QUOTE (mosthappyfella @ 14 Mar 2009, 02:45)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Does anyone know if a OO working Rocket has ever been produced by any of the manufacturers. As a secondary
question:- if they have would they be able to be converted to DCC. I know it's a bit of a long shot but the Victorian locos do seem to have been neglected. Thanks for any sort of reply.
Stephenson's Rocket in OO scale was first introduced in 1963 when it appeared in the
Triang Railways catalogue. Earlier versions were fitted with a smoke generator but this feature was discontinued in 1966. Production ceased in 1969 by which time 12,500 locos had been sold in the UK and 22,500 sold outside the UK.
Over a decade later following repeated requests
Hornby Railways produced a new set distinguishable from the originals by having plated wheel tyres throughout. The set consisted of the Rocket Loco, tender and three coaches, Times, Experience and Despatch.
The wheel sets have the old deep flanges and the box that the set comes in states "not suitable for zero 1 operation." A DCC decoder would have to be installed in one of the coaches as there is no room in the tender or the loco for one. From my personal experience the loco by virtue of its size and lack of weight is not a good runner in DC.
I run DCC and have often contemplated depicting a Railway Museum with a piece of straight track somewhere on my existing layout where a converted Rocket could run back and forth on "open days" but I have never got around to it; so if you do find a model and convert it I would be interested in how it turns out.
Dave