Max Stafford's Kennel

Finally! Some modelling interest!

It’s long been a plan of mine to fill one of my display cases with examples of Scotland’s once extensive railway equipment output.

Above are two recently arrived models, both of great significance.

The blue locomotive is an example of the Caley’s ‘903’ or Cardean Class, generally regarded as that company’s flagship locomotive type.

The green locomotive is an example of the N***h B*****h Railway’s equivalent; the Reid ‘Atlantic’.

Both models were built from Cast kits, produced by GEM in the 1970s and now pretty hard to find.

Dimensionally they are a little compromised due to the limitations of 1960s/70s casting technology and also in the case of the 903, the fact that the kit was designed, as many of that era were, to fit on an off the shelf Triang/Hornby chassis.

No problem, I’m sure it will be possible to adapt them to modern finescale requirements but meantime, my priority is to finish Cardean in the correct lined blue livery; that shown is the earlier dark blue which isn’t correct for the 903s.

The Atlantic will be returned to the original NB lined olive livery and may well end up carrying the name Waverley if I can find suitable decals.

I’m off to Perth tomorrow so hopefully I will find the correct shade of blue for 903. It appears that Royal Air Force PRU blue corresponds the Correct BSC reference for Caley light blue so I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled at the Phoenix stand for a tin!