Steve Johnson    Modelmaker

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Hudswell, Clarke 7055 and 7056 0-6-0DM

The LMS ordered two diesel mechanical shunters from Hudswell, Clarke that were delivered in 1934. In appearance they were similar to the builders industrial design. They were powered by an 8 cylinder Mirrlees-Ricardo diesel engine driving a Bostock & Bramley transmission. Unlike later versions of this type, there was no jackshaft drive. They were both withdrawn in 1939 and converted to mobile power units in 1940, MPU1 (7056) and MPU2 (7055). MPU1 was scrapped in 1964 whereas MPU2 was later transferred to the Eastern Region where it carried the number 953 and scrapped in 1956.

 

Mercian Models produced a kit of this locomotive for some time. Mercian have decided to concentrate on the larger scales and the 4mm version is no longer available. However, I caught Trevor just in time and managed to acquire a kit from some parts he had left over. Thank you Trevor!

Body and chassis roughly assembled

The body and chassis have had the major parts assembled. It is always good to take photographs during construction as you see things that need correcting before you go any further. In this case, apart from obvious filling of some of the gaps, the chimney looks distinctly wonky!

The noticeable thing with the kit is that it isn't quite the LMS version. So, I have made the front cab windows rectangular as they should be. Cabside windows also differed on the LMS version. There wasn't a window in the doors the cabside only had a small window. I have blocked these off with scrap etch and they will be filled and made flush later. I like to have a see through grille, so have cut out the the grille etched onto the bonnet frontpiece and added some fine mesh behind. The LMS version only had a handrail running along the top of the bonnet and either side of the doors. As such, the other handrails have been left off. The holes will be filled later. There is some rivet detail to add, but rather than punch these out, I will add some Archer Rivet Transfers later.

The chassis is intended for the jackshaft drive industrial and later BR versions of the locomotive. As such, I haven't added the bearings for the jackshaft. These will be filled in later. Suitable wheels, motor and gearbox are now required to progress further with the chassis. A Mashima 1024 with flywheel driving a High Level gearbox will do the trick here. The kit recommends Romford wheels and this is what I will use. The locomotive will be DCC once the chassis is proved to work.

The body having being completed was then primed. I chose to cut out the etched radiator grille and insert some fine mesh. I think this looks better. Satisfied with the body, I then painted it gloss black, using a Halfords car spray. I find for plain colours like this, they are as good as any. The buffer beam was sprayed with Halfords Volkswagon Mars Red which is very close to the railway colour. When dry, I then applied the Archer rivet detail on the beams and body. A further coat of the relevant paints sealed these in.

Decals were applied next, and I used the Modelmaster waterslide transfers as this is what I had to hand. These locomotives used the plain yellow serif style characters, 14in. letters and 10in numbers. The curved Hudswell plate that sits above the radiator was painted red and when dry, lightly abraded to reveal the brass lettering before fixing in place.

The chassis, having spent some time running in, was fitted with a DCC decoder. I chose to use a LaisDCC decoder with 'stay alive'. I have had good results from these decoders, although the maximum stall current has to be watched. Another problem I have had with all 'stay alive' type decoders is occasional surging. The cure is to disable dc running in CV29. Below is a picture of the completed chassis. The 'stay alive' capacitor does look a bit odd hanging there, but does in fact rest on the cab floor when the chassis is fixed to the body.

The body was then sprayed with Precision Paints satin varnish to seal the transfers and blend everything in. When dry, glazing was carried out along with fitting the sprung buffers, three link couplings (Exactoscale) and Alex Jackson couplings. The body was attached to the chassis. The only remaining small detail is a Hudswell makers plate to be fixed on the transmission cover.

7055 Rear View