What if? We all do it at some point usually with regards to layouts. What if such and such place had a railway or this branchline stayed open to the diesel era? What if Clapham junction was a bit smaller so that it could fit on an 8×4 sheet of plywood? Where we don’t seem to do ‘what if’ as often is with regards to the stock itself and this is where I am heading with this post.
One of the few steam locos that appealed to me before I started Brettell Road was the Midland Flatiron or ‘hole in the wall tanks’. Although not a great success the designed by ruler and no other drawing aids look of the things appealed to my interest in things that look less than pretty. While they made it to the LMS and were reboilered by them (you can tell by the square firebox and the protruding smoke box) the last of the breed went for scrap in 1938. But what if they didn’t? What if at least one managed another dozen years? I could have one on Brettell Road then!
Of course the armchair experts will delight in pointing out that its wrong but we seem happy to basically make up history for locations, why not locos? Id be interested in people’s thoughts on this.
Wanting to see how one would look in BR livery I got my digital crayons out and drew it. I think it looks quite smart myself.
Prototype picture ©Warwickshire Railways and used with permission. www.warwickshirerailways.com
Looks great Jim, strangely attractive loco.
Whilst I work to serious standards myself like yourself, I see no issue with realistic flights of fancy, based on solid foundations, such as yours.
Let’s face it, Tornado exists, and many preserved locos have run in non-authentic liveries. A separate can of worms, not for discussion here.
I’m considering a BR purple-liveried Mikado
as one of my wotiffers, also a GWR Pacific.
They run in ”our worlds” and as these are our personal creations, anything is possible and, in my view acceptable.
Hi Jim,
It’s your train-set, why not?
Les G
I think this is a nice idea.
My ‘what if’ along these lines is that BR was never formed and the Diesels were still developed under the big four and liveried as such and worked alongside steam for many years.
I say go for it, even at exhibitions I’ve seen people running trains from different eras together and other such diversions of reality, so extending the life of a loco seems perfectly fine to me.
I agree Jim. It looks rather smart in plain unlined black livery with early British Railways logo. Nothing wrong in my book with thinking ‘what if’.