Fitting Out

Front fittings on the Decauville 042T

Since its outing to ExpoNG last weekend, the Weidknecht Decauville has acquired its smokebox door fittings and cylinder appendages. I thought I'd lost the lamp bracket, which is one of the problems about painting something dark brown over all: what once was shiny brass disappeared into the background.

The next thing to do is to fit the brake gear and vacuum pipes, and this brings the whole enterprise nearly to an end. It will be nice to have not only a complete engine but one that is in its finished colours. Probably the longest bit of work remaining is attaching John's couplings (Zamzoodled) which means that I'll probably soon be returning to my 4-wheel toastrack carriage so that they match.

Bits 'n' Pieces



Hang on t' brass, lad!

The insignificant objects in the picture are significant in my modelling. On the right is a valve wheel off the 'small dome' of my 042T Weidknecht Decauville. It has appeared before, which in a way is why it appears again now: I decided I was unhappy with the amount of solder defacing it and its 3 companions. So at ExpoNG last year I loitered at the Meridian Models stand and bought myself a Meriparts bag of assorted wheels. Last weekend the original offenders were removed and replaced with what I hope are a better testament to my soldering abilities.

The object on the left is, or was intended to be, a replacement crank for the same loco. It is 4.5mm long and links a rod from the loco cab to the steam dome. Again I was unhappy with the huge blob of solder that was my initial effort at fixing it. The picture shows my first attempt at crafting a replacement crank, fashioned from a spare bit of fret. As I was holding it in a pair of tweezers and bring the soldering iron towards it: 'ping'! It was lost.

From the depths of somewhere rose a calmness that threw me: I didn't swear. I simply picked up the brass fret and made another part which as it turns out was better than this one. This one, by the way, turned up as I was cleaning off my workbench in preparation for visitors (one of the problems of modelling in the spare bedroom).

The significance for my modelling is that I've tended previously to depend solely on kits as they are. When I've spoiled a part in the past, it has either been disregarded or the entire kit given up on. When I eventually finish this loco, I may be a step nearer tackling a scratch-build than I expected.

Conventional Wisdom



Monkey Island, 1908

John invited me to help out with an 014 stand at the 2011 7mm Narrow Gauge Association Convention and AGM at Burton on Trent last weekend. We had much interest: he at his end of the table with his DCC-operated L&B couplings and a 'garnet' or 'gaggle' of Garrat K1 engines, and me at my end with my expletive-ridden attempts at making plain track.

K1 Appreciation

I took along a diorama of Monkey Island, Barnstaple, which I’d made for the purpose. As the track base I was making slots in to a channel, there were a few comments about the canal scene! The trees on the model are rescued from the 0-16,5 Barnstaple Town that Steve and I had ... so were out in public for the first time in 17 years.

Some visitors to our stand were just getting into, or returning to, the hobby. These are good targets for persuading to model in 014, as they usually don’t carry any baggage – such as a hundreds of pounds worth of 0-16,5 motive power they don't want to re-wheel.

My track-building was so-so, but I learned a lot. A diarama is better for learning on than a full-fledged layout.

We were invited to return to the 2012 Convention, although we suggested that every other year would work better. Maybe next time I’ll actually have a layout rather than a diorama to display.

Ah well, back to the Weidknecht Decauville ...

Switching Tracks

Earlier this week, I transformed my test track into a DCC service track. Inspired by Nigel Burkin (2008), A Practical Introduction to Digital Command Control for Railway Modellers, Ramsbury: Crowood, I simply inserted a centre-off DPDT switch and an extra cable. The original cable is now the program cable, and the extra one the DCC power cable. Both are fitted with plugs to fit my ZTC 511 control system.

The next task will be to actually fit a decoder to one of my locos, and I’ve chosen the Weidknecht Decauville because of its run-in RTR chassis.