Oxford N7

[PhilJ W]

The one I'm building was based at the Chelmsford Sub-Shed for a lot of its life. No idea what it used to do there though!

I remember travelling behind one from Kirby Cross to Walton-on-the-Naze c. 1958. The train engine taking the other half of the train to Clacton.

[Norton Wood]

I think this will be a lovely addition to my collection. I do model the NER but I seem to have a number of GER locos creeping in. the lovely J15, and D16. I am even looking at the B12 (no never had one ...ever) 

 

The locos that are coming out are a nice cross section and seem to be complementary of each other with the B12 taking the express longer hall, the D16 mid range with the J15 and N7 being the smaller local services... alright the N7 was the Jazz services but I think the group will look really good together! 

It's been fantastic really, Eastern Region Modelers have been getting some real love. The GE section are very and were very lucky gaining a B17 with Stratford Tender, B12, D16, J15 and now the N7. I do hope that the other manufacturers see that the NER and a few other Eastern Region railways need some love. 

[stewartingram]

I know its been asked before, but to save a lot of searching and deciphering of opinions, do we have any definitive release dates (-ish is good enough), especially for the round top?

 

Stewart

[Bucoops]

I remember travelling behind one from Kirby Cross to Walton-on-the-Naze c. 1958. The train engine taking the other half of the train to Clacton.

 

I'm guess that one may have been shedded at Clacton - or maybe even Walton? Unfortunately because those sub sheds were all linked to a main shed it's hard to find the actual allocations.

[Downer]

I know its been asked before, but to save a lot of searching and deciphering of opinions, do we have any definitive release dates (-ish is good enough), especially for the round top?

 

Stewart

I’m pretty sure the answer is no. Neither of the Oxford sites has been updated for quite a while. Edited January 25, 2018 by Downer

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Completely agree with you about all that GER loveliness. The N7 did get further afield than the Jazz trains; eg, it was used on the South Lynn-King’s Lynn shuttle services which connected the M&GN and the GER systems (replacing C12s, from memory). You could see all those lovely locos alongside each other at South Lynn.

 And yet further afield. The LNER and then BR(ER) maintained a small squad at Hatfield (34C) where they acquired the sobriquet 'Swedey Met', working alongside the N2, 'Big Met'. The primary role was to work the branches from Hatfield to St Albans,  Hertford, Luton and Dunstable; they also took turns that ran up to Town 'mainline'. (For one brief period in summer 1959 Hatfield shed's allocation happily included ex-GCR N5 69266 for a 'complete set' of examples of the LNER's Southern area constituent 0-6-2T designs at the one location.)

[Norton Wood]

I’m pretty sure the answer is no. Neither of the Oxford sites has been updated for quite a while.

The site only get's updated when new models have been announced or progress on the model has continued, again your quite correct nothing new has been said. This being just my opinion but I think it might be another 6 months before we see this lovely model hit shops and run onto our layouts...

Edited January 25, 2018 by Norton Wood

[it's-er]

Here are some more photos of the N7, form Bawdsey of the Albion Yard blog ,who was at London Toyfair this week. His photos are excellent, and I think these are the first we have seen of the left hand side of the N7. The link to his site is here:

https://albionyard.wordpress.com/2018/01/26/oxford-rail-london-toy-fair-2018/

 

John S

[Bucoops]

It's a radial axle on the earlier builds of N7 so that sounds correct. N7/2 and /3 had a pony truck.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Bucoops

[BillH]

I remember travelling behind one from Kirby Cross to Walton-on-the-Naze c. 1958. The train engine taking the other half of the train to Clacton.

 

I'm guess that one may have been shedded at Clacton - or maybe even Walton? Unfortunately because those sub sheds were all linked to a main shed it's hard to find the actual allocations.

 

 

I happen to be doing some research at the moment for a Walton-on-the -Naze based layout in the mid 50s. A quick look through the books on the top of my pile reveals photos of 69673,69708*,69721,69727,69730* and 69732 taken between Thorpe-le-Soken and Walton-on-the -Naze in the mid-late 50s (*these two were allocated to Stratford 30A at the time). Also 69713 double heading nose to nose with a J15 at Clacton and 69732 and another N7 at Colchester St Botolphs.

 

69612, 69613,69673, 69727, 69732, 69733 were all based at Colchester in 1958 with I think 2 usually sub-shedded at Walton.

 

There was an account of an Easter 1957 spotting trip to the area in Steam World back in 2005 that recorded 69727, 69731 and 69733 at Colchester and 69673 and 69721 at Walton.

