Here are some of the models that have been through the Rhos Helyg Locomotive Works. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the latest additions.

You may click on the pictures to see enlarged views.

Tender for Roundhouse "Millie", "Bertie" and "Sammie"

This 4-wheel tender was designed to operate with the Roundhouse "Millie", "Bertie" and "Sammie" model steam locomotives with the bodywork style matching that used on the locomotives as closely as possible. Click here for more details.

Modifications to Accucraft NG15 "Kalahari" 2-8-2

Details of the radio control installation and cow catcher modification that we offer for these fine locomotives may be found here.

Slater's Festiniog Railway 2-ton slate waggon

Slater's Plastikard etched brass Festiniog Railway 2-ton slate waggon featuring soldered construction for extra strength and with correct pattern curly spoked or three-hole wheels running in brass bearings. Total weight is about 132 grams (unbraked) or 144 grams (braked). After completion they are painted with etch primer and then in a colour of the customer's choice, followed by "rusting".









The lower photograph shows a completed order for 12 Slater's etched-brass Festiniog Railway slate waggons. Variations include three shades of grey, three types of wheels, two types of axlebox and one with a handbrake. All of these models are based on full-size waggons preserved at the Festiniog Railway.


Binnie Engineering Festiniog Railway wooden slate waggon

Binnie Engineering injection-moulded plastic Festiniog Railway wooden slate waggon with correct pattern three-hole wheels running in brass bearings. Total weight is about 112 grams. After completion they are spray painted in red oxide, either all over and numbered 475 or with a matt black underframe (as shown) and numbered 79, to represent the preserved waggons of this type.



Binnie Engineering tipper/skip wagon

Binnie Engineering injection-moulded plastic tipper (or skip) wagon with all joints made using Plastic Weld solvent. Correct pattern Slater's four-hole steel wheels running in brass bearings were also fitted. Total weight is about 63 grams.

The top photograph shows a red oxide skip after "rusting".

The lower photograph shows a set of five skips in pale blue with "rusting", with the nearest one being built on a GRAMODELS frame incorporating a dummy handbrake and brake gear. The appearance of these skips was based on those that were used at the Liverpool Corporation Waterworks filter beds near Oswestry.



Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railway 2-6-2 No. 24

This locomotive was constructed using Roundhouse components for 45mm gauge track and includes the following features:
 - Water tank and hand water pump in tender allowing water to be fed
       to the boiler while the locomotive is stationary or not in steam.
 - Axle-driven water pump with manual by-pass allowing water to be fed
       to the boiler while the locomotive is in motion.
 - Custom-built gas-fired boiler incorporating water gauge glass.
 - Working front headlight.
 - Working steam whistle built in to dummy air reservoir on right-hand side of locomotive.
 - 2.4GHz radio control, allowing control of regulator, reverser and whistle.
 - Satin black paint finish.
 - Real coal load in tender.



Roundhouse Darjeeling Railway B-Class "TUSKER"

This locomotive was a standard factory-built Roundhouse loco that was modified to look as much like the real 788 TUSKER as possible. The changes included:
 - Weathered/dirty frames, footplating, motion and wheels
 - Satin finish blue paint
 - Matt black smokebox and door
 - White stripes around cab base
 - White ring on smokebox front
 - Black boiler jacket
 - Black tool boxes under saddle tank
 - Black tank filler lid
 - Black couplings
 - Black cab interior
 - Black support poles and rails at rear of cab
 - Red cab steps
 - Red frame edging
 - Red coupling safety chains
 - Red injector overflow pipes
 - Red cross-heads
 - Silver inlay to front cylinder covers
 - Silver band around dynamo body
 - Silver chimney cap
 - Silver headlight guards
 - Grey cab roof
 - Copper finish saddle tank balance pipes
 - Last repair/overhaul date stencil on tank sides
 - Working headlights
 - Real coal load
 - Brass band around smokebox
 - Canvas cab weather sheet
 - Brass NF and Hindu lettering
 - Custom-made 788 numberplates
 - TUSKER name
 - Bent steam dynamo exhaust pipe
 - Brackets for fire irons on right side
 - Replacement whistle
 - No rerailing pole!



