Review: Dapol Hawthorn Leslie locomotive

 

A recent purchase. As it turns out, I bought the wrong loco, but we'll come to that in a minute...

The range of small RTR shunters is amazing to those of us who grew up knowing that the only way to find something for our small, dockside layouts, was to dig out the soldering iron, and tackle a kit. Now, for not much more than that kit would have cost me in the 1990s, I get this. 

This little loco looks fantastic. Nicely detailed, and well decorated. It runs very smoothly too. 

With a large selection of colours to choose from, the only criteria was that I didn't want an NCB blue loco, as that would limit its use. Instead, I picked the nicest name, "Wallaby". I know nothing of the actual loco, although there is a bit online here. It seems that my choice was shipped off to Australia, where she still resides, stuffed and mounted. Photos show clock hands rather than a wheel on the smokebox door, but this could have been a later change, and I'm not really worried. 

For detail fans, a set of plastic 3-link couplings, and a detailed set of name and works plates is included in the bag. What isn't is something to fill the hole in the bufferbeam if you ditch the tension lock couplings. Unless you buy the wasp stripe version. I can use Plastikard, but why not all the models? 

It sits nicely with the gold standard of shunters, the Hornby Peckett, and shows that small shunting layouts are open to all people. Mildly anoying to those of us who have a collection of kits, but that's the way things go. Time to move on to some O16.5 or 009. Oh, hold on...

My verdict, based on a cursory check (buy the BRM review for much more detail) is that I am happy. The price was a smidge over £100, pretty good for modern locos. I undertand that you pay more if the evil DCC is fitted, but that's your problem. 

And why is this the wrong loco? 

Well, back in the old days, I rather fancied one of the Crownline Models last kits, which I thought was this loco. In fact this is the reason I bought it. However, I'm wrong. The Crownline kit was BR/MR Kitson Saddle tank, not a Hawthorn Leslie. If I want a Kitson, then it's off to Judith Edge kits now...