David C Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I rather like the GWR's small prairies, at least the earlier ones with the smaller side tanks, and have got 3 for use on Woodstowe. One is a spare, the other is 4561 (based for much of its life in the West Country and used a lot on the Kingsbridge line) whilst the third recently became 4550. The class was modified over the years: coal capacity was increased, the step in the footplate behind the smokebox changed from square to curved and outside steam pipes were fitted in place of the original inside ones. By nationalisation, there were some 6 members of the class (so I read somewhere or other!) which still had inside steam pipes, whilst one or two still retained the square step in the footplate. All had, however, got larger bunkers. Those which weren't originally fitted with them (I believe from 4530 onwards) had their frames extended simply by bolting on a large lump of timber across the rear buffer beam. I happened to notice that the outside steam pipes on my Bachmann prairies were only attached to the footplate, not at the top where they connected with the smokebox - indeed, you can see daylight through the join! It occurred to me that it would be a relatively easy job to convert one of my locos to one of the few survivors with inside steam pipes - and so it proved. Only two things needed to be done: remove the outside steam pipes and re-model the rear bufferbeam. The former task was easy: all that was required was to remove the outside pipes, fill the resulting holes and sand down to a smooth finish. At the rear, the curve in the valancing along the footplate needed to be filed square, a rectangle of styrene to represent the lump of wood and a new curved section of valance to represent the original added. The attached photos will show what I did. They are enlarged to the extent that every speck of dust, every slightly misaligned step or iron or whatever and every miniscule flaw in my handiwork is revealed for all to see! At normal viewing distances, they are nothing like to apparent, even if you're wearing an optivisor! Why 4550? It retained its inside pipes until withdrawal and also had the curved step in the footplate, not the squared step. For much of its life, it was also based at Whitland from where it frequently found itself running on the Cardigan branch. As I operate Woodstowe using the Cardigan branch's timetable, it seemed an obvious choice. David C - 4550's new front end - 4550's remodelled rear - 4550 and 4561 posed together Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bob Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Excellent work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted December 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2013 That's food for thought David.If you read my layout thread you'll see I modelled 4540 and she never had them in my chosen period.It looks a simple job to remove them then.What filler did you use. Further research has found that 4534,4535,4543,4544,4549 and 4550 all never received outside steam pipes at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks for your comments, Gentlemen. Its such a simple conversion that I am surprised no one else has done it before - or at least, posted or otherwise published doing so! gwrrob: I used Miliput fine (the white stuff) to fill the holes. Its water soluble, so can be smoothed with a wet blade or similar before it sets. It doesn't shrink, either (unless you use a lot of water), but with flat surfaces, I usually leave it slightly proud and sand down with 1000 or 800 emery paper. Thanks for the info about 4550's compatriots .... Can I ask where you found this? I've been scouring photos of small prairies and I think there were others. Needless to say, I can't find my notes at the moment, but 4506 was photographed in August 1954 at Whitland without them and 4508 in July of the following year whilst working on the Looe branch. The former loco was withdrawn in March 1955, so is unlikely to have had outside pipes fitted after being recorded on film. David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Just looked at an article on 45xx tanks in the June 2006 issue of Railway Bylines, where it states 18 of the class never received them .... David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted December 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks for the info about 4550's compatriots .... Can I ask where you found this? I've been scouring photos of small prairies and I think there were others. Needless to say, I can't find my notes at the moment, but 4506 was photographed in August 1954 at Whitland without them and 4508 in July of the following year whilst working on the Looe branch. The former loco was withdrawn in March 1955, so is unlikely to have had outside pipes fitted after being recorded on film. David C Thanks David.I've done mine this morning.What styrene did you use for the distance piece though. My info came from the RCTS volume part 9.Of the class between 4500-4529 the ones that never received them were 4506,4508,4509,4510,4515,4516,4518,4527 and 4529.So your photos/film are correct. