Peterborough North

[HerbertHopkins]

 

 

While at Digitrains the other day, I was shown a Heljan original baby Deltic. I rather like them, useless though they were. And of course with the money I had "saved" by not having a sound decoder in the WD, I could afford it, couldn't I?  Temptation was courageously resisted though,..... for the time being at least. It's tea time.

 

Gilbert, I'm disappointed. You normally start posts like this with the words 'I couldn't resist....' as justification for buying something you don't really need. This show of restraint is most uncharacteristic and, I hope, only temporary!

 

Seriously, I've just acquired a Baby Deltic and it's a smashing little model. Go on, treat yourself, you know you want to.

Edited February 8, 2014 by HerbertHopkins

[bigwordsmith]

Clive - has your MPD been infected with that virus the scourge of all ER modellers known as "BD"?

 

Gilbert - are those birds flying over the crescent bridge or wayward tea stains on the negative ( Gosh does anyone remember those!)

[coachmann]

 

Gilbert - are those birds flying over the crescent bridge or wayward tea stains on the negative ( Gosh does anyone remember those!)

I've heard of people developing their films in Guinness 9-1 but never PG Tips....

[The Great Bear]

Finally another of my occasional efforts at something artistic, unsuccessful as always. It's the zoom that has warped the building by the way.

Well I like it, something different

[great northern]

I would be prepared to wager a fairly substantial sum that that isn't all you said...

 

Lovely photos, I especially like your artistic effort, which to my mind is eminently successful.

 

Al.

Oh alright then, I might have said " oh dear, what a nuisance" as well.

[great northern]

Rest assured, Baby Deltics turned up at Peterborough often. I have seen them myself, still got some of my old spotting books if ever I feel like searching through them. Resistance is futile...

 

Stewart

Would that have been when they were new though, or was it after they were re-engined, and became rather more reliable?

[great northern]

Hi Gilbert

 

Don't buy a Baby Deltic, or model one. They tend to multiply very quickly.

 

060.JPG

Some scratchbuilt, some cut and shut Tri-ang 37s and one Lima 40. I don't know how the carriage heating unit got in the photo.

 

028a.jpg

All being scratchbuilt plus one Heljan.

You must have made a male and a female to start with. Just one would be safe, surely?

[great northern]

Clive - has your MPD been infected with that virus the scourge of all ER modellers known as "BD"?

 

Gilbert - are those birds flying over the crescent bridge or wayward tea stains on the negative ( Gosh does anyone remember those!)

Oh yes, I remember negatives, but these are indeed birds. The photo was taken by that very clever Mr York, who pressed the shutter at just the right moment to complete his composition. I need some wild life on the layout - there's only that duck at present.

[great northern]

To all those who supported me in my fight against temptation.   If I buy a baby Deltic, I shall also have to get an original Class 26 when it appears. Where would it all end? My best defence is that D5900 didn't emerge until 1959 anyway, so it would be out of period. I suppose though that raises the question as to what that large noisy blue thing is doing on the layout. I'm surprised that they were used as far as Peterborough in their original form. All I've read suggests that they were so unreliable that even Cambridge was considered to be a risk, because there was a two track section for them to fail on and block the whole thing.

[60027Merlin]

  Excellent photos Gilbert. Well worth the effort of overcoming your computer trials and tribulations.

 

  It is good to see a V2 with the proper body shape, it makes such a difference. Hopefully someone from Bachmann will see this and    do something about the body on their model.

 

  Eric

[pwr]

To all those who supported me in my fight against temptation.   If I buy a baby Deltic, I shall also have to get an original Class 26 when it appears. Where would it all end? My best defence is that D5900 didn't emerge until 1959 anyway, so it would be out of period. I suppose though that raises the question as to what that large noisy blue thing is doing on the layout. I'm surprised that they were used as far as Peterborough in their original form. All I've read suggests that they were so unreliable that even Cambridge was considered to be a risk, because there was a two track section for them to fail on and block the whole thing.

 

A class 15 would look good? What about Brush Falcon on the Master Cutler?

 

If you are worried about the reliability of the Baby Deltic you could always get one with no motor. Prototypical as it wont work!

