Non-revenue rolling stock

The Matchbox side tippers have been removed from their frames. These were then used, with coffee stirrers and card, to build four very tatty drop-bottom gondolas for non-revenue service. This could be anything from delivering loco coal and removing ash to carrying ballast and other materials to work sites. For the most time these wagons will be stabled out of the way at the end of the Cuarto de Pulgada holding siding.

The first of the Matchbox skip bodies was used as an experiment to see how the recently acquired Tri-ang coach bogies can be attached, not just for these four wagons but also for the planned Gnomy conversions due some time in June.

To that end I photographed each stage for reference so the process can be repeated easily.

Four short lengths of coffee stirrer were used with two full sticks to get a centre beam deep enough for the body to ride to clear of the wheels.

The die cast body was centred on the bogie and glued in position.

A veranda was added at each end, in theory for staff access but in practice to give the wagon sufficient length for couplers to be attached.

Solebars were added then the centre beam was trimmed to length. With hindsight it would have been easier to trim the centre beam before adding the solebars.

The headstocks were then glued in place. That’s as far as it goes for now, when I get round to fitting couplers the four car set will have tension locks internally and Kadees at the outer ends. As these skips are slightly smaller than the Gnomys will be they will also be used for non-revenue service, mainly as ballast tippers. With the mixed couplers they can easily be combined with the drop-bottom gondolas to create a quite lengthy civil engineer’s train.

Anyhow, that’s one down and three to go.

Then a dozen Gnomys for revenue service next month.

They will only need working on as far as the centre beams though because the verandas, solebars and headstocks will already be present as parts of the bodywork. I am hoping the skip chassis is the same as that of the Gnomy caboose. I can’t see why it shouldn’t be because both the caboose and the skip have separate upper and lower body parts. If this is the case the Tri-ang bogies are near enough a perfect match for the wheelbase.

The four car sets of Gnomy skips will replace mineral trains of two hopper cars. They’ll be about the same length but a train of four wagons looks longer than two.

The colours will be muted but retained as they are perfect for Sierra Oculta which has a blue and yellow flag, very similar to that of Cheshire but with a red star instead of a sword.

Backstage pass

In common with my other Ferronor Division micro layouts Antequera uses cassettes for the off stage arrangements. The rat’s nest on the left confirms that the layout can be used for normal operation as well as puppet rods. I really should get round to tidying up the wiring (next time I’m in the mood for barbequed fingertips).

For normal, ie railcar, operation short cassettes suffice but the stop block can be removed and a longer cassette can be utilised when loco haulage is called for.

Neither was in use earlier today and a rail replacement bus provided the morning service to San Fernandez between Antequera and Sangriento.

The line was reopened by lunchtime and the first train of the day was worked by Forney No.4 and the tourist excursion set.

Note how the passengers are still shunning the new bogie coach, probably something to do with its strong aroma of fresh paint. Also note the absence of non-railway buildings, as with some other FCPyF stations Antequera is nowhere near the town it is supposed to serve. The locals are hardy folk and think nothing of an hour’s walk to catch a train, unlike the tourists on this excursion who saw absolutely no reason to get off it while the loco was running round.

This afternoon’s post saw the delivery of four more Tri-ang bogies, with thanks to fellow NGRM member Bernard Taylor.

These will be used to rebuild the four Matchbox skips, releasing their existing underframes for use under scratch built (coffee stirrer) flatcars or gondolas.

Finally for today, putting my modelling to shame, I’d like to show you this.

Incredible isn’t it? Click here to see this O scale layout.

Antequera verde

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz…

Before starting work the layout was swept with a soft brush to remove dust and small bits of debris.

Nature is seldom monochrome so three varieties of scatter were applied and secured in the usual manner by sprinkling over a coat of neat PVA then spraying with water and drizzling with diluted PVA. Old school but it works for me.

The area around the level crossing was done next, this time without the neat PVA though. Scatter was applied dry, wetted and glued. The coach has coarse scale Tri-ang wheels and was used to clear the flangeways while the glue was still wet.

Hanging basket liner was used to create low relief bushes in the background.

Grass was added in the turntable pit then the ring rail was swept clear using a small paintbrush dipped in water.

This view shows how the overgrown track looks from above, exactly what I was aiming for, but it also highlights Antequera’s long time failing, the lack of a proper backscene.

Ta-da! The backscene from Pueblo Cumbre fits the bill, or near enough.

