Great British Locomotives Magazine

[ten ten]

I've had the same thoughts on the origins of the models- some model aircraft web posters seem to be of that opinion on the products of an earlier fighter part work.Am also somewhat suspicious of a publisher I can find little on the web.So far theres been no publicity on TV usual with other part works,nor has this magazine appeared in the South west.It all seems a little odd.

[paulmblythe]

There is a similar helicoptor magazine out at present. I bought the sea king issue. It looks almost identical to the corgie model but with much poorer fit and finishing. I plan on stripping it down and rebuilding it or using it in conversion. I suspect the railway series may be similar.

[Atlantic 3279]

Your comments fit in with my limited research into the publisher.

[paulmblythe]

Even if they arent brilliant models, for the money they could well be usefull as spares or stabled in the background to make your layout look more busy

[2002EarlMarischal]

Wow at £18.00 plus £5.95 postage (21.50 hrs on 25/3/13), were getting to the point where it is a better bet to pick up the real thing (Hornby A4) on eBay and get a (maybe non-working motor) and chassis thrown in!

[Atlantic 3279]

You spotted it too.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GREAT-BRITISH ... NA:GB:1123

It caused me some difficulties with bladder control when I saw the latest price!

[ten ten]

Strewth- A collectors item already ? I am very unwilling to allow a direct debit /access to account numbers /standing order via the website for about £18 per two issues when the invitation does not specify number of issues ,little advance info on the longer term models,contact address of any sort ,nor rights to later cancellation. If similar titles are in region of twenty or thirty issues,(which appears to be the case from aircraft modellers websites),the total outlay could be in the hundreds for the possibly small number of locos of interest to me. These may be similar to others available in the market place for less total cost. I need a lot more info before I complete a subscription form for a magazine yet to appear on the shelves,and see the quality of the product first hand.Of course,the info might be in this first edition, or be made available , if so, I would reconsider my misgivings,and am open to correction.

[2002EarlMarischal]

My Great British Locomotives Magazine c/w Mallard has arrived.

The magazine runs to 16 pages edited by Tony Streeter. Illustrations in colour and black and white, content quite good, and probably enough to whet the appetite of a potential enthusiast, which could be good for the hobby.

The list of future issues includes:

LMS Coronation
LNER A3
SR Schools
GWR City
BR 9F
Locomotion
BR Deltic
LMS Black 5
GWR 28xx
SR West Country
Rocket
BR Western diesel
GWR Castle
BR 4MT 2-6-4T
SR N class
LMS Princess
LNER J39

No mention of a V2 as stated earlier in the thread sadly!

I'm about to compare the model to the Hornby version.....

[Rlangham]

Locomotion sounds good! I don't think anyone's done a OO Gauge model of it at all and i've always thought it a crying shame, same with other locomotives....

As another poster has mentioned, they'd be useful for filling layouts, I don't understand why many others, apart from Airfix/Dapol and Knightwing, make purely static locos designed for this purpose. The Del Prado locomotives in 1:160 are useful for scene filling too and at least three are of use for NER prototype conversions...

[2002EarlMarischal]

I have removed the moel from its plinth. Inevitably one of the screws proved reluctant and I had to drill it out! In the process I broke off the front near side buffer - glued back easily enough!

Anyway, here it is alongside the Hornby super detail R2339 version in my LNER Speed Record Holders Cabinet:

Standing on the track, the model is slightly nose-down, the front buffers being below the level of the Hornby model's tender buffers. I think you can see this from the picture above and the two below.

Hornby:

GBL Model:

The parabolic curve is too heavy and too high along the bottom edge when compared with Hornby. Clearly the handrails are too thick and the detail not so sharp. Overall however this is not a bad effort at all. I'm tempted to say it is better than the previous Hornby A4 model and the current Bachmann!

For a static shed view, maybe with some weathering, this model would be quite acceptable. Replacing the handrails, buffers, whistle and safety valves, and some would struggle to tell the difference.

[2002EarlMarischal]

Here are some tender shots:

Faults:
The sides bow a little, the letters are not central, but as we know from Hornby's Commonwealth A4 that had the same problem, and again the handrails are too thick, and buffers need replacing. Again though, this is not bad!

[2002EarlMarischal]

Finally, I paid £14.49 including postage, and as I said earlier in this thread, the time and fuel I used trying to track a copy of the magazine down, makes the model a great buy even at that price.

If subsequent issues are comparable then I might be tempted to subscribe, pick and chose the ones I want to keep and sell the others on eBay.

I just wish there were more LNER models in the offing.

[MikeTrice]

From memory the V2 was listed on their website which showed a slightly different list from the magazine. Since then the web site has been changed to be brought in line with the magazine.

The original magazine stated it was produced in association with the NRM and my first assumption was that the proposed models matched those in the national collection. The inclusion of a J39 however seems to throw this theory out of the water.

I seem to recall also that the Deltic mentioned is the prototype.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Note that all of the models on that list are available RTR...(including Rocket to an extent with the old Triang tooling)

[Rlangham]

Apart from Locomotion