ScR steam in the 50's

As always fantastic photos!

Some more randoms….

Once again great photos. Did 54408 start life as a T9?

peterm said

Once again great photos. Did 54408 start life as a T9?

From “Post #290,426”, 3rd August 2024, 5:27 am

Just about - the footplate and lowered and shortened boiler are T9. The loco is a notional rebuild of my earlier fleet of Small Bens which were converted T9's and while too long and with too large drivers did me for a while. When the Hornby Radial appeared I realised that the chassis was a perfect fit for several ScR locos and this led to a rebuild of the Bens, based on the correct wheelbase chassis. I started off with white metal bodies, but the thought of fettling and balancing four ,more, lumps of metal halted the job for a couple of years - done too many of this sort of thing over the years and couldn't face any more, so eventually decided on a Heinz approach to the task and dug out the scrapped T9 bodies that I hadn't got round to throwing out yet and salvaged the boiler and footplates. I had intended to use  fresh Hornby bodies but couldn't get any readily so rather than let the enthusiasm fade I used what was around. The boilers were altered to the correct length and pitch and I purchased whitemetal kit parts for the cabs and splashers from SE Finecast, who owned the original at the time and are very obliging at selling parts. With the addition of HR and CR  boiler fittings this time round I have created models that are about 95% accurate and a fleet of "proper" Small Bens now grace the layout, some fifty years after I first hacked around and unfortunate Triang loco to try and create such an engine. The chassis needed a good deal of cutting away of bits that got in the way and I rewheeled them with 6' drivers as well. I'll take a look and see what I have in the way of construction pics.

 Please ignore this post - I made a mistake and tried to edit it but can't find how to delete images and managed to merely increase some. I give up for now….

Looking through images for the Bens I came across this one of the birth of another type - an imagined BR Class 3 2-6-2. Made from leftover bits of the 82xxx tank and a spare Bachmann chassis this was the start of it with two boiler sections loined together; the missing bits were filled in with plasticard…It was eventually completed and run in - the second pic shows it on shed during this, but I realised that the firebox was too puny to suppply enough steam so it was taken back to the works and a somewhat brutal cut and shut was done, using, IIR, a Standard 4 firebox to give a more proportinate source of power. The third pic has it in its current form - it has had some weathering since this pic was taken.

Been there, done that. Not the modelling, but making a mess of things with computers. :-)

Yes computers can be difficult at times, I have yet to find anything more frustrating, but we old codgers do have ways of getting around these life challenges.

If you haven't seen it before, search 'Eddie Izzard Printer' It comes up on youtube.

Wow - that's a bit more than a "cut and shut" modification Richard - you must have very steady hands and loads of patience !

Your trackwork is, as ever, extremely impressive.

Bit less destruction with this latest effort - a HR 0-6-0  that was reboilered by the LMS with a CR boiler to increase standardisation throughout their Scottish fleet. It is based on a Bachmann C class engine  and has detail alterations and a modified T9 tender to complete.

Whoops - after looking at the photo on a FB group I realise I had forgotten abot the reversing lever, so here is another with it now fitted….

Reversing lever or no reversing lever, it still looks good.
 

peterm said

Reversing lever or no reversing lever, it still looks good.
 

From “Post #290,557”, 3rd October 2024, 12:23 am

You have to put these things in… once seen  it always bugs. When I did my first incarnation of the Small Bens about 14 years ago  I skipped on the rivet details on the smoke box and just about the only person on RMweb with a knowledge of matters HR picked me up on it…..

Aaargh. The rivet counters come out.