Jump to content
 
  • entries
    140
  • comments
    951
  • views
    147,362

A J72 for Bethesda Sidings - part 1


Captain Kernow

1,080 views

Background

 

Having completed my first new loco for several years, namely the 'Planet' diesel, which will form the 'modern image' motive power for the Vale of Radnor Light Railway and still not being in a position to build the baseboards for 'Bethesda Sidings', my thoughts have turned to providing one of the steam locos for this outrageously improbable light railway.

 

All the locos of the VoRLR are authorised by the Western Region Sectional Appendix to run into the BR yard at Bethesda Sidings, for the purpose of exchanging traffic with the light railway.

 

Although I have other OO industrials, I do like building locos and rather like the idea of providing all-new motive power for this particular layout, hence this next project.

 

I should make one thing clear from the outset, though. The Captain doesn't normally 'do' the LNER. I don't know that much about it and normally stay in the security of my GW/MR/S&DJR comfort zone, and don't go anywhere near the products of the eastern side of the country.

 

However, there are exceptions. I'd do almost anything to help any B12 that was lost on a dark and stormy night in the West Country, having owned at least two Triang/ Triang Hornby ones in my youth. Also some locos that look a bit like B12s might also find sanctuary in Kernow Towers, such as a Claude Hamilton, if the price down in Camborne is right.

 

I was also rather taken by the recent Hornby J15, but was a bit put off by the handrail knob 'issue'.

 

The other exception is the rather cute little J72. I got introduced to the old Mainline one many years ago, shortly after they first came out, when I bought one on behalf of a friend in Germany, who liked to have a few English locos on his vast Fleischmann/Marklin layout, so I was charged with bringing one back after a break in Blighty, when I was working over there as a student.

 

A few years later, and I eventually ended up with two of the coves myself, one was black and I don't recall the original colour of the other one. They were both Mainline examples, of course, as Bachmann UK was still some years away, and they both had the horrible old split chassis system. Apart from that, though, I thought they were fab.

 

Notwithstanding the fact that I very much liked these Eastern engines, neither was destined to remain in BR (E) or LNER liveries for long. In fact, one of the reasons I like them, is that they seem ideally suited to being sold out of service for further use in industry and/or light railways.

 

The black J72 was the first to be given the ‘treatment’, and was heavily weathered, named ‘Charlotte’ and re-lettered as a loco sold to the National Coal Board. She then went back in her box for several years, until I had need of an NCB loco, when ‘Engine Wood’ made its first exhibition appearance in 1994.

 

Although ‘Charlotte’ initially ran on ‘Engine Wood’ with the old Mainline split chassis, that eventually gave up and was replaced by a Perseverence chassis, which (despite the loco being in OO), I fitted compensation to, for improved electrical pick-up.

 

blogentry-57-0-40759300-1501945021.jpg

 

The other J72 was re-sprayed in GW green in the early 1980s (Brunswick Green, yes, I know, great, isn’t it?) and given the name ‘Jennifer’. She adopted the guise of a loco sold to an unspecified light railway and which eventually ended up in the care of the Herefordshire Railway Society at their preservation base at Lower Vowchurch. When that group eventually disbanded and vacated the site, ‘Jennifer’ was removed to a private location, where she is probably still resident today.

 

The 4mm version of ‘Jennifer’ also retained her old Mainline split chassis and never even had a layout to run on, as she wasn’t really suitable for ‘Engine Wood’. By the time that I built ‘Bleakhouse Road’, her old split chassis had also given up, and so she wasn’t going to be usable on the South Polden Light Railway. As such, she just stayed in her box for many more years.

 

I even bought a completed etched chassis from a friend some years ago, with the intention of getting ‘Jennifer’ running again, but the chassis never worked very well and turns out to have been for a J71 with larger wheels and was eventually disposed of.

 

Fast forward again to the decision to build ‘Bethesda Sidings’ and the subsequent announcement of the Cameo Layout Competition. Here now was an ideal scenario to run ‘Jennifer’ and I got quite energised at the thought of putting a new etched chassis under her.

 

First thing was to get her out of the box and pose for some photos:

 

blogentry-57-0-50419500-1501945095.jpg

 

I then went about getting the necessary parts to get her running again, principally a Perseverence chassis kit, some Markits 4’ driving wheels and a spare High Level gearbox from my Spare Gearboxes box.

 

More to follow.

  • Like 12

0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...