My first successful narrow gauge loco resulted from matching an Airfix kit and a Minitrix chassis in 1968. The pictured locos no. 1 Firth of Clyde and no. 2 Craigcorrie in reality are the third and fourth model of this kind which I constructed. Loco no. 1 has LED lights, the other hasn't, and they differ in construction. Both are noisy and not too easy to control, but they are very dependable nonetheless.

No. 3 Maid of the Loch is a freelance 4-6-0T in a Beyer Peacock style which I made in 1979. The inclined cylinders and smokebox door, outside frame bogie and dome-mounted safety valves together with the open cab date the loco in the 1870s era. There are some similarities to the Isle of Man and Metropolitan Railway locomotives. The model is the successor of a loco I built in 1969. It has a very old Liliput chassis with excellent running properties, and is fitted with lights.

No. 4 Invicta dates from 1969 and was originally built from 1mm ply and card, using a Jouef Decauville 0-4-0 chassis. During its lifetime it received a new chassis twice and some reconstruction work was done using 1mm plastic sheet. This is the oldest remaining locomotive on the CDR and although it isn't used in normal service I kept it for nostalgic reasons. The present Fleischmann chassis (rebuilt to 0-4-2 arrangement) is a very silent runner. The model is now painted mid-green with yellow lining.

No. 5 Shiva was built in 1977 using the Langley Darjeeling 'B' kit and an Arnold chassis. The kit's quality is very mediocre when compared to present-day standards, but during a rebuild I fitted false outside frames and motion using plastic sheet, small brass nails and copper wire which upgraded the model to a better standard. This loco has LED lights and is a good slow runner. It is painted blue like the real Darjeeling locos. It is out of service at present as it is due for an extensive re-fit.

No. 6 Inveraray dates from 1978 and was rebuilt to its present outline very soon afterwards. Despite the oversized chimney this is an attractive model, loosely based on the (much smaller) Ffestiniog England engines in their original guise. The plastic sheet body was built up around the Fleischmann N gauge loco I started out with. The fat chimney is a Seuthe smoke unit, and in addition the model has lights on the bufferbeam and in the firebox.

No. 7 Brahma was built in the early 1980s on a salvaged Rivarossi/Atlas underframe and uses a Fleischmann 0-6-0 diesel as a tender drive. This dark green 2-8-0 loco with orange lining is based on the 'C' class Pacifics of the Darjeeling Railway. The superstructure was made of plastic although some brass sheet was used in the tender. A smoke unit and lights are fitted, and the tender drive has one traction tyre to assist adhesion.

The Garratt loco no. 8 Gaidheal dates originally from 1976 and has been subjected to repeated rebuilds which has resulted in the condition in which it is illustrated. The model uses two Minitrix 0-6-0s, with the boiler unit pivoted from holes drilled in the inner coupler pockets of these chassis. This engine again is fitted with a smoke unit and lights, and uses diodes to reduce the engine speed so the smoke comes on better. This loco's great weight of 200g makes it the CDR's strongest puller. The Minitrix chassis are a bit noisy, but they are connected electrically so the loco is very reliable.

This is the CDR's inspection vehicle, numbered 9 and named Terry after one of my twin sons. The model is a loose interpretation of the 'Drummond bug' once operated by the LSWR. It is built around a Minitrix German 0-6-0 loco including the body casting, and fitted with a plastic sheet cab and a section of a compartment carriage. The chassis has been extended by a swinging rear unit made of half of another Minitrix chassis. Officially a 2-2-2, technically this is an 0-4-2 as it runs better that way.

The one diesel loco no. 18 Axel was named after my eldest son. The model was assembled out of a variety of scrapbox parts including an original Egger radiator, various etched brass parts and Airfix 'pug' cab sides. The chassis is a Farish 08 which was in a dismal state but has been re-vamped using additional magnets to the motor. The model has a bright headlight on the bufferbeam.

