A British H0 Miscellany

[Richard Gawler]

A while ago I developed a British H0 habit. This was only loosely “British” because I considered anything which ran in Great Britain (including Continental outline subjects) and even subjects which were physically small enough to run here but never actually did.

I have been looking through my photos and it seems sensible to share them here. Many of the photos appeared on RMWeb but got lost, while the narrative here is new. In very broad terms, the models ought to be able to populate a modern scene with a local preservation society on-board, and such a layout is a possible project for me after I finish my 7mm scale Heybridge Railway.

My first loco conversion was the Matchbox MB-24, this was in October 2015.


The chassis donor is the Underground Ernie inspection car by Bachmann.


The wheelbases are nearly identical.


This is the power unit before modifications.


I gave the chassis new outside frames and a coupler at one end. The springs are Airfix/Dapol railbus ones.


There is enough space to include the cab bulkhead, just.


The body carries the coupler at the other end.


Everything fits together, not much space to spare but later I put in a DCC decoder.


The body colour is Halfords Volvo Dark Grey.

This is about right for H0, but a bit small for 00.

I remember I bought the source model on eBay for £1 plus postage. The result still runs really well. With its tiny wheelbase and rigid chassis this loco out-performs models which have cost me a lot more.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The Fleischmann Warship models are now over forty years old. They seem to run really well or barely run at all - I bought one of the good ones. I decided to fit mine with Ultrascale wheels and these I recall took ten months to arrive. So I reworked the model in stages spread out over more than a year.


This is Fleischmann’s original coupler. It looks like a tension lock but it doesn’t couple up to anything except another one.


This is a Kadee with an over-set shank, fitted onto the loco in its original condition.


I lowered the chassis onto the bogies when I installed the Ultrascale wheels.


The lowered model needs Kadees with a centre-set shank.


I shortened the draught gear box to clear the motor. I glued the original driving gears onto the backs of the new wheels and somehow these have stayed put ever since.


Incredibly, the Ultrascale wheels are so thin the lowered model still negotiates a Radius 1 curve. Though this is somewhat academic because the bogie stock it can haul needs Radius 2.


This green loco ran really well too but I decided one was enough and sold it. I couldn't face another ten-month wait but the wheel conversion was definitely worthwhile.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I cannot help thinking the older models were far more adaptable than the offerings of today. The Mehano class 77 for example has a solid lump of a chassis filling its insides - you get what you are given and modifications are really awkward.


I bought this one brand new and decided on its livery later.


There are two body styles for a BR class 66, with four or five doors. This one has five.


Photographer not confirmed, possibly Andi Walshaw. Unfortunately I've lost his contact details.

The three GBRf locos numbers 66 747, 748 and 749 are a good match to the HGK machine and I settled on the GBRf interim livery applied soon after the locos arrived in the UK. It is a simple scheme and it helps to date a layout very precisely, perhaps a bit too precisely.


The repaint is by Andi Walshaw, this was done in the autumn of 2016. Andi swapped out the moulded cab handrails for wire ones too, I think they lift the look of the whole loco.


These models are DCC-ready but I could not fathom out how to control the directional lighting. There were too many options available.


In the end I detached the lighting connections . . .


. . . and re-attached them so I had headlights lit at the leading end, tail lights at the trailing end, and everything on- and off-able from the usual F0.


The lighting clusters and the buffer heads are technically wrong for British practice. One day I will sort out the buffer heads and put some paint on the strip of styrene supporting the NEM pocket. The lights are too fiddly for me to deal with. This is a usefully powerful loco with drive to four axles and traction tyres on two axles.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The BR class 81 from Atlas Editions is out of sequence here but I will post it now to continue the theme of centrally-mounted motors with cardan shafts.



The model arrives on a length of track for display.


I bought a Hornby class 67 to donate the running gear. The Hornby bogie wheelbase and wheel diameters are correct for the class 81 in the smaller scale, but of course the bogie centres are much further apart. The difference in sizes of the body shells gives a clue to the task ahead.


My new chassis is styrene. The cardan shafts are the Hornby ones, much shortened. This creation ran remarkably well with the motor simply resting in place (and an umbilical cord) because of course there are equal and opposite reactions at the two ends. However, I could not pick up the model without it falling apart.


I did some test running with the Hornby pick-ups connected and the body in place, just to prove to myself that this was going to work.


The next task was to transfer the Atlas Editions bogie side frames onto the Hornby bogies.


The two Hornby bogies, with 00 class 67 sideframes (left) and H0 class 81 sideframes (right). This conversion was not difficult and clearly most any British electric or diesel prototype can be modelled in H0 using ordinary 00 or H0 wheels and without running out of width.


The drawgear was the most difficult part of the conversion. I ended up sawing the ends off the original chassis and gluing them on. The screw for the Kadee is reinforcing the join.

 

[Richard Gawler]

This is a LB&SCR E1 which I made from a Hornby Terrier. Geometrically, an E1 is about 15% bigger all round than a Terrier, and 87/76 (or 00/H0 if you prefer) is about 1.15, so the rebuild is limited to the height of the cab and detailing.


I shortened the cab by about 2mm and added some 00 window guards from Mainly Trains.


The bunker is extended (because this is one of the Isle of Wight locos) and filled with lead. The lead turned out to be a mistake because I ended up with nowhere to put a decoder.


The toolbox needs to be wider and the middle got filled in later.


A smokebox full of lead, a front fairing and an extended smokebox door.


I altered the front sandboxes to give them a new shape.


The completed model.



Never underestimate the covering power of Halford's grey primer and Volvo Dark Grey.


Few people would tackle a Terrier in H0, but a larger engine with splashers is clearly practicable.

This loco never ran particularly well. After a while I removed the motor, and it now runs in topped-and tailed preservation trains.

 

[Richard Gawler]

My last loco to post here is a former BR class 11, this is from the Roco model of an English Electric shunter used on Dutch Railways.


Most of the modifications to the body involve removing unwanted detail.


One tool box is shortened.


I used the first coat of primer as a witness coat while hiding the worst of my changes.


The only new details are the handrails.


The wiring for the decoder rather spoils the look inside the cab. One day I might have another go but the pcb is always going to be visible. This decoder is another Lenz Standard V2.


I copied the livery from a photograph of a similar loco being unloaded at a preserved railway.

When I started in H0 I went for Kadee couplers. Then I realised the RTR stock with its NEM pockets on cams needed a rigid coupling to make the close-coupling work properly. So at the moment I have Kadees on the stock for the local preservation society, and Roco Universal ones on the stock for the revenue-earning railway. The Fleischmann close coupling heads create a slightly tighter gap between vehicles and I might end up going for these eventually.