It was however not perfect. One feature that always let it down in my eyes was the area of the cylinders, sliders and crossheads. The slidebars seemed to have been manufactured as pressing from thin sheet metal. They lacked the chunky 'depth' of the prototype. The thin slidebars had a knock-on effect on the crossheads which were made thin to match. If you're unsure what I'm talking about here's a photograph of a typical GWR 2 cylinder arrangement seen on the West Somerset Railway:-
Then in 2016 Hornby released its retooled "Hall". The model was conceived during Hornby's "Design Clever' phase and featured many compromises compared to the 'Grange' of a decade earlier. No brass axle bearings. No five-pole motor. Brake ejector, outside steam pipe and numerous handrails all moulded integrally with the body rather than as separately fitted details. The model received a mixed response, but one feature immediately caught my eye - the slidebars. They were head and shoulders above those on the Grange. I wondered if it would be possible to swap the factory fitted 'Grange' components with their equivalents from the 'Hall'? A quick 'Google' found that "Peter's Spares" had exactly what I was looking for, Hornby Parts X6640/X6641. The 'bag o' bits' you get contains the cylinders, slidebars, slidebar braces, a screw to attached the cylinders to the chassis as well as the connecting rods/slidebars and piston rods for both sides of the loco.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the 'Grange' (left) and 'Hall' (right) slidebars and:-
Below the 'Hall' (left) and 'Grange' (right) crossheads showing the difference in thickness between the two.
So, how easy are they to fit? The answer is that a tiny bit of modification is required. If you look at the above photograph you will see two raised 'ribs' on the plastic web that links the two cylinders.The purpose of the ribs is to keep the cylinder assembly centred on the chassis block. However, the inner faces of the ribs are a little closer together on the 'Hall' than the 'Grange' so I opened them out slightly with some emery board. The only other modification required is the chamfered hole for the fixing screw. That needs to be opened out a little with a round file - it doesn't quite line up with the screw thread on the 'Grange' chassis.
Below is the finished result:-
To my eyes at least, it's a big improvement on the factory fitted offering.
Are there any downsides to this mod? A couple. For a start, the 'Grange' and 'Hall' slidebars are supported midway along by different means. On the 'Grange' a part of the pressing is bent at 90 degrees to the slidebars and then is bedded in a slot in the side of the chassis block. On the Hall, a separate plastic bracket attaches around the upper and lower sidebars. This in turn 'sits' on part of chassis. Using my modification the slidebars aren't supported at all except at the cylinders. That being said they haven't so far shown the slightest inclination to droop despite a protracted run-in period! Another thing to bear in mind is that the 'Hall' cylinders don't include the representation of the rocking lever/valve spindle that is a feature of the 'Grange' model. It would be easy however to drill some small holes in the rear face of the steam chest to allow the 'Grange' part to be attached to the 'Hall' cylinder.
One final point to bear in mind. The 'Grange' slidebars are far more forgiving of misalignment with respect to the path of the crosshead than is the case with the much thicker 'Hall' slidebars. Because they were made of such thin material the 'Grange' slidebars will deflect to accommodate any such misalignment - the 'Hall' ones won't......but then that's true of the Railroad 'Hall' equally! My point is, care is needed to ensure everything lines up, especially the vacuum pump spindle and pump body. Which leads me on to one final point. There is also one extra nice pay-off with this modification. Recent releases of the 'Grange' have omitted the spindle linking the crosshead to the vacuum pump. The 'Hall' crosshead come with the spindle!
I hope this simple mod, which I haven't seen done elsewhere is of use to someone. I for one am pleased with the result.
Andy.
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