Great Central Locomotives

[wehf100]

SE Finecast have also recently re-released Millholme's old (GCR 9F) N5 kit. I think the chassis has been upgraded. It is currently only available in the Millholme style (5 engines in the class only) flush-sided tank verison, but I understand a rivetted side-tank overlay is going to make it in to a later (more expensive presumably!) edition of the kit.

I also think the DJH 'J10' (GCR 9H) kit is available- at least sporadically. The manufacturers website currently lists this as in stock.

Will

[Atlantic 3279]

Are you absolutely sure that the SEF N5 is simply a re-release of the Millholme job Will? I gather it is not a perfect representation either way.

Skaran: Falcon Brass presumably still offer an O4, though I don't imply any recommendation and it could be an awful lot simpler to wait for Bachmann to deliver.

When I last looked Zenith works had the 8A/Q4 in the pipeline. If you don't like chassis building that might in due course go on a butchered Bachmann O4 chassis.

Eleven days ago I was looking at a lovely little test-build of a J63 which should materialize at least as a pack of etches-only to aid semi-scratch building, but at present I don't know how much more I'm allowed to say about it. It certainly ought to convert into a J62 if desired, without excessive effort.

As far as Little Engines kits are concerned I think it is a case of ring the proprietor and ask what he has or what he is prepared to make (if anything) within a reasonable time-scale. It has been suggested to me that the moulds are getting rather tired now and that his "real" job of running an off-licence has first call on his time and enthusiasm.

You might also consider that many GCR locos have plain enough, straight enough profiles for scratch building to a moderate standard to be fairly straightforward.

It would do no harm, other than to take up your time, to scour eBay on a regular basis for "loco kit" or look at Vectis and other auction houses, as unbuilt "unavailable" old kits a plenty seem to come up. Unfortunately a plentiful supply of fools and profiteer traders wanting to pay far too much money for old rope also seems to permanently "snouting around the trough" ready to go into a squealing feeding-frenzy. It amazes me that people regularly
want to pay many times the original price for an ancient and well travelled, heavily handled, possibly incomplete old kit that was never much good when it was new .

[wehf100]

'Atlantic'. I'm not entirely sure about the Millholme connection- it was discussed at length on the old RMweb.co.uk, but I cannot fathom out how to find anything at all on the new website so I can't check!!

The J63 seems very exciting- My 7mm interests are Grimsby docks, so I have a GP models one on the 'go'. I moved away from 4mm because I thought getting the locomotives I wanted (viz. a 5A (J63), 8K (04) and some others would be just as much kit-building effort as jumping up to 7mm scale and doing the job properly over several years. Now I've sold all my 4mm stuff, (most of which were fish vans that now couldn't be replaced if I wanted to!) and both my main wishes are fulfilled. AH WELL!!!

If word is officially released about a J63 in 4mm, I assume it will be from a manufacturer we will have heard of or will it be one of those limited run things? It'd be cool if you told us all about the model at the appropriate time.

Will

[Skaran]

Well that's more GCR locos than I first thought! I have also thought about scratchbuilding. I would need to get some plans first of course and select a suitable prototype for a first go (I have never scratchbuilt a loco before). Any suggestions on what to do and where to get some plans photos etc? Perhaps something like the Kitson GCR class B/J60?

[Atlantic 3279]

Dave Slater (Dean Sidings) of course still does the 1B/L1/L3 2-6-4T as a resin body with metal fittings + fore and aft trucks, to go on a current Hornby 0-6-0 Jinty type chassis (which ideally should go in back-to-front to get the coupled wheel spacing nearer to prototype, though it won't be spot-on). Watch out however for distortion in the otherwise neatly moulded resin body - I'd buy at a show and only after inspection if I were you, not by post. Bodies I've seen have had a slight twist comparing front and rear buffer beams, and correction of this twist by the suggested method of re-warming the moulding and giving it tweak appears to be exactly the opposite of what is also required to straighten a kink in the right side running plate near the front of the tank.........

This distortion can however be ignored if you are not too pedantic and a nice looking model still built. There should be a lovely example to see on here in the thread run by Rob, from Cork in the Emerald Isle. Look back in his current DJH Raven A2 thread.

[Atlantic 3279]

PS all the Robinson locos are drawn (well in my opinion) in a Stephenson Locomotive Society publication which I believe is called "Robinson, the Harmonious Blacksmith" (or vice versa), and there are some basic line drawings of Pollitt locos in a slim, green-covered, biographical, A5 sized softback book carrying his name.

