Hi Phil, I assume you know

Hi Phil,

I assume you know about John Agnew’s spectacular NZR layout, as well as his line of Sn3, Sn42, and S Railmaster kits? I don’t know much about the NZR myself, so I’m not sure if Railmaster covers the specific era or prototypes you’re after, but their kits are very nice. I’ve acquired a number of their Sn3 offerings to serve as the backbone of my new roster. Sn42 also seems like a great scale/gauge combination, given the ability to use HO mechanisms and the fact that 3.5 foot gauge was surprisingly common in several parts of the world.

Hi Yes I have looked through

Hi

Yes I have looked through his website. http://www.railmaster.co.nz/index.htm

I suppose I should send him a email regarding his loco kits. Being white metal kits. I'm wondering how much assembly is required to make them run, and the viablity for DCC/Sound etc. I can get plenty of wagons for this Sn42. Most of them are either white metal, brass or pweter, which throws up alot more questions. Like learning new skills.

I have been toying around  dabbling in  this scale for a number of years, maybe building a small shunting module, and put  together a few kits. From the research I have done. Basically everything has to be built, scratchbuilt, bar the track. As HO scale track scales out spot on.

Phil

S Scale NZR

NZR is an interesting and worthwhile prototype to follow. However you should realize that it has only a minute following, probably less than 200 active and serious modellers and a like number of dabblers, so to produce a working layout requires a heavy commitment. To my knowledge there is nothing ready to run available so everything is kit or scratch built. There is a fairly active model trade, but most suppliers are of a backyard nature so supply can be rather sporadic. If you are interested in following this further it is probably worth while joining the NZ Model Railway Guild as their quarterly magazine will keep you up to date on what is available. To find out about the Guild see   http://www.nzmrg.org.nz

NZR is an interesting and

 Hi Tutanui

Was looking at the guild. Other  models I have noticed are the  ho scale Frateschi range.

Close but out of scale.

Thats the problem with NZR S Scale. Limited amount to start with. South Dock make white/brass metal kits. The hardest thing is trying to track down actual loco kits.

Only Railmaster seems to have anything close. Will always be a subject I would enjoy modeling, since I live in New Zealand. But lack of resources will always hamper efforts.

Phil

Souvenirs

I visited New Zealand at the turn of the millennium, and bought a couple of kits to build as souvenirs when I returned to Europe. I never really considered building a layout, but I did come across a guy called Ian Hammond who was building a layout in the UK, called Kopikopiko, and managed to give my DX a run on it once. Unfortunately, his blog has not been added to for some years http://uknzrmodeling.blogspot.co.uk/ More images of his layout can be seen here http://www.s-scale.org.uk/gallery21.htm.

The DX went together quite easily, and sits on an HO chassis which did not require much modification. The carriage (car) was quite a bit trickier, and includes fully equalised bogies (trucks).

Ian Morgan

Hampshire UK

Hi Ian Do you remember what

Hi Ian

Do you remember what chassis you used. As I have seen quite a few engine shells on Shapeways. But no mention on what chassis?

I will check out his blog as well.

Phil

DX Chassis

The chassis was an Athearn one, but cannot remember which US loco it came from. At the time it was the cheaper alternative recommended for this kit. The bogie side frames and details were included in the kit. The underbody tank is not right for the DX, but I did not have heavy duty tools to chop it up when I built the kit.

Ian Morgan

Hampshire UK