Upgraded Hornby Austerity on test on Bottom Works Sidings exhibition layout

A short showing an upgraded Hornby Austerity (or J94) test running on my exhibition layout Bottom Works Sidings - this was the first time the loco had been run on a proper layout and I’m really happy with the results.

Although not based on a particular prototype the loco is inspired by many working in collieries and coking plants in the early 1970’s. My layout represents sidings serving such an installation so the loco is perfect for this.

The loco has been significantly reworked from a second hand Hornby model - work carried out includes:

-New motor and flywheel driving through the original gear chain. This required the removal of the Hornby weight and reprofiling the inside of the chassis block to accommodate the motor.

-Reprofiled chassis to better represent the shape of the real thing

-DCC Concepts decoder and stay alive. This required removal of much of the cab bulkhead to fit!

-Removal of the lower half of the saddle tank from the chassis moulding and uniting with the body moulding to remove the saddle tank seam.

-New handrails

-Numerous etched parts from RT Models - new buffer beams, buffers, buffer beam gussets, footsteps, chimney, smokebox door dart, cab windows and spectacle plates.

-Transfers and nameplates are from Planet Industrials through the Light Railway Stores.


Due to background noise I’ve dubbed in some austerity sounds to hopefully make the video more entertaining!

We will hopefully get some more videos of the layout up in the future.