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Smingle Nook

Single? Yes. Ready to mingle? Nope, I am too old to go chasing totty these days.

A good many years ago Carl Arendt featured a G scale Inglenook on his website and called it a Ginglenook. By that logic an SM32 Inglenook could be referred to as a SMinglenook. Splitting it into two words, Smingle Nook, makes it sound more like somewhere you might find in a rural backwater. There was a time when road transport in rural backwaters meant muddy lanes that became impassable for motorised vehicles in bad weather. Precisely the reason that mining, logging and similar industries opted for narrow gauge railways. Sometimes just a few hundred yards of track, sometimes several miles.

A full 5/3/3 Inglenook in SM32 scale would be well beyond the scope of a micro layout. The temporary arrangement seen on my front room table is 50×16 inches, still too big unless the baseboard tapers with the tracks to just a few inches wide at the headshunt end.

I was originally planning to fit the track sections on individual baseboards a la Kato Circus micro modules but the geometry of Hornby’s tinplate points would make this awkward. I could cut the curved leg of each turnout as marked in red to get round this but I think the adjacent sections’ sleepers would then clash.

A better alternative would be to extend the turnout’s straight section by about two and a half inches beyond the frog. To create the layout seen in the photos I shortened two straight sections for the headshunt and long siding so there are a couple of off-cuts available to extend the points with if I decide to stick with the modular idea.

Conventional wisdom dictates five wagons on a reduced Inglenook but it is possible to operate such a layout with six if it is permitted to leave a wagon fouling the clearance between the two short sidings at times.

If you’re using Kadees with magnets just beyond the fouling point on each siding you cannot uncouple automatically to leave a wagon in this spot, hence the conventional five wagon limit. It is, however, possible if you are using manual uncoupling and a real railway would not think it unusual to leave a wagon sitting on the turnout during shunts. It is the headshunt as much as the sidings that defines the intricacy of the shunting puzzle. For a full Inglenook it is a loco and three, for the reduced version it is a loco and two. Six wagons, of course, gives a considerably greater number of permutations than five.

Returning to the modular idea. The layout in the photos would need six Kato Circus style modules. One for each turnout, one for the headshunt, and three for the sidings. These would enable the layout to be dismantled when not in use while allowing the provision of cosmetic sleepers, ballast and weeds to improve its appearance. The sidings could be arranged in a variety of patterns and additional track sections could be added later to extend the scope of the layout. One of the modellers on the NGRM forum has done something similar with vintage Billerbahn trains, though these use HO instead of O gauge track so the individual sections can be much smaller. I would not initially consider anything other than ground level “scenery” because doing so would need even bigger bases and any additional height would make storage difficult. In this scale the train itself has ample presence without needing much else. Perhaps a few lineside structures could be added, on their own separate bases, at a later date if they are needed.

One down

I was still not happy with the green one so it has been withdrawn for eventual restoration to its original condition as a Matchbox green diesel (not for use with OO9). Of the remaining three, the grey one now resembles faded Banger Blue. When I started work in the 1970s the entire railway was this colour… Apart from an oddball green class 40 often seen at Guide Bridge.

The red one could have been any shade originally. Put red paint in sunlight and it usually changes colour. Throw in some muck and your guess is as good as anybody’s.

Then there’s my favourite. The yellow one. If you like diesels and you ever visited Dinting Railway Centre you will remember RS8 clanking around the yard.

The locomotives are not intended for use on Willow Pool but it was the easiest way of filming them at silly o’clock in the morning, having been up since pee o’clock and unable to get back to sleep.

And then there were four

A couple of days ago I ordered a box of six wire brush drill attachments for removing paint. When the parcel arrived this afternoon I thought it looked a bit on the large side. Upon opening it I found two boxes of wire brushes, six in each. Now, I am not complaining at getting something for nothing, I checked the billing and I have only paid for six. It would probably cost nearly as much as the purchase price for return postage if I send one box back so that is not going to happen.

Anyways, eager to see how much easier they made paint stripping I tried one out on the Matchbox diesels. It does not give a polished metal finish, there are very fine scratches on the surface of the die casting, but when repainted these are not visible. I was not happy with the drab colour of the green one as seen in the photo taken yesterday so I stripped it down to the metal and started again. All four are now awaiting their internal cradles (more coffee stirrer abuse) adding so they can ride on a Kato 11-109 chassis for use as OO9 locomotives.

It’s strange how our memories work. As I was using the drill attachment it made a distinctive hot metal and burning hydrocarbons smell that took me back to primary school days when a group of us used to play around the industrial units behind Brookfield in Glossop.

Imagine that eh? Not industrial units, making stuff. If you look hard enough there are still a few hidden among all the wholesale distribution and delivery units that just move stuff about. Imagine kids playing around those industrial units though… During the day… When the units are in use… With metalworking machinery… The Safety Elf would have kittens!

