Here's a picture of three of the trailers finished. The upper woodwork has been stained, chassis painted, mudguards fitted, brake rods and rear lights fitted. The buttons worked out fairly well for the wheels I thought.
Since taking this picture I realise that I have to add support legs for the front of the trailer for when it is disconnected from the prime mover. Ah well, what's one more todo on the never ending list.
Good point but in this case they would have been brown anyway, and I prefer the stain to paint.
Well here's the trailer with legs, at the second go I might add. The first support posts were where they are now but held only by a security clamp so that when the clamp was released the leg fell to the floor and then the clamp was tightened to hold it in place. Simple but effective. Fine until the first bloke to try it, Charley by name, released the clamp and managed to get his foot underneath the post as it dropped, nasty. Back to the drawing board so now we have the legs held on a ratchet and pawl which is operated by the wheels that you can see. Ten times more expensive but at least the leg comes down slowly and you have to stand in front of the wheel to operate it, hence legs and feet out of the way.
Well here they are folks, for better or for worse. Four of the five mechanical horses in action on Barchester. Just a couple of things to do to finish them off. The first thing is to make and fit better headlights and the second to buy some drivers and get them installed. At the moment the drivers are out of their cabs assisting with the loading and unloading of goods, or maybe attending to nature. :wink:
The first picture shows work going on in the Goods Yard.
This second picture is noteworthy for the fact that apart from the plastic figures and the crane everything is scratch built. You can see how the Sculpey polymer has been used to make sacks, the card pallets, string coiled ropes, washer life savers, card barge and all it's fittings, card horses cart, paper and card rear warehouses, card doors, plastic windows, the card jetty, everything.
I don't say this in any way to magnify anything I may have achieved but to show those who hesitate about scratchbuilding that if they will just take the first simple steps then they can have a model railway that will be unlike any other. A unique and very satisfying thing in it's own right.
Finally we are back in the timber yard where two of the models are being kept occupied.
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