GWR (ex-Barry Railway) G Class 0-4-4T

[RosiesBoss]

Introduction

 

Many contributors to this forum are aware that I have a somewhat eclectic collection of (mainly) GWR and BR(W) locos and rolling stock. This has come about over more than 40 years of accumulating what was planned to be a representative cross-section of GWR designs. (See also Ref. #1.)

 

My modelling slowed down recently, as I had lost inspiration to build yet more locos – a combination of insufficient suitable “bits” and realisation that there are now few gaps in the collection.

A couple of months ago, I was looking through the stock of Train Trader (a dealer in new and second hand model trains in Pymble, NSW) and came across a Craftsman kit for an LSWR 0-4-4T, priced at A$25. It was too good a bargain to ignore, so I bought it, as well as the Romford driving wheels I had gone there to buy.

 

Once I got it home, I opened it and realised that it resembled two absorbed GWR 0-4-4Ts: ex-Cambrian No.20 and the ex-Barry G class. The closest match was the Barry loco. Apart from easily replaced boiler fittings, the main differences were the wheelbase (about 2mm too long) and the overall length (about 3mm too long).

 

When the Ian Beattie drawing (Ref.7) is overlaid on the (reversed) GA in the kit (coloured red here), the comparison is obvious:

 

General proportions were good enough, so I gathered the necessary extra “bits” and began construction. I made a mental note to fabricate new wheel splashers and cab roof, as those in the kit were too different from those seen on the Barry Railway loco.

 

Photos indicate that, by the 1920s, bogie wheel splashers had been removed and the coal rails had been filled in. Where feasible, I decided to model the loco as close as I could to late 1920s condition, as seen I the few photos I could find.

 

Parts List

1. Craftsman LSWR/SR T1 class 0-4-4T kit
2. Tri-ang X04 motor frame, spring and brushes
3. Neomidium magnets
4. Airfix MRRC 5-pole armature
5. Romford 22mm dia driving wheels & axles
6. Hornby 12mm dia bogie wheels & axles (Part No. X8084)
7. Romford 40:1 gears
8. Miscellaneous boiler fittings from scrapbox
9. Tapered sprung buffers (brand unknown)
10. Brass and nickel silver wire and sheet from scrapbox
11. Precision Paints pre-1928 green
12. Humbrol 60 – buffer beams
13. Humbrol 85 – all black surfaces
14. Humbrol 135 satin clear

Construction

The kit was designed to use the venerable Tri-ang X04 motor, but my example had been upgraded to include an etched kit for a gearbox frame for a more modern motor. Given that I had the remains of several X04 motors, I decided to rebuild one and set aside the gearbox kit for another project.

 

I chose to use just the frame, brushes, spring and bearings of the motor, substituting an unused MRRC 5-pole armature, as well as a stack of disc-shaped Neomidium magnets that had a central hole to accommodate the 8BA bolt that holds the frame (pole pieces) to the magnet. Once reassembled and oiled, it ran sweetly.

 

The driving wheels presented a challenge. I had only one insulated 22mm one and five uninsulated ones. No further insulated wheels were available locally, so I modified one of the uninsulated wheels, by removing the tyre, slightly reducing the diameter of the wheel centre, then re-assembling the wheel using rubber from the finger of a surgical glove as insulation between the parts. It works – really!

 

I assembled the loco frame as recommended in the kit instructions. I fitted the driving wheels, motor and gears and then checked that the gears meshed well. They did – first time! I fitted my own design of pickups, made from a piece of printed circuit board and phosphor bronze wire. The remainder of the chassis went together with no problems.

 

I then began assembly of the body shell. The only changes I chose to make (apart from the splashers) were to strongly solder 8BA nuts to the footplate, instead of tapped washers. I later superglued 8BA threaded rods into the nuts, to provide location points for tension-lock couplings. New splashers were fabricated from brass sheet left over from other etched kits.

 

After cleaning up excess solder, but before adding the detail fittings, the body shell looked like this:

 

I now began adding details:

• Connecting rod splashers
• Beading around cab openings
• Beading around bunker and cab rear
• Bunker coal rails and panelling
• Lower part of smokebox
• Frames under smokebox
• Valve cover in front of smokebox
• Smokebox door and dart
• Handrails and stanchions (I discarded the supplied split pins)
• Chimney, dome, safety valves, whistles
• Buffers, scale couplings, vacuum pipes
• Lamp brackets
• Cab roof (thin brass sheet instead of the whitemetal casting provided)
• Slimline tension-lock couplings

I did note that, in all post-grouping images of the G Class that I found, the lamp brackets were not as usually found on GWR locos, so I used those supplied in the kit.

