ArthurK

Many years ago I built several Dawson kits for a friend. I built the Stanier 2-6-4T, 8F and Britannia. The it was the turn of the Jubilee. I cheated on that one, I made templates from the first and built two! The second was sold to another friend. In retrospect I wish I had photographed all of them. I do have photos of the Jubilee (attached) and a poor one of the Britannia. I don't know what happened to them as my friend died some time ago. ArthurK

Yes you're in the next six. It shouldn't be long, but I have a lot on my plate at the moment. ArthurK

Sorry for a number of reasons the C6 has been delayed. I won't appear until next year. ArthurK

Hello Tom, I am currenly packing a ne batch of six J73s. Not all of these are reserved. I have just one Fletcher cab J77. This was the firstof a new batch. this batch had a new style of cab floor which I folded to check that it was OK. Otherwise the remainder is untouched apart from the boiler being rolled. It is yours if you want it. I have four N10s on order. These are all reserved but I think that it is not too late to get another four. Delivery of these will 5-6 weeks. ArthurK

Yes, You are on the List. I have a batch of six E Class (J71) awaiting packing. Arthur

Currently packing the next six. There are still some castings to sort., but you should get one of those. My policy is to not accept money until I can supply the kit. I will be in touch when yours is ready. Arthur

The attached list contains the current status NORTHEASTERN KITS PRICE LIST.pdf Arthur

The J25 is on thre verge of being packed. Awaiting a few ccastings, Boilers to roll etc. The C6 is on hold but not forgotten . At the moment I a m concentrating on the F8. The design of thre latter is 90% complete. ArthurK

Joe, Always pleased to see builds from my kits, especially when the results are as good as this. Bowes Bridge had two of N10s. (Tongue in cheek), I have Just one left! Very nice work. Arthur

It's not only handrails and footplate bits that get bent. I photographed this J27 several times in this condition, first at North Blyth then at Sunderland. It ended is days at the latter shed. It appears that is was lifted using a couple of hawsers around the boiler! ArthurK

Not really a problem if you compensate both the driving wheels and the bogie. Allow the bogie take the weight with no vertical movement. Use a small diameter support for bogie so that it can rock. I recommend this method for both 4-4-0s and 0-4-4s. ArthurK

It may be able to pull a house down but don't put it alongside the RTR Q6. You may then realise that it is a Q5 with a bigger boiler. The latter is 6mm short and the underframe is 4mm short. If you are happy with it, fine. I assume the dimensions have never been corrected. I couldn't live with mine and I disposed of it. ArthurK

Must have done something wrong. All my early scratchbuilt models were built without any newfangled jigs, but this was fifty years ago. A chassis were built from half inch brass channel all of 1/16" thick. My drill was a hand-drill clamped to a board . The chassis was carefully marked the drilled by pushing the chassis with a block of 3"X4" timber with the left hand whilst turning the drill with the right. Once the first side of the channel had been drilled it was carefully aligned before continuing to drill the second side. Coupling rods marked and drilled undersized then adjusted to fit. In defence of such crudity I always succeeded in getting them to run well. Yes, times have changed. I now use jig(Eileen's) but all my recent modelling is compensated and in P4 which requires a bit more sophistication. ArthurK

The thing often overlooked is the fact that most of the Q6s were built with Schmidt superheaters. These were the favoured option of the NER. These did not have the Gresley vacuum valve behind the chimney but had a manually operated valve on the left side of the smokebox. This arrangement continued well into the 1930s and only changed when the superheaters were replaced by the Robinson style on new boilers. If you are returning your model to the NER period then some carried pyrometers to record superheater temperatures. these were visible on the left shoulder of the smokebox. A pipe dropped from here to below the handrail the horizontally to the cab. ArthurK

I form the flares in all my NER tenders and supply these with my kits. I was doing so many I made a special tool to help. This consists of a piece of thick walled brass (1/8th ID) tube filed down to half its diameter the flare is placed in that. Then with a piece of 1/8th silver steel on top the whole is squashed in a vice. ArthurK

The Tennant in the photos above has now received the attentions of Paul Moore who has added a magnificent paint job. I am sure that David is delighted with the results.

