Mogul

Many thanks NH and FM for your interest and information. At one time there were around fifty farms that had a railway, most were very small and powered by horses or even men. Two farms though were much bigger and used mainly small shunter type locos they were the Fleet Light Railway built in 1909 it was about 13 miles in extent and served the family farms north of Fleet Hargate and linked them with Fleet station between Spalding and Kings Lynn on what was part of the Midland & great Northern Joint railway. The other was the Nocton Estate Railway of 7800acres which was the largest and longest lived. They grew potatoes for Smiths Crisps and also wheat and sugar beet. This is the farm my model is very loosely based on. They had a connection with a main line Great Norther and Great Eastern Joint Railway at Nocton. Kind Regards Peter M

No I have not NH they look very useful to me if a little modern for my early 1960's period. Many thanks for the information, I hope you are enjoying the trip back in the past. Kind regards Peter M

One of the biggest problems I’ve found working in 1/32-1/35 is finding suitable figures. There seem to be two basic sources. The first are 1/32 scale figures intended for the tractor collecting community. There are serious collectors of the more detailed and delicate models, the rest of course are sold as children’s toys. Mostly these depict seated figures with one or two from the Britain’s range being standing figures. They are made of a hard flexible plastic that is not easy to modify. These are all 1/32 scale. The other source are military figures who in the main are wearing a uniform of some sort. These can be modified with a scalpel and files but it isn’t easy. These are all 1/35 scale. The photos show examples of the modified military figures. The hats they are wearing is a circle of ten thou plasticard with a hole cut in it to fit over his head and thus form the brim of his hat. I think more people wore hats in the 1950’s, the period of the model than do nowadays. Peter M

The next device I made for haulage on the farm was an ex army Quad gun tractor. I had long fancied using the Tamiya kit as a basis but they had been out of production for some time. Eventually I managed to get one and used an early Bachmann trolley as a chassis, it has an older ringfield type motor and with some added weight runs very well. The older Ringfield motor is far better than the small can motor they replaced it with in my opinion. The motor is hidden under a box in the back of the cab and the fiction is this covers a powerful electric winch with a cable emerging from the back of the vehicle. It is now fitted with a KD coupler on the front. It has four seats so is used to take tractor drivers out to the fields. I been surprised by the number of gentlemen who have said “I’ve driven one of those during my National Service” Peter M

Yes you are right Ford major it is Tin Tin’s dog but I don’t know his name A few pictures showing a couple of Diesel tractors that have just been purchased. The blue one is a Fordson E1A Power Major that used a modified Ford truck engine. This is the more powerful tractor and is used for ploughing and general cultivation. The red one a Fergie 35 which was powered by a three cylinder Perkins engine and is used for light work around the yard. Both are Universal Hobbies models and come ready made, if not that well stuck together. I must admit I think the blue on the Fordson is a bit too dark but the model is fine apart from that. I also have a 1/16 version of the Major and that too is an excellent model but the colour is slightly wrong I think. Any way back to the model you will be glad to see featured tractors at last. Peter M

Working on the theory you can’t have too many locos the next shunter I made was powered by another Athearn switcher chassis that I had been given. Again it is a purely freelance design and was built out of plasticard on the base Athearn switcher basic footplate that had had the body removed. I removed one of the flywheels and a drive shaft to give more room at the back end for the cab and this allowed a seated driver figure to be fitted in. Someone suggested that it looked rather Germanic, I don't know the mechanics in the farm workshop just used whatever they could lay their hands on. The body is the usual bodge with a couple of doors to allow access into the engine compartment. The radiator was from an Athearn Hustler body and it is open to allow air in to keep the five pole motor cool. It’s got the usual handrails and bits of rope and chain hanging from them. It had link and pin couplers at both ends originaly but now has a KD at the rear. The body is slightly weighted, the Athearn chassis on its own is quite heavy so it tracks well and is a nice slow runner. It is painted in my faded industrial green colour with a little wear and tear weathering. The original driver was a Chinese figure who looked too big and was changed later for a smaller more European figure. Peter M