(Photo G Rushton)

Hugh Saunders Talyllyn Railway 0-4-2ST "EDWARD THOMAS"

This locomotive was dismantled and had the bodywork stripped back to bare metal. A dent in the saddle tank was repaired and two holes in the cab sides were filled in. The bodywork was then repainted using etch primer and Talyllyn bronze green top-coat, followed by lining in yellow with black edging. The paintwork was protected and given a satin finish by spraying with lacquer. The smokebox received coats of etch-primer and High Temperature matt black paint, the bufferbeams were painted red and the cab interior was painted cream. Real coal was fixed into the bunkers following reassembly.

Two years later another of these delightful locomotives came to us for repairs and a repaint. The tank filler lid, spectacle rings and pump handle were missing from this loco, and we arranged manufacture and supply of replacements. The loco then had a complete strip and repaint in to Talyllyn bronze green lined in black and yellow, all with a gloss finish. The smokebox, cab roof and footplating was finished in satin black. Replacement of the missing works plates with new items from MDC completed the job.


Another one visited us a few months later for repairs and a repaint. This one differed from the others by having a full cab back and a different type of meths burner, amongst other detail differences.


 

Roundhouse Katie 0-4-0STT

This locomotive and tender were dismantled and had the bodywork stripped back to bare metal. The bodywork was then repainted using etch primer and black top-coat, followed by lining in blue and red. The paintwork was protected and given a satin finish by spraying with lacquer. The smokebox received coats of etch-primer and High Temperature matt black paint, the cab interior was painted cream and the axle cranks were painted red.

 


Roundhouse Ffestiniog Railway 0-4-0STT "LINDA"

We have lined a number of brand-new factory-painted Roundhouse "Linda" locomotives in the style applied to the Ffestiniog Railway locomotive on which this model is based. This included red lining with black edging, black wheels and boiler cladding and red axle cranks. FR crests (supplied by DJB Engineering) were applied to the tender sides, and the cranks were replaced with items made by Chuffed2Bits. The paintwork on the body and tender was protected and given a satin finish by spraying with lacquer. The cab interior was painted cream and black.


 
Roundhouse Pooter 0-4-0T "LILIAN"

Here we see a Roundhouse meths-fired "Pooter" dating from the mid-1980s. We were asked to find a buyer for this locomotive by an existing customer, and a fortuitous visit by another existing customer soon found a new owner for this locomotive. A full and comprehensive cosmetic overhaul followed, including:

 - Bodywork strengthened by addition of a stay across the two side tanks
 - Missing cab steps replaced with whitemetal steps
 - Buffer beam overlays with rivet detail fitted using hexagon head bolts
 - Summerlands chuffer fitted
 - All parts stripped back to bare metal
 - Full repaint in gloss black with red lining, cream cab interior and matt black smokebox

 

 

Roundhouse Katie "PEASLAKE"

Work on this Roundhouse "Katie" included the fabrication of new buffer beams (including fitting of vacuum pipes and Accucraft couplings) and a sliding panel on the rear of the cab, replacement of the cylinder cover screws with hexagon head bolts, repairs to a radio servo and fitting of spectacle glasses. The loco was then stripped back to bare metal and repainted in a livery inspired by the Southern Railway's ownership of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

 

 

Roundhouse Penrhyn Quarry Railway "BLANCHE"

A factory-painted Roundhouse "Blanche" in full Penrhyn Quarry Railway livery, complete with matt black smokebox, silver rings on the cylinder covers, red cranks, black wheels and a satin finish to the black bodywork.