 

In addition, photos displayed a handrail that ran continuously from one side of the boiler, over the top of the smokebox door, to the other side. The image of GWR 4 (Ref.4) was the only one I found that illustrated the driver’s side. This revealed a prominent large pipe running from the cab to the smokebox, parallel to the handrail. (This was evident in photos of some other Barry Railway tank engines.) Neither of these details was shown in the Ian Beattie drawing (Ref.8), but I included them in my model. That drawing also showed wheel splashers over the bogie wheels, but these had been removed by 1910 (Ref.5).

 

Test running showed the model to be a smooth runner, but it lacked adhesion. I therefore inserted some lead ballast into the front of the boiler/smokebox assembly.

 

Finishing

 

I chose to finish the model in the condition the prototype would have displayed around the time of withdrawal in 1929: GWR green, with “Great Western” insignia. I believe that all previously polished brasswork would have been painted over by that time.

 

Boiler bands, made from thin strips cut from electrical insulation tape, were applied.

 

I separated the body from the chassis and primed it with automotive spray grey primer and then finished it with Precision Paints pre-1928 green and Humbrol satin black, with Humbrol red for the buffer beams.

 

I partially dismantled the chassis before painting it with Humbrol satin black.

 

After allowing time for the paints to cure, GWR insignia (HMRS Pressfix) and numberplates (home printed) were applied.

 

The model was then varnished with Humbrol satin clear. When that was dry, “coal” was loaded into the bunker.

 

Here is the final result:

 

Comments

 

The Craftsman kit was beautifully designed. Its etched chassis and body parts fitted together very well. Whitemetal fittings that I chose to use were clean, requiring very little fettling before use.

 

Modification to resemble a Barry Railway loco was reasonably simple – the main challenges being a dearth of photos in late GWR condition. Some fittings on the G Class were located differently from the T1, so some pre-drilled holes in the bodywork had to be filled and the items glued or soldered in the revised positions.

 

For those who might like a challenge, the upcoming Hornby SECR H class is another possible donor model that also could be kitbashed into a Barry Railway G class.

 

References

1. Post #115 here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112533-the-omnipresent-western-region/page-5
2. http://www.semgonline.com/steam/t1class.html
3. http://flickrhivemind.net/blackmagic.cgi?id=23291071251&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflickrhivemind.net%2FTags%2F044t%252Cuk%2FInteresting%3Fsearch_type%3DTags%3Btextinput%3D044t%252Cuk%3Bphoto_type%3D250%3Bmethod%3DGET%3Bnoform%3Dt%3Bsort%3DInterestingness%23pic23291071251&user=&flickrurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/25830408@N08/23291071251
4. http://www.gwr813.org/GWR4.htm
5. RCTS “The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway – Part 10 – Absorbed Engines1922-1947 (RCTS, 1966)
6. J.H.Russell: “A Pictorial Record of Great Western Absorbed Engines” (OPC, 1978)
7. E.R.Mountford: “The Barry Railway – Diagrams and Photographs of Locomotives, Coaches and Wagons” (The Oakwood Press, 1987)
8. Ian Beattie: “Barry Railway Class G 0-4-4T – drawn & described” (Railway Modeller, pp 34-5, Jan 1987)

 

[Edwardian]

What an excellent and useful post.  And what an excellent build.

[sncf231e]

On a French forum (http://forum.e-train.fr/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=89305) a question came about this model locomotive which is residing in a French toy museum; I assume it is a 0 gauge Barry Railway G 0-4-4T. Does someone here know more about it?

 

 

Regards

Fred

[88C]

I really enjoyed reading about your G class build, and as you mentioned, photographs of Barry locos, especially pre-grouping are rare indeed. Over the years I have built up a collection of Barry locos and I only  have the D class tender loco to build, so far I have located about 10 pictures of the class and only 3 have the cab that I want.

 

Fred's post of the model in the museum could well be a Redcraft kit but on second thoughts maybe not as most of Derek's 7mm kits have been available as 4mm etches and my 4mm G is a Dean Sidings resin kit with a scratch built chassis. That's not really much help is it.

 

Keep up the good work and you have certainly captured the look of a G.

 

Brian