I am currently in model railway heaven. First an N, then a C and now a H, I am afraid to pinch myself in case I wake up and find it is all a bad dream.
I hark back to the 1960s when Alan Williams described in Model Railway Constructor how he butchered a Hornby Dublo R1 and three Tri-ang GW clerestories to create the Westerham Push & Pull set. In those days we could only fantasize about detailed RTR locos and carriages for Southern enthusiasts. His other efforts included a 2Hap from a Tri-ang EMU, a 5Bel from Tri-ang short Pullmans. a 4Cep / 4Bep from Kitmaster Mark 1s and even a SR type carriage washing machine. All these have been recently, are now or very soon will be available to us ready made, except the CWM and the Bep buffet, but we still live in hope.
In those days I had already created a West Country from a Tri-ang R50 Princess chassis and a Kitmaster 'Biggin Hill', shame the driving wheels were spoked and not Boxpoc. I butchered a Tri-ang 3F tender loco to make a 'C' modifying the firebox, cab and tender top with cardboard stuck on with Uhu. Pretty sad efforts by modern standards but it that age I was pleased with the result. I did manage to persuade father to buy me a L1 for Christmas, and saved my pocket money for a R1, which had an incompatible coupling. The R1 is the only one to survive.
We Southern Region fans have to be very grateful that we now have a fair representation of our typical locomotives.