2020 Vision Part 2

Old faithful

Since commencing the construction of the layout, I have grown quite a healthy collection of locomotives for the railway. I have a grand total of 9 locomotives at the time of writing. There are 5 steam and four diesels, a healthy collection by anyone's standards. These have all been purchased on a second hand basis to try and limit costs but some of them are feeling their age and are going to require some serious maintenance this year.

The Prince, one of my favourite locomotives, has developed a fault with the motor. It regularly sparks when in transit. From what I have been told, this is a symptom of a serious fault which is going to  require some heavy maintenance. I am in two minds whether to attempt the repair myself or outsource it to someone else. That decision will be made later in the year as other motive power projects are destined to arrive on my workbench. 

New arrivals

I took the decision in late 2019 to sell on my version of Dolgoch for various misguided reasons, a decision which I instantly regretted and sought to find a suitable replacement as soon as I could. Fortunately there is a ready to run version of Rheanas available and I have one winging it's way to the North West as we speak. I have also ordered the Narrow Planet "Dolgochification" kit which contains a brand new cab, smokebox and chimney. This will hopefully make up for my rash decision a few months ago. The new loco will be given a new moniker and should be a reliable addition to the fleet.

Dolgoch Mk1

I am also beginning to planning stages of a way to use the chassis from "The Banana" in a new project. I never actually run this train as the couplers dont match any of the other rolling stock and it just looks tiny compared to everything else. I am intending on using it in something completely left field for Narrow Gauge modelling as I have thought of a way of possibly building a DMU for the railway using two kits from Budget Model Railways. 

Image courtesy of Budget Model Railways.

I have used Budget Model Railways kits in the past and was impressed with how the kits came out. The concept is a bit "out there" but I hope that it will turn out well and be something a little different for my railway. I am undecided on a livery but would gladly take suggestions from the audience.
In the final part of this trilogy of visions I will be commenting on the carriage fleet and how I intend to bring them up to an exhibitable standard.

More in Part 3...