ArthurK

Further to my comments earlier, one thing which appears to have been overlooked in conversions from long to short bunker is that the first twenty engines (those with short bunkers) were fitted with steel plate buffer beams (front and back). In most cases the front beam had a wooden baulk and an extra steel plate added (the footplate was not extended). The rear rarely (if ever) had this change and retained the steel plate throughout the lives. The Newcastle pilot was in this condition as 68680 in its final days. That means a hunk of plastic to remove whilst leaving the footplate intact! ArthurK

When the longer coal bunker was added to the NER E1 (edited) class (later J72) the frames were not extended. They remained at twenty five feet. The only change at the rear was to add a wooden baulk behind the rear buffer beam. This, together with an additional steel plate added 5 3/8" to the length. The bunker was extended by this same amount. It then overhung beyond the actual frames. The footplate on the original E projected eight inches beyond the buffer beam, more than enough to accommodate the additional bunker length. ArthurK

What do I remember? When you reach my age - quite a lot and it is mostly in colour. "Silver Link" in silver The "Coronation" in that beautiful blue livery. LNER locos in green pulling coaches in teak livery. After the war ended attempts were made to restore what had gone before. A4s reappeared in Garter blue but now with stainless steel numbers. Gresley Pacifics were again green as were the V2s and some lesser classes. Newcastle and York both got a "pet" 0-6-0T in green. The remnants of the "Coronation" and "West Riding" sets were split up and used in ordinary services. I lived an easy cycle ride from Blaydon engine shed. This formed the Southern servicing end loco on the Border Counties Line from Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Line. We got to see locos with wonderful names "Wandering Willie", "Hal O'the Wynd", "Dugald Dalgetty" and others. There was also the occasional Glen. The ECML within easy reach so visits to Low Fell became a must. One of the highlights of the afternoon was Leeds train invariably pulled by a pair of D49 "Hunt" class. But, alas, not in their prewar green livery. I spent a lot of holidays at Hull. My cousin and I used to meet up at York, spend a few hours there before proceeding to Hull. At York we met up with that interloper, the LMS. Here I had my first glimpse of LMS red, but why was it always "Galatea" on the Leeds train? Another first was a Midland Compound No. 1023 in red, which although stationary, was producing the blackest smoke that I have ever seen. Does that count a colour memory? I have not ,as yet, mentioned the hard working goods locos hauling their loads of coal from mines to docks. Yes they were dirty unless you were lucky to see one ex works. Perhaps it's because of dirt and grime that I remember them. One thing I do remember is the appearance of the WD 0-6-0Ts in Khaki livery with hastily painted "LNER" and number on a black panel. The first WD 2-8-0s arrived about the same time. Many of these were overhauled at the Scotswood factory of Vickers Armstrong. They then moved across the Tyne tp Blaydon shed before being sent to sheds nationwide. As a result I was witness to a succession of shiny black WDs. I don't think that can be many that can say that. ArthurK

Let's not get too upset about the rights and wrongs of any particular model. We all strive to produce the best that we can. With hindsight the front of the radius on my model is too high but let's settle this by showing a close up of the real thing. ArthurK

This is my take an the A3 valve gear it started life as a Proscale kit but. apart from the connecting rods and the coupling rods the remainder was filed from steel. The expansion is in three layers as in the prototype. the centre layer passes through the radius rod. I think that it was worth the effort. It is in forward gear. ArhurK

You are already down for both of those Steve! ArthurK

I have had a lot of problems with the quality of the brass castings on this one but things are being resolved -- slowly! It should start shipping within the next couple of months. ArthurK

I cannot answer that question. I won't know for sure how many I have until I sort all the bits out!!!!!! ArthurK

The Tennants are being packed. I had a bit of a health problem which has slowed things down but the first shouldn't be too long.

Regarding the use of only a few parts from the original kit, I bought a Nu Cast O2 from a local trader ( yes we once had one in Lytham but that was not his main business). The boiler was in two halves with the firebox made up from two more. There was no way that I was going to get an acceptable round boiler from that lot. I made a round boiler from brass. Then decided I would prefer the LNER cab to the GN version. I ended up scratch building the footplate and chassis as well. The tender wasn't too bad and I did keep the backhead! No doubt Tony with his better knowledge of these than I have will find plenty of inaccuracies but all I had to go by was a Skinley drawing and I did make some adjustments to that. I can't really blame the kit manufactures for all the bits I threw away but the boiler was horrible. Some day I might finish it, or perhaps I should just dispose of it and let someone else do that. I don't have the time. ArthurK

