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While the main focus of the Strathspey Railway is running steam trains for the paying public, a small but dedicated group of volunteers has been restoring other items of heritage interest in spare moments between working on the loco fleet and improving locoshed infrastructure and facilities.

The current project is a Ruston Hornsby 48DS diesel shunter of 1948 which worked at Longmorn distillery until 1980 (even though Dr Beeching had closed the adjacent main line in 1967). Because it was presented to the Strathspey Railway repainted with advertisements for Queen Anne blended scotch whisky, it is known to most people as “Queen Anne”.

To find out more about our aims, follow this link or click the [About] button above.

This Blog was started over 5 years after the project began, so most of the initial blog entries are retrospective.

Sunday 25 October 2020

Latest Progress

 Painting - Topcoat Applied

The brown topcoat has now been applied over most of the loco and the buffer beams finished in red.  The colours are the same as those used on the Hornby model (see here).  For the record, the brown colour is NCS S-7020-Y30R and the red is RAL-3000 "Flame Red".  The roof has been painted gloss black.  As the following photographs show, she is looking very smart.




 

There are a few more details to complete and some more work inside the cab, but since the space in the Carriage Restoration Shed is now needed, Queen Anne has been moved out.  It is hoped the paintwork will be completed later in the year.  The artwork for the advertising vinyls is ready and these will be ordered once painting and lining is complete.

Windows

Some investigation was done to see if 3D Printing could be used to produce the rubber seals for the windows.  Unfortunately the 3D Printer available was an early (and now obsolete) model which failed, and most printer software does not readily support printing in flexible TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane).

So it has been decided to use commercially available rectangular U-channel rubbers and glue them to the aluminium frames.  This has been tested using a piece of 6mm plywood to determine the correct glass size.  The windows will eventually be glazed with 6mm toughened glass.

Glazing rubbers trial fitted using 6mm plywood

 The frames will be pre-painted with brown on the outside face and cream on the inside.  This will allow them to be glazed "on the bench" and bolted onto the locomotive once other painting is complete.

Other Videos

There is a short video clip on the P-Way blog (see "Associated Blogs") of Queen Anne on the move in the yard in her new brown livery taken on 17/10/2020.  Also, a video was uploaded to Youtube in 2010 of Queen Anne being craned out of the isolated section of track next to the old Speyside station :-

Strathspey Railways Queen Ann Geting Lifted (Part 2)