Model Railway Forum

Hello all,

I'd already done some bits of this, I've stuck them together in one pic to take up less room in the thread. I'm slowly making a small saddle tank loco from card.


1/. The chassis drawn out and cut from card leaving some overhang at each end so the two pieces can be stuck together. The front axle hole drilled out and reamed with the file to take the 1/8" bushes.

2/. 'T' shaped spacers glued to one side only. Lined up by eye on the cutting board. Bit of rod through the bushes, tested, taken apart, white glue on one spacer, reassemble, enough drying time to get it square again, same with the other spacer.

3/. Gluing the High Level horn blocks into the slots which are 1/2 mm wider to allow for some wiggle. An old Biro spring to hold them in place, when lined up some Araldite on the edges with a pin.

4/. The wheels as in 1/. and 2/. with every other spoke cut out. New axles make from 1/8" silver steel. I file flats at both ends at about 1/2 the depth of the wheel bushes. This is where Seccotine comes into its own it will hold the axles in place fairly strongly but still leave some small adjustment capability. The pivot for the rear axle will go between the white card.

Cheers - Jim

Very interesting and clever.

Hello Wtd,

Thanks for the nice comment good of you. Glad you find it interesting, it's surprisingly easy and when I make a mistake I can cut another piece of card in 10 minutes. I'm just a cardboard bodger

Cheers - Jim

Bodgers are very skilled, well the ones in this area used to be, turning Windsor Chair spindles on a foot powered pole lathe outside in the woods.

Hello Wtd

I didn't know that it's very interesting and more so because of the flexibility of our language, words gradually taking on differing meaning as times passes. I bet those poor wood turners were paid a pittance by the bosses in High Wycombe.

Cheers - Jim

They didn’t work for a particular chair maker, they were self employed and were paid by the bundle of spindles.

Hello Wtd,

I used to call at businesses in HW and was told about the companies that made the chairs and how the bosses used to rip off the subbies. Much later came the deep hole borers, in Hoddesdon, Leicester and Stoke on Trent. If you sent all three a drawing for a quote they were all within pennies of each other.

You may recall the Bridgtown Tool Co (Britool) they got so fed up it with they bought their own machine.

Cheers - Jim

Proper modelling Jim. I love seeing what other people achieve - it makes you push yourself a little further next time.

Hello Mick,

Thanks for the comment good of you to say that, I do hope I help even a little bit. I'd always made wagons from card, though when I started doing that there was a guy not far away who cast underframe bits and I was able to buy them quite cheaply.

It was John Fownes from Nottingham who persuaded me to make a card chassis, he makes mainline locos and coaches from it.

Cheers - J

Ohh and yes I have got the chassis running now, just gluing a tripod bush to my webcam as I write this, I'll make a vid and post it.

I assume it is 0 gauge?