Re-number an RTR loco
Richard foster shows you the right way (and the wrong way) to apply new numbers to your models.
I’d hoped to talk about the locomotives for Gedney at a later stage, as researching my required fleet was a really fun part of the layout planning process. But switching to dcc threw a bit of a spanner in the works. the reason for going digital, as i explained last issue, was so i could operate my layout as close to the real thing as possible. this not only means running trains into the right sidings or loops, but including the locomotive and coach diagram too. i was inspired by chris evans’ ‘Run it like a real railway’ series from 2009 (was it really that long ago?) in which he studied timetabling and diagramming. i wanted ‘Gedney’ to look like the real thing, and that means making the train formations and combinations authentic, as well as the landscape. however, as with all aspects of the hobby, it would involve a degree of compromise. locomotive variety is also an important factor in choosing a subject to model. that’s why, for example, the somerset & dorset Joint Railway is such a popular railway to model. Nowhere else would you find such a blend of ex-lms, southern and Western motive power with a healthy smattering of BR standards. ‘Joint’ lines, by their very nature, often used a greater variety of motive power, and the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway was no exception. to achieve the diversity i wanted would involve tweaking history - but, hopefully, not excessively.
MIXED BAG
it’s probably fair to say that the M&GN locomotive fleet was not as exciting as that of the s&djr, at least in latter years. there were no Bulleid ‘Pacifics’, ‘7Fs’ or ‘9Fs’ thundering across lincolnshire and Norfolk. No, just a mixed bag of 4‑4‑0s and 0‑6‑0s - some Victorian, some slightly newer - with the odd 4‑6‑0
and 2‑6‑0 thrown in for good measure. the problem was that trains that traversed the whole M&GN had to cross bridges with severe weight restrictions. that wouldn’t be a problem if traffic on the M&GN was light. But it wasn’t. holiday specials to Norfolk were as heavy as those to the south coast, and the region’s agriculture provided a key source of freight revenue. h.g. ivatt’s ‘4Mt’ 2‑6‑0s were ideal for the post-war M&GN. they were powerful enough to pull the trains but light enough to cope with the weight restrictions. over 50 new ‘4Mts’ were delivered to the M&GN between 1950 and 1952 - key depots being Peterborough New england (35a), south lynn (31d), Melton constable
(32G) and Yarmouth Beach (32F) which gave the M&GN arguably the most standardised fleet anywhere on BR. Great for operating a real railway; less interesting for the modeller. I’ve already described what a boon Xpress Publishing’s The District Controller’s View No. 12 has been. The working timetable for the line through Gedney revealed an average day would include 13 different diagrams: five covered by Spalding shed, six from South Lynn and two Colwicksouth Lynn coal trains in each direction shared by South Lynn and Colwick diagrams. Of those 13 diagrams, eight were worked by Ivatt ‘4MTS’. That’s not the basis for an interesting layout, is it?
HISTORY TWEAK
I decided to ‘tweak’ history (see panel ‘Choosing the right ‘4MTS’) and inject some variety into the fleet, to emphasise the coming together of LMS and LNER motive power that was typical of the M&GN. But I still ended up with six Ivatt ‘4MTS’ - known as ‘Doodlebugs’ to M&GN crews. So why bring this up now? Because, for DCC, I’d need to tell them all apart. I’d hoped to leave fine detailing and weathering to the end of the build, but each locomotive needed a digital address - and that address is usually based on the running number. As we all know, manufacturers only produce selected numbers, so I had a couple of ‘Doodlebugs’ with the same number. To differentiate between them, I’d have to re-number them now before fitting and programming decoders. Just one snag: I’ve never renumbered anything before… I’ve built many Airfix kits over the years, so I’m comfortable applying waterslide decals. The problem was the removal of the printed numbers. The technique that George swears by - using T-cut automotive polish looked straightforward enough, but my biggest concern was that I’d have a polished cabside panel and the rest of the locomotive would be rather dull. Would I have to varnish the whole locomotive? There was only one thing to do: ignore my worries and get stuck in!