Been having a nose about for a locomotive to use as the "flagship" of my fleet and I came across these good looking beasties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGR_Type_A_2-6-4T (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGR_Type_A_2-6-4T)
Just wondering if people think these engines would be too big for a line set "somewhere in the Caribbean". I was thinking maybe a single example has arrived to "cope with extra traffic" resulting from the opening of a new port route and the older engines are left in charge of lighter traffic up the old main which has become a branch route..
Ian Turner built one. Here it is (nearly stuck) on Ryedown Lane, seen at Sparsholt last April.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2014%2Fgallery61%2Fimages%2FIT_IMG_6952.jpg&hash=9773726e9ec354619a2ea37b28ad246445c89bdd)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2014%2Fgallery61%2Fimages%2FIT_IMG_6959.jpg&hash=3894249cb593b19b9c7efc02cc3fb4d6fffa1d95)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2014%2Fgallery61%2Fimages%2FIT_IMG_6941.jpg&hash=c969557f2f705003cd611a58179cc60efbb3d89d)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2014%2Fgallery61%2Fimages%2FIT_IMG_6938.jpg&hash=408ba1b00d6048c3b96037c04aff4b439ac7c342)
The loco behind is my Lawley, which isn't a small engine for 009. I would say the class A is very big for most layouts.
Ahhh ok, I didn't realise they were THAT big. The look massive!!!
Might try looking at doing an "extended" version of the L&B MWs - just give it a slightly longer bunker to accomodate the extra trailing wheel.
That could work, not sure if I would feel confident with making up a brass bodyshell though!
Think of the Stenning whitemetal kit. I believe it is still available from Parkside Dundas. Modification with styrene sheet is easy. Use an N gauge chassis to turn it into a 2-6-4 or a 2-8-2.
Yeah I have an old Farish 4MT that I was going to take the chassis from to put under it. I found a box of old N-Gauge locomotives so I have a few odd chassis to use (a 4MT, a 4-6-4 (unmotored though), a trio of Jintys and what looks like an ancient Atlas 4-8-4 Northern).
I think the Northern might be a pushing it a bit far size wise though!
Quote from: Ross Chapman on August 31, 2014, 22:57
Been having a nose about for a locomotive to use as the "flagship" of my fleet and I came across these good looking beasties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGR_Type_A_2-6-4T (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CGR_Type_A_2-6-4T)
Just wondering if people think these engines would be too big for a line set "somewhere in the Caribbean". I was thinking maybe a single example has arrived to "cope with extra traffic" resulting from the opening of a new port route and the older engines are left in charge of lighter traffic up the old main which has become a branch route..
In a word, no.
Given that, to me at least, your Carribbean Island railway is the main railway on the island (as opposed to somewhere like the UK, where NG lines were secondary feeders to standard gauge ones) then the line's loading gauge will be at the bigger end of the spectrum, and most likely 2' 6" gauge as opposed to 2' gauge. With this in mind I'd suggest looking at the Leek & Manifold line in the UK, and the other lines around the world that E.R. Calthrop had a hand in, particularly the (2' 6") Barbados Railway. There are other candidates too where the narrow gauge formed the main and quite sizable railway networks (Sierra Leone, FCAB, parts of India, what used to be Yugoslavia, etc.).
Makes most of the UK narrow gauge look like toy trains...
Hum, ok I hadn't realised that. It sounds like you could really get some fairly large (and presumably powerful) locomotives.
The railway is supposed to be the only railway line on the island (which is meant to be about 2/3 the size of Saint Martin) it makes sense the stock would be larger. Maybe I could have some smaller stock as the older generation of power from when the line was first opened and the bigger engines as the "new generation" brought in as traffic increased.
I hadn't realised E. R. Calthrop had been involved in more than just the L&M, I will have to have a dig around and see what information I can find on other lines he was involved in.
Welcome to the variety that is world wide narrow gauge! ;D
A mistake that quite a number of people make when starting out is that all narrow gauge railways are the same. To disprove this just stand on the platform at Pothmadoc station and compare the FR Prince on one platform to the ex South African Railways NGG16 on the other, both on the same track gauge but at opposite ends of the loading gauge spectrum! Even the earlier SAR locos were a bit on the big side, just like that Cape Government 2-6-4T.
