The Engines & Stock

Engines & Stock

The 'Blue' simplex is a model of a straight chanel frame simplex 20 HP petrol tractor. These were a later version of the wartime machines ( see green Simplex).

This was my first O14 loco and had many hours of use on lynton Rd. Built from the wrightlines kit it has received a new KB scale chassis curbing it's supersonic tendancies.

The Alexander Chaplin contractors Loco. Originally I built one as the spare narrow gauge loco for Lynton Rd. This has a scratch built chassis (all fits below the footplate) under a Smallbrook studios Etna body kit. Prototype information proved hard to find, particuarly for narrow gauge varients, so what lies below the footplate is largly guesswork. Mashima 10 series motor, high level models 108/1 gearbox OO gauge coach wheels.

With Twa Dale I thought it would be good to have 1 class of locomotives plus visitors so purchased further Etna bodies. Eventually I got round to Bulding them.

To desinguish the 3 engines I had Nameplates etched (Narrow Planet). As the first Loco had become known as 'The Alex' it became Alex. Given the Chaplin connection Charlie just had to be. The letter in between is B so Bee it was. The later locomotives have Mashima 1424 motors with flywheels mounted vertically in the bolier driving via a high level models 108 / 1 gearbox.

Dick Kerr Petrol Electric. Built from Worsley Works scratch aid etch with a scratch built chassis. 500 were built (half by Westinghouse & half by Dick Ker& Co) for the WW1 trench railways & intended to work with a tramway style overhead electric supply. The overhead electric system never came into use so ran on their own auxiliary generator set.

Model Has a mashima12 series motor, big flywheel, High level models 108 / 1 gearbox &, Gibson OO tender wheels.

Diema DS50. An impulse purchase, saw it bought it, researched it & found it was far to modern for me.

A usefull spare and I still like it. This is a GRA models body kit which I mounted on a Bullant motor bogie. Finding a man I could physically fit in the compact cab took quite a while.

The 'Green' simplex. This was built from the Nigel Lawton kit which makes a super little model of a WW1 simplex 20HP (bow frame) petrol tractor. The originals were produced in large numbers for the trench railways. Open, Semi & fully armoured versions were produced in 20 & 40 HP varients.

Kerr Stuart 30HP Deisel. Another Worsly product. These were produced in the Late 1920's along with the larger 6 wheeled versions. Only 4 of the smaller loco's were made.

Chassisis scrachbult round a high level models quad driver unit with mashima 10 series motor.

Ford Railtruck. A branchlines kit for a ford Model T based rail truck. I botched narrowing the gearbox for O14 and had never got this running satisfactoraly. Now pushed along either as a pilot engine or by the powered wagon used for the horse.

Plate Frame Simplex. A later varient of the simplexe's this time withthe luxury of a cab. Wrightlines kit on the KB scale chassis. The chassis is not made for this kit and KB Scale will tell you it does not fit. Can be done but leaves the motor rather visable to the front, so I added the joyriding shunter. A week later I was given a dvd which showed someone doing just this on one of these :)

Muir Hill Fordson. A Non minstire Kit on the wrightlines B102 chassis (used to be under my blue simplex) I was intending to build it with the canopy but this made it a little top heavy. The overhangs are too long to use for shunting and the 'lively' chassis is better on the main line.

Lister RT built from the KB scale kit. If only I could have got the end of the drivers cigarette to glow !

Quarry Hunslett. It taken several years to get completed, put to one side for quicker builds ( Bee and Charlie) some constructional challenges plus working away from home but Finally Puff is ready for service. Mercian models kit modified to take a mashima 1424 with a108 to 1 high level models gearbox.

Ready to be started :

Baldwin Petrol Tractor

Kerr Start Wren Cass

Pecket Tank (040);

So bordom is some way off

There are some Mercian wagon kits but newer stock is from Slimrails kits, Although I tested the curve coupling combination with 2 Mercian wagons it has proved troublesome in use & the shorter wheelbase of the slimrails wagons avoids most coupling lock issues. A few KB scale skips & simmilar are also in use.

Wagons that are shunted have DG 7mm auto couplings fitted. Others have the Duncan Bodge, or DB coupling. A simple loop of wire one end and a hook the other.