One of "THOSE" days.........

Tony West

Tony West

Western Thunderer
....it all began so well....I had decided to investigate just how many Beeson parts were involved in one of the locos I acquired last winter...I oiled it...even washed the body which made the 47 year old paintwork look much brighter....it was then that I chose to sort out the worn spacerwasher on the leading coupled wheels.......lets just say that whatever the builder had used to mount the cast wheels onto the axles with was still 'effective' !!....so much for preserving its originality now !....looks like 2 pkts of Slaters finest coming up .
Cheers (!!):'( Tony.018a.jpg021a.jpg022a.jpg
 
Tony West

Tony West

Western Thunderer
Since stomping off around the village dragging the poor dog I've had a chance to reflect a little on events!. This will allow me to strip the paint off the frames, add an ashpan, correct the brake mechanisms and repaint in the correct colour, so maybe its not all bad.
As you say Jordan it is very nicely finished with hand lining and lettering and the thought of stripping this feels something like freshening up the sistine chapel with a coat of emulsion over that old painted ceiling !!
Cheers Tony
 
Tony West

Tony West

Western Thunderer
D816Foxhound said:
Oh dear. I hope the loco is not a genuine James Stanley Beeson model.

Roger
Click to expand...
I wish !!!. The loco was built by a chap called Phil Hinchliffe in 1965/66. A very good friend of his says he had a 'contact' at Beesons. To be honest its very sobering to find such high quality castings from years back when what is available today for these components is so inferior. Phil died about eighteen years ago and his railway was left untouched until his widow had to go into a nursing home last year.
Ive attached a couple of photos which I hope convey the quality of some of the components.
Cheers Tony.015a.jpg016a.jpg
 
David Taylor

David Taylor

Western Thunderer
Ouch. That would have put me in a very foul mood.

As you say the castings on that model are very good. The safety valves are much cleaner than anything I've seen recently and the dome fits very well. Wish I could do half as good as that.
 
Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Western Thunderer
In my opinion and with no criticism aimed at Tony it seems a real shame to have taken it apart. What looks as though it was a very nice model should be preserved 'as is' to remind us of the excellent modelling achieved close to 50 years ago.
In my other interest of classic cars this same type of event happens quite regularly where nice original cars are rebuilt to better than original standards; fortunately this is beginning to change and more interesting cars are preserved rather than restored.
Originality can never be recovered.
Tim
 
Tony West

Tony West

Western Thunderer
Tim,
I'm 100% with you on that one. My original intention was just to clean and lube !, unfortunately the leading coupled wheels had excessive sideplay due to the plunger pickups employed on the insulated side and clearances on the 'live' side were very minimal, hence trying to remove the wheel in order to fit some new spacers.
As I said in a previous post the thought of destroying the original paintwork is making me feel very guilty !,because as you say time capsules are just that !. My only problem with its present livery is that as No 1021 it carries the name of Queen Mary . The real loco did indeed carry this name ...but only after rebuilding with a new cylinder block and superheated boiler in 1913...the model being in original condition ! and to make it worse I have already got one of these in the later superheated condition ....as would you believe No 1021 !!!.
Knowing my luck I'll now find out that the name and number plates are Beesons !....sacred territory indeed .
On the subject of old cars ....my father in law has a 1939 MG VA ( Tickford)....and all the interior leather is original !!.
Cheers Tony.
 
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