Model Railway Page
Loco number 5, Samson, shunting in the sidings at Heath and Reach on the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
Scale 1:76.2 (4mm:1 foot)
The loco is a modified Dapol Austerity.
It was converted to EM (18.2mm) gauge using an EMGS/Alan Gibson conversion set. The balance weights on the wheels were cut from black styrene sheet. The coupling rods were replaced using an Alan Gibson "universal coupling rod" etching. These were quite tricky to assemble as they had to be cut to size and each rod consists of three parts.
The loco originally came with a conical chimney this was replaced with a new white metal one. The centre steps and extraneous handrails that were added to some engines in later years were removed. All handrails that were to be retained were replaced with new ones using smaller knobs and thinner wire - the Bill Bedford wire bending jig came in very handy for this.
Other improvements included:-
Smokebox door number plate removed
New smokebox door handles
Lamp irons thinned down
The protective mouldings that strengthened the injectors were
filed back to the injector's profile.
Three link couplings were fitted
Name plates - from Fox Transfers
The loco was painted with Halfords Satin Black and then weathered with tinted varnish
Photography Test - replacing the sky behind a model as seen by the camera with an image of a real sky.