Category Archives: Rolling Stock

Without words …

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I always try to focus on one project at a time, unfortunately I can not help myself to start thinking about the next one already …
My converted Shays will of course run on the tramway itself. I will however also need some engines for the Sugar Mill itself, so I started looking for information about the Fowlers that were operated by the Moreton Central Sugar Mill in Nambour.

Coolum at the Moreton Mill yard

That’s when I ran in to Peter Bruce’s Railfan Blog, with some great pictures of the daily operations at the Moreton Mill in 1962.
One of the pictures on his blog has the out of service Shay in the background … and Bruce even promises to show more pictures of the Shay in his next post … I am looking forward to that one!
I have added smaller versions of the pictures at the end of this post, just click on the link below to see them. The original and larger pictures can be found on Bruce’s Blog.

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Cabin Fever

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Time sure flies when you’re having fun … it’s already been two and half months , since my last post on the HOn30 Shay. I know that I have a couple of followers out there who are waiting for an update, so here we go …
Another set of parts arrived from Printapart last Friday and after a quick test-fit, I refitted the entire body to Shay version 0.2.

The HOn30 Shay with new parts and cabin

To start with, the diamond shaped smoke stack is now 1 mm taller and I remodelled some details on the headlights which did not print that well. I also remodelled the right-hand side by changing the height of the piston cover and by adding HO scale pistons. Furthermore, part of the N-scale piston cover has been hidden beneath a toolbox, making it less wide and giving it the look & feel of the original. And last, but not least … the little bugger finally received it’s cabin!

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Shay version 0.1

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All has cooled down now and I have been able do some work on the HOn30 Shay. First of all, I have changed the diamond stack to ensure a nice and sturdy fit. Secondly, I have modeled the headlight … it’s a bit larger than the ones on the Mapleton Shays, because it has been based on the headlight of the Joe Works Shay.

The HOn30 Shay with wholestick truck 
And last but not least, I have modeled the sides of the frame to fit the HOn30 profile. The parts have been ordered from Printapart again and they just arrived a couple of days ago. As you can see from the pictures in this post, I just couldn’t resist fitting them to the actual Atlas Shay body. I am quite pleased with the result already and both the diamond stack and the headlight will remain as they are.

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Shay Fever

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I have probably been struck by a bad case of Shay Fever … at least that’s what it feels like. As mentioned previously, I fell in love with the tiny 13 tons “Class A” Shay locomotives and am determined to build one in HOn30.

The HOn30 Shay is slowly progressing

I finally scored an N-scale Shay made by Atlas on eBay and replaced the body with the one that I bought a couple of months ago. The N-scale pilot steps and headlight have already been removed with the Dremel …
After cleaning the 3D-printed diamond stack with acetone, I applied a couple of layers of grey primer and placed it on top of the boiler. Applying the primer, almost makes the 3D-printed part as smooth as the body itself.
There is also another method to make 3D-printed parts  smoother … apply small amounts of Superglue to the surface, but do not soak it! The Superglue will be absorbed by the 3D-printing material and will smoothen the surface. Just be careful with the fumes and do not get stuck to your printed part …

Weathering the truck

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As I am not that much of a weathering expert, I decided to experiment a bit on one of the 3D-printed wholestick trucks. I started out by taking the truck apart again and spraying a layer of Tamiya grey primer on the chassis & couplers. Once this had completely dried, I applied a layer of Tank Grey from Humbrol.

The painted & weathered wholestick truck

The rust was simulated by dusting the chassis & couplers with some self-made weathering powders. They were made by sanding down pastels from Conté à Paris, which sell a great set of 12 sketching pastels with colours ranging from red-brown to black. I first applied a base of dark brown powder and sealed it with a layer of Anti-Shine Matt Varnish from The Army Painter, which is a great alternative for Testors Dullcote. After that I applied a couple of touches of red-brown powder and finished it off with a layer of Anti-Shine Matt Varnish.

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