I would have thought that the motive power history of your island railway would be similar to other lines in similar circumstances. The initial locos on the island would have been involved in the construction of the line, probably small 4 or 6 coupled tank locos to a loco builder's 'standard' design. I'm thinking of the 0-6-0T designs supplied to the Sierra Leone Government, or some of the standard Kerr Stuart locos like the Skylark, Tattoo or (slightly bigger) Brazil 0-4-2 designs. These would have been sold on by the contractor to the railway company (also it was probably not economic to ship them back to the UK) to run early trains though an alternative scenario is that these locos had been bought by the railway at the start and hired to the contractors.
The next development would probably have been a bigger 6-coupled tank with leading / trailing trucks, like the 2-6-2T Hunslets built for Sierra Leone, or possibly tender locos like the Naysmith Wilson 2-6-0 (mixed traffic) and 4-4-0 (faster passenger) locos supplied to Cyprus, who also had some 2-6-2T from the same builder. As traffic grew and train weights increased the locos got bigger - initially bigger cylinders & boilers but followed by more wheels, either moving to an 8-coupled design (tank or tender locos) and/or something articulated - Garratts more often than not, though occasionally Mallets or Kitson Meyers (Jamaca had some standard gauge KMs), possibly all 3 types as some lines initially ordered one of each for comparison purposes.
Railcars might make an appearance (steam is possible but petrol/diesel is more likely IMHO) from as early as the 1920s with diesel locos making an appearance from the 1950s onwards, though if your island has a heavy US influence then they might have arrived a bit earlier.
Hope that helps.
This one is very Caribbean. It started work in Panama and ended up in Puerto Rico.
Metre gauge 2-6-0, built by Cail in 1889 for the first Panama Canal project by De Lesseps.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.narrowgauge.nl%2Fsite%2Fcfbs%2Fimg%2F118%2520cfbs.jpg&hash=a943ff291571a765a298fd42dd45ef09b43e2a20)
Hi,
If you want something bigger have a look at the Barsi Light (another Calthrop line) 4-8-4T's, like an enlarged Leek & Manifold 2-6-4T.
I've never seen a model of one (someone should now turn up a pic).
Peter
Quote from: engerth399 on September 02, 2014, 08:44
Hi,
If you want something bigger have a look at the Barsi Light (another Calthrop line) 4-8-4T's, like an enlarged Leek & Manifold 2-6-4T.
I've never seen a model of one (someone should now turn up a pic).
Peter
I can't recall seeing one of the 4-8-4T types (Cyprus had some too, though I think these were a little smaller than the Barsi type rather than being a direct copy) or the earlier Barsi 0-8-4T as a model but I recall seeing a L&M kit body that had been fitted with an 8-coupled chassis and might have been a 2-8-4 - can't recall the builder though.
Oddly, I have actually been looking at the Barsi 4-8-4s, they look chunky without being too chunky.
At the moment, I am scratch-bashing a Smokey Joe into a 0-6-4T tank inspired by (but bigger than) the WHR's Beddgelert. At the moment it has a small bunker on the trailing end, but I suppose I could cut that with a small "passage" through the centre to turn it into a small 0-6-4.
Thank you for all the help and suggestions Julien, you seem very knowlegdable. I really want to start with some locos that wont "overpower" my first layout which is only 5ft by 2ft.
Not knowledgeable, just well read! My own NG interests lie at the bigger end of the scale so a lot of your questions are ones that I've asked myself.
By way of explanation here's one of my locos, a model of a 2-8-0 Baldwin tender loco supplied to Cuba.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2861/10119362965_9013818357_z.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_webb/10119362965/)
DSCN3444 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_webb/10119362965/) by webbcompound2 (https://www.flickr.com/people/julien_webb/), on Flickr
Ah well you may find I end up asking you a few questions then!
Just for info, this is the image I found of the Barsi 4-8-4T Sir Alec
(https://static.panoramio.com.storage.googleapis.com/photos/large/94457254.jpg)
Looks like a very compact coupled wheelbase to it.
As I implied before I am not confident with metal kits (soldering at any rate!) so does anyone know of a resin / plastic / 3D printed bodyshell kit for something like the L&M Kitsons that I could put onto a 8 coupled chassis?
