Rapido OO Gauge GWR 44xx/45xx/4575 Small Prairie

[rprodgers]

There is a photograph of 4405 at Plymouth that is said to be about 1930,   in the Loco Portfolio book series : GW Moguls & Prairies, showing it with cab port holes. Unfortunately not a precise date for the photograph.

 

I am going to guess at the earliest date for no port holes as being very late 1920 s (if not 1930 onwards)  as locos went in for a major overhaul.

 

Would the lack of / blanking off of cab port holes be done at a similar time to when cab shutters were added?

 

 

[gwrrob]

8 minutes ago, rprodgers said:

There is a photograph of 4405 at Plymouth that is said to be about 1930,  

 

 

This would have been my preferred choice in post war GWR livery but as @RapidoCorbs has said she didn't seem to ever get the extension block fitted. Rapido would have to do an one off mould for this, at a prohibitive cost no doubt.

[Miss Prism]

38 minutes ago, rprodgers said:

Would the lack of / blanking off of cab port holes be done at a similar time to when cab shutters were added?

 

That seems to fit the evidence.

 

[rprodgers]

5 hours ago, gwrrob said:

 

This would have been my preferred choice in post war GWR livery but as @RapidoCorbs has said she didn't seem to ever get the extension block fitted. Rapido would have to do a one off mould for this, at a prohibitive cost no doubt.

 If the date assigned to this photo of 4405 is correct at C1930 then it still has the earlier short bunker.
It must have been one of the last to have  its bunker modified.

Edited July 3, 2023 by rprodgers
To clarify

[RapidoCorbs]

5 hours ago, rprodgers said:

There is a photograph of 4405 at Plymouth that is said to be about 1930,   in the Loco Portfolio book series : GW Moguls & Prairies, showing it with cab port holes. Unfortunately not a precise date for the photograph.

 

I am going to guess at the earliest date for no port holes as being very late 1920 s (if not 1930 onwards)  as locos went in for a major overhaul.

 

Would the lack of / blanking off of cab port holes be done at a similar time to when cab shutters were added?

 

 

With regard to blanking off, 4400 and 4408 were chosen specifically in our product list as they were pictured with no portholes but still sans side shutters. I think that most of the others tended to have them done around the same time (speaking only about the 4400s), although 4409 has it the other way around and in 1935 had shutters and portholes....

[Miss Prism]

23 minutes ago, RapidoCorbs said:

With regard to blanking off, 4400 and 4408 were chosen specifically in our product list as they were pictured with no portholes but still sans side shutters.

 

I've just spotted that on a 4400 pic. Which I've had for ages. Doh!

 

[Dana Ashdown]

I don't know if this has been noted before, but will Rapido be releasing a pre-1914 lined version?

[brumtb]

4 minutes ago, Dana Ashdown said:

I don't know if this has been noted before, but will Rapido be releasing a pre-1914 lined version?

That would certainly be welcome!

Tony

[rprodgers]

On 08/07/2023 at 16:11, Dana Ashdown said:

I don't know if this has been noted before, but will Rapido be releasing a pre-1914 lined version?

That would require a short bunkered 45xx or 44xx.

Would be the first accurate pre-grouping GW tank. 

[Hal Nail]

1 hour ago, rprodgers said:

That would require a short bunkered 45xx or 44xx.

 

On 02/07/2023 at 09:52, RapidoCorbs said:

 (as we can only have one moulding).

 

Probably not happening then!

[gwrrob]

A rather nice small prairie 4555 sat in the pouring rain in Torbay.

 

[The Johnster]

Not often you see the sliding cab shutters fully deployed. 

[Hal Nail]

4 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Not often you see the sliding cab shutters fully deployed. 

Coincidentally their 2-8-0T on loan on the Midhants had them shut the other day. I assumed the Southern driver didn't want anyone watching while he looked for the controls.

[rapidoandy]

Now the final design work is finished I am pleased to say the 44xx models are on sale now!

 

DCC Ready models are £172.95 RRP and DCC Sound models are £284.95 RRP.

 

Head over to https://rapidotrains.co.uk/gwr-44xx/ to order yours or visit any Official Retailer.

Edited August 25, 2023 by rapidoandy

[sjrixon]

Amazing. They look really good. When are they likely to ship?

[rapidoandy]

The models are in tooling right now and with a fair wind I am hopeful we will have them for display at Warley. The order book will close a few months after the tooling sample arrives before production starts - all being well we will have the finished models late next year.

[RapidoCorbs]

Recapping the 8 different variants we are offering for the 44xx. Click the links to go to the page for that specific model.

 

4400 - GREAT WESTERN livery

 

4408 - GREAT WESTERN livery

 

4402 - GWR roundel (worn right up until withdrawal in December 1949)

 

4406 - G W R wartime/post-war livery

 

4404 - BRITISH RAILWAYS serif font, unlined GW Green

 

4409 - BRITISH RAILWAYS sans serif, lined black

 

4406 - BR early crest, lined

 

4401 - BR early crest, plain

 

 

 

 

Each version has its own combination of details, including things like cab shutters,  cab roof rainstrips, tank rivet patterns, safety valve cover, chimney, handrails and handrail positions (on top of the boiler as well as the different bunker handrails), buffers, tank filler lid stands, steam pipes (including patches where a previously outside-piped boiler has been fitted to an inside-piped loco) and ATC.

