Seibiant Hill Railway

It's worth mentioning a few things about the locos in general before we begin. My railway is one of those 'budget railway' so you won't see any big expensive models (I do really want a Roundhouse 'Taliesin' though).

'Isabelle' is the railway's latest addition, and also has the claim to fame of being the first 'proper' steam loco. An 0-4-0T Accucraft 'Edrig', it's estimated date of completion is 20/11/07, as that is the date that the boiler & gas tank were tested. It has already proved to be very useful, I have made many modifications to this loco, these can been seen HERE all though some are yet to be completed.

I've just picked the name 'Isabelle', I could of named it after the person who built it but I don't fancy a Chinese name on the side!

This is the stalwart I/C outline loco of our fleet. Built by Peter Longfils at the Rea Valley Light Railway in 2007, there's not mutch I can say that doesn't echo what was written in GardenRail 157, which you can read HERE as part of the Garden Rail trial edition. It's a powerful enough loco and that's what I needed.

Strictly speaking this loco is still under construction, but is presentable enough to show photos of. It all started off with a bonnet, cab & base plate for a 20/28 h.p Simplex sighted on eBay for £15, as far as I was concerned these were the tough bits to make for a loco, these were duly purchased along with a I.P budget chassis and four-wheel drive set. I'm not going to go in to huge detail of the construction as I feel that's better left to a magazine such as '16mm Today' or perhaps 'Garden Rail'. The parts were assembled and a loco sprung from that, encountering a fair few problems along the way. The side frames were cut from steel plate found in the scraps at Boston Lodge, and the radiator and small simplex like detailing parts came from the nice people at Cambrian Models. It requires the final 'touching up' of the paint, weathering and also a few finishing touches. I'm very happy with my first attempt at scratch building a loco. If you have any criticism then please leave it in the guestbook.

This is currently just a bundle of its, but it will eventually become a model of the Ffestiniog Railway's 40 h.p Simplex 'Mary Ann' (you can tell I like my Simplexs). This will even include a scratch built chassis using I.P wheels. This aims to be in the condition that the loco is currently in. Wish me luck!

I have fitted RCS Remote Control, a MyLocoSound soundcard and a 14.4v Strikalite battery to my Baguley, it has proved to be a very useful loco, I hope to make it look a little more like some of the ones that were exported and are now preserved at the 'Sandstone Heritage Trust' but for this I need the book which I waiting to arrive in the WHHR shop.

This Locolines Wickham trolley is a cheap kit constructed from card, It builds up in to quite a nice model allthough if you're constructing a Locolines 'economy' chassis for 32mm I would recomend taking note of my following comments regarding the chassis.

The chassis spacers on my 32mm gauge Wickham have been cut to different dimensions to the 32mm ines marked on the chassis, I also made some different gearbox spacers from cereal box card so that the chassis members were only just past the motor. Had I used supplied gearbox spacers it would of made the frames too wide apart for 28mm back-to-backs and following construction of the chassis to the Locolines dimensions and instruction the chassis failed the points test as well as not running very well due to the wheels rubbing on the frames. Having made the changes it now runs well. My only major changes to the body is the roof, the card one supplied was nigh on impossible to roll, so I used some plasticard sprayed grey, you may also notice I have used aliminium mesh for the front grill rather than just gluing the printed panel on.

I have purchased a Locolines 0-4-0 Kerr Stuart 4415 to construct when I find the time, I do know about the slight wheel arrangment problem, so to compensate I shall be fitting outside 4w drive sprockets and chain.

This Triang Big-Big Train 'Ruston' loco has happily served for nigh on every summer for 20 years. Named after 'Moel-Y-Gest' the mountain that stands high above Porthmadog, You may be thinking that I have copied the name carried by the Ffestiniog Railway's hunslet shunter 'Moel-Y-Gest' that is similar in looks but, you'd be wrong, because the loco has carried the name since it was purchased. This loco has an affiliation with a member of Boston Lodge staff, so who knows, maybe this is the REAL 'Moel-Y-Gest' or is it just a coincidence?

A Triang Big-Big Train loco with a mamod loco cab, this loco has also served for nearly 20 years. And was 'mamodified' by Jon Whalley.

This is the railway's 'toy' loco, an 0-4-0T Mamod SL5 'Prince of Wales', a limited edition of 250, it was donated to the railway by a fellow Ffestiniog Railway volunteer, his nickname is 'Slap', therefore the loco's nickname is 'Slap'. It is the railway's aim to modify it futher, but to still keep it's Mamod charm. It only comes out on special ocassions, but is a lot of fun (once it's running properley!).

The railway has another two Mamod locomotives, one is currently undergoing restoration and the other is in storage.