N15 to Woolwich conversion

[Maitland]

Has anyone done a Woolwich conversion to 21mm gauge? I'd be grateful for any hints etc. Peter Swift's book on the SECR Ns says the platforms and buffer beams were widened, but doesn't say by how much, anyone know? Thanks in advance.

[Galteemore]

The late Tony Miles or one of his crew built one, to be seen at SDMRC, I think. @Horsetanmay know more. Footplate was widened by 6.5” and distance between cylinder centres by similar amount. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Galteemore

[Maitland]

Looks like the tender will be the hardest bit, the footplate and steps are moulded in with the body. And it hasn't got a handrail and I see I'll also have to do a cutout for the token grabber access. Off topic, I wonder why more of the other UK railways didn't grab them while they were going cheap?

[Maitland]

Thanks, that's plenty to start with, the rest I can probably do from photos.

[Horsetan]

8 hours ago, Galteemore said:

The late Tony Miles or one of his crew built one, to be seen at SDMRC, I think. @Horsetanmay know more. Footplate was widened by 6.5” and distance between cylinder centres by similar amount. 

That's more or less correct. If I recall correctly, the tender footplate was also widened. But note that the cab width stayed exactly the same, as did the tender body.

[Horsetan]

16 hours ago, Maitland said:

.... Off topic, I wonder why more of the other UK railways didn't grab them while they were going cheap?

The other railways companies weren't exactly short of their own motive power. By the end of the First World War, there was a great deal of Government Surplus stock sitting around, particularly ex-ROD Robinson 2-8-0s, needing new homes. The convoluted story of how these engines were flogged off is worth a read.

[Mike 84C]

Where can the story of these government flog offs be found?

[Galteemore]

1 minute ago, Mike 84C said:

Where can the story of these government flog offs be found?

Some of it is here https://www.lner.info/locos/O/o4o5.php

[Maitland]

It's sort of "common knowledge", but the fullest treatment I've found is Maunsell Moguls, by Peter Swift (Ian Allen 2012: ISBN 978 0 7110 3400 6). You also get to learn about the ill- fated SECR River tanks (which fell off the track because the PW department couldn't be arsed keeping it safe, but the locos got blamed), and the Metropolitan K class 2-6-4Ts that worked well, but the reason for them disappeared when the LNER took over the outer reaches of that line.

[Angus]

I'm currently contemplating buying a Farish N Class for conversion to 10.5mm gauge 2mm finescale (coz I've not enough started and half finished projects.....).

The 2mm scale association have just released a set of etched valve gear for the conversion and the Farish model utilises bearings which can swapped for a replacements that accepts 2mm finescale stub axles (another association product) to allow drop in re-wheeling.

Apart from the book mentioned in Maitland's post above (which I've just bought) does anyone know of a comprehensive list of difference between the English and Irish variants?

Some differences can be easily picked out from photos (cut outs on the tender sides, front footsteps, age dependent smokebox doors, wheel diameters dependent upon batch, etc), others such the width are more subtle but can be seen (the widening of the tender frames but the tender tank width staying the same leading to a step between the two).

Just being lazy really and looking to avoid work that may already have been done!

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Angus

[jhb171achill]

Looking forward to seeing this develop!

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, Angus said:

....Apart from the book mentioned in Maitland's post above (which I've just bought) does anyone know of a comprehensive list of difference between the English and Irish variants?...

That book is the only place where you'll see a table of all the differences in measurements, grouped together in an easy-to-read format, and much of that is derived from an earlier work by Peter Rowledge (I think)

Edited May 2, 2023 by Horsetan