog or forum thread, you could post about it there - I’m relying on word of mouth about this project, I think that speaks volumes and will help establish what Ribbons is really all about. Our model railway community. 

First steam trains in the valley since the Mince Pie specials will see the pannier 7754 out on two 3 train running days this weekend. I will get out and take some photos, and I’ve been invited by good friend and Co-editor of the trust magazine, Terry, for a catch up between trains on Sunday. At home, I’m hopeful I can move a few personal projects forwards - and continue to enjoy shuttling the Isle of Wight 03 childishly up and down a length of flex track in the workshop. The small things, we shouldn’t under estimate just how important they can be… whatever your plans are for the weekend I hope they involve some of our favourite hobby. Until next time, more soon…

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