Locos now sold

BR (ex GNR) Gresley class K2/1 2-6-0 no. 61742

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
BR (ex GNR) Gresley class K2/1 2-6-0 no. 61742
BR (ex GNR) Gresley class K2/1 2-6-0 no. 61742. This lovely model has been expertly built from scratch by Harold Humphries. In my early days of gauge O model building, a good friend of mine by the name of Graham Jaques used to tell me about “Harold”, an elderly gentleman who Graham looked upon as being his modelling mentor. Harold passed away and Graham, (who was a superb builder himself, good enough to win the Guildex Chairmans trophy with a scratchbuilt and painted GNR Atlantic) acquired this model. Now after Graham’s passing some years ago, I have acquired it and I must say that the old gent really could build a superb model loco. ABC gears, Slaters wheels and current collection by plunger pickups, this K2 runs very smoothly and powerfully.

BR (ex LNER) class K1/1 2-6-0 no. 61997 MacCailin Mor, Thompson rebuild of Gresley K4 class.

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
BR (ex LNER) class K1/1 2-6-0 no. 61997 MacCailin Mor, Thompson rebuild of Gresley K4 class. Edward Thompson’s rebuild of Nigel Gresley’s 3 cylinder K4 class no. 3445. Very nicely built by Jon Boot of the Denton Works, using the DMR kit as the basis of construction, but with many scratch details to portray accurately the rebuilt locomotive which was the prototype for the K1 class. With a Slaters GB30R-3M spur drive gearbox and motor unit and Slaters wheels he runs superbly. Very well painted indeed by John Cockcroft. In this condition a rare to see model of this unusual locomotive.

Highland Railway Jones Tank class 2-4-0T no. 59 Highlander

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
Highland Railway Jones Tank class 2-4-0T no. 59 Highlander
Highland Railway Jones Tank class 2-4-0T no. 59 Highlander. Spotted in a recent provincial auction in a filthy and playworn condition, it’s potential wasn’t lost though in my eyes. This rarely modelled locomotive, part of a class of three, was built in 1879 at the HR’s Lochgorm works. In this wheel arrangement they were used on the Aberfeldy and Burghead branches without too much success and in 1887 Highlander was rebuilt with a front bogie. In 1900 it’s name was removed, and in LMS days it was repainted into crimson lake livery and renumbered 15010. I have had in my collection a model of the same loco, in that condition. Unfortunately now sold, but an image of it is included here to show it in the lovely crimson lake. Originally built from a Shedmaster kit, with Slaters wheels, plunger pickup power collection and a single gear driven by a Mashima motor. Now cleaned and stripped of paint by myself, the once very rough running has been considerably improved by some intricate surgery inside the body. The chassis now lubricated and with clean pickups, now runs smoothly and quietly. The superb new paintwork in the even more lovely original Jones livery is by Warren Haywood.

L&NER (ex GCR) Robinson B2 (later B19) class 4-6-0 no. 423 Sir Sam Fay

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
L&NER (ex GCR) Robinson B2 (later B19) class 4-6-0 no. 423 Sir Sam Fay
L&NER (ex GCR) Robinson B2 (later B19) class 4-6-0 no. 423 Sir Sam Fay. Very well built from scratch, my preference, and not from a kit as it was described on Ebay. So a very pleasant surprise for me when I opened the box. Good quality cast iron wheels and the loco initially worked well with a single gear JH type motor and gear unit. However, in the forward direction only it ran out of puff after only a few minutes. (it seemed OK in reverse??). The motor did have a long flywheel spindle protruding from the back, so I thought it must be rubbing on the front face of the spectacle plate, but on investigation, no witness marks. Tried on the rolling road chassis only, still the same? So out came the gears and in with an RG7. Problem solved. He runs as good as he looks now.
Well painted in the 1923 L&NER green, Gortons version, which if the truth was told was no more than the works old stocks of GCR green with a gallon or two of white added to make it a bit brighter, (note the ampersand and also the GCR cabside numberplates).

BR (ex MS&LR) Parker N4 class 0-6-2T no. 69246

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold

Found recently on Ebay, I recognized this model instantly as being built by my good friend and superb modeller, Nick Dunhill. I won the auction without competition. Nick built this model in 2003 using the North Star kit as a basis of construction. He doesn’t do anything by halves. Many additional details have been added, not to mention fully working inside Joy valve gear. The same year he entered it into the Gauge O Guilds “Guildex” modelling competition at Telford, where it swept the board, winning the big prize of the Chairmans Cup and the Marylerayne Cup which is for kit built models. The model is featured in the November 2003 issue of the GOG Gazette. Slaters wheels, driven by an ABC gear and motor unit on the third axle. The leading two axles are sprung with hornblocks and guides. Power collection is by wipers on top of all of the driving wheels.

