71000 Duke of Gloucester

[Le Night ferry]

Is it possible to Dapol or Farish make Duke?

[Steven B]

Yes.

Is it likely they (or Rapido, Revolution or Sonic) will? Probably not.

Only one of the class was ever built. It lasted in BR service for just 8 years - as built it was a poor steamer and unpopular with loco crews. The Caprotti valve gear will be tricky to represent. There's also the problem of needing tooling for two chimneys - a larger one was fitted in preservation which helped overcome some of its steaming problems.

It also only carried two liveries - lined BR green with early and late crests.

An unlikely subject for a N Gauge model, but I would like one in preserved condition!

Steven B

[Le Night ferry]

Yes.

Is it likely they (or Rapido, Revolution or Sonic) will? Probably not.

Only one of the class was ever built. It lasted in BR service for just 8 years - as built it was a poor steamer and unpopular with loco crews. The Caprotti valve gear will be tricky to represent. There's also the problem of needing tooling for two chimneys - a larger one was fitted in preservation which helped overcome some of its steaming problems.

It also only carried two liveries - lined BR green with early and late crests.

An unlikely subject for a N Gauge model, but I would like one in preserved condition!

Steven B

In fact, I acquired junk Dapol Briyannia to make duke.
It would be hard to make make its valve gera, but it could be worth.

[Newportnobby]

Said Duke of Gloucester on the East Lancs Railway many years ago. (Sorry about me muttering when I discovered my camera at the time would not enable me to use Zoom in video mode)
Click to start vid

P1000078 by Mick Hollyoake, on Flickr

[crewearpley40]

The real life 71000 is due back on the tails


https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=61822.990#msg824629



I've not seen a model in N

[martyn]

I made one from a Minitrix Britannia many years ago (25+), which featured in 'Railway Modeller'.

The firebox should be marginally longer than a Britannia, there are other detail differences, but I have to admit the valve gear alterations leave a lot to be desired. I did alter the shape of the cylinders with model filler to get closer to the looks of the real ones. I used a double chimney from, I think, BH Enterprises, which was the only supplier I could find at the time; the high sided tender conversion also came from there.

It swapped tenders from a BR1E 4250 gal/10T coal to a BR1J 4325 gal with coal pusher in late 1957. These were both high sided.

New nameplates and numbers were probably Fox transfers, I can't remember.

I'm sure that with care and a bit of work, many of these alterations could be done to the Dapol version. At the time I did mine, the Minitrix one was the only one available.

At the time I did this, I used a drawing from a book to highlight the differences between Britannias and the Duke, and sent it to the then Society Trade liaison officer, who had requested them and he thought about making some conversions for selling on, but I don't know if he ever did.

Martyn

[Le Night ferry]

I made one from a Minitrix Britannia many years ago (25+), which featured in 'Railway Modeller'.

The firebox should be marginally longer than a Britannia, there are other detail differences, but I have to admit the valve gear alterations leave a lot to be desired. I did alter the shape of the cylinders with model filler to get closer to the looks of the real ones. I used a double chimney from, I think, BH Enterprises, which was the only supplier I could find at the time; the high sided tender conversion also came from there.

It swapped tenders from a BR1E 4250 gal/10T coal to a BR1J 4325 gal with coal pusher in late 1957. These were both high sided.

New nameplates and numbers were probably Fox transfers, I can't remember.

I'm sure that with care and a bit of work, many of these alterations could be done to the Dapol version. At the time I did mine, the Minitrix one was the only one available.

At the time I did this, I used a drawing from a book to highlight the differences between Britannias and the Duke, and sent it to the then Society Trade liaison officer, who had requested them and he thought about making some conversions for selling on, but I don't know if he ever did.

Martyn

There were many differences between Brita and Duke. For tender, BR 1D tender from Dapol's Firth could be similar with Duke's tender.
Did you milled down original one to attach double chimney? Dapol's Britannia have chimney molded with boiler(cannot be separated)
I don't think I could make exactly version of n gauge Duke, but I could make similar version. Since I live in Japan. It will be long term project, but I hope it is worth.

[martyn]

Yes, there are differences, but many are relatively minor. It depends on how much you'd like the Duke. If you want 100% accuracy, then take no notice of what I did. Or wait for a manufacturer to produce it, which could be a long time, though not impossible.

As I said, I used the Minitrix Britannia as my starting point. I gently cut and then filed the chimney off and smoothed the smokebox top before attaching the new one.

The Dapol BR1D can be used as a basis for the tender, as you say. If you want a coal pusher, it can be fabricated from plastic card and tube, though I later found out that a cast one was/is available (BHE again?).

I did not intend making and exact model of the Duke, but a representation. For a start I didn't try and make the correct valve gear but modified the original Minitrix one to look more like the real one, likewise the cylinders. And by using photos, additional parts, and fabricating others, I got a reasonably close version, enough for me. And yes, you could do exactly the same.

Good luck!

Martyn

 

[5944]

It swapped tenders from a BR1E 4250 gal/10T coal to a BR1J 4325 gal with coal pusher in late 1957. These were both high sided.

It's current tender is a BR1C modified into a BR1E, but it's still different to the one it had in service - the back has been modified for extra water space.

[martyn]

I was just referring to its BR service. I think one of these tenders later went to a 9F.

I have no references or details for its preservation alterations.

Martyn