 

Paul R

[bigwordsmith]

Off topic alert - hope you can help!

 

I've just bought a Hornby Pacific and when testing it first off it sat there unable to pull its own shadow which turned out to be the drive gear having slid of the splines on the axle , so I slid it back and all appeared to be well, except...

 

As it revolves the leading drivers appear to bang slightly - almost as it there's flat bearing. It's worse going astern, and at really slow speeds the whole thing gums up. I've stripped it down and can't see anything wrong, but still it does it? The loco's around a 2006/2007 model with hardly any tyre wear, so I'm wondering if even though it's almost new perhaps a replacement wheel set is the answer.

 

the centre drivers when seen from above seem to oscillate quite alarmingly in a horizontal plane!

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks all, and apologies to Gilbert again for hijacking, but the great and the good of RMWeb all seem to follow this thread!

 

Thanks

 

Peter

[stewartingram]

Would that have been when they were new though, or was it after they were re-engined, and became rather more reliable?

TBH I think you are right, the rebuilt version, though I would have to check my books.

And can we put a myth to bed? The Baby Deltic's are usually quoted (by enthusiasts?) as being a failure for BR, which is apparently untrue. I have read in a number of places, (books, magazines, internet), comments from respected people involved with running them, that they were (and I suspect that is more after the rebuild than before) quite capable of performing reliably on their allocated duties. The main reason for them being culled was that they were a small non-standard class of locos.

 

Stewart

[Rail-Online]

Would that have been when they were new though, or was it after they were re-engined, and became rather more reliable?

Gilbert,

All the ones on the Napier site at Peterborough are after re-building and all appear to be just north of the station, so I assume the diagram that brought them would have involved dropping their coaches into the carriage siding and then traveling light to the shed before returning. Perhaps they re-fuelled there as they had more time than at Kings Cross?

 

Tony

[manna]

G'Day Gents

 

By the time the Baby Deltic's were being withdrawn, they had an 80% availablity, about the best they could manage, but as has been said, being a small class...........

 

I never got to work on a Baby Deltic, the last one I saw working ( the Blue one)was on Christmas Eve 1970, when it came on shed at Kings Cross (Passenger loco) stayed there over Christmas, and left about four days later, back to Finsbury Park, and was withdrawn in March.

 

manna

[jrg1]

Baby Deltic assimilation; resistance is futile. However I am  led to believe they could only get to Peterborough from the X. Any further and they died.

Really like that dubdee; pity someone can't knock up a decent sound chip for that or any other steam loco I've heard. The diseasels are mostly OK especially Digitrains ones from SWD but I've yet to hear a decent steam file.

P

There is at least one recorded instance of a Baby Deltic at Skegness on a Kings Cross excursion

[jrg1]

Whilst the Class 23 was eventually made reliable, the cost of running a high-speed complex Deltic engine against a medium speed class 20 should be borne in mind.  And extrapolating further, the cost and availability of running diesels versus electric.

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi All

 

There were several diagrams that called for type 2 diesel haulage to Peterbrough which meant that a Baby Deltic would be rostered sometimes in place of a Brush 2 so for a Baby Deltic to turn up at Peterborough was not uncommon but not a daily event.

 

Semi-fast runs to places like Cambridge and Peterborough were ideal for the Baby Deltics with there fast acceleration and ability to run fast for a long time, just like thier bigger cousins, so for them to be compared to a D8000 Type 1 which was designed to haul freight trains at slow speed is like comparing a D49 to J39. 

[jrg1]

Hi All

 

There were several diagrams that called for type 2 diesel haulage to Peterbrough which meant that a Baby Deltic would be rostered sometimes in place of a Brush 2 so for a Baby Deltic to turn up at Peterborough was not uncommon but not a daily event.

 

Semi-fast runs to places like Cambridge and Peterborough were ideal for the Baby Deltics with there fast acceleration and ability to run fast for a long time, just like thier bigger cousins, so for them to be compared to a D8000 Type 1 which was designed to haul freight trains at slow speed is like comparing a D49 to J39. 

Class 20s on excursions were quite common in Lincoln-and the use of them latterly on Skegness passenger trains is well documented.

