Budget Model Railways are a Father-Son combo who set up a YouTube Channel to share their experiences, predictably as their brand name suggests, of modelling railways on a budget. They have grown into proper 'influencers' in the field and, at the time of writing, hold over 11,000 subscribers worldwide. They specialise in sourcing and modifying secondhand and / or cheaply-sourced hardware, and have picked and collated some of the best ideas from other likeminded entities, as well as genuinely innovated in areas such as use of the card laminate stack-ups for construction of baseboards. In terms of style, they're very much freelance, and there's a great deal to be said for an approach that takes modelling and 'play value' for what it is, rather than be constrained by, and slavishly abiding to the rules of the real railways, or specific histories, and that's something I'd like to look at in future articles when considering the industry and exactly what it is about railway modelling that appeals.
At the risk of this reading a bit like a BMR 'love-in' so far, I wouldn't say their approach always works for me, and some things aren't applicable. For example, a heavy reliance on card is great (and cheap) if your layout storage is indoors, or expected to survive only in the short term, but not so great for keeping in an external garage (like my own) which is why I favour plastic and wooden kits. Personally, I tend to bind myself to building collections and layouts based loosely on real locations, eras and companies, choosing specific locos accordingly with only a little licence on reality, though as yet have never tried to build an actual layout based on real site. I definitely fall into the geek category, especially where the Great Western is concerned, but, if BMR represent the ice cool, relaxed end of the spectrum, youtubers like SDFJR7F88 and Northern Soul Express occupy the fertile and tropical climes, and the most stuffy, overly-strict and constrained examples of individuals and clubs occupy the intensely hot and arid upper end, I'd probably find myself in a grey, drizzly and tepid middle-ground.
Budget Model Railways moved on to experimenting with FDM 3D printing, which, following success, led them to introduce their own website (https://www.budgetmodelrailways.co.uk), initially launching a range of 009 loco bodies for the popular Kato 11-103 chassis, and bogie-mounted rolling stock. This was followed up by a runaway success of highly affordable printed DC Controller housings for equally affordable off-the-shelf PWM hardware and power supply units sold directly by Chinese manufacturers. Then, at the end of 2018, came their first foray into 00-gauge kits with a couple of small coach bodies design to fit onto readily available Triang / Hornby wagon bodies suited to micro-layouts, which are even shorter than the long-lived Hornby 4-wheel coach and would suit almost-Victorian privateer-type setups quite nicely, and a very interesting wooden tram body for the equally long-lived Hornby 0-4-0 chassis. There is more than a passing resemblance to the LNER's Y6 0-4-0 tram, and it's more famous 0-6-0 sibling, the J70; the basis of Toby the Tram Engine from Rev W. Awdry's 'The Railway Series' / Thomas and Friends.
Donor Parts
There have been various white-metal and brass kits for these locos over the years, but never anything as affordable or accessible, or designed to run upon off-the-shelf hardware, as this £15 loco kit is. It was simply too good to turn down, It could have easily formed the basis of a 'Toby' model for my young son, but, at least at a casual glance, it looked like a strong basis for a model of the Y6. The chassis used is as found under a family of usually freelance Hornby 'industrial' tank engines. These come based on the interesting one-off GWR 101 experimental tank engine and the popular Caledonian 'Pug' saddle tank, as well as the Thomas the Tank range 'Percy', 'Bill' and 'Ben', all with outside cylinder connecting rods, which aren't ideal for this model unless removed, and have crank pins pressed (rather than screwed) into the wheels, making them harder to remove. The rest of the range is based on the better-suited, con-rod-free 'proper' industrial GKN 0-4-0T loco, 'King George V', or a completely freelance body which was originally used for a cheap but inaccurate 0-4-0 version of 'Thomas' but now sees a new life with various industrial liveries. The same chassis also sits under a BR Class 04 diesel shunter, but these models are usually worth too much to use simply as a chassis donor.
The Real Y6
There is plenty written elsewhere, but in brief, the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway was built by the Great Eastern Railway (which would later become an LNER constituent) in East Anglia in 1883. From its beginning and up to 1897, ten GER G15s were built, later classified as LNER Y6s. Two of these made it into BR ownership, one liveried and numbered as such, 68083, and was earmarked for preservation. Sadly, though, this never happened. The Y6 had the familiar wooden body, whilst covered sides and cow catchers were legislated for the famous tramway in order to run along and through roadways and paths to prevent livestock and people being run over or becoming tangled in the coupling rods. The loco design was an 0-4-0 Well Tank (meaning water was stored beneath the boiler rather than alongside as is the case with side or pannier tanks, or wrapped-around as a saddle tank) with inside cylinders. The J70 that succeeded the Y6 was visually almost identical, only really given away by a different number of steps, different access panels in the side plates due to the differences underneath, and the steam scavenge pipe, which recovered and condensed steam from the safety valve into the well tank, in a different orientation. This was done to prevent any noisy, sudden whooshing from the safety valve spooking livestock, as I understand it. Under the skin, the J70 had a more potent boiler, rolled to a higher pressure, and to deal with limited adherence which had begun to hobble the Y6 as loads increased, an 0-6-0 layout was introduced, and in a first for the GER, outside cylinders were employed, hence the difference in access panels. The superior boiler was later carried back over to the older Y6s, but to a lower working pressure due to the traction limitations of the 0-4-0 design. The last Y6 turned a wheel in 1953...