I have found another photograph of the 40hp Simplex type at rest on a Sunday morning outside the green house. This gives some idea of its small size. Please note some of the photos that have been taken over a period of years were taken by my fellow operator Andy Knott. Peter M

Due to the small size of the layout four wheel shunters are a bit more flexible and more like the shunters used in reality on the Nocton Estate on which the model was inspired by. So I added another to the growing fleet of locos and rail trucks. Because the original bauxite coloured Simplex type ran well using the Model Power Chassis I bought another. Roaring inflation had increased its price by some 50%, but I thought it still reasonable in today’s inflationary times. This time I managed to find a drawing of an armoured Simplex as used in the First World war and used the basic dimensions to build mine, with the exception of the curved sides. Again the Two Sister’s engineers shied away from curving metal and squared up the sides of the second hand ex WD chassis they had acquired. Because it was wider I was able to put more weights into each side of its plasticard footplate. The cab, engine cover, radiator are all plasticard with some Cambrian 16mm scale rivets and nuts strategically placed. Odds and ends from the spares box serve to represent parts of the engine and transmission seen below the bonnet cover. The wire grill is made from the reinforcing from some industrial tape soaked in ACC to make it rigid. The vertical motor means there is no room for a driver so I made a canvas door from masking tape suitably coloured. This time I sprayed the body with grey primer then painted it a light green colour purely to make a change. It is very lightly weathered because I assumed its regular driver looks after it. The extra weight means it tracks and runs a bit better than the original one, which is good considering its humble origin. Peter M

The next shunting locomotive is not to be taken too seriously really. I built it from a selection of unused body parts and a switcher chassis from my spares box. It’s a device I really don’t think there is a prototype for as it’s all in my imagination. The fiction is that it has a Gardner four cylinder diesel engine at one end (the side with the vertical exhaust and radiator). This drives a generator at the other end by a long shaft that passes through the middle of the loco behind the driver’s seat. It can be used as a portable generator out in the fields as well as being a conventional diesel electric to power the traction motors in both bogies. It has a KD coupler at the front and a link and pin at the rear. The first two photos were taken on my test track, with the loco pulling a weed killing tank car. In this last picture the device is seen in the yard next to the man sitting down with a puppy under his shirt. Photo by Mick Thornton Peter M

The ground cover was still being added a bit at a time when these pictures were taken. The horse drawn device hidden under the tarpaulin is actually part of a German army field kitchen. The tarpaulin is kitchen towel soaked in PVA, then painted with acrylics when dry. This is then washed over in a thin coat of watery dark grey, this runs into the creases and gives it more definition. When this is dry a light flick over with a little cream on a dry brush. Like this the implement could be anything. Wonderful thing the imagination, probably the modellers most useful tool. The jerry cans and large oil drum are from a Tamiya military kit as are the sacks. The sight gauge and valve on the tank next to the greenhouse are from the spares box. The fine light coloured ground cover is a material we used to use at work for dealing with oil spills. I find 1/32 -1/35 is a nice size to work in for someone like me who is not in the first flush of youth. These days my eyesight is not what it was and my hands don’t seem so dexterous as they once were because I have PMR. The main thing is it is fun. We get a glimpse into the engine shed with its work bench and a tool box plus some parts being worked on. A vice and more tools have been added since this was picture was taken. The floor of the engine house is scribed Milliput painted a dirty black as are the sides of the rails in the shed. A set of fire irons lean against the front of the shed next to an oil drum of rubbish complete with brush and shovel. A group of oil drums containing lubricating oil sit on a balsa wood stand. Next to the engine house is a low relief barn made of balsa painted with watered down Indian ink. It has a rusty corrugated iron roof and a brick base from yet another Tamiya war damaged building! Peter M