I’ll have one in each available livery

Do not panic. I have not joined in an RMwobble frothfest. Nor am I pledging a year’s ration of beer tokens on the latest mega-expensive releases from Bachby or Hornmann.

There is a fourth in the pipeline, it will be in ex-works condition, possibly carrying a photographic grey paint job. They’ll all share the same chassis and be destined for use on Alta Ronda and my Kato Circus style OO9 mini modules.

If you’re thinking you’ve seen the weathered yellow loco somewhere before, you have. Just not in the same scale.

Matchbox musters

You may be excused for thinking I’m drifting away from toy trains but be assured I am firmly on track. A delayed delivery this afternoon has provided another three of the little diesel locomotives. Work on the one mentioned yesterday is at a standstill, the paint is proving more resilient than expected and barely softened by 24 hours in neat loo bleach. I have ordered some wire brush drill attachments that should make removing the paint easier.

Anyhows, back to today’s arrivals. The three diesels will be similarly stripped and repainted in different liveries and weathered conditions to give me a variety of OO9 locomotives to share a single Kato chassis.

Also in the job lot were two steam engines. These have limited use unless I fit them with tram skirts but might eventually end up on Alta Ronda and/or the Kato Circus style OO9 mini modules. The flat car should be quite easy to fit on an N gauge wagon chassis to supplement my OO9 rolling stock.

I am guessing this Ford articulated lorry is about 1:50 scale, near enough to be of use with On30’s 1:48. It needs quite a bit of work to replace a missing axle and fit new cab glazing. While I am at it the trailer will probably be shortened then the rig will be parked on one of the railway’s bridges.

Matchbox matters

I have a number of Matchbox diesel shunters that have been hacked about to various degrees for use as puppet rod locomotives on San Fernandez Works, Poachers Hill, Muchness Light and Queso Shed. I do not need any more for On30 scale.

There are also a pair of On18 examples available for use with Clementine Wharf…

…and another on the mine tramway at Flujo de Abuso.

What I am lacking is a OO9 diesel loco to keep the railcars company on Alta Ronda. Obviously a puppet loco won’t do for a roundy roundy so I intend to use a Kato four wheeled drive unit instead.

I have dismantled a fresh die cast diesel this morning and it is currently soaking in neat loo bleach to remove the paint. An internal cradle made from coffee stirrers will support the body as a push fit on the chassis, perhaps secured with a bit of BluTack if necessary. Small magnets will be used for couplers. I also have some more Matchbox diesels coming in the post (they were actually due yesterday) so I will be able to make two or three more loco bodies in different states of dilapidation between lightly weathered and falling apart that can share the same chassis because only one train at once can run on Alta Ronda.

This will not be the first time I have used a Matchbox diesel on a OO9 layout. When I was in my early twenties I built the Am Valley Railway. As a precursor of things to come many years later I used a motorised coach to push a variety of dummy locos, one of which was the diesel. Unfortunately the loco does not feature in these old photographs but the ghost power coach does. The mechanism in that coach was a Minitrix class 27 diesel. The exact same mechanism was still in use as ghost power, disguised as an On18 boxcar, until Allt Na Ballt was converted to OO9. I will now have to build a suitable 4mm scale body to fit it, possibly a replica of the Am Valley brake third, I have a suitable OO scale coach to act as a body donor.

Regarding DCC witchcraft

September is a busy period for model railway shows, I have no idea why but it has been that way for at least the last forty or more years in my experience. So, it is unsurprising that there has been a glut of exhibition videos posted on YouTube over the past few weeks. All spoiled by the tinny, over-scale, sound of Digital Command Control chipped locomotives. This noise pollution frequently coming from layouts adjacent to the one actually on screen.

I stopped exhibiting my own layouts several years ago and, more recently, I stopped attending shows as a visitor too. Apart from the mither of getting there and back by public transport, and most venues not being dog-friendly, overscale DCC sound spoils the enjoyment. I am most grateful to the modellers who have posted their videos though. On YouTube the invasive noise pollution can be muted. You can’t do that when you are actually there in the room.

Withdrawal of service

The boxfile-based tramway layout had been sitting on the living room table for the last week or so, enabling me to give it a good coat of looking at. I eventually decided that I didn’t really like what I could see. I decided to try altering the diorama by making the tramway single track and narrowing the street. It didn’t work out so High Street has been binned. Blackcloud Tramways remains very much in business but only Church Square and The Depot remain as micro layouts.

On a more positive note, a while ago I bought a set of three Lledo VW minibuses. One of these has been converted into a crew bus for the FCPyF’s MoW department. It should prove more versatile than the bubble car because it can carry a gang of platelayers and their tools to work sites in addition to being used for line inspection purposes (below, left).

Acquired as part of a recent eBay job lot, a Model T Ford is being converted into a hillbilly truck (centre). Not the first of its kind in Sierra Oculta, probably not the last (right).

