The Company Diesel Locomotive ~ 'Pectin'

You dont have imagine very hard but after about forty five years of hard graft the company's sole old steam engine were showing 'her' age and a bit of help was needed! Enter the company's sole diesel locomotive. This is a bulky-looking locomotive with plenty of pulling power (otherwise known as 'guts'!) which is really needed to pull the heavy ore trains. This engine is painted in one of the two company colours, this colour is known as 'Western Desert Khaki' and is a ex. War Department job lot purchase made just after World War 2 at a cheap price. This engine like all of my models is painted in matt polyurethane to matt down the colours and preserve the transfers. This engine is a 7/8" scale conversion from a Froig BBE 16mm locomotive that I purchased in 1988 or so. It was a easy job to do this and its quite suprising how many so-called 16mm scale bits are in reality made for a bigger scale! This is born out by at the 'By-lines' starting handle on the engine bonnet. Put a 16mm 'hand' by it and it looks huge, put a 7/8" scale 'hand' by it and it looks normal. The Cambrian plastic nuts and bolts plus rivets are the same. As there is not space for a 'locomotive dog' Dave is supplied with a small pail of stones for flinging at the pigs! The BBE was supplied as standard with a electronic speed control....(a 'chip' under the bonnet)... on going down small slopes on my line (rather dodgy track) the locomotive jerks and slows down....like as if Dave had stabbed the footbrake with his foot! Dave the driver really needs his 'donkey jacket' on some of these cold mornings! This locomotive was the main 'player' in a article in the 16mm Association magazine...'16mm Today'...November 2008 issue where Dave and his locomotive had a three page spread!

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Here is a everyday scene in the goods yard with Dave driving the diesel locomotive 'Pectin' with a high-sided wagon with a heavy load of peeled swedes. The fuel is a bit low so its time to top it up. This sort of engine was usually made in the company engine shop like most of the locomotives....steam or 'engined'. The pictured engine needs plenty of power as the pictured wagon of swedes is very heavy.

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This picture show's our locomotive 'Pectin' on the Dodford Hills ledge with a train of mixed goods wagons. The contractors engine is on the back 'banking' as the curves are rather tight and it can be a bit of a struggle to get round them! At this point one can lean on one's elbows and watch the trains pass under one's nose! If you get tired of this go a bit further up the wall and you can gaze at the goldfish and newts in Lake Dodford. (The company tries to cater for ALL tastes) The curves mentioned are at Rhubarb End. As space is tight the track gang had to install a stretched 'S' bend at this point which makes the track look like a snake in motion! This sort of route is not really a good thing but the Permanent Way Department is hardy going to drain Lake Dodford to get a regular curve and the Company wont want to spend all of that money doing a 'drain' either! .....So its still 'banking' at Rhubarb End!! (06/07/2011)

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As mentioned else where England had a lot of snow in the Winter of 2010-2011 and lots landed on Worcestershire! This picture could be called 'a small train in a big land scape' Pity poor Dave the driver in the open cab of the locomotive as it battles to get through the piled high snow. I should think it would be hard to start the locomotive on such a morning with cold oil and a sluggish engine. On these sort of days no doubt Dave wishes he worked in the company office!!