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Gaiety GWR Pannier Restoration and build in P4


bertiedog
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Hi

Read this with great interest as had many of these over the years- have 5 at the moment

 

1. Heavily redetailed (handrails, steps, safety valve cover etc) early casting on early Triang chassis with Romford wheels and 5 pole motor.

In London Transport maroon numbered L.95

 

2. Very early casting with no front steps, scale tank fillers and buffers, came on old Reidpath or Hamblings brass chassis (very worn) now on Hornby Dublo chassis. In L.T. maroon numbered L.92

 

3.Much later casting with wide cab roof etc also in L.T. maroon and on Dublo chassis numbered L.89

 

4.Similar to 3. but on early Triang chassis with Romford wheels in plain BR black

 

5.Totally original typical latish body in original GWR green paint and very crisp and well centered "5700"s on Dublo chassis

 

I`ve seen these on a bewildering variety of chassis including two distinct types of brass chassis with Romford motors I once had one and gave it a Portescap motor. Wish I`d kept it.

 

Apart from 5. which I intend to keep exactly as it is all the others I "restored" myself and repainted, they were generally in poor condition. I always modified the chassis to fit, not the body. Many of the ones put on Dublo chassis had part of the front buffer beam cut out which looked terrible with the coupling poking out miles ahead. The Triang chassis (only the earlier type) I always took apart and cut back the casting blocks between the side frames. This greatly improves appearance and allows other couplings to be used (always metal Dublo at rear and etched brass screw or link at front). Then reassemble with scale wheels. I may put some of these on a scale chassis in the future. I am building up a London Transport layout again here in France having neglected the hobby for some years.

 

Mike

Edited by festertron
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  • 11 months later...
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11 minutes ago, hayfield said:

He last visited the site in September 2018

 

I used to enjoy his posts, very active mind and competent modeller

 

Hi John,

 

Yes, I'd noticed the date of his last visit. I've come across several of his threads, and as you say an excellent modeller.

 

Mark

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24 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

 

Hi John,

 

Yes, I'd noticed the date of his last visit. I've come across several of his threads, and as you say an excellent modeller.

 

Mark

 

Though whilst its a relatively easy to fit P4 wheels to this loco, getting it up to an acceptable level of detail is a massive job

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I'd compare it in general terms to the Triang Hornby 2721 in terms of working up to the best level of acceptability the model can produce.  Both need new chimneys and safety valve covers, both need work on the cab, and both have irresolvable problems that you just have to live with in terms of boiler skirts and splashers in the wrong place.  I would not entertain one of these on my own layout due to the presence of 2 Bachmann 57xx, which would simply show it up.

 

The cab window issue has been mentioned; Gaiety presumably took the cab front from an 8750 photo or drawing.  But I can't come to terms with the Gaiety cab at all; it just seems all out of proportion and, well, just plain wrong!  So, if I were doing one I'd be replacing the entire cab and bunker assembly, and the obvious choice is the Bachmann or Mainline if you have one, but even the Triang Hornby 8750 might fit the bill here unless you insist on a 57xx cab, easily and cheaply available.  But this strikes to the nub of the problem; if you've got those bits available or are going to acquire them you have already got a better body than the Gaiety, and unless we are using the Mainlne chassis, a better chassis as well.  It just defeats the object unless you want to specifically have a Gaiety pannier for 'retro' purposes, in which case your best bet is to restore the loco with as many of it's original components as possible however incorrect or out of scale they are.

 

But, take note Tomparryharry, at least it doesn't have a top feed, and if the tank top/boiler profile is acceptable, might be suitable for some of your projects.

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On 04/02/2020 at 09:39, hayfield said:

 really awful models, just not worth doing anything with

 Well yea but no but !

i to have one of these things which I did repaint, as the paint had fallen off, 

i have kept it just as a histerical monument to show where we have come from and to show that in the past it was possible to cast in Mazark with out it crumbleing into dust. A long lost skill 

 buy the way bertiedog mentioned a 0-6-2 tank ! I picked up a one piece body (apart from added on steps) 

in good condition black with red E S R lettering on the tank side numbered 7 on the bunker is this the one mentioned or someone know what it is as a chassis is needed for it ?

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48 minutes ago, Graham456 said:

 Well yea but no but !

i to have one of these things which I did repaint, as the paint had fallen off, 

i have kept it just as a histerical monument to show where we have come from and to show that in the past it was possible to cast in Mazark with out it crumbleing into dust. A long lost skill 

 buy the way bertiedog mentioned a 0-6-2 tank ! I picked up a one piece body (apart from added on steps) 

in good condition black with red E S R lettering on the tank side numbered 7 on the bunker is this the one mentioned or someone know what it is as a chassis is needed for it ?

 

Agreed - it's a thing of it's time, and set against its contemporaries it's not a bad thing overall, and most definitely a GWR Pannier Tank!

 

And bertiedog mentioned early on in the thread that *overall* it's actually not too bad dimensionally.

 

The reason I was interested was from the point of view of running one on my proposed 3-rail layout - with tinplate stock, real accuracy isn't an issue! However, I would have been intrigued to see how bertiedog's P4 reworking turned out......

 

Best regards,

 

Mark

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59 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Sorry I should have elaborated

 

As it is and if you want a loco "of its time". Then its fine.

 

However as a basis for bringing up to date there are much better options of Pannier Tank locos which are far better suited to finescaling 

 

No apologies necessary! I agree with you 100% - even the Mainline Pannier is streets ahead in terms of accuracy and detail, never mind what is available now from Bachmann et al!

 

Would have been interesting to see the finished article, though......

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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