Hello to All:

It has just been posted on the Everything Thomas thread that Rusty is listed on Ebay as available from a seller in PA.
So everyone that has him pre-ordered should be hearing something soon about availability.
Rusty has been two years coming so I hope it is true.

Grandpuff

Hello Again to All:

First you are welcome to Chaz. Glad your Peter Sam arrived in good condition. I enjoyed building it for you. Also  thank you to Angelo for your kind words regarding my Peter Sam and Luke models. I appreciate your comments very much. Below you can see my completion photos of Millie. She was a very difficult build mostly because of her small size. The body was from Shapeways although it had to be heavily modified. The loco is a very good representation of Millie from the front of the cab forward. The rear of the loco had to be modified by adding the upper rear of the cab and adding the windows and also adding the tapered coal bunker. The chassis is from a Minitrains 0-4-0 which I had to order from the EU at a considerable cost. The lining is from Line-O-Tape from Mega Hobby. I used a Reduced size photo of the CGI Millie to cut out the Coat of Arms and the Millie script for my model. The photos included here and of Luke on the previous page of this thread were all taken on my 2 X 4 foot Narrow Gauge layout.

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Photo #4


The photo #4 is for "The Bachmann" showing my Narrow Gauge Locomotive Collection which I will also post on Chaz' Thomas Collection Thread as soon as Rusty shows up. Shown in the Photo from Left to Right are Freddie, Millie, Luke, Empty Stall for Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Smudger next to Shed, Mighty Mac, Duke, Skarloey , Rheneas,  and Duncan. All of these locos except Skarloey and Rheneas were built by myself.

To be clear when Bachmann gets around to making any of the Narrow Gauge locos I will be one of the first Thomas Fans to get in line to buy them. I decided to build these models after being inspired by Chaz and his model of Duke way back on page 3 of this thread. My intention is for my models to be place holders until then and also to try to inspire others to show their work here for all of us to enjoy. I plan on taking a few weeks off to help Chaz finish his Duncan and then I will get serious about doing Sir Handel and Proteus to complete my collection.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Enjoy, Grandpuff

Hello to All:

I just completed my Luke model so thought I would post a few photos so everyone can see how he turned out. This is a very small locomotive to work on although not as small as Millie which will be finished in about another week or so. The body is from Shapeways and the chassis is from a Minitrains 0-4-0. The white lining is from Line-O-Tape from Mega Hobby. The Brass name and number plates are from Narrow Planet. I used a brass name plate because I could not hand letter the Luke since it was so small on this tiny locomotive. I also included an Engineer figure along with a baby deer figure as seen in the Season 17 episode "Lukes New Friend".  I hope you all like my model of Luke.

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I will post some photos of my Millie model as soon as it is finished in about a week or so. After Millie is done I plan to do Sir Handel and Proteus as soon as I can gather all of the necessary parts.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello again:

Since I had some good painting weather today I was able to get all 3 locos referenced in my last post painted. Shown in the photo on the left is Peter Sam, middle is Luke, and on the right is Millie.



I will post additional photos as each loco is finished.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello to All:

I thought I would post a progress photo of the 3 Narrow Gauge locos I am working on that I mentioned in my last post. All 3 of these locos are now ready for paint if I can get the weather to co-operate. The paint caps show the colors that they will be painted.



The loco in the middle is a copy of Peter Sam that I built last year. I am building this one for a friend since it is now likely that it will be a few years before we ever see one from Bachmann.

The loco on the left is Luke. I have added the short doors to the cab of this loco so it is now ready for its lime green paint, then white lining, name, and number 22. An Engineer and a small deer figure will complete the model.

On the right is Millie. This loco required a lot of work installing the cab doors, filling in the upper back of the cab and adding the rear windows, and lastly building the tapered coal bunker to the back of the cab. The stock loco is a perfect model of Millie from the cab forward but I had to build up the rear of the 3D model to accurately represent Millie. I still need to finish fitting the loco to the chassis on this one. Finishing this loco will not be easy as there is a lot of white lining and gold trim to do. I will be using photo copies of the Coat of Arms and white script Millie for this loco.

I hope you all have enjoyed seeing my progress on these 3 locos and I will post photos of each as they are completed. When these are all finished I plan on doing a Sir Handel and a Proteus. When these are all completed I will have a collection of 12 of the most well known Narrow Gauge locomotives to run on my HOn30 layout.

