Well I have set myself the challenge of building an Australian c38 locomotive using as many Hornby M1 standard parts as possible. It also needs to navigate 1ft radius curves on my layout.
(Image Wikipedia/public domain)
I am using mainly Hornby M1 Locomotive parts as Australia wasn’t very affluent during the mid century and any Hornby Australian specific loco would have had to be a volume seller. A scratch around in the spare parts cupboard came up with a rusted M1 shell and a surprisingly good mechanism.
The locomotive needs to be lengthened by six cm’s in total so as a front bogie can be fitted. To achieve this I added a galvanised sheet belpaire firebox. Luckily I had a shovel handle that was the rite diameter to form the galvanised sheet around. I feel the firebox is to long so will shorten it when back in the workshop.
I am not entirely happy with the shape of the firebox either. Maybe I need to go to a more realistic square shape?
interested in your thoughts...