 

 

Roundhouse Lady Anne 0-6-0T "SIR DAVY ARMSTRONG"

This kit-built Lady Anne had been purchased second-hand by its new owner, and was sent to us for a comprehensive overhaul and repaint. The work included:
 - Summerlands chuff pipe fitted.
 - Roundhouse crosshead/combination lever set fitted.
 - Planet T5 2.4GHz radio control system installed.
 - Lamp bracket attached to top of smokebox.
 - “In steam” water top-up facility installed.
 - Lubricator moved from cab to left-hand doorway.
 - Cylinder O-rings and gaskets replaced as required.
 - Slide valves lapped and modified to improve performance.
 - Cylinder exhaust pipes replaced.
 - Valve timing adjusted and set.
 - Dummy air pump attached to right-hand tank front.
 - Bodywork repaired as required.
 - Dummy tank fillers replaced with “Silver Lady” type.
 - Rear lamp brackets replaced.
 - All bodywork, boiler, parts and frames stripped to bare metal.
 - All bodywork, boiler, parts and frames painted with etch primer.
 - Smokebox painted matt black.
 - Frames, wheels, cab floor and other parts painted satin black.
 - Bodywork, dome and boiler wrapper painted satin bronze green.
 - Single yellow lining applied to tank and bunker sides.
 - Cranks and buffer beam bolts painted red.
 - Dummy coal loads replaced with real coal.
 - “Sir Davy Armstrong” name plates supplied and fitted.
This loco can be seen in "as received" condition as an inset on the larger picture.



 

Roundhouse Darjeeling Railway B-Class "MAID OF KENT"

The loco has been finished to represent a loco that has been repatriated and preserved in the UK, hence the MAID OF KENT nameplates.

Modifications included:
 - Real coal in the bunker
 - Removeable cab backsheet
 - A brass band around the smokebox
 - Brackets on the right-hand tank side for the firing irons.

Paintwork included:
 - White stripes around the cab base and on the smokebox front
 - Black boiler and cab interior
 - Red firebox surround, brake handle, crossheads, cab steps and injector pipes
 - Silver cylinder cover details, headlamp guards and chimney cap
 -.Grey cab roof
 - Copper finish saddle tank balance pipes.

It also had a Summerlands chuff pipe fitted, and its 40MHz radio control replaced with a 2.4GHz system.

 

 

Finescale Engineering Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST "ERNEST"

This loco was completely dismantled and stripped back to bare metal. It was then resprayed with etch primer and satin black. followed by lining in the Penrhyn Quarry Railway's scheme.

 

Archangel 2-4-0T "RHEIDOL"

This loco was 32 years old (built December 1978) when it came to us and it was certainly showing its age when it entered our workshop for a comprehensive overhaul and repaint. The work has been done in a way that is sympathetic to its heritage and pedigree but a number of improvements have been incorporated that improve its usability and operation. The work included:
- Replacement of all pipework, including broken main steam pipe
- Refixing of cranks and wheels to axles to remove "wobble"
- Removal of wear from the slide valve
- Replacement of piston rings, gland seals and gaskets
- Altered smokebox door so that it could be removed to allow access to interior
- Improved floor in smokebox which can easily be made air-tight
- Nozzle in blower pipe to improve efficiency and reduce steam usage
- Water tanks balance pipe moved from cab to under boiler
- Overflow pipe fitted to meths burner to avoid "floods"
- Wicks replaced with modern wick material
- Tanks made watertight
- Replacement of cab with original design
- Replacement of coal rails around meths tank top
- Stripped to bare metal for repaint in satin dark blue edged in black and lined in white

This loco can be seen in "as received" condition as an inset on the larger picture. 

 

Roundhouse Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 2-6-2T "YEO"

This loco arrived carrying the first version of the L&B lining scheme (simple orange and black lines). This lining was carefully removed, leaving the original Roundhouse factory paint intact, and then re-lined in the later "intermediate" scheme of black edging with orange lining. The frames were repainted in red/brown and the smokebox was repainted in matt black, with the rest of the loco having a satin finish. A video of this locomotive in action can be viewed here.

