MR	Johnson Class 1698	Built late 1880's
	1758	7mm/O scale	DC
	Four Track Models Kit	Internal working valve gear and motion from Laurie Griffin

The photos illustrate a Johnson Class 1698 class 0-6-0 built in the late 1880’s. The Midland Railway had a large number of what are commonly called 2F’s, though they weren’t referred to as such in Midland days. Like all Midland engines there were numerous and minor detail differences between the various sub classes and this sort of thing is enough to drive you mad. Well, that’s my excuse anyway.

This particular model started life as a Four Track Models kit, using mainly etched brass. The model differs from the kit in using home made horn blocks and compensating beams on the loco, and a similar system on the tender. This gives three point suspension and none of the wheels are “fixed”. Part of the weight of the tender rests on the loco and all power pickup is via home made split axles on the tender. (The photo under the tender is a different engine at an early stage but better shows the split axles).

A Canon motor, flywheel and ABC gearbox are used. After building the loco it was decided that working inside motion would be nice so this was added using Laurie Griffin components (which are very good). This wasn’t as hard as you might think. After all the effort involved the motion isn’t as visible as hoped - so a nuisance of myself is made pointing it out to unsuspecting visitors.

The engine is presented in a short lived livery that would have only occurred between c. 1905 to late 1907. This suits my modelling period (1907) and is a bit easier than full Johnson livery prior to 1905. All of the lining is using decal paper that has been painted yellow and had black lines drawn on. Thin strips of this are cut, the decal then applied, using Microsol to persuade it into curved shapes. I find this a lot easier than a bow pen or very fine brush. The engine has been lightly weathered with weathering powders.