Collector's Corner Graham Farish

[beeja40]

It is always nice to see what others of a like mind create, so here are a few of mine:-

Wills Taff Vale U1 with standard HD R1 chassis.

Gaiety pannier tank with standard R1 chassis and added body detail

Gem 56xx tank loco (designed for tri-ang/Hornby chassis) with modified R1 chassis, the front wheels repositioned and finally, A Graham Farish Merchant Navy as "Port Line" (with nameplates still to be added) having a modified HD West Country chassis with simplified valve gear, 5 pole motor and new Hornby tender base.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Excellent work Beeja 40.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Golden Fleece 30

[beeja40]

Excellent work Beeja 40.

Thank you for your kind words - your prairie tank has sparked another idea! Do you have a picture of your "Schools"?

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here it is although the cylinders are a little high as there is only 1.5mm left on the chassis where they are.  Really it needs a plate mounting underneath to lower them slightly.  The loco body back has not had its slot set up for the Dublo lug, it is a little big as I filed it the wrong way, but the body does go down.  I also need to look at larger bogie wheels although if the cylinders do come down it might not be as bad.  The Hornby return cranks do not work properly so they have been removed for now for some reason they are tight as if too long, but, as mentioned not enough time to do everything.

 

If you look in the "Playing with Dublo 3-rail again" thread my Dublo County and Star etc are in there.

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

I really must get on with some of my projects.*

 

Unfortunately the domestic powers that be are making noises about retiling a bathroom.... 

 

* Relevant to this thread are a GF 94xx pannier and 81xx Pannier.

 

Others involve a streamlined Coronation ('City of Bristol - GBL on HD Duchess) a W.C. ('Wadebridge' - Airfix on HD A4) a 56xx (Mainline on modified Tri-ang) and 57xx (Mainline on Gaiety 0-6-0PT). I'll try and post some pics in the fullness of time.

 

I've got a Mehano U.S.R.A. Pacific chassis spare. being H0 it won't fit anything other than than its intended body. Anyone any ideas?

[beeja40]

Here it is although the cylinders are a little high as there is only 1.5mm left on the chassis where they are.  Really it needs a plate mounting underneath to lower them slightly.  The loco body back has not had its slot set up for the Dublo lug, it is a little big as I filed it the wrong way, but the body does go down.  I also need to look at larger bogie wheels although if the cylinders do come down it might not be as bad.  The Hornby return cranks do not work properly so they have been removed for now for some reason they are tight as if too long, but, as mentioned not enough time to do everything.

 

If you look in the "Playing with Dublo 3-rail again" thread my Dublo County and Star etc are in there.

 

Garry

Yet another good use of an R1 chassis and well executed. What effect does the R1 gear wheel have using larger drivers?

I ask because I will have to fabricate a chassis for my GF "King" at some time and if the original tender motor (as yet untried) is shot, then I intend to use an R1 motor with the larger HD "Castle" drive gear.

 

Brian

[Il Grifone]

Yet another good use of an R1 chassis and well executed. What effect does the R1 gear wheel have using larger drivers?

I ask because I will have to fabricate a chassis for my GF "King" at some time and if the original tender motor (as yet untried) is shot, then I intend to use an R1 motor with the larger HD "Castle" drive gear.

 

Brian

 

The R1 and non-ringfield (½" motor) Castles (and 8Fs) all use the same motor. The larger gear wheel of the Castle compensates for the larger wheels, but she runs more slowly than the Coronation and the A4 (still quite fast enough; just over a scale 85 mph). (Test spec. for Duchess/A4/ringfield Castle 25 seconds - R1/ ½" Castle 30 seconds with a  load 4 Dublo SD6 coaches for five laps of a standard 15" radius oval (about ten feet).)

 

The earlier Farish locomotives used a strange two pole vibrator motor, infamous for an inability to start. Most have long since been replaced I believe. It should be possible to drive through the original mechanism, but a complete new chassis is probably the way to go. Incidentally the Tri-ang 0-6-0 chassis is about the correct wheelbase, but with larger wheels will go like the proverbial scalded cat.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Brian,

 

Go along with Davids words which a very good. I have not tried the latest V2 yet but when I do I will put a video up. At the moment things are being put away so I have to find suitable pick-ups or wait until I find a new tender for it (the original should be somewhere but no idea where). The Schools would go quite fast as you should have seen but it was not full on.

 

Regarding a King, I don't know about the Farish one but a genuine one should have offset wheels, the rear ones are further back. I have a Margate body on a Castle chassis which had the rear wheels moved back to align with the splashers.

 

Garry

[beeja40]

Hi Brian,

Go along with Davids words which a very good. I have not tried the latest V2 yet but when I do I will put a video up. At the moment things are being put away so I have to find suitable pick-ups or wait until I find a new tender for it (the original should be somewhere but no idea where). The Schools would go quite fast as you should have seen but it was not full on.

Regarding a King, I don't know about the Farish one but a genuine one should have offset wheels, the rear ones are further back. I have a Margate body on a Castle chassis which had the rear wheels moved back to align with the splashers.

Garry

Greetings - yes, I am aware that the non-ringfield HD Castle and 8f use the same motor as the R1, but for my purposes, the R1 wheel diameter is of greater use also the cost is considerably less than the former!

I am still new to all this "forum and thread" lark but I did find the Star and County which are superb.

Accepted the GF King is crude but it has a certain charm and I will try to keep as much of the original as possible.

HD wheels run well on my Peco track - far better than the newer Hornby offerings. In fact I intend to replace some of them with R1 wheels after the chassis are bushed up.

[Il Grifone]

Further to my earlier statement, the 'King' coupled wheelbase is 8' + 8' 3" and the Tri-ang (Hornby) 0-6-0T chassis scales up to 7' 9" + 8' 3". Only  a millimetre adjustment is necessary to get it spot on. Of course the GF body may not be to scale - not having one I can't comment on this. (Their 'Merchant Navy is slightly too short I understand, making her more accurate for a 'West Country/ Battle of Britain'.) I have a Hornby King in need of a chassis - I could fit Dublo 4MT wheels* as they are about the right diameter over flanges Other details probably less so.

 

* I should have a spare set....

 

EDIT

 

On second thoughts Dublo 'Castle' wheels might be better, but I don't have a complete set.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is my Hornby King on the Dublo Castle chassis.

 

Garry

[beeja40]

Further to my earlier statement, the 'King' coupled wheelbase is 8' + 8' 3" and the Tri-ang (Hornby) 0-6-0T chassis scales up to 7' 9" + 8' 3". Only  a millimetre adjustment is necessary to get it spot on. Of course the GF body may not be to scale - not having one I can't comment on this. (Their 'Merchant Navy is slightly too short I understand, making her more accurate for a 'West Country/ Battle of Britain'.) I have a Hornby King in need of a chassis - I could fit Dublo 4MT wheels* as they are about the right diameter over flanges Other details probably less so.

 

* I should have a spare set....

 

EDIT

 

On second thoughts Dublo 'Castle' wheels might be better, but I don't have a complete set.

Check out page 1 #17 re scale size of GF Merchant Navy.

[Il Grifone]

Check out page 1 #17 re scale size of GF Merchant Navy.

 

I'm afraid it's second hand information (in RM IIRC), but direct from the owner of one (a long time ago). Personally I've never handled an example, let alone measured one. First generation Farish products were never common, even when still available new.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Farish Merchant Navy - Part 1
Having recently obtained a diecast Farish M/N body and tender in blue, from member 5050, I wanted to keep its paintwork as original as possible so using a paint as close a match as I could I painted over every rivet head and scratch where metal showed through. One smoke deflector had to be all repainted, the other in places as can be seen from the three individual photos (these three were taken by 5050 (Paul) and the blue is lighter here due to the flash). I have not masked anything off and did the same touching up on the black. The white lines were touched in again freehand as I did not want to risk pulling anything off not knowing how Farish's paint held up to start with. I took the decision to not adjust white line widths but to keep as original as possible again.The bodies were satin sprayed to see if my touch up was suitable to allow nameplates and numbers to be added, I guess Yes, possibly tonight's job. There are a couple of places I missed having seen it in daylight but that will be done later. I have stripped and fitted a Dublo A4 chassis to make sure I can get it in making a brass mounting plate at the rear. Part 2 to follow later.  The blue is a lovely shade not quite but similar to the one in the real loco photo.

[5050]

Looking good!  Glad to see it's found a new appreciative owner.  How soon before we can see the completed item?

[Guest spet0114]

Really nice work on the Merchant Navy - illustrates nicely how nice a model the Farish one really is. :-)

[Golden Fleece 30]

The answer Paul is I do not know.  I do have to make a new buffer beam as this one just fell apart trying to arrange some buffers, probably mazak rot but I don't think the body is the same so should be okay.  Just received a tender chassis and will look for some Dublo axles for the Boxpoks.  I have a few other locos on the go plus layout it is time fitting it all in, as well as a wife and 3 small children lol.

 

It looks good with nameplates and transfers now though.  The colour in this photograph is quite close to the models true shade.