The DJH D20 tender in very poor in detail and accuracy. First no 3940 gallon tenders (which ran with the D20s) ever had the later style of outside frames with oval frame cut-outs. That style appear under Raven's guidance. The 3940 tenders had the near semi-circular cut-outs. There was also a similar (though smaller) cut at the front and rear. Next, the tender running plate was only 8' wide. The loco running plate was 8' 6". I am not sure if DJH got that right. Best to check. I made that mistake when I made the masters for the Chiver's kit. The upper tank detail is not good. The motorising and balance of a 4-4-0 is always a problem but with a little extra trouble it can be easily overcome (but, dare I say it?) it requires compensation. I use simple compensation beams on the driving axles and a fully compensated bogie. The latter has no vertical movement. Add as much weight as possible behind the leading driver but keep the centre of gravity ahead that axle. The ensures that the bogie carries some of the loco weight, as it should. Another problem with the D20 is that the bogie had 4' 0" wheels (as did the tender). Most will elect to fit under-size wheels with frames cutaway to clear them but this does cause a big difference the the appearance of the front end. My solution was to bend the front frames in sufficient to get a OO model around curves of roughly 30"l. Even with this approach it is necessary to remove material from the underside of a cast footplate to clear "near-scale" diameter wheels. I am pleased to see that DJH are now providing the longer smokebox ArthurK

NORTHEASTERN KITS I find it difficult to believe that it is nearly twelve years since I Issued my first kit in August 2008. That was a J73 and was closely followed by a J24. There was also the Fletcher cab J77. The were a number of dimensional errors on the last of these simply because I relied on a weights diagram which was all that I could find at that time. Today the preferred source of data are the works GAs. Initially these came from the Oxford Publishing lists in the National Railway Museum collection held at York. Later I found another list of the Darlington Works drawings. In the latter I found the drawings for the tanks and cab of both the Fletcher and the Worsdell J77 (NER290). They proved to me that reliance on the weights diagrams was not the way forward.The J77 was updated and kits for both versions designed. This brings me to the main purpose of this posting. I have often wondered just how many of my kits are packed away in drawers and placed on the “to do” list. It is always a pleasure to receive photographs of their builds, complete or otherwise so it gives me great pleasure to show some of the results. The models below were built by David Berner, who models the NER period. The two in green livery were painted be Paul Moore. The first is the Class W Next the T 0-8-0 Finally, the 1463 Class, better known as the Tennant 2-4-0 I am afraid that old age has caught up on me and I now refer to myself an “fumble fingers”. Trying to put a wire through a 4mm handrail knob is a mighty challenge! However, I am still able to use the computer so designing these kits will carry on as long as I am able to do it. Just to whet your appetite the next in line is the J25 (NER P1) I have the etches for that, so I had better start packing them. Waiting in the wings are Q7 (T3) and C6 (V&V09). I am also planning a F8 (A). ArthurK

sorry, no. My smokebox design is a bit unconventional. I doubt if you would get it to fit without a lot of trouble. Arthur

NORTHEASTERN Kits TENNANT 2-4-0 The latest batch of twelve are being packed ready for delivery. I have names against eleven of these. They will shortly be receiving an Email or PM . If you want the last one send me a PM, there may not be a further batch. Arthurk

Here is a J72 in departmental guise at Tyne Dock, BR built with straight ejector pipe. Note the support from the tank. 58 was set aside for preservation but didn't make it. ArthurK

The J72s were a mix. Most were intended for shunting duties. The GA describes it as a ''shuntjng tank'. and as such had no requirement train brakes. A few were selected for pilot duties. These were required to move passenger stock and were fitted with vacuum ejectors hence the additional pipe on the left. There were variations in running this pipe from cab to smokebox. Some hugged the boiler until it neared the smokebox these had a severe kink, then a second bend into the smokebox. The smaller pipe from the firebox fed steam to the Dreadnought injector in the cab. One further comment, not all the BR built locos had vacuum ejectors fitted. ArthurK

Why would anyone want to put a kink in the blower pipe? On every J72 photo that I have looked at it is straight. This pipe carried a rod from the cab to the cab to the valve. Any kink(s) would make the hand-wheel in the cab difficult, if not impossible, to turn. All the bits that you are suggesting copying are all available from existing suppliers why not buy them. ArthurK

Thanks for that Steve. Things are looking up a bit. I hope to get things moving more quickly in the New Year. A merry Xmas and a happy New Year to all. ArthurK

Northeastern Kits A very merry Xmas to everyone An update As many of you will know my health suffered a setback in October so disrupting my schedules. Those expecting the Tennant 2-4-0 will have to wait a little longer, but I hope to clear all of these in January. In the packing stage are three Q5s (all reserved) and a new batch of D20s. In January/ February I hope to begin deliveries of the J25 (there is a long list for this). The Q7 has been two steps forward one step back but it is progressing. The C6 is on hold. It requires new castings for the trailing axle springs (two lengths) and new tender spring dampers; also chimney safety valve covers etc. I hope to squeeze in another project which uses existing castings. For immediate delivery I have just one NER ‘W’ Class 4-6-0T and one Fletcher cab J77 On another thread modellers are discussing the conversion Bachmann J72 to the short bunker version with drastic surgery at the rear. Why go to all that trouble when I have two of those for immediate delivery! I also have one of the long bunker available. ArthurK