Janus

Another industrial type shunter built by the Yorkshire Engine Co. of Sheffield, this centre cab 0-6-0 diesel-electric was trialled on British Railways for a short time. It did not become part of capital stock and was returned to the builders. No orders were made, although the type did find extensive use on industrial railways. The livery whilst on trial was a dark green (not dissimilar to BR Green) with yellow beams and coupling rods.

Judith Edge Kits make an etched brass kit of this locomotive. I have in fact bought one and it has been sitting on the 'to build' shelf for a while. As usually happens, Oxford Die Cast have announced that they are to produce a RTR version due late 2016 for Golden Valley Hobbies. As such, I will hold building the kit to see what the RTR version is like. Well, the Golden Valley Hobbies model arrived in July 2017 very good it looks too. So I bought one, two years later!

New model 'out of the box'

The model looks good and runs well and as it was at a 'bargin price' from Hattons, cost me less than the wheels, motor and gearbox for the kit would have, so a bit of a no brainer. Having said that, as an industrial locomotive, there were quite a few detail differences between locomotives. The model I have bought is not quite like the BR Janus. Immediately noticeable differences are the front handrails and the lack of a headlight fitted to the exhaust stack. There are smaller differences such as the cut away at the top of the beams. A detailed examination of the BR version will be needed.

First thing to do, is to take the body apart and strip the paint., always a painful thing to do to a nice RTR model!