The loco at the CFR with one of its big cousins in the background.

Do visit the CFR at Rothley if you have the chance. Super railway with its own 12"/ft garden railway.

The DJB steam whistle has already been fitted (manual op at that time) and the tanks are lined in red. The cab is already cream inside too. The picture is on Kevin's dockside at the Flatland Washes Railway.

This always needs a lot of thought, as I like plenty of servos in there and I don't want a cab full of gubbins.

So the four AA batteries need to go in the left hand tank:

But they won't fit like this (unlike Lawley).

So they are given a little surgery (apologies for the tape but I had no heat shrink of the right size). The surgery only involves cutting the heat shrink - the connections between the batteries easily bend. that way you can make packs of various shapes without soldering the connections. I have tried this but the dire warnings of not overheating the batteries put me off a bit and I have decided to leave that to the pros with the kit to do it.

I should mention that the batteries are the Vapextech "Instant" type of NiMH+. They hold their charge over long periods so I recharge after use and the loco is always ready.

From underneath, it looks like this:

The smokebox handrail and front lamp iron have been fitted and the blower pipe has been made and fitted. My first management job was as Foundry Manager of a small iron foundry. The chap who ran the fettling shop used to reckon the foundry sent him rough lumps of cast iron and he had to hue them into shape with his angle grinder. Taking this as a lead, the flange on the smokebox end of the pipe was indeed carved from solid with use of my wonderful cordless Dremel. I wish I had had that years ago.

The observant will notice that the additions are not yet painted...guess what colour they will be.

The blower pipe is in fact brass rod which will bend to very tight radii - far easier than tube, whcih crushes (how do I know this?). The flange is soldered on using soft solder, leaving a piece of rod sticking out behind. The smokebox is drilled a snug fit for the rod, as is the front of the cab. This has to remain loose so it can be removed if the cab needs to come off. This arrangement is fine and has been working well on my Lawley for a couple of years.

After some use, I have discovered that oil will leak out of the smokebox where it is drilled for the blower and dribble down, spoiling the matt finish of the smokebox. A countermeasure is to put some silicone bathroom sealer (either clear or preferably that indispensable black) underneath the flange so it covers the join. The sealant seems quite OK at smokebox temperatures and it will remove and replace if you need to take the blower pipe out to remove the cab.

The 40 Meg aerial was soldered to the inside of the dome and the dome was insulated from the boiler with a disc of plastic. Removing that has made the dome fit much more snugly onto the boiler.

Some more cosmetic work on Caradoc, with some to go yet. The missing smokebox dart was replaced by one from DJB, bought at Stoneleigh. The centre hole was drilled and tapped 6BA and the dart was already threaded. This early Caradoc has a solid brass smokebox door, built to withstand any eventuality up to and including a tactical nuclear weapon.

I wanted to experiment with some rust on the smokebox - not uncommon on an unkempt loco. The matt paint was scratched off and some real rust was applied. Trouble was the oil was pouring down the inside of the chimney and leaking out of the joint, running over the rust and making it look a very dark brown, so hardly noticeable.. Having tried a fix for the oily chimney on Lawley which seems to be working, it was applied to Caradoc. This is to remove the chimney and put some silicone sealant underneath it. This can be seen oozing out on the picture above. It pulled off when it was set. This has now allowed the rust to show up. (See above in the blower pipe section)

Also on the picture above are the new steps and handrails on the tank fronts, the re-railing jack (on the EMR? I should hope not but all locos now have them just in case) and the vacuum hose.

The crew have been demanding a sheet to hang down at the back of the cab for inclement weather, so one has been provided. It seems to have been cut from a wagon tarp - I do hope it was an old one and they didn't just cut up the first one they came across. The cab roof now has a sliding vent too. Molly-coddled I call it. They'll be wanting opening spectacle lenses next...

Goodness knows what Sir Guy Granet, the Midland Railway General Manager, will say if he ever sees a loco on the EMR in such a state