Getting It Straight

When we set out to make Minffordd it was with the intention to make as much use of ready-to-run rolling stock as we could.

That may seen an odd approach for a layout team best known for amassing a huge collection of kit built and scratch built stock but we wanted to get it made as quickly as we could.

Wanting to have DCC sound on the layout was the other major consideration - so much easier with RTR!

However, there were still some locos which required some serious hacking about to be correct for our era, and one of them was Prince.

The era we are modelling Prince in the 1960s is the period where 'The Old Gent' was going through something of a mid-life crisis.

He hadn't yet started bulking up on the steroids - that came in the 1980s - but to try to keep up with the younger Ladies who appeared on the railway the decision was made to strengthen his frames and take out the classic step up beneath the saddle tank.

This look, which lasted for less than a decade, wasn't included in the 'tooling suite' for the Peco / Kato Small England so it was necessary for us to take the knife to it.

The good news is that the body breaks down into sub-assemblies, and the frame is one of these.

It was a relatively simple job to chop out the stepped-up section and join the two halves back together with some thin brass strip and fix the saddle tank section back on top.

To be completely authentic we also filed away the ballast weights in front of the smokebox and the resulting hole was disguised with some brass shim.

As the loco had to be completely disassembled in any case to hard wire in a DCC chip it didn't mean that much extra work.

Prince has come to be perhaps our most essential locomotive for operating Minffordd Yard because - on account of his traction tyres (I might have been wrong about those....)-  he's the only loco which can haul a full rake of wagons up to the Mineral Line,  all the rest have to drag them up a couple at a time and assemble the rake in the siding at the top.

Pulling Apart A Prince

Even though 009 is fast becoming a ready-to-run scale its good to know that some old fashioned modelling is required to produce the appropriate locomotive fleet for our Minffordd layout.

A consequence of Kato/Peco beating Bachmann to the punch on producing a model of the Small England engine is that the differences between the versions put on sale so far are confined to decoration rather than changes to the body tooling.

This means, as far as Prince is concerned, the most current version they can (accurately) make is more than 60 years old.

The first example of extreme tinkering - others would say butchering - at Boston Lodge in the preservation era was when 'The Old Gent' emerged from it's first overhaul with the distinctive stepped frame beneath the saddle tank turned into a straight beam which ran the length of the locomotive, with a pronounced gap now beneath the tank.

This is the way it would have looked in the period we are going to run our Minffordd layout.

It ran in this guise for around 6 years before being withdrawn again and emerging in 1980 looking like a body builder who has overdosed on steroids.

Fortunately, the main component parts of the body are designed in such a way that the frame can be easily separated from the saddle tank, cab and smokebox to allow for some corrective surgery to be attempted.

I know it's possible because it's already been done by the model designer (and a very good job of it he's done, too) and he's kindly passed on some notes on how it was done.

As you see in the picture, Himself has disassembled the model and is awaiting supplies of appropriately-sized brass strip before he begins chopping.

Toned Down

Princess has returned to the test track from Himself's where it had been sent for the application of a little subtlety.

As it comes out of the box the Kato / Peco England has a number of things which betray that it was produced to a price - or for a certain aspiration of specification -  but these can be easily attended to.

Among the things Himself has done is apply some black paint to the upright at the end of the slidebars, which stands out like a sore thumb in silver.

A brush over with matt varnish makes the smokebox look like a loco that's had a fire in it, and the cab roof looks an awful lot better when it's not black and shiny.

It's also had the happy effect, to my eyes, of making the chimney look a bit fatter and much more prototypical.

The vac pipe bags look a lot more realistic when they are no longer black plastic colour.

The last thing he's done, which you might not notice until I point it out, but is one of those things you can't unsee once you've spotted it, is to run some black paint around the edges of the cab opening,

The livery finish on these models is really very good, but they are badly let down that in places like the cab doorway the black edging is only on the sides and doesn't extend to the edges which remain shiny, maroon-coloured plastic.

It really stood out when you looked at the engine in 3/4 view.

It's such a small thing but it makes such a difference when you fix it,

 

I'm Sorry, I Model 009

Recently I find myself bemused by the self-censorship being shown by what we'll call the 009 community online towards manufacturers in commenting on their new products, and intrigued by why this should be so?

Bemused, because I'm struggling - off the top of my head - to think of any other area where, as consumers, we encourage each other to keep our opinions to ourselves and be grateful for what we get.

You probably won't be surprised to read that the source of this disquiet is the forthcoming Peco / Kato England engine, where those who have put fingers to keyboard with observations (not complaints!) about the good and no-so-good aspects we can see in the samples have been dismissed as critics, whingers, nit-pickers and rivet-counters.

That's pretty standard fare for model forums, and I would suggest the debate on this product has been far more measured than I've seen when the subject has been 3D printing or the profusion of steam locomotives with tram chassis.

And yet in recent days I have seen two major threads deleted because moderators have clearly decided (without explaining why) that these discussions need to be closed down.