To keep the cost down, the decision to opt for BR era was simple; I had no LNER or GER decal packs to hand. To maximise the age, the early-BR 'cyling lion' livery would have been best, and only 68083 is pictured wearing this to base a model on, but, there wouldn't be a great deal of space available so I actually opted for the transitional 'British Railways' livery that many people have modelled J70s as. This may never have been applied to 68083, which is where that little artistic licence comes into this.
The Kit
The BMR kit differs from either Wisbech and Upwell trams in having a unique number of steps and a symmetrical detail features on the tram sides (sensible for production, non-handed parts which means replacements for any poor or failed prints can quickly be substituted to ship out a complete kit). The access to front and rear cabs is filled in with a neatly designed door, which matches the same wooden treatment as the body, but this is another freelance feature, as, so far as I can tell, the W&U locos never had doors and instead just had a pair of handrails each side of the opening. The one-piece front and rear pieces are symmetrical, just like the real thing as far as I know, and is visually at least a very good match for the real thing and even features an integrated lamp. BMR haven't modelled a coupling hook into the buffer beam, I can't imagine these are especially easy to FDM print unless you model it as a solid lump, just like the slightly crude, older Triang and Hornby models would have used. One of the best available parts to substitute these parts are the hooks used on static Kitmaster / Airfix / Dapol loco kits, if for visual effect only, though this relies on you having a scrap kit to hand, otherwise there are various kits to convert locos to 3-link couplings but take a bit more work and are too expensive to use if you intend to retain original tension lock couplings as I do on this loco, which is why I left it so long and had painted the model before I decided on how to resolve this. For those using proper couplings rather than tension link, or leaving it without completely, the guys have included a handy, extra pair of infill pieces to model the complete cow-catcher, but thoughtfully, is a separate piece so that the standard Hornby tension link can be used, and the part simply omitted. The roof has been modelled without detail except for a small pipe / funnel which is offset and near to one end. This doesn't match the prototype, not that it's meant to. It could leave the freelance model open to interpretation as to whether it really is a steam tram, or whether, extending the useful life of the chassis on a light railway system, the loco could even hide (whisper it) a diesel engine under that shed-like exterior!
The Build
Now, to be clear, I've not checked a single dimension. I've not counted the number of planks on the body. This could be miles away from the real thing, but as we've always said at Leccy Steam, for us, what matters is the aesthetic and feel. I do hobble myself in reality and have even limited myself to the identity of the specific loco, but to spare me from enjoying it less once I realise whatever else I've missed, I've not looked. I'm not going to.
I expect BMR are using PVA as an adhesive agent on the 3D Printer's Heated Bed; manufacturers have to do this to ensure stability of the print as the motors move the extruder head accurately in three dimensions; the print itself can be easily shook and become misaligned, resulting in banana-shaped components that should otherwise be straight, and hours of work is wasted. Other operators have different methods, and there are different types of bed available such as anodised aluminium and glass. When the parts arrive in the kit, the so-called 'B-surface' seems to have evidence of the method used to attach and remove the components from the bed, so the first step is to gently clean-up these faces, particularly if any will be visible, but more so if they will need to accurately mate to another component.
Next I began to hack the model with a sharp craft knife. To make the model look more like my adopted Y6, I removed the doors which required me to be very careful with the knife and it was far easier to cut the vertical edges than the lower horizontal one, so once I had broken through the vertical shut lines, I rocked the door in and out along the remaining bottom edge to help ease it away. You have to be very careful here, use the knife to help break up the expose material as you press the door in, because, if you pull too hard on an FDM printed item, you can pull a strand away which is like doing the same thing to thread on a knitted jumper. If the material hasn't melted enough or the level of infill is low, it will have a string-like make-up. I cut away some of the steps to leave just two behind as per the real thing, and I also carefully scraped, using the scalpel blade, the side-plate detail away. The final removawas to the original roof where the small funnel was deleted. As with all FDM roof panels I have come across to date, due to how they have to be printed, there were steps in the roof surface, it's supposed to be curved but they have to be made up of lots of layers with a vertical edge, so they need sanding to knock the steps back to a natural shape, and in some cases filling. I also gently sanded back the side plates as the crosshatch pattern (which is actually quite pleasant, if not prototypical for a Y6) on the surface from its manufacturing process is evident, and also to remove any remnant of the shaved-off panel detail. I did very little to the rest of the body side panels other than tidying loose detail, and a slightly lined and occasionally open grain pattern in the plastic adds credence to the representation of a wooden body. To make the model more realistic, I could have shaved off the ‘BMR’ initials in order to leave an oval makers plate, but I was quite happy to showcase the kit and proud of its reasonably priced origins, offering something I strongly believe is largely missing in the market.
