GWR 0-6-0 tender locomotive class 15

[Jaakko]

Does anybody know a supplier of kit for a GWR 0-6-0 tender locomotive class 15 (nee Cambrian Railways Jones Class 89) in 4mm?

 

I wonder if there is any suitable kit or RTR model which can be converted to look more like the GWR class 15/CR Class 89?

 

Regards

 

Jaakko

[buffalo]

I'm not sure where your class numbers come from. However, Cambrian No15 became GWR No 844 and so they are sometimes referred to as the 844 class. Is this what you are thinking of? If so, they were similar in appearance to a Dean Goods especially after reboilering at Swindon, though the tender and cab sides remained more distinctly Cambrian. As to RTR/kits, I don't know of any that specifically match this type, but anything from a Hornby RTR to a Martin Finney kit could perhaps be pursuaded to look like one.

 

Nick

[Jaakko]

I'm not sure where your class numbers come from. However, Cambrian No15 became GWR No 844 and so they are sometimes referred to as the 844 class. Is this what you are thinking of?

 

Nick

 

The class number come from e.g.:

 

Rail UK Info

 

Wikipedia

 

Yes indeed, I am looking for the 844 class in 4 mm.

 

 

EDIT: More discussion on the class 15:

 

Old RMWEB

 

Jaakko

[Jaakko]

As to RTR/kits, I don't know of any that specifically match this type, but anything from a Hornby RTR to a Martin Finney kit could perhaps be pursuaded to look like one.

 

Nick

 

 

The Cambrian Railways Jones Class 89 had driving wheels of 5ft 1in diameter. I don’t know the wheelbase dimensions of Class 89. The drawings in Great Western Absorbed Engines by J.H. Russell may help. However, the GWR “Collett goods†2251 class had driving wheels of 5ft 2in diameter on a wheelbase of 7ft 3in + 8ft 3in and was a bit under 54ft long over its (much bigger) tender. Perhaps the chassis of 2251 by Bachmann is a suitable starting point for the conversion experiment. Everything on the top of footplate must be scratch building including the tender...

 

Jaakko

[buffalo]

I don't have a copy of his Absorbed Engines book, but there's a drawing (weight diagram) in Russell's GW Engines vol 1 where it can be compared with a Dean Goods. The wheelbase is the same 7'3" + 8'3". The front overhang is 6" longer (all on the running plate in front of the boiler) but otherwise, a good representation of the GWR reboilered form could be made from a Dean Goods by just changing the cab and a few minor details. Of course, if you want it in Cambrian form, a little bit more work might be needed. How about a Hornby Dean Goods body on a High Level chassis? I don't know about the Bachmann 2251 chassis as I only have an old Mainline version in my scrap box and that's the best place for it.

 

Nick

 

edit: one aspect of the frames is more like a 2251 than a Dean Goods. On the 844, the springs on the rear axle are underhung as on the other axles, whereas the rear springs on the Dean are above the running plate and are inside the cab. The cab on the 844 extends to the full width of the running plate unlike the narrow cab of the Dean.

[Jaakko]

I don't have a copy of his Absorbed Engines book, but there's a drawing (weight diagram) in Russell's GW Engines vol 1 where it can be compared with a Dean Goods. The wheelbase is the same 7'3" + 8'3". The front overhang is 6" longer (all on the running plate in front of the boiler) but otherwise, a good representation of the GWR reboilered form could be made from a Dean Goods by just changing the cab and a few minor details. Of course, if you want it in Cambrian form, a little bit more work might be needed. How about a Hornby Dean Goods body on a High Level chassis? .

 

Nick

 

 

 

Thanks for the help Nick!

 

I am modeling the Cambrian Coast line in 1950’s, so the swindonised version of 844 class is in my mind. I suppose that the Finney Dean Goods L11 kit with changing the cab and a few minor details make sense. How easy is convert the Finney kit to DCC?

[buffalo]

...How easy is convert the Finney kit to DCC?

 

Mine is still not finished but I don't anticipate any problems. I've used a High Level gearbox and Mashima 1020 motor. There's plenty of room for a 1024 and then another 30mm or so of boiler free to be packed with lead, smallish decoder, etc. The kit includes both round top and Belpaire fireboxes and several cab variations (probably none of much use in your case).

 

Nick

[mike morley]

I was going to attempt something similar with an old K's kit of a Dean Goods I'd had knocking around for years. What killed the project was realising that the Swindonised Jones Goods had their boilers pitched considerably higher than the Dean Goods. A new smokebox and saddle would have had to be scratchbuilt, taking it straight out of the "quick and easy conversion" category.

[buffalo]

Is it really that difficult, Mike? The additional 5¹/₄" is, I think, all in the straight sided part of the saddle at the bottom. The photo in Russell gives the impression that an additional plate of about this height was fitted along the sides of the saddle, and the access flap at the front is correspondingly lower. Deeper side plates are also visible at the sides of the firebox. I would have thought there was less work in doing this than in producing the correct cab shape, but then, I haven't tried it

 

Nick

[Jaakko]

I was realising that the Swindonised Jones Goods had their boilers pitched considerably higher than the Dean Goods. A new smokebox and saddle would have had to be scratchbuilt, taking it straight out of the "quick and easy conversion" category.

 

Luckily I am not a rivet counter