Cynical passengers

The FCPyF’s passengers have a distrust of anything “new” because the chances are that it either hasn’t been properly tested or it has got wet paint on it.

As a result of this cynicism the tourists on this excursion insisted on riding in the old four wheelers and the conductor had the brand new bogie coach to himself. The train had come from the Ferronor Division and backed into Veinte Veinte. Forney No.4 will run round the train while the passengers get a chance to stretch their legs and use the loo before the return journey. The bogie coach will be returned to the works for painting after its trial run.

Meanwhile the C&W staff are planning a fourth tourist coach, this time a “toast rack” design with cross benches instead of longitudinal seating. Orders have been placed for 12 benches, six of which will be used on the toast rack, and 50 seated passengers which should be ample for both of the new tourist coaches with plenty left over for platform benches etc.

Also seen in the above photo, the running gear for a fleet of new side tipper wagons has been delivered to the works.

Away from the heady world of tourism Antequera has been moved downstairs to the garage so I can spruce up the scenery to give the micro layout a greener look. It started of extremely arid in appearance but got some additional grass when the fiddleyard screen was fitted.

I want to go for the overgrown look as seen below.

LBS stands for Línea Belgrano Sur, a metre gauge suburban operation in Argentina. Its rolling stock is far too modern for the FCPyF but the track has been, and still is, a great inspiration to me as a narrow gauge modeller. LBS passengers may disagree on this count though.

The photo above gives me an inclination to rename one of the stations on the FCPyF after the president of Sierra Oculta.

May ops session, part 2

Continuing from where the morning shift left off on Sunday…

Train 3 from Grande to San Fernandez was doodlebug 26 and a pair of vans.

The northbound train was switched onto the siding at Casablanca.

Train 102 from San Fernandez to Cuarto de Pulgada pulled out of Veinte Veinte about an hour late. The FCPyF does not offer “delay/repay”.

Train 3 had been waiting in the hole at San Fernandez Junction for quite a while as the late running 102 passed on track 1.

Meanwhile train 8, the empties from Perejil, was on its way to Grande.

After some shunting No.19 had set out the empty hoppers and picked up the loads for her return journey as train 7.

As soon as the northbound mineral train had cleared the junction late running train 102 rattled through on the way to Cuarto de Pulgada.

No time was wasted when reversing at Paño Cucina.

But the train was still running a good 45 minutes late on arrival at Cuarto de Pulgada.

Having been waiting for the San Fernandez train’s arrival train 54 south departed from Cuarto on its way downhill to Grande.

Doodlebug 26 had run round her train and stabled at platform 1 by the time railcar 33 was due out with train 6 from San Fernandez to Grande.

Train 51, railcar 22, departed from Grande after the train from San Fernandez had been shunted to the goods shed.

No.22’s arrival at Cuarto marked the end of the PM shift on the high line.

The last timetabled working of the day was train 4, the evening doodlebug and vans from San Fernandez to Grande.

It didn’t get far! Both vans derailed at the junction.

Not wishing to be out all night the crew uncoupled the tail traffic and continued on their way, leaving the staff at San Fernandez to clear up the mess.

When the vans had been rerailed they were attached to a San Fernandez Norte to Perejil train which was extended south to Grande as a dispatcher’s extra. Loco 57 returned home to Norte via San Fernandez Junction leaving two of the, now empty, vans behind for tomorrow’s train 3.

Dirty linen

Don’t air your dirty linen in public, or so the saying goes.

Since the switchback was installed there has been a very obvious hindrance to photographing parts of the layout with Paño Cucina in the background. The blue and white tea towels used to screen the off stage area underneath the reversing station have stood out like a sore thumb.

I have started a slow process of merging the towels into the scenery by painting them a similar grey colour to that used on the cliffs nearby. It is already an improvement and I’m hoping that they’ll take another couple of sprays using diluted poster paint after the initial application has dried, eventually hiding the woven pattern completely.

I’m using diluted poster paint because it should soak into the towels, rather than creating a crust on top of them, and remain flexible so that access to the off stage areas can be maintained. It will also be easier to mix and add more paint if it wears thin over time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In other news, I have been destroying collectors’ items by removing the bogies and buffers from old Tri-ang coaches. Two gondolas loaded with the salvaged bogies are stabled at San Fernandez Veinte Veinte where they are awaiting transfer to the FCPyF’s wagon repair depot.

