I told him that this was how Himself built the first of our models of it around 25 years ago, so I thought it might be nice to dig it out for another look.
The key to our model was that we used as much of the Langley kit as we could as a solid base to build up the magnificently modernist (and under-appreciated) superstructure of the Earl.
So beneath those iconic side tanks, which were cut out of styrene, is the outline of a curvy Spooner Fairlie.
One of the things that made this a 'no brainer' is that the Earl's tanks are flush with the bottom of the superstructure whereas the traditional design has a lip which makes provides a very secure footing for the overlays.
We also filed down and reshaped the one-piece casting for the cab roof and cut a hole for the luxury sunroof.
For the very plain D shape smokeboxes and the chimneys we obtained examples of the white metal castings from the Dundas kit for Linda and Blanche.
All these pearls of wisdom were duly passed onto my friend who is blogging about the progress on his own model.
My reward for all this assistance was the publishing of a scurrilous slur which suggested that this faithful old model was withdrawn from service and replaced another built using a Backwoods kit because it was unreliable!
I feel compelled to set the record straight and state very clearly that this model, powered by an adapted Bachmann chassis, was epitome of reliability.
Let there be no doubt that the primary motivation for the construction of a second Earl was the absurdly small wheels on the old diesel chassis.
To even suggest that Himself would accept an unreliable locomotive is tantamount to a defamation or the worst kind.
So there!
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