Hi,
I had to put the Fowler down for a period as I was awaiting delivery of some bits from Laurie Griffin. They arrived, and part was sent back as a reject casting, so a further delay. All is now well - Laurie exchanged the reject without any fuss - but in the meantime I have found, chipped and played with the Royal Scot, and picked up the crab again after a couple of years. I am being nagged to get the crab finished as a signature loco for Heyside ... or indeed any ex L&Y area. So I shall persevere with the crab for a bit as it is all on the workbench.
First the Scot:
View attachment 43143
It's fitted with a Crailcrest, is heavy smooth and powerful, and in truth is not far from completion, although that is not on the immediate horizon.
The crab. This started out as an Ebay purchase, well-built and painted. I was just going to upgrade the loco chassis, but one thing led to another, out came the blowtorch.....well you can see where this is going.
So, here is the current state of play:
View attachment 43144
View attachment 43145
I'm working my way round upgrading all the detail, and, again, not too far off now, though I don't yet have a number for it. The tender was one that came from my basket case Patriot - remember that? The original crab tender will eventually run behind the Patriot. They are identical Chowbent tenders.
Richard