Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All:

I have noticed that no one has posted anything since August 2020 when Mulfred100 post his latest layout progress photos, thank you for those. I have just finished 3 narrow gauge locos for a friend on this forum. The locos were Duke, Bertram, and Duncan. While working on these I decided to build my self a Bertram too. I used the usual Langley UK loco kit. a Fleischmann Piccolo 0-4-0 power chassis, and Narrow Planet brass nameplates.

Narrow Gauge Bertram


Bertram is the 15th narrow gauge loco that I have built over the last few years and is probably the last one for a while. I think that the only other model in the RWS that I have not built is Victor.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello to you all:
I have not seen very much posted here recently and I have not had any new projects myself in a while. With todays Bachmann Announcements that may change going forward I hope. First I am happy to see Chaz' new HOn30 layout get under construction and look forward to further progress. And second I am glad to see Mulfred100's layout progress. Your layouts fidelity to Season 4 is very impressive as Chaz has commented earlier. Both of you keep up the great work you are doing and please keep us all updated here.

I thought that I would post a recap of the HOn30 Locomotive and rolling stock projects that I have completed over the last 3 years or so. The catalyst that got me started on this journey was Chaz' Duke model posted here back on page 3 of this thread. Duke has always been my favorite Narrow Gauge model so with Chaz help I was able to build my own model which got me started on completing my Narrow Gauge Collection. I now have a total of 14 Narrow Gauge locomotives and various passenger and freight cars plus I have built a 2 by 4 foot narrow gauge layout to run them on. I also of course have all of the Bachmann Narrow Gauge models produced so far and when the Peter Sam and Sir Handel models arrive I plan on re-naming my models Stewart and Falcon, So I will add several photos here showing my collection.

Adding my photos may take me a while so please be patient and check back later if I do not have them all posted yet.

#1 Duke

#2 Duke and Blue Coaches

#3 Spudger Started by BassTBone

#4 My 3 Brake Vans

#5 Mighty Mac

#6 Mighty Mac and Green Open Coaches

#7 Peter Sam



#8 Sir Handel



#9 Duncan



#10 Proteus with Gun Powder Cars

#11 Freddie

#12 Luke with Deer in Cab

#13 Millie

#14 Ivo Hugh

#15 My HOn30 2 by 4 Foot Layout










I had a great time building all of these models and look forward to any future releases from Bachmann.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Narrow Gauge Collection,
Grandpuff

Chaz:

Your new layout is looking great with each new group of photos you post.
I am very happy to see Peter Sam, Sir Handel, and Duncan again running on your layout.

Great work,
Grandpuff

Chaz:

Very glad to see that you have started on your Narrow Gauge Layout. What are the dimensions, it looks to be about 3 by 4 feet from your photos. That is a little larger than my 2 by 4 foot layout. Also happy to see your First Six plus Duke locos pictured as well. I am also happy to have played a part in building our Narrow Gauge collections. I will look forward to following your layout progress here. Great start.

Grandpuff

Hello to All:

It is my opinion that since Skarloey, Peter Sam, and Sir Handel all share the same 0-4-2T wheel arrangement that Bachmann would probably have  designed the tooling to be able to use the chassis and drive train interchangeably for all three locomotives. If that is the case then I believe that Sir Handel will soon follow Peter Sam since all that would be required is the tooling for the body. I am also hopeful that Bachmann will follow up with a Duncan model using prototype proportions as with the rest of the series. Once the first six are produced I hope that Bachmann will consider a Duke model to complete the model series Narrow Gauge locomotives.

Grandpuff

STL:

If you scroll up this page to message #452 you can see a photo of my narrow gauge passenger cars. The paint that I used for my blue coaches and matching brake van is Testors 3 OZ spray can #1208 Gloss Light Blue.

I hope this helps you,
Grandpuff

STL:

Just read your comment so thought that I would check on my red coaches and the Talyllyn Prototypes. There are doors on both sides on both the models and the prototype coaches, but the hand grabs and door hardware has been removed on the side away from the platform sides as shown in the photos below. If you look closely at Bachmann's models you can see the door hinges on the doors but no door hardware on one side as in the prototype. Bachmann really did their homework on these models.

No Hardware Side


Door Hardware Side



Very nice job Bachmann,
Grandpuff

Hi all:

I just received my Red Narrow Gauge Coaches from TW today and I am very impressed with how nice they look. I only ordered the Red Coaches because I had previously built my own Blue and Green Coaches for myself as reported on this thread earlier.



I am sure that Chaz will post one of his usual fine reviews once he receives his in the mail.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Just wanted to point out that couches are something you sit on and coaches are something you sit in. Also that our and are do not mean the same thing. And yes Narrow Gauge coaches are smaller than standard gauge coaches due to the smaller gauge of the track even though the scale is the same.

Grandpuff

Hello Again:

First thank you for your comments Terrence, I am a big fan of your layout and model work too.

