Flushed with success after the completion of the Bulleid Pacifics I'm going to finish no less than three LNER A3 Pacifics in Z. The most famous member of the class is 60103 'Flying Scotsman' arguably the most famous steam loco in the world and Atlas editions released it as their first model in their Z range This loco with issued with two Gresley teak coaches at an introductory price of £4.99 to get you hooked into the rest of the series.. Quite a nice model and easily motorisable. In real life we British railfans have a bit of a Love-Hate relationship with this pampered show pony which has cost its previous owners and now the National Railway Museum huge amounts of money. The staggering amount of money wasted to get it back out on the main line beggars belief and I understand from friends in the know that its reduced haulage capacity and only being allowed to run at reduced speeds means it will never make a profit on railtours At Barrow Hill roundhouse after restoration Now I have had one running around on a Marklin chassis for a while alongside a cast white metal example done by Z-Club GB that fits the same chassis. The cast one was showing signs of paint wear after a fairly hard life at shows and the Atlas Apple green one was staring to bother me as not being the right configuration for the colour it was painted. Without going into too much detail as a double chimney one with no smoke deflectors it should only be British railways 'Brunswick' green. So when I was having the mass painting and lining session of the Bulleids these two A3s were given a repaint and lining at the same time but the names and numbers were left blank. The cast body one with its single chimney will become 60090 'Grand Parade' seen here ex Doncaster Works in 27/05/1959. The locos were nearly all named after famous racehorses (Doncaster Racecourse, venue for the St Leger race is only a short distance from the LNER's vast works in the town). The repainted Atlas will become one of the genuine double chimney ones 60066 'Merry Hampton' is seen at Doncaster station on a London bound express in August 1960. Note the teak bodied coach just behind the loco, sadly by this time the gorgeous varnished teak would have been overpainted in BR Maroon More soon Kev
Now I have another un-modified Atlas one still in BR Green which I'm tempted to fit a single chimney to it, leave it in Apple green and maybe, just maybe model it in the condition it came back from its Australian tour in. Seen at Tapton Junction in Chesterfield (which my next Z layout will be based on) in April 1990 Knowing we had time we all jumped into my Ford Granada Scorpio and blasted off into the hills to catch it again Seen at Grindleford in Derbyshire going very,very slowly. It was heading back to Steamtown in Carnforth but British Rail had increased the superelevation of the track to suit the newly introduced Class 158 DMUs and there were very serious doubts about whether it would fit under the roadbridge Canon F1, 400mm F2.8 lens, Kodachrome 64 sod digital, proper old school High drama!
60066 'Merry Hampton' (Atlas editions body on Marklin chassis) on 'Bradford-Kings Cross' express made up of LNER Gresley teak coaches. 60062 'Minoru' ( Z-Club-GB cast white metal body on Marklin Chassis) on 'Yorkshire Pullman'. 4472 'Flying Scotsman' in the yard (Atlas editions body on Marklin Bay s3.6 chassis) tender still needs Marklin eight wheel underframe and the pre-printed lettering and numbering are going to have the correct Gold ones overlaid WD 2-10-0 and BR Green class 37 on shed (Both shapeways on Marklin Chassis)
