This page is devoted to locomotives, coaches, and freight cars that I add to the layout and to the lore you’ll read about in any novels I finally get around to writing.
In the meantime, let me give a nice hats off to the manufacturers whose products I have made mine. More articles and pictures are coming, and with them the expansion of the K< universe.
K< Baguley-Drewry 0-6-0d Siderod Diesels
In January 2017, I emailed Roundhouse Engineering, the nigh-undisputed kings of live-steam garden railway manufacturing, and ordered one of their Harlech Castle battery locomotives. Sadly, it won’t go into production until September, nor will it arrive till October at the earliest; I did, however, ask Chris at Roundhouse to email me a picture of the finished Harlech Castle before they pack it for its Atlantic odyssey.
On the bright side, I ordered it in Deep Brunswick Green livery, with red buffer beams (rather than with the typical safety chevrons), and the Mtroniks diesel sound unit; the typical yellow side rods add the splash of color I intended, though one can order red side rods as well.
These locomotives are one of the biggest inspirations for the K< layout and novel universe, and as such I’m torn between eventually owning four models, or just one and a few of Accucraft‘s cheaper narrow gauge diesels; this alludes to four full-size three foot gauge examples the K< purchased in 1966, and numbered 692-695. 693 and 695 are respectively named “Huff” and “Puff”, in honor of Kelly Sprigs, a nine-year old girl who saved a train from hitting a landslide by flagging it down with her red jacket. 17 years later, “Huff” and “Puff” were temporarily relieved of their regular duties to pull Kelly’s wedding train when she married one Russell Conti. In reality, “Huff” and “Puff” were the pet names for two Western Pacific Railroad locomotives popular with rail fans, but unceremoniously scrapped.
Roundhouse Engineering based their Harlech Castle models off of the real-life diesel, which is also named Harlech Castle, and works maintenance trains on the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales.
K< 1000-Class Coaches
These coaches are built from the Live Steam Beginner’s Coach Kits made by IP Engineering in the UK. I painted the outsides of with Dark Victorian Teal acryllic paint, and a mix of dark brown and burnt sienna for both interiors, all over a base coat of black spray paint. I painted the end caps of #1001 and two circular foam stickers on each end of #1000 with Red Iron Oxide paint. The K< logo, names, and numbers from G-Scale Graphics in Windsor, Colorado.
#1000 was christened “Sweetwood” out of the blue, while #1001 is named “Inwood” after a street in Folsom, California. The kits call for the roof pieces to be glued on permanently, but I made the roof of #1000 into a removable piece; because #1001’s roof didn’t come with enough roof ribs to make it detachable, and ripped itself free of the super glue I initially used, I reattached it with Gorilla Glue – the roof will come off when Hell freezes over.
In the novel universe, the 1000-class forms the backbone of the K< passenger fleet; new examples were built, painted and added, and older ones restored, from 1905 to 1942, when the K< shutdown during World War II. Production resumed in Late 1947, when the K< reopened to give work to soldiers returning from Europe, and ended in 1958.
I have at least one more LSB kit that once finished, will be painted Liberty Blue and christened #1002 “Spruce”, and will portray a regularly-scheduled working replica of a derailed coach rebuilt as the sun room of a house. The option to build more 1000-Class coaches remains, and while they will receive removable roofs, “Spruce” will be the last such coach to have its interior painted.
K< Model 1900 Rail Bus
Dave Coxon’s North Pilton Works manufactured this Railbus, and its place in the fleet was ensured by the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad’s railbus. Sure, the real-life railbus doesn’t have a trailer, but certain artistic liberties are the biggest advantages afforded by the K<’s fictional setting.
I had to wait until September 27 before it got here to California, but my railbus received some sweet improvements, and a wiring diagram was thrown in; with these, I’m free to add sound and radio control. However, the best part was finally being able to bring something to run with my garden railway club.
In one version I had for this railbus’ fictionalization, it was custom-built for the Pelmont Basin Traction Company, which is based on the Nevada County Traction Company and the street cars they used from 1901-1924. In real-life, the Nevada County Traction Company was shutdown by a blizzard whilst many of its contemporaries were being bought by gasoline companies; in the novels, this railbus was donated to the K< by former Pelmont Basin Traction Company owner Douglas Wax.