I am looking forward to seeing layout progress from Terrancethetractor525 of the addition to his very nice layout, layout plans from Chaz of his planned narrow gauge railway, and more from Mulfred-100 of his layout. Also any one else out there, do not be bashful, show us what your are doing too. We can all learn new things when we share with others.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello to All:

As noted in my last post, I have just completed my Freddie narrow gauge loco today with the addition of the Narrow Planet name and number plates visible in my photos which were taken on my Narrow Gauge layout. This was a difficult build because of problems with the 3D printed body being very fragile and subject to breakage. You can also see my recently completed Peter Sam in the background of one photo. With the lack of any new Bachmann Narrow Gauge announcements I am fortunate to have the ability to build my own versions of the Narrow Gauge Locomotives as place holders until they are hopefully produced by Bachmann someday. I will however not speculate here on when that might happen.





I have just started a special project for a friend on this forum and when that is finished I will be starting Luke and then Millie since I have been able to locate suitable chassis for these models in the EU although at a very high price.

More to report as progress continues. I would very much like to see some examples of the work of others posted
here for both layouts and rolling stock instead of endless speculation on what might happen one, two, or three years from now. So lets see some photos of the work I know you are doing out there. A great example is Mulfred-100 post proceeding my post. Thank you very much and please some more progress photos of your work. Very nicely done.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello Everyone:

Yes, I was very disappointed in this years announcements too. Specially when there were NONE for Narrow Gauge!

The more I think about it, considering what also happened with Large Scale and HO Scale as another person posted here earlier, that Bachmann has figured out that they should no longer be posting new release information here until a project is well along in design and ready to enter production. To accomplish this there would need to be a year or two with no new announcements which is exactly what is happening. This might also result in less insane speculation on this forum. An example of this is how Bachmann has just announced the new N Scale line and already people are speculating on what might happen in 2020. Sorry, just my two cents worth.

On another note my Freddie project is almost done and all I need to do is mount the name and number plates. When complete I will take some photos and post them here.

At least we still have Rusty and the red and blue coaches to look forward to this year.

Grandpuff

Yes, I am in the process up loading them now.

Grandpuff

Happy New Year to you all:

I have finished the basic scenery on my narrow gauge layout except for bushes and trees as I have posted above earlier. So I am now back to building more narrow gauge locomotives. I have 3 new projects lined up to build over the next several months. I am about half way through building my Freddie model. Included below are a few photos showing the CGI Freddie rendering, the 3D printed model and the actual work completed so far. This 3D model is designed to use this specific loco chassis so it goes together very easily. The only issue is that this loco is very hard to find (got mine from Russia) and it is expensive (more than $100).

Photo 1 Freddie CGI Freddie rendering

Photo 2 Freddie 3D printed model

Photo 3  Freddie Model and Roco 33240 Henschel HF 110 chassis

When Freddie is finished I will start on Luke. Since Luke is a very small loco I have found a very small 0-4-0 chassis that is coming from Japan to power this locomotive.

Photo 1 Luke CGI rendering

Photo 2 Luke 3D printed model

Photo 3 Luke 0-4-0 chassis

After Luke is finished I will start work on Millie. I will be using the same small 0-4-0 chassis from Japan that I am using for Luke.

Photo 1 Millie CGI rendering

Photo 2 Millie 3D printed model

Photo 3 Millie 0-4-0 chassis same as Luke.

After all of these models are finished I plan on finishing a 3D model of Sir Handel so that I can build both Sir Handel and Proteus.

As these projects get completed I will post completion photos here.

Hope to see Rusty soon.
Grandpuff

Merry Christmas to All:

Thanks Chaz for posting progress photos from your club layout. Always interesting to see, and we will all look forward to postings regarding your personal narrow gauge layout plans. I have set aside my loco building for a while to work on my 2 by 4 foot narrow gauge layout. Included below are some progress photos. I have just finished the layout wiring and the plaster scenery. I have yet to add the trees, bushes, and still deciding on a suitable small RR station to go in the foreground.

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I hope you all enjoyed seeing my layout progress, so how about some examples of others narrow gauge layouts for us all to enjoy.

