12. Airthrey Park Motive Power & Rolling Stock

The scene is set during the mid-1980s in Scotland, centred on 1985, so here's what can be seen at Airthrey Park. There will be a lot of sound too but it is a shame that no-one has manged a DCC clag generator as yet as a smokey start-up routine to go with the sound would be just fantastic! Then, again with the number of 1st generation DMUs we have to hand, the layout would be invisible in the diesel clouds...

There is a minimum detailing level required on all stock to be seen on Airthrey, keeping it in-line with the standard of the layout backdrop. All stock has full bufferbeam detailing with working 3-link/Screw link couplings, wire handrails, roof fans, flushgrazing, wipers and such like are compulsary where applicable with full repaints and very, very essential weathering without exception! As the track is Code 75, all older units or stock has been rewheeled with Romford axles, the newer items being left as original.

The current home fleet is listed below. UPDATED TO November 2008 with new additions and some withdrawls. The fleet was thinned out in late 2007, with the disposal of the class 40 fleet, a couple of 20s and 25s. This was done in order to allow the timeline to be pushed on a little to 1985/86 with the first Large Logo class 37/0s, 47s and refurbished 37/4s. The 08s are all Hornby, the 20s are the most recent Bachmann version, 24/25 all later Bachmann versions (except scrapper 25028 which is a heavily rebuilt bag of bits on a Hornby base), 26/27 Heljan, 37s all later Bachmann 37/0s or 37/4s, 47s all Heljan and the units are all kits based mainly on DC Kits/Lima bits except the marvellous Bachmann 108. All the above are suitably repainted, renumbered and detailed as you can see in the gallery. The fleet is under constant expansion and change with older models being replaced as standards improve.

06003
08441 08449 08620 08717
20020 20114 20127 20148 20212
25028 25035 25059 25109 25276
26025 26031 26035 26037 26041
27001 27003 27049 27052
37027 37108 37147 37188
37402 37403 37406 37420
47006 47118
47460 47461 47469 47550 47562

DMUs
3-car MetCam 101327, BRCW 104(457), Derby 116, Swindon 120(300)
2-car Cravens 105, Derby 108 (2 sets)
2-car BREL 140001
Single Car Pressed Steel 122, Pessed Steel 131 Sandite

Most of the rolling stock comes from Andrew, Simon and Andy Elliott's collection whilst we continue efforts to harness Roland's talents as regards kit building and bashing to do something non-RTC related.

Good use is made of RTR stock, suitably detailed and weathered, as it would be churlish not too, given the expanding number of excellent wagons and coaches coming from manufacturers of late. The RTR stock is supplemented with some ace kit built and scratch built wagons, all of which have been suitably dirtied and loaded where required. Most of the stock is used on our other 4mm modern image 'club' layouts (Devilla Colliery and Forthside), so there is much more variety in our fleet than would be expected.

Almost all stock is fitted with Smiths 3-link, screw link or instanter couplings and is used for the purpose of hauling trains! Several rakes of coaching stock have intermediate close couplers, such as the 4 coach sets of Mk1s and Mk2s which use the system as supplied by Bachmann with 3 links on the rake ends. This is not prototypically correct, but have you tried lousing on a Heljan 27 using the screw link from the loco on to the coach hook underneath the corridor connection?! The mixed Mk3/Mk2 sleeper set uses kadees between vehicles as this also runs as a fixed set with ETHEL tagged on the front using 3 links.

