Front Hook Murdoch?

StarSwitcher07

I saw this while browsing through the auctions:

Is there a chance this is legit? I would say it's a custom, but the job looks surprisingly clean.

ripley802

StarSwitcher07 wrote
I saw this while browsing through the auctions:

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Is there a chance this is legit? I would say it's a custom, but the job looks surprisingly clean.

I saw this one too. I am thinking custom, but it looks pretty good.

Super

I don't see a link or picture???

StarSwitcher07

Super wrote
I don't see a link or picture???

Fixed it 🙂

Super

Thanks Star, now I see it.

I agree with Ripley, it looks a little too stiff in place with no upward slot cutout. I don't have a Murdoch to take a look at under the chassis but maybe he has a good place for affixing a hook in but I may be wrong...I have been wrong before...a lot...:dodgy:

WoodWheel92

Why though, out of all the engines, would you pick Murdoch to add a front coupling to? If anything I'd think Arthur, Percy, and Mavis in that photo would be the prime choices!

leylandvictory2

maybe the person was doing experiments before moving to more expensive and rare engines. i tried to do one on Thomas (since I have a million of them). Sadly I didn't have the tool to do it. The plastic is too stiff

MuddyPoppins

WoodWheel92 wrote
Why though, out of all the engines, would you pick Murdoch to add a front coupling to? If anything I'd think Arthur, Percy, and Mavis in that photo would be the prime choices!

My guess is because he is a non-motorized dummy engine...
Murdoch is driven by his tender, and is sooooooo long, with so many wheels that he generally gets pushed along the tracks at an akward sideways angle, and doesn't really run very well...to me it's is a perfect choice...just like a front hook Dodge and Splatter.

Super

Muddy Poppins wrote
My guess is because he is a non-motorized dummy engine...
Murdoch is driven by his tender, and is sooooooo long, with so many wheels that he generally gets pushed along the tracks at an akward sideways angle, and doesn't really run very well.

Well that makes sense and it is the reason why I dislike all the 'Pushed' engines long ago as they always seem to be prone to derailments.

MuddyPoppins

Yes...Emily, Molly, Mighty Mac, Original Hank, Harvey, & Plarail Rocket, along with the 2nd generation Plarail talking Thomas & Percy, and the Original Steam Thomas' are all tender driven, though The Steam Thomas runs great compared to any of the others.

Super

This is exactly the reason why I have sold, and no longer in our collection, any and all C-57's that have crossed my palm. I just don't like these tender pushers. Hmmm, off the top of my head, I can't see any other non-character trains by Plarail with a tender pusher. Am I just forgetting about any?

leylandvictory2

i believe Hank has a tender pusher.

Chrizzly

leylandvictory2 wrote
i believe Hank has a tender pusher.

The original model did, but Mattel re-released him in 2013 with his motor in his engine, not his tender. My Original Hank can never clear the level crossing in the Super Sodor Adventure Set (picture below) as the grooves in the track go down to about 1 mm in depth to allow road vehicles to clear the crossing. Hank always derails on this and hits a post, but Murdoch has never done this. I put this down to his increased number of wheels, meaning he can't overhang far enough to clip a post. Hank had 6 MASSIVE wheels, so he almost never clears the crossing. Anyone else have this problem?

Here's the crossing: