New Hornby R2909 A4 60009 Union of South Africa

[Cliff Williams]

JBG06003 and I have just received the new 1000 piece Limited Edition R2909 A4 60009 for our Markinch Station projects.

 

For those that do not know here is a brief potted history for No9.

In the final years of BR ownership No9 (with the later BR emblem) she had a 1935 Corridor tender from the original A4, no 5591 from 14/548 to 16/7/63.

The 1935 corridor tender can be identified by having the curved back and no beading towards the top of the tender side sheet.

This is the correct period for the version supplied by Hornby as the R2909.

 

From 06/11/63 to 1/6/66 she had a 1928 Corridor tender No 5332, signified by the flat back and a beading along the top of the tender side sheet.

Originally these tenders 5323-5332 were built for the A1-A3s.

The Hornby R2909 version is therefore not prototypical for this period.

 

From 17/7/66 to current day she has had the tender from 10000 Hush Hush, albeit with lots of new sheeting and a new tender body ( I believe)

 

She was sold to John Cameron July 1966 and moved to Lochty Private Railway, just off the B940 on the Cupar Crail road in the East Neuk of Fife.

She would run on Summer Sundays with a Mk1 BSO and ex BeaverTail no 1719( now beatifully preserved on the GCR)

About four years later No9 was moved to Markinch shed to recommence mainline running and many of the Lochty crew stayed with No9 to assist as support crew along with general maintenance.

Outside 4mm version of Markinch shed - shed kindly loaned & built by JBG06003 - cheers Bruce

 

Lochty was left with a J94 a small Peckett and a couple of other small industrial locos, finally closing early nineties and re-emerging as www.kfrps.co.uk in Methil.

I enjoyed the couple of stints when I got to fire to John Cameron when he was the driver of the J94 No16 at Lochty, and helped out a couple of times with No9 at Leuchars, wish I had done more now!

 

No9 had a major overhaul in time for 1990 Forth Bridge Centenary at SVR, and would be based at Bridgnorth along with John's "The Great Marquess" also being kept at an old shed at Thornton yard. Another 10 year major overhaul was carried out at SVR More recently she has been kept in a much better shed at Thornton along with "The Great Marquess" and is currently at Pete Watermans LNWR workshops getting another major overhaul.

 

Back to the model - in the box you get a Springbok to attach yourself along with some superdetail bits like draincocks and pipes which I have yet to fit.

To fit DCC you remove the tender coupling to reveal one screw , undo and lift the tender body off, revealing an 8 pin DCC socket. It takes about 2 minutes to make it DCC.

Probably about another 2 minutes to make it DCC sound.

The other loco in the picture is a 7mm scale L H Loveless No9 which I have been fitting with SWD No 9 recorded A4 sound in time for display on L H Loveless's stand at Telford, after Telford I will fit the smaller sound card to the Hornby version and see how it sounds.

 

Overall the Hornby No9 is good, the tender is not correct for my chosen era, but it is close enough for me. The LHL 7mm scale is much more accurate on the tender front, which you can see and hear on LH Loveless stand at Telford.

 

[jbg06003]

Cheers for the running sesh Cliff.

 

Some pics of no 9 at Markinch in the good old days when engine sheds were, well, goods sheds

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce

 

PS the tender is spot on for me

[Cliff Williams]

Found a bigger shot of the Loveless A4 with the correct tender for my era- you can click to see a bigger version:

 

[JeremyC]

Ah, the Lochty Railway, quite a few afternoons were spent there!

 

Yours truly watching No9 passing.

 

and at the end of the line.

 

At the time it was a great place to visit, but I much prefer seeing her on the mainline!

Jeremy

[Cliff Williams]

The Lochty pictures take me back to early 80s when a squad of us would get a lift up and we lifted the track right down under that bridge stopping on the embankment.

The sleepers were knackered, but it was easy for a 2nd row sized kinda guy to lft them onto the tiny wagons for scrapping.

[davidw]

I did Union of S.A from a Plover version a couple of Years back. Other thatn the option to close couple is the loco identical to mine?

