7mm Ace Products J67/J69

[RichardG]

Good evening.

Please, has anyone built the Ace Products kit for a LNER (ex-GER) J67/J69? I am tempted to buy one for my next loco project.

I am finishing off Jim Mcgeown's kit for a starter loco (like the Tri-ang Nellie/Polly/Connie) built as a crane tank and this has worked out well and rather exceeded my expectations of what I can do.

I imagine for the Ace kit I will need to roll the boiler or find a suitable length of copper pipe, but apart from this it looks like the simplest tank engine in the World and it would be very suitable for my Heybridge railway project. On the other hand, the kit costs a lot less than Jim's kit for a J68 (the J68 isn't as suitable for my layout) so maybe I will be letting myself in for making or buying some additional or replacement parts?

All thoughts gratefully received.

GER J.67 or J.69 0-6-0t

 

[Paul Tomlinson]

I've Jim's old kits for the J67 and J69 - which he sold with a bag of J68 castings.
I bought some brass tube suitable for the boiler from Eileen's Emporium, but Jim had included rolled boilers. Ragstone do many nice J67/9 castings, and so does Laurie Griffin. Eastsidepilot of this parish advertises milled brass components to convert the Connoisseur J68 to other variants. The Ace kit began life as a Ravenscale kit many years ago, and is likely to be of a lesser standard than the Connoisseur J68. HTH.

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

Many years ago I bought the Ravenscale kit, I gave up on it due to the inaccuracies in the etches. If I remember correctly the two sides were not the same size nor the front and rear spectacle plates just for starters. I was a pretty inexperienced modeller at the time so didn't feel I could make a model of which I'd be proud. Would I have a go at it today, no; I'd rather have a go at scratch building it or go for a rather better alternative.
My view is that many of these less expensive kits often end up costing much more after adding all the improved parts. That's apart from frustration and wasted time


Tim

 

[RichardG]

This is easy then; some good old-fashioned deference makes my decision for me.

I am hoping to build Jim's J15 next autumn/winter and this will provide all of the through GER to Heybridge workings I can reasonably hope for. And, I can start thinking about a prototype for the Heybridge railway's second traffic locomotive, taken on to supplement its Manning Wardle, to build instead of a J67.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

The Connoisseur 68 kit can be used as a basis of other variants of the ex GER J67, 68 and 69 tanks but be aware there were many detail differences, altered over time, more than you'd imagine if you don't know the prototype plus it depends on your chosen era also. .

As for the products from Ace,.......have you seen the price of a pint of milk lately !

Col.

 

[RichardG]

Ah ha. Connection made in brain . . .



plus

LNER Encyclopedia: The Holden J67 and J69 (GER Class R24, R24 Rebuilt, & S56) 0-6-0T Locomotives

I don't know about the A26.

I think what I want is an R24, built 1890 to 1901.
My second choice would be an 1899 R24 with standardised boiler.
My third choice would be an R24 rebuilt, 1902 onwards.
Anything later (like the S56) is a bit too limiting for my period, which is 1889 to 1913.

The nice thing about the R24 rebuilt is, of course, I would still have to build another GER loco to cover 1889 to 1902

PS If anyone fancies a period registration number for their car/van/bike, then R26 GER is up for sale online
R26 GER Personalised Number Plate - Reg Plates
Such is the breadth of a modern search engine with a numeric typo.

 

[Scale7JB]

This is easy then; some good old-fashioned deference makes my decision for me.

I am hoping to build Jim's J15 next autumn/winter and this will provide all of the through GER to Heybridge workings I can reasonably hope for. And, I can start thinking about a prototype for the Heybridge railway's second traffic locomotive, taken on to supplement its Manning Wardle, to build instead of a J67.

I know of a lovely Scale7 J15 that’s up for sale..

JB.

 

[allegheny1600]

Hi Richard,
Ah, all these lovely GE locos remind me of Iain Rice’s writings, very inspiring indeed.
Please forgive me for linking to the other place (bad form, sorry!) but here is a very interesting bit of information about rolling your own boiler;

Wright writes.....

www.rmweb.co.uk

If this doesn’t work properly, it’s post ??? Partway down page 2683 by Chuffer Davies.
I haven’t ever tried anything like this myself but his description of how it works sounds entirely plausible.
Cheers,
John