I have seen the 0-10-0 and 0-8-0 PD Hunslet bashes that are for sale on here but I think they might be too modern considering I want to set my line ca. late 1913 / early 1914. I decided to move it forward a couple of decades as I really would like to eventually have a Garratt, or six!
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 03, 2014, 10:10
Ah well you may find I end up asking you a few questions then!
No problem with that at all Ross - happy to help.
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 03, 2014, 10:10
Just for info, this is the image I found of the Barsi 4-8-4T Sir Alec
<snipped>
Looks like a very compact coupled wheelbase to it.
I think that they were. The Cyprus 4-8-4T (essentially a copy of the Barsi design)had a fixed wheelbase of 8' 3, as did the earlier Barsi 0-8-4T locos. That's only 33 mm for 009!
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 03, 2014, 10:10
As I implied before I am not confident with metal kits (soldering at any rate!) so does anyone know of a resin / plastic / 3D printed bodyshell kit for something like the L&M Kitsons that I could put onto a 8 coupled chassis?
I have seen the 0-10-0 and 0-8-0 PD Hunslet bashes that are for sale on here but I think they might be too modern considering I want to set my line ca. late 1913 / early 1914. I decided to move it forward a couple of decades as I really would like to eventually have a Garratt, or six!
When it comes to metal kits, either white metal or brass, you do not
have to solder them. Admittedly a stronger construction will result from soldering, and generally soldering is better on brass (certainly easier as you're less likely to melt the kit!) but all soldering is in essence is using metal as the 'glue'. If you get the chance to chat to Allen Doherty (a.k.a. Mr Worsley Works) at a show don't be surprised if you get a free soldering demo / lesson, though equally chat to anybody doing a soldering demo at a show as most of them are helpful.
I'm not sure about 3D printed stuff as it is difficult to keep up with what's available. CWR do some freelance 2-6-2T designs with a 'colonial' look to them, and I'm sure that there are some models of prototypes on Shapeways. As to resin kits I have a feeling that Deans Sidings were talking about doing a resin L&M Kitson but I'm not sure how the project progressed.
The Sierra Leone Hunslet 2-6-2T was quite a long lived design with the first three locos supplied in 1898. Admittedly these, another pair in 1900 and a final pair in 1901 had a slightly smaller diameter boiler (2' 6") than the later batches (3' 3"), but as I think that the first of the 'big boiler' types was sent out in 1903 then the only 'modern' aspect of the design is that the last ones went out in 1954, including the one preserved on the W&LLR (currently at Shildon). It should be fairly easy to backdate the Dundas kit to 1903 as it stands, and with a replacement smaller boiler (copper pipe, brass / plastic tube) converting to the first batches shouldn't be too difficult. Equally Hunslet supplied some 2-8-2 tanks to Sierra Leone in 1906 which look similar to the 2-6-2T design (longer, bigger cylinders and inside frames) so don't write off such Hunlset bashes just yet.
Julien,
Ref your earlier comment on the Kitson 2-8-4 model - Roger Christian has built a pair of Meridian/Centre Models Kitsons as 2-8-2T locos using the old Bachmann 2-8-0 (white box) chassis that were in 009 News years ago, during Hugh Norwood's editorial reign - one of them was on the front cover so the issue should be relatively straightforward to track down (I don't have time to rake through my pile at the moment, sorry). I took a photo of one of them piloting Ted Polet's scale L&MV Kitson at the Kegworth Convention last year which is shown in the 2 page centre spread in 009 News Vol 41 issue 2 - November 2013.
Alan Feldon has also built and described a whole raft of Kitson bashes including several 8 coupled varieties which if I remember correctly also had at least one freelanced version of the Barsi/Cyprus 4-8-4 varieties amongst them. These were described and illustrated (and are probably still accessible) around 2 or 3 years ago on NGRM-Online.
Hope this helps.
Mick
Quote from: MickT on September 03, 2014, 11:23
Julien,
Ref your earlier comment on the Kitson 2-8-4 model - Roger Christian has built a pair of Meridian/Centre Models Kitsons
Mick I am assuming these would be brass / whitemetal kits?
Quote from: MickT on September 03, 2014, 11:23
Alan Feldon has also built and described a whole raft of Kitson bashes including several 8 coupled varieties which if I remember correctly also had at least one freelanced version of the Barsi/Cyprus 4-8-4 varieties amongst them. These were described and illustrated (and are probably still accessible) around 2 or 3 years ago on NGRM-Online.
Hope this helps.
Mick
I have been poking through NGRM-Online (registered there too!) but I haven't seen that at all. Is Alan on NGRM under his own name or a psuedonom?
The Meridian (ex Centre Models) Kitson is whitemetal. But I think I saw an announcement that it isn't available right now. You might find one in the second hand Sales stand, but they're not easy to find.
I built one on an etched chassis. If that is beyond what you wish to tackle, any big N gauge chassis is suitable if you modify the footplate. Roger's 2-8-2 is such a modification, and a very good-looking one.
Here is Mick's photo, copied from the Dutch Group website. Roger's loco is piloting mine:
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2013%2Fgallery50%2Fimages%2F114%2527Dscf0158cs.jpg&hash=75cd515ef6074bb1facad6bd21d3584129eb44ad)
PS Alan Feldon is on NGRM under his own name.
Hum, that actually looks like it has had no modifications to the kit at all bar the obvious of that needed to fit the chassis.
I wonder what else would be suitable kit wise to "bash" into altenate wheel arrangements. I suppose I would need to stick with slightly larger designs to get them to work without a significant amount of modifications. Possibly a Roxey "Famagusta" type for a smaller 2-8-2T
I will have a poke through NGRM and try and find Alan's thread on them.
Ross
I go under my own name on NGRM on line
If someone will tell me how to put pictures on here I will gladly post some.Alternatively send me a PM on the other site and I will send you some.The kitson kit can easily be modified by just cutting bits out of the footplate to accomodate many different types of chassis,and i have even built one of roofing lead which is a hefty beast.
A photo of my CGR appeared in 009 news but I don't know when.
Hi Alan,
I will send you a PM on NGRM as soon as I get home (I can't access it here at work for some reason despite being able to get on here!). I would be very interested to see what you have been able to do with them.
Not sure if it would work, but I was considering getting some L&B MW bodyshell kits and bashing them into "bigger" types with a more colonial outline. I am guessing they are quite narrow though but I don't have any idea of the real world dimensions of them.
The old Chivers (Now Five79) Sittingbourne & Kemsley RC12 & Welshpool RC17 'Joan' have a decidedly colonial appearance and may lend themselves to various chassis configurations.
Hum, thats a good idea. What's the difference between the prototypes of Five79's RC12 and the RC17, they both look about the same size to me (and both are 0-6-2Ts)?
They both have a similar ancestry - RC12 is the Bagnall 0-6-2T from Bowaters/Sittingbourne and Kemsley. This was itself based on a Kerr Stuart design, which had variously the class Baretto and Matary. RC 17 is a Kerr Stuart design, which was, again developed from the Matary. I am informed that it is a Matary design, with a Haig(?) boiler. They share the same wheelbase, and this is close to the Bachmann/Farish 08 outside frame diesel, making them candidates for the RT models cylinder/motion conversion kit.
Ahh ok that makes sense, they both look like they are mid-sized designs so I think they would work quite well for me without completely overpowering the layout.
Hum, I found a potential new engine - after seeing Alan Plant's 0-6-2 modification of the Roxey Mouldings 2-6-0 (LOK5), I was considering if this plus some of the 2-6-2T (LOK6) might make up a good fleet?
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 09, 2014, 14:45
Hum, I found a potential new engine - after seeing Alan Plant's 0-6-2 modification of the Roxey Mouldings 2-6-0 (LOK5), I was considering if this plus some of the 2-6-2T (LOK6) might make up a good fleet?
Yes, I think they would.
The prototypes, along with the Cyprus 4-4-0 locos, were designed with interchangeable parts (certainly boilers and fireboxes on all 2 and probably a lot more of the 6-coupled types) which meant less spares needed to keep the fleet running, ideal when your spares have to come from the other side of the Atlantic!
As to the Roxey kits the chassis - Farish 2-6-2 GWR Prairie - is (akaik) available new and widely available second hand, though it might be worth looking at the BR 'ivatt' type (3mt?) 2-6-2 tanks as these have the more correct Walscherts valve gear and might fir without too much modification to the body other than some fettleing (and perhaps no more than needed with the designed chassis). It might also be worth considering the 4-4-0 (LOK4?) too but the drawback there is that the chassis - Farish Midland 'Compound' - can be hard to come by. Having built a couple of the 2-6-2s (and one of the 4-4-0s) there were no major problems, though the long footplate is easily bent (easily straightened too) and this can affect the front chassis fixing screw, and on the 4-4-0 I had to do a fair bit of fetteling to get the chassis screw to line up with the hole in the footplate.
