Midland or were they LMS Fowler 4Fs?
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Entry posted by Silver Sidelines
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Stocks of the latest Bachmann Midland 4Fs have appeared in the shops and I have taken delivery of one of the examples with a Late Crest. Well I have taken delivery of two engines but more of that later.
Bachmann Midland 4F on unfitted freight
It is now over 100 years since Sir Henry Fowler introduced his 4F goods engine. 192 of these engines were built by the Midland Railway between 1911 and 1922 and according to Casserley and Asher (1961) all these engines were still in service up until May 1954.
The ‘Midland’ 4F continued to be constructed by the LMS Railway after grouping. Between 1924 and 1940 a further 580 engines were built giving a final total of 772 engines, the highest of any class in the UK. Casserley and Asher reported that withdrawals of the later engines constructed under LMS ownership did not commence until 1959.
The fact that such large numbers of relatively small 0-6-0 goods engines were still being employed in the 1950s has often been used as evidence to demonstrate the inefficient way that freight was handled by the UK rail network. You might also say that it shows that the 4Fs were simple to maintain and cheap to run.
Ex LMS 4F 44605 passing Barrows Green Widnes in the early 60's
I admired the 4Fs and my picture from the early 1960s shows the penultimate member of the class gently sauntering along on a sleepy summer’s day. Those of you with an eye for detail will notice in the distance the wooden outside framing to the lead chambers used to make sulphuric acid (the lead chamber process for those of you who studied ‘O’ Level Chemistry!).
Airfix ex LMS 4F
Airfix I think copied the LMS. When they introduced their model in the 1970s they seem to have manufactured copious numbers of their model. Certainly by the early 1980s there were lots for sale and I bought a couple. One came from C&G Models – trading from Newton Aycliffe, and another from Kings Cross Models – all at around £10.00 approximately half the manufacturer’s recommended price.
Airfix LMS 4F renumbered 44605
As a tribute to the engine in my Widnes photograph I renumbered my first Airfix ex LMS 4F to represent the engine in the picture. Adding a smoke box number and shed plate I think makes a huge improvement – as does the addition of some black paint to the metal tyres on the driving wheels.
I thought the Airfix models to be good for their time and with their heavy tender drive and rubber traction tyres they had excellent haulage capacities. Why some motors were noisy and others extremely quiet was always a mystery – although I did have theories about the strength of the brush springs. Soft springs might equate to quiet motors?
Hornby Tender Drive
I guess the 4F has always been a popular model and Hornby re–released the Airfix model with a revised tender drive and improved handrail detailing. Small changes that I thought made quite a presentable looking model. I had to change the bottom plate on my Hornby model which seemed over brittle and just disintegrated. It now says Airfix which might puzzle a future buyer!
Bachmann Engine Driven ex MR 4F
I know very little about the design of the various prototypes. However comparing pictures of the ex MR and the ex LMS 4Fs does suggest that new Bachman model is a good representation. Obvious difference between the MR and LMS versions are the position of the reversing lever and what I think might be the top feed. On the MR version these are on the right hand side looking from the cab, whilst on the LMS version they have moved to the left hand side. Does that mean that the MR engines were RH drive the LMS ones LH drive? It also looks as though the LMS company indulged in a bit of value engineering because the fine beading on the MR version disappeared on the LMS version. Bachmann are to be commended for their rendering of this detail. In fact the Bachmann model as a whole seems much more finely detailed than the older models. A friend summed it up by saying – ‘neatly superior’.
Bachmann 4F left, Hornby Tender Drive 4F right
The view above shows the old and new models head to head and highlights the heavier detail and thicker handrails used on the older models.
Wiring harness made too long
I mentioned at the start of this post that I had taken delivery of two Bachmann models. The view above shows the first model. The wiring harness was over long and it was just not possible to get the engine and tender close enough to couple them together. The little ladies in China had obviously tried and the surplus wire had pushed sideways and bent one of the copper tender pickups.
A word of warning – I parcelled my engine back up and posted it straight back to the retailer. There were very good family reasons why I wanted it out of the way. Subsequently the retailer refused to refund my postage on the basis that he had sent out a prepaid postage slip and that I should have waited to use that before posting. Black marks to Rails of Sheffield they should have been quicker to acknowledge a problem and say that they would send the return postage label.
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