Brian Madge Alice class Hunslet part 1 - introduction and references.

Brian Madge produces a small but growing range of OO9 loco kits which come complete with purpose designed mechanisms. I've got one of his Alice class Hunslets in front of me to build, here's a look at what you get in the kit;

The box that everything comes in;

The frames and body panels are etched in nickel silver and brass;

 

The boiler/saddletank, boiler fittings and driver are cast in whitemetal;

The cylinders, crossheads, connecting and coupling rods, and the flycranks are all machined;

Here's the motor and driveband, note the pulley on the motor shaft;

These kits originally came with machined Tufnol chassis blocks, they are now supplied with a pre-assembled 3D printed chassis block. Unfortunetely mine was cracked above the pulley bearing, which has rather put me off 3D printed components (I fully admit to being a Luddite!). An email conversation with Brian resulted in him kindly sending me a replacement machined Tufnol chassis block, superb after sales service.
Here's the 3D printed block (on the left) next to the Tufnol replacement;

 

 

Instructions are very clear and cover four sides of A4.

The frames of Alice class Hunslets came in several different shapes. This kit, which is based on 'Velinheli', is also suitable for 'Red Damsel', 'Rough Pup', and 'Maid Marian'. A dome is included although in most cases domes were only fitted in preservation.


References;
Quarry Hunslets of North Wales by Cliff Thomas, Oakwood Press, ISBN 0 85361 575 6. The book to buy when modelling these locos!
Delving in Dinorwig by Douglas C. Carrington, Carreg Gwalch, ISBN 0-86381-285-6. Contains a good explanation of the various frame types.
The Last days of Industrial Steam by Eric Sawford, Alan Sutton, ISBN 0-86299-915-4. Some usefull and atmospheric black and white photos of these locos at work.
Industrial Steam in the '50s & '60's, Eric Sawford, Sutton Publishing, ISBN 9 780750 936460. More b+w photos of Hunslets at work, some of which have appeared in the above book.
Slate Quarry Album by Gordon & Ann Hatherill, RCL Publications, ISBN 978-0-9538763-8-9. Only a few photos, including some superb colour shots, but an excellent book on Welsh slate quarrying.
Narrow Gauge Steam edited by Michael Whitehouse, Key Publishing, ISBN 978-0-946219--40-7. A 'bookazine' available from WH Smith with a 6 page article on quarry Hunslets. A good selection of photographs.
Railway Bylines volume 18 issue 5 April 2013. Superb colour photo of 'Holy War' on the cover and a 4 page article entitled 'Welsh Slate - A Glimpse. Some good photos including an excellent portrait of 'Velinheli' spread over 2 pages.

Paul.