 

 

Roundhouse Talyllyn Railway 0-4-0T "TOM ROLT"

This brand-new loco came to us for lining in the style that the full-size loco carried when it first entered service at the Talyllyn Railway, and before the air pump was fitted to the right-hand side tank. The job included fitting of TR crests, respraying of the cab roof, boiler, smokebox and tank tops in satin black, and painting the wheels in green. A satin clear coat then reduced the factory gloss finish to a more prototypical shine.

 

 

Roundhouse Lady Anne 0-6-0T "CARNETHY"

This factory-built Lady Anne was sent to us for a comprehensive overhaul and repaint after seeing a photo of a similar loco called Y Ddraig Goch in our photo gallery. The work included:
 - Summerlands chuff pipe fitted.
 - Planet T5 2.4GHz radio control system installed.
 - Original smokebox replaced with cast brass "rivetted" type.
 - Lamp bracket attached to top of smokebox.
 - Cylinder O-rings replaced.
 - Dummy tank fillers replaced with “Silver Lady” type.
 - All bodywork, smokebox and boiler stripped to bare metal.
 - All bodywork, smokebox and boiler painted with etch primer.
 - Smokebox painted matt black.
 - Wheels, cab floor, cab roof and other parts painted satin black.
 - Bodywork and boiler wrapper painted satin red with black edging and yellow lining.
 - Original dome replaced with larger "Russell" type.
 - Cranks and buffer beam bolts painted red.
 - Dummy coal loads replaced with real coal.
 - “Carnethy” name plates supplied and fitted.
The second picture shows Carnethy and Y Ddraig Goch together.

 

0-6-0ST "ST GEORGE" and 0-4-0ST "GLAURUNG"

These two locomotives were scratchbuilt by their owner using some Roundhouse components and came to us for painting. Both were delivered in bare metal.and received some bodywork finishing work before being painted.

ST GEORGE is a gas-fired 0-6-0ST that was painted in gloss and satin black with lining in blue and red.

GLAURUNG is a coal-fired 0-4-0ST that was painted in gloss green and satin black with yellow lining and black edging.




 

Pearse Locomotives Welshpool & Llanfair 2-6-2T No. 14

Simon Whenmouth at Anything Narrow Gauge/IMP Models recently sent us the bodywork and boiler from this Pearse Welshpool & Llanfair Railway No. 14 for repainting and lining. The parts were finished in the blue scheme with orange and red lining and carried by No. 14 a few years ago. The painted parts were then returned to Simon who reassembled the loco for his customer and provided us with some very nice photographs.
 


Accucraft 0-4-2ST "LEADER"

This Accucraft "Leader" 0-4-2ST was finished with the intention of showing the loco as it was when it worked for Bowaters Paper in Sittingbourne during the 1960s, rather than as it is preserved now. With that in mind, the saddle tank was lightly weathered and Leader's distinctive rusty patch around the saddle tank filler was recreated. The factory green paintwork was lined in yellow with black edging and then finished in satin varnish, with matt black smokebox and cab roof. Real coal in the bunkers completed the job.
 

 
Coal-fired 0-6-0TT "BOWER GROVE"

This loco started life as a Sabre Steam UK coal-fired "Annette", based on the successful Roundhouse "Lady Anne" chassis and bodywork. It was sent to us brand-new and direct from Sabre Steam for lining and a few other cosmetic jobs. A photo of it in its finished condition can be found in our Gallery section.

While it was here, the owner asked for it to be tested in steam just to make sure that all was well. It wasn't. The loco would hardly move itself before running out of steam pressure as the fire died, and it was forever fighting steam and water leaks. 

It was returned to Sabre for 2 months who then sent it direct to its owner, where it was found to still exhibit most of the same faults that we had found, plus one or two new ones. By this time Sabre Steam were starting to go out of business, and so the loco came back to us for whatever attention was needed to make it work reliably. 

