Highland Railway Small Ben Project
My next loco project is a Highland Railway Small Ben or "Wee Ben" as the Scots affectionately called them. My starting point is the pack of etches produced for this engine by the HRSoc and available from Phil Giles. I was asked the other day whether I’d made a start and, though I’ve not assembled anything yet, on reflection answered, "Yes, at least I’ve started spending money on it". Getting all the bits and pieces together is just as much a part of the project as putting it all together, and there are decisions to make, such as; which pick up system to employ; and which particular engine is to be modelled? I intend to use the "American" pick up system in this loco, I’ve not tried it before and it’s less complicated than the system I employed on my previous Skye Bogie project and still does away with the need for pick ups rubbing on the backs of wheels. I managed to get together all the books, drawings and articles suggested in the project guide, some of which Phil Giles kindly sent me, and was able to make an informed decision about which engine I was going to build. I wanted to model a Small Ben towards the end of HR days, round 1923 in fact, in Drummond unlined green livery; in original condition with the safety valves still mounted on the dome, these requirements and the fact that some engines ran with an eight wheel tender, which my etches didn’t allow for, narrowed my choice. The process of elimination left me five possibilites, however I crossed No 15 off the list because it was Westinghouse fitted and I didn’t want the clutter of leads on top of the boiler going into the cab nor the Westinghouse fittings on the cab side. Then I found a picture in Locomotives Illustrated (117) of No. 9-Ben Rinnes c.1923 in far from original condition, with safety valves moved onto the firebox, a taller dome, and Westinghouse fitted, presumably changes made by the HR at some date after 1918. That left me with a choice of just three; numbers 3,4 and 8. That is; Ben Wyvis, Ben More and Ben Clebrig; the latter, a Munro of the far north, appears on modern maps as Ben Kilbreck, and it was Ben Clibreck I decided on. There is no available transfer for that name however in the Guilplates listings and I know of no other source, so that is a problem that I’m currently thinking about.
