Making ‘George’ the tram engine
Diesels are nice, but Stephen Wise wanted a steam loco for his line, so set about making one.
Igot fed up cleaning track, so had Micron fit radio control equipment to three of my LGB locos, and a Bachmann tram. Just as these arrived back with me, Piko brought out its GE four-wheel diesel with factory-fitted radio control, using a key fob control, which I bought.
Proving to be a Really Useful Engine, I added extra details, and named it ‘RUE’. This gave me a loco independent of the other radio controller, and powered by domestic rechargeable batteries.
Later, Kent Garden Railways offered a Piko starter set for just over £200, including a battery-powered, radio controlled, GE diesel, wagon, coach and a circle of track. This was too good an offer to miss and I felt there had to be a way of using the diesel loco as the basis for something more suitable for the steam oriented Swanage & Southern Light Railway.
The set gave me a ‘round the Christmas tree’ train for lockdown Christmas, 2020, and I converted the coach to look more narrowgauge. The wagon was the basis for an open Pirate Boat coach for the Swanage Pirate weekend, but the loco stayed stubbornly diesel until January 2022 when I took the plunge and razor saw and Stanley knife.
I studied photos and videos of steam tram locos and decided I could make a single-ended tram like the Chiemseebahn in Germany, but with skirts like the Bern tramway steam tram.
The Piko set helpfully comes with full diagrams showing how to take the loco apart, which I did carefully. With a bit of effort, the cab was removed, leaving the roof lighting circuit board connected to the motor and chassis, and the bonnet containing the batteries. The new boiler would have to cover the bonnet, so I razor sawed-off the corner edges to enable an opened-out and cut-down toilet roll centre to fit.
I added Plastikard boiler cladding and boiler bands. The smokebox door was from an old LGB Otto made to fit in the end of the boiler and be removable, for access to the battery holder.
A number of whitemetal fittings from Garden Railway Specialists (GRS) were added; chimney, dome, boiler backhead and fittings, plus other parts from Cambrian, including a smokebox door handwheel.
A side bunker was added by cutting down the Otto one and adding real coal. Side tanks were made from Plastikard, and space was left beside the right-hand tank for a battery holder for a cheap Christmas lighting set.
The Piko lights were LEDs, and couldn’t be moved to the front and back of the loco, so new lights would be provided using GRS whitemetal lamps. I had an idea for the rear cab roof light, so kept the connection to the Piko lighting circuit mounted in the inner cab roof.
Once the boiler fittings and tanks were in place, everything was painted matt black as an undercoat before a second coat of matt or satin for areas that might be polished occasionally.
I then took the GRS lamps and drilled a hole in the back big enough for the new lights to go in and out. The battery holder and initial spare wiring were tucked in beside the right-hand tank, and the first light fed into the lamp. I then painted the inside of the lamp in a few coats of gloss white, then attached the lamp to the front footplate and fed the light in, securing it with some Humbrol model filler. The wiring continued to the second front lamp and then back behind the left-hand tank to the rear footplate lamps.
The ‘string’ had a light that occurred in the hidden section, so was painted matt black so as not to show, as was the front roof light LED.
Once all four lamps had been fitted out, the excess wire and lights were cut off. The light switch is on the front of the battery holder and can be switched using a small screwdriver. Glazing for the lights was clear 20thou plastiglaze cut with a Stanley knife to fit just inside the lamp opening and fixed with UHU, fiddly!
With the lighting in place, I started on the outside frame and panels, which were made one side at a time off the loco and added once completed. These were made from plastic sheet.
The rear panelling was higher to hide the high false cab floor, which had to be retained as it was under the main control circuit board. It had irons for a ladder and bucket added, but sadly, the new crew had to lose their lower limbs to fit in the cab. The sides were painted before attaching due to their generally fragile nature.
Forward protection cab sheets were added to match the framing with the left-hand fireman’s side being inside of the coal bunker to avoid dust blowing in the crew’s faces. These helped strengthen the side frames and supported the Piko roof lighting circuit.
Side skirts hide the fact the engine has no valve gear and cylinders, and were made of Plastikard, with spaces left for the existing steps. Unfortunately, the Piko loco has the on/ off switch exactly where the left-hand cab step would go, so this had to be left un-stepped.
The final construction job was the roof. The rear end is supported on a shaped cross piece incorporating a Cambrian loco lamp front that is lined up with the rear Piko LED. I then boxed in the space between the LED and the rear sheet to limit the light to emerge only from the lamp lens so when it runs backwards the Piko automatic light is still visible. The front of the roof is supported on a curved piece of Plastikard and there are further supports at 1/3rd and 2/3rds of the way to the rear. Then the roof was planked lengthwise with 20 thou plastic, before a final covering of curved 10 thou. Final roof details, including safety valves and whistle, were added.
The loco is named ‘George’ (nameplates from GRS), after my late father-in-law who was a fireman for the GWR and BR Western Region. On steam trips together, we would debate the correct livery for locos, so naturally this engine had to be finished in GWR Engine Green with a copper capped chimney and not malachite with sunshine lettering! The SSLR now has a really useful steam tram engine. ■