After much thought and discussion, and with the boiler (an item bought-in by Sabre) appearing to be sound, a complete rebuild was found to be the only way forward for this particular loco. Anything less would always have been a compromise. The work included:
- Smokebox blast pipe/blower pipe arrangements re-designed to improve draughting of fire.
- Fire grate replaced with improved design to avoid clogging with ash.
- Steam blower valve mounting on turret improved to give stronger fixing.
- Steam pipe connections remade with silver (hard) solder instead of soft solder.
- Axle-driven water pump replaced with pump supplied by DJB Engineering.
- All water circuit pipework checked for leaks and repaired where necessary.
- All silicone water circuit pipework replaced with copper tube.
- Scoring damage repaired on cylinder slide valves surfaces.
- Valve setting adjusted for optimum performance in both directions.
- Water tanks rebuilt to give capacity increase and to stop leaks when full.
- Stay added across top of side tanks to increase rigidity of bodywork.
- Bodywork and boiler stripped to bare metal and repainted.
- Roundhouse "George" tender supplied, built and painted to match loco.

There is very little left of the original Sabre workmanship and so this locomotive now carries Rhos Helyg Loco Works - Rebuilt 2011 works plates.

 
 

Worsley Works Funkey diesel

Something a little different: This model body of the Welsh Highland Railway's Funkey diesel locomotive was built from a Worsley Works "scratch aid" set of etched nickel-silver sheets. The parts were cut out from the etches, formed to shape and soldered together - using a lot of solder! The body will now be transformed in to a working model by its owner. Click here to see some pictures of a completed model.

 
 


Roundhouse Lady Anne "HIGHFLYER"
    and Roundhouse Dylan "PATHFINDER"

This pair of meths-fired Roundhouse locos have spent most of their time together with the same owner since the late 1980s. Both have given sterling service over the years, but with the apparent reduction in the quality of methylated spirits and the scarcity of spare parts for the slip-eccentric valve gear they now only see occasional use.
 
The Dylan is the slightly older of the two having been built from a Roundhouse kit and carries a brass boiler. It had a major overhaul around 1990 which included fitting of the current style of Roundhouse square-ended axles with cranks to suit.
 
The Lady Anne was built from various spare parts acquired new and second hand and completed with a bodywork kit.
 
Both locomotives have recently had their bodywork repainted with a satin finish and lined as shown. The Dylan in particular shows how even the simplest lining scheme can lift a loco's appearance from mundane to something special without the need for fancy corners and multiple colours. Sometimes less really is more!
 

 

 
 

Accucraft 0-4-2ST "LEADER"

Another Accucraft "Leader" 0-4-2ST, this time finished finished in Penrhyn Quarries Railway livery to represent their locomotive STANHOPE. This loco came to us in factory blue and was repainted in black, lined in blue and red and then finished was a satin varnish coat. Repainting the smokebox in matt black and putting real coal in the bunkers completed the job.

 

 
Roundhouse Bertie "PEGIE"

A quick lining job on one of these popular locomotives was completed recently. There seemed little point in sending the whole loco to us, so owner Chris Bird only sent the body for attention. The original factory paint was retained and enhanced with red lining and black edging, followed by a coat of satin varnish. Chris has written a complete step-by-step guide to the many modifications he has made to this loco to produce the superb result shown. His guide can be found here. (Photos by Chris Bird)

 

 
 
MSS 0-4-0T "VICTOR"

VICTOR was repainted in "Improved Engine Green" (yellow ochre), lined in white with black edging, and finished off with a coat of satin varnish.

 
Roundhouse Dylans No. 5 "AURORA" and No. 6 "LUCIUS" 

These two Roundhouse Dylans were converted to gas-firing by using their original pot boilers in conjunction with a burner and a gas tank from a Roundhouse Millie. The tenders are the same as those used on the Roundhouse George.

No. 5 was built from a Roundhouse kit purchased in the late 1980s and stored until construction started here in 2011. Perhaps this was the last Dylan ever to be built?

No. 6 was purchased second-hand and fully refurbished as part of its rebuild in to a gas-fired loco.

After completion of the mechanical work, both were painted in satin black and lined in red and blue.