I don't think so but here is one that I built. Top is as it came but most of the chassis is scratch. ArthurK

Tony, please forgive me for publicising my range here. My name has been mentioned a couple of times in the above posts. There are about twenty locos in range, all are NER prototypes. NORTHEASTERN KITS PRICE LIST.pdf Not all are available at any one time as they are produced in small batches. Note the these are not complete kits and do not include handrail knobs, nuts & bolts or wire. They do include all etches, castings and comprehensive instructions. Many of these are detailed in MikeMeg's threads ArthurK

Whilst not a fan of Jidenco I feel that provided you were prepared to spend the time you could produce a reasonably acceptable result. I picked up two of their coaches (unbuilt) on a club secondhand stall. The first was this Barnham shown below. As Jonathan has remarked. the bogies were awful but I did get them to run (these were six-wheeled). The other was a sixty foot corridor third similar to the one in Jonathon's post. I built the body shell for that and decided I had no use for it and sold it on half built. I also built four NER ironstone hoppers. Again these were not easy builds but the result was acceptable, but might not pass close scrutiny. I will photograph these and post them on here later. Whilst we are talking awful (impossible) kits , I nominate MTK Gresley 61' 6" coaches. These were a preformed shell, beading included. It sounds an easy build until you find the bottom beading is under the the coach bottom!!! Enough said. I would rate these way below the Jidenco coaches. I must add that I have never bought or built a Jidenco loco kit. ArthurK

I have both the short bunker J72 and the J71 in my range of etched brass kits, ArthurK

When these locos were rebuilt to B16/2 (Gresley) or B16/3 (Thompson) the cabs were restyled after the LNER fashion. The windows of NER cabs were considered to be too low and the were raised for these rebuilds. The Q5 rebuilds got a similar treatment but on those the cab was basically the same as the J39. The second photo is a B16/2. It retains the right-hand drive of the B16/1 ArthurK

PM me with your surname. I may have one but the list is now closed. I was surprised at the response to this. I have had to revise the order twice. Delivery to those that made it will be about six weeks, ArthurK

Steve I will add your name to the list. Looks like I will have to order eight rather than four! Delivery will be about six weeks. ArthurK

NORTHEASTERN KITS Class 1463 Tennant There is enough interest to warrant going ahead with an order for a further four of these. If anyone else is interested please let me know. quickly. Delivery from the etchers will take 4-6 weeks. ArthurK

NORTHEASTERN KITS Class 1463 Tennant I have a customer asking for one of these kits. To become viable I really must order four of these. The tender underframe would have a Well tank with which few (if any) were fitted. This is barely visible unless the tender is turned upside down. if anyone would like one of these please send me a PM. this is probably your last chance. ArthurK

I have two techniques that I use. The safest way is use a wooden cocktail stick insert the through the hole and into the nut, screw it tight with the fingers to form a thread on the cocktail stick, then apply flux and solder. The thread on cocktail prevents solder getting onto the brass thread. The other method (to be used with caution) is to add a washer to the bolt then through the part and nut. Tighten the bolt very firmly then apply a good fillet of solder around the nut. Don't overdo the flux and keep the solder away from the top of the nut! Well it usually works for me!!! ArhurK

Here is another variant of "maroon". Of course a lot depends on the the lighting conditions and the type of film being used. In this case the weather was overcast and the film was Agfa. As an aside I spotted this at LlanfairPG, and knowing that it was unlikely to rush across the Menai rail bridge I hurried across the suspension bridge to a spot that I had already selected just at the Bangor end of the rail bridge, jumped out of the car and with my camera at ready waited for it to appear. I had only a few seconds to wait! Happy days. Date July 1964, loco "City of Nottingham. ArthurK

We visited Doncaster works at that time. ArthurK

NORTHEASTERN KITS There are still several short bunker J72s available. When those are gone it unlikely that there will be a further batch unless there is an upsurge in demand. I need an order of six to become viable. I find that I have three J24s available. These will not be packed until orders are requested. The price is £100 which includes P&P within the UK. ArthurK

The photograph of the 4125 tender is from a B16 as it still has both brake and scoop handles. The Q7 wasn't fitted with water pickup. ArthurK

Some pages back there was a discussion about splashers on the V2. I have just unearthed the photos I took in 1974 when it visited Carnforth. I took the opportunity to clamour onto the footplate to take a number of shots from a viewpoint not normally available. Needless to say I was spotted and politely (!) told to come down from there. I didn't mind as I already had the photos that I wanted. This is one one them clearly showing the splasher over the front driving wheel.