 

I hope ultimately to get a pair of N7s that I will re-number as 69673 and 69732 when the N7/3 and N7/4 becomes available.

[Atilla]

By the mid-50s the class were becoming more widespread. According to my Spring 1957 Locoshed book, 69612, 69615 /8/29 were allocated to 34B (Hornsey); 69616/7/9/20/51/90/92 were allocated to 31A (Cambridge);  69621/79 were allocated to 32C (Lowestoft); 69631/2/5/7/8/9/44/8/9/50/4//704/9 were allocated to 34C (Hatfield); 69672/5 were allocated to 30F (Parkeston); 69673/8/21/7/32/33 were allocated to 30E (Colchester (sub sheds at Braintree, Clacton, Maldon and Wlton on the Naze); 69694/5/8 were allocated to 33B (Tilbury); 69696/708 were allocated to 32D (Yarmouth South Town); 69706/7 were allocated to 32A (Norwich) with the remainder allocated to Stratford (30A) or Hertford East (30B)

 

A quick trawl of some books has turned up quite a bit of photographic evidence for N7s away from their usual London haunts.

 

There is a nice (but undated) photograph of 69707 heading the 3.15pm milk train from North Elmham to Ilford near North Elmham (exact location not recorded) on page 60 of The Great Eastern since 1900 by Charles Phillips (ISBN 0 7110 1402 7)

 

69707 appears in another undated print on page 59 of Doctor on the Line(ISBN 1 871608 24 4) heading a 12 coach train from Newcastle to Yarmouth somewhere east of Norwich (which looks like Acle although the caption states that it was routed via Berney Arms but see notes re plate 126 below). The caption notes that it was one of about 6 to have worked from Norwich shed.

 

69620 is recorded at Long Melford on page 83 of the same book

 

69651 is illustrated working the Haverhill to Audley End push pull near Saffron Walden in Plate 49 of 55 years of East Anglian Steam  (ISBN 086093 182); 69731 is illustrated near Mistley on a Harwich to Colchester working in Plate 57. Plate 125 shows 69708 working a train from Yarmouth to Norwich and shows the recess in the cab side for the M&GN Whitaker staff pick up apparatus whilst plate 126 shows 69707 at Acle with a Yarmouth bound service. Plate 132 show 69679 leaving Cromer Junction with through coaches from Liverpool St to Sheringham; Plate 153 shows 69689 approaching Coke Ovens Junction with the push pull service from Yarmouth South Town, Plate 12 shows 69679 approaching Beccles on the Yarmouth South Town to Beccles push pull service.

 

Edited to correct typos!

Edited January 27, 2018 by Atilla

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The photographic evidence is vital. Stratford practically owned the class during the LNER period, at the end of 1947 126 were allocated to Stratford, the balance of just eight for the total of 134 in class allocated Hatfield. Yet it is clear that the N7s were regularly on shed elsewhere in some numbers, Hertford East and Colchester in particular. These allocations became 'official' under BR's management of the 30 group of shedcodes, all by 1950 shown as having allocations, although the total exceeded 134 as some numbers appear on both Stratford and the outlying 30 group shed!

[jazzer]

Here are some more photos of the N7, form Bawdsey of the Albion Yard blog ,who was at London Toyfair this week. His photos are excellent, and I think these are the first we have seen of the left hand side of the N7. The link to his site is here:

https://albionyard.wordpress.com/2018/01/26/oxford-rail-london-toy-fair-2018/

John S

Have they put the coupling rod on upside down ? I think what looks like three little drips on the bottom edge are actually the oiling points which should of course be on the top side . It's actually quit a pronounced and unique feature of the N 7.

 

The dome is ok for the earlier years , which the mock up clearly is, but in the BR era they seem to have wider domes ( check photos ) .

[Bucoops]

Have they put the coupling rod on upside down ? I think what looks like three little drips on the bottom edge are actually the oiling points which should of course be on the top side . It's actually quit a pronounced and unique feature of the N 7.

 

The dome is ok for the earlier years , which the mock up clearly is, but in the BR era they seem to have wider domes ( check photos ) .

 

Somewhere it says they're aware of that error

[45568]

 And yet further afield. The LNER and then BR(ER) maintained a small squad at Hatfield (34C) where they acquired the sobriquet 'Swedey Met', working alongside the N2, 'Big Met'. The primary role was to work the branches from Hatfield to St Albans,  Hertford, Luton and Dunstable; they also took turns that ran up to Town 'mainline'. (For one brief period in summer 1959 Hatfield shed's allocation happily included ex-GCR N5 69266 for a 'complete set' of examples of the LNER's Southern area constituent 0-6-2T designs at the one location.)