 

Garry

 

 

ps Someone said in an earlier post they thought their nameplate had slipped as it was lower, not really as Merchant Navy's usually had theirs this low.  Farish put them on high at times.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

Hi Garry,

 

The MN looks really good. it's surprising the difference decent nameplates, lettering etc. make. The colour is a dark Prussian blue and basically correct. (The Colour-Rail photo has a metallic sheen, which is probably a combination of lighting and dodgy film emulsion and, judging by the buffer beam red, possibly a bit dark.) I recall that twenty years later there was a distinct difference in colour bias between different makes of slide film.

I think the van in the background settles the crimson or green discussion - all over yuck! (How I remember them).

 

To settle a point, could you possibly measure the body length from front buffer beam (is this a separate part?) to rear drag plate?

 

I must sort out my Farish 81xx Prairie....

 

David

[BernardTPM]

I think the van in the background settles the crimson or green discussion - all over yuck! (How I remember them).

They used the same top coat crud colour for blue as well!

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi David,  Here are some comparison shots with a Wrenn Spam Can body along side, the cab rear ends are aligned up.  The Wrenn is 168mm and the Farish 175mm from Buffer beam front to the rear of the Cab floor (also end of the sides).  The Wrenn does have a little extra overhang past the rear draw beam.  The buffer beam is a casting with three holes, two for the locating pips which hold the smoke deflectors on and one to screw into the body to hold it. This was quite soft and easily broke trying to drill a small hole and again when filing it.

 

The main difference between the two in real life is the distance from the rear driving axle to the pony wheel and then from there to the rear.  There is a 3" difference between centre and rear driving wheels I think but all the other measurements are about the same.

 

Regarding colour photos not only do emulsions change over time but between AgfaChrome/Ektachrome/Kodachrome there were different hues/casts to different peoples eyes.  A clean or dirty loco, a dull or sunny day can give a different shade too as can underexposure (darker) and overexposure (lighter).  I have included two photos of the same shot from different web sites and they show a change in colour.

 

Garry

 

 

[beeja40]

Greetings Gary, another nice loco on the way! My Spam can ran well recently, in the model tent, at the Fairbourne Railway centenary celebrations.

It was its first real test and performed well, although it was temporarily 3-railed.

The tender chassis which is a new Hornby product, fits the Farish body perfectly. My only concern was the flanged centre wheels and tight curves, however, it coped with no problem on small radius Dublo 3-rail track. I also weighted the tender to match the Dublo Dorchester example.

I still like the blue version and I bought the white stripes ready for mine but ultimately went green. But if another came along .....?

 

Brian

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Brian,  I have to say the Farish Spam Can's do look nice, especially for something about 50/60 years old.  I like yours in green, more so with standard lines all the way down.  To me a Spam Can does not look right with the box type lining on the cab and tender.  Did you cut out the cab floor for the Dublo chassis so the Ringfield fitted or did you change the motor?  Mine is going to use the A4 chassis as soon as I sort out some axles.

 

At least you got the top line in the correct place, Farish has it far too high but as I want to keep its originality it will stay like that.  If I could not have touched up the paintwork then it would have been repainted fully.  I have bought the W/B/W lining in case I needed it but I also wanted it for a Millholme Models M/N which I also want to paint in blue.

 

It was interesting having to have tested it as a 3-rail one, what was the layout you ran it on called "Syward Junction" from "I'ad that"?

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

Thanks Garry, now I'll dig out the drawings.

 

Interestingly in the top version of the 'Atholl' picture she appears ultramarine, whereas in the lower one she appears Prussian blue. I would say the buffer beam red is nearer the correct shade in the lower picture, though neither is really vermilion.

 

There were other films besides the three mentioned - all were different! Incidently my avatar was shot on 120 Ektachrome, which was my preferred stock though I used quite a lot of 35mm 400 ASA Ansachrome - its fast speed was more suitable for the British weather....

 

EDIT Refers to an earlier avatar, this one is all digital.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi David,

 

Having seen a handful of colour photos and a friend who mixed paint for models and for real ones stating that RAL5002 (Ultramarine) was the closest I would say the bottom photo was the closer one to real life.  To me the bottom one looks like an original whereas the top one looks to be a poor scan of the same photo. Even the bottom one is slightly different to the Blue King at Didcot yet they are supposed to be the same.  My Dublo City I have just posted on that thread was done with RAL5002 mixed at Halfords.

 

I always preferred Agfachrome as Kodachrome had a red tint and Ektachrome a blue tint to my eyes, others thought Agfachrome had a green cast so as individuals we all may see something different.

 

Are these drawings I copied recently any good?  They show the dimensions of the M/N compared to the W/C.

 

Garry

[BernardTPM]

Hi Brian,  I have to say the Farish Spam Can's do look nice, especially for something about 50/60 years old.

As far as I know the Farish MN dates from the early 1950s so closer to 65 years old. Even the old Tri-ang WC/BB dates from 1961, so 55 years old and the Farish model had ceased some time before that even came out.