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Here I go again .... another bl**dy locomotive. I promised myself after spending many years (off and on) with my Flying Scotsman that I'd never make that mistake again. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions they say. Growing up as a wee lad in Fife Scotland in the 40's through to 1951 when we emigrated to Canada I was enamoured with steam engines ... the bigger the better. I saw and travelled behind many an A3 and A4 and on my trainspotting days my favourite place to be was on an embankment across from the local station. Frequently engines would arrive, detach from their train and shunt down a siding right below me to take on water from the stand. I've never forgotten the feeling of being there marvelling at these wonderful, machines, feeling the radiant heat, hearing the panting of the air pump and smelling the smoke and steam. Ah, the glory days. Of the LNER big Gresleys most I saw were of the A1 through A3 classes but then one day I saw the most wonderful looking machine imaginable to a young lad. Union of South Africa passed our home where we lived on the 3rd floor and I heard that unique chime whistle as she arrived in Dunfermline fresh from Edinburgh and the Forth Bridge. 60009 always had a special place in my memories no matter how many other A4's I saw and, as an Edinburgh (Haymarket) engine, I saw her often. Fast forward 70 years and here I am, still enthralled with 60009 and watching every YouTube video of her. Only recently I've read that she is about to be retired and that she will be coming home to Fife to reside in a purpose built museum ... I hope I can see her one more time. So, after waxing all poetic about A4's, there's only one logical step I can take and that's to have a go at scratch building one ... Makes sense don't you think? Should be a piece of cake. I've selected a set of A4 drawings off the web, scanned them, enlarged them to my scale*, printed them off then glued them to various cardboard and plastic backings. I'm using my usual Renshape composite material to shape the body. The tender, when I get to it, will mostly be made up from Arborite or Formica sample panels and the motion will be aluminium salvaged from various electronics, computers, cameras and whatever. Off we go .... * It's just going to be an ornament on a shelf. 22" buffer to buffer, same as my Flying Scotsman. Get over it! Here's my rough bandsawed block of Renshape. It's a start. Lots of power tools gets it soon down to a recognizable shape ... and that iconic swoopy footplate is cut out and attached. Body filler applied and sanded out ... Kylchap double exhaust roughed out, shaped and filler applied. I mounted the model on a board so that it's at the correct height so I can check the shape with a plastic cutout template. It really helps to have the model sitting at the correct height and attitude. Next I rough out the cab. The sides are fabricated from Arborite/Formica sample panels which I like as they are so flat and strong. The roof is cut from a sheet of steel salvaged from stereo equipment. Bent it slowly to shape over a block that I shaped into a template. Lots of cutouts and small sliders, vents etc added to it. Gradually I make more external fittings, pipework, handrails, and give it a rough coat of paint to see how she looks. OK, now onto the wheels. As with the Scotsman I made a master driving wheel and one bogie/cab/tender wheel from Renshape. Using my Dremel in a drill stand I ream out the spaces between the spokes. Once the master is finished and sanded I fastened it into a container and poured silicon over it to make a mold. I want to use machined aluminium as the wheel rim so I set that into the mold first then pour a 2 part urethane casting material into the mold. This bonds and hardens to the metal rim to make a usable wheel after some filing and sanding . Here's the small set of wheel rims and one with spokes. They will be cast in a similar method. Next I want to fabricate the fairly large spring sets that are under the cab. Since there's only one on each side I decide to fabricate both (rather than cast a pair). I made them both from scrap aluminium. There are ribbed gussets (?) on either side of the axle boxes and I found a perfect sized heat sink from a computer that let me cut out suitable gussets. Lots of hacking and hewing later I have a decent pair of springs. Mounted on a temporary backing here. So here's an "in progress" shot with her older brother the Flying Scotsman whose tender she's pinched. They don't look like it here but they ARE in the same scale. Next comes the fun part. ... fabricating all the metalwork/motion that goes with the wheels. I didn't take many pictures of making each piece as that gets boring. I have an aluminium strap that is 1" wide by 1/8th thick and almost every piece is hacksawed, filed and polished from that. The driving and connecting rods have a recess cut into their faces (a "U" shape) and I hog them out using cutting wheels on a Dremel. Lots of filing follows. It all gets bolted together using tiny bolts that I recently purchased. If I drill the hole in the aluminium slightly smaller than the bolt then I can slowly screw the bolt in such that it cuts threads and can be removed and replaced easily after that. Here's a work-in-progress shot. The Phillips bolt heads will eventually be filed flat and six-sided to look appropriate. The "body" has had the paint stripped and some fairing has been applied. Thanks for looking in. More to come. Frank

