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Great British Locomotives


EddieB
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Thought I would give the Ivatt a bash as it arrived today. Pretty simple conversion but needed to cut the end off the GBL chassis block to extend the frames under the bunker.

 

The old Hornby ivatt was surprisingly close dimensionally, only main difference was taller firebox to accommodate the motor and wider boiler. Thus my version is still too tall but there is almost no meat to cut away from inside to lower is a couple of mm

 

Now to add flush glazing from the old Hornby model and maybe whistle and safety valves from the donor.

 

Certainly looks like a margate model now just need a Bachmann rear truck to finish.

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One of the more interesting conversions I did with "Mallard" was to the W1. I used Graeme King resin etchings. It's seen here testing the curves on the new layout with the Eastern Region Car Carrier. I don't have the space for the full 11 car set, so mine will have 5 of the Car-Carriers and the 3 passenger coaches, I already have  the last 3, etch sides on donors - and have built 3 of the Newton-Chambers from SEF kits. 2 more of those will complete the rake.

 

The J77 in the shot is an ArthurK North Eastern Kits model.

 

John

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  • 1 year later...
  • 9 months later...

Morning troops I'm on the scrounge (I  know.... again) Has anybody got a surplus GBL C class tender kicking around unwanted from a project that maybe used the loco and not the tender.

 

 I'm looking at a G&SWR Smellie design 2-4-0 as a future build project and the C class tender with a little work is a very close match to the tenders fitted to Smellie designed locos

 

     Thanks Steve

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  • 1 year later...
On 30/11/2017 at 10:29, PhilJ W said:

I recently compared the Locomotion model with 00 scale drawings of the same, I can confirm that it is actually H0 scale. Also the reason for choosing H0 scale becomes obvious, to fit a 00 scale model onto 16.5mm track would involve making cutaways in the sides of the boiler to take the wheels.

I am late to this thread.  Can you please clarify which model is actually HO scale.  This may be of use to British HO modellers.  Thanks.

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38 minutes ago, johnhutnick said:

I am late to this thread.  Can you please clarify which model is actually HO scale.  This may be of use to British HO modellers.  Thanks.

Its the model of Locomotion with the cauldron wagon. In fact it is smaller than HO scale being nearer to 1/100 scale.

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  • 1 year later...

Picked up the J39 and the K3 for £2 each in the charity shop Friday morning so......speed conversion! Spares box produced a Lima chassis which fits pretty good, preserving the daylight under the boiler BUT, fills the cab...tender axle-boxes drilled for some odd wheels, add a bit of real coal and done! No finesse to this one, just a lot of choppin'..🤪     K3 waits.....

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Here's the K3...60 year old Triang Jinty chassis, flanges filed down, plasticard balance weights and scratch built pony. Used the solid valve gear, toned down, so nice and simple. Hardly notice it with normal running! Tender axle boxes drilled for some more odd coach wheels and some real coal. All done in a day! Last picture shows them together.

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It's good to see this thread come back to life. I used the GBL bodies quite a bit, and still have a few in the spares box. They are are boon for folk to motorise, modify, cut and shut or practice painting and weathering. I found a few photos on an old USB stick, so thought I'd share them.

These use the J39 body, based around the Bachmann model. I converted one to a J38 with the shorter LNER GS tender,and stuck it on a Hornby Jinty chassis.

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The J39 runs on an original Bachmann split-chassis, and I paired it with a spare DJH NE tender.

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The A3 is the Flying Scotsman model, All I did here was fit handrails and a few extra details before putting it on a Hornby chassis. I did spend more time on the old Hornby tender-drive body shell to reduce it to the correct dimensions, based on a thread I found here on RMWeb. It is the last survivor on BR-Prince Palatine.

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The 9f is repainted Evening Star on a Hornby Railroad chassis, modified to represent the locos at Tyne Dock on the Consett trains. The tender body came from Golden Arrow as a resin casting. It's probably worth saying herer that these mods were fdone when chassis's could be got for reasonable prices, unlike today.

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Finally a K3 paired with a spare Bachmann tender of the early GS type. This one runs on a Bachmann split chassis from a V1/3, cut down.

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A D11, repainted into BR, running on a Gem kitbuilt chassis. I had a few of these , so converted one to the earlier D10, with mods to the cab and front end. I need to check how I motorised it.

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5 hours ago, rowanj said:

Finally a K3 paired with a spare Bachmann tender of the early GS type. This one runs on a Bachmann split chassis from a V1/3, cut down.

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A D11, repainted into BR, running on a Gem kitbuilt chassis. I had a few of these , so converted one to the earlier D10, with mods to the cab and front end. I need to check how I motorised it.

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Just out of interest - what has happened to the old GEM range?   I know someone took them on but have they finally disappeared?

 

As I have a GBL D11 body in  stock - both the L1 and GEM routes look workable, but the bogie isn't right with the L1 and a vintage motor may give vintage performance...

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44 minutes ago, Ravenser said:

Just out of interest - what has happened to the old GEM range?   I know someone took them on but have they finally disappeared?

 

As I have a GBL D11 body in  stock - both the L1 and GEM routes look workable, but the bogie isn't right with the L1 and a vintage motor may give vintage performance...

 

John Day has them. I think he was mostly interested in the road vehicles.

 

But some of the N Gauge stock has appeared so there is hope.

