Even today, locomotives want a small amount of dry sand for traction. All my resources are tacit about where they kept engine sand in Pembroke in 1905. There is also zero information about the purpose of the third stall in the roundhouse.
For years, I’ve thought there was probably a pile of sand somewhere and a small bunker inside the roundhouse where it would dry out, and probably be sifted for weeds. Then, while the roundhouse was off getting a new floor, and I was considering the location of the bunker, I noticed there is a large space between the second stall and the mysterious third stall. Putting zero and zero together, I reasoned that perhaps one of the uses of the third stall was to unload sand. I don’t imagine there would have been more than a few carloads of sand per year, but there was certainly room.
The roundhouse floor has now sprouted a lumpy styrofoam rectangle, with a wooden bunker around it. This provides a reason to very occasionally push a gondola into the roundhouse, and also resolves the mystery of engine sand.
Starting to transfer the track plan from my head, and the planning software, into the real world. Depth of the "scenic" part (red line) quite constrained by the depth of the fiddle yard behind it. But should be okay. #ModelRailway
It's not the right colours for 1983-86 but I need something to scoot about to make sure the track lays properly, and I can always sell it on or repaint it.
Also congratulations to the supplier for using just the right amount of packaging.
Rail painting is now finished, so I took the 08 for a spin to see if it still worked. After some scrubbing and scraping I got nice smooth running. Next step is to glue the track down.
Nearly there. Lots of little railway coach bogies, 32 altogether. The stack at the rear have the step boards attached, those at the front still to go. Then to think about painting things without gumming all the suspension up.
I’m going to give myself a weekend off to celebrate getting over this #DayJob hurdle.
Treated myself to a new #wagon this week for my British micro-layout.
I love the utility of a basic, unfitted (no train brakes) 12 ton van!
This is an old Dapol model and originally from #Beatties - remember them?
Tada! Here is the completed load on the flat car. I think it turned out pretty well. I learned a few things that I would do differently next time, mostly trying to be more careful to keep the things straight and more unform (but not too uniform).
It was suggested, so here we are - some work in progress images of a current commission of 16 1/76th scale Great Eastern Railway coaches. They are all etched brass kits, requiring a great deal of forming and soldering.