Back stage pass

Having mused about operating the FCPyF without Casablanca and San Fernandez yesterday it occurred to me at breakfast time today that a second staging track at Perejil would work as a passing siding for trains travelling between Colina Rosa and the Ferronor Division at Puente Guia. The photos below show before, during and after the work being undertaken. The cassette can be removed to transfer short trains between the staging area and Derrotado, or any of the other Ferronor Division micro layouts, enabling “through trains” to be run.

The two clamps will be left in place for a day while the glue dries. The cantilevered supports for the cassette are also screwed in place but belt and braces are used because I don’t want to have to search for missing wagons should the joints fail.

Some additional fettling is required to level the cassette more accurately and the cassette approach track still needs support providing beneath it. These items will be attended to once the clamps have been removed and it’s easier to reach them.

I have amended the timetables shown yesterday for both full and abridged operating of the layout to take into account the additional staging track. Railcar 55 now departs Cuarto for San Fernandez via Puente Guia as the first train of the day and returns in the evening.

FCPyF operations, matters arising

1. Railcar 55, Cuarto to San Fernandez (N) via Puente Guia.
2. Loco 84, passenger/mineral, Cuarto to Grande – Meet #3 at Pano Cucina.
3. Railcar 48, Grande to Cuarto – Meet #2 at Pano Cucina.
4. Loco 84, assist 86 or 77 shunting at Grande, then empty mineral, Grande to Cuarto.
5. Railcar 81, San Fernandez (VV) to Grande – Meet #6 at Colina Rosa.
6. Loco 85, passenger/goods, Grande to San Fernandez (VV) – Meet #5 at Colina Rosa.
7. Loco 84, mineral, Cuarto to Grande.
8. Loco 82, freight, San Fernandez (N) to Grande. (86 or 77 to assist on arrival).
9. Railcar 48, Cuarto to Grande – Meet #10 at Pano Cucina.
10. Loco 84, passenger/empty mineral, Grande to Cuarto – Meet #9 at Pano Cucina.
11. Loco 82, freight, Grande to San Fernandez (N).
12. Railcar 55, San Fernandez (N) to Cuarto via Puente Guia.
13. Loco 85, passenger/goods, San Fernandez (VV) to Grande – Meet #14 at Colina Rosa.
14. Railcar 81, Grande to San Fernandez (VV) – Meet #13 at Colina Rosa.
15. (All day) Loco 2, top shunter, transfer empties/loads between mine and long siding as required.

A sequence roughly following this list worked well yesterday so it will be used for future sessions. However, the layout can be operated without the lift out sections.

There is no turntable at Colina Rosa so a double ended railcar, or a back to back pair, would be needed to replace the two main line passenger trains between there Grande. The freight would need to be staged at Perejil instead of Norte.

1. Railcar 55, Cuarto to San Fernandez via Puente Guia.
2. Loco 84, passenger/mineral, Cuarto to Grande – Meet #3 at Pano Cucina.
3. Railcar 48, Grande to Cuarto – Meet #2 at Pano Cucina.
4. Railcar(s) XX, Grande to Colina Rosa.
5. Loco 84, assist 86 or 77 shunting at Grande, then empty mineral, Grande to Cuarto.
6. Loco 82, freight, Puente Guia to Grande (86 or 77 to assist on arrival).
7. Railcar(s) XX, Colina Rosa to Grande.
8. Railcar(s) XX, Grande to Colina Rosa.
9. Loco 84, mineral, Cuarto to Grande (86 or 77 to assist on arrival).
10. Loco 82, freight, Grande to Puente Guia.
11. Railcar 48, Cuarto to Grande – Meet #12 at Pano Cucina.
12. Loco 84, passenger/empty mineral, Grande to Cuarto – Meet #11 at Pano Cucina.
13. Railcar 55, San Fernandez to Cuarto via Puente Guia.
14. Railcar(s) XX, Colina Rosa to Grande.
15. (All day ) Loco 2, top shunter, transfer empties/loads between mine and long siding as required.

The pair of Scania railbuses shown in the first photo with a motorised bug box between them is an obvious choice, as is railcar 53. The two trucks with a van between them could also cater for mail and LCL freight. This combination is a sweet runner with one of the rail trucks and the van between them both being powered. I would prefer to run 97 and 20 without the van but the rubber band drive in 97 cannot drag 20 up the hill from Jones River to Resurreccion unaided. 96 and 97 is a possibility though, with or without the van, because the ERF is much lighter than the Pierce Arrow.

A temporary stop block clamps onto the track beyond the loop at Colina Rosa to prevent accidental overruns when the lift out sections are not in situ. It is, in theory, possible to operate a loco hauled service using the loop to run round but the curvature of both platform faces mean that recoupling would be awkward, hence the railcars.