A small amount of progress has been made since the last progress report in September. As I have a full time job, I tend to be on tick-over until the holiday periods when I then have an opportunity for some more intensive activity. Three recent developments have taken place; the production of a set of six open wagons made from resin castings, a station building for Bulkeley Station - a modification of a children's toy (Playskool Koala Brothers' Homestead) and the purchase of a rather fine s/h loco.
Open wagons
I felt that open wagons should be the mainstay of the goods stock for the Peckforton Railway. As my line has many similarities with both the Southwold and the Welshpool & Llanfair railways it seemed that the rural location would require a fair amount of coal, agricultural and general goods traffic. The Southwold Railway had a fleet of 19 open wagons (not inc PO wagons) yet only two covered vans, while the W&L had 40 open wagons (not including PO wagons) and four vans. Having already accumulated and constructed five closed vans but only four open wagons, I realised I was going to need a considerable increase in the number of open wagons if my railway was going to reflect anything like realistic practice in freight handling.
I decided to create a mould for casting the ends and sides of open wagons which I then attached to Hartland Loco Works chassis.
For more detailed information on how I made the wagons see - How I made my third batch of open wagons.
A station building for £5.50
Previously I had made station buildings for all but one of the stations on the line from T&M resin kits (see How I assembled the station buildings). For the missing building I decided to adopt a different approach by modifying a readymade children's toy which I bought on eBay for £5.50.
For more details on how this conversion was completed see How I made a Station Building.
A new loco for the railway
An unplanned trip to Garden Railway Specialists while on a weekend in London resulted in an an unexpected and opportune purchase of a rather fine 2-4-0 Barclay tank loco.
Its origins are uncertain but there is some suggestion (from fellow modellers on the G Scale Central website) that it might be based on a former GRS kit. It needs a little tidying-up and a repaint in PLR livery, but it is a welcome addition to the line.
Open wagons
I felt that open wagons should be the mainstay of the goods stock for the Peckforton Railway. As my line has many similarities with both the Southwold and the Welshpool & Llanfair railways it seemed that the rural location would require a fair amount of coal, agricultural and general goods traffic. The Southwold Railway had a fleet of 19 open wagons (not inc PO wagons) yet only two covered vans, while the W&L had 40 open wagons (not including PO wagons) and four vans. Having already accumulated and constructed five closed vans but only four open wagons, I realised I was going to need a considerable increase in the number of open wagons if my railway was going to reflect anything like realistic practice in freight handling.I decided to create a mould for casting the ends and sides of open wagons which I then attached to Hartland Loco Works chassis.
For more detailed information on how I made the wagons see - How I made my third batch of open wagons.A station building for £5.50
Previously I had made station buildings for all but one of the stations on the line from T&M resin kits (see How I assembled the station buildings). For the missing building I decided to adopt a different approach by modifying a readymade children's toy which I bought on eBay for £5.50.
For more details on how this conversion was completed see How I made a Station Building.A new loco for the railway
An unplanned trip to Garden Railway Specialists while on a weekend in London resulted in an an unexpected and opportune purchase of a rather fine 2-4-0 Barclay tank loco.
Its origins are uncertain but there is some suggestion (from fellow modellers on the G Scale Central website) that it might be based on a former GRS kit. It needs a little tidying-up and a repaint in PLR livery, but it is a welcome addition to the line.
