HADARFORD: Hibberd & Co. "Planet" 4wDM Diesel Loco

From when my Parents gave me my first train set for a Christmas present as a child, I have had an interest in model railways. I originally started in "OO" gauge, but have also built in "N" and "O" gauge. The last layout I built was my exhibition layout "Holmehurst" which was in "O" gauge, and I exhibited it around the country. Photos of it can be seen by following this link.

I inherited some "OO9" rolling stock from my late father, including a loco I built from a white metal kit for him, and ever since living on our working narrowboat Hadar I have been thinking about building a "OO9" layout.

For those who do not know, "OO9" is "OO" scale, which is 4mm to 1ft, but the track and rolling stock are narrow gauge, equivalent to 2ft gauge in real life. Modelling-wise this means that I can used standard "OO" scale buildings, people, scenery etc. of which there is a far greater range of ready built items and kits to choose from, but it has the advantage that the reduced size of the track and rolling stock means that curves can be tighter than for standard gauge, without losing a realistic look within a restricted layout size.

I had thought about building a layout in our garden alongside our mooring at the Saltisford Canal Centre, but after much thought decided that this would not be practical. However I built a small layout (now dismantled) which sat on the shelf above the display cabinet, in our saloon, which houses my "O" gauge rolling stock. Having finished it, my wife Jo suggested that when we stop selling coal I could build a layout in the hold. As we stopped selling coal at the end of 2016.

I have now built the layout. This is now a full record of the building of this layout and any new additions along the way.

Please feel free to leave comments, I am always interested in suggestions or questions.

Saturday, 23 January 2021

Hibberd & Co. "Planet" 4wDM Diesel Loco

13 days ago I purchased this model of a Hibberd & Co. "Planet" 4wDM diesel loco and Fleishmann 0-4-0 chassis which arrived 8 days ago.

Since then I have been trying to work out how to fix the Fleishmann chassis to the whitemetal body.

This morning I came up with a solution using the existing screw hole in the chassis, which I had to drill out to fit the only spare screw I had, and drilled a smaller hole in the whitemetal body for the screw to thread into.

I then added 2 plastic strips to the body to set it at a reasonable height on the chassis and drilled the fixing hole through the plastic.