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06003 Airthrey depot's pet, is a Superb Judith Edge kit built by Colin Foster and later painted by AD. This really is a nice kit, expertly put together, with a paint job which hopefully meets that same standard. Well done Colin! Can we chip it though?! Wait and see...
06003 Airthrey depot's pet, is a Superb Judith Edge kit built by Colin Foster and later painted by AD. This really is a nice kit, expertly put together, with a paint job which hopefully meets that same standard. Well done Colin! Can we chip it though?! Wait and see...
 08717 backing TTAs onto fuel unloading point. We are an all Hornby 08 fleet now. Weighed up the pros and cons (the only con is they cost a bit more than Bachmann) Biggest challenge is getting sound to fit and work at an acceptable volume.
08717 backing TTAs onto fuel unloading point. We are an all Hornby 08 fleet now. Weighed up the pros and cons (the only con is they cost a bit more than Bachmann) Biggest challenge is getting sound to fit and work at an acceptable volume.
 08717 is a Hornby Gronk which had a nasty meeting with a bottle of Jif/Cif when Andrew's varnishing went wrong. Looked so good afterwards he left it. The faded and worn appearance will be difficult to replicate.
08717 is a Hornby Gronk which had a nasty meeting with a bottle of Jif/Cif when Andrew's varnishing went wrong. Looked so good afterwards he left it. The faded and worn appearance will be difficult to replicate.
 20114 recently outshopped from AD's Lisbon Expo works... noisy too! Bought as a green one, but swapped a body with D&F...hey presto. The loco we want with the body shell we want too. In this case the cabside tablet catcher recesses have been filled in with Milliput, not the easiest of jobs.
20114 recently outshopped from AD's Lisbon Expo works... noisy too! Bought as a green one, but swapped a body with D&F...hey presto. The loco we want with the body shell we want too. In this case the cabside tablet catcher recesses have been filled in with Milliput, not the easiest of jobs.
25028. AP's pet dead Rat. 'It is an ex Rat it has ceased to be...' The late Andy Elliott detailed a Hornby 25 bodyshell, Jim Reid donated the remains back to us after Simon suggested we produce a scrapper to lie around the shed area. Andrew painted the body in watered down Rail Blue with added white. Malcolm Donnelly did the weathering work on the body while Simon finished off the chassis.
25028. AP's pet dead Rat. 'It is an ex Rat it has ceased to be...' The late Andy Elliott detailed a Hornby 25 bodyshell, Jim Reid donated the remains back to us after Simon suggested we produce a scrapper to lie around the shed area. Andrew painted the body in watered down Rail Blue with added white. Malcolm Donnelly did the weathering work on the body while Simon finished off the chassis.
 25028. Close up of the No.1 end cabside. The bogie weathering is a lighter brown than normal, as checking prototype photos of 25028 and other stored locos seems to show this as common feature. The lack of oil being sprayed up the bogies and old deposits drying out, presumably.
25028. Close up of the No.1 end cabside. The bogie weathering is a lighter brown than normal, as checking prototype photos of 25028 and other stored locos seems to show this as common feature. The lack of oil being sprayed up the bogies and old deposits drying out, presumably.
 25028. Seen from the No.2 cabside, has been robbed of all sorts of bits with detailing as close as possible to the prototype circa 1985. Windows and frames are missing, the radiator grill on the opposite side too. The model has been re-wheeled and runs on Bachmann coach axles.
25028. Seen from the No.2 cabside, has been robbed of all sorts of bits with detailing as close as possible to the prototype circa 1985. Windows and frames are missing, the radiator grill on the opposite side too. The model has been re-wheeled and runs on Bachmann coach axles.
 25028. View inside the No.1 end cab, which is full of junk with cables hanging out of the hole where the grille has been 'borrowed' from, the windscreens have star shaped smashes where local vandals have bricked them. A one way ticket to MC metals in Glasgow beckons. An excellent feature on 25028 (and sisters) can be found at; www.derbysulzers.com/25026.html
25028. View inside the No.1 end cab, which is full of junk with cables hanging out of the hole where the grille has been 'borrowed' from, the windscreens have star shaped smashes where local vandals have bricked them. A one way ticket to MC metals in Glasgow beckons. An excellent feature on 25028 (and sisters) can be found at; www.derbysulzers.com/25026.html
26026. Andrew disappears with a nice Heljan D numbered 26 and comes back with what we all wanted from the start, a mid-1980s condition 26 in BR Blue.
26026. Andrew disappears with a nice Heljan D numbered 26 and comes back with what we all wanted from the start, a mid-1980s condition 26 in BR Blue.
 26026. Andrew's heavily reworked Heljan McRat, 26026, poses outside of the shed.
26026. Andrew's heavily reworked Heljan McRat, 26026, poses outside of the shed.
