November 2021

This month our featured image is the late Bob O’s Wills T9 on a Perseverance chassis (so correct 10′ wheelbase) with Escap motor and gearbox driving the rear axle. Weathered, with Sharman wheels and compensated on the Sharman principle some 30 years ago – somewhat ahead of its time. Destined to go to a new home within the club for a lot of TLC. It’s very likely to feature on the ‘Western Thunder’ forum at some point!

Jim’s 2mm Freightliner wagons are making steady progress. The 40 bogies are now finished and painted but the lattice work of the wagon etches need completing and a means of fixing said bogies to said wagons needs firming up – 12BA nuts into bolts or 12BA bolts into nuts!

Top left are the 10 Worsley Works “simple” etches. They need bogie mounting points adding, plus some form of brake cylinders etc. Top right are the more complex Stephen Harris etches which have still to be finished. For example, bottom left are two folded etches that create kerb rails that need soldering onto the sides. When they are done, there are a further 18 like them! On the track are two Worsley Works etches that Jim acquired from a fellow modeller some years ago. For some reason, he chose to ignore the marks and put the bogie pivots much nearer the buffer beams – and used the wrong bogies! The former can be changed – the latter can’t as Jim has no spare correct bogies.

Gate-crashing the photo is the brilliant new Hunslet shunter from the N Gauge Society. It comes provided with a DCC chip, and just (!) needs the wheels turning down or changing for 2mm finescale ones.

Steve’s 00 Gauge Wills T9 ‘for a friend’ continues to progress. The upended ‘power pod’ is shown above with brake gear and sand pipes fitted. The SEF 00 chassis spacing is exceptionally wide for 00 Gauge and there is very little room round the wheels. Good for footplates, but bad for running clearances! The drive is an HLK RoadRunner paired with a HLK (High Level Kits) 1219 coreless motor. Whilst this is a superb combination on straight DC, it did very odd things when tested with a donated black Gaugemaster controller – it seems that black Gaugemaster’s come with feedback control!

The super-detailed face of the loco is above, with scratchbuilt bufferbeam courtesy of the superb GW Models riveting tool, and a delicate home made ‘Daddyman Dart’. The smokebox door clamps and dart are correctly positioned for 30314. Good proportions really help the Wills T9 which responds well to such treatment. More details can be found on the Western Thunder build thread linked in the last post.

John M continues with his Great Eastern D16/3. He says: “The vacuum brake exhaust pipe has been fitted. The vertical copper pipe is to drain any condensation in the pipe. When releasing the brakes after a station stop, without a drain, the condensate would go up the sooty chimney and shower black water in the surrounding area. The handrail knobs on the left side of the loco have also been fitted. These complete that side of the loco except items that also concern the cab such as windows.”

Dom has started construction of the signal box locking room for Coombe Town. It is based on the original at Crowcombe on the West Somerset Railway, the one that featured in “A Hard Day’s Night”.

In 0 Gauge, Halsdon Road (now booked for Taunton Rail-Ex 2022), has had a small extension featuring a multi-storey car park and a couple of S&T men admiring their new cabling.

Also in 7mm scale the beginnings of the farmyard module for Evercreech New with the foundation for Prestleigh Lane in front of it. The problems of compression in large scale model railway layouts may well come home to roost on this one!

Dave S is helping the N Gauge Group with new baseboards for the fiddle yard of “The Bank”. Built in genuine Poplar ply the result is shown below – they look strong enough for Gauge 1, let alone N, and are surprisingly light! The Overton sign is Jim’s. It was purchased on impulse from the late lamented Collectors Corner, and travelled home first class on the Manchester Pullman!

Bringing up the rear, the extensive fiddle yard of Yeovil Town under its super new covers, but apparently bereft of trains. In 00 Gauge and DCC controlled, layout operation will be fully automated.