Henry V at Stafford Road

Martin Shaw

Western Thunderer
This model has just returned to me following some investigation of possible builders, thus far without success. I know nothing of its origins other than who one of the recent owners was. That he was is somewhat surprising as he didn't have a lot of time for Swindon or its products.

Whilst possibly not to current levels of aesthetics it does I feel capture the look of the prototype well and I think the proportions are generally correct, possibly the shape of the firebox is a bit exaggerated. What does catch my eye is the high quality of the rivets which suggests it might be a commercial model. Henry gained a double chimney in 1957 and whilst being circumspect possibly indicates being made earlier than then. I wonder whether it was built commercially, no doubt a good scratchbuilder would be capable but it does seem just that bit too fine.

Mechanically it works well enough including eccentrics on the front axle to derive the motion for the outside valve spindles although the tender frame is pretty awful. The paintwork is, well shabby and I might well have it done, but has anyone any thoughts about its origins.
Regards
Martin
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Martin Shaw

Western Thunderer
Ok a couple of photos of the underneath. The paxolin blocks between the main frames suggest a 3 rail/stud model originally and the tender is pretty crude.
Regards
Martin
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simond

Western Thunderer
I’m guessing from the mismatch between the cutouts in the tender tank bottom, and the wheels, it was rewheeled at some point - the wheels look quite nice - perhaps when being converted to 2-rail.

Best
Simon
 

Overseer

Western Thunderer
I think it could be a 1930s or 40s scratch build. It has quite a few similarities to locos built by members of the Victorian Model Railway Society in Melbourne during the late 1930s. They built accurate models of locos (and rolling stock) using stud contact and wheels of similar standard to these, much finer than coarse scale tinplate. Mentioning tinplate, they tended to use tinplate for the thinner sheetmetal and brass for the remainder, probably due to difficulty getting thin brass sheet at the right price. The King doesn't appear to have had alterations to the frames to suit finer wheels. They also made their own motors, usually 7 pole (always referred to as 7 slot because "there can only be two poles"). They usually mounted the stud contact skate under the tender and the motor in the tender with a fine drive shaft to the loco, so not quite the same as this one.

If it is as old as I think it might be I wouldn't repaint it, just touch up the paint missing from the tinplate cylinders etc.

Good luck with finding out more about Henry V.
 

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Great to see underneath & get a better idea of it's origins.
Now to decide whether to do any work on her & whether to repaint. How well does it run? If not great, I would replace the motor/gearbox with a Chaplin helical gearbox & Canon high power 1833 combination sold by MSC. Many of us who run on Richard's Heyside use these motor gearboxes because of their smoothness & quality.
Not clear from photo, but do front lamp irons need replacing?
A very impressive loco painter is Liz Marsden @ Cromford designs. I am taking a Gauge 1 loco to her att the ALSRM Reading show in a week's time. Her reasonable charges & waiting time of only a couple of months are surprising considering the high quality of her work.
Hope this helps. Steve
 
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