For those people who would like to try Gn15 but are concerned about the cost, here is a cheap and easy conversion of a Hornby 0-4-0 Diesel Shunter. As the model will be repainted when finished, it does not matter which one of the many varied liveries you use. Mine happened to be in CEGB livery and cost the princely sum of £9.99.

Photographs © Terry Allen

Apart from the shunter, you will need a set of Loco Ballast Weights from Sidelines and some pieces of plasticard to form the cab and seat, infills for the front steps and covering the handrails holes.

The body comes off in two parts and the cab may be discarded as its not needed for this conversion. the chassis may also be removed at this stage by unclipping from the metal footplate and sliding clear. Apart from cutting off the Hornby couplings and painting the conrods, nothing else needs to be done to the chassis.

Taking the metal footplate, cut off the four buffers and file flat and also cut off the white plastic poles flush with the footplate. Then superglue the Sidelines loco ballast weights to both ends with the tops level with the footplate, cut plasticard to infill the front steps and superglue in place and take out the handrails and cover holes with strips of plasticard, either attaching with superglue or plastic weld. Then make a simple cab from three pieces of plasticard using the height of the loco and width as guides and fix seat in place half way up sides. N.B.: Because the worm drive juts into the cab area, the cab needs to have a small piece taken out of the front pieces of plastic to clear it.

The loco is now ready for painting and you may add any extras that enhance its appearance. Mine came from a 1:24th scale Car Accessories pack.

The loco, now painted, can be used as it is or can have further detail added, such as side skirts to hide the conrods, controls in the cab (from Sidelines), headlight etc. Below shows the loco as it is now.

Also below are some photos of the loco at work on Kelso Creek, pulling Fleischmann “Magic Train” tippers.

The total cost was under £16 and yet I think it captures the look and feel of a larger scale loco very well.

“Sidelines” parts can be obtained from Pepper7, look under links for website.