Dummy scale couplings, steam and vac pipes will be supplied for the user to fit if they so wish.

[BenL]

Many thanks for that recap Corwin - very interesting to read that 4402 kept her shirtbutton right through to her withdrawal in 49. Do you happen to know of any mods she may have had between the time she was in the condition you’re offering and 1947 (the year I attempt to model)? 
 

Great to see all the detail variations being offered, a credit to your committed research 👍🏻

[checkrail]

1 hour ago, RapidoCorbs said:

the 8 different variants we are offering for the 44xx.

Visualisations look fabulous.  I'd like them all, but one has to eat.

 

Seriously though, you knowledgeable folks out there, which one should I order for a late 1930s S Devon location?  (I'm happy to change insignia with new transfers - and even the number if necessary, but there might be pitfalls waiting there.)  4408 ? 4402 ?  And what about that gizmo on the side of those working the Princetown branch? Flange lubricator?  Spoilt the look of them anyway.

 

John C.

[gwrrob]

If it’s any help John @checkrail I’ve ordered 4406 as my thoughts are the guys at Rapido have worked hard to match details to number/ livery. Like you say there might be pitfalls to a renumber. 4405 would be the most perfect for us but obviously a no-no for Rapido for a number of reasons outlined by @RapidoCorbs

[tommyliam021]

Wait til @The Johnster sees 4404!

[Hal Nail]

I see you've gone with a black valance on 951005 - we were discussing this the other day. As that livery was the very short lived "carry on as before but stick British Railways on", that makes sense with green valances coming in with the new instructions shortly after

 

We couldn't find a colour photo to prove the valances were still black initially though - if anyone has seen one?

[RapidoCorbs]

4 hours ago, BenL said:

Many thanks for that recap Corwin - very interesting to read that 4402 kept her shirtbutton right through to her withdrawal in 49. Do you happen to know of any mods she may have had between the time she was in the condition you’re offering and 1947 (the year I attempt to model)? 
 

Great to see all the detail variations being offered, a credit to your committed research 👍🏻

 

Thanks Ben, a lot of it is owed to the help given by folks on here (as well as others out there in GWR-land).

4402 seems to have been very camera-shy (although had the second highest mileage), the only photos I have on file are of it waiting to be cut up at Swindon in Shirtbutton livery, and one on the Princetown line in 1931 (when it had the first type of flange oiler with the westinghouse pump), so I would imagine the 1949 condition would be nigh-on the same as the 1947 spec.

 

3 hours ago, checkrail said:

Visualisations look fabulous.  I'd like them all, but one has to eat.

 

Seriously though, you knowledgeable folks out there, which one should I order for a late 1930s S Devon location?  (I'm happy to change insignia with new transfers - and even the number if necessary, but there might be pitfalls waiting there.)  4408 ? 4402 ?  And what about that gizmo on the side of those working the Princetown branch? Flange lubricator?  Spoilt the look of them anyway.

 

John C.

 

4408 is pictured in the condition we have chosen in Plymouth in 1929. The only thing I can think of that may have changed by the time you model is that it may have gained cab shutters and had the handrails moved?

4402 was allocated to Laira from 1931 and then Newton Abbot May 1945 so seemed to spend a lot of time in the South West either side of your chosen period.

None of our chosen models have either of the flange lubricator types.

 

3 hours ago, gwrrob said:

If it’s any help John @checkrail I’ve ordered 4406 as my thoughts are the guys at Rapido have worked hard to match details to number/ livery. Like you say there might be pitfalls to a renumber. 4405 would be the most perfect for us but obviously a no-no for Rapido for a number of reasons outlined by @RapidoCorbs

 

The date given for 4406 in the G W R livery was 1943. It was pictured ex-works in BR black in 1953 (with small crest, later repainted) so my assumption is that it was in the G W R livery between 1942/43 and 1953.

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by RapidoCorbs

[The Johnster]

Sorely tempted, but with two Dapol diagram N trailers to buy and no evidence of the Tondu's Porthcawl 44xx penetrating the mountain fastnesses north of the shed I'm probably going to have to sit this one out!  If somebody announces a Collett 1938 31xx, or an 1854 or 2721 half-cab pannier, I'll be sunk, though...  No, stop it, Johnster, stop it now, the diagram Ns are top priority, don't even think about other stuff until they're in your sweaty littles! 

 

But I like 44xx...

 

Wrote this earlier and didn't press 'Submit Reply'.  Now I've seen 4404 in perfect Tondu condition I'm all a'flutter and in a dreadful state...

[Miss Prism]

16 hours ago, rapidoandy said:

Head over to https://rapidotrains.co.uk/gwr-44xx/ to order yours or visit any Official Retailer.

 

Typo on that page - the sans-serif British Railways lined black should be 4409, and not 4404.