A NEW LOCO FOR THE SHRA NEW LOCO FOR THE SHR William HighWilliam High

Left:‘Pete’ basks in the

North Wales sunshine.

Note – the switch situat

edbetween the bonnet

and the cab and also

the strapping around

the buffers.

Right: A shot from the

back of ‘Pete’ showing

the cab detail. Note –

the works plate on the

back of the cab.

RECENTLYI WASLOOKING for a new locomotive to become the beginning of a new era in my 32mm garden railway’s history. This new motive power was to replace my Dad’s much loved ‘Big-Big Train’ diesel Moel-Y-Gest, which has been in service every summer for nearly twenty years now. I looked at various options, for instance the Brandbright battery powered Accucraft Baguley Drewery diesel. Now this is a very nice locomotive, but, being fourteen years old, is a bit out of my budget range for the moment – perhaps one for the future! Scratch built? No, I wanted an ‘instant’ locomotive. But then one day when I was surfing a Yahoo group called ‘Low Cost Garden Railways’ (a group right up my street), and noticed a piece written by the group owner announcing his new design of diesel loco to suit Mamod stock. As soon as I saw this, I asked the very kind Mr Peter Longfils what the price was and whether or not he could incorporate some of my own ideas in to the loco. The best bit is that the answer I got back was that the locomotives only cost £62.50 each + £4.50 P&P – an absolute bargain! Peter very kindly added a radiator grill, and my own design of buffers to suit the centre buffer stock & Chidham Light Railway wagons in use on my line, and finally added the initials SHR (standing for Seibiant Hill Railway). The order was placed and I awaited my birthday when I would receive the new stalwart of my fleet. When it arrived I was stunned with the finished product. Even better than the works photograph Peter had sent me. The construction method is printed card, glued on wood with a varnish finish, which gives the loco a very nice shine. The sides of the bonnet have hinges printed on to them, and on the line where the panel open bend there’s a line scored in to the card to give the feel that the bonnet side really lifts up. The way that the bonnet sides curve into the top of the bonnet is done with style. The mesh used for the radiator grill and in the slits in the sides of the bonnet is very well made, and has the texture of the real thing. There’s a nice running plate, and hidden in a corner between the cab and bonnet you find a simple (and very discreet) three-way switch that controls the locomotive.

A SENSIBLESPEED

The cab is very sturdy and has square windows, which have nice printed rivet detail around them. It’s just as well the cab has side windows, as it allows you to peer in to see the variety of

Photos: William High

dials and switches printed on to the card inside the cab. In centre place is the dummy speed and direction control, which is made out of a bent dresser’s pin. The floor of the cab has a nice industrial metal grip skin, which, for me, lifts the detail level a little higher. There are deep valances, on which there are dummy panels to would allow the driver to oil the axle boxes. The valances are required to cover up the AA battery holders which are set at each end of the loco. Even though the wooden buffers (fitted each side of the centre buffer), are a very peculiar addition to this model, I think they’re worth a mention just because of the strapping detail Peter has added around them. Underneath you find an IP Engineering ‘Budget’ chassis fitted with a four-wheel drive chain and having AA batteries positioned each end. The wiring is very tidy and there are clear instructions to make sure that the gears are kept clean and very lightly greased. This is perfect for the beginner, because, as ‘newbies’, we don’t always know these small details of maintenance. The loco performs as well as it looks. Not only does it travel at a sensiblespeed, but also Peter tells me it will haul three all metal Mamod coaches up a 1 in 80 gradient. To finish this beautiful loco off there is a small works plate on the back of the cab, to remind you where it was built and what year you purchased it. I think I may invest in a driver soon, as this loco deserves one. Hopefully she’ll happily serve my railway for many years to come. I have started a protocol of naming the locos on my railway by using the name of the person who donated or built the loco for the railway – so this one’s called ‘Pete’. I would recommend this loco to anyone from the beginner upwards, especially if you don’t fancy building a kit, and you are on a tight budget. If you want to find out about my railway please visit www.freewebs.com/bigshr(bear with me though – as I’m still building the site).

GardenRail ResourceGardenRail Resource

Peter Longfils rvlr_workshops@yahoo.co.uk If you want to see more examples of Peter’s work visit www.rvlr.photos.gb.com

GARDEN Rail

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