Saturday Film Club: A German planning dispute

Just a short film this week, but one that might inspire a tiny model railway. JF take note!

Doodlebug railcar

Bought because it was both interesting and cheap a couple of years ago, the photos of this US prototype railcar have been sitting in the pending pile for an appearance on the blog for a while. Moving the box it lives in to find something in the maturing cupboard reminded me I really ought to post them.

The model is a Bachmann Spectrum product in HO and that's pretty much all I know. I'm sure I read the name "doodlebug" and a web search tells me I'm right.

Looking at photos, I think this was built by Pullman and Electro-Motive Corporation for use on lightly loaded branch lines (short lines?) and as such, can run singly, even though it has a corridor connection.

In the collection is an HO Shay and, possibly due to the influence of Scale Trains during my formative modelling years, a tiny US based layout has always been in the back of my mind. A long way back, but there is something about some of those early diesels - and there is some very impressive American modelling out there.

Garden Rail October 2019

Sometimes, as a magazine editor, you have to take a little bit of a risk with the contents. This is why alongside Callum Wilcox's lovely garden railway and Dave's piece on weatherproof buildings (using methods that hadn't occurred to me) we have building a Jabberwock rail crane. 

Weird? Yes.

Art? Probably.

Interesting? I think so. 

If that doesn't float your boat, well there's tram building, modifying a Manx brake van, mending a Garratt and building a chapel. Something for everyone I hope.

Annoyingly, there is a  mistake on the Elsecar preview. Although the date is right, unaccountably, I said it's Sunday, not Saturday. If you go, please don't turn up a day late!

Full contents listing on RMweb with video.

Warehouse Wednesday: Stone warehouse

Last week I said that it was nice that industrial buildings hadn't all been converted to apartments on the Isle of Man, well not all of them anyway. 

This is in the back streets of Ramsey, near the Coop supermarket. There obviously has been some conversion work done, but not on the back or side. Looking at the Google Streetview shot, it appears to be a work in progress - I hope so,  I can't see the residents being too keen on a lack of windows.

Although made of the local stone, there has been some repair in brick. Presumably, this was easier or cheaper for the builder. Modelling that would be difficult unless you scribed the whole building in plaster or foam. It's an interesting splash of colour in the middle of the grey Manx stone.

Large scale re-railer

I love a simple, but useful kit. Spotted at Llanfair is this re-railer kit from Timpdon Models. For a fiver (yes, I paid for mine), you get a selection of laser-cut plywood and MDF parts.

Being a bit busy, the kit was passed to my Dad for assembly and he reports that 5 minutes with some PVA glue were enough to complete the work. Although there is an exploded diagram, you don't really need it as everything slots together perfectly.

A couple sanding sealer coats protect the bare woodwork from damp and dirt - this is going to be used outside after all. I chose the 45mm gauge version, but a 32mm kit is also available.

This isn't the first re-railing ramp in the world, but it is cheap, and short. Only 23.5cm long, it's ideal for more confined spaces and should prove useful for an aged parent who finds putting stuff on the track tricky when leaning over plants.