Dornoch Branch Train Anniversary

 The Dornoch Branch train last ran 60 years ago, on the 11^th June 1960.

The branch loco 1649, inherited from Kyle of Sutherland, has been undergoing a detailing upgrade and will eventually be re-numbered 1643 for St Donats 1963. Here it is with a Dornoch train modelled on a Douglas Twibell photograph taken in September 1959.

Diorama In Progress

The diorama, now with track, scenic jigsaw foamboard bases, a trial horizon and the trial bridge shaped to accentuate the perspective, is at an experimental stage. The temporary, wallpaper backscene is pegged to a semi-elliptical shape with cocktail sticks in the foamboard bases of the scenic jigsaw.

The proscenium arch is clearly too high and reveals the top of the backscene, but if the viewpoint were raised to hide this, the horizon would cease to be horizontal. Already it is very slightly curved up in the middle. The scene is lit by LEDs, the position of which need adjusting to flatten the sky.


The objective is to be able to photograph (or view) the scene at horizon level with the backscene appearing flat to the rear wall of the diorama for almost its whole width, the view being limited only by the proscenium arch and wings.

Theatre-style Presentation

The basic diorama box is ready for scenery and track.

At this stage, the temporary wallpaper backscene is there to define the shape, the LED test-lighting rests loosely on front-to-back supports, the ply track bed is roughly in position with paper marking out the boundary of the front and rear scenic jigsaw pieces to come. There are many possible trade-offs to be made.

This first attempt at a theatre-style presentation is based on Kyle of Sutherland's exhibition format, the box being roughly equivalent to one-third of Kyle of Sutherland.

St Donats 1963 Re-start

Since the last post in April 2019 I have struggled to get back into modelling, the last work on the diorama finishing around February 2019. I did have a flurry of activity upgrading 1649 at the Missenden Summer School in 2019 and continued until October. Compare this photo with the one in the post of 1^st February 2019. It’s strange to think how I was happy to exhibit 1649 on Kyle of Sutherland in that form and that no-one commented on the lack of detail.

The detailing and the above view of 1649 were based on a photo of 1643 on the cover of Roger Cox’s copy of “The Pannier 16xx”, a double page spread of 1643 inside, and photographs of every 16xx for cross-referencing. My shed books tell me 1643 was a Llanelly engine, which I saw in 1963, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to re-number 1649 to1643 for use on St Donats 1963. My thanks go to Roger for an extensive loan, the book being now safely back in his hands again.

Of particular note are the sandboxes folded up from 6 thou nickel as in Photo H9, page 94, of Guy Williams “The 4mm Engine, A Scratchbuilder’s Guide”, and the water balance pipe made from a 5 thou brass fold-up over a hard brass core, just visible behind the middle splasher. The snagging list still contains over 20 items, including a new front lamp with improved carrying handle.

But what of the diorama itself? My self-isolation to reduce the risk of catching the corona virus has brought about a resurgence of interest and enthusiasm in modelling. Here a health expert keeps me company while I review plans for the main structure, aka the “box”.

With the experience of making Kyle of Sutherland under my belt, I decided this time to make the box first, rather than the layout, and avoid the difficulty of boxing up the completed layout later when I needed to store it.

Now, with the top and front panels removed, the base of the box will be revealed as a traditional baseboard (salvaged from Kyle of Sutherland and reduced in size) with the box sides and back panel able to support the proscenium arch, backscene and lighting.

Loco Progress

The basic loco frames for the J52 are now ready to be profiled before assembly. I decided to make the rear buffer beam from 6 thou nickel sandwiching a wooden beam, an equivalent construction to that on the prototype. This concludes the basic kit of parts, excluding smaller items such as steps and splashers. Once the frames and spacers have been assembled , and the temporary top hat bearings have been soldered in, the coupling rods can be made to fit the jig axles.

A kit of parts for the J52

While making frames for the J52, I also made a set for a loco project dormant for nearly ten years, and ultimately destined for the St Donats 1963 diorama.

The GWR Hall project re-started

Both the J52 and the Hall will have twin-beam compensation on the middle and trailing drivers, with a rocking axle leading. The Hall frames also need profiling before assembly.

Modelling for Pleasure

After 18 years of modelling to deadlines with Kyle of Sutherland, and now St Donats 1963, some blue sky modelling is a very good idea. And there’s nothing like scratch building to restore one’s zest for life.

Nickel blanks for a GNR J52

Alan Sibley’s J52 article in MRJ 35 from 1989 supplied the drawings, photos and build notes. Transport Treasury supplied a couple of enlargements of the particular variant I wanted to make. The drawings were not dimensioned, but armed with the wheelbase and a few key dimensions from the LNER Diagram Book (thanks, Alex) I worked out a compromise scale factor.

The first 19 parts above, fretted and fettled from various thicknesses of nickel silver (8 thou up to a single part at 32 thou), will make the basic superstructure. Now follows a period of final shaping, drilling, riveting, and forming before some trial assemblies.

I use two riveters: a Dick Ganderton edge riveter (currently being refurbished) and a GW Models index riveter for arrays and patterns. No doubt the edge riveter, so vital for the footplate, will return soon. Meanwhile, there’s plenty to keep me occupied. Bliss.

Peckett Progress

My previous 4mm finescale layout, Kyle of Sutherland, was dismantled at the end of last year, so I’m re-posting a November 2019 progress report on the Peckett 0-4-0 from the Kyle of Sutherland blog to bring the story up to date here. Since last year’s Missenden Abbey Summer School, I continued with the Peckett as described below.

My track record with pick-ups is not brilliant, so I took the opportunity of building a split-frame chassis under the guidance of one of our local gurus (thanks, Frank). I already had a conventional P4 chassis underway for the Peckett (see "GWR 0-4-0ST 1151, 22 July 2018), so decided to experiment by way of making an alternative 00-gauge chassis to compare pick-up performance.

There are a number of potential shorts to resolve in a split-frame chassis, and here is one of them. The gaps in the split axles are off-centre, for example to avoid clashing with the gearbox. However, the gap entered the chassis top hat bearing, which had to be filed back to the frame. The space between the chassis and gearbox frames was padded out with fibre washers to maintain the central position of the gearbox. There are lots more gotchas still to come.