There were a number of people posting - before their words were expunged from the record - who seemed to believe there was a risk that somehow all this chatter would upset the manufacturers, and frighten them off from continuing their investment in ready-to-run 4mm narrow gauge after decades where there were no British outline products on offer.

I do believe that's a rather naive view.

These are commercial organisations. They make and market products because - and only because - they believe they will get a return on their investment.

They are not doing us a favour by moving into 009.

If they were doing it out of benevolence it would surely have happened before now.

No, they're doing it because they've stumbled across an untapped market, and they're all racing to grab the biggest share.

Think of model railways like a slate mine. (Very narrow gauge.)

They've been quarrying 00 for all it's worth for decades, but the vein is becoming thinner and the walls between the chambers are down to their minimum thickness.

They're scrabbling around looking for increasingly obscure prototypes - indeed, these days we see them releasing prototype, one-off locomotives - and there are new competitors trying to grab a share of their market.

So in 009 they've found a new, unquarried hill, and they're tunnelling in from all sides staking their claim.

Do you really think they're going abandon the workings because of vigorous appraisal of their new products online?

(I'll drop the slate metaphor now, you'll be relieved to know.)

A lot of old sayings have a lot of truth to them, and one of them is: there's no such thing as bad publicity.

If you're bringing out a new product the one thing you want most - other than sales - is for people to be talking about it, especially if you're aiming to expand what its currently a small market.

I don't believe manufacturers would be put off by their product becoming the burning topic on a forum or a Facebook page, I suspect they're probably delighted.

And if it happens some of that feedback is negative, or pointing out shortcomings, the wisest thing is to consider it part of your market research, especially if it's your first product.

I've written many times here that I'm ecstatic to see manufacturers discover 009, and the more the merrier,

But I also don't see why any of us should make any apologies for expecting these models are the best they can be, and match the standards of detail, performance and specification that is offered in other scales.

These are not bargain basement products.

We are being invited to spend three figure sums investing in these products, so it's not unreasonable of us to expect the best, and to comment on whether we believe we're getting it or not.

I don't see any of these manufacturers withdrawing after a critical magazine review, so why should the actual potential customers feel the need to self-censor?

Englands Glory?

The appearance last week of images of decorated samples of the Peco / Kato FR England models has been greeted with almost universal acclaim in the online 009 community, so I suspect I am not going to make myself very popular by giving a more nuanced appraisal of what we've been shown.

Like everyone I am overjoyed to see the appearance of a ready-to-run model of my all-time favourite narrow gauge engines, and I have no doubt at all that these will be a terrific commercial success.

They look to be night and day by comparison to anything that has been possible with the many kits produced over the decades, and for that the designers and manufacturers are to be congratulated.

As far as can be seen from these images the finish looks to be superb, and there's no doubt they have captured the look and feel of these iconic FR locos, and I am very pleased indeed to see the very distinctive Small England wheels have been replicated, and the motion - although apparently not to the fish belly profile - looks suitably slender.

The lining looks crisp and the rivet detailing delightful.

Do you sense I'm building up to a but?

You're right, and more than one.

Judging from these pictures I'm left with a nagging feeling of frustration of what might have been if the makers had gone the whole way and striven to make the most accurate representations of the individual locomotives rather than compromise on a generic tooling.

Let's face it, if there's just one thing readers of this blog must have realised by now it is that identical' is not a word in the FR lexicon!

To begin with let's look at the most obvious example on this pair: the nameplate on Prince.

It's the same length as the one on Princess.

Since when? 

Anyone who has cast even the most cursory glance at the real locomotives, or any photos of them, surely cannot miss that the plate (and mounting block) on Prince is so obviously shorter.

I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but when they've gone to the effort of fitting different smokebox handrails on the two models to not find a way to alter the nameplates is a poor show.

The slidebars and the mounting bracket also look a little toy-like from this distance - a bit too much like what we've got on the ancient Ibertren chassis under our existing Langley white metal kits.

Other reviewers have picked up on the whistles and the lining around the rear of the cab.

These may seem like trivial complaints, especially in the context of the decades we have waited for manufacturers to discover 009, but the reality is that now that they have these compromises on models such as these are not where the rest of the market is.

(They'll still fly off the shelves, though...)

When this project was announced there was great anticipation of the Kato chassis, but I see now this model will be fitted with a traction tyre - is this the 1980s? - and I have seen conflicting reports about whether or not it will be DCC ready or even DCC compatible?

Let's not pretend that it's because the model is too small.  Bachmann have found a way to make room for decoders in their Quarry Hunslets which are tiny compared to the capacious saddle tanks on an England.

That won't affect whether or not we'll buy some - we surely will - because our layouts are DC, but some of the translated literature suggests the prototypes have hauled 3 (!) Peco carriages on level track, even with their rubber tyres.

That's a little worrying if, like us, you have a layout with gradients. Hopefully something was lost in translation there.

Ultimately, I know what is at the route of my comparative disappointment at this model.

