A bit of a stinker

J

jimmielx

45mm gauge track - approx 16mm scale (1:19)
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I poped into GRS today as I was somewhere near the area. Fully expecting to come away with some small trinket or perhaps a secondhand point for a siding I've got planned. Success on the point, but I also spotted something in the secondhand cabinets that looked intriguing. This...
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I'm not quite sure what it is/was/has been, but certainly it is built on an LGB Toytrain chassis and I'm sure I paid forty quid or there abouts for one of those a while ago and the price on the tag was £55. I fully expected it not to work, but the chap there happily put it on the test track and we were both surprised to see that it ran pretty smoothly. Now of course it does look like a dogs dinner at the moment. I think it may have been decently built at some stage but then very much much bodged later on. Inside the boiler (which comes off) is an unwired switch and evidence that perhaps it was battery operated at one time.

Anyway I rather like the shape and had been considering building another GRS kit loco at some point which could use the chassis. So worst case scenario I've got an LGB motor chassis and a pair of Brandbright sprung metal buffers for fifty five quid, which doesn't seem too bad. However the shape does look rather nice even if the finish leaves a bit to be desired, so I'm certainly going to have a go at making it presentable. I'll post progress here, although it will be a bit slow - I've got a part finished carriage on the desk at the moment and am away on business for the rest of the week, so progress won't be at Mel's recent break-neck rate!

I'd be interested to hear any thoughts on what it might be/have been and any pictures of close prototypes would be great too! Given my leaning towards God's Wonderful then chances of it ending up green with Great Western on the side are quite strong, but anything's possible!

Cheers
 
Thanks Mel, glad to know I haven't done too badly there. The more I look at it the more I think it can be salvaged and turned into something respectable - although I may still call it Stinker - somehow the name seems to be sticking with me!
 
I think it has alot of potential, it certainly has an interesting shape. I'm glad you are going to save it.
 
Garry, yup particulaly having seen Paul's link, I'm definitely going to salvage it!
Paul, thank you so much for that link - the forum really is a mine of useful information. Under the current coat of black paint on the 'model' there is evidence of an earlier attempt at the lining as seen in some of the older photos of Gelert and the shape certainly looks right!
So it's definitely not going to get the generic GWR treatment any more, I'll try to model it as closely as I can to the prototype. There seem to be several liveries to choose from!
First I'm going to take it apart as far as is possible/necessary to clean it up - happily much of the bodging seems to have been done with a glue gun so it should come apart very easily. And the body appears to be held on by some wood screws. Eventually it will need a little more weight in the side tanks as it was slipping a little pulling my VoR carriages and the centre of gravity is a bit far back too - that will be easy enough.
Quite excited about the project now!
 
£55 was a fantastic deal. Nice one! :thumbup:
 
bargain! it will only need a morning to tidy up- especially if you like workmanlike looking locos as opposed to shelf queens! Keep us informed.
 
Looks a very do-able project. Nice prototype. Fun will be had.
 
Worst case scenario ... if it breaks when dismantling, you can use the parts as templates for the rebuilding, which I would be inclined to do myself. Some of those panels do look a little tired.
 
Thanks chaps, looking forward to giving it a new lease of life. Sadly there won't be any progress for at least a week while I go away and earn some pennies :thumbdown:
I will update the thread when I do manage to get started though!
 
Very promising. Looks like a god deal.

Of course the GW had a habit of absorbing railways and then adapting their locos - the odd brass safety valve cover here, copper cap chimney there etc....
 
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When I see a title like that I'm expecting a subject of a different type of Stinker
 
Ok, so progress has been slow on this project. Actually I got a good way through dismantling the loco before it ended up in a drawer for eighteen months or so. However a couple of months ago I decided it was about time I made some progress and work started on the restoration.

I found several pictures of the prototype online and used those for inspiration. That said I'm no rivet counter and frankly the original kit was not highly accurate. The loco was stripped back to component blocks - anything that would come apart did and everything was cleaned and sanded before being rebuilt. I also added some detailing strips - boiler bands and strips around the tanks modelled after the prototype, all of which I think add to the character of the loco.

I ended up with five main blocks: chassis, smoke box, boiler, main body (cab and tanks) and roof. These were all sprayed black or (and here I must apologise!) green. The thing is I do like the GWR and in green (a halfords closish match which I had anyway) it fits nicely into my railway and with some planned stock. So there it is GWR green and it's likely to carry Great Western on the side in the future too. In a nod to the prototype I will keep the 3050 running number and may christen it Gelert if I can find a spot for a nameplate too.

I've installed an ESU decoder and the front lamp has a bi-color led which changes colour with direction. The body and smoke box are very simply held to the chassis with five screws so it's easy to access the inside for maintenance.

There is more to do. I have cab detailing, hand rails for the cab and a westing house pump to go on once I've got it running nicely. Currently it runs fine, but the wheels pick up dirt quite quickly and running then becomes jerky. I think the coating on the wheels has gone so I'm planning on replacing them. With that in mind I do have a question. The loco is built on an LGB Toytrain/Otto type chassis I think - it has 2001 made in German on the bottom. Are the wheels used in this chassis the same ones used in a Stainz? I see Stainz spares on the Dragon website which do look slightly different - I'm hoping just cosmetically.

I'm please with the (eventual) result and have enjoyed working on it. It's certainly not perfect - I didn't replace any panels, just restored as best I could, and in places on close inspection you can see imperfections. But I think the overall impression is good and certainly a big improvement!
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Hi, that has turned out a very nice little loco and a steal at £55 -- regards Dave
 
That is a very nice little loco, and imperfections suit it. well done, i like the mend and make do loco approach as against a shelf queen.
 
Nicely done James....
 
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