The steam tram loco Marijn was called after my other twin son and is a reconstruction of an unsuccessful Dutch outline tram engine, now incorporating some properties of the Glyn Valley locos. The mechanism is another Fleischmann 0-6-0 diesel, with tiny cranks fitted to the centre wheels and very simple connecting rods giving an impression of movement behind the skirts. The original model dates back to 1978, and the end result is suitable motive power for the Glenclachan branch steam tram which is shown in the picture.

No. 11 Greta is a more recent (1991) representative of the simple conversion method I use, fitting an 00 gauge commercial body shell to an N gauge locomotive. Here, a shortened Hornby saddle tank body was fitted to the Fleischmann 0-4-0 tank loco. A pony truck was added, resulting in an attractive 0-4-2ST. This smooth-running model was fitted with lights and a red LED in the firebox.

No. 13 Robert the Bruce was built in 1997 using a Triang TT Jinty body and a very ancient German outline 2-6-4T by Arnold, both dating back to the 1960s. The Triang shell was stretched and glued to the cut down Arnold body. Things were complicated by the self-imposed requirement of adding a smoke unit and having to fit speed-reducing diodes to the motor. The motor was later replaced by a Mashima unit, making this into a very smooth-running model. The smoke comes on at scale speed, and the model is fitted with large colonial-type headlights. The 'Bruce' is a striking addition to the motive power roster.

No. 14 Calabar was built in 1991 using the well-known Dundas Sierra Leone Hunslet kit. It uses the Minitrix 2-6-2 chassis which may be a good performer but has the disadvantage of being noisy and having the wrong type of valve gear. Some day I must add the outside frames and cranks I once promised myself. The model is fitted with a front searchlight and a light in the firebox.

No. 16 Ariadne was built in the year 2000 using a Chivers Hudswell Clarke plantation loco kit and a dilapidated Fleischmann 2-8-0 tender engine chassis. The resulting 0-8-0 tender loco doesn't look like any British-built narrow gauge loco, but it is an attractive and highly detailed model which is a smooth performer and a useful addition to the CDR power roster. The tender is powered and the etched tender body was fitted to the original N gauge tender. Some work was needed to tailor the loco body to the chassis, more of which can be found in the archive pages of this website.

The CDR has two railcar sets. To the left, the 25-year-old railcar 1 can be seen, built of balsa, plastic and card using a Minitrix industrial diesel chassis. The trailing Keilkraft van in the picture was later used to make up the three-car set to the right, which has a cut down London bus and a motorised centre vehicle to complete the set. True to form, both railcar sets are rather noisy and a bit temperamental.

To the left the prettiest engine of the CDR is shown, the Campbeltown Barclay Atlantic modelled using the Backwoods Miniatures kit. The model was finished with Peter Blackham transfers, and despite initial trouble with the power pickup and chassis distortion this is now a smooth-running loco. To the right is another Campbeltown engine, Chevalier which was built from the Chivers kit and uses a modified Minitrix 0-6-0 chassis. This loco is intended for use on the colliery tramway at Inverlochan.

The vertical boiler loco Jock was built back in 1978 using a Fleischmann track-cleaning loco chassis. The all-plastic body is fitted with a vertical motion attached to the boiler which is driven from the motor. The loco also has a smoke unit and a red light in the firebox. This very freelance loco, to my great surprise and delight, was awarded the Peter Bayly Memorial Trophy at the Redditch 009 Society AGM in 2000.

Another styrene model is the near-scale 'Lawley' 4-4-0 tender engine Shaka Zulu, built from drawings published in the Continental Modeller magazine in 1994. The tender is powered by another of the Fleischmann industrial 0-6-0 diesel chassis, and the electrical supply is carried to the loco to power the headlight, smoke unit and firebox light. The loco has false outside frames and working rodding, although the wheels are connected with gears.

Finally, Lucky Luke is a freelance interpretation of an early Colorado narrow gauge engine that was originally (1978) built as a 2-6-4T, and recently converted to a more likely 2-6-0 tender engine. The model can only be regarded as a gimmick as the chassis layout is all wrong due to the short wheelbase of the Minitrix chassis and the connecting rod driving the trailing axle. It is fitted with lights and from time to time runs over the CDR with a matching American-style goods train lettered for the imaginary Curly Creek & Western Railroad.