Peco 2251 Collett 0-6-0 (non) availability question

[chrisveitch]

I'm interested in doing a 2251 and obviously they've not been available for years as a complete loco, although I know there were some bodies available a few years ago. 

 

However spares seem to be fairly easily available - am I right in thinking the easiest (and cheapest) route to acquiring a body for 2FS is simply to buy and assemble it from the requisite bits, or are there still whole bodies around? 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

 

Edit: I’ve not put this in the Any Question… thread as I thought it might turn into a discussion of the history of Peco’s 2251. 

Edited July 11, 2021 by chrisveitch

[Sithlord75]

I'd imagine so.  Peter's Spares I think cornered the market but happy to be shown incorrect.  I remember when they came out some debate about the accuracy of the tender type for the loco - apparently there weren't that many locos with that type of tender.  A more accurate tender is that attached to the Manor.  Might be worth seeing as you're going the kit of parts route getting a Dapol tender to go with the Peco body.  The colours won't match which maybe an issue depending on how willing you are to do a repaint, but you'll end up with a more realistic model.

[chrisveitch]

8 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:

I'd imagine so.  Peter's Spares I think cornered the market but happy to be shown incorrect.  I remember when they came out some debate about the accuracy of the tender type for the loco - apparently there weren't that many locos with that type of tender.  A more accurate tender is that attached to the Manor.  Might be worth seeing as you're going the kit of parts route getting a Dapol tender to go with the Peco body.  The colours won't match which maybe an issue depending on how willing you are to do a repaint, but you'll end up with a more realistic model.

Thanks for that - I don't think colour will be an issue as the body spares seem to be available unpainted so I'd assumed that painting would be required anyway. 

 

I can see that 2251's generally had standard (whatever that means) 3000 gallon tenders but if anyone can point me at a source of information on what other variants they had, I'd be most grateful. 

[mike morley]

Some had ROD tenders (which didnt suit them at all!)

[Chris Higgs]

On 12/07/2021 at 10:55, chrisveitch said:

Thanks for that - I don't think colour will be an issue as the body spares seem to be available unpainted so I'd assumed that painting would be required anyway. 

 

I can see that 2251's generally had standard (whatever that means) 3000 gallon tenders but if anyone can point me at a source of information on what other variants they had, I'd be most grateful. 

 

The later batch of 2251s came with Collett 3000 gallon tenders which were built new for them, But there were only 50 of those so most 2251s had Churchward 3000 gallon tenders of which there is no RTR model, but you can buy a 3D print on Shapeways. They also ran with a number of smaller tenders, and a couple with Churchward 'intermediate' tenders (see below).

 

The tender modelled by Peco is an accurate model of a Collett 3500 gallon tender of which 25 were built, but these never ran with 2251s. This tender is easy to mistake for a  Churchward 'intermediate' if you can only see the front half of it. Hence the myth that at least one 2251 ran with them. However the rivets give it away. The Collett 3500s ran with various locos, Halls, Saints etc, but they all ended their service lives coupled to Granges. One of the preserved Manors runs with this type of tender.

 

But as a Collett 3500 is really just a Collett 3000 with an extra 6 inches in height, you can cut 0.5mm of the base of the Peco tender sides and end up with something very close (excepting rivet positions).

 

Chris