thegreenhowards

I’d always understood that all PO mineral wagons were in black by the time of nationalisation. Is that correct? Andy

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here. I’ve not been struck down by Covid 19...it’s more that’s I’ve been very busy with three rail tours, a model railway exhibition and a double bill of Harry Potter at the Theatre. In between that I’ve been trying to get some out of the box locos ready for service on Gresley Jn which always takes longer than you expect. Anyway, here is the first of the locos I got from Kernow about 10 days ago arriving at Gresley Jn on the 2054 from King's Cross. What is an ex LMS engine doing at Gresley Jn I hear you ask? Well two Fowler 2-6-4Ts worked out of Hitchin for a couple of years in the mid ‘50s. 42374 was one of them and I’ve based this train on a photo on p90 of East Coast from King’s Cross by Eric Neve. Here is the video showing her crossing the throat of the station.

Clive, I love the look of that CCT(E). I’d always fancied building some but with no kit and no drawing it seemed a bit of a stretch! I might have known that you’d have given it a go. I run my car carrier with the 4 wheel CCTs instead. Your pile of half completed projects must be a sight to behold! Andy

Thanks Tony, The joys of engine picking! I have a Nucast O2 kit lurking somewhere so could raid that. But off to the Basingstoke show today, so will look there as well (Thanks for the tips Mick). My layout is far more flexibly timed than PN. I allow 1948-1962, although I try to ensure any particular train is correct for a date within that range. This loco will be ‘early emblem’ so will make sure it’s an early ‘50s train. Andy

Tony, Thanks for your comments and photos. Most of the photos I’ve seen of the Cleethorpes trains seem to have at least one ex LNER coach standing in for a mark 1 (as well as the catering which was booked Gresley). I have a Gresley BSK(4) in my rake. As for 61032/ 61097, I struggle to spot the difference between the smoke box doors unless the angle is just right, but here is a picture of the Hornby model (only real coal added so far - I’ve been concentrating on my other purchases). I think you’re right that this is the flatter door. The photo of 61097 which really inspired me is in the middle of ‘The Power of the B1s’ (no page numbers) emerging from Potters Bar tunnel in 1957, so rather earlier than your photo. It’s difficult to be sure from the front 3/4 view but I think this is the flatter door. I know they changed over the years. Is there a definitive list or is it just a case of looking at photos? Also is there a source for a replacement bulbous door? Andy

I’ve had a few like that. Removing the gearbox and soaking it in meths overnight, then a light re-oiling has freed mine up nicely.

That’s a shame. For a moment you had me thinking I had an excuse for a K2!

Love the K2. Would that have gone through to KX East Goods?

We really need Tony’s forthcoming book to get the details right. I’m going for Hitchin based 61097 as it seems to crop up frequently in photos. Luckily Hornby have left the nameplates off for the user to attach, so I don;t have to worry about removing them carefully.

Love the coach views - thanks for that. I wouldn’t worry about the coach roof board. Several of mine are wrong when I run out of stock and nobody has complained so far. I think it’s better to have something there as the train doesn’’t look finished if there aren’t at least a few roof boards.

Which goes to show that you need a lot of B1s to run a convincing sequence on an ECML based layout...as I'm finding out on Gresley Jn. You seem to have a good selection, but sadly I seem to be deficient in the B1 department. Luckily Kernow are selling Hornby B1, 61032, for £100 at the moment, so I've just stocked up on another one. That was a Stockton one so it will need renumbering, but might be worth going for if your locoholics anonymous class will let you!

Today we feature the final of the sequence of four up trains which I mentioned a couple of days ago. And as trailed on Peterborough North, it is 60021, Wild Swan, on the 1705 Newcastle - Kings Cross. However, unlike PN, I feature the Mon-Thu version of the train which had a portion from Bradford via Leeds (the back 3 coaches). It gives a second run out for for Kirk triplet set as seen in the video.

I'll PM you as I don't want to take over Gilbert's thread with DCC woes!

Having seen your bookshelves, I can't believe that I've found a book that you haven't got! It's got some great photos but they're all black and white and spread around London. There are only about 18 pages on the GN, but they include some real gems including the Plant Centenarian railtour, a D16 on the Cambridge Buffet Express and several clear photos of other trains. I got mine for a couple of quid second hand and it was well worth that. I'm not sure I'd pay full price for it though.

