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Shifting Sands - Colin Peake's O9 Railway Modelling

Diesel Workshop

14th October 2005

I have always found diesels easier to scratchbuild than steam locomotives, let's face it, there are less 'fiddly bits'.

Over my time working in O9 I have build/modified several diesel locomotives around ready-to-run N Gauge chassis. Not all of them are now in my possession as I have been persuaded to part with the odd one along the way. Here are three that have moved on to pastures new....

I learnt early on that when building diesels with bonnets (hoods to our American friends), that it was best to build the bonnet as a seperate unit to the cab, this makes both construction and painting a lot easier and allows the possibility of a new cab if ever required.

A lot of my scratchbuilding incorporates parts from kits/other models, left over from previous conversions. For example, the bogie diesel seen on this page incorporates parts from a Bachmann F9 'B' unit, two bus kits, and several etched brass parts left over from my 4mm/ft modelling activities.

The two smaller diesels illustrated here incorporate some parts from Dapol Drewery Shunter kits but are largely scratchbuilt around Roco and Graham Farrish chassis, with a distinct family resemblance between the designs.

A modified Bachmann N gauge diesel undergoing modifications to become an O9 locomotive.	A twin-bonneted body constructed to fit around the Bachmann model. The bonnets come from another Bachmann model, the F9 'B' Unit.	A view of the assembled model. The grilles closest to the cab are left-overs from a Knightwing shunter kit.
The cab comprises of parts from Tower Models bus kits with scractchbuilt ends. Brass fittings are from the A1 models range.	The completed and painted locomotive. Not the greatest photo but the only one I can find!	A 6w diesel based on the Roco HOe diesel chassis. It is seen here with a 7mm scale figure (by Phoenix) for size comparison.
The soon to be completed model showing the individual bonnet and cab units. The cab has a false floor over the motor.	Completed and seen here in primer. The bonnet incorporates parts from the Dapol Drewery Shunter kit, whilst all other body parts are scratchbuilt.	A view from the cab end of the model. Smaller parts such as the horn and headlights came from the spares box.
A view of the cab door. Hinges and handles are scratchbuilt from strip and rod.	A second diesel (or is it petrol?) loco under contruction, seen here prior to painting.	I tried to recreate the feel of a 'home made' cab door made from timber with garden shed hinges!
With this loco I aimed to create an 'earlier' version of the previous loco, but something recognisably from the same source, so it shares several features such as the fuel filler.	The cab end. The cab has some Ruston overtones, one day I may decide to scratchbuilt a Ruston so this should give me some practice.	The chassis under this model is from a Graham Farrish Class 08 shunter. This one of the better 'new generation' chassis from Farrish as it has better gearing than most.