| Class 50 Notes: 50 149 | |
Article previously published in British Railway Modelling Vol.5 No.12 |
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Introduction to 50 149 "Defiance" |
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| Delivered new in 1968 from the
Vulcan Foundry at Newton le Willows, D449 (TOPS 50 049) was the last of the Class 50s
built and the only class member adapted for freight use. This made D449 unique;
following a career hauling Class 1-passenger trains the conversion for Trainload Freight
spoke of a possible future for this class even after plans to withdraw the Class from
revenue traffic seemed irreversible.
To provide the tractive effort required for freight, 50 049 received regeared refurbished Class 50 bogies for better starting tractive effort at low speeds at the loss of the 100-mph maximum top speed. In the last few years of Defiance's career, the conversion was reversed and the locomotive returned to top link duties with Network Southeast. |
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| The project defined | |
| Defiance is the only Class 50 to attract my attention, simply as a freight engine. My following of 50 149 Defiance has resulted in my only Class 50 model - to keep that is, as I have built other. Defiance was built for use on my new layout based on Goonbarrow junction. Defiance turned out to be a "super project". Well, the cost certainly was. By the time I had replaced the awful bogies supplied with this model with those from a Lima Class 37, the base model cost has doubled. The rest of the model conversion included updating of the bodyshell and a full repaint in Trainload Freight livery. | |
| Lima model assessment | |
| Lima Class 50 models are
described in detail in British Railway Modelling June 1997 issue, including post 1982
refurbished and un-refurbished "as built" forms and the liveries issued to date.
The early Lima tooling was for an unrefurbished locomotive; retrospectively
retooled as the real thing was subject to a heavy general repair at Doncaster. They
did release a few models in unrefurbished form but in post refurb. liveries, now these
models are collectable! Refurbishment centres on disposal of redundant electrical systems and a heavy general repair. Significantly for modellers, a new primary filtration system was installed to clean the air to electrical machines. A new interior bulkhead was constructed between the auxiliary generators and engine compartment. To improve ventilation, a new scavenger fan port was cut into the roof and grilles fitted to two former engine room windows. Dynamic brake equipment was removed; the characteristic recess plated over to match the rest of the roof profile. Some small cosmetic details were changed too; sanding gear was removed and the panels plated over. Headcode boxes were plated over and a new high intensity headlight installed in the front of each cab. A retrospective fitting to many if not all Class 50s is the cab to shore radiotelephone system, evident by a prominent aerial pod located on top of each headcode box. The Lima model in refurb. form lacks refinement. Most notably in the area of bogies roof detail and the retention of the sandboxes. Unfortunately, four of the body retaining clips are located on sandbox filler recesses, so a different method of retaining the body is needed. Lima have remodelled the No. 2 end roof in line with refurbishment but failed to add the grilles to the new clean air compartment windows. Nor has the headcode box plating been addressed correctly. Finally, the front cab windows look strange and those bogies need a change. The most suitable model for this conversion is a post 1982 refurbished example; I chose a model of 50 015 in departmental "Dutch" colours as my donor model. Check that your model is not a limited edition collectable before taking a scalpel to it. The Lima Collectors Association will love me if I advocate the butchery of all Lima models. A recent rumour suggests that there will be an improved version of the Class 50 from Lima in 2001 - we shall see... |
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| Bodyworks | |
| Roll out a selection of
A1-Railmatch etched brass detailing components for this project: Roof fan grille;
scavenger port cover; headcode panels; radio aerial roof pods; front footsteps and lift
rings; side grilles and oval buffers. From Details West came brake cylinders for the
bogies. Bufferbeam detailing came from a Roco pack and finally a selection of wire and
styrene for minor details and handrails. It is possible to obtain quality new fittings from ShawPlan for Class 50 headcode box detail including the correct frames and correctly profiled window frames. Remove all unwanted moulded detail with a sharp scalpel, paying particular attention to moulded handrails and jumper cable detail located on the cab fronts. Pare down the window frame on the two former engine room windows to prepare for fitting of the new grilles. Remove the headcode panel detail except the air horn grilles. Finally, drill out and remove the cooling fan grille in the roof, only cut up to the rim. The rim must be retained; pared down to accept the new etched brass fan grille. Select two equal pieces of Milliput filler from each tube and blend them together until an even colour is obtained. Fill all eight of the sandbox filler recesses. Fill the two former engine room windows at the No. 1 end and touch up any body damage and scratches with the remainder of your filler. Leave to harden overnight before rubbing down with grade 1200 wet and dry paper. Use this process to rub away any printed decals and rough paint at the same time. The cab windows on a real Class 50 are styled sloped away from the centre line. Those represented on the model are more like the Class 87; plane and straight. To modify this cosmetic feature requires subtle modelling and a gentle touch. Commence by paring away the moulded window frames. Remove the moulded rainstrip from the cab front at the same time using a gentle paring action with a sharp scalpel. This feature should mirror the cab windows by rising to a very shallow point on the centre line. Fit a piece of 40 by 60 thou styrene strip to the top frame of the cab window, securing it with a minute amount of Plastic Weld. Leave to dry before re profiling the cab window with very gentle strokes of a fine cut file. Clean any burrs away with wet and dry paper. Refit the rainstrip with 10 thou square styrene strip using small amounts of solvent. Remodelling of the cab windows is subtle, so don't over do it. Finally drill out the cab front for new handrails and jumper cables. Use a 0.5mm drill to accept handrails made up from 0.45mm brass wire. Fitting new components comes as a relief after stripping the bodyshell of so much detail. Simply use Araldite "Rapid" as an adhesive for grilles and bodyside lift rings. Super detailing is straightforward enough when good photographs are used to locate all of the parts.
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