Raised On Steam

Thanks Brian, I'm still a bit of an RMweb newbie and didn't know this. I'm even more pleased to find out the J27's been a high scorer for years! I just hope the lovely Q6 has sold well enough to be an incentive for more RTR NER.

I'm pleased to see the J27 has made it almost to the top of the LNER table!

Surely even schoolbairns would know that one ha ha

Thanks everyone, I thought that was the draincock rod but just wanted to make sure after reading the review. I also couldn't work out why the Hornby Mag reviewer wanted a screw coupling either, a three link yes.

I dunno if anyone's raised this already but can someone clarify for me, how many of the Q6's had steam reversers? I thought all of them, and NELPG's engine does, but my Hornby seems to have a reversing rod, and this feature is highlighted in the (very nice) review in Hornby Magazine.

Have you swapped the tender on that one?

I'm in with the Q6 crowd. Finally got time to give my late crest engine a first run today. Looks awesome and nicely captures the balance of gracefulness and guts of the original. I'll add a bit of weathering eventually but for now enjoying it in all it's pristine glory. This is the first brand new engine I've managed to buy since getting back into the hobby and it was worth saving up for. What a little beauty it is!

Rope haulage……?

Necessity is the mother of invention, and here're a couple of my home made tools. Soft jaw holders (very battle scarred): 'Round bend' wire bending jig:

I saw the LNER version in action at Bowes Railway model show today and it's a smasher! Looking forward to getting mine later when the late crest ones are released.

I've cycled the length of the line at various times from Tyne Dock up to Consett and I find it very disappointing that, unless I've missed something, there are no info boards that give any hint of what the former trackbed was used for and its importance and the unique features it had. Apart from a few remaining bridges and Beamish tunnel the various dog walkers could be forgiven for not realising it had ever been a railway at all!

I had a cycle up there this afternoon to watch for a bit. It was quite depressing the speed and enthusiasm of the diggers pulling the bridge down. It'll be a memory in a day or two. It's a pity they can't mend roads that quickly!

Inevitable I guess but such a shame.

The like I put on your post was a 'sad day' like. In happier TD/C news I found Trains Annual 1964 in a second hand book shop at the weekend :-)

Is Leadgate bridge still standing? I haven't been up there since I cycled past it last autumn. Would that bus garage be the old Venture depot? I was working for Northern buses at the central works about the time those pics were taken and a couple of the blokes there were ex Venture and not long transferred down from Consett. Both called Davey I seem to remember. Much like in railways the old loyalties died hard and they were both Venture men forever ha ha

I spotted sets of pastel chalks in Lidl for £1.99 today.

These are the make I bought. I think I paid around £3.99 from The Range. The sticks look small but trust me there's enough to last for ages. I've used both Humbrol powders and homebrew and found that powdered pastel behaves the same as regular weathering powders. I've sealed both types with matt varnish before but find that the varnish tends to soak up the powders so I'd either spray a VERY light coat to fix the powders or for a really 'dusty' look I'd maybe not seal at all. I think a lot depends on how much handling your model is likely to have to stand up to. At the end of the day if powder wears off you can always bung some more on. I've gotten more into airbrush weathering now as it's more permanent but for 'dusty' grime powder is hard to beat. Anyway here's a bog standard Hornby brake van I weathered a while ago. I used Humbrol 'Smoke' around the top end but the footboards are weathered with powdered grey/white and tan coloured pastels. Here's someone demonstrating (I probably nicked the idea from here, I don't remember…..ha ha).

I make my own weathering powders. I bought a set of pastels for less than a fiver and give them a scrape with a knife blade.

60103 was looking rather splendid lit up parked out back of the NRM tonight as I passed by on a train.

That is an absolute beauty!

Also look out for the milestones still alongside the trackbed marked 'S & D'.

The view from lonely Shankend viaduct the other day

Thanks Les, that's great. That E type tender looks like the one I'll be after.

Thanks for the list, Les, things are much clearer to me now. Except…... Hornby's 63443 looks to have oval slots between the axle boxes yet swept down plated coal rails, as does the proto I was considering. Is this type D on your list? Plus what is self trimming please?

Is there a picture comparison somewhere of all six different tenders (or list similar to the above) that someone can point us to? I was thinking of a possible renumber and it might be handy for others to check the tender type too before buying. I know there was a detailed table changing hands on the DJM Q6 thread a while ago but a simple layman's list of things to look out for would be good. For example what did self trimming tenders do? Or Les, could you expand on your helpful above description to outline the differences between all six?