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Airfix Prairie Tank Engine


Ron Bell

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For some reason, recently, I got interested in the early Airfix RR subjects. While at SMW in England this fall I purchased a 2-6-2 Prairie Tank Engine from the Great Western RR. I did it OOTB with the exception of adding Woodland Scenics "coal" in the coal bin. It went together pretty well and was a fun build. The decals were pretty much toast, so I cobbled together some markings from generic lettering.

 

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They are billed as OO (1/76) scale,but they fit on HO (1/87) scale tracks nicely, so what scale they really are is up for grabs.

They are static models, but I've seen them mounted on a motorized main frame so they work as well. That would be a lot of work, so I think they are mainly for display and/or background on a layout.

Edited by Ron Bell
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Nice model Ron....Very impressed.

I have the Evening Star to build, the last Steam Locomotive built by British Railways in the early 60's. I was a young engineering apprentice at the time. The technical college I was going to organised a day trip to the Swindon works and I saw Evening Star just as she was finished building. I did not see her again for another 41 years until I visited the National Railway Museum in York.

The kit is still available as is the Prarie Tank via a company named Dapol who produce all the old Airfix railway stuff including the buildings. Previously some of the Airfix railway kits were made by a company named Rosebud Kitmaster. When Airfix took over the moulds they dropped some of the more unusual items that Kitmaster did. The U.S. Civil War'General' being one of them along with some continental European stuff. I agree with Ron about the decals. My Evening Star ones are very heavy. I would imagine his Prarie Tank loco was similar. Maybe there are some British model railway specialists who can supply better decals. I will be looking to find some for the Evening Star. So far I have found some photo etched brass nameplates for my loco that look much better than the kit decals.

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