A War Dept Locomotive Saga
Philip Worsfold recalls how he converted some of his British Outline locomotive stock to run on his SNCF layout Lusigny-sur-le-Loir.
Some members are aware of my interest in French railways. This interest overlaps with my British interest in the form of the locomotives that served in supplying the troops and in the rehabilitation of liberated countries after the Second World War. Given a certain licence in time and scale, I can have War Department locos running on my French layout.
My first attempt at producing a ‘Frenchified’ version of a British locomotive, hinged around the Dean Goods. This was more than just a repaint, since some of these locomotives were actually taken into the stock of the French Railways during the war and they made various modifications other than those such as fitting with Westinghouse brake, applied by or for the military. So emerged 030W40, with extended cab (Photo 1 along with an unmodified model)
The next modification involved a Jinty, several of which served in France during the war, having got left behind after Dunkirk – the ones that didn’t end up in the harbour there. I transformed, by simply removing the vacuum pipes, the BR insignia and re-numbering, a Bachmann model into 030TW42, which survived the war years as a shunter, not fitted with Westinghouse brake. It worked on the docks at Le Havre and despite this hazardous career, along with the other survivors, returned to Britain to be refurbished and returned to LMS stock just before the British railways were nationalised.
By now I had read quite a bit about the careers of British locomotives in France and found a picture (Photo 2) of W^D 2-8-0 No 78580 parked at Stratford, London, just after its return to Britain. The marking on the tender was a bit curious, but I was just able to establish what the lettering between the W and the D was. Reference to an article in a French modelling magazine confirmed that the loco had been shedded at Chalons (sur Marne) and that was what was painted on the tender. I got hold of a Bachmann WD 2-8-0, the LNER version, No 3085 with Westinghouse brake. I effaced the LNER lettering on the tender and the numbers on the loco, replacing them with the markings in the picture, (photo 3 – on my French layout). The real loco became 90379, and, incredibly, I discovered it was the loco at the head of a coal train crossing a new bridge I had photographed. I had designed this bridge early in my railway career and had visited the site, not far from Wakefied and took a picture of my handiwork when it was not quite completed, with the train crossing it. Sadly the slide became degraded, but I still have the caption!
Then the W^D bug really took hold; and I bought another 2-8-0; this time a khaki green one, No 78697. This was basically the same model as before, but I did not want the specific regimental markings on it. So again I did a modest partial paint job to remove the specific markings on the cab side and on the tender; on the latter, replacing them with a WD arrow head.
Then, more recently Bachmann brought out a revised version of the model in immediate post war black livery, nominally LNER No 77003, with unlettered tender and the only LNER indication being the class number O7, and shed allocation, Mexboro on the front buffer beam. I tried out all my 2-8-0’s on the club test track and found that for some reason, the pony truck of the newer version kept derailing at one point on the circuit, whereas the older locos, although close coupled were perfectly all right.
Until recently that was the last time I had a definite recollection of it, although I thought I could also have tried it out on our Tiverton Junction layout. I searched high and low for it, including at the clubroom and at the Old Well, to no effect. I’d no idea where it had gone.
In desperation, I bought another one, on offer from Rails of Sheffield, to replace it. I had already decided to remove the class and shed markings and letter the tender W^D, which was why I had tried to look out the model again. This I did on the newly purchased model. Then when I was looking for something else, I found the missing model, which had been right in front of my eyes all along if only I had seen it, rather than just looked! So now I had two 77003’s. Did I need two? Well no, not really; so perhaps I should renumber one of them.
I looked at my transfer stock and had nothing suitable to achieve something simple; possibly a loco that could run legitimately on Tiverton Junction. 77001 or 77005 would do, but I didn’t have anything to achieve this. But I did have some sixes in the sheet number for some WD transfers. They were a bit too big, but I reckoned that I could cut them down and use the bits to change a cabside 0 into a 6. So early in May 2021, WD 77003 became WD 77063; whilst LNER 77003 retained its identity. I managed to re-jig the number on the front buffer beam using GWR numbers, which by good fortune were the same font as the originals, apart from the black edging. I’m quite pleased with the result (Photo 4) Photo 5 shows all four W^D 2-8-0’s on the lines passing through the fiddle yard on my layout, with the green, slightly modified 78697 in the middle of the picture. Beyond it on the opposite track are 78580 and 77003. 77063 is in the foreground.
Philip Worsfold recalls how he converted some of his British Outline locomotive stock to run on his SNCF layout Lusigny-sur-le-Loir.