There's a selection of official-looking drawings to unusual scales in one or other of the two volumes of E.M. Johnson's "Locos of the GC" books.

Presumably the Isinglass range covers some GCR types, see the current Isinglass website.

There are some approximate (especially re. the tenders) Ian Beattie drawings of Directors, O4s and Jersey Lilly atalantics in 80s/90s Railway Modellers, and one or two others by different draughtsmen in 1960s RMs or possibly Model Railway Constructor!

Even the old Roche series (available in an old spiral bound book) includes a "B4" (whose tender is again very dodgy and whose large-looking driving wheel / splasher size as drawn I believe makes it as nearly a B1/B18 as it is a B4).

I think there may be, or was, a Skinley Four-Cylinder B3.

Don't know about LDEC drawings, though I do remember that Perseverence / Chris Parrish used to offer an etched kit for an LDEC 0-4-4T. I've no idea if it was accurate or easy to build but it might be one to bear in mind if searching the second-hand stuff. I have seen Dave Slater's resin Barry Railway 0-6-4T turned into a pretty convincing LDEC 0-6-4T (M1) but it involved a lot of alteration, little of the original moulding being visible in the completed item.

In "J G Robinson, a Lifetime's Work" (by Jackson and Russell?) there are basic drawings of some fascinating GCR might-have-beens - an 0-10-2T banking engine I think, a Baldwin proposal for a gigantic 2-10-2 coal engine with four "paired" OUTSIDE cylinders, and a somewhat ungainly Gorton version of 2-10-2.

[wehf100]

LD&ECR is remarkably well 'drawn' for such a minor concern which was bought-out so quickly. The Kitson (LNER J60) 0-6-0 was drawn in RM Jan 1979, The class 'C' 0-4-4 in Model Railway constructor March 1976, the class 'D' 0-6-4 in RM April 1978.

The 6-wheel carriages were drawn in Model Railway Constructor Marc 1976 (with useful additions from a correspondent in August edition of the same) and a 6-plank wagon in MRC Nov 1975, 5-plank wagon in RM March 1980 and I think a 7-plank wagon was drawn at some point too. The LDECR also used some ex=GER four wheelers for coaching stock which I would imagine someone must have drawn (maybe even kitted?) in the past too?

all in all- not bad catalogue for a scratchbuilding marathon...

Will

[Skaran]

I've got the March and August 1976 Model Railway Constructors coming from overseas so I think for my first attempt at a scratchbuild the class C 0-4-4T looks promising. While I'm waiting I'll just finish off the GWR Flower 4-4-0 which is now about a third done and which is destined to run on the GWR/GCR Joint (once I get that built!)

[wehf100]

The LDECR Class C, (kitson 0-4-4 tanks) were rather pretty things and very different to Robinsons suburban tank approach which was basically a series of updated and enlarged Pollitt class 3 tanks (Later LNER F1 etc etc)

I must admit I have never heard of an ex-LDECR loco on the GC/GWR joint at any time. Indeed, a lot of post-GCR takeover pictures show LDECR trains included the original carriage stock as well! I have found reference to the carriages migrating around a lot more in the LNER period.

A LD&ECR based layout would be rather cool though!

[52D]

I suggested that to a guy on here a few weeks ago i think he liked Arkwright town as a subject. I will send a link to you when i re find it that has picturea of Arkwright, Killamarsh and Beighton.
I worked out that way for a while they demolished the whole town at Arkwright when they were open cast coal mining something to do with Methane penetrating into the houses.

[Skaran]

Well my actual railway location is not fixed in stone it's just that I have a lot of pre WW1 GW stuff I'd like to run as well.

Of course I could set it on a line running through Midsomer County, not much known about those lines at all in this period.

[Atlantic 3279]

Wouldn't if I were you. Too risky with all those murders going on all the time.

[52D]

Perhaps hes hoping to get away with murder over his choice of stock and locos.

[Skaran]

Actually the vast majority of my GW stock is suitable for the GW/GC joint line and I will be adding some Robinson stuff later (I've got an A5 on order) the only loco which wouldn't really fit would be the o-4-4T - but it is such an attractive engine that I'm sure one was transferred (they just lost the records after WW1)

[lnernut]

Actually the vast majority of my GW stock is suitable for the GW/GC joint line and I will be adding some Robinson stuff later (I've got an A5 on order) the only loco which wouldn't really fit would be the o-4-4T - but it is such an attractive engine that I'm sure one was transferred (they just lost the records after WW1)

This is a classic situation for "It's my railway - I'll do what I want."

Martin