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovex Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks for posting, a nice easy conversion that gives you something that little bit different. I remember seeing a photo of (I think) a churchward mogul) which apparently had had external steam pipes fitted and then on a subsequent refit had had them removed. It left a couple of circular patches on the smoke box. I must try and dig out the photo. Dean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmay2002 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Thanks for posting, a nice easy conversion that gives you something that little bit different. I remember seeing a photo of (I think) a churchward mogul) which apparently had had external steam pipes fitted and then on a subsequent refit had had them removed. It left a couple of circular patches on the smoke box. I must try and dig out the photo. Dean No. The boiler was from another loco which had outside steam pipes. There are other examples of this on the GWR. The boilers were moved around between locos and when fitted to ones with the original cylinders had the patches applied. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovex Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 No. The boiler was from another loco which had outside steam pipes. Ther are other examples of this on the GWR. The boilers were moved around between locos and when fitted to ones with the original cylinders had the patches applied. Thanks for the clarification. Would make an interesting modification on a model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 ...I remember seeing a photo of (I think) a churchward mogul) which apparently had had external steam pipes fitted and then on a subsequent refit had had them removed. It left a couple of circular patches on the smoke box. I must try and dig out the photo...What you saw was probably a boiler from a loco with external pipes that ended up on one without, hence the patched holes on the smokebox. Given the frequency of boiler swaps it was quite a common sight on most of the standard two-cylinder classes from the later thirties onwards. A potential improvement to David's conversion would be plating over the cab portholes. Relatively few examples of any the classes originally fitted with them kept them beyond the early thirties. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted December 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2013 A potential improvement to David's conversion would be plating over the cab portholes. Relatively few examples of any the classes originally fitted with them kept them beyond the early thirties. Nick I wonder if there's a suitable etch to do this as I'm hopeless at cutting circles in plastikard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Was it worth it? Woodstowe was exhibited at the Astolat Club's show in Guildford last Saturday, with 4550 taking pride of place on the roster. Quite a few visitors said a lot of nice things about the layout, its operation, the weathering on the stock etc, but no one said anything at all about 4550's inside steam pipes! Even the two friends who helped me operate didn't spot the differences between 4561 (in original condition) and 4550 until I pointed them out. I suppose its a bit like fitting interiors to model buildings when you can't see inside 'em - at least, I know 4550 is different and has had extra work done on it! David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Great job David, well worth it in my opinion. I'd have to admit though, I'd never noticed this difference when looking at pictures of Cambrian based 45xx's. It wasn't until finding your post that I knew the variation existed. Which is a good thing as I've got 4549 on my list of possible prairies to model, with inside steam pipes Here's a photo of 4549 at Machynlleth from Station Masters photograph thread: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose4675 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Very interesting thread. I am trying to find a photo of 4508 but I am currently struggling. Does anyone know where I maybe able to find one please? Super shot of 4549. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 19, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 19, 2014 Very interesting thread. I am trying to find a photo of 4508 but I am currently struggling. Does anyone know where I maybe able to find one please? Super shot of 4549. I don't know what period you are modelling but there's a nice mid 50s shot of her working china clay empties on page 32 of the book Great Western small prairie tanks. ISBN 0952882809 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Very interesting thread. I am trying to find a photo of 4508 but I am currently struggling. Does anyone know where I maybe able to find one please? Super shot of 4549. There is also one on Colour Rail, outside Swindon in 1951 - http://www.colour-rail.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose4675 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks chaps thats great info. I will have a look at those, 1955 is the period I am looking for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 20, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 20, 2014 Google images GWR4508 there is a photo 1957 at Truro without steam pipes don't think it would have changed much in 2 years. A nice find that Bob and it's complete with a shunting truck marked 'Truro Yard' Available to purchase too. http://railonline.zenfolio.com/p130586643/h1ca2e2f9#h1ca2e2f9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Cracking photo, looks like a model, very Albion Yard-esq :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose4675 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 That's a lovely shot, what a super find, thanks for posting it chaps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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