Atlantic 3279 wrote:Is this latest Hattons claim that an O2/2 will be part of the first wave of models any more reliable than their previous erroneous announcement? I understood that the official policy at Heljan was that the GN style cab, GN tender, lower running plate and short-travel valve gear would have to wait to make an appearance.
If I may be allowed to clarify the situation, then hopefully it will answer your queries and
expectations. This is also a progress update to tell you where the project is a year on from announcement.
The first two models announced are 3910-3914 O2/3 and 3920-3924 O2/4, which will feature the high running plate version of the O2 Tango, no’s.63947-63987. The O2/3 will be fitted with the Group Standard stepped sided tender and the O2/4 with the Group Standard flush sided tender. These will be limited editions and if sales predict then two further versions of each will appear but with a mix and match of tenders. The CAD/CAM for these two versions has now been submitted for provisional tooling and there will be no more news until the first samples/mouldings start to appear in approx six months time.
Specification includes pick-ups on both loco and tender, a speaker chamber fitted to the tender for DCC sound options. The tender will feature a plug-in wiring connection and there will be an adjustable drawbar. The DCC socket will be mounted in the boiler. An accessory pack will be included with add on fitments of AWS battery box, vacuum tank, AWS shoe, coupling baffle plate, tender vacuum tank and with an information sheet showing where these items should be fitted. In some cases these will plug in to pre-drilled ‘blind’ holes
Unfortunately as previously explained, Hatton’s were a little premature with their announcement of the O2/2 as this will not be produced until the first two versions O2/3 & O2/4 have been released.
However the good news is that most of the CAD/CAM for the variations has been drawn to enable the process of fitment to take place between the various components of cab, boiler, running plate, smoke box etc. This has involved a great deal of planning and research into which versions can authentically be produced using the components to hand. There were several detail differences which on some locomotives were likely to compromise another version so in order to achieve this there had to be an element of standardisation in order to keep costs to sensible proportions. The result is in actual fact mostly un-noticeable and involves detail which was added or deleted during the life cycle of the locomotive during the era it is depicted. The O2/1 and O2/4 rebuild with low running plate will also be produced as it shares many of the components that by then will have already been tooled. The GN ‘B’ type tender is included in this although there will only be the one generic version produced as there were many detail changes that preclude the production variations on cost grounds. Also included will be the accessory pack as with the other versions and this will additionally include tablet catcher apparatus. There may be a possibility of the tenders being available separately or as spares……………again this depends on cost and packaging. This is something that has been requested on this forum so this has been forwarded on.
As you can imagine this has been a huge project to undertake and I couldn’t have really undertaken this without the help and encouragement from Tony Wright, whose ability to explain the workings and reasons for detail has helped my understanding of the workings of a steam locomotive to new limits. My grammar hopefully has also improved as a result! I must also publicly thank Roy Jackson whose former High Dyke layout gave me the impetus to embark on this project. He has also been quite welcoming in allowing visits to ‘Retford’ to see and photograph his Tango’s in action. For those of you visiting the Warley show next week there should be some CAD images on display on the Heljan stand. For those of you not able to visit Warley then I will try and put some images on this forum in the next few days. I would like to also express my gratitude to all contributors to this forum who have constructively commented and encouraged the ongoing development of this project. To me, a diesel modeller, it has been very educational and I feel privileged to have been inspirational in bringing yet another LNER prototype to the model scene.
The hard work now begins!