Here are my pair of 2-6-2 tanks on the GWR Prairie chassis...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4008/4332703785_2db2dab6c1_z.jpg?zz=1) (https://flic.kr/p/7ASeTp)
I really must do something about the airspace over the pony trucks.
And they could probably do with revisiting the paint shops!
Hum well that makes things seem much simpler, they are very nice looking locomotives. I will try and get them. I have found that you can get the new Dapol Prairie chassis for
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 10, 2014, 21:24
Hum well that makes things seem much simpler, they are very nice looking locomotives. I will try and get them. I have found that you can get the new Dapol Prairie chassis for
I'm not 100% sure but as it looks like its one of the newer Dapol locos I would assume it has a DCC socket as nearly all the other Dapol steam locos I have seen do. If the Britannia chassis wasn't tender drive I would be tempted to see if I could fit that under one of those tanks.
Mind you I suppose it could be tried using a 4MT chassis but that would be more expensive!
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 10, 2014, 21:24
Hum well that makes things seem much simpler, they are very nice looking locomotives. I will try and get them. I have found that you can get the new Dapol Prairie chassis for
Yes the Dapol one is of the smaller 45xx classes, they seem to have had a slightly longer wheelbase than the 4400s but I am guessing its still going to be a noticably smaller than the 61xx series. 9mm drivers would still scale out at a decent size for a 2ft 3" gauge line thought I would assume.
I can't find any 3MTs for sale second hand and I dont really want to pay full price for a new loco. I can find the bigger 4MT quite easily, I guess I could fit it with a single axle trailing truck to turn it from a 2-6-4T into a 2-6-2T.
I wonder if I could get away with building the tender version and replacing the boiler tube with a longer, fatter one to make it look like a chunkier version of the original...
The VR G class Garratt I was looking at is actually the HOn30 one, I didnt realise it was designed to take the 08 Chassis. As I have one already I could always get a new chassis for my engine bash (maybe an excuse for a Madge outside framed chassis!) and another 08 and then have a nice Garratt (not sure how big they would be to scale in 00 if the model is HO out at but I think the prototype is around 45ft long). I couldn't see an 00 version on Shapeways, I did see some of the other PBR engines though.
If it was just supposition then I have a feeling it won't be DCC compatible out of the box, I don't remember seeing an update to the design to allow it.
I started building an anglicised version of a Roxey Famagusta, it's got real potential. But I'm easily distracted, so it still needs finishing..
LOL, I have been nosing through your thread on NGRM Online, I havent got to the Famagusta yet!
Slowly getting started on fixing my track down now so there is likely to be a few updates from me soon!
Ah, that's in my workbench thread (titled 'Waterloo Works'), sorry, lots of reading :)
Look forward to hearing of how you get on.
Ahhh I will have a look at that one when i get home then.
I think I found my railway's name as well - I may be "borrowing" the Grand Central's logo and name, just trying to work out if the older one with the name printed inside the circle or the newer one would be better!
http://www.precisionlabels.com/d24.html?
Quote from: Ross Chapman on September 11, 2014, 14:20
Yes the Dapol one is of the smaller 45xx classes, they seem to have had a slightly longer wheelbase than the 4400s but I am guessing its still going to be a noticably smaller than the 61xx series. 9mm drivers would still scale out at a decent size for a 2ft 3" gauge line thought I would assume.
I can't find any 3MTs for sale second hand and I dont really want to pay full price for a new loco. I can find the bigger 4MT quite easily, I guess I could fit it with a single axle trailing truck to turn it from a 2-6-4T into a 2-6-2T.
I wonder if I could get away with building the tender version and replacing the boiler tube with a longer, fatter one to make it look like a chunkier version of the original...
The VR G class Garratt I was looking at is actually the HOn30 one, I didnt realise it was designed to take the 08 Chassis. As I have one already I could always get a new chassis for my engine bash (maybe an excuse for a Madge outside framed chassis!) and another 08 and then have a nice Garratt (not sure how big they would be to scale in 00 if the model is HO out at but I think the prototype is around 45ft long). I couldn't see an 00 version on Shapeways, I did see some of the other PBR engines though.
