Is this 7F any good?

[AdeMoore]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F292447784676

 

Wasn’t sure where to put this post so delete if it’s incorrect. I saw eBay in Wheeltapers but no posts asking advice on potential purchases.

I fancy a S&D 7F not sure on this eBay item, no coupling is no problem but the photos just two are not the greatest. Just is it worth much more than the starting price?

https://www.ronlines.com/Bachmann-31-011-class-7f.html £94.50 here for a pre owned as a comparison.

https://www.collettsmodelshop.co.uk/product/Bachmann-branchline-31-015-class-7f-2-8-0-13810-in-lms-black-free-postage/ A new one £108.00 or £116.00 for the S&D one.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

[Ian J.]

Looking at the images I'm not convinced about the different colouring between tender and loco, and you can't tell running qualities from a picture.

 

Are you specifically after a large boiler 7F, or is it just the lower price that's caught your eye?

[brossard]

It looks to me to be whitemetal.  A friend of mine had the Southeast Finecast model.  Not bad but not a patch on the Bachmann.  I had the Bachmann loco, now sold, and it was a beaut.

 

My advice is to get one with some provenance, even if it cost a few quid.

 

John

[TheSignalEngineer]

Just is it worth much more than the starting price?

 

Probably not. If I saw it a a toy fair I probably wouldn't even pick it up for a closer look

[RBAGE]

Probably not. If I saw it a a toy fair I probably wouldn't even pick it up for a closer look

Good advice.

[Steamport Southport]

The whitemetal kit would be a DJH one surely? 

 

If so, a well built one would give the Bachmann version a run for it's money.

 

 

I can't really comment on the eBay model as there isn't much to go on. But I've used that seller before and he's one of the decent ones.

 

Maybe a bit steep for a random purchase, but the Golden Arrow kit isn't exactly cheap being £45 new. But all the hard work seems to be done. Add in a Bachmann chassis and a tender (probably not the best and I would probably replace if it was me). Fowler tenders are pretty easy to get hold of.

 

http://www.goldenarrow.me.uk/products.htm#sdjr

 

 

If you're prepared for a bit of work then I think it could be a reasonable purchase.

 

 

 

Jason

[Ramrig]

It states in the eBay text that it is a resin loco body with a white metal tender. If it’s the Golden Arrow loco body I am sure they were designed to fit a Hornby 8f chassis, the builder may have used a Bachmann chassis, but that would have come with the correct body surely? Personally I’d go for a full Bachmann 7F locomotive

[brossard]

The whitemetal kit would be a DJH one surely?

 

I stand corrected, I don't see a 7F on the SEF site.  The 7F model I was thinking of didn't seem all that sophisticated and was all WM.

 

John

[royaloak]

If you need to ask such a question then I would recommend you buy a new one, at least you will have the manufacturers warranty, something you wont have if buying second hand.

[Downendian]

Unfortunately the lister has not provided good photos.

The loco certainly looks like the Bachmann chassis, and as stated in the listing has listing has the large boiler, which I think has only been produced by Golden arrow as a resin kit. The large boilers were all eventually replaced, I think by 1956.

I’ve done one of these (grafting the Golden arrow boiler to a Bachmann chassis) and it needs a fair bit of work as the smokebox door is too small on the Golden arrow moulding, and needed details such as boiler dogs fitting. I scratch built the new smokebox door, as no castings for the correct MR pattern are currently available. The tender looks to be a white metal kit, probably DJH, but will not have the DCC wiring to the tender which seems to have gone.

For £45 that’s not a bad price for the Bachmann chassis, but I would probably ask the seller what’s happened to the DCC connections. Only a couple of large boiler 7Fs made it into BR numbering, so it also depends on your timescale as it would need to be pre-1956.

So a bit of work to do on it, but considering the costs of the chassis and Golden arrow boiler a fair price for the components for a project.

Neil

Edited February 17, 2018 by Downendian

[AdeMoore]

Ok chaps thanks for all the great advice above it was the price that attracted me, but I reckon as you have said follow my heart not my wallet!

Also small boilered is more my intended era.

[bike2steam]

Knowing e-bay it'll probably go for more than 45 quid once the 3 days are up, making the Bachmann one more viable.

edit - mm, that's an idea, I'll keep my eye on that, I've got a DJH kitbuilt version of the same loco, that'll out-pull a Bachmann one by twice the number of wagons, I'm thinking of selling on!?

Edited February 17, 2018 by bike2steam

[Poor Old Bruce]

It might say it's a large boiler loco but, to me, it doesn't actually look like a large boiler loco. Chimney and dome too tall and a level firebox top. Take a look at the Golden Arrow site and click 'more' on the item, it gives a diagram of a LB type.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Poor Old Bruce

[hayfield]

I have bought from this chap quite a lot in the past and can thoroughly recommend him as a top class eBay seller, never had any problems in the past and is very honest in his discriptions

 

In the early days I got some really good bargains, but he has learnt over the years the true value of models and in my opinion sets realistic prices

 

This is a lot for the modelling fraternity rather than collectors. Looking at what is being sold on his website looks like he has brought the proceeds of an avid S&D modeller. For someone wishing to build an authentic loco you have the parts, namely a resin loco body, RTR chassis and a whitemetal kit built tender. At a guess a new resin body would probably set you back the same as the starting price of the lot, then you have to factor in the cost of chassis and tender

 

I don't know if the correct tender was selected or its just a work in progress, For someone who is interested in the model making side, making a connection bar between the loco and tender is quite straight forward as is repainting the tender.

 

As to value, it depends on whether you want one of these locos, a good buy if you were going to buy some or all of the parts, or for instance if you require the chassis you can recoup funds by re-selling the body and tender

 

Like all auctions if no one is interested it will bomb out at this price, if two or more are interested it will fly

Edited February 17, 2018 by hayfield

[neilkirby]

I have the Djh large boiler version, as well as the Bachmann small boilered version, and a Bachmann small boilered version modified into the large boilered type, and certianly the DJH version is very under nourished for what it is supposed to be, and looks closer to  a small boiler than the large.

 

Neil

[JZ]

I built one of these Golden arrow ones. Not bad for the price, but as soon as I finished it, Bachmann brought out theirs. I now have 5 Bachmann ones, one back dated to the earlier 53803. They can be picked up cheaply if they have a fault. I got one for £35 because the owner had cut the wire between loco and tender and wondered why it didn't run, easy fix, just wire the decoder to the little PCB at the back of the loco. The other was around £45 as it had a 'jump' as it went along. Broken gear wheel. Something that Bachmann have told me never happens, funny that they keep spares for it.

[AdeMoore]

Currently £71.00 with an hour or so to go mad or what.

[hayfield]

Currently £71.00 with an hour or so to go mad or what.

 

As I thought, one for the dedicated modellers

[Downendian]

I agree with hayfield. When I did mine I bought a brand new (but discounted) small boilered 7F, and bought the Golden arrow kit at the Calne show a couple of years ago. I’d have snapped this up if I were doing the same project again.

Neil