And to Chaz I really liked your M&M's locomotive caravan, especially that the M&M colors matched the engines. It is great to see your "First SIX plus Duke" and I am happy to have played a part in making that happen for you. You were very generous in helping me build my Duke which started me on this journey to build all of the narrow gauge engines, thanks again.

I thought that I would post a photo showing all 14 of my narrow gauge engines gathered around my engine service facilities on my 2 X 4 foot layout. Shown clock wise around my turntable are Rusty on the turntable bridge, then from the lower left is Ivo Hugh, Freddie, Proteus, Millie, Luke, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Smudger, Mighty Mac, Duke, Skarloey, Rheneus, and Duncan. I hope that you all have enjoyed seeing my models as much as I have enjoyed building them.

Photo of my Narrow Gauge Collection


Also just to let everyone know, I received a call from TW today telling me that my Red Coaches are on the way, YAY!

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Rodimus Supreme:

No, the faces I used for both of my Sir Handels came from Japanese Bandai Sir Handel models.
A little pricey to be sure, but the only ones that were the correct size.

Grandpuff

Hello to All:

Mulfred-100 your Winter scene photo looks fantastic, very nicely done. Thanks again for sharing with us all.

Well another week has pasted and I have been able to complete the Sir Handel models I have been building for Chaz and myself. I have mailed Chaz model to him and it is due to arrive today. So I hope you enjoy your model and your complete First Six plus Duke. Happy Holidays to you.

As I said in my last post I have added the coal load, face, couplers, and name and number plates. I have also assembled the body, powered chassis, and added the trailing wheels. The chassis' I used from N-Drive in the UK runs very smoothly and were worth the long wait for their arrival. So here are a few completion photos of Sir Handel.

Photo 1


Photo 2


Photo 3



I am very happy with how Sir Handel has turned out ad hope that you all have enjoyed my progress in building my Narrow Gauge collection. As Bachmann releases their Peter Sam and Sir Handel models our plan is to change the nameplates to Stuart and Falcon. Until then our models will serve as place holders until the Bachmann models are produced someday. I now have models of all of the narrow gauge models except Victor to my knowledge. As soon as I can get the 3D design errors fixed I will probably build him to complete my collection. I will also get a photo taken on my layout of all 14 of my narrow gauge locos and post it here as soon as I can.

Looking forward to the release of the narrow gauge coaches soon.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello Again:

Thanks again Mulfred-100 for the additional photos of your narrow gauge layout.

I am sure we would like to see others narrow gauge work shown here too!

Here is a photo showing my current progress on the two Sir Handels I am building for Chaz and myself. As you can see I have added the red lining, boiler fitings, whistle, figures, and head and tail lamps. I still need to add the coal load, faces, couplers, and name and number plates. Once that is completed I can assemble the loco to the power chassis and add the trailing truck under the cab.

Photo 1


It will probably take me about a week to complete the remaining assembly and track testing on both models so I should have some completion photos very soon so stand by.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello to All:

First let me thank Chaz for posting the progress photo for our Sir Handel and Proteus project for me while I was in between Photo Sharing sites. I am now with Imageshack after Photobucket, Flickr, and Tiny Pic closed their free sites.

Second I would like to thank Mulfred-100 for posting the photos of progress on his Narrow Gauge Layout. I really like what you are doing. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing with us here.

Next I would like to post a few completion photos of my Proteus project that I just finished today. I have been working on this since June because it has taken 4 months for the power chassis to arrive from the UK. The last week I have been able to add the boiler fittings, red lining, head and tail lamps, coal load, engineer figure, name and number plates, and couplers to finish my model.

Photo 1


Photo 2


Photo 3


Now that Proteus is done I can return to my Sir Handel project which has also been waiting for the power chassis mentioned above. I am building two Sir Handels, one for Chaz to complete his First Six plus Duke, and one for my collection of all 14 of the Narrow Guage engines. I still have the red lining, head and tail lamps, figures, boiler details, couplers, and name and number plates to install. This should take about a week to complete so I should have more photos of Sir Handel then. It will not be long now Chaz.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff

Hello to All:

I have just received my Ivo Hugh name and number plates from Narrow Planet so I was able to complete my model today. I have also installed the throttle body and linkage seen in front of the steam dome. The power chassis I used is an N Scale Fleischmann Piccolo 7000 0-4-0 to which I added a trailing wheel set. These locos are very smooth runners by the way.

Photo 1


Photo 2


Photo 3


Now that my Ivo Hugh has been completed my next project to build Sir Handel and Proteus can be re-started now that I have received the power chassis from N-Drive in the UK after a 4 month wait. These are very nicely done loco chassis' and run very smoothly so they were worth the wait. I will have more to report on that project in about a week or so once the chassis' are fitted and the locos are painted.

Enjoy,
Grandpuff