Just acquired a mint Hornby R2205 advertised on RMWeb Classified. Not exactly fit for purpose in a BR era engine shed, but I couldn't resist the streamlined maroon/gold version of my favorite loco.

The loco runs well and now has the optional extras added. A few things probably need to be done:

1. That plastic coal! A thin veneer of my real French coal might just do the job - they were always fully coaled when leaving shed, particularly the 5A locos going to Perth.

2. The rear coupling by Hornby has been removed and now needs a screw link coupler added.

3. 6235 was the first Coronation Class to have an ex-works double chimney. These are shown in the photo above but the inside of the rear chimney is solid and painted maroon. The simple solution to this would be to paint the interior of the chimneys black, rather than drill out the casing.

4. Should I add DCC? I more or less have to as my controllers are DCC (I tested the loco with a 9v Duracell battery!). Should I go the whole hog and add sound? The set up is pre-DCC and I have modified a parallel boiler Scot (would you like to see the photos?) by Bachmann. It really isn't that difficult.

Now I realize I should get some gold/maroon coaches, not that they would ever enter an engine shed.

It looks as though I am going to have to start advertising my Southern Pacific HO stuff (1950s era). PM me if you happen to come across this last comment and want some mint or nearly mint beauties!