A couple of months ago, I had what then seemed like a clever idea.    I would knock together a Bachman-Farish Gronk with a pannier body.   I was inspired by a picture of the Buffalo in a book I had bought second-hand.   I hadn't known any outside-framed tanks received pannier tanks, much less lasted until the timeframe I nominally collect.   Excellent, I thought.   I figured this would be a simple bash.  Nope.

First, my inspiration https://www.philt.org.uk/Misc/Archive-Photos/i-ZPJSZ5t/

So, what I started with.

The gronk was had decently cheap from Hatton's.   I chafe at the cost of these 08's.   So many N and OO9 kits call for them as a donor, with good reason.    Finding one for less than $100 online is uncommon.   Graham-Farish N isn't exactly common at local shows, either.   The 57XX body was from Hatton's, as well.   I ordered it with a host of Dapol Easi-shunt kit, to be featured at a later date.   

It took me quite a bit of fiddling to get the footplate off of the gronk, after I found the plate on the 57XX integral with the casting.   After much fiddling, I ended up with below;

Yeah, my idea wasn't as straightforward as I thought it would be.   The 08's motor and gearbox are significantly tall.    You can see just how tall below;

I also managed to mangle one side of the brake gear, which I had planned on reusing.   A shame, as it seemed perfectly reasonable to my ignorant local audience.   I'll have to see about a shorter motor and mount.   Are their other Farish drivetrains that might drop in clean?  I hope so, or if there is a another, cheaper option.   The Gronk frame is much too obviously wrong, as well.   I may try cutting frames from styrene instead.    So much for an easy project.