The F class is an iconic NZR locomotive. It was one of the most numerically predominant and longest lived locomotives in the country. Examples continued in industrial service after withdrawal and a number of examples are preserved. Just about any NZR layout can justify one. The Fs were built by seven builders in the UK.…
When designing a loco a fairly early decision to be made is how to drive it. This is the stage I’ve being going through with the F. Decisions to be made include: Where to put the motor? Practical and cosmetic considerations. Which axle to drive? How to fit the drive around suspension, compensation and other…
In which your intrepid correspondent continues his wrestle to reconcile 150 year old draughtsmanship with rusty iron and sepia tone prints… The last week has been rather bleak weather-wise, so being tied to the PC has not been an unattractive option. A number of fellow F aficionados have contributed photo collections and drawings, and I…
As keen students of this blog will know, the idea of an F kit gestated for longer than the proverbial elephant. Having rashly displayed the newborn idea in a more public forum, I now find myself with the task of raising this problem child. One of the many issues besetting this unfortunate infant is a…
Every product reaches the point where I feel the urge to produce my definitive build, whereupon I move on to other things. Thus it was, and here it is, for the gig. I was rather taken by a photo on the web of a bright yellow gig. This may not be very typical of a…
The last vehicular distraction was self-inflicted, but this one came by email from Mark Andrews asking if a gig kit was a possibility. The answer to which is absolutely, and here are the first images. The original gig (see here: https://nzfinescale.com/cart-before-the-horse/ ) was drawn by Mark based on a gig in the Fielding museum. That drawing was…
I’m not sure why that title sprang to mind other than this article is written about a Ruby on Tuesday – and the Rolling Stones song of that name is, apparently, Rolling Stone magazine’s 310th greatest song of all time. Just saying. In case you wondered. Maybe a little bit? In an earlier missive (read…
The W kit has filled the blog for quite a while. The first batch of kits have been shipped and I fondly imagine a tribe of happy modellers out there building them. Of course, the reason I did the kit in the first place was that I want models of 192 and 238 for Rewanui,…
This year’s resolution is as high as possible! Couldn’t resist that – sorry. In any case, Happy New Year to all and thanks for your support during the year just gone. One of the slightly worrying things about writing a specialist blog, is that you do wonder if you are reaching your audience, and…
I recently had cause to reflect on the ultimate questions, and got little further than ’42’, or Leonard Cohen’s ‘do dah dum…’. The root of this reflection was a decision to quit my long-standing remunerative employment for a ‘sabbatical’ of uncertain duration. Essentially I was jaded and in need of a change. Ironically, in the…
Based on drawing S210 (28-2-1901). Semaphore posts must have been a costly item, and thus for any location the shortest post consistent with appropriate visibility would have been used. Posts were square in section and tapered to 7″x7″ at the top to fit the finial. In reality the post top was rebated so that the…
