Sonic Models N gauge locomotive GWR Large Prairie (5101 & 61XX)

[Paul.Uni]

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Paul.Uni

[John M Upton]

If is a Class 37 I will probably scream...

[Paul.Uni]

GWR Large Prairie

[Steven B]

Oh, that's nice & much needed!

I was expecting something inside cylindered for the LMS or SR but it's nice to see Sonic moving on to outside cylinders.

 

Steven B.

[John M Upton]

Looks nice but definitely wrong era and area for me.  I was hoping another run of their excellent VEA vans might be on the cards.

[Kris]

A good choice of mode, something that Bachmann/Farish could have done long ago as they had the existing model in the range when they took it over.

[Revolution Ben]

5 hours ago, John M Upton said:

I was hoping another run of their excellent VEA vans might be on the cards.

 

Hi there,

 

I believe some are still in stock with retailers, and if not Revolution has some versions in stock on our website.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[RichardT]

Really excellent news!  

Not for me personally -  I wanted them to shrink the A5, and I’ve now stopped buying new N models that don’t fit my era and location just to “support the manufacturer” because that was getting expensive.  But excellent news for N generally. A large mixed traffic  tank loco (a big gap in N <cough> A5<cough>); one with *outside motion*, and the first inkling we get of it is a *working EP*, not just CAD and wishes.  Meaning a reasonably short anticipated delivery time = quicker return on investment for Sonic = (hopefully) freeing them to move onto another new vehicle!  
 

And also good that Sonic have filled the gap that Bachmann have had plenty of time to fill.  

Speaking of which <cough>V3<cough>.
 

After all that I can almost forgive them that it’s GWR.  It does look lovely.

 

Richard T

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by RichardT
Fit of coughing

[AlfaZagato]

I, too, think this excellent news.   Happy to see the 5600 did well enough to encourage more GWR tanks.  Maybe we'll get the eight-coupled ones next...

[dpgibbons]

Rails want a GBP30 non-refundable deposit on pre-orders. I think I'll wait until we see the deco samples.

[Chris M]

I'll be putting my order in. This is a really useful loco type that, unlike the 56xx, was seen all over the Western Region. My small prairie is totally fed up with trying to cope with hauling main line local services. When it comes my large prairie will have plenty of friends top play with.

[dpgibbons]

Any thoughts on liveries? BR green/early crest on a 51xx was very rare, as the late crest was introduced six months or so before the class began to be repainted in lined green. Only 6135 was recorded with this combination. Similarly BR black/late crest must also have been unusual and short-lived.

Edited July 29, 2022 by dpgibbons

[Kris]

24 minutes ago, dpgibbons said:

Any thoughts on liveries? BR green/early crest on a 51xx was very rare, as the late crest was introduced six months or so before the class began to be repainted in lined green. Only 6135 was recorded with this combination. Similarly BR black/late crest must also have been unusual and short-lived.

There is a photo of 4167 with the large early crest at Newquay in 1960 https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=38567 As a B/W photo it is hard to tell the colour but green could be possible as it does not look dark enough for black to my eyes. 

[Miss Prism]

22 minutes ago, Kris said:

There is a photo of 4167 with the large early crest at Newquay in 1960 https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=38567 As a B/W photo it is hard to tell the colour but green could be possible as it does not look dark enough for black to my eyes. 

 

It could be black or economy green. Impossible to tell from that picture.

[Kris]

40 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

 

It could be black or economy green. Impossible to tell from that picture.

Out of curiosity, I just ran the photo through a few of the colorisation apps available online to see what results I could get. Most of the apps were frankly rubbish failing to add colour to any of the areas of the photo except the first few sleepers. The best however has a few suggestions of green but I would not say that it was conclusive. The most conclusive thing that I could say about the loco was that it was filthy in the photo. 

Edit - As this is not my photo and nor do I have any licence rights to it, I am not going to post the colorised images on here. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Kris
Extra info about the photo.

[dpgibbons]

According to GWR.org, 4167 in early BR days carried lined black with no insignia, whereas the photo suggests that by 1960 it had insignia but no lining. They don't list 4167 as one of the handful of the class to receive unlined green, so presumably it reverted to unlined black with early crest at some point and was still carrying that livery in 1960.    

[Miss Prism]

I too suspect it's black. Rare to see a large Prairie on the Newquay branch, although 4167 was a St Blazey loco at the time.

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Miss Prism said:

 

It could be black or economy green. Impossible to tell from that picture.

It won't be economy green with an early crest - but it could be plain green as applied in the relatively short period before lining was added to the livery for 'smaller' green engines.  However The Prairie Papers' is our friend and assuming the photo is reliably dated 4167 was in lined green with early emblem in July 1957.  Even if the date is not reliable the photo very definitely is and the engine is clearly in that livery and as it still had the early crest in 1960 (if that photo is reliably dated?) it would still have been in lined green under the grime.

 

4167 was a West of England (Newton, then Truro then - from 1953 - St Blazey) engine from new but moved to Worcester in September 1960

 

PS on enlargement some of the lining is visible in the photo linked above.

Edited July 29, 2022 by The Stationmaster

[Miss Prism]

26 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

It won't be economy green with an early crest

 

Agreed. I should have merely said 'green'.

 

26 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

PS on enlargement some of the lining is visible in the photo linked above.

 

Yes, bits of lining are there.

 

So we have another lined green early crest large Prairie!

 

[Steven B]

No GWR Shirtbutton version - did they ever carry it?

 

I'm tempted by the "British Railways" version even though the late crest lined green would look more at home next to my green hydraulic diesels.

 

Steven B.

[TomE]

Got my order in for 5164. Visited the MHR for a gala in 2013 so will come in handy for Ropley. 
 

Another good choice from Sonic, should do well! 
 

Tom. 

[Steamport Southport]

36 minutes ago, Steven B said:

No GWR Shirtbutton version - did they ever carry it?

 

I'm tempted by the "British Railways" version even though the late crest lined green would look more at home next to my green hydraulic diesels.

 

Steven B.

 

Yes. Quite a few would have got it from new.

 

I think 5199 was the last to get the GREAT WESTERN, the ones after got the Roundel/Shirtbutton.

Then 4140 upwards would have got the GWR livery. With the post 1948 built ones getting the BRITISH RAILWAYS lettered livery.

 

http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_262.htm

 

 

Jason

Edited July 29, 2022 by Steamport Southport

[Kris]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

4167 was a West of England (Newton, then Truro then - from 1953 - St Blazey) engine from new but moved to Worcester in September 1960

 

Some reports suggest that it had a brief excursion to Laira in 1954. I wonder if this was for an overhaul / paint job. 

[AlfaZagato]

I'd definitely be in on shirtbutton.  I even spelled that right this time.

 

These were largely suburban and intercity, correct?

[D9020 Nimbus]

Surprised there are no BR 61xx versions — what I personally would have preferred. Still, I'll probably be interested in one or two.

 

Does anybody with the Sonic 56xx know — is fitting Dapol easi-shunt couplings easy, or a pain as Farish models are?