I could go for a more realistic Wantage tram. It's not beautiful, but has charm. To do that, the chassis sides need to be opened up, some bufferbeams scratchbuilt, and several other jobs. If I'm going to do that, I don't think this kit is the ideal starting point. The finished model would always be compromised.
My original plan had been to emulate the LGB 24500 tram, but that calls for curved corners, and reducing the number of windows. This had been part of my original plan, but now I feel the vertical bars are too thin for that to look right.
There has been a lot of looking at photos in leiu of modelling and I've come to a conclusion - I just need to get this thing built. All this thinking has meant that when I could find a bit of modelling time, I've no enthusiasm.
So, the windows stay. I'll paint the body green, and the skirts maroon(ish). We'll have side tanks to give the battery and Loco Remote somewhere to live. And I'll get the tram built, ideally so I can run it at the NGRS in a couple of weeks time.
Watch this space.
5 comments:
These new Hornby Bluetooth decoders I think would make good controllers for small garden railway locos. You get sound as well all in a small package. You just need to make sure the motor does not draw more than 1Amp. A coreless motor could be used and these very cheap Chinese motor gearbox combinations are ideal as they have a small motor and are very powerful. I would use a 9 volt rechargeable battery for power. I intend to try this in a Slaters Quarry Hunslet if I can make it fit also there DeWinton. I made this RC years ago using a servo amp to drive it but it could all be updated now.
Alec
Alec - I agree. I think this is a really interesting product, and have a feeling that people will start to hack it to replace the capacitor with a battery. Maybe Hornby even has that in mind for future releases?
As an interim, the Playtrains range could yield some very nice infra-red controllers that would be perfect for the job.
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Phil
You speak of being in a "bit of a quandary". Perhaps it would be helpful to analyse why that is the case.
And I would suggest the answer is simple - the Boot Lane kit offers a narrow gauge locomotive "inspired by" an unusual Hughes prototype that ran on an idiosyncratic standard gauge line. In narrow gauge form there is no need for the side buffers.
Consider the issue of the skirts over the wheels.
The Wantage Tramway did not find them necessary on this particular locomotive. It did have skirts on another tram loco (No 6), but also used non-tramway style locomotives (the George England and the Manning Wardle) without them.
This might be understood to raise issues of a relaxed approach to what would now be styled "Health and Safety", but perhaps not. Unlike many steam tramway lines in Britain, the Wantage was not an urban line. It ran from the junction with the GWR to the edge of the town - it was a roadside tramway rather than a street tramway. (Granted that would have changed had the proposal to extend the line the short distance from the terminus into the market square been enacted. But the idea was abandoned probably because of the sharp radius bend and steep gradient that would have been needed.)
*****
What you are doing is of course to take a freelance kit and make it more so to your own taste.
Having built a number of freelance (sometimes "inspired by") tramway locomotives in somewhat smaller scales may I suggest that the important thing to do is to make some logical decisions as to how a machine like your model would have been operated.
[1] How would the locomotive be worked? Would it require a two man crew, or would a single man be sufficient.
[2] From where on the footplate would it have been driven? Would it be solely from the rear, or from which ever end was leading, or (as in the case of many Dutch locomotives) from the side?
[3] That in turn raises the issue of where and how the locomotive would have been fired - from the rear of the firebox or the side?
[4] And then there would be the position of the controls: at the back end only, a duplicate set at the front, or a single set at the side?
[5] Whatever the driving position the need for clear and uninterrupted forward vision for the driver would be important.
[6] These considerations will define access to the interior of the locomotive - where will the doors be placed?
[7] Whatever the style and type of the tank - saddle tank, side tank, well tank, or combination thereof - how would it be filled? How would the bag, the pipe, the hose from the water tank or crane deliver the water into and through the encased bodywork?
[8] Similarly would be the matter of fuel. Would there be a bunker - or simply a sack of coal on the floor?
*****
I shall continue to follow your progress with this locomotive and look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Christopher Payne
These are all valid points. It may well be that I now know too much, and nothing but a scratchbuild would satisfy me totally now, and possibly only of a prototype.
What I'm doing, is gently tweaking the kit and sticking it together. Some mods, but not many as it's more important to get the thing finished and working. I'm a little further ahead on the build and like the way it looks. And I have the satisfaction of finishing the model.
There is another element, probably related to my job - I'm interested in following the manufacturer's lead and seeing where we end up. They have done a lot of thinking to make my life easier. It's useful, and interesting, to follow that. Then when asked to comment on the kit, I can be fair, as I won't have tried too hard to mess with the build.
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