The jeep trailer ended up in the junk pile next to the tractor workshop. The photos show the scene early on before more junk was added. Farmers I have noted locally seem reluctant to throw anything away. Peter M

On one of the real farms, Dennis estates at Deeping St Nicholas had a small rail truck powered by a flash steam boiler. It was made by a firm called Lifu steam lorry. The device gave me the idea to make something that could carry a small load and be used by the foreman to carry spares or extra fuel out to the fields. So the next rail truck I built really is a bit of a critter. It is an ex- American army jeep. It is an Italeri kit and cost about six Pounds. I didn’t realise until I got it home and looked in the box that it came complete with a trailer as well. Excellent value I thought. It sits on an On30 Bachmann Street Car chassis, which is rather high, but the Bachmann chassis was brand new and only £20, another cancellation in a shop that sadly no longer exists. It runs very well so I am prepared to put up with the extra height. Peter M

A few more detail shots of the wooden bodied Simplex shunter. Peter M

I felt that the farm needed more small locomotive power so my next model was a Motor Rail Simplex type of 0-4-0 shunter. It was assumed the farm bought a damaged Simplex from the War Department after the first world war and re-built it their own workshops. It was originally petrol powered but later converted to diesel. The model is made of plasticard and bits of wire. It runs on a Model Power chassis with a vertical motor in the cab, so there is no room to fit a driver. I added more weight where ever I could and bent the pick ups outward to contact the backs of the wheels better. It runs reasonably well given its low purchase price, but needs an extra bit of welly when going over dead frog points sometimes. It is seen shunting in the yard, the man sitting on the bonnet will be getting a lift out to the fields later when the shunting is done in the first photo. The later pictures show what she looked like when she was re-built in the farm work shops. In the last picture she is seen leaving the yard towing a weed killing tank. Incidentally the driver sits sideways on the footplate. Peter M

Ed, I'm glad you are enjoying the thread, I wondered if it would be of interest as it reproduces fictitious events from long ago. Regards Peter M

I found another truck which I found attractive, an Italeri 6x6 GMC truck kit. This is also powered with a Bachmann urban trolley car chassis and motor. It meant making a scratch built Plasticard frame to connect the body kit and chassis together. I also added some more weight in the cavities in the truck body using milliput and lead wheel weights, extra weight improves the running of the model. The driver is another soldier modified to look more like a civilian. The couplings are link and pin, the pin being a U shaped piece of paper clip. Regarding the photos above, the truck in the kit should really have a large electric powered winch mounted on the front but I thought the front looked OK without it so I fitted the winch in the back instead. It has link and pin couplers at each end. The guard around the radiator I cut so it just fitted the profile of the bonnet. I sprayed it a rather bright yellow which I toned down with several thin dark grey washes. The canvas hood over the cab I painted with a matt oil based paint in a fawn colour then gave it a wash of very dilute Indian ink. A spare jerry can of fuel is carried each side of the cab mounted on the running boards. I then added the usual tools, shovels ropes and chains draped over various parts of the vehicle. In the load carrying area is the large tarpaulin covered crate, a forty gallon oil drum, a selection of jerry cans, a spare implement wheel some folded tarpaulins and more rope. At the very back is the electric winch mechanism. Peter M

Thanks for the extra information Simon. I must say I like both my trucks the Opel and Daimler Benz Which I think is slightly more attractive to my eyes. Both trucks are Italerie models who I have found are a pleasure to make as the fit of the parts is so good. Regards Peter M

