Whilst looking through some old magazines from the 1960/70s I came across an article written by Colin Binnie in Model Railways, January 1979, Volume 8 No 1, p28 describing William Hedley's Puffing Billy. As well as narrative, there are side and end elevations at 1/4 in/ ft scale. Also in the article are sketches of the various sub-assemblies such as the chassis and the motion. As a regular visitor to the Preston 0 Gauge Group I seem to have acquired a reputation for building unusual models and as such I thought this was too good an opportunity to miss.

In 1813 when the locomotive was built, it was not possible to make large sheets of wrought iron and so small sheets had to be formed and riveted together. I made the chimney first as a test piece to see if I could achieve the effect of small pieces. This was made by taking a piece of brass tube and forming a wrapper from sheet brass shim. The individual sheets were drawn on the wrapper whilst in the flat and impressed using a centre punch. Rivet detail was also formed using the punch. The wrapper was then formed round the tube, secured with Araldite and held with wire ties until set. This gave the required effect. Having proved that this method worked, I used the same method for the lower section of the boiler plating. The top half is clad with wood strips.

The next problem was how to make the back end of the boiler. This is a dome made of several small segments rivetted together. After trying several methods I decided to use copper sheet, which is easily formed, and with a small hammer I made a dish with a flat edge all round.

The wheels are a compromise as I do not have the means to make the pattern needed. I used Slaters split spoke wagon wheels, which although incorrect were the nearest I could get; the loco had eight spokes on one set and ten on the other. The axles are held in bearings made from tube soldered onto a base plate which is then glued and pinned to the underside of the chassis. The motion is driven by the wheels, turning a series of gear wheels to a central crank and connecting rod. The gears are nylon from the Squires range.

The tender chassis is similar to that of the engine, with a tray for the coal and a tank for the water. After days of trying to make the tender wheels from all sorts of things, including bits of central heating fittings and strip, I gave up. By chance I happened to receive a listing from Mainly Trains which showed 00 gauge 17 mm tender wheels. Although 1mm undersize I decided they would be acceptable. Fitted onto extended axles they look the part, though being 00 they tend to drop into gaps in pointwork but otherwise run quite well.

The model is powered by a small Mashima 1624 motor fItted vertically in the water tank driving the front tender axle through a worm and wheel. Pick-ups are phosphor bronze stnps under the footsteps and bearing on the wheel rims. Having successfully run this model on the extensive Preston layout I feel I have kept my reputation intact.