When will we ever see a Streamlined Duchess or Princess RTR

Started by paulprice, October 25, 2016, 10:39:32 AM

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paulprice

Is it just me, or am I the only one who longs for a RTR Streamlined Duchess, or a Princess in N gauge.

I know I would buy at least 3 of the Duchess and a couple of the Princess

I know you can go down the kit route, but surely Mr Bachmann or Mr Dapol can help, and start building some "proper" loco's  :-[


kiwi1941

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Wendell Phillips.

Eternal paranoia is the price of liberty: vigilance is not enough. Len Deighton.

Dr Al

The streamlined Duchess would be relatively cost effective for Farish to do - they'd need 3 new tooled components (I guess plus whatever subcomponents within those) - bodyshell; cylinder block, and tender body.

Seems eminently achievable - why not suggest to Bachmann.

Princess is more difficult - you can't simply put a princess body on a Duchess chassis (good approximation, but the exacting standards required of RTR would never allow a manufacturer to do this) - the cylinders are positioned further back, meaning valve gear is all shorter, there's a larger gap between the front and central drivers.

Cheers,
Alan
Quote from: Roy L S
If Dr Al is online he may be able to provide a more comprehensive answer.

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."Dr. Carl Sagan

NeMo

Quote from: paulprice on October 25, 2016, 10:39:32 AM
Is it just me, or am I the only one who longs for a RTR Streamlined Duchess, or a Princess in N gauge.

The obvious thought is that very few (3) were in streamlined condition at nationalisation, and only 1 ('City of Lancaster') ran for any length of time in that condition, being de-streamlined in 1949. The big marketplace for steam locos these days seems to be the 'transition era' so de-streamlined Coronations are the ones that will have the most appeal. On top of that you have three de-streamlined Coronations preserved, including two that have operated on the mainline throughout the diesel era, 'Duchess of Hamilton' and 'Duchess of Sutherland', making them even more sellable.

Of course now that 'Duchess of Hamilton' has been returned to streamlined condition, should she ever make it onto the mainline, the situation may change.

I'll add a personal thought here. The de-streamlined and non-streamlined Coronations, to my eye, looked better than the streamlined ones. Whereas the A4s were one-trick ponies, or rather racehorses, the Coronations were not just fast but ludicrously powerful machines. They were certainly much stronger than the diesels that replaced them (the Class 40s were nominally 2000 HP machines, compared to the maximum recorded ~3300 HP for a Coronation). Streamlining hides their massive and muscular build, and I think doesn't really show them at their best, even though it was very much the style of the 1930s, and interesting because of that.

Cheers, NeMo
(Former NGS Journal Editor)

paulprice

Quote from: Dr Al on October 25, 2016, 11:22:19 AM
The streamlined Duchess would be relatively cost effective for Farish to do - they'd need 3 new tooled components (I guess plus whatever subcomponents within those) - bodyshell; cylinder block, and tender body.

Seems eminently achievable - why not suggest to Bachmann.

Princess is more difficult - you can't simply put a princess body on a Duchess chassis (good approximation, but the exacting standards required of RTR would never allow a manufacturer to do this) - the cylinders are positioned further back, meaning valve gear is all shorter, there's a larger gap between the front and central drivers.

Cheers,
Alan

I must admit I really really want the Streamlined Duchess, I just can't be bothered going down the kit route, 1 because the Mini-trix chassis is hard to come by and nearly as old as me, and 2 everything I get a older Farish model it sort of gets added to the Fleet  :(

Dr Al

Quote from: paulprice on October 25, 2016, 11:32:37 AM
I must admit I really really want the Streamlined Duchess, I just can't be bothered going down the kit route, 1 because the Mini-trix chassis is hard to come by and nearly as old as me, and 2 everything I get a older Farish model it sort of gets added to the Fleet  :(

What about fitting the kit (sutably superdetailed with handrails etc) to a new tool Farish Duchess chassis?

Cheers,
Alan
Quote from: Roy L S
If Dr Al is online he may be able to provide a more comprehensive answer.

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."Dr. Carl Sagan

ScottyStitch

Is this not a good candidate for a 3D printed body? It being streamlined should make the process a bit easier to carry out.

I too prefer the un-streamlined body of these machines.

It is still perplexing that the A4s were chosen for the Aberdeen/Glasgow route over the Coronations, the latter being much more suited to the undulations encountered on the line than the A4s.

paulprice

Quote from: ScottyStitch on October 25, 2016, 11:42:19 AM
Is this not a good candidate for a 3D printed body? It being streamlined should make the process a bit easier to carry out.

I too prefer the un-streamlined body of these machines.

It is still perplexing that the A4s were chosen for the Aberdeen/Glasgow route over the Coronations, the latter being much more suited to the undulations encountered on the line than the A4s.
I suppose they had to find a use for those "streak" things :)

Portpatrick

Much as I like these 2 locos, the streamlined coronation, as others above have realised, will never fit my own interests.  The Princess could be a different matter, but to be honest, I am very happy with my BHE kit running on a robust old type coronation chassis.  It is not nearly so precise as modern offerings but it still captures the essence and is robust.  So personally I would not be in the market.

Shiney Sheff

Looks like I will have to open a book for bidding on the two I have then.    :laugh3: :laugh:

d-a-n

What were the carriages (with the stripes) that the streamlined Duchess locos ran with - were they unique to this loco or did they run with repainted Stanier stock? If there was to be a streamlined duchess, I'd be on it like a flash to run Rule 1 on my train set but would really need the correct carriages to go with it to complete the look!

zwilnik

Quote from: d-a-n on October 25, 2016, 04:32:30 PM
What were the carriages (with the stripes) that the streamlined Duchess locos ran with - were they unique to this loco or did they run with repainted Stanier stock? If there was to be a streamlined duchess, I'd be on it like a flash to run Rule 1 on my train set but would really need the correct carriages to go with it to complete the look!

They were specific to the service I think. The Coronation Scott.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_Scot

As far as RTR, I would have thought its best chance would be as a train pack rather than just the loco as it looks its best with the striped carriages. The downside of this is you'd be looking at a fairly expensive pack and so far the various full train packs (prior to Revolution's ones anyway ;) ) haven't exactly sold out quickly, but with the current economic climate and model railways become more and more of a luxury item, I suspect the more successful projects will be the more expensive ones where there's a bit of a margin for profit. (fewer actual number of sales, but similar overall profit ).

As someone who bought the Brighton Belle as an iconic train for my layout in full Rule 1 mode (and would probably have bought the Pendolino and Midland Pullman if I'd had the readies) I know there's an appeal to the iconic trains.

paulprice

Quote from: d-a-n on October 25, 2016, 04:32:30 PM
What were the carriages (with the stripes) that the streamlined Duchess locos ran with - were they unique to this loco or did they run with repainted Stanier stock? If there was to be a streamlined duchess, I'd be on it like a flash to run Rule 1 on my train set but would really need the correct carriages to go with it to complete the look!

I have pictures of various Streamliners pulling regular coaches, I think especially in the war years they pulled anything

Yet_Another

Yebbut what's the point of that?

I would buy a complete streamlined train, but wouldn't be interested in just a loco. Totally wouldn't fit with my railway, but hey, that's how I ended up with a HST.
Tony

'...things are not done by those who sit down to count the cost of every thought and act.' - Sir Daniel Gooch of IKB

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