"Gresley streamlined P2 - further updates"

Some time ago I started work on modifying one of Hornby's Railroad P2 locomotives into a streamlined variant. The identity of this engine has been picked, but it won't be immediately obvious which P2 it is.

Today I've been mostly concerned with adding handrails, the lubricators and generally tidying up the cuts made in the body shell to fit the A4 front end. It's nowhere near a patch on Graeme King's excellent P2 conversion (which you can find on the LNER forum) but it serves.

For anyone interested, I've used Bachmann V2 valve gear, virtually unmodified, using the same Hornby hexagonal screw to fit the valve gear on as is used on the normal Caprotti valve gear normally found on the base model.

As you may have guessed, my model will be wartime black once all of the modifications are done.

Until next time...

"Gresley's P2 Class Locomotives - Andrew Hardy"

The P2 Steam Locomotive Company is delighted to exclusively announce the publication of an all new book on the P2 class locomotives in conjunction with Ian Allan Publishing. 

The book, written by the Trust's researcher and archivist Andrew Hardy will feature new and unseen photographs, letters and other material never previously printed making this the must read book on the class. 

A contribution from the sale of each book will go towards No. 2007 Prince of Wales. This will be higher if bought direct from the Trust. 

Pre-orders are available now through the Trust for publication in May 2016 with no money required until final publication. To pre-order or for more information please email andy.hardy@p2steam.com

I would like to assure readers of my blog that this book is worth purchasing. It is, in my opinion, the most balanced and fair account of these locomotives ever written: it includes never-seen before archive material, and the fact that its sale directly contributes to the building of no.2007 Prince of Wales is a further bonus.

Quite frankly, if you love the locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley, you need this book in your collection.

Until next time.