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ArthurK
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Posts posted by ArthurK
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There were two styles of odd tenders to be found behind D20s . That behind 2020 was unique being a modified 3940 tender with the top rails replaced by plate. It retained water pickup and was not self-trimming.
The others were a new style based on the later self trimming tenders. They were flat sided and were not fitted with with water-pickup, These tanks were seven feet wide and four feet nine inches high.
Both drawings are the NRM Darlington list.
ArthurK
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yes,
These are all small batch production and may not be in stock .
Arthurk
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5 hours ago, Ray Flintoft said:
Hi , Clem ,
Yes , we all have memories of those times . I remember walking through York roundhouse only to see York's well known shed master , Geoff Bird , coming the other way . I feared the worst but all he said as he passed was " I haven't seen you , son ." They were indeed great days , never to be seen again .
Ray .
Takes me back a long way, a friend and me got into the West Hartlepool roundhouse only to be confronted by one of the enginemen. He approached and we expected to be thrown out! But no he pointed to an A8 (2163) on the turntable and said you shouldn't be in here, since you are you can turn that around. It was hard work but no more was said! We finished our number taking and left.
ArthurK
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On 22/11/2021 at 22:48, John Smart said:
Hello Arthur,
Rather late on this one, but surely 'just entered my 90th year' means you were celebrating reaching 89?
Please put me on the list for an F8 kit if you have not done already so.
Very best wishes,
John
NO! should have said 91st
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4 hours ago, micklner said:
Plus the F8, and the J21, are you taking orders for the J21 ?
Things are progressing very slowly at the moment. I have N10s,F8s and J25s being packed also some Tennants. the first J21 etches are also to to hand, The major hold up is rolling boilers. I have to ask if the lack of a rolled boiler is a serious deterrent to buying my kits? I would be more than willing to supply them flat. I find the task of rolling very laborious today. Tender flares are less of a problem but again I would rather supply these in the flat.
In answer to Micklner, Yes, I am taking orders for the J21
There have been enquiries about progress of the Q7. This is stalled at the moment, but I am being pressurised into pushingg on with this. I am still haven't decided what goes between the frames. There are rear ends of the valve guides and the middle cylinder/con-rod to source.
That leaves the C6. Again the hold-up is the castings (chimney, dome, safety valves etc.) but the one things that will take the most time are the outside springs/axleboxes. These will laminated from etches then assembled and fettled. There are two sizes for these. The tender axleboxes were latterly fitted with an unusual rubber dampers, Just another task. Fortunately, unlike the Q7, there are no internals obvious visible on this one.
Plenty to be going on with.
ArthurK
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The GA that I have described it as "Compound Goods Engine"
ArthurK
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4 hours ago, Brian D said:
Dear Mr Wright,
Oh dear (or words to that effect). My DJH D20 kit build is currently stalled while I pluck up the courage to fabricate the continuous boiler handrail. To learn that a builder of your vast experience finds this fabrication a faff turns my legs to jelly. At the moment I'm just positioning the hand rail knobs each side utilising a straight piece of hand rail - see below.
The bending of a suitable one piece hand rail now fills me with dread but.......hey ho, nothing ventured as they say.
Regards,
Brian.
The left hand rail stops short at the front "knob" which is in fact the blower valve operated by a rod through the handrail from the cab. The rail restarts at a stanchion 2mm forward.
Don't forget the curve around the Westinghouse pump on the right. This has a knob either of it.
ArthurK
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When first installed on the superheated locos the drive to the lubricator was not visible. It should not be too difficult to fabricate this if desired.
ArthurK
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The C class was envisaged as a mixed traffic engine rather than a purely goods loco like P class but they shared much in common. The boiler was used on other classes such as the P1, B, B1 and U. They were not completely interchangeable as the frames on the C class were set further apart than the later NER standard of 4 feet.
The Compounds of Class C had the larger cylinder on the right protruded through the frame.
TWW had a leaning towards the Joy valve gear and many of the C/C1 class were so fitted. His brother hated both this and compounding and removed these from many. Some C class retained the valves above the cylinder. These are characterised By the retention of the rectangular front cover to the valves. The superheated engines had the valves below the cylinders
The History of these changes is very complex check the LNER Green books for more deetail
Back to the kit. I decided to ignore the Joy variants and concentrate on those with Stephenson gear. These outlived the others and lasted through the LNER and into BR
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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:
Old?
I bought some glue in a hardware store in Market Harborough today and was asked if I was over 25!
I was wearing a mask.
Regards,
Tony.
