Always good to see another Buffalo! Mine is also 1601, but in a slightly earlier condition with red frames as in the 1902 photo in Russell. I suppose your's would be somewhere around 1907-11 as she was fitted with an S2 boiler in 1911 and converted to pannier tanks in 1915. Have you lined the cab sides? I can't see any lining in the photo.

Look forward to seeing the Crocodile.

Nick

ps. You get much better results if you upload photos directly to the blog rather than linking to the gallery.

Hi Nick,

tbh At the time I built her I was unaware that tank engines carried red frames, so she ended up in black though red would be lovely. Plus, try as I might, I never seem to get a pleasing result with Precision Indian Red.

There is no lining on the cab sides, no. Should they be?

I asked about the lining because I wondered if you had followed the Russell photo of 1601 but missed the lining on the red frames. Most GWR saddle tanks appear to have lost their cabside lining when they received black frames, though a few were lined at a later date when they received pannier tanks. If you keep the black frames then you are probably safe without lining.

Nick