Second hand Duchess
At the Reading show last December, I made a bit of an impulse purchase, looking at Duchess on the BnB with a pal, he decided to buy a Minerva pannier instead, and, for reasons of pure nostalgia, I treated myself. In 1964, or thereabouts, Mr-and-MrsD-the-elder has provided a young SimonD with a Hornby Duchess of Atholl.
When I got home, MrsD promptly said “I’ll give you that as your Christmas Present” which was rather nice. History sort-of repeating itself.
So it sat in the cabin
Well, after a short delay, the jointed rods arrived from Premier Components, and that meant I could “do” the chassis, which, as I noted above had been built rigid. Nearly all my locos are compensated, though a few are sprung, and having this with a sprung tender and rigid drivers just seemed wrong...
I had purchased a set of Slaters hornguides, which I’d have no reservations about recommending, and so needed to cut gurt lumps out of the chassis. The easiest way was to dismantle it complete
