Graham Farish Merchant Navy (latest model)

[exmouthcraig]

Evening All, currently going through the fleet of GF MN/WC/BoB locos, all GF Poole and early China models.

These have all had cab glazing, buffer beam detailing, replacement front bogies, new numbers and nameplates, real coal added and Headcode discs in an attempt to bring them upto date a little bit, they will also receive varying levels of weathering.

My question that relates to the new Merchant Navy is twofold,

1, has anyone renamed these and are the backing plates moulded to the casing or is it a separate lump with the nameplate on? And how easy is this to remove without damaging the surrounding body and paint??

2, these are to be dcc controlled and obviously have the 6pin plug in the tender (I think) which chip comes recommended? We won't be running sound but there will be slow running and a few points to negotiate between station and service shed.

I will probably fit this chip to all the locos, we have N's, Z's, MN's, WC's, 4MT tanks, 2MT tanks and M7s if I can convert them to dcc?

I am running Gaugemaster prodigy advance 2 set up and aim to run close to 30locos at this moment in time, however after items that appear at silly money here and there that might shoot up towards 40 very quickly.

Craig

[Newportnobby]

Being DC I can't answer the questions, Craig, but can I ask why the Schools, Std class 4 and Std class 5 don't appear on your list? Not sure I know what a Z class is, either

[exmouthcraig]

The simple reason Mick they never appeared on shed, as good as the schools are they never made it to where we model, standard class 4MT tank but no tender loco, same reason behind the 5. We have Zs because we can't get a W class. As much as I'd love them.

[Newportnobby]

Can you refresh my shocking memory, Craig? Is it Bournemouth and what years please?
Thanks

[Dr Al]

My question that relates to the new Merchant Navy is twofold,

1, has anyone renamed these and are the backing plates moulded to the casing or is it a separate lump with the nameplate on? And how easy is this to remove without damaging the surrounding body and paint??

When you say new model, I assume you mean the new tool streamlined one - if so then the nameplate part is separate, though I never bothered to remove it when renaming one - Fox's etched plates fit straight over the top being a pretty close size match.

Have a look for my workbench thread with 35017 in loco-exchanges guise to see pics of a nameplate change.

Cheers,
Alan

[longbow]

Best decoder for the MN and most other newer locos with the NEM651 socket is the Zimo MX622N aka Bachmann 36-568. For DCC ready locos that don't have sockets, choose a suitably sized wired Zimo or CT decoder. Their smallest decoders will fit invisibly into the cab of a 2MT or M7.

[exmouthcraig]

Thanks chaps, and thank you for your interest Mick, don't worry your not looking your memory, if you Can wait a few weeks, as they say  a picture paints a thousand words i aim to reveal the layout soon........Just need my dad (it is reportedly a joint venture) to give me a push with a few bits of track and wiring and get it to a standard that can be seen and will hopefully self explain everything

[Bealman]

Looking forward to this! 

[Newportnobby]

Thanks chaps, and thank you for your interest Mick

The reason I ask is this excellent site lists every loco allocated to sheds (in this case I've used Bournemouth) and there were many Std Class 4 2-6-0s but, as you pointed out, no Schools or Std Class 5s
http://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=locos&id=83

[Hailstone]

I looked at quite a few of the schools class on this database and came to the conclusion that they were all allocated to sheds on the routes to the kent area
I will leave the standard 5's to you

regards,

Alex

[Bob G]

Schools also ran down to Portsmouth and as they were displaced by Green CEPs on the Southampton and Bournemouth runs too.
Bob

[longbow]

By the late 1950s both Weymouth and Nine Elms had an allocation of Standard 5s, and these were regularly seen at Bournemouth. At that time Nine Elms also had a few Schools which certainly got as far as Weymouth now and then.