The Art of Rail Modelling - Recreating Rail Models

"The surface is laminated with handmade paper, made from elephant dung. I thought I could make an interesting statement about recycling by using this paper."

"The coal scuttle test is fitted onto the boiler."

"The chimney is created from a ball point pen, and laminated over with elephant poo paper."

"The water saddle-tank is made out of corrugated cardboard and then laminated together."

"The water saddle-tank is layered and covered with elephant dung paper."

"The shampoo bottle has now been laminated over with elephant poo paper to make the steam dome."

"The picture also shows the rivets on the coal scuttle. The rivets are made from paper pins. Their number matches exactly with those on the full scale locomotive."

"The front cross member fitted, along with the swivelling linkage for linking with carriages."

"The steam pressure gauge proved to be a challenge. All engines in India had converted to kilograms per square centimetre and had hand painted faces."

"After getting in touch with Mr. Adrian Shooter, who owns a B Class engine in the UK, I was able to obtain pictures of the dial on his locomotive from the former director of the DHR Mr. Subrato Nath."

"Some heightening of the contrast through a simple photo editing software and a contact print gave me the right size of dial – 13 mm in diameter, which can be read with a magnifying glass."

"This is what a finished steam pressure gauge looks like."

"To make tiny valve cocks, I first made a jig on which I wound sewing thread to create six radiating spokes, each consisting of a pair of tightly stretched cords."

"The outer ring of each gate valve, fabricated from metal wire, was slipped underneath the crossed threads on the jig and the whole thing glued together using super glue. Paper was carefully pasted over the string spokes, to create the six spokes of the valve cocks."

"The final product."

"The cab roof has been fitted, with all the pillars that support it. On the off side, one can see the brackets carrying the stout wooden rod, used to move the locomotive back onto the track in the event of a derailment."

"The front end shows the myriad plumbing arrangements for leading lubricants, water and steam into the pistons and valves. The chains for securing the carriages to the locomotive were made from paper clips."

"The wheels on the DHR B Class are in-boarded, that means, they are mounted within the chassis frame. As welding was hardly used on the locomotive when manufactured, the chassis and its bracings are held together by a complex pattern of rivets."

"The levers are created for the reverse arrangements. The steam operated electricity generator is fitted on the near side."

"Suspended below the derailment lever rod, is the metal scraper to clean the ash out of the firebox."

"The rivets are on the leading edge of the saddle-tank. A cardboard template with the markings for the rivets can be seen. The template enables one to line up the rivets and ensure their correct number."

"The leaf springs form a part of the suspension system for the wheels."

"A close-up of the running gear and lever arrangements on the off-side."

"The whistle pokes through the leading edge of the roof of the cab."

"The interior of the cab came along nicely. Here too, utmost care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the riveting and other fittings."

"The glass observation tubes for checking the water level in the boiler, were made from ball point pen refills."

"I achieved the target of finishing the model within Rs. 300 (a little over $4); only that it took me more than 1000 hours and nearly two and a half years to get here."