GWR and BR (WR) Models 15

 

This is an unusual wagon. Beginning life as an open-sided sleeper-carrying wagon, being built at Swindon in 1939, in later years the Western Region of British Railways converted it as depicted here, in engineer's olive green livery, for carrying produce from its concrete works at Taunton. Built from a Cambrian kit - the same kit can also be used to make the original vehicle.

 

This is one of a small class of five locos designed by C.B.Collett, and constructed in 1938 for banking duties. At first sight it looks just like any other large 'Prairie' tank of the 41XX / 51XX / 61XX series, but in fact these new 31XX locos were very different. They were rebuilds of Churchward's 3150 class, and as such, had bigger boilers than the other large 'Prairies' (Swindon standard no.4 instead of the standard no.2, which is 6 inches bigger diameter at the smokebox end). During the rebuilds, they were also fitted with smaller driving wheels (5' 3" instead of 5' 8" of the smaller-boilered locos). There are detail differences to the cab roof as well. The plan was to rebuild the entire 3150 class to this new design, but World War II intervened, and no more were dealt with. This loco was built using a South Eastern Finecast F178 kit, but modified with a set of boiler, firebox and smokebox castings from a Nu-Cast 'City' kit.

 

On the Great Western, most yards would have had their shunter's trucks - an example is seen here. They would generally have the depot to which the particular truck was allocated or worked, painted onto the tool box which surmounted the flat bed of the wagon. Why not personalize your own shunter's truck - by having the name of your station or yard applied to your own vehicle, whether it be a kit-built one or, as here, a standard out-of-the-box proprietary example from Bachmann? (Hornby also make this model of course). This is one of three such trucks that I recently re-branded for a customer, whose Porthledden station must be quite a busy place, because, as well as this truck labelled "Porthledden Docks", he also had done vehicles for "Porthledden Passenger" and "Porthledden Goods"!

 

No.3222 is a variation on the 'Barnum' theme (see pages 5 and 8). As before, built from a Blacksmith Models kit, however this one has been back-dated a little, by modifying the kit to feature a round-topped firebox (in place of the Belpaire one supplied in the kit), the dome on the front boiler ring, and wing-plates to the frontplate of the smokebox (again not in the kit, but scratchbuilt). It also has underslung springs to the front carrying wheels, and open coal rails on the tender. All finished off by the beautiful Indian red-framed livery.

 

This is another interesting variation on the GWR outside-framed 4-4-0 theme (see the 'Atbara' and curved-frame 'Bulldog' models on previous pages), and another of the kit-combining projects that I have developed over the past few years. No.4109 "Monarch" is a 'Badminton' class loco, seen here in post-1910 condition, with superheated standard no.2 tapered boiler, and, as from about 1910, incorporated into the 'Flower' (41XX) class. These locos began life in 1897 with parallel boilers, and fitted with 6' 8½" drivers, were the express passenger locos of the day. As can be seen, they shared curved footplates with the mixed-traffic 'Duke' class, which hints at the origin of some of the parts used to build this model - Nu-Cast 'Duke' frames and footplate (or running plate if you prefer), married to the cab / boiler of the same company's 'Flower' 4-4-0. Compare this loco with a 'Duke', and the large driving-wheel splashers will become readily apparent, and compare it with a 'Flower' or an 'Atbara', and the curved frames will immediately stand out too.

 

This is what might happen should your loco have worked on Cornish china clay branches too often. No.8733 is a Bachmann loco with weathering pattern copied from photographs supplied by a customer.

 

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