 

http://www.johndaymodels.co.uk/beaver-products-n-gauge/

 

 

 

 

Jason

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  • 2 months later...

Reading 33C's entry on motorising a SECR class C has encouraged me to have a go. After all I have most of the same ingredients to hand. I struggled to get Hornby's  Jinty chassis up inside the GBL body and ended up hacksawing of the two top corners off.

For the tender I have the inner sub chassis from another one of Hornby's models, a Schools class which also comes with 6 wheel pick up. Handy as squeezing the loco chassis up inside the body  can distort it's copper pick-up strips so it does not run so well.

 

 

 

 

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Body resting on chassis, it does fit and sit level. The heavy metal tender frames in front are too long, pity their weight would have help pick-up and track holding.

 

 

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The trick is to get the motor at the front, this old chassis is a bitza, yellow coupling rods from a Thomas for example. And a set of middle wheels from else where.

Rectangles sawn off front and rear of the outside wheels. Before sawing the wheels and motor have to be taken off, Just a few screws removed takes care of that.

Clever on piece casting of the tender chassis, all solid the wheels don’t turn.

 

 

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Sorry fro the bad photo but it just about shows the hole cut into the footplate, also some footplate cut out inside the splashers to allow coupling rod to turn.

 

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Edited by relaxinghobby
typo
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  • 1 month later...

Here's my very late (and unfinished) contribution to a very entertaining thread 

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Yer GBL T9 backdated with the smokebox from a knackered M7 body. While removing the smokebox it was obvious that it had been dropped as it ended up in three pieces!

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I then managed to find a white metal chassis suitable for a T9 with room for a backwards X04 motor. I had some suitable wheels in a spares tin along with a compatible gear and bunged it all together. Just need to add rods to the wheels now

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The tender is sitting on a set of Hornby T9 tender wheels, currently a different shade to the loco, but eventually it will be painted in Drummond green

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I have some Hornby T9 buffers and will be adding handrails as well as replacing the front step that broke off during plastic removal, never to be seen again!

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How about a Triang 31/37 motor bogie, slimmed down, mounted in a Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol, Biggin Hill, tender? Article in an old RM, doing the same for a 9F tender. No extra wiring that way. 

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it's nice to see these GBL models still being used- they were great fun at the time. and it is a shame so many photos were lost.

 

I got a C Class with the thought it might be a potential conversion to a Caley loco, but I never got round to it- if indeed it is possible. Anyway, I dug it out to see what I could do with it along with stuff from the spares box, and this is where I have got to so far.

 

The chassis is a Triang Jinty, cut away using my Dremel. i originally had adapted it to go under a BEC J11, so that tells you kow old it is, I had already hollowed out the space between the middle drivers to take a Comet gearbox/Mashima type motor, so this Highlevel.Mashima fits well enough. Wheels are 21mm W&T/Scalelink.  I need to see if I have a set of suitable coupling rods, and the photos show some work is still needed to get the loco and tender level. I;ll probably just build a dummy chassis for the tender,

 

this is all just for a bit of a lark alongside normal modelling work, and life outside railways, so will take a while. The loco is wholly inappropriate for my layout, so, although I would normally add wire handrails and other stuff, I may not bother in this case,

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A little bit more has been done to the scrap box(es) C class after rumaging through the spares. I had a dummy whitemetal tender chassis with the correct wheelbase from a Dave Alexander kit. Dave's kits were great, but the tender was always heavy, so I invariably discarded the sub-chassis and fitted pinpoint axles into bearings. I'll need to see what I have in the way of 16mm tender wheels, but these ones from Hornby confirm the clearances and ride hieght are OK. 

I also found, using a combination of etches, what appear to be suitable coupling rods. So far I've only fitted one side, so the proof of the pudding is still to come. Assuming I get the wheels to revolve freely under power, the rest of the work is just cosmetic. The loco doesnt have a backhead- I must have used it for something else -, and a buffer and vacuum pipe are missing, I'll fit brakes to the chassis, and see what else is needed, but so far so good.

 

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Edited by rowanj
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The Class C on test. I always take photos of my modelling, as they show issues which my naked eyes don't always pick up. In this case, it is obvious that the body isnt sitting as it should, so that will need more fettling. On the positive side, the chassis runs well, as does the tender,The loco-tender connection is my usual hook and bar arrangement, taken from an idea from,I think, Tony Wright.

All that's left is to add a few bits of detail. I have a casting  for a backhead which should work, and I'll add some coal to the tender. The loco is no use for my layout, so I'll not bother with handrails, etc, and will keep it in this livery. I'll probably add some very light weathering to tone it down a bit, and give it a spray of matt varnish to dilute the plasticky look. 

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Other than some light weathering, this is the complete "Scrap/spares-box" Class C. The old Triang chassis block needed some relef, so I used some Slaters plastic brakes, wire for the very prominent sanding pipes, and scrap etch to make a pair of guard irons.  I had a coupling in the box, and added the steam heating pipe to the coupling. The cab detail is just a fictional attempt to make it look as though there is something there, Coal came from Barrow Hill. For the green wheels, I used Railmatch Doncaster Green.

Raking through a box, I found another Triang Jinty chassis block, but I don't think I have anything to use it for. I suppose it could go under a GBL J39 at a pinch.

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