You should have said you were part of a protest group and were about to glue yourself to the M25>
ArthurK
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1 hour ago, bbishop said:
Arthur, GER horseboxes perchance? Bill
sorry no. This list for disposal is:
1. Two Dia.174 luggage/milkvan DS174
2. Arc roof Dia. 53 49’ brake third DS223
3. Arc roof Dia. 54 49’ third DS221
4. Dia. 26 52’ Clerestory Brake Compo DS233
5. Dia.150 49’ Toplight brake third DS195
6. Dia 162 52’ Autocar brake third DS225
Not asking Ebay prices but no reasonable offer refused.
Arthur
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On 07/11/2021 at 16:19, Tony Wright said:
As promised..................
The Mailcoach 'Coronation' rake.
It's not what one might call 'top drawer', but it's reasonably well-made, and the complex painting is 'adequate'. It rides well (though I don't have a blue A4 to haul it).
Some of the ride heights need a bit of adjustment (a washer here and there?), but it's a damn sight more level than another 'Coronation' I've had running on Little Bytham.
I bought the full rake of the D&S Coronation coaches when they were announced. Danny never got around to producing the Beavertail end coach, I made a start on these but other things got in the way. I started with the underframe trusses then changed my ideas and put them to one side, They have languished in a box ever since. I will never get around to building them now so they are up for disposal along with half a dozen of other D&S kits.
ArthurK
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5 minutes ago, ROY@34F said:Let alone 80 tony , like me ! As you know I have had this so called essential tremor a number of years now , But , like others I cope by all sorts of wheezes using clamps , vices , holes in wood , pins , hair clips . I even have a height gauge as used in engineering which I can attach things to and lower them onto the thing I want to solder it to . It takes me ten times longer these days but get there eventually .
I'm sure you'll continue weaving your magic for some years yet .
Regards , Roy.
At 90 my eyes aren't as good as they were but my problem is holding little bits (like putting wire through a hand rail knob) I have virtually given up the modelling game but I can use the computer, so I stick to designing kits and drawing artwork.
ArthurK
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I also bought a Trix A4 (second hand) , Tender drive with traction tyres. As remarked above it would pull anything I could find to put behind it. Trouble was the loco wheels had a tendency to lock. It was quite as sight to see it at high speed without the the wheels turning.
I gave it a respray as "Capercaillie" it was the only Gateshead A4 built with double chimney.
ArrthurK
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2 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:
Jason
I fully agree that some Small Suppliers don't appear to se the need to communicate with their customers. However, some people seem to find it easier to post a question on RMweb than use the Contact Button on a website or an email address. If they are having a problem contacting a supplier, then it is unlikely that others have had success.
It is also clear that some buyers don't look at websites properly. Despite providing details on purchase, payment and delivery options and terms, some people seem to ignore that information and individually ask for the information by email.
Bringing poor service or unsatisfactory products to the attention of others is a good thing. However it should be tempered with an understanding that many of our Small Suppliers don't have the resources of big business to hand for dealing immediately with problems or queries (and we all know how bad/slow some of those large businesses are in dealing with unhappy customers), so need to manage working hours and expenses effectively.
Jol
NORTHEASTERN KITS
I will always respond to Email regarding enquiries about kits or castings. That is my primary means of communication. I will also respond to PMs on this site. I do not have a Website
ArthurK
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Today, another birthday! Time to sit back and reflect on how I got here.
My interest in railways began in my very early years. In WW1 my father was a Sapper. After a spell on the NW frontier he was sent to Mesopotamia (now Iraq). He spent time building pontoon bridges at Basra but was later deployed on the armoured trains operating in that area. During his stay in India he acquired a Kodak 116 camera (which I still have) and took many photos during his deployment.
Afterwards he returned to his family at Swalwell. His mother had a shop on Cross Street. He followed family tradition and had a Newsagents/General dealer on Market Lane. I don’t think that he ever lost his interest in railways because after I came along, I wasn’t very old when I was taken to see Silver Jubilee at Newcastle. Later a present of the Hornby replica (?) arrived. It was their standard 0-4-0 with stream-lined clothing towing matching tender and a pair of articulated coaches. My Tinplate collection was added to each birthday and Xmas culminating in the “Flying Scotsman” It was a 4-4-2 with Belpair firebox. Things like that didn’t matter then.
My uncle Walter was a loco fireman. He learned his job at Blaydon Burn colliery and later the LNER shed at Blaydon his next move was to Tweedmouth. I visited on school holidays. They lived in railway housing from which trains at the southern end of the Royal Border Bridge were clearly visible. I recall seeing the “Coronation” on its journey to and from Edinburgh. Another memory was a Sentinel railcar “Royal Charlotte”, resplendent in green and cream livery.
