9F in the USA

Mine turned up this morning. Right out of period for my layout, but I couldn't resist it! Runs superbly and after running in, it took ten Mk1s with no bother at all. I felt I needed to have 'Evening Star' as it was the last steam loco built for BR. As a young undergraduate I participated in the design of the last steam loco for the South African Railways (in 1952), the magnificent Class 25 4-8-4. No sign of that coming out in RTR though!!

I can see no point at all in kit building any of these late RTR productions - you just couldn't compete with the detail, never mind the paint job.

Alistair Wright '5522' Models

Alistair Wright said the following on 01/08/2006 11:13:

In some ways that's quite sad - all the skills aquired over a lot of years (but not as many as you!) may well become semi-redundant, and people will be less willing to aquire those skills. Over the last few years, I've been amassing parts to build a 9F, but now I'm wondering if I should bother?

I guess it's a bit early, but what are the prospects of converting the

9F to P4? I imagine that blocky chassis might make things look a bit odd, but I haven't see one in real life yet.

Actually, perhaps I should stick with building a chassis, and wait for Bachmann bodyshells to be available!

"Paul Boyd" wrote

A friend took two evenings to convert one to EM, so P4 shouldn't be much more of a problem.

John.

In message , Alistair Wright writes

Sounds like South Africa could do with an equivalent of Australia's Eureka Models.

"Jane Sullivan" wrote

| >the magnificent Class 25 4-8-4. No sign of that coming out in RTR though!! | | Sounds like South Africa could do with an equivalent of Australia's | Eureka Models. | | Jane

Yes, I'd like one or two nice 25's. With Lima's demise there are no mainstream producers of SAR rolling stock or locos, though there are a few nice items available from CMD models in Austria (not Oz!)

Ivor.

Hatton's has the early crest 9F for £79.50. I'm sorely tempted!

I think you'll be waiting a loong time. It doesn't seem to be Bachmann's policy to sell bodies as spares, likewise modern Hornby. Sometimes they turn up on eBay, but that's hard work, or on Bachmann's exhibition stand as rejects, but that's pot luck.

Dave Bradwell's chassis can be recommended, but the available P4 wheels may be a let down. Markits have tooled the differing centres for their 00 9F wheelsets, however.

Cheers, Francis K.

Well, how much would you pay for a kit in 4mm? Anything is possible if you are able to finance it. I have a complete set of Class25 drawings, and at least two attempts to get a kit moving have shrivelled on the vine because people were not prepared to put up the money. I have a 4mm client (MR specialist) with very deep pockets and whenever he wants a particular kit he just rings me up and tells me to get on with it and he pays the bills. The tooling for a 25 would cost around GBP600-700 because of the castings needed, and a kit of parts would be around GBP200 (excluding motor and wheels). A few moments with a calculator wiil give you the selling price if

10 , 20 or 100 kits are made (AND SOLD).

Alistair Wright '5522' Models

Francis Knight said the following on 01/08/2006 21:09:

I haven't looked into this myself yet, but how does Hornby's bodyshell actually rate dimensionally? I'm inspired by Tim Shackleton's model in one of his books...

I've seen, and been very tempted by, Dave Bradwell's chassis. It is a work of art. For art lovers everywhere,

(valve gear incomplete)

"Alistair Wright" wrote

| Well, how much would you pay for a kit in 4mm? Anything is possible if you | are able to finance it. I have a complete set of Class25 drawings, and at | least two attempts to get a kit moving have shrivelled on the vine because | people were not prepared to put up the money. I have a 4mm client (MR | specialist) with very deep pockets and whenever he wants a particular kit he | just rings me up and tells me to get on with it and he pays the bills. The | tooling for a 25 would cost around GBP600-700 because of the castings | needed, and a kit of parts would be around GBP200 (excluding motor and | wheels). A few moments with a calculator wiil give you the selling price if | 10 , 20 or 100 kits are made (AND SOLD). | | Alistair Wright | '5522' Models |

Well, to be blunt, there's the problem - money - I don't have much to spare and anything over £100 for a loco would be a large extravagance for me, no matter how nice the loco. The other thing is the scale - the Lima SAR stuff is HO, obviously I'd want it to match. But, yes, I am aware of some of the difficulties in producing a niche-market product, and selling the item is probably the hardest part of it.

Ivor

Using methods appropriate to its age, i.e. laying it over a 4mm:1ft reproduction of the BR diagram, as published in a 1950's MRC, pretty good. These days, and with the prospect of heavy labour to finish it, I would check with more detailed drawings.

Cheers, Francis K.

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:08:07 -0400, MartinS said in :

Don't! I'm in the middle of buying a house and have NO MONEY. Or so Herself tells me. A room 27' x 17' to fill with railway and NO MONEY. Bah!

Guy

False economy. The late-crest is only £3 more and I know which will keep its value better over time.

(kim)

Who says railway items have to be small or valuable? You can fill the room with coarse scale junk if you like. At a recent model exhibition held locally for charity the biggest crowd-puller was a clockwork tinplate layout about the size of your room.

(kim)

kim said the following on 02/08/2006 22:35:

It might be possible that MartinS wants the early crest version because that's what suits his layout. Most of us don't buy models just because of any perceived future value, but because we like them!

Just zis Guy, you know? said the following on 02/08/2006 20:22:

You have to ask OH which she would prefer - a 27' x 17' room full of model railway, or a 27' x 17' space to store all your new recumbents :-)

"kim" wrote

Why should it be any more? I think fresh supplies of both are still available from Bachmann.

John.

It's more because late-crest is far more popular than early-emblem. They have to discount the latter to shift them at all.

(kim)

That's of no concern to me, as I have no future plans to sell my stock. I model the 1940s/1950s steam era.

Other dealers don't appear to be discounting them relative to the late crest and Evening Star variations. Prices range from £80 to £95 - list price is £112.15 apiece for all three. I think it's a bit soon for clearance discounts.