Fiji

The next loco to join the IoSR fleet has arrived... in kit form at least. It is the Hudswell Clarke Fiji which now resides at Statfold Barn but which visited the F&WHR last year. Having had a footplate ride on it and chased it around the countryside I got a bit of a soft spot for it.

Here it is at Waunfawr on the WHR.

 

My plan is to make a similar loco but not an exact copy so some things will change. The kit cost £35 and arrived in good time after an eBay purchase, made by a new manufacturer, Tucker's Trains. It is 3D printed and is a bit rough as I believe that a home printer has been used, There will be quite a bit of work getting the boiler sorted out.

 

The kit captures the look of the loco and I'm looking forward to the build. The Farish 08 chassis needs an RT models motion kit adding to it, I actually have one to hand and so will need to bite the bullet and make the modification which I've been putting off for ages.

 

The idea is for a mainline loco to go with the L&B coaches which it is a nice size to go with.

At the weekend we went for a walk with the dog and ended up walking along a good stretch of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway which is now part of a footpath and cycle track from Bangor to Bethesda. The path also uses sections of the old Standard gauge branch which makes an interesting comparison, at one point the path crosses a viaduct which is obviously much bigger than an NG one would need to be.

 

I swear you could hear the bark of Hunslet and the rattle and crash of slate wagons in the distance.

I just missed Eigiau and the quarryman's train... by 60 years. Shame.