It was an open secret that another manufacturer was intending to make 4mm models of these locomotives - indeed, had gone so far as to measure them up - and it would appear that these models were announced as a spoiler.

Well, I guess all's fair in love, war and business, but I believe what we have ended up with, in this very pretty, slightly generic England, is a far cry from what we were likely to get (eventually) if the other firm had been left to it.

And that's a shame.

A Missed Opportunity

I wasn't able to get to the Warley exhibition at the NEC at the weekend, but I sent a spy in the form of Himself to report back for me.

It pains me to say that I was very disappointed with what I've seen so far of the prototype for the Peco/Kato England engines, which I had been so looking forward to.

I don't know whether it's the case that the early sample they showed is very misrepresentative of what the finished product will look like, or whether this is not going to be what I had hoped for.

I can overlook a rough 3D print on the body but I can't deny I'm worried by what's underneath it.

I'm told it's temporarily mounted on a Kato N gauge loco chassis, but the question is whether this is indicative of the quality of the mechanism we're going to get?

Look at the way the piston pokes out of the front of the cylinder.

See how crude the crosshead and the slidebars are.

Is this what we are to expect in the finished product?

The one thing that is really going to make of break this model for me is going to be the chassis.

When you look at a Small England the really distinctive features are those little wagon wheels with very few spokes, and the slender, round-profile motion.

That is what I really want to see from this model.

England engine bodies have been around for more than 60 years in both white metal and now 3D printers.

We don't need a big manufacturer to produce them, it's a decent chassis for them which we've been crying out for.

But after this weekend I have to confess I've got the fear that Kato could let us down.

Look at what else was on their stand.

Are they in the business of selling models or toys?

You'll also spot a very early stage of a Double Fairlie body in there among the dinosaur wagons and the rocket contraptions.

Observe also the ridiculously tight radius of the circle of track the grey England is sitting on and the yawning chasm between the locomotive and the tender.

I notice that the first question that appears in online forums about new RTR OO9 locos is what radius curves they will go around (sigh) and again I fear this engine is being designed with rabbit warrens in mind rather than serious modellers.

I do hope I'm wrong, I really do.

The name of the game in model railway retailing these days is pre-ordering, which is why the manufacturers are so keen to show off samples to generate advanced sales.

Except in this case all the Peco / Kato sample has achieved is made me want to hold off until I can be more certain about what precisely I will be getting for my money.

A missed opportunity indeed.

Double Trouble?

I think the time has come for one of my occasional Op Ed pieces where I pass comment on matters in the real or model railway world.

(Pauses to reach for flak jacket and tin hat...)

One week on, I don't suppose there are many narrow gauge modellers who haven't heard of the announcement of the PECO / Kato collaboration to produce ready to run OO9 models of the FR's iconic 'Small England' and Double Fairlie locomotives.

It's provoked the predictable rows on social media, either about the cost or the fear that it will spell the end of the scale as we know it - both of which I regard as bunkum.

What I find fascinating about this development is what it says about the state of the model railway industry.

I wasn't surprised in the slightest about an announcement of RTR models of these prototypes -  what astonished me was where it came from.

You see, I've known a long while that another manufacturer has been intending to produce models of these engines - indeed, had begun work on the project - and they must be kicking themselves that they've allowed themselves to be scooped.

I've got no experience in the model railway trade but it seems to me that they have two options: to junk the work and the investment they've made in the project, or reveal their hand and try to stifle the PECO/Kato project at birth.

I wonder what they'll decide to do?

I can't help thinking that this manufacturer has been rather caught napping and left itself  exposed.

The success of Bachmann's Baldwin, and orders for the Quarry Hunslet, and Heljan's perseverance with the troubled L and B tanks, has shown that there's a market for OO9 ready to be exploited.

It was always inevitable that someone would produce FR Fairlies and Englands because, like them or not, they are the iconic narrow gauge engines.

If you were inventing OO as a scale the first model you would make, if you wanted to shift a barrow load, would be Flying Scotsman, and Fairlies are the Narrow Gauge answer to Scotsman - almost everyone's heard of them.

This scenario reminds me a little of the recent James May TV documentary on Hornby, where the new management pulled a fast one on the enterprising retailer Rails of Sheffield by producing a model of the 'Terrier' tanks when they knew the shop had launched a project to bring their own to market.

I've heard that in recent years there was a lot of unhappiness among standard gauge modellers about manufacturers announcing intended new models many years ahead of the date when they might hit the shelves.

There can be long lead times on these projects and now the industry has rowed back a little in response, announcing only what they intend to deliver within the next year to 18 months.

It will be fascinating to see what effect this PECO/Kato move will have.

For PECO I think it's a very smart move. These engines will undoubtedly attract new people into OO9, for which they will need to buy lots of track.....

That's what you call a win-win.

I wonder if it will galvanise their rival manufacturers to up the tempo of expanding their OO9 ranges, or retreat with their fingers burnt?

I very much hope not it's not the latter.