 27005. All working, ticking over and making a lovely 'tiddly..tiddly...tiddly... teacup... teacup... teacup...' noise to boot.
27005. All working, ticking over and making a lovely 'tiddly..tiddly...tiddly... teacup... teacup... teacup...' noise to boot.
 37147. A Motherwell NB monster, sits ticking over in the 'cripple' road next to the shed. High intensity lights overhead and a conventional bulb lights the doorway illuminate the loco. This loco is now in body shop for nose plating etc. 1985 still running skirts but no dominoes!
37147. A Motherwell NB monster, sits ticking over in the 'cripple' road next to the shed. High intensity lights overhead and a conventional bulb lights the doorway illuminate the loco. This loco is now in body shop for nose plating etc. 1985 still running skirts but no dominoes!
37191 is Andrew's 2nd 'refurbed' unrefurbished Bachmann 37/0, following on from DRS 37229. The layout is in the intermediate period so we can run skirts and no skirts. Pick late skirted ones such as 37039 and early unskirted ones... no one can pick you up then!
37191 is Andrew's 2nd 'refurbed' unrefurbished Bachmann 37/0, following on from DRS 37229. The layout is in the intermediate period so we can run skirts and no skirts. Pick late skirted ones such as 37039 and early unskirted ones... no one can pick you up then!
 37191 refurbed Bachmann 37/0, and Heljan redone 27025. The very essence of Airthrey Park motive power. Totally Scottish and taking the best available locos as a base and remodelling them into something that is both unique to us and better then when it left the factory!
37191 refurbed Bachmann 37/0, and Heljan redone 27025. The very essence of Airthrey Park motive power. Totally Scottish and taking the best available locos as a base and remodelling them into something that is both unique to us and better then when it left the factory!
 97251 ETHEL 2 had an interesting life as it started in Harburn Hobbies window as Tamworth Castle. Went round and round for over a year and blew up! Andy Elliott liberated it and Andrew Donnelly repainted it together with a full sleeper set to go with it. Interestingly the old Lima locos in the window used to wear out their wheels in less than 12 months (no flanges left) before the motors died. Bachmann wheels perfect but can motor 'gubbed' as they say up here. The loco is unpowered as per the prototype.
97251 ETHEL 2 had an interesting life as it started in Harburn Hobbies window as Tamworth Castle. Went round and round for over a year and blew up! Andy Elliott liberated it and Andrew Donnelly repainted it together with a full sleeper set to go with it. Interestingly the old Lima locos in the window used to wear out their wheels in less than 12 months (no flanges left) before the motors died. Bachmann wheels perfect but can motor 'gubbed' as they say up here. The loco is unpowered as per the prototype.
 DMU class 104. This BRCW 3-car 104 set is magnificent conversion of a Hornby class 110 with Craftsman cabs. Andy Elliott built, AD painted, it forms a 3-car set of 2 DMS vehicles with a rare TBS, Trailer Brake Second which houses the motor - hence we have a motored trailer vehicle! The motor is a Black Beetle and although we had distinct problems running this unit on Dc we have since cleaned and tweaked the chassis and chipped it with a Lenz silver in the roof above the motor. It has been a revelation since. Good job too! The next scheme was hacking apart a Bachmann 108 to provide power chassis, which would have been a shame.
DMU class 104. This BRCW 3-car 104 set is magnificent conversion of a Hornby class 110 with Craftsman cabs. Andy Elliott built, AD painted, it forms a 3-car set of 2 DMS vehicles with a rare TBS, Trailer Brake Second which houses the motor - hence we have a motored trailer vehicle! The motor is a Black Beetle and although we had distinct problems running this unit on Dc we have since cleaned and tweaked the chassis and chipped it with a Lenz silver in the roof above the motor. It has been a revelation since. Good job too! The next scheme was hacking apart a Bachmann 108 to provide power chassis, which would have been a shame.
DMU class 108. An escapee from Kingmoor. Made it's way up the GSW and then somehow across to Stirling area? This shows just how far RTR DMUs have come. An excellent model with superb lighting. So what are Bachmann going to spin off the chassis next?
DMU class 108. An escapee from Kingmoor. Made it's way up the GSW and then somehow across to Stirling area? This shows just how far RTR DMUs have come. An excellent model with superb lighting. So what are Bachmann going to spin off the chassis next?
 DMU Class 120. Frontal shot showing the distictive 'face' of a X-country 120 set. The vehicle shown is the unusual Inverness Driving Brake variation with extra large guard's compartment and tablet catcher recesses in the guard's doors! Classified as a DMBC we think!
DMU Class 120. Frontal shot showing the distictive 'face' of a X-country 120 set. The vehicle shown is the unusual Inverness Driving Brake variation with extra large guard's compartment and tablet catcher recesses in the guard's doors! Classified as a DMBC we think!
