johnhutnick Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Is it possible to take the body from an Amercom streamlined Duchess and put it on a Wrenn chassis? I think that the Amercom body is metal. I am in the US, so I do not have much exposure to this sort of thing. Thanks to all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) If the Amercom model is from The Great British Locomotives Collection, originally sold as a part work with a magazine, then the body of the loco and tender are plastic. These models are “inspired by”, like scanned copies, RTR models. In the case of the Duchess, a modern China made Hornby model being the inspiration. The only die cast parts are the wheels, which are not rotating, often being a single casting... Known as GBL, these locos have been motorised by various methods... Edited March 15, 2021 by Ruffnut Thorston Typo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypherman Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Hi all, I have seen it done with a Hornby Duchess of Atholl, So I suppose it would be possible. The only problem I can think of would be the motor sticking out the back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 minutes ago, cypherman said: Hi all, I have seen it done with a Hornby Duchess of Atholl, So I suppose it would be possible. The only problem I can think of would be the motor sticking out the back. I tried fitting a Tri-ang streamlined coronation body to a Dublo Duchess of Montrose body once and found there were clearance problems around the motor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypherman Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 2 minutes ago, Wolseley said: I tried fitting a Tri-ang streamlined coronation body to a Dublo Duchess of Montrose body once and found there were clearance problems around the motor. Hi Wolsely, The version I saw used was the tender drive Duchess. So no problems with the motor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 7 minutes ago, cypherman said: Hi Wolsely, The version I saw used was the tender drive Duchess. So no problems with the motor. Yes, I can see that should work - just a matter of rearranging the pickups. As for mine, I ended up getting a Tri-ang chassis and three railing it. For the early models, they used a Dublo tender chassis which has mounting points for Dublo plunger pickups, so the only difficult part of the process was finding some Dublo pickups (reproduction ones pop up for sale now and then). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhutnick Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 I thought to do a loco to simulate the Wrenn streamlined Duchess. I have written to one Ebay seller of this model to ask if the body is metal. If it is plastic, there is no point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
locomad2 Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 Did it a few weeks ago and posted a thread about it, can't link it but I've just read it again on page 2. It's a nice conversion fits well with a Duchess chassis, slight loss of weight but still capable of 8 HD coaches 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 12 hours ago, locomad2 said: Did it a few weeks ago and posted a thread about it, can't link it but I've just read it again on page 2. Well, when I tried it the chassis definitely wouldn't fit but maybe the pole pieces were bent slightly outwards and I never noticed. If it worked for you I'll give it another go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 The GBL body is plastic. AFAIK Wrenn's Coronation was a K's kit mounted on their 'City' chassis. I found the cylinders wouldn't fit inside the body without a lot of filing and then there wasn't a lot of clearance for the bogie to swing behind the fairing. Against this it was a 'Duchess' chassis rather than a 'City', not that there is a great difference. I was hoping the result to negotiate Dublo corners, but to do this I'll have to cut some bits out of the fairing which I don't want to do. There's plenty of room in the cab to hide the motor. The Tri-ang-Hornby one was shortened to fit their 'Scotsman' chassis and looked ridiculous (IMHO) because of this. It shares this with the Tri-ang 'Princess' which should actually be a trifle longer than a 'Coronation'. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
locomad2 Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Wolseley said: Well, when I tried it the chassis definitely wouldn't fit but maybe the pole pieces were bent slightly outwards and I never noticed. If it worked for you I'll give it another go. Found this conversion quite easy, the body was stripped of the chassis just undoing the screws, the rear lug cut back as to rest on the top of the chassis. The front sits tight over the cylinders. I haven't fitted any securing screws, I don't unless the bodies fall off in operation, makes servicing easier. The tender wheels just undo the screws and replace with some metal ones. It seemed to us that the whole lot was designed to fit on a proper chassis, apart from coupling which haven't fitted yet, but it's been tested for hauling with old tenders. Actually found the old body fitted on plastic chassis just need a decent bogie, cylinders etc, handy for a cabinet on wall 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhutnick Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 Thanks all for the replies. I have maybe a crazy idea that I would like a Streamlined Duchess to run with Wrenn trains. But metal, not plastic. Obviously I am not going to find an original Wrenn going cheap. From what I can see, prices on Keyser kits are high at this time. And a Duchess kit is uncommon. There was a Jamieson kit, but are they out there somewhere? DJH has a kit, but 214.50 GBP without motor/gear and wheels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the bodies of the Wrenn models were hand assembled using K's kits but with plastic bodied tenders. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 (edited) Yes, ISTR they used the same tender as the early 1970s Hornby version which had been long discontinued. That version was a bit too short. Something the old HD version of the Duchess also suffered with. Some details of the Wrenn Coronation here. https://wrennmodelrailways.com/wrenn-locomotives/more-wrenn.html The 1980s Hornby version of the Coronation was a new model using the 1977 version Duchess chassis. Jason Edited March 16, 2021 by Steamport Southport Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 The 1970 Coronation used a HD/Wrenn chassis for the tender (though the mock-up in the 1970 catalogue had a Princess tender chassis) so using the old TH body should have presented no problems for Wrenn. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 16 minutes ago, BernardTPM said: The 1970 Coronation used a HD/Wrenn chassis for the tender (though the mock-up in the 1970 catalogue had a Princess tender chassis) so using the old TH body should have presented no problems for Wrenn. Triang Hornby Coronation.Tender fitted with plunger pick ups. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 The chassis was from the 8F (hence the holes for the pickups - later filled in IIRC) and thus bears (overscale) rivets, whereas the streamlined tenders were welded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhutnick Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 I am glad that so much discussion has come up on this subject. However, unless someone here has an idea, it seems that I am unlikely to find a metal boiler casting quickly. I am not ready to buy a DJH for this project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I suppose an email to DJH to see if they'd sell you a body casting may help,it's worth a try. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 On 16/03/2021 at 02:00, Wolseley said: Well, when I tried it the chassis definitely wouldn't fit but maybe the pole pieces were bent slightly outwards and I never noticed. If it worked for you I'll give it another go. I just got myself a Dublo City of London, sans tender, on eBay for £38 - for some reason only one other person was interested, and they just put in one bid. Once it arrives, I'll see if I can get the mechanism to fit one of the Tri-ang-Hornby bodies I have stashed away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 On 16/03/2021 at 17:35, sagaguy said: I suppose an email to DJH to see if they'd sell you a body casting may help,it's worth a try. Ray. Only if it's as a replacement for one you've already bought from them. DJH don't sell spares I'm afraid. I knew I had seen the tender bodies somewhere. https://www.petersspares.com/Hornby-h151-coronation-tender-body-blue.ir https://www.petersspares.com/Hornby-h152-coronation-tender-body-red.ir Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said: I knew I had seen the tender bodies somewhere. https://www.petersspares.com/Hornby-h151-coronation-tender-body-blue.ir https://www.petersspares.com/Hornby-h152-coronation-tender-body-red.ir Jason Yes, he does have an amazing selection of parts for sale. Only for those of us who live in the UK though. I won't be buying anything from him unless he lowers his postal charges. Edited March 18, 2021 by Wolseley 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Have you tried contacting them, to see if that is their final offer on postage? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypherman Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Hi, Yes that does look a bit steep for postage. In the world wide box is there an option to choose a particular country. that may reduce the cost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypherman Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 There are several tender bodies for sale on Ebay with worldwide delivery. There is even one at the moment that is only £3.50 on a buy it now. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-S8269BL-Coronation-Tender-Body-Sprayed-Blue/323827251613?hash=item4b659bb99d:g:vwUAAOSwjcVc-Sdg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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