I was at first going to post this in the RTR section but, as a number of these models feature modifications and repaints, I thought it would be better here. You may have seen me mention in some posts my collection of Hornby Dublo Duchesses or, if you prefer, Princess Coronations, and I thought it was time to update you on what's happened to them so far. There are two locomotives, both streamliners, that do not feature in these photographs, basically because they are both in pieces and one is awaiting arrival of a chassis, which is still in transit. Anyway, here, in no particular order, are the other 18 (I have spread them over three posts). First, is the original Dublo model of the Duchess of Atholl, introduced in 1948 and discontinued in 1953. I would hazard a guess that mine was made in 1950 or possibly 1951, as it is an early one, but not early enough to be fitted with the pre-war horseshoe magnet. The restoration work it required was pretty minimal, being confined to a service, fitting a new magnet, and touching up some paint chips and scratches. Next we have a three-railed City of London - the three rail version was named City of Liverpool, but that is one of the Dublo rarities and costs more than I am willing to pay, so I bought a two rail city of London and converted it. Other than the conversion, the only thing I had to do was retouch the line along the footplate sides. Duchess of Abercorn, wearing the experimental LMS blue-grey livery which was also applied to a Jubilee, but not subsequently adopted as standard. Once again, artificial light has altered the shade of blue - in reality it is not as bright and is more grey than blue. A repainted Dublo Duchess of Montrose. City of Glasgow - a three railed but otherwise unaltered Wrenn model. Artificial light and its problem with rendering blues strikes again: the model is painted a lighter blue than you see it here. For a few months after the introduction of their BR liveried models, Dublo painted all their locomotives in a gloss finish, before reverting to their earlier satin finish. This is a Duchess of Montrose from that period. I originally bought this one with the intention of repainting it, as in the photographs it looked in a bad way however, when I cleaned it up, it looked like this, and I elected to leave it the way it is now, although I probably need to repaint the smoke deflectors. City of Leicester was one of the four wartime non-streamlined engines, but was originally intended to be streamlined. The tenders were built before the decision not to streamline the locomotives, so this quartet ran for a few years with streamlined tenders. This model is a repainted Dublo Duchess of Atholl with a tender body from a Tri-ang streamlined Coronation.
City of Stoke-on Trent: a three-railed but otherwise unaltered Wrenn model. City of Edinburgh - a three railed and repainted Dublo City of London. An amalgam of Wrenn and Dublo bits and pieces. I'm not sure what this one will end up as. A repainted Dublo Duchess of Montrose, still a work in progress, which will end up as the Duchess of Sutherland, the only engine in the class to have been fitted with smoke deflectors while still carrying pre-war LMS livery. City of Bradford in lined LMS black but with "British Railways" on the tender. A three railed and repainted Wrenn model with a Dublo tender. I am, however, planning to change the tender for a bogie tender from an ROD engine, which is how the City of Bradford ran during its stint on the Southern in the locomotive exchanges in the late 1940s. This, of course, means that I will have to find another locomotive to go with this tender..... My first Dublo Duchess, the Duchess of Montrose. My subsequent acquisition of a gloss Duchess of Montrose means I will have to rename this one. To what, I'm not sure. Another repainted Dublo Montrose, this time the City of Nottingham, as running (after being outshopped at Crewe) in BR black with LNWR lining.
Now for the streamliners. There's still a bit of work to do here. These are all Tri-ang or very early Tri-ang-Hornby ones. Only the City of Bristol is near finished, and I still have to do a bit of work on the tender. At least one of the red ones will end up in wartime black, as King George VI, and another will be Coronation, in its US guise, with bell and headlight. And last but not least, the strange Dublo hybrid Canadian Pacific Duchess. The originals of these are rare and expensive collectors' items, so I converted a Dublo Duchess of Montrose into one instead (the actual Dublo ones used Atholl bodies rather than Montrose)
That's a fine collection indeed! To my eyes, 'Glasgow and 'Montrose in the first post are especially pleasing. Is one meant to bow to a Duchess?
In this case very carefully, as if you drop it it will leave a mark I have City Of Stoke - on - Trent, still in the box, but in need of some TLC - new magnet(s) and a possible conversion to DCC, I'd need to get another insulated brush assembly then drill out the frame to take it. Plenty of room for the decoder tho'. Lovely collection, tho I prefer the non-streamlined versions. Paul
I initially didn't care much for the streamliners, nor did Stanier for that matter - he used to refer to the streamlined casing as a "carapace" or lobster shell. I do find though that they are beginning to have more appeal to me than they used to. I don't think I want to have more than six of them though..... Jim
Mind you both the Streamlined Duchesses and the A4's with the dedicated streamlines stock do look the part. Paul
Dear Wolseley, 1 / all very impressive. 2 / any chance of a treatise on the various tenders please ? I ask this as I am aware of differing tenders being produced over the years, and you are probably in a good position to describe and illustrate the differences please, Best wishes and regards, Echidna