 DMU class 131. A superb converted bubble car of Simon's with work done by Roland. The 131s were an anomaly which didn't last very long having been converted to parcels work, although this one later became SANDRA the Sandite unit.
DMU class 131. A superb converted bubble car of Simon's with work done by Roland. The 131s were an anomaly which didn't last very long having been converted to parcels work, although this one later became SANDRA the Sandite unit.
 Stock. LMS Managers saloon built by Andy Elliott and based on the MTK kit, completed many years ago. Andrew Donnelly has given it a fettle and touched up tired paint whilst there is an interior waiting with Roland and some 'nobs' in suits to go inside too...
Stock. LMS Managers saloon built by Andy Elliott and based on the MTK kit, completed many years ago. Andrew Donnelly has given it a fettle and touched up tired paint whilst there is an interior waiting with Roland and some 'nobs' in suits to go inside too...
Wagon. TTA Bog standard fuel oil tank from Bachmann with a part repaint. The most commonly spotted wagon Airthrey Park?
Wagon. TTA Bog standard fuel oil tank from Bachmann with a part repaint. The most commonly spotted wagon Airthrey Park?
 Wagon. VDA Heavily remodelled Hornby wagon, the new Bachmann one cannot come soon enough. This looks great but entails a lot of work, full repaint, new transfers...expensive.
Wagon. VDA Heavily remodelled Hornby wagon, the new Bachmann one cannot come soon enough. This looks great but entails a lot of work, full repaint, new transfers...expensive.
 Wagon. YCV Turbot, newly painted in Dutch livery. Built from the nice Cambrian kit, one of their straighter and easier ones. On the whole we find Parkside kits of a far higher basic quality but Cambrian have virtual monopoly on engineers stock.
Wagon. YCV Turbot, newly painted in Dutch livery. Built from the nice Cambrian kit, one of their straighter and easier ones. On the whole we find Parkside kits of a far higher basic quality but Cambrian have virtual monopoly on engineers stock.
 Wagon. YGH Seacow is an off the peg Bachmann model, with a little fettling and weathered (lightly, this was newly built wagon in 1984) Apologies for yellow overhead warning flash! Rectified since it was photographed.
Wagon. YGH Seacow is an off the peg Bachmann model, with a little fettling and weathered (lightly, this was newly built wagon in 1984) Apologies for yellow overhead warning flash! Rectified since it was photographed.
Wagon. YLO Prawn based on a Bogie Bolster in old S and T red from Bachmann. The load makes it with old signals, poles, general wiring and signalling detritus.
Wagon. YLO Prawn based on a Bogie Bolster in old S and T red from Bachmann. The load makes it with old signals, poles, general wiring and signalling detritus.
 Wagon. YMA Salmon kit, Cambrian's biggy and impossibly long! This rail carrier sits on Airthrey platform during a runround move.
Wagon. YMA Salmon kit, Cambrian's biggy and impossibly long! This rail carrier sits on Airthrey platform during a runround move.
 Wagon. ZBO Grampus. A different base livery under the rust, this is an unbraked example, just managing to cling onto life in the 1980s...
Wagon. ZBO Grampus. A different base livery under the rust, this is an unbraked example, just managing to cling onto life in the 1980s...
 Wagon. ZBV Grampus Expertly built and weathered by Gordon Kennoway of Glenrothes club. There are a fleet of these with no two the same. This one in in old weathered olive green.
Wagon. ZBV Grampus Expertly built and weathered by Gordon Kennoway of Glenrothes club. There are a fleet of these with no two the same. This one in in old weathered olive green.
Wagon. ZFV Dogfish from Cambrian kit, loaded and weathered by Donnelly Senior with typical ballast wagon weathering, being 'dusty and rusty'...
Wagon. ZFV Dogfish from Cambrian kit, loaded and weathered by Donnelly Senior with typical ballast wagon weathering, being 'dusty and rusty'...
 Wagon. ZJV Mermaid. The weirdest wagon ever award? Tippling ballast wagons that always looked top heavy. This is an AD-built Cambrian kit.
Wagon. ZJV Mermaid. The weirdest wagon ever award? Tippling ballast wagons that always looked top heavy. This is an AD-built Cambrian kit.
 Wagon. ZUV Sharks from Cambrian kits with Romford wheels. One long overdue for a paint, one recently refurbed in Dutch livery. It was still a fair while before Dutch livery spread to loco fleet.
Wagon. ZUV Sharks from Cambrian kits with Romford wheels. One long overdue for a paint, one recently refurbed in Dutch livery. It was still a fair while before Dutch livery spread to loco fleet.
 Wagons. VAA Here is our first Bachmann VAA out of the box. Not for long however...! Clean stock is a bit of a rarity! In the paintshop now. BE VERY CAREFUL with this model as there were only ever 20 vented vans....don't buy too many.
Wagons. VAA Here is our first Bachmann VAA out of the box. Not for long however...! Clean stock is a bit of a rarity! In the paintshop now. BE VERY CAREFUL with this model as there were only ever 20 vented vans....don't buy too many.
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