In my last progress report, I complained about the weather. It certainly hasn't improved since then; two weeks of freezing temperatures, followed by another weeks of rain. This hasn't been entirely conducive to running trains out in the garden, but it has encouraged me to spend a fair amount of time in the workshop.
Most of this time indoors has been spent drawing, printing and constructing a Schull and Skibbereen locomotive using the Bachmann Lyn motor block from the battery conversion described in my last Progress Report.
In between waiting for glue and paint to set, I spent a few hours cataloguing my YouTube videos of the PLR and shooting a short intro to my railway for a short TV news item on the railway.
Schull & Skibbereen loco
The drawings were produced using TinkerCAD, which is an online 3D drawing tool which is very easy to use and, with some imagination and a bit of dexterity, is capable of producing quite detailed 3D drawings.
The body is based on a three foot gauge 4-4-0T Nasmyth & Wilson locomotive which ran on the Schull and Skibbereen Railway in Ireland.
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| Source: https://durrushistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/07-img_4667.jpg |
The chassis was based on another Schull & Skibbereen Railway locomotive (an 0-4-4T) which was more suited to the Bachmann Lyn motor block which has outside frames and fly cranks. Unfortunately, I can't find a copyright free photo of this loco, so you'll have to take my word for it.
After printing out the various parts, .....
..... they were assembled and painted to produce which I think is an attractive and slightly different type of locomotive to those already in existence on the PLR.
There's still a bit more detailing to do - more pipework, nameplates, number plates and makers' plates. She is powered by three 18650 li-ion cells and controlled via a Deltang Rx65c receiver/controller. She is also equipped with a MyLocoSound Universal Steam soundcard. For more information see How I constructed a Schull & Skibbereen (ish) 0-4-4T loco - pending
Southwold Cleminson open wagon
I have finished constructing the Southwold Railway 6-wheel Cleminson open wagon but am not at all happy with its undercarriage. I decided to try a different design for the centre truck from that I used on the passenger coach, but it has not been as successful as I hoped. Although it overcomes the need to widen the centre truck to cope with tight curves, the truck is less well supported and so flops around dramatically until it is placed on the track. I will need to go back to the drawing board to find some sort of compromise.
Video catalogue analysis
After trawling through dozens of the 103 videos which I have so far produced and uploaded to YouTube featuring the PLR, I decided to catalogue every video showing which locomotives, trains and locations they portrayed, using a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
As well as showing the content for each video, I added a simple analysis of the frequency of occurrences of each loco, train and location, which proved fascinating.
As you can see, Peckforton Station seems to be my favourite location and some locos appear far more frequently than others. I will try to address these imbalances in my future videos.
The PLR on TV
At the end of each week on out local BBC TV News programme, there has been a short item on activities which viewers have been involved with during the most recent Coronavirus lockdown. After alerting the producers to some of my YouTube videos, I was contacted by the presenter who asked if I could shoot a short introduction to camera for inclusion in their next broadcast.
I hope my short item will encourage others to venture out into the garden ......
The hours of daylight are now lengthening and the weather seems to be improving slightly. I am becoming impatient for getting outside to make some improvements to the trackwork at Bulkeley and Beeston Castle stations which challenge my six-wheel Cleminson ex-Southwold Railway coach. Also, I want to give my new ex Southwold goods stock a proper run.
Fingers crossed ......
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