Barclay 0-4-0T

I've an etched loco kit project lined up for the very near future and since the last one I built was quite a while ago, I thought I'd better get a bit of practise in with the soldering iron.

And I'd had this kit kicking around for many, many years and just fancied getting it built.

Branchlines 0-4-0T "Peacock" for O16.5 isn't a real loco. The prototype it's based on was from the Beckton Gasworks system, which as you'll probably know, was standard gauge. There is a nice photo of the loco nearest this design here.

The designer of this model took inspiration from Chris Peacock's layout "Calstock Quay" which features some scratchbuilt versions. They have used the standard gauge loco as a guide and scaled the proportions down to suit a narrow gauge model.

In the box, bought from Motor City Books in Oxford when it existed, contains lots of etched bits, some whitemetal and lost-wax cast brass. Romford wheels and a Tenshodo motor finish the package. I paid a long forgotten bargain price for this but think the kit is still available from Branchlines.

First impressions are good - the etched bits are cleanly done. We get brass and nickel silver. The cast brass parts are sharp, as are the whitemetal. Several pages of instructions are in the modest (too small for the finisehed model) box and include exploded diargams for those who can't be bothered to read.