Highflier flies again
Entry posted by Barry Ten
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If you've been around the hobby for a few decades you'll remember the coincidence of Lima and Mainline both bringing their Warship models to market at around the same time. Concensus at the time was that the Mainline model was the better model, with the Lima having some crude areas. In terms of performance, both were standard pancake-motor jobs with traction tires. I got my Mainline one around the time they came out - 1981 or thereabouts - and recollection says that it came from a model shop in Swansea - maybe Beatties? I remember being perfectly happy with my model; it ran smoothly enough (standards weren't high in those days) and did a capable job on the 8x4 double track layout which my dad had built for me, whizzing around with a mixed rake of Triang and Hornby mark 1s. It also had illuminated headcodes, a bit of a novelty in those days - I certainly can't remember any other model which had anything lighting up on it.
Times move on and the Mainline warship went away into storage as I lost interest in trains. When I got it out again in my thirties, it ran well initially but soon developed a fault that would prove endemic to these models - a split gear in the drive train. Eventually Ultrascale made a replacement, which I ordered and installed. By then, however, the model had somehow lost a traction tire so we were back to square one. Worse than that, though, the next-generation models were beginning to come out and the pancake motor didn't really cut it any more compared to the silky smooth power of a Bachmann 24 or Hornby class 50. However I was loathe to dispose of the Warship because it had been a cherished model from my childhood, and one of the few that I hadn't "improved" with ill-advised detailing and weathering projects - it was still very much as it had come out of the box, barring some damage to the printing and an attempt to add a sheen of oily coloration to the windscreens, which actually hadn't worked too badly.
Earlier this year Phil Bullock of this forum kindly offered me a modern Bachmann Warship chassis for sale at a knockdown price, which went down even more when it turned out Phil would be able to save postage by meeting me at a convenient location for both of us. I tested the chassis and put it aside, but this week I thought I'd have a go at mating it with Highflier's body and see how I got on. Although the Bachmann model is much newer, the body moulding is still much as it was, apart from the mounting screws being in different places. I was able to get a fit onto the new chassis without much difficulty, although I've still to bodge a securing system. The chassis Phil had sold me was maroon, and heavily weathered, but a couple of coats of Railmatch BR green brought it close enough to the body to suit me. While I was at it, I hardwired in a Bachmann decoder, and - a first for me - also had a go at adding illuminated headcodes,using the front and rear lighting functions. Success!
The body needs a little attention - the bodyside stripe needs to be reinstated, and the emblem, and while I'm at it I might as well add nice etched plates. But it will remain Highflier, and I very much look forward to seeing this old-stager back in operation. Granted, you might wonder what's the point, when a new green Warship won't set you back too much. But this is still my model, going back to when I bought it in Swansea thirty-plus years ago, and that's enough for me.
Thanks to Phil for the chassis!
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