The buffers have been claimed by a friend who models in OO scale and a fellow member of the NGRM forum has requested some of the coach bodies for conversion to OO9.

I am left with three coach bodies, one of which will be used to make a stumpy caricature brake coach for Foxbaile.

The other two will be used to make static camping coach dioramas. Of course I have no need for two such dioramas so one or both of them may be offered for sale if they turn out good enough.

Operating session May 2024

The FCPyF’s May operations have been split into two shifts. This post deals with the morning’s trains.

The first northbound, train 5, was railbus 33 with a boxcar of mail and LCL freight.

This working is what was once known as The Vans but a lot of its traffic is now handled by other trains so the railcar and trailer suffice.

No.33 departed from Grande in the small hours of the morning and had the entire railway to itself all the way to San Fernandez.

The railbus was turned and stabled in the bay platform, leaving the main track free.

The first downhill train from Cuarto, 52 on the timetable, was worked by railcar 22.

A station stop and reversal for the switchback was made at Paño Cucina.

After a second reversal at the lower switchback the railcar stopped at Jones River Halt.

On arrival at Grande the railcar was stabled on the middle road.

This left the rest of the yard clear for loco No.42 to assemble the northbound Internacional, train 1, at the station platform.

Train 2 the southbound Internacional was worked by another mogul, No.7.

On arrival from the Ferronor Division the train stopped at San Fernandez Junction and backed into Veinte Veinte where it made a lengthy station stop, allowing the passengers plenty of time to get some breakfast.

By this time the northbound Internacional was on its way from Grande.

The northbound train was switched onto the siding at Casablanca.

It was not long before the southbound “Internacional” steamed passed it, taking a run at the uphill section from Casablanca to Colina Rosa.

Train No.1 could then continue into the station at Veinte Veinte.

Twenty minutes later the train backed out of the station.

No.42 stopped briefly at San Fernandez Junction before heading onto the Ferronor Division.

Meanwhile loco 7 had crested the hill at Colina Rosa with train 2.

The Internacional’s arrival at Grande heralded the start of some swift shunting.

The coach was stabled in the carriage shed, the crew/mail/freight car was moved to the goods shed and the loco to the motive power depot. Railcar 22 was then turned and also stabled in the carriage shed.

By now the loaded minerals from Cuarto was running seriously late because loco 14 had been steaming badly.

Train 56’s crew enlisted the help of loco 7 for their return journey and the station pilot completed the shunting after train 55 had departed.

Train 101 had been hard on the heels of 56 from Cuarto de Pulgada but got a clear run north from Burnt Fly Canyon.

Train 55, the empties from Grande to Cuarto, made slow progress up the hill.

The morning mixed, train 53, from Grande followed closely behind the empties.

Train 101 arrived at San Fernandez about 20 minutes late as a knock on from following the late running mineral train between Cuarto and Burnt Fly Canyon.

Loco 7 was turned at Cuarto de Pulgada and waited until the mixed train from Grande had shunted to the holding siding before it could head back down the hill as a dispatch extra.

Light engine movements are not common on the FCPyF.

When No.7 had got home to Grande the morning shift was completed.

Lego

I suspect that most modellers in my age group used to play with Lego when they were kids.

It would seem that some people still do.

Photographs taken near the Swizzels factory in New Mills yesterday.

Stick them in your Hoover!

Ruston at Lyddlow Mill

The O scale puppet rod loco took to the rails this morning.

I think it fits in nicely, a micro loco for a micro layout.

Mayday madness

A bit of progress was made with the standard gauge Ruston today.

The tiny shunt engine now has its footplate and headstocks attached to the chassis.

Solebars will be made from coffee stirrers and drawing pins will be used for dumb buffers.

The rear of the cab will be similar to that of the narrow gauge Ruston. These photos were taken at Grande but the loco is intended primarily for use at Lyddlow Mill.

Still at Grande, the clock tower railings have been replaced using spares from Sarissa building kits. Only a half hour job but it’s been on the to do list for a very long time! They still need painting, mañana.

The last bit of Mayday madness was to try running “The Sierra Ocultan” between Cuarto and San Fernandez as a three car DMU with a mishmash that Newton Heath or Longsight would have been proud of in their day.

Unfortunately No.80 would not stay on the track at Paño Cucina’s switchback points so it requires further investigation and possibly fettling of the drawbar between it and No.305 before the May operating session.