 

Colwick 38A, (near Nottingham), had a couple of N7s from 07/1952, 69621 and 69654. They were used on locals out of Victoria, and then were transferred, 69621 to 38E Woodford Halse in 02/1953 and 69654 to 34E Hatfield in 02/1954.

 

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

Edited to give loco information from BR Database.

Edited January 30, 2018 by 45568

[45568]

Additional information on other Colwick-based N7s

Steam N7 0-6-2T 69613   01/01/1948 STR Stratford 4w/e 19/05/1951 38A 4w/e 19/12/1953 30A Stratford Steam N7 0-6-2T 69615   01/01/1948 STR Stratford 4w/e 19/05/1951 38A 5w/e 24/04/1954 30A Stratford Steam N7 0-6-2T 69620   01/01/1948 STR Stratford 4w/e 19/05/1951 38A 5w/e 24/04/1954 30A Stratford Steam N7 0-6-2T 69638   01/01/1948 STR Stratford 4w/e 19/05/1951 38A 4w/e 21/08/1954 34A Kings Cross Steam N7 0-6-2T 69651   01/01/1948 STR Stratford 4w/e 19/05/1951 38A 4w/e 19/01/1952 38B

Annesley

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

[darren01]

No problem.

N2_3_small.jpg

Hope they sort out the upside down rods on the full version, Looking good.

[Willie Whizz]

Per the excellent www.annesleyfireman.com website:

 

69651 Jan-52 Oct-56 69689 Jun-54 Mar-55 69691 Nov-51 Jun-54 69692 May-54 Oct-54   Nov-54 Oct-56 69695 Nov-51 May-54

 

were allocated at the (mainly freight workings) Annesley Shed just north of Nottingham on the GC London Extension.  I believe they were commonly employed on the celebrated "Annesley Dido" workmen's train which shuttled regularly between that depot and Bulwell Common Station, sometimes on the ex-GC main line itself but often on the roughly parallel ex-GN Leen Valley route, to which etere was a short link.

 

For those unfamilar with the "Dido", the rationale was that the GC originally wanted to build the shed at Bulwell, but couldn't afford the land costs and water rates demanded by the City Council - so they put it several miles 'out in the sticks' instead; but then had to find a means of getting the shed staff to work - and most of them lived ... yes, in Bulwell!  There are several explanations of the origins of the curious name, but the most plausible is that in mock-timetable abbreviation it ran - not SX or MO or whatever, but DIDO (= 'Day In, Day Out').

 

No idea which variants of the class these were without doing some further research, but hang a couple of mis-matched ancient carriages (sometimes, but not always, 'push-pull', and one often a clerestory) onto the N7 and you've got the precedent for something that could come and go on a layout pretty frequently and be quite realistic.

Edited February 10, 2018 by Willie Whizz

[NXEA!]

Was there any news about this at Ally Pally? Having seen an EP not long ago we should be seeing some decorated versions soon shouldn’t we? Not a nag, just genuinely excited to get mine!

[Robin Brasher]

Hattons have told me that the LNER black version 8011 is due between October and December 2018 for £87. This looks like good value for money.

[Bucoops]

Hattons have told me that the LNER black version 8011 is due between October and December 2018 for £87. This looks like good value for money.

 

That's quite a bit less than the £110 on the Oxford Rail site.

[NXEA!]

Hattons have told me that the LNER black version 8011 is due between October and December 2018 for £87. This looks like good value for money.

Indeed, £87 in the current market is a steal. I have the sound version on order from Rails for £170. That’s not much more than some manufacturers charge for standard releases.

[adb968008]

Was there any news about this at Ally Pally? Having seen an EP not long ago we should be seeing some decorated versions soon shouldn’t we? Not a nag, just genuinely excited to get mine!

I don’t recall Oxford (or Heljan) being present at Ally Pally.

[NXEA!]

I don’t recall Oxford (or Heljan) being present at Ally Pally.

That’s a shame. Hopefully we’ll hear something from them soon!

[coachmann]

The Belpaire N7 looks smashing. I have always had every confidence in Oxford Rail becoming popular with buyers. Their Dean Goods models fill a gap in GWR motive power and like many RTR locos, they are easily altered. Same with the excellent wagons.

Edited April 5, 2018 by coachmann