K< 1200-Class Coaches
The 1200-class are in production, planned to start with a combine coach named “Wildberry”. I’m using the same IP Engineering Live Steam Beginner’s coach kits that I use for the 1000-Class – the difference being, instead of two fixed axles, the 1200’s ride on trucks. The trucks I’d intended for these coaches are now on the Sarah & Joseph coach, and their wooden replacements are too big to be fit on the mounts I have lying around.
Continuing from the simplifications of the 1000-Class coaches, I won’t paint the interiors, but roof pieces should be detachable.
In the novels, the 1200-Class entered production at the end of 1921, slowed to cancellation with the WWII closure, and resumed when the county bought the reopened K< one coach was named “Milestone” when the K< was added to the international registry as a historic landmark in 1975.
#1 – Sarah & Joseph
I didn’t build this IP Engineering Freelance Compartment Coach, but rather an English guy sold it to me half finished on Ebay, and I continued where he left off. It proved to be one of the longest and most frustrating projects I worked on as part of this hobby, but my creative problem solving and patience paid off.
To reflect this, in-universe, K< founder Joseph Steam found the enigmatic coach on the scrapheap, and bought it as it was for restoration to service. It was finally completed after a search for replacement trucks (“bogies” on that side of the pond), and named in honor of Joseph and his wife Sarah Steam after they passed away in 1949.
The most glaring differences between my other coaches and the Sarah & Joseph coach are apparent; although most of these coaches are IP Engineering products, the 1000- and 1200-class coaches are 1:19 scale Live Steam Beginner’s coaches, and the Sarah & Joseph is (I suspect) 1:22 scale and comes from the Freelance Coaches range.
The trucks supplied from Ebay were dropped by accident while I was painting them, so I replaced them with a previously purchased pair; I’d intended a pair of wooden trucks to replace the broken ones, but they were too big. In the future, I’m planning on painting the window frames yellow or white to get rid of screw ups I made while painting.
K< Class A1 Open Wagons
A pair of Four Plank Wagons from IP Engineering’s Freelance Goods Wagon range.
Neither are currently numbered, but the one painted glossy Hooker Green over white spray paint was the first one; the other, painted orange over black spray paint, was one of the kits I got for my 27th birthday.
In the novels, these two are the sole survivors of the K<’s A1 Class of freight vehicles, the rest being scrapped during the railway’s WWII closure. They were also notorious for the first few years of service – their stuff suspension resulted in a derailment on July 16, 1910; no one was hurt, but one man’s house was destroyed.
I was gonna retcon the fate of the Class A1 open wagons, and buy more of these kits; but I recently started business with two other manufacturers in the UK – North Pilton Works, and Houston Gate Locomotive Works.
K< 1906-Class Brake Van
This red IP Engineering Freelance Guard’s Van (“Caboose” on this side of the pond) was also from my 27th birthday. I nearly had the same problem with the roof as I had with Guard’s Baggage coach #1001 “Inwood”.
I haven’t yet numbered this little beauty, but I was thinking of numbering it #1906A. In the books, this brake van survived an act of arson that destroyed one of the K<’s sheds in 1932, and is the last of its kind, the other 1906-Class examples having been scrapped. K< conductors who rode in 1906-Class brake were very claustrophobic in extreme heat and cold, due to the lack of insulation!
K< 1920-Class Brake Van
I purchased this brake van from North Pilton Works, along with some chain for the style of couplings typical of my British model trains; due to delays in shipping, I also got a kit of picnic tables free! The picture above demonstrates the built-in lighting (apart from the stove inside!). What’s not shown is how much bigger it is compared to the 1906-Class.
The fictional 1920-Class Brake Vans were ordered due to feedback from the K<’s crews about the 1906-Class. Not only are 1920-Class examples insulated and fitted with small stoves, they also have large windows and thus improved lines of sight which helped on longer trains with larger cars. Each 1920-Class can carry up to two crewmen – the train conductor, and an assistant crewman who can take over for the train’s driver or fireman.