DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

Sure enough, I took Nigels' suggestion to take on Stephenson's Rocket far earlier than I anticipated and thought it should be my first custom for 2022. However...



Rather than making it for Plarail or the wind up "narrow gauge" chassis, and in keeping with the real thing being an experiment, I decided it should be a test model for an idea I never once had before - a friction powered (!) model designed to (hopefully) run on the S gauge Union Express track. Having recently taken out pull back and friction motors (among other components) from numerous "lesser" toys, I've been wanting to see how and where I could incorporate them in my scratchbuilding endeavours. I took this particular motor from a green vacuum tanker (with Tony the Tiger on it...) and was surprised to find the casing and gears were metal. Combined with its size and weight, that made it very good for this tryout (though it can often disengage). The driving wheels were originally some irrigation drippers I bought from a plant nursery and modded a few years back (due to their uncanny resemblance to train wheels), a few of which have been primed for possible repaints. Traction tyres were added in the form of white rubber bands. For the time being, the rear wheels are from two other friction vehicles and are expected to be used for the tender as well. However, they are flangeless and will likely cause issues with height unless I would lower them/somehow add flanges. Like the chassis, the boiler and tender are planned to use matchsticks and skewers to give a real wood finish. I'm very eager to see how it turns out and hope it will work as intended.