I hope to see Rusty soon,
Grandpuff

Hello to All:

I have just finished my Peter Sam model today with the addition of the name and number plates from Narrow Planet. These take about 2 months to arrive but they really make the model. I used a Bachmann 0-4-0 switcher as the basis for the mechanism adding the trailing wheels from the tender to make it a 0-4-2. These chassis work pretty well with a little tinkering. While I was building this one I also built two more for Sir Handel and Proteus for which I now have most all of the parts I need for these models. I am also building a 2-6-2 chassis from a Bachmann 0-6-0 to use for Freddie. I also used an N scale brass whistle, front and rear head and tail lights from Langley Models in the UK, and Line-O-Tape lining from Mega Hobbies to complete my Peter Sam. I think it turned out pretty well and I hope you do too.

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Here is a group photo of all of my Narrow Gauge models so far gathered around the turntable on my narrow gauge layout. I plan on taking a short break from loco building to do a little scenery work on my layout. When I get most of the scenery done I plan on doing a You Tube video showing all of my models running around my layout. Pictured are left to right, Peter Sam, Smudger, Mighty Mac, Duke, Skarloey, Rheneas, and Duncan. There is also room for Sir Handel, Proteus, Freddie, and Rusty.

Photo #4


Looking forward to Rusty's arrival in the next month or two.


Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Toby:

WOW! Your open air workman's coaches look fantastic too. Your free hand painted faces also look great and add to the charm of your models. Very well done.

I use Peco OO9 couplers GR-102 4 to a package, and Peco OO9 coupler pockets GR-103 8 to a package on all of my OO9 rolling stock with good results. Depending on the car the mounting tab on the pockets will need to be trimmed to achieve the correct coupler height. These couplers are a match for the Bachmann loco couplers but without the swivel feature. I have been able to find these on EBAY at times, or from Hattons in the UK.

Again, I really like what you are doing.
Grandpuff

Toby:

I really like your Cora model. Very nicely done. Who is the kit made by?

I just pre-ordered the Narrow gauge red carriages from TW. I have already built my own blue carriages and also the green open air coaches which can be seen on earlier pages of this thread. For those that may be having a hard time finding these for pre-order at TW they are listed on the N scale pre-order page. Apparently TW is confused about the difference between HO scale models that run on N scale track being HOn30 or OO9 models and not N scale models.

For those interested in my Peter Sam loco project it has been completed and the only thing I am waiting for is the arrival of the name and number plates this coming week. As soon as they have been installed I will have a few photos to post.

Grandpuff

Thank you angelob6660. I have the Bachmann 0-4-0  chassis modified and the 2 wheel trailing wheels added so I now have the 0-4-2T chassis done. Now that I know how to modify the chassis I plan on doing two more of the same to use for Sir Handel and Proteus. Painting and lining of the loco body is next so should have some more photos of Peter Sam in a week or two.

Granduff

Since it has been almost a month from the last post here,  I thought that I would post an update on my completed and current projects. First I am very happy with the final image for Rusty posted here in another thread. I will be very happy get him hopefully sometime before the end of the year. I have also completed my Duncan model inspired by Chaz project posted here on previous pages.



As you can see in the first photo my OO9 Thomas Narrow Gauge loco roster is steadily growing. Next to the shed is Smudger purchased from BassTBone, thank you Michael. next is Mighty Mac and Duke built by myself, Skarloey, Rheneas by Bachmann, and Duncan just completed following Chaz Duncan project. You can also see in the foreground the 3D printed Peter Sam and the Bachmann 0-4-0 N scale swithcher to be used for a power chassis for Peter Sam. I am also gathering parts required for future projects to build Sir Handel and Freddie.







Here are a few close up photos of my Duncan model. The Minitrains Stainz loco used for a power chassis is a very smooth runner although at a very high price. I am really not to clear on the controversy discussed here about the differences between the model series Duncan and the CGI Duncan and hope someone here can explain this to the rest of us



Here is a close up of the 3D printed Peter Sam and the Bachmann N scale 0-4-0 chassis I will be using to build my next project.

After I have finished all of these models I will have most of the Narrow Gauge models needed for my narrow gauge layout also under construction. I am still very interested in obtaining all of the narrow gauge models that Bachmann produces over the next several years to complete the "first six" but my models will serve as very nice place holders until that happens.

If anyone can explain to me why my photos are not displaying properly I would appreciate it. I have searched everywhere for how to edit photos in Tiny Pic and I cannot find anything. My photos display properly on my iPhone but not on my computer. Help Please!

Enjoy,
Grandpuff