I then started to glue and assemble the body around the chassis plate. Two points to notice here:
1) Do not start, as you may be tempted, with a body side and front/rear end piece. Work around the chassis plate first, otherwise you will end up with assymetrical spacings between the sides and make a greater mess to tidy after
2) If you want make a Y6 or a J70 like I did, you will need to add handrails from bent wire. Do this now. I didn't. I thought access from below would be adequate but it proved so difficult, bearing in mind they're only glued to the inside surface; there's nothing to drill a hole into to properly locate them, that I almost gave up many times. There was rationale for leaving them until later, I was worried if I made them oversize, they'd obstruct the end pieces from fitting to the sides pieces properly, but this is silly, you can always check by offering them together before gluing, and the time to do this is when the bodysides are still individual components, or worst case, before the roof goes on.
It's all pretty self explanatory at this stage. Once the superstructure is complete, you will note there are gaps present between the tram sides and the cow catcher / buffer beam visible at the sides. Looking at the BMR-built original and the delightful NCB variant another customer has shared that can also be seen on the BMR website, they also feature this gap, so it wasn't down to the ends sitting proud of the sides. Nevertheless, the Y6 has no such gap, so I filled this gap using Humbrol model filler. Now is also a good time to sand the roof again and ensure it is flush to the end panels which also partly incorporate the roof. The real loco would have this all as one piece, so again, once sanded normal to each other, the gap between end panels and roof was filled. And of course, the filler was then sanded itself until satisfactory.
Adding Detail
I should have added the handrails at the point mentioned already, but in reality, I did it at the same time as the rest as the rest of the details. For said rest, now is the right time aside from crew and glazing which would need to be after paint. I cut up two rectangular panels from clear plastic food packaging to represent the cover plates present on the real loco and glue these to the side plates. These were not measured but referenced against photos. I then added the outboard lamp irons; you don't want to add these earlier as they are fragile, and are definitely best left off on a model intended for the young. To make these I trimmed down staples and bent them to the 'Z' shape required and simply glued in place. For the roof detail I snapped off a small piece of plastic that was loosely cone shaped and wrapped a staple over the top of it which was glued. I drilled two small holes in the roof with a pin-vice drill to drop the bell frame into and glue. I then drilled a hole, in line with the bell, above each cab in the roof. Handrail wire was used to run from each hole over the top of the bell to act as the bell chord for the driver to ring from either end. This may be somewhat inaccurate as some chords are modelled with sag, and some have supports front and rear whilst others go directly into the roof. There are of course far more images of models and virtually none of the real thing, so I went for a simpler, stronger solution, but a handrail knob could be used emulate those with vertical supports at the increased risk of breakage. My chimney is definitely oversized, cut down from a scrap airfix kit body. Some images of the real things show a cap over the chimney supported by vertical struts, whilst others don't so, again, I opted not to include this flimsy detail. If you were to add one, you'd probably want it a white metal casting rather than gluing together a chimney, wire and a tiny plastic disc. Finally I added the condensing pipe which has a circular boss directly above the boiler safety valve and from which a pipe bends and runs horizontally towards the rear left-hand cab doorway and dives down just before it. Again, my interpretation is almost certainly oversized. I used sprues from an Auhagen bridge kit for this, though those from any injection moulded plastic kit such as Airfix and Dapol stand just as good a chance of being suitable. I did have to manually bend this to get the shape I wanted.
Primer and Undercoat
All requisite detail was added, and all sanding complete (...for now). It was time to get some grey plastic primer on. It's a good idea to do this because it will show up everything you've missed (and there will be lots), and it gives the paint a fair chance of adhering to the loco all over, which is otherwise by now made up of a few different types of plastic, wire and staples(!). What isn't nice at this time of year is spraying in the cold. You need well ventilated space, but also to be free from wind and rain, and you want the model and paint really to be at room temperature before, during and after, which is easier said than done if painting in the external garage.
Once this has dried, and try to make sure it has properly, you will spot areas that need to be filled or sanded flush before doing the next coat. Try to do this where it hasn't set, either because not enough time has passed, it's too cold or the primer is too thick, and primer will ball and roll up under the wet-and-dry paper like the wasted rubber from an eraser. This is horrific to put right, so do please take this on board. Some small imperfections will be sealed by the primer itself but others won't, and will haunt you long after you've painted and lacquered any model. Take your time. The good thing about this tram though, particularly at the end of its life, is you don't want it to be perfect. The tram sides would have been slightly wavy (much as tender sides are in real life) and bashed around after 70 years, and the wood would have had it's own shape and textures.
Finally, it was time to paint the model black, which would serve as an undercoat for the roof and woodwork, a colour for the interior that won't show up, and ultimately a final coat the railings and the tram plated sides. In all, two satin black coats were required.
Join us again next time for Part 2 which will cover paint, glazing, crew, chassis-fit and running...