Friday, August 24, 2018

A big, red locomotive for the garden

Walt Disney Loco

I do my best to resist buying things sometimes. When I saw this G scale Disney locomotive for sale on a second-hand stall, I managed to drag myself away.I really did. But a couple of hours later, it was still there. For £20. A proper Walt Disney loco. Now MY proper Walt Disney loco. 

There is a little method in my madness. The loco does come with waggly bits on the outside. Overall, it's not a bad looking thing if you ignore the gold. And red. There are a sensible number of wheels including the pony ones at the front. It runs on 45mm gauge track.

Big Red Loco

Oh, and it makes noises. And smoke if I top up the reservoir in the chimney with baby oil. The light on the front works too. 

OK, it's a bit kitsch, but I might have a use for just such a loco later in the year, or perhaps next year. Long term, I think some basic detailing work, sorting out the tender chassis which I don't like, LGB couplings and a repaint will make for a fun beast. Radio control would be nice too, but nothing expensive. 

Oddly, a few days after I got this back home, an article arrived for Garden Rail which included photos of one of these on the authors layout. I'm not the only one!

2 comments:

  1. The colour isnt totally off, being quite basic for the 19th century.

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  2. I ran mine (or is it my wife's?) on Mike Walton's Formby Gorge. A couple of problems as the loading gauge seems to be bigger than what usually runs there.
    The set it came with includes 2 passenger cars and figures of crew and passenger, plus a loop of plastic track.
    Conductor Goofy is now checking trains at the Grizzly Flats station.

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