I have harboured a desire to own and run the Compound and County for years but could never force myself to part with the shillings (prices being a tad steep in my geriatric view). Now that I have acquired a copy of each via the bits and pieces route and managed to either make or find in the box the necessary missing parts ,the reports of all the
3 Hornby models being on the same chassis are being proved wrong. The biggest difference lies in the tender drive units - each of them is almost unique! I cannot get a Fowler tender chassis but the B17 (oval holes) lends itself to being adapted to D shape holes. The GW motor frame is a dedicated item however and the frame unique to GW. Even the power pick up sytems are different. It would not suit the purists I know but there is something very satisfying about making a runner out of scrap and then making it function on DCC in a consistant manner. One of the blessings of failing eyesight is that purist detail is of no great consequence and easily superceded by the "whole train" imagery!- posted
13 years ago