Some members are aware of my interest in French railways. This interest overlaps with my British interest in the form of the locomotives that served in supplying the troops and in the rehabilitation of liberated countries after the Second World War. Given a certain licence in time and scale, I can have War Department locos running on my French layout.
My first attempt at producing a ‘Frenchified’ version of a British locomotive, hinged around the Dean Goods. This was more than just a repaint, since some of these locomotives were actually taken into the stock of the French Railways during the war and they made various modifications other than those such as fitting with Westinghouse brake, applied by or for the military. So emerged 030W40, with extended cab (Photo 1 along with an unmodified model)
The next modification involved a Jinty, several of which served in France during the war, having got left behind after Dunkirk – the ones that didn’t end up in the harbour there. I transformed, by simply removing the vacuum pipes, the BR insignia and re-numbering, a Bachmann model into 030TW42, which survived the war years as a shunter, not fitted with Westinghouse brake. It worked on the docks at Le Havre and despite this hazardous career, along with the other survivors, returned to Britain to be refurbished and returned to LMS stock just before the British railways were nationalised.
By now I had read quite a bit about the careers of British locomotives in France and found a picture (Photo 2) of W^D 2-8-0 No 78580 parked at Stratford, London, just after its return to Britain. The marking on the tender was a bit curious, but I was just able to establish what the lettering between the W and the D was. Reference to an article in a French modelling magazine confirmed that the loco had been shedded at Chalons (sur Marne) and that was what was painted on the tender. I got hold of a Bachmann WD 2-8-0, the LNER version, No 3085 with Westinghouse brake. I effaced the LNER lettering on the tender and the numbers on the loco, replacing them with the markings in the picture, (photo 3 – on my French layout). The real loco became 90379, and, incredibly, I discovered it was the loco at the head of a coal train crossing a new bridge I had photographed. I had designed this bridge early in my railway career and had visited the site, not far from Wakefied and took a picture of my handiwork when it was not quite completed, with the train crossing it. Sadly the slide became degraded, but I still have the caption!
Then the W^D bug really took hold; and I bought another 2-8-0; this time a khaki green one, No 78697. This was basically the same model as before, but I did not want the specific regimental markings on it. So again I did a modest partial paint job to remove the specific markings on the cab side and on the tender; on the latter, replacing them with a WD arrow head.
Then, more recently Bachmann brought out a revised version of the model in immediate post war black livery, nominally LNER No 77003, with unlettered tender and the only LNER indication being the class number O7, and shed allocation, Mexboro on the front buffer beam. I tried out all my 2-8-0’s on the club test track and found that for some reason, the pony truck of the newer version kept derailing at one point on the circuit, whereas the older locos, although close coupled were perfectly all right.
Until recently that was the last time I had a definite recollection of it, although I thought I could also have tried it out on our Tiverton Junction layout. I searched high and low for it, including at the clubroom and at the Old Well, to no effect. I’d no idea where it had gone.
In desperation, I bought another one, on offer from Rails of Sheffield, to replace it. I had already decided to remove the class and shed markings and letter the tender W^D, which was why I had tried to look out the model again. This I did on the newly purchased model. Then when I was looking for something else, I found the missing model, which had been right in front of my eyes all along if only I had seen it, rather than just looked! So now I had two 77003’s. Did I need two? Well no, not really; so perhaps I should renumber one of them.
I looked at my transfer stock and had nothing suitable to achieve something simple; possibly a loco that could run legitimately on Tiverton Junction. 77001 or 77005 would do, but I didn’t have anything to achieve this. But I did have some sixes in the sheet number for some WD transfers. They were a bit too big, but I reckoned that I could cut them down and use the bits to change a cabside 0 into a 6. So early in May 2021, WD 77003 became WD 77063; whilst LNER 77003 retained its identity. I managed to re-jig the number on the front buffer beam using GWR numbers, which by good fortune were the same font as the originals, apart from the black edging. I’m quite pleased with the result (Photo 4) Photo 5 shows all four W^D 2-8-0’s on the lines passing through the fiddle yard on my layout, with the green, slightly modified 78697 in the middle of the picture. Beyond it on the opposite track are 78580 and 77003. 77063 is in the foreground.
Photo 1 – The WD/SNCF Dean Goods No 030W40
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Photo 2. -
WD 2-8-0 No 78580 at Stratford, London, on return from France, 1947
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Photo 3. -
Model of WD 78580 on Lusigny-sur-le Loir.
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Photo 4. -
The renumbered and re-lettered 77063
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Photo 5. -
The four W^D 2-8-0,s 78697 in the middle of the picture, 77063 in the foreground. 78580 and 77003 are beyond on the opposite track.
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