Actually the 4MT might not be a bad idea...
And just to avoid any confusion I think the G42 uses the
new Farish 08 chassis with the outside frames, and the 4 mm scale stuff is here (http://www.shapeways.com/shops/shapeways.com/shops/Jeevi?section=OO+Scale+Models&s=0)
Yeah, I may end up using the 4MT and modifying it to fit that.
I will have to email the designer for the G42 and find out which type of chassis it uses.
It's looking like I might be relocating my area of operations though but even so I think I will still go for the stockier engine types simply to cope with the "demands of the route".
Stick the the Caribbean if you can as I don't think anyone has done that before.
Don't forget that most of the loco builders would have 'stock' designs which they would build (with varying degrees of modification) for customers, and that some of these 'standard' types would be based on earlier 'bespoke' designs. Examples of this are the Kitson 4-8-4 tanks, first supplied to the Barsi Light Railway in India but later (albeit slightly modified) to Cyprus, the earlier Sierra Leone 2-6-2+2-6-2 garratt design of which 2 were supplied to Nepal, there was a Barclay 0-6-2 supplied to South America that bares a remarkable resemblance to Argyll and Atlantic supplied to the Cambeltown & Macrihanish and a clone of the 0-6-2T "Chevallier" (Chattenden & Upnor, later Bowaters and now Whipsnade - I think!) complete with porthole cabside that Manning Wardle supplied to South America. There are many other examples, so I can't see any reason why Naysmiths could not have supplied something that looked much like their Cyprus locos to your Carribean idyl, and if you wanted some justification then if the Crown Agents were involved (a body responsible for supplying the building blocks of Empire, like complete railway systems!) then they would likely chose a proven design (like one 'tested' on Cyprus, or elsewhere) or something based on that design than something brand new.
Thanks for the words of advice Julien, I think I need someone to say "stop being silly and just get on with it!" as I am fairly (well, VERY) indecisive so I tend to change my mind a fair bit.
I think that might be the easiest way for me to look at the locomotive(s) for my line, I want to at least try and get a family resemblence between them. Your suggestion as to the reasons why makes a lot of sense to me and I may "borrow" the idea from you!
I'd really like a garratt like the PBR's G42, I can't think of a good excuse for one on an island in the Caribbean however!
Just seems to be quite difficult to find any information on the older rail lines serving any industries in the Central / Southern Americans and carribean areas though, I can find info on stuff after WW2 easily enough, but pre-WW1 is much, much harder!
Railways of the caribbean by David Rollison
ISBN 0-333-73042-9
published by Macmillan
"Stop being silly and get on with it" ;D well, you did ask!
Have a look at Camden Minitures Steam Services website at their book section - specifically European & World railways. The Trackside Publication's books (various authors) on the various Andean railways.
The problem with finding pre-1918 info is that people from Europe were not there to record it, let alone take photographs, whereas post 1945 air travel and photographic equipment became relatively cheep.
Thanks for that both of you, I'm ashamed I didn't find those myself!
I have done some work on getting my boards ready today ss tracklaying should be able to commence over the weekend, then I can make a start on getting my loco fleet up and running. It's looking like a good proportion of them will actually be based on the GF 08 chassis at the moment so I think most of my fleet will end up as six-coupled locomotives.
I think I found a good prototype I might use (not loco wise though, I think the Luttermoller type wheel arrangement would be a bit hard to duplicate!) and I really like the street running around 1:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wNRNA7xKdc
Move it from Java to the Carribean and add some "general" freight traffic and its more or less exactly what I want to try and replicate.
Work under way on my loco fleet at the moment - Neil Sayer "La Meuse" on order to be turned into a slightly larger 0-6-2T engine and my Smokey Joe bash has grown a bit...
Poking about looking into the Cyprus Government Railway, I also found the Cyprus Mining Company and this awesome looking thing;
http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/gallery/images/438/1465.jpeg (http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/gallery/images/438/1465.jpeg)
How difficult a bash do people thing something like that big beasty would be? I'm guessing an American USRA 2-8-2 chassis or similar would do for the basic power?