[DerekEm8]

Cliff,

 

You forgot 60009s politically correct period.

 

A couple of pics at Manchester Victoria. Not sure of the date anyone help ??

 

 

[Dan Griffin]

with regaurd to the model, its really good. my first 'new' Hornby a4. however i hacve a slight grievance, when the tender is connected to the loco, and the wires and connected, the first wheel of the tender is lifted off the rails. am i doing somthing wrong?

[Fireline]

with regaurd to the model, its really good. my first 'new' Hornby a4. however i hacve a slight grievance, when the tender is connected to the loco, and the wires and connected, the first wheel of the tender is lifted off the rails. am i doing somthing wrong?

 

Possibly, but probably not. Try fitting the drawbar BEFORE you fit the wiring plug, so the drawbar sits right under the tender frames. I found this one one, it looked like the tender was trying to pop a wheelie! The drawbar could also be a bit bent, but I would go for the first solution before I started trying to unbend anything.

[coachmann]

I photographed the A4 carrying the nameplates Merlin plus number 60027 on 3rd September 1991.

[Guest Belgian]

I photographed the A4 carrying the nameplates Merlin plus number 60027 on 3rd September 1991.

That was just for one run Larry!

Jeremy

[Guest Belgian]

Found a bigger shot of the Loveless A4 with the correct tender for my era- you can click to see a bigger version:

 

If the Loveless one is correct for the period you stated earlier (post-1963? unless you are doing the preservation era) then the crest on it is possibly wrong - nearly all the right-facing lions had disappeared by then, especially for express locomotives which were shopped quite frequently.

 

JE

[G-BOAF]

Comparing the Hornby model with the Loveless model, and prototype photos, one thing keeps bugging me. The Middle Cylinder valve drivers (the protrusions infront of the cylinders) seem far too low on the Hornby model, both the gap with the running board, and the distance above the bogie wheel. they should be almost tucked under the front of the running board. The Bachmann A4 seems to get this right (not much else!), as has the Loveless model

I cannot work out where things are out, the cylinder is in line with the middle of the driving wheels, so the whole assembly is not too low.

Am I going completely mad, or is something askew (running plate slightly too high?) This, and the lack of tumblehome under the cylinders, are the only things putting me of getting a Hornby A4...

[JeremyC]

<SNIP>...... This, and the lack of tumblehome under the cylinders, are the only things putting me of getting a Hornby A4...

 

 

Both the Hornby and the Bachmann A4 suffer from not having the curve under the cylinders on the side clothing covers. I suspect this is because they are fixed to the body and if the curve was there you wouldn't be able to lift them over the cylinders. A number of years ago when I built a Wills A4 kit I mounted the cylinder side covers on the cylinders so they remained on the chassis when the body was removed.

 

Jeremy

[silverlink]

With ref tenders fitted to No 9,

from new it had ex A3 5325 17/4/37 - 22/3/48 Beaded Corridor A3

5636 from 5/5/48-14/5/48 ex A1/A3 streamlined Non-Coridor

5591 from 14/5/48-16/7/63 streamlined corridor ex Silver King

5332 from 6/11/63-1/6/66 ex A3 Beaded Corridor ex Golden Eagle

5484 from 17/7/66-10/9/66 ex 10000

info from RCTS 2A & Yeadons Register please check out my website below for more A4 info

http://peasholmmodels.net/CLD_files/CLD_A4LIST_NEW.htm

Hope this is of help

Ian H ( Pesholm Models)

[Daddyman]

Thanks for the info on tenders, Cliff. Fascinating about the hush-hush tender!

I actually picked up a Hornby Woodcock for £79 at a toyfair, and got 60009 (red-backed) nameplates from fox for around £10, so a fair bit cheaper than the current model but with all correct features - beaded tender, double chimney, speedo drive, etc. That might be a route for people to explore. I know Hereford Model Centre had one last weekend. It might still be there ... !

Do you know anything about the plates that seem to have been added to A4 tender tops? My dad thought they were the result of a fatal accident but wasn't sure of what nature.