Since purchase I have had to make a modification, however. Disappointingly after arrival I find that someone in this models dim and distant past had “improved” it by adding DCC control and sound. That worked well, but as no space was available in the boiler, that person had just placed the DCC decoder, speaker and stay alive with all associated wiring, in the cab space. Not an improvement for me, so I have removed it and the model works very well DC only now. A shame, I know, but I don’t mind my models having well painted crew in the cab, but not a ball of screwed up wires which almost filled the cab space. Also disappointingly the Ebay vendor managed to somehow take his photos without showing this “feature”. I left positive feedback as the model is just superb. I’m happy.

LMS (ex L&YR) Aspinal 2P class 2-4-2T no. 10650.

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
LMS (ex L&YR) Aspinal 2P class 2-4-2T no. 10650.
LMS (ex L&YR) Aspinal 2P class 2-4-2T no. 10650. A recent purchase from auction and a lovely model with DCC control and sound, professionally built from the Lanky kit by Heather Kavanagh (see website), with superb fully working inside motion and Joy valve gear, Slaters wheels, wiper pickups and a top quality ABC motor and gear unit. Her brass nameplate “Built by Heatherkay.co.uk” is affixed to the underside as provenance.

BR (ex LMS) Stanier class 5MT 4-6-0 no. 45353

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold

BR (ex LMS) Stanier class 5MT 4-6-0 no. 45353. Very well built from the Javelin kit with Staters wheels and an ABC motor and gear unit and wiper pickups. Accurately painted in the livery that many black 5’s went into after nationisation of the British railways in the late 1940’s early 50’s and before the lovely LNWR style lining was applied on first repaint. Beautifully and skillfully weathered. No provenance of builder/painter/weatherer is known unfortunately. The O gauge finescale fraternity owe David Andrews for a great many quality locomotive kits. Many people wouldn’t realize that he designed the models that formed the original Gladiator range of kits and was joined by Alan Bullock, who later developed the Javelin range, the kits in which were also designed by David. At about the same time David sold the Gladiator range to Geoff Stratford, who continued to develop that range before selling it to the present owners Trisha and Dave Hill. David then concentrated on designing his new range of “David Andrews Locomotive kits”, until his retirement some years ago.

BR (ex LMS) rebuilt Royal Scot class 4-6-0 no. 46160 Queen Victoria’s Rifleman

Mick Bayliss Locos now sold
BR (ex LMS) rebuilt Royal Scot class 4-6-0 no. 46160 Queen Victoria’s Rifleman
BR (ex LMS) Royal Scot class 4-6-0 no. 46160 Queen Victoria’s Rifleman. I was offered this model, together with a Britannia, both in a part built/unfinished condition that was in need of a lot of clean up work, (there must be hundreds of similar build attempts sitting in cupboards or wardrobes around the country), at a very reasonable monetary cost. My challenge was to get them both completed to a working condition and to a standard fit to offer on this website. Here is the Royal Scot, (the Britannia awaits his turn on the back burner for now). Built from the (in my opinion) difficult but very well detailed College Models kit, with Slaters wheels. I have fitted an ABC motor and gear unit and current collection by plunger pickups bringing the model to a good working condition. The amount of detail on this model, all soldered, is superb, eg look at the AWS conduit clipped along the edge of the running plate and the detail of the sanders. Both areas where most modellers economise on the level of detail. Now completed with a Warren Haywood superb quality paint and weathering finish, the model is available to be offered at a price that reflects its original cost to me.

LNER Gresley A4 class 4-6-2 no. 7 Sir Nigel Gresley

Mick Bayliss Loco commissions, Locos now sold

LNER Gresley A4 class 4-6-2 no. 7 Sir Nigel Gresley.

This is the second of my A4 restoration projects. “Kingfisher” is already elsewhere in these pages and another, (with skirts), is on the back burner awaiting its turn. I bought the three original models (all from Martin Finney kits) around the same time and they were in varying degrees of condition. One (Lord Farringdon) had been dropped and the resin body shell was seriously broken, but otherwise good and to scale 7 standards. I then found in an auction in Huddersfield a job lot of A4 parts. Again all Martin Finney. Two resin bodies and two tenders (both corridor type) included in the job lot. So I then had the parts to get on with “Project three Streaks”.

As I said earlier Sir Nigel here is the second and has turned out very well. It was originally “Merlin”. Bought from auction, in well built, but care worn condition, with a slightly damaged tender. An existing client of mine heard about my three streaks project and asked if one of them could be made into an LNER garter blue without skirts, and this is the result. Now with a new identity and a Huddersfield tender. Paintwork is by Warren Haywood. At a cost to him of roughly 50% of a Finney7 professional build and paint, I’m hopeful that my client will be as pleased with it as I am.