Jump to content
 

N15 & S15


Mallard60022

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

I've been checking but would like to ask for confirmation please.

Is a Maunsell S15 just a smaller wheel version of a Maunsell Arthur? That is, apart from some minor details I'm sure, could a SE Finecast Maunsell Arthur kit with smaller wheels become a S15 or do I have to shell out on other SEF or PDK kits and bits?

The connecting rod(s) would probably need altering due to throw if it is a possibility?

(I am sure if I do get another two kits then an S15 will be announced by the red or the blue!)

P @ 36E

Link to post
Share on other sites

I seem to recall a previous discussion somewhere that pointed out the S15 smokebox was also a little shorter (comparing Maunsell variants only). Someone with access to some drawings may be able to confirm or refute this.

Link to post
Share on other sites

In the 1980's I used a 'Sir Dinidan' body, a fowler 2-6-4 chassis and an 'Airfix Schools' tender to produce an 'ish' S15.  I think the only real mod was to shorten the footplate a bit just behind the headstock.  It looked good, but wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.  Sold it to a colleague, unfortunately he had a house fire and it was a victim. 

 

I think there's mileage on using a Hornby King Arthur Body as a base.  Just need to look at the various plans.

 

 

30847 was fitted with a 'Ashford' 3500 gallon tender in 1963 http://www.semgonline.com/steam/s15class_1.html Note, the 3500 gallon "Ashford" tender has a higher footplate height than the "Eastleigh" cab on the S15, suggesting it was a 'keep it going' swap.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Phil

 

personally I would look at building one of the DJH kits rather than try and start from a N15 kit. It is not the wheel sizes that were different, but the wheel spacing, footplate height, boiler length, pitch and fittings were also different. Simply putting 5'6" wheels on an N15 chassis designed for 6'7" wheels will not work.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Maunsell's original intention was to make the boilers, and motion interchangeable between the N15 & S15, but a straight conversion of a Hornby (Maunsell) N15 to a Maunsell S15 with correct scale size wheels would leave you with a loco 2mm too low !! The step in the running plate applies to the original Urie locos only.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Phil

 

personally I would look at building one of the DJH kits rather than try and start from a N15 kit. It is not the wheel sizes that were different, but the wheel spacing, footplate height, boiler length, pitch and fittings were also different. Simply putting 5'6" wheels on an N15 chassis designed for 6'7" wheels will not work.

The boiler pitch of the DJH S15 kit is too high though.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Hi Mike

 

 

Yes I agree but still a better starting point for an S15 build than an N15 kit. David Tayler, DLT of this parish has a thread somewhere on his build where he indeed lowered the boiler.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Oh ar*e, PDK it is again then if I save up my pennies.

Really appreciate your advice gentlemen.

I did see Arthurs on freight east of Exeter; maybe I'll replace one of my planned S15 workings with my SEF N15 Arthur lump; no the kit's not a lump but I will make a 'lump'  :this:

P

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would not use the DJH S15, I built one the only thing I kept was the tender, The loco is wrong boiler smoke box unit is too short. Which makes the footplate etc wrong too. I would go PDK route, stand more chace of getting a proper looking loco.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hornby Maunsell N15-to-S15 is possible, but there is a lot of strategic cutting involved. Smokebox is at least 2mm shorter - you need to saw a slice out of the N15 smokebox without losing too much rivet detail, then shorten the footplate to correspond. The boiler barrel remains the same, but you then have to alter the pitch as mentioned above. There were also two types of Maunsell cabside: 838-847 have smaller cutouts to match the flat-sided tender. If you keep the Hornby cab as it is, then you can only model 825-837.

 

S15 wheelbase is 6'3" x 7'6" (compared to N15 7'x7'6"). PDK are the only ones who may sell you a chassis (from their own S15 kit) - expect to fork out about sixty quid for the privilege. Design-wise, it's not much to write home about.

 

It's almost 2am as I type this; I can't sleep, having had a torrid time forming the combined cab front and splasher tops for GNR(I) "S" class no.171; not an experience I really want to repeat in a hurry.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Phil,

 

Do you have access to D.L.Bradley's 'Locomotives of the LSWR - The Urie Classes' - Wild Swan. It also covers the Maunsell S15s, so one can compare the details between the two variants of S15s and the Maunsell King Arthurs, which are also covered.

See also Irwell Press' "The Book Of The H15s and S15s", as well as "The Book Of The King Arthurs". Useful drawings and exhaustive photos in both. They also confirm that the Maunsell N15 boiler was used in the S15.

 

See also my photo album "The North-South Divide" in which I started pulling the Hornby N15 body apart. Hornby have actually made the job easier, as the smokebox plugs into the footplate, and the boiler / firebox plugs into the smokebox, whilst the cab plugs into the firebox and footplate to complete the puzzle. Each component can be worked on separately.

 

Note that, on the PDK S15 chassis, the crosshead shape is incorrect. The Hornby one is correct, but needs opening out / hollowing out for use in P4.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Premium

If you want a decent S15, go for the PDK version.  Its a lovely kit, mostly etched brass, with a cast resin boiler.  

I built one as 30841, and there's photos of it at the beginning of my Workbench thread here  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2359-dlts-southern-locos-adams-a12-jubilee/

 

In contrast, the whitemetal DJH kit has certain issues.  The boiler is too high as already mentioned, (nothing a large file won't fix) but the loco is too short forward of the drivers.  This leads to problems with the front bogie, its a struggle to create sufficient room for it to swing.

The cylinder design and castings however are excellent, very well thought out.  My DJH build of 30845 starts on page 3 of my Workbench.

 

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Dave.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Thanks Dave. Yes I've seen both those builds and such excellent results. I'm very envious. I'm saving up for the PDK (already have one built for me by Geoff Brewin many years ago when I still had 'Exeter Central' in 4mm). Lovely looking loco.

Phil

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

As a rider to the above, I think the PDK kit can only be built as the 838-847 series, since it comes (or at least mine does) with the flat-sided Maunsell bogie tender. You would have to deepen the cabside cutouts if you wanted to portray the previous batch up to 837.

Link to post
Share on other sites

....many years ago when I still had 'Exeter Central' in 4mm).....

 

That reminds me that, when I was on holiday in Australia in 2002, I met a railway modeller who was building Exeter Central, as well as a good proportion of the South Western route from it. It was huge.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

If he works really, really hard he might get to join up with my two yards of track................ :sarcastichand:

Anyhow, I used to love Central and spent many a happy hour there in 61/62. That's probably why I like Bulleid Pacifics so much. The BR SR equivalent of Tony Wright at BR ER Retford......and Great Northern at Peterborough North?

Cheers Horse. How's the old chesty bits then?

P

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

As a rider to the above, I think the PDK kit can only be built as the 838-847 series, since it comes (or at least mine does) with the flat-sided Maunsell bogie tender. You would have to deepen the cabside cutouts if you wanted to portray the previous batch up to 837.

Thinking about it, it might be the other way round.  My model of 841 with the Maunsell tender here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2359-dlts-southern-locos-adams-a12-jubilee/  has the deeper cab cutout that would match the Urie tender, so strictly speaking its the earlier series.

If I've read the PDK website correctly, its one loco kit with a choice of tenders, Urie flared or Maunsell flat.  There's no mention of a difference in cabs.

Hope this helps,

Dave.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...