Single Fairlie MOC

In my introduction I mentioned I was building an 'R' class single Fairlie loco so I thought I'd post a photo to show you where I'm up to with it.





I'm reasonably pleased with what I've done so far, but there's still a fair bit of detail work to do before I call it finished. I'm waiting on a Bricklink order to arrive at the moment so I can carry on with getting it to move under its own steam (excuse the pun). The cab roof is more rounded on top than I would like it to be, - only I can't think of a way of improving it at the moment.
The 'R' class in general has been my favourite locomotive design for a very long time so I'd like to make a decent job of it.

Nice little loco you have there 'LA'.....it also has that old school classic Legotown train feel to it !
Brick On !

Looking good LA.

I agree that the roof of the cabin is too curved; perhaps you could use 'Brick, Modified 2 x 4 x 1 1/3 with Curved Top' for the leading and rear edges.

LT, it certainly has that 12V feel about it.

Thanks guys, and thanks for the suggestion Brickie. The roof has been one part of this build that has been annoying me as the flat top to the cab roof is a very distinctive feature of these locos.
Those old 12v parts suit this loco perfectly too. I tried a set of BBB's wheels and I couldn't get the long and low proportions of an R class single Fairlie correct with them at all. I'm going to use battery power though with a PF sensor and battery setup inside a 4 wheel brake van/guards van coupled behind the loco.

I solved the cab roof problem in the end by using cheese wedges and I've made some other progress with this loco in other small ways after doing some creative staring at it for a while. I finally found a set of siderods for it as well which means the next stage will be devising a way to represent the cylinders and connecting rods. I don't think I will be trying to do anything with trying to represent the valve gear.
After doing some more creative staring I decided to order some 12v contact rail from Bricklink so I could have an experiment with using it to power this loco. Not sure where this is going just yet as my other locos are being built to run on battery power.

Please excuse the poor quality photo, I can't take photos for toffee.

Looking even better and your photography will improve over time......I'm still trying to perfect my camera skills after all these years !
Brick On 'Annie' !

Great little train moc & the white cat is a cool add-on

LA, the roof looks much better.

Well done.

Locomotive Annie wrote:After doing some more creative staring I decided to order some 12v contact rail from Bricklink so I could have an experiment with using it to power this loco. Not sure where this is going just yet as my other locos are being built to run on battery power.

Going 12V can be quite expensive if you get bitten by the bug, you could always try these train wheels though fitting side rods would be more problematic, though you might be able to figure something out. It would solve the problem of the 12V motor contacts getting stuck at points and crossings if you don't have the 12V conductor rails.

Olivia helps out with the spanner work on all my locos and Harry the porter and his broom helps to keep the work area clean.
White isn't such a great colour for a railway cat, but I suppose 'Sooty' can be given a bath if he gets too dirty.

Trying out 12volts will just be an experiment to start with Peter and since this loco will be working on the timber tramway on my layout and not the mainline it won't be any hardship to only lay the timber tramway in 12volt track if the experiment is successful.

Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone. :D

Locomotive Annie wrote:Olivia helps out with the spanner work on all my locos

If she had a rivet gun she would be .

Rosie the riveter. That's such a brilliant old poster

I know.....it's a fantastic poster......need to make a custom minifig eh ?

-Now there's a thought........ I shall have to get my plastic box with all my minifigs bits in it out and see what I can put together.