[JeffP]

I'm surprised there isn't a decent WD "Austerity" sound chip, yet..there is a preserved one, isn't there, so the distinctive sound ought to be available?

[pwr]

TBH I think you are right, the rebuilt version, though I would have to check my books.

And can we put a myth to bed? The Baby Deltic's are usually quoted (by enthusiasts?) as being a failure for BR, which is apparently untrue. I have read in a number of places, (books, magazines, internet), comments from respected people involved with running them, that they were (and I suspect that is more after the rebuild than before) quite capable of performing reliably on their allocated duties. The main reason for them being culled was that they were a small non-standard class of locos.

 

Stewart

And don't forget the research department ran one quite successfully for a number of years after withdrawal

 

I think they are very underrated and I am looking forward to the 7mm version from DJ models

 

Paul R

[great northern]

Very interesting debate about Baby Deltics, which sent me scurrying off to look at comments in contemporary magazines. It does seem that as first delivered they had a very poor availabilty rate, caused by a number of problems. Those however were gradually cured, and even before they were re-engined they had become much more reliable. The new engines seem to have turned them into a very reliable class, and their early withdrawal was down to the small and non standard nature of the class, rather than to continuing breakdowns and poor availability. When first delivered though, it does seem that sights such as that below were not uncommon.

The caption might refer to a "lifeless" diesel being "unceremoniously dragged" back to Doncaster by a jolly nice and very reliable steam locomotive, - I've seen several of that kind in magazines, but I'm above that sort of thing.

 

Would you believe me if I said that I have just borrowed this loco so that I could pose it for a photo? No? Thought not.   Well, it's like this you see, off I went to Doncaster show on Sunday, where I examined one, just as a matter of interest. It really is a lovely model, but I had no intention of buying one, until I remembered that I will soon be receiving payment for my first BRM article. That puts a wholly different slant on the whole thing, doesn't it? It is surely entirely legitimate and reasonable for me to spend railway related cash proceeds on something for the railway. So, you see, I have not weakened or  given in to temptation at all, as some unkind souls might suggest.   The J11? That's been on pre order for ages. Both will be "Timmed" shortly.

[great northern]

What powders are you using, Gilbert?  I find the MIG ones will stick to almost anything.

I've finally acquired some Jonathan, but how do you apply and fix them? I bought some of the pigment fixer too, but I don't seem to be able to get it to work.

[Mallard60022]

Very interesting debate about Baby Deltics, which sent me scurrying off to look at comments in contemporary magazines. It does seem that as first delivered they had a very poor availabilty rate, caused by a number of problems. Those however were gradually cured, and even before they were re-engined they had become much more reliable. The new engines seem to have turned them into a very reliable class, and their early withdrawal was down to the small and non standard nature of the class, rather than to continuing breakdowns and poor availability. When first delivered though, it does seem that sights such as that below were not uncommon.

it.jpg

The caption might refer to a "lifeless" diesel being "unceremoniously dragged" back to Doncaster by a jolly nice and very reliable steam locomotive, - I've seen several of that kind in magazines, but I'm above that sort of thing.

 

Would you believe me if I said that I have just borrowed this loco so that I could pose it for a photo? No? Thought not.   Well, it's like this you see, off I went to Doncaster show on Sunday, where I examined one, just as a matter of interest. It really is a lovely model, but I had no intention of buying one, until I remembered that I will soon be receiving payment for my first BRM article. That puts a wholly different slant on the whole thing, doesn't it? It is surely entirely legitimate and reasonable for me to spend railway related cash proceeds on something for the railway. So, you see, I have not weakened or  given in to temptation at all, as some unkind souls might suggest.   The J11? That's been on pre order for ages. Both will be "Timmed" shortly.

Ah, that's why the fire alarm went off. It was the response to the wallet on fire..................

Nice pic as usual. J11 looks very smart, however that coach looks a bit dodgy........

P

[jwealleans]

how do you apply and fix them?

Now then, Gilbert, that's a good question. I use one of these, but my learned colleague Mr Foster has found something much more exotic and exciting.

 

Put the powder where you want it with the small brush and spread with the largest one. I don't use a fixer, the stuff really does stick to more or less anything. Don't varnish over it either unless you want it to all but disappear.