Whilst away on holiday, I put a bid on Ebay via a sniping site as I wasn't sure what the broadband speed (if any) would be, and as it happened, I won this Bachmann 5MT loco, listed by a Hospice as virtually new. I was keen on this particular loco, as it was one of the 20 allocated to the Southern Region, and were given the nameplates from withdrawn "Lord Nelson" class loco's. This one is "The Red Knight". It's a 'DCC ready' model, so two screws and off with the body after a 'running-in' session on the rolling road. There's a nice slot available to fit an 8 pin harnessed decoder into, so it's an easy swap to remove the DC plug and plug in the decoder, folding the excess wiring and decoder into the available space and securing with a small amount of tape as below. Attached files
Refitting the body after programming, remove the imitation 'coal' and replace with the proper stuff, a quick spray with PVA to fix it in place, and that's it, job done and another nice addition to my loco stable. Keith. Attached files
Nice one Keith - a bit too simple for you now Here is one with a bit more of a challenge for you http://www.hattons.co.uk/34866/Dapol_C059_2_6_0_BR_Mogul_steam_loco_plastic_kit_/StockDetail.aspx Paul
Hi Paul. I've not bothered with any of the plastic model kits, especially Dapol, as most of the moulds the models come out of are 50+ years old and past their 'sell-by' date detail-wise. That plus I'm not sure what motor/gearbox combination would fit, can't imagine what (if any) chassis rigidity there would be and finally I'd expect these models to be very flimsy and light. I'm not aware that there are any loco's available in plastic kits that are not already sold as RTR models, especially in my preferred Southern Region versions, any 'oddball' ones not available as plastic kits are usually accommodated by either white metal or resin kits utilising either brass chassis kits or chassis from RTR models, both of which are much more substantial weight and rigidity-wise, and suitable for layout use. In my opinion, the plastic models are "Display only". Keith.
Dear Keith, with respect the nameplates on the BR Std 5s were new plates in the style of the original SR ones . There was a book published on the Nameplates of the Big 4 which illustrated the difference. Nicely done loco and i trust it runs well, regards, Echidna .
A nice catch, Keith. One minor correction, though: the 20 originally allocated to the SR (in two batches of 10) received names from withdrawn King Arthur N15 locomotives. The Bachmann models are nicely done and capture the handsome and functional lines of the locos well. Later on, more Standard 5s were drafted into the Southern Region, which is my excuse for not only having 73082, Camelot, and 73110, The Red Knight, but also BR green 73068. Each one has a different tender type attached, giving even more variety to the locomotive stud.
I've no problem with anyone correcting me about anything, my info comes from the internet, and on occasion, it can be 'Duff Gen'. Regarding the green 5MT's, the info I found was that the green was applied to those allocated to the Western Region, but again ,that could well be incorrect. My entire life has been spent living in the East Midlands, so I have little actual personal experience of the Southern Region with the exception of a fortnights holiday in Margate around 1960 when I first saw (and fell in love with) the unrebuilt Merchant Navy and West Country loco's. These were a change from Brittania's and Jubilees on our local Midland Main line, and the A4's on the many day trips I took to Retford on the East Coast Main line. Those definitely were the days! Keith.
Yes, the WR applied green to several locomotive classes as soon as the painting orders were relaxed a bit. The Standard 5s even scored lining. WIth the Sr and the WR being side by side, and with routes overlapping, it was easy to find Southern locos on the WR and Western locos on the SR. Once the West of England route to the west of Salisbury was handed over to the WR, we saw many Western allocated locomotives running into and out of Waterloo.