You’re not wrong there...on both counts. Are all your loco allocations based on diagrams? I base mine on photos where available, but for these secondary trains it’s quite difficult as most captions state ‘an up express’ or something similarly useless! I figured a returning KX pacific, but chose Wild Swan which those who follow can look forward to on Gresley Jn, hopefully later today. In another coincidence, I’m working on commissioning 73157 for her debut on Gresley Jn. She’s a DJH kit which I bought on eBay as ‘Maid of Astolat’ (yet another coincidence for Olddudders’ conquest!). As often is the case with white metal kits, I’m struggling with the decoder. If only it was a case of ‘just four wires’. So far I’ve blown up one decoder with a short circuit, and the second one has just stopped working at which point I gave up. I’ll have another go tomorrow. I think the Standard 5’s mainly worked on the Cambridge line. I’m basing 73157 on a wonderful photo in ‘Steam Around London, The Postwar Years’ by Brian Morrison (p131) on a 9 coach Buffet Express. The other photos I have seen also feature Cambridge line trains. I think I read somewhere that they were tried out on the Grimsby fish as well, but I haven’t seen a photo and can’t remember where I read it. If you dig out that book, there’s a nice photo of the double headed 1752 two pages earlier with 61095 and 61627. Andy

This is the third of the procession of late up trains; the 1145 from Dundee. I don’t really understand this train as it seems to be a relief formed of Gresley stock, but I’m not really sure what it’s relieving - maybe the Heart if Midlothian and the last up Newcastle which will feature shortly. It seems to have been Summer only and of the carriage workings that I have, only features in the 1958 summer one. The formation is listed as BSK, FK, 6xSK, BSK with catering (RF, SO, BSK) added at Edinburgh on Monday’s and Fridays. I’ve chosen to model the full train with catering but had to substitute a couple of Thompsons as I don’t have enough end vestibule Gresley stock - particularly missing a FK which I will build soon. It’s headed by A2, 60533, Happy Knight. I’ve no idea whether this is accurate but it seemed reasonable for a secondary service. This loco is owned by my daughter, Ellen, and she won’t let me weather it, so that’s my excuse for its pristine appearance. Here’s the video which shows the full train - enjoy those end vestibule Gresleys!

No update yesterday because I received what my wife calls ‘[not] another oblong shaped box’ From Kernow on Friday, so spent yesterday sorting out the contents. More of that in a couple of days, but today I feature another class 26, D5309 on 2024 King’s Cross-Cambridge. This was a stopping service formed of a standard non corridor six set with 2*CL as strengtheners on the front. Here she is stopping at Platform 2. And the video...

Gilbert, Can we see the formation of the Dundee? Ive just been trying to put the train together on Gresley Jn, and it’s quite difficult to do faithfully to the carriage workings (if you interpret them as being all Gresley end vestibule stock). I’ve had to sneak in a couple of Thompson vehicles. Andy

Tony, Are these motors the ones DJH advertise on their website here https://www.djhmodelloco.co.uk/prodpage.asp?productid=3168 ? If so, they seem to be quite expensive At £75 - definitely aiming at the Portescap end of the market. They were £60 a couple of years ago with Mashima motors. If they’re as good as you say, then a worthwhile option for some, but I think I’ll build my own or cannibalise an eBay purchase. Andy

The 1733 from Leeds featured yesterday was the first of a procession of late up trains and next up is the 1715 from Hull, 16 minutes behind. This is a shorter train with catering provided by a Gresley (or Thompson, I’m never sure from the carriage workings) RF which gives a first outing to my Kirk RF. Apart from the shade of cream, I think it still looks OK. I’ve chosen a track level viewpoint this time. Here’s the video - this one’s got DCC sound so make sure you have the volume up.

Tonight I feature the 1733 Leeds-King’s Cross headed by top shed A4, Woodcock. Apologies for the clutter (aka rest of layout) in the background. I really must learn photoshopping! This is another train made up from loose stock and gives me the first chance of the sequence to give an airing to my Kirk Gresley triplet. Here is the video.

Not just in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I’ve just built up some exquisite Severn Models etches for office furniture. The instruction go into quite some detail about how to glue them together which is completely insane for stuff this small. There is one sentence at the bottom which states “If you have experience of soldering, the models can also be assembled using this method”. It’s not surprising that people don’t solder when they’re actively discouraged in this way. Here are the bits of furniture at etch primer stage. They have some wonderful detail like box files for the table top and protractor for the draughtman’s easel.

In my experience modern RTR Pacifics are perfectly capable of hauling 12-14 coach RTR trains at a scale 100MPH, especially with a bit of added lead. I regularly do this with Hornby A3s and A4s and Bachmann A1s and A2s. I also run 50 wagon goods trains with Bachmann 9Fs or Heljan O2s. Admittedly there might be a bit of wheel slip on starting...but that's prototypical isn't it? This is more true of the more recent production runs in the last 5 or so years than the earlier models (Bachmann's A1 Aberdonian is particularly weak). I think this is a pretty impressive achievement by the RTR manufacturers given that it will be rare for the locos to be asked to do this. They're certainly a lot better for haulage power than the X04 type versions of my childhood. The problem arises when the RTR loco is asked to pull heavy kit built coaches like the beauties which grace Little Bytham. Then the extra weight of a kit built loco is really important.

Not soldered?!

Today we feature a horse box special to Newmarket returning from the Southern Region (take your pick of racecourses). It is headed by B12 61553 (Hornby) and consists of four horse boxes, two are RTR - BR Mark 1 and ex LMS. The other two are ex LNER kit built ones; a D.4 from D&S and a D.5 from Parkside. I have written these up on my workbench thread here. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3802087 ..and the normal video...