Been a while since I posted anything. My parents got me the Revell Big Boy Kit for Christmas. Interesting combination of fairly decent detail combined with handrails moulded as solid plastic fences... Anyhoo. Got here stuck together. Used the decals in the kit for number 4006 but the painting instructions seemed not quite right. If I were guessing, I would say that the painting instructions are based on 4006 as it currently stands, stuffed and mounted in St. Louis Museum of Transportation. Anyhoo, I went freelance on the paint looking at pictures of the running example 4014. Gunmetal for the 'metallic' sections of the boiler and bodywork, steel for the motion, and a variety of gloss, satin, matt blacks and anthracite. I added a bit of ochre to the motion to represent the steam oil/grease and liberally brushed clear smoke around the place. A bit of matt clear and anthracite to dirt up the top of the boiler (didn't work quite as well as I hoped, my usual struggles with milky matt clear). Unfortunately there's a broken handrail at the front, but I think I got it as far as I could. Not quite the full weathered monty of the locomotives in there prime, but more of a working locomotive with a hint of the glossy paint job underneath.

Well, I didn't notice this one coming but I'm in. With all the firsts in the world to choose from, I'm surprised how aviation this bg looks and wanted to broaden it out. I'm going with https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=109407&p=timeline which is The world's first steam locomotive, can't show you it yet as I've only just ordered it! Have to say not my first choice which was going to be the first locomotive to break the 100 mph barrier, City of Truro but Nimrod54 did this so brilliantly that I wouldn't come close, if you missed it here's his build Hunting around I came across the Airfix kit for Trevithick and a cheaper Minicraft version but that is a strange 1:38 scale while the Airfix is the more conventional 1:32, which is gauge 1 for railway modellers, so it might get a crew to attend to it. But all that to come, first I need the Postie.

Neé: 1961 LMS Kitson 0-4-0ST Boxed: 1973 Airfix 0-4-0 Saddle Tank Rehomed: 1980s Dapol BR Pug https://www.scalemates.com/kits/182057-airfix-r9-0-4-0-saddle-tank Missing front cab wall & firebox, 1 small internal lever

Some people will call me a Traitor for abandoning the sky, others will welcome me to the 'real modelers' fraternity... ...but I will build my Itty Bitty Train! Ok so it's only a Saddle Tank but I'm still holding out on finding a cheap Class 08 or 31 (or maybe others) that remind me of the days of wild abandonment - ie childhood growing up near Bescot. Problems/questions/requests: I lost the front cab wall whilst moving house, fortunately all other pieces appear present. This shouldn't be too much an issue apart as its basically a flat wall, curved top, 2 round window holes and the odds & sods attached to it. This is where the problems arise as pix seem few and far between. Is there a walkaround anywhere, or even decent internals. So far most pix cover just the upper half with nothing at firebox/floor level. I would even be happy and very grateful if someone could post pix of the relevant Airfix part for me copy, to which I can then add obvious bits from what little I have found. It certainly won't be a superdetail job, and I still have to clear a hole for it on the workbench, however by getting started maybe it won't be shelved for lack of 1 part. ... Must find a small base and a single length of track. Be nice to have it looking a little less forlorn as I find locos off the rails quite sad ... Thx in advance. D.

SLSF #1355 on open air display at Garden St, Pensacola, FL. This locomotive was built by Alco as SLSF Consolidation type (2-8-0) Class 1306 #1318 in 1912, but was converted to a Mikado type (2-8-2) at the Frisco's main Shops in West Springfield, MO, in 1945. It was one of seven SLSF Consolidations converted to Mikados by the railroad between 1943 and 1946. Pics thanks to Mike Costello.

Hi all, anyone had a crack at this kit? just pulled it out of my stash and took a closer look - does not look massively difficult but the detail seems very good. wondering if a build thread was in order... thanks, Leigh.

This is an example of a texturization technique with an H0 locomotive. You can observe its grainy rusty look.

British Rail Class 08 diesel-electric shunting locomotive. Pics thanks to Rich Ellis.

Just finished the build, my first train model try which I enjoyed building. Looks more weathered in some of the pictures than it actually is somehow. Regards...