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Sutton's Locomotive Works class 24


Dan Griffin
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Hydrofluoric acid wasn't it Clive? Ammonia tanks would be nice too....

Are/were they, all I know in an old Rail Express I have the Mostyn gang had gone and brought the copper tubing to make them and they have not as far as I can recall seeing them, appeared on the layout. I could be very wrong.

Edited by Clive Mortimore
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I really do like these, and hope to buy a couple but my pennies are currently allox towards mopping up Heljan EM1s while they're still available at a non-ludicrous price.

 

Now, if Mr Sutton can produce class 40s to the same standard as the 24 then the 76s can wait!

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Oooh, if they do can we PLEASE have some with external window frames. Something that Trix, Hornby Dublo, Triang, Lima, Mainline, Hornby and Bachmann have not yet managed to produce......

Tri-ang did with their buffet. Not the later models with the silver frames but the earlier ones. The windows have a very subtle frames. I found that out when making my class 309, the buffet windows do not match those of the BSK or the CK enough to notice when you mix up parts in a cut and shut. 

 

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Gotta be some NPCCS in need of a refresh by now? Not so much Mk1 BG or Southern 4-wheelers but the GUV and LMS pattern BG are pretty long in the tooth. Essentially Lima and Palitoy tooling respectively aren't they?

 

C6T.

 

Hornby do a good rendition of the LMS 50ft BG, SR van B, LNER and LMS CCTs. The Mk1 CCT and GUV are more recent releases than a lot of the Mk1 range. The Siphons are ripe for a new tool though, and it would be nice to see a newly tooled LMS 42ft CCT as per the old Lima model. Some more archaic vehicle types would be nice to see though, panelled stock like the Gresley BY (D120?) is a delight (even as a Midland fan). Decent tooled XP vans wouldn't go amiss for parcels traffic, but those can be cobbled from kits easily enough, the Bachmann 12t vans are really quite long in the tooth on all but the LNER front.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was just wondering if anyone had been brave enough to add a common detail to their class 24 of the bashed skirt under the front doors. Not a modification you would see in any documentation, but a very common aspect work wear presumably where the coupling links had been repeatedly based against the edge of the cab.

Here is an example from derbysulzers.com.

24063bwcab.jpg
 

Not easy to get in there with a file, perhaps a drill bit could be run up against the door sill. I did wonder if holding a soldering iron close to the front might achieve this, but I think that would be far too dangerous on such a nice and expensive model.

I have to say I have not done this to my SLW Class 24, D5000, but I will be running that in new and only lightly weathered condition. I think I will give it a try on my old Bachmann Class 24s when running in Blue on the layout.

Interestingly for 97 201/ RDB968007 this is a detail difference that should be in place for when it was taken into departmental use. I think I spoke to Phil about this a while ago, and he (quite rightly I feel) said it was the kind of modification best left to the owner rather than imposed by SLW.

https://www.derbysulzers.com/5061.html

Jamie

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I was just wondering if anyone had been brave enough to add a common detail to their class 24 of the bashed skirt under the front doors. Not a modification you would see in any documentation, but a very common aspect work wear presumably where the coupling links had been repeatedly based against the edge of the cab.

 

Here is an example from derbysulzers.com.

 

24063bwcab.jpg

 

 

 

Wasn't that actually a works' modification undertaken when the doors were removed and the end smoothed?  It looks very much to me as though a new panel has been installed - the bottom of the doors was below the line of rivets/ bolt-heads seen here.  I think that a modification was made to make coupling/ uncoupling easier by increasing clearances above the hook.  The entire shape of the curve looks too neat to me, on this and many other examples in photographs.

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AUTUMN UPDATE:
HIGHLAND BABY SULZERS
GET THE 'RIGHT-AWAY'

Hot on the heels of our late Summer newsletter comes this Autumn update dealing with the proposed headcode box-equipped Class 24/1. In September, with four new standard versions already in production, we put out a rallying call to push the ‘Highland Baby Sulzer’ over the ‘commercially-viable’ finishing line. At that point in time they were already standing on the threshold, attracting over 90% interest in our customer-led selection process.
 
Suffice to say, response to the suggestion of adding the short-lived TOPS-numbered option to the mix (which requires extra tooling work) has done the job of convincing us and we are delighted to confirm that the Inverness-allocated machines will now go forward to production, in three formats, as our principle 2019 project. Since we made the proposal of this additional TOPS model, we have received a deluge of e-mails informing us that you were supportive and eager to make purchases.
 
This communication formally announces the opening of official pre-orders. We are offering a wide range of specifications including DCC sound, high-capacity stay-alive and the much-lauded factory-fitted EM and P4 gauge wheelset options.
 
