Many years ago, if you wanted a Baby Deltic for your model railway, you took a Class 37, a saw and started chopping. You'd need a Class 20 chassis for the underpinnings too. After a few hours happy modelling, the result could be a pretty good facsimile of the prototype. If keen, a quick article in one of the magazines of the day would follow. I know - I read at least one.
Now you can buy a RTR model from Heljan and all this sort of fun has ceased.
Except it hasn't. Tucked away in Barrow Hill is the Baby Deltic Project. In real life they are doing what we used to do in model form. Taking a Class 37 (37 372) and chopping the shell to produce a Baby Deltic. Class 20 bogies support the loco.
This isn't some dodgy cut'n'shut job either. Unlike the traditional second hand car dealers "modifications", this is a fully engineered transformation. Looking at the photo, you can see the work being carried to shorten the locomotive nose. Amazingly, all this will be completed for a mere £33,000. A tiny amount to plug a gap in the list of prototype locos we can enjoy.
Visit the Baby Deltic Website for more information.
