[moc] BR Thompson B1 4-6-0

LordsofMedieval · May 21, 2023

One of the nice things about these engines is that they dispense with a lot of the complexities inherent in a lot of other steam locomotives from Britain. For example: 1) the firebox is completely simple, 2) there's no angling at all on the boiler, and 3) the running boards are actually located above the drivers (thus eliminating the need for whatever unsatisfying solution to the 'fender problem' you decide to go with).

To the best of my knowledge, the B1s were only painted in black during the BR era. And I'm not a fan of black when it comes to British locomotives (why squander the opportunity for color)? However, I don't like the LNER green, either. So... dark red it is.

The main driving wheels are slightly over-sized - I used inverted #11s as stand-ins, but they'd be #12s on the actual model. It's a tiny difference, but means that they would actually fit (instead of barely clipping, as in the photos).

I can't do pipe work in Stud.io to save my own life... so there's nothing but the straight portions of the handrails.

Also, I did not do the 1% angle on the cylinders. It would have been nice, but I ultimately concluded that stability was more important that a tiny detail that the vast majority of people will overlook anyway. Without going into too much detail, because of the gap under the front of the smokebox, there's no way to affix the front frame to the boiler - it has to be connected to the rest of the engine back by the drivers. Thus, incorporating angled cylinders was going to weaken that connection to such a degree that I would have to sacrifice several other details just to achieve that one.

Interestingly, the model is under 1,000 pieces, which I think is really, really economical for a tender locomotive.