The General Manager has noticed that the line has one working loco, and that is not a great runner. So the Board have decided to invest in more motive power. A spate of orders have been placed and the first loco is nearing completion.

This is a 3D printed loco body from Chris Ward Railways. It is designed to fit the Kato 103 chassis. I had a Kato 104 in my work box and I cut that down to fit. I brought the loco body secondhand and it came without side skirts. I thought it would look better with them, so I made some from 1mm and 0.1mm plasticard and offcuts of rod.

The main colour is Humbrol GWR/BR Green, with Citadel Mephiston Red for the buffer beams and Humbrol Dirty Black for the rest of the loco. To add a little detail I’ve added a loco jack (RT Models), some lamps (Springside Models), handrail knobs (Markits), and some nameplates and makers plates from Narrow Planet. To weather the loco I dry brushed it with Citadel XV88 mixed with a small amount of Citadel Doombull Brown. Only handrails and a couple of coats of varnish are required to finish the job.

The loco is named Mercury, the winged messenger. Well tram skirts are like wings, aren’t they?