Trick or treat? Vans brown (again)...

I managed to get a third coat of Matt 160 brown on the vans to cover the failed varnish coat. It's covered pretty well, some of the markings are just visible through the finish so I'll either paint those planks again by hand later or they'll be faint enough to be hidden by the second set of transfers.

Varnish disaster...

Warning to all... Don't use Humbrol varnish for acrylic and hobby sprays over Humbrol enamel or Microscale Microsol residue as evidenced by the issues with blooming and whitening in the finish below!

After initial anger and stress I've since calmed down. I've ordered some more paint, another set of transfers and some Humbrol Satin Cote, a high quality modelling varnish to finish them properly next time!

Vulcan 0-8-0t Saxon tank engine...

Whilst researching for my latest project I came across this information on a German website - after running it through Google translate I got the following...

Heeresfeldbahnlok to the genus of the VI K of KSächs.Sts.EB 


In 1917, the military testing department in Berlin placed an order with Vulcan Stettin for 10 locomotives specifically for two military narrow-gauge railways. In November 1918 the 8-coupled superheated steam engines were at Vulcan ready for collection. 


The locomotives were designated with the names 7420V to 7429V however on 11 November 1918 Germany agreed to truce, so that these locomotives should no longer be required by the Heeresfeldbahn. In Saxony the IVK was at its limit and these Vulcan tanks in their low numbers could improve the situation. The Saxon State Railways seized the opportunity and bought all the machines at a price of 75,000 Reichsmarks. The first locomotive arrived already on Aug 28, 1919, 8 more followed in September and November and one straggler was delivered in May 1920. The locomotives were assigned to the genus VI K and obtained the car numbers 301-310. The first four-axle superheated steam for narrow gauge was also the penultimate of Sächs.Sts.EB new acquisitions for the 750 mm track. The first test runs of the new species were completed in mid- September 1919, No. 301 between Kipsdorf and Dresden I. During the test drive the locomotive Nr.302 on 23 September 1919 was carried out a performance comparison with IV K No. 194th. The K VI was able to develop an approximately 25% higher performance. However, the four coupled axles derailed on the track quite often, so that the intended routes had to have immediate measures for strengthening and renewal. The extensive trial dragged on (unlike today) over 9 months to June 7th 1920. 


After the test drives, the engines were on the gradients of the Erzgebirge mountain grove after Kipsdorf and Heidenau to Altenberg and on the busy line Potschappel - stationed Nossen. The German State Railroad Company took over all the machines and strung them together as 99470-99479 in the operation of the genus K44.6. The high-performance locomotives proved themselves generally very good, but the smoothness was due to the lack of forward axes something to be desired because the locomotives and rolling tended to swing. This was found to be the case with the Henschel VK five coupled tank engines also and the DRG therefore decided to obtain more copies of the Henschel to replace the last IK and decommission the oldest K to IV. 


War losses and reparations
Had 99471 and 99472 according to the Eastern Front 1940-1943 Gozdow, but returned to the depot Nossen. Fared worse 99474 came from the Eastern Front in the RVD Kiev did not return. 99 470 and 99 473 were used from 1944 to 1948 on the Lower Austrian forest district before 99470 was shipped to Mittersill. 99470 was lost to the EJ&KLR and 99473 to the USSR as reparations.

Yes - a work of fiction, but now you have the background on my latest LGB bash!

Inspired by the KJI tanks...

The Rugens mock up has gained some black paper over the card and a sloping front to the tank... Promising?

Rugens arrives and tank option wins...

I picked up my Rugens tank from Peter today at Kidderminster station after a lovely day out with Elly.

I have been pondering on options but now I've got my hands on it I've settled on the tank option. Likely to have a sloping front to the tank, and I've done a cut away on the bottom of the tank. This decision was forced by the realisation that LGBs genius assembly methods that result in strong robust but detailed models, means it would not be easy to remove the integral well tank without MAJOR surgery which is a shame on such a good model.

