Industrial Locos

[I had shown links to the Gnatterbox, the Gn15 Forum, where many of these builds were detailed, but the Forum is no longer available and the links don't work.]

As a toe-dipper into Gn 15 I thought I would build a loco. I didn't want to have something that was commercially available, but I liked the look of Steve's Gnat

kit loco, so I based mine on that. As it wasn't a Gnat, I called it 'Gnot-a-Gnat', and there is a blow-by-blow account of the construction on the

GnATTERbox - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3678

My second loco-building attempt was based on a Deutz prototype, imagineered onto 15" gauge. The underframe is a modified Pepper7 kit,

with accessories from the same source. The bodywork is plasticard and it's powered by a Spud motor unit. In the spirit of punning names I call

it 'Wot the Deutz'. All the gory details of construction can be found here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3679

The next loco off the production line is an unashamed Underground Ernie bash. It's based on the Baby Simplex prototype. The basis is the UE

Inspection Car, and the bodywork is a much mutilated remnant from the original item, with plasticard additions. It's powered by the hacked-about

UE motor unit - surprisingly, it runs very well. It's called 'Ernieplex', and details of the butchery involved are to be found on the GnATTERbox -

http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=5125

There is an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157661750500168

Steve Bennett posted a photo of the critter at the Solva waterworks in Wales, and I was inspired to try to make this version of it. As with

Ernieplex, the basis is the UE Inspection Car. After radical surgery on the body as before, plasticard was used to build up the unlikely-looking

superstructure. It's powered by the Bachmann Gandy-Dancer motor unit and, with lots of weight, runs well. I wrote up the build on the

GnATTERbox here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=6233 and it goes by the name of 'Welsh Ernie'.

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157687649273340

Another German prototype imagineered onto 15" rails is this, based on a Diema. All plasticard construction, running on a Spud motor unit.

As it's supposed to be like a Diema I've called it 'Diema-like' and details are here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=6715

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157687656151040

The last little critter off my workbench - yet another feat of imagineering, based on a Gmeinder. All plasticard construction, powered by the UE motor

unit I didn't use under 'Welsh Ernie'. The construction write-up, under the name 'Gmeinder Gap' appears on the GnATTERbox here -

http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=6981

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157687429514901

All these early industrial locos ran on Wood Bros, and were (with the exception of 'Welsh Ernie') sold with the layout.

-o0o-

However, I had also built some locos 'because I liked them' - which became useful on Watts' as mining locos.

I saw a photo of an Eimco compressed air loco, and fancied making a model based on it. As the company made them down to 18" gauge it didn't seem too big a step to imagineer a 15" version.

The model was made of plasticard and a piece of plastic pipe on a Bachmann Track Inspection Car mechanism, which has the requisite low profile to fit under the tank.

The Eimco on my little photo base. Details of the construction can be found at http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=7786

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157687687931820

This freelance battery loco runs on the mechanism from the Underground Ernie Inspection Car, and is made from plasticard. Full details of the build are on the Gnatterbox web site at http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8916&st art=25

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157687429514901

At the Pewsey MOMING exhibition in 2011 I bought a cast resin skip body from the Smallbrook stand - no idea what I was going to do with it, but it looked good. In the end I built this self-propelled skip, based on the Keef 'Skippy', which I'd seen on the Blenheim Park Railway - in this case the prototype is of the right gauge.

Once again, made of plasticard, on an Underground Ernie Inspection Car mechanism.

The saga of the construction of this odd looking device is here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=7879

There is also an album of photos of this build on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/149926300@N07/albums/72157688295194583

Page created 29 July 2012 Last edited 3 March 2023