I found another 1/35 scale truck kit of an earlier version of the Opel Blitz, a bit more thirties than forties looking. It is in fact a gas producer. The long vertical tank shape on the right hand side was used to heat either coal or wood chips and the gas given off was collected in a pipe and directed round to the front of the vehicle. Here it passed through a radiator which cooled it then it was stored in a large tank fitted crossways to the front of the truck. The gas was then fed into a carburettor to power the engine. It produced about 40% of the power that petrol would apparently. It could run using petrol as well in a conventional way if required. This time I managed to get it to fit over a Con-Cor switcher chassis. It is very similar to the Athearn but with a can motor. It came out of a loco I’ve had for years but never really liked because of its awful over scale hand rails. This time to get it to fit meant removing a flywheel and drive shaft to fit under the cab and bonnet. The body is held in place by two self tappers each side that press against the sides of the motor. A large tarpaulin covered box in the back hides the motor and drive mechanism. I sprayed it with grey car primer then picked out the wings and radiator outer cover in black. I washed the whole body with a mix of black ink and grey acrylics to tone everything down a bit. The driver is a modified military figure. I then added ropes and chains and a few oddments in the back to make it look more interesting and give it a bit more character. Originally it was fitted with a Kadee coupler at the front but because the rail truck is rather longer than the other Opel Blitz it swings out too much and was a menace in the yard. Now the front sports a wooden buffer only to protect the front of the truck. I fitted a kd coupler to the rear instead and added a petrol tank under the front near side wing. It is as far from the heat source as I can get it. Now the vehicle is started on petrol then when warm changed over to gas. The first two photos were taken on my test track. The others on the model itself at a later date. Peter M

I felt the need to build something that could be used to haul the main line trains from the yard to the railhead or road interchange. That is how the yellow beast came about. It is totally freelance and is supposed to have a Gardner four cylinder diesel engine which drives a small generator which in turn powers the rear bogie which has two traction motors. The front bogie is un-powered and is purely for load carrying and braking, this needed as the wagons don’t have any brakes. All this is fiction of course. The model runs on another Athearn switcher chassis, this time with the rear drive shaft disconnected to give a bit more room in the cab area. The body has bits of its original donor loco, a Baldwin S12, with the cab removed and doors and handles on the bonnet sides added. The cab like the tractors of that time is open to the elements. The driver is a converted army figure with his tin helmet filed to look like his hair. The model was photographed on my test track. Peter M

A photograph showing the cows being herded in for milking to give a better idea of the bridge that hides the tracks in the fiddle yard. A Fordson E1A lurking in the shed. Peter M

Some superb modelling here, nice subtle details as well. I like it a lot.🙂 Kind regards Peter M

A wire fence was erected at the edge of the track over the railway that led to the cow sheds. A herd of Friesian cattle are being driven along by a herdsman and his dog. A bit different to the usual bus seen on model railway layouts. The cattle were originally Jerseys but the local farmer said they looked more like Friesians so I repainted them black and white, they are quite clean as it is summer. They tend to get mucky in winter when they are kept in. The herdsman was a German military figure that I have modified to look more farm like the dog is a Britain's model. The scale cow pats are made from a splash of molted solder painted greenish dark brown. The long grass is made from an old shaving brush bristles glued into small holes with PVA adhesive. The cold frame is made from balsa and clear plasticard and the vegetables are made from Milliput putty painted with acrylics. Note the broken pane. The milk maid, not the prettiest young lady, a Britain's farm model is feeding the free range hens that are wandering all over the place. Peter M

Many thanks Fordmajor I’m glad you are enjoying the thread. Peter M

A view showing the Davenport diesel and the Opel Blitz rail truck behind it. You can just see tomatoes growing in the greenhouse. This was a cash crop grown during the summer, in winter the potatoes were chitted in the greenhouse ready for planting. In the second picture one of the two farmers himself is admiring the crop of tomatoes. Peter M

Thank you F 90 A view showing some of the detail in the large tractor workshop. There is a bench with a vice and tools. On the wall is a lubrication chart for the Fordson 27A which is the tractor on the left hand side of the picture. In the second it shows a front view of the Canadian Ford truck now fitted with a canvas tilt over the back. She is used to ferry tractor drivers out to the fields and then bring them back at night. Note on the wall another lubrication chart for the Fordson 27A tractor. Peter M