Ab
730
Some
pictures on this page are pre-digital camera days!

Ab730
was built by North British Works in Scotland and entered service
in 1922. She was written off in 1969 and spent her last
days in Southland. She is seen here Above; at Invercargill
Loco Depot 1961.
Below;
4 pictures of Ab730 on the Ashburton Forks Railway.


Below;
2 pictures of Ab730 on a special running day held for her 10th
Anniversary, G43 was the back-up engine for the day as seen double
heading with the Birthday Girl!
Building
Ab 730
Ab730 was the
first NZR loco I built, I wasn't sure if I had what was required
in skills to do the job so I started with the tender first to see
what eventuated. These are the only pictures I took of the build,
which I am now regretting! Below Left; The end result, One
tender!! So now I had to build the engine unit. Below Right;
The boiler is on which is made from metal tubing cylinders, cab
& headstock are all styrene. The domes were turned down out of
nylon with the head light being made from electrical condute,
check valves & whistle were spun down from the ole plastic
knitting needles. Hand-rails are tig welding wire along with the
cow-catcher which is also riveted with dress making pins!

The loco was
built on a Bachmann Big Hauler which ran well for a week or 2 then
the loco developed a lean, it was to heavy & had slogged out
the plastic where the axles went through! The decision was made to
get a Barry Big Trains chassis which has proven to be the best
option as it improved the loco beyond belief. The model entered
service in 2000 and around 7 months (on & off) to build,

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