More soon... But I've got to finish the vans and progress the station first!

Transfers applied...

The LGB van repaints have now been transferred up with custom decals I designed and had printed by Precision Labels. I then tried to apply a satin varnish, luckily starting with the doors...

It didn't go well! The nozzle had clogged so I got over two doors and then splatter, then nothing. I tried all sorts and the third and fourth door got worse. Eventually decanted some varnish into the airbrush and flooded the area, which has evened the finish but left it a lot glossier than I'd like...

I'll reflect over the next few days on the best course of action.

Grey turns to brown...

Tonight I applied the first of two coats of Humbrol Matt 160 brown paint via airbrush to the former LGB DR vans...

Slow but steady on the vans...

The LGB van repaints are progressing and I sprayed the roofs satin black last night. Although I've decided they're going to be brown, seeing them grey is definitely giving me second thoughts 'what if' they were actually dark grey?!!

Grey vans...

The pair of DR brown LGB vans are now in grey primer after having there markings smoothed down with wet and dry paper 1200 grit used wet. No trace in the primer coat so it was worth the effort. The roofs will be black and the bodies brown with custom markings when they're finished.

EJ&KLR on video again...

LGB Rugen option 4...

This latest mock up shows a 'what if' the Rugen tanks had been part of the life extension program in the late 1950s that the Deutsche Reichsbahn put a lot of it's other 750mm aging narrow gauge locomotives through.

LGB Rugen option 3...

I've been tinkering in Photoshop after reading Keith Chester's book on East European Narrow Gauge and reading old copies of Narrow Gauge World and have come up with a low effort version of a Rugens based conversion - simply a new roof and a repaint basically...

I'm not sure - the tank is more attractive but hides so much of LGB's fine moulding. The cab roof is definitely too East German without modification though - and the cast EJKB numberplates are inspired by both the Zillertalbahn and the Romanian and Yugoslavian narrow gauge systems.

Another new book...

This time, Keith Chester's volume on East European Narrow Gauge. Great service from Paul at Locomotives International, I'll look forward to browsing the book and doing a proper review.

Overview just 9 months on...

Just 9 months into existence and the EJ&KLR is starting to bed into the surroundings as the plants mature and the buildings progress.

Thomas and the passengers...

My daughter enjoyed playing with Thomas and some of her dolls house people on the outdoor line today.

Railcar in service again...

Today the EJ&KLR was in austerity post war period with a converted Frank S tank in steam and a railcar in operation.

EJ&KLR van in traffic...

The freshly converted LGB balcony van has been in use outdoors today with the other items of converted / repainted stock.

Station platform finished...

This morning I cut some roofing felt and used some old gooey black put door paint to stick it down to the wood. Once finished I used some top soil and gravel to bed it into the scenery.

On shed poster...

James
Producer - Wideopenmag.co.uk

Sent from my iPhone

Railcar and Frank poster...

The new and the old...

Platform installation...

The decking plank has been sealed and cut to length and I've now dug out the ballast shoulder and buried it at about the right height, but bad weather has forced me to stop before laying the roofing felt on the surface.

Railcar runs outdoors...

The new Piko VT98 railcar ran outdoors for the first time on a wet and recently maintained EJ&KLR. After a month of inactivity apart from Mum doing some tree trimming, I had some ballast and embankment maintenance to attend, strangely therapeutic.

A second video...

Here is a second video showing my Frank S tank engine conversion and short EJ&KLR mixed train, and finishing with a shot of the Bachmann/Liliput Europeanised Davenport on a short permanent way train.

A first video - 2095 on a passenger train...

I filmed this footage back in August on my iPhone 4 and have only just edited it. This is my first garden railway video, so let me know what you think. I'm planning on doing a couple more in the next 6 months, and hopefully they will chronologically depict the railway at different stages of history.

I may also use them to 'recreate' scenes on some of the Austrian OBB prototype narrow gauge lines that have proven to be so much of an inspiration for the EJ&KLR.