Introduction

This paper describes a specific installation of a mass of equipment into a Hornby West Country Class called "Blandon Forum", including DCC sound, smoke, various type of lights, coach lighting connection, crew and detailing. I hope you find it useful and interesting.

The information provided here is not intended to be a definitive guide to fitting, but is an example of some of the processes and procedures utilised by YouChoos, suitable for the Light Pacific Bullied model. If you plan to replicate this work yourself in your own models, please note that YouChoos cannot be held liable for any mistakes or failures that occur due to an install done by yourself. YouChoos is able to supply the components required for a 'kit' so that you can perform a similar install yourself, or you can have YouChoos perform the installation for you as a service. In fact, the example "Blandon Forum" shown here is a specific commission for a customer. YouChoos does not list specific kits for sale, but almost any loco with many combinations of kit are possible, so please send me an e-mail to discuss specific requirements.

The Locomotive Model

Hornby's West Country Class has been available in numerous guises for many years, in original un-rebuilt form, the Bullied Light Pacific makes for a fabulous donour model, due to it's internal space and readiness to access almost any equipment that you can throw at it! The model is primarily plastic, which makes it very easy to fit all sorts of kit without worrying overly about short-circuits too. Variations on this model include Battle of Britain Class locos, which are largely the same internally. Please note however that the rebuilt Bullieds are very different inside e.g. modern West Country Class, Merchant Navy Class etc., so, although capable of housing a similar level of enhancements, is much trickier to achieve.

Let's concentrate on the ever-so-popular un-rebuilt air-flowed design here though... starting with a shot of where we intend to get at the end...

I warn you now - there will be A LOT of photographs in this example! You cannot beat visual evidence and instruction when explaining how such things are done! Please enjoy what you see, and I trust that it will provide some inspiration for you too.

Parts to be fitted

• CT SL51-4
• CT sugar-cube speaker
• Seuthe #22 smoke unit
• Firebox light
• Cab light
• Crew - driver & fireman
• Buffer-beam lamps (directional) - 2x yellow, 1x red
• Boiler door lamp - 1x yellow (to be wired on separate DCC function)
• Tender lamps (directional) - 2x yellow, 2x red
• Additional tender lamps / coach light indicator - 2x red (to be wired on separate DCC function)
• Coach connection socket on back of tender
• Loco-to-tender connection
• Loco detailing for the Golden Arrow service which served the London-Dover route
• Rake of 3 Pullman coaches, lit and populated, and connected to loco's decoder for DCC function control of lighting (coach installation not described here)

The Journey

So here we have it... the photographic journey of this loco's adventure from a mere "it-moves" model into a fully-fledged "everything-you-can-squeeze-in" model!

click the photos to see them bigger!

Here comes the DCC sound, using a CT Elektronik SL51-4 decoder and tiny 'sugar-cube' CT speaker (amazingly loud)...

Now for some smoke...

Cab work...

Add some loco lamps...

Preparing for tender work...

Disassemble the tender...

Lots of lamps for the tender...

Re-assemble the tender...

Re-assemble the loco... (not forgetting to wire it all up to the decoder of course - sorry, forgot to take photos of that part!)...

A little more body required...

Now to make it extra extra special...

Connect up some YouChoos lit/populated coaches to check that tender socket functions ok ...

Oh yes indeedy sire, that's one splendid sight...

The final product

So there you have it... quite involved and lots of kit added. I'm sure you'll agree that it transforms what is initially a good model into something truly unique. Lots of hours involved, but a worthy result... and of course, now you have all the secrets to do it yourself!

Please note that these guides are provided as useful resources for you, as-is. YouChoos cannot be held responsible for errors in the information, or for any damage caused to your models or equipment if you choose to follow any of the steps detailed here.