What is the best mid sized UK loco?

I still like the originals, but then if menthol's not to your taste......

Cheers Richard

The message from "Martin" contains these words:

Possibly, but not by much.

When The Duchess goes "Down the Coast" (Crewe to Holyhead) there's usually a box of heavy castings hung on the back of the (usually) 12 coach train. This box has two purposes: firstly it acts as ballast to stop The Duchess going too fast, and secondly, when the train reaches Holyhead the box pretends to be a loco and shunts the stock while The Duchess goes to Valley to turn on the triangle. ["The Duchess" can be also read as "The Princess" or "The Duke" or "Number 9" or some other suitable steam loco.]

It's significant that apart from the Britannia on the fifteen guinea special, the last workings ware by Black 5s.

Some time in the 1980s I rode behind 46229 from Carlisle to York. There was supposed to be a 65mph limit for steam, but It went like the clappers down from Aig Gill. Apparently there was an unofficial record for preservation steam on BR that they easily broke.

An amazing run behind an amazing engine - even if it didn't have a copper capped chimney.

"Martin" wrote

Well go out and buy one then - these are also produced by Bachmann.

John.

we visited demu couple of weeks ago and a magazine editor was selling unrun diesels at £15 each. Bought a weathered hornby class 37 at Tots insistence, dont tell anyone but I quite like it !

Feel much better after admitting that.

Cheers, Simon

They should have a more interesting shaped box on there - with light weight aluminium castings, and at the front!

The ones I am thinking of damaged a 47 through high speed tests when using it as a dead load.

The Hymek is one of the best looking locos ever

Something to do with some nice preserved runs with them and I know an owner

Bit of a money problem - especially since the thieves in the commons want to double my road tax

Is that possible?

But then living on SW midlands/ north end of Westcountry that is what happens

Knobends!

Sounds expected

Liked them from a small child

The message from "Martin" contains these words:

You mean between The Duchess and the train? And lightweight aluminium? Fat lot of good that would be. ;-)

Agreed - a "baby 47"! One only lost 10mins with 10 on from Paddington to Westbury - I had to go and look to make sure it wasn't a 47.

Cheers Richard

"Martin" wrote

GER Class S69: "1500"s, v nice in original GER Blue

Tri-ang used to make a BR version as R150

regards

roga

That was the Gresley rebuild (actually by Thompson when he was at Stratford). It wouldn't have appeared in GER blue.

In spite of my dislike for Thompson's work, it was a very good engine.

and L&NE green, as 8509 (i can still remember that.. :)

'course, that was the "Gresley" (actually Thompson, I believe) rebuilt version ("B12/3" in L&NE-speak), not the original Holden machine, and it'd not be trival to convert the model to represent the original design (though I bet there's an article somewhere in the old RMs or MRCs by someone who did it[1]).

I suspect Hornby might still be making the B12/3. They certainly were a couple of years ago.

On the same theme: L&NW "Prince" (a Tishy would be nice, too :)

It did on my boyhood layout!

BTW I am actually aware that R150 was of an original built in 1928 an example of the third variant of the LNER B12, however 61572 is always thought of as a "1500" : see e.g.

Have the NNR \ M&GN ever painted her in blue I wonder?

Roga

"Andrew Robert Breen" wrote

In the '70 nearly every kit for a 10- wheeler seemed to be based in the Triang B12 chassis

Plenty of them on ebay BTW

roga

My Wills Saint.

Back in those days I thought it was brilliant even though the wheelbase was completely wrong. Anybody who built a scale chassis must have had to slice off the splashers and move them.

I was thinking more of the previous era, when Jubilees were produced by the "take one Tri-ang Princess and a hacksaw" method..