Voters for the first two types - Green with small yellow warning panels and Pre-TOPS Blue - will have their interest converted to a guaranteed reservation. By means of a reward for your all voters early commitment in the sign-up process, we will apply a discount and you can rest in the knowledge that you were directly responsible for getting this model progressed to manufacture. This loyalty bonus is also extended to the new TOPS version if ordered in addition at the same time.
 

THE INVERNESS CLASS 24/1s
 

Inverness was the first depot north of the border to be allocated with BR Sulzer Type 2s. They were utilised, along with BRCW types from 1960, to eliminate steam working in the Highlands. This tranche of 19 Derby-built machines (D5114-D5132) from the Class 24/1 sub-class exhibited the first significant design departure from the original layout with the integration of new roof-mounted headcode boxes (for four-digit train identification) and removal of the hinged headcode discs and their illumination lamps. This led to a much more simplified and cleaner looking front end although the communicating doors were retained. Cab-side recesses for tablet-catching equipment were provided and miniature snowploughs were soon fitted.
 
Whilst standard machines were relatively common visitors to the West Highland Line, the ‘Highland Baby Sulzers’ tended to stick solidly to local diagrams, principally the scenically-renowned and remote branches of Kyle of Lochalsh, Wick and Thurso, along with heavier main line outings (often double-headed) south to Perth and Edinburgh. They also featured on the Aberfeldy branch and later made appearances on the Waverley route before closure. All highly modellable!

VARIANTS TO BE INITIALLY PRODUCED

BR Green with small yellow ends: A few years after introduction, small yellow warning panels were added followed by rivetted strapping over the little-used front end doors in an effort to reduce draughts entering the cab. Twin headlights were fitted from the mid-1960s as a sighting aid against rockfalls, following a number of incidents on remote lines.

      Pre-TOPS Blue: Whist the physical appearance of the locomotives remained near identical to the above throughout the 1968-1973 period, fresh coats of corporate BR blue and warning yellow paint were applied and the numbering/arrow style progressively modified. Tablet-catchers were still carried and the headlights remained an important visual aid.      

These will be followed by...
TOPS Blue: For the final years of operation, and prior to the application of five-digit renumbering for the computerised Total Operations Processing System, the locomotives received a fully re-plated front end which erased all traces of the front end doors. Tablet-catchers were also removed but the recess was left intact. It was not until transfer south to Haymarket in the Autumn of 1975 that the headlights were removed.

     

 

For such a small batch of locomotives, the detail differences were complex making research and number selection a tough call. Unfortunately, early green locos (before the strapping and headlights were fitted) fall outside of our current remit. Adding in minor livery changes, it was clear that, by the end of their working lives, no two locomotives were the same!

HELP WANTED: We would welcome more images of TOPS machines with headlights during 1974/75 to help with our investigations. Please have a rummage through your photo albums and let us know what you can find. If you have got anything, however poor, send a copy by mail or e-mail to: slw@railexclusive.com

SPECIFICATION
  • Based on the established SLW smooth-running chassis
  • Full range of DCC sound, stay-alive and wheelsets options
  • New body with redesigned front ends and headcode box
  • Draught-proofed front end doors with rivetted strapping
  • Later option of fully re-plated front ends for TOPS locos
  • Working ‘rally style’ Lucas 8-inch twin rockfall headlights
  • Distinctive slotted boiler room grille cover plates
  • Alternative hinged battery switch panel door
  • Modified roof arrangement and exhaust port area
  • Bufferbeam-mounted miniature three-piece snowploughs
  • Tablet-catcher recess with optional catching device
  • Authentic regional crew accents on sound-fitted models
If these models prove popular, it is likely we will explore adding further running numbers.
 
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  • Authentic regional crew accents on sound-fitted models
 

 

Legomanbiffo does station announcements for DEMUs with regional accents.

 

I recognise the Northern recordings.....................

 

Cheers,

Mick

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Many links are still live in this long-established thread of mine:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/34123-highland-baby-sulzers/

 

I will start to collate the physical and livery details applicable to the 60A fleet and its variables off-line, as these apply to the details of individual locomotives, also bearing in mind that three (D5114/ 22/ 31) were withdrawn pre-TOPS, with D5122 still in green.  This is more for my Waverley route and Moray coast completist obsession than anything, but I'll be happy to share and debate the details here or an another thread dedicated to the build.

 

Fantastic news that the Highland Baby Sulzer is going ahead - they're signature traction for me, the last RTR piece in the diesel jigsaw that was the summer '68 W/T/T.

 

:angel:  :sungum:

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