3DRC

Deans Single.

The first loco I acquired is a Hornby GWR Deans single (Achilles class or 3031 class) . Its a basic railroad range loco however Its a tough little tender engine and thanks to its traction tyres has very good pulling power. It has good painted cab detail and the quality of the build and finish is very high. The motor is extremely reliable and powerful and would probably last for years. My only criticism is fitting the recommended Hornby DCC decoder is tricky, the big traction wheels sit high up in the body taking up a lot of room. You have to take care that the decoder wires don't rub against the wheels.

The full size was built by the Great western Railway between 1891 and 1899 .. They were designed by the GWR chief engineer William dean for passenger work. They soon became obsolete and for a Steam loco didn't have that long a service life .. They were finally withdrawn from service in 1916.

Collett Goods 2251

My second loco is a GWR Bachmann Collett Goods, a nice heavy solid loco with excellent detail and well made. It is an excellent runner. It is a little bit noisy ,but I think this adds character. I feel if I look after this loco it will last for ever. Performance is good with excellent traction and pulling power and really looks good drawing a line of freight. Being new to DCC at the time I wrongly assumed I would need a Bachmann 8 pin decoder for this Loco. Unfortunately it wouldn't fit inside the body and the decoder was used on a different loco. In the end I fitted a Hattons decoder which was a lot smaller ,but it was still a struggle getting it to fit in side the boiler section of the body.

The 2251s or Collett goods were modernised Dean Goods designed by Charls Collett for medium freight and passenger work ...They were first introduced in 1930 and stayed in service well into the British rail period . They were withdrawn from service between 1958 and 1965.