In the late thirties aunts and children gathered for a communal holiday at Seahouses on the Northumberland coast. That involved an early train from the station at Swalwell to Newcastle, then up the mainline to Chathill. The last leg was on the North Sunderland Railway. At that time there was only one engine operating, a Vickers Armstrong diesel named “Lady Armstrong”. The carriages were a motley collection of ancient GER and NER origin. One I recall had its seats along the sides and table in the centre,
By that time the war was upon us, Things changed. My uncle and family moved from Tweedmouth to Hull. Holidays were put on hold until 1943/44 after which I spent many happy hours trainspotting at Tyneside, York and Hull. I was hooked! There is a lot more to tell but that’s it for now.
In case you haven’t worked it out I have just entered my ninetieth year.
For those of you waiting for announcements of new kits, you wont have long to wait, The F8 is close to release plus another not far behind.
ArthurK
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1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:
It looks great, have you heard any more on the when you might be progressing with the Q7?
I keep plodding along with the Q7 but other things keep getting in the way! I think that it's about 90% there but there is still the visible valve gear to sort out. New castings are required for the Piston valves and centre piston, also for front and rear sandboxes and of course chimneys (two heights).
ArthurK
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I am currentlly looking at all the evidence that I have relating to position of the round cab windows in NER cabs.
The J71 and J72 are easy, I have dimensioned drawings of those. They are 4' 4" apart and 5' 3" above the footplate but it is surprising how many others use these dimensions. Perhaps this i s not so surprising if one remembers that they have to provide vision for enginemen whether tall and short. For example the T1 surely a big engine would be different. Well yes it is the windows a re 1" higher but the same distance apart.
Taking these are a standard then the windows on my F8 are too high by just 1mm in 4mm scale.
Unfortunately the normal GA does not show front views.
I hope that this is useful.
ArthurK
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In my defence of the F8, comparing model dimensions from a model photo with photo of the real thing can be very deceptive. A lot depends on the viewpoint and distance.
Yes. I freely admit that in Mike's build (as featured in the' Scalefour' Forum) the cab cutout was wrong. This now conforms to the dimensions quoted on the GA, As does the curvature of the cab roof.
On the subject of cab round windows every drawing that gives the size of these gives the same dimension 1' 3 3/4". This is size of the actual hole in the cab front sheet. There is never a bezel shown, the Windows (with few exceptions opened into the cab with the window frame (brass) fitting into the hole). it would appear from some photographs that the frame protruded ahead of the cab front sheet on some but that was by no means universal. I provide two inlays to the windows which can used to give a flush or slightly protruding appearance,
The height of the cab windows did not vary much between large and small locos. Drivers would expect them to be much the same on all. The distance between them did not vary a great deal either.
ArthurK
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3 hours ago, Asterix2012 said:
Lots of pipes round that pump.
Not really, only four!. Top cylinder, steam in and regulator pipes both from cab on the left, exhaust to smokebox on right. Lower cylinder air in on left (no pipe) high pressure to air reservoirs on left. There were sometimes two high pressure pipes from the box on the lower right.
ArthurK
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Further to my comments on the J27, one thing that I didn't mention was the sandwich buffer beam which was widespread (but not universal) on NER locos, These had a baulk of timber in front of the true bufferbeam and with a steel plate in front of that. This sandwich was attached with Hemispherical head coach bolts. These latter were very visible. This addition gave a degree of flexibility.
ArthurK
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On the subject of the Oxford Rail J27 model no. 1010, it is very unlikely to be sporting a smokebox with mushroom rivets in that livery. They weren't used until the war years. The NER (and Darlington in the NER period) used flush rivets whenever they were clearly visible, that includes the bufferbeam.
ArthurK
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Hi Mike,
We both know that there are a number of issues that I have to address on this one. However it looks fine and with the wheels in place it is beginning to look complete.
I have done a redesign of the cab internals by extending the tanks through into the cab. This raises other problems on the wheels protruding into the cab. I have often wondered how the prototype got over this problem as the wheel BTB is slightly more than the distance between the tanks. Careful study of the GA reveals a small dished splasher inside of the cab. This is not enough, even in P4 but it does suggest a way forward. I have added an adjustable splasher to suit P4. EM and OO. I think this will be an ideal solution
Keep up the good work. Unfortunately I am no longer able to try out these things for myself. I can dream up new designs but I have to rely on others to show that they work.
ArthurK
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The suspension is similar to my model of the Tennant but with a swinging rear truck at the rear. In both the front axle rocks on a central pivot,
ArthurK
NORTHEASTERN KITS
in Smaller Suppliers
Posted
Hello Everyone!
Thank you for all your enquiries and best wishes with regard to Dad's health. He continues to do as well as expected in the circumstances.
A few of you are aware that I'm in the process of updating the list of available stock, which is taking much, much longer than expected. All I can say is that it shouldn't be much longer and to thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Janet
(Daughter of Arthur)