Building kits for Tyneside in the BR era. J24 and PDK D49/2

[rowanj]

Though there is nothing particularly interesting in the Comet chassis build, there may be in the motor - a Taff Vale Models 1227 5-pole. I haven't seen many folk using them, though, to be fair, the range seems to be mainly intended for O Gauge, The 1227 is really only suitable for  larger OO locos, though I have managed to squeeze one into an SEF K3. They are powerful, not too fast running, and the fixing pints are standard, They do have that weird screw fixing points which leave the motor sitting askew in the gearbox, but, this doesn't affect running. This motor  may be a reasonably priced substitute for the bigger Mashimas. I get mine via Ebay.

 

usual disclaimer- just a satisfied customer

 

[Sandhole]

1 hour ago, rowanj said:

Though there is nothing particularly interesting in the Comet chassis build, there may be in the motor - a Taff Vale Models 1227 5-pole. I haven't seen many folk using them, though, to be fair, the range seems to be mainly intended for O Gauge, The 1227 is really only suitable for  larger OO locos, though I have managed to squeeze one into an SEF K3. They are powerful, not too fast running, and the fixing pints are standard, They do have that weird screw fixing points which leave the motor sitting askew in the gearbox, but, this doesn't affect running. This motor  may be a reasonably priced substitute for the bigger Mashimas. I get mine via Ebay.

 

usual disclaimer- just a satisfied customer

 

I like the look of that motor.
Could you post a link please?
Regards,
Chris.

[rowanj]

1 hour ago, Sandhole said:

I like the look of that motor.
Could you post a link please?
Regards,
Chris.

There you go, Chris. 

http://www.taffvale.wales/Model-Railway-Motors.html

 

 

[k22009]

https://tinyurl.com/4etrwfk6

 

These are much the same too but direct from China.

[Sandhole]

Thanks, both of you.
Chris.

[rowanj]

The Comet/Hornby Brit now has the main elements of the chassis and valve gear fitted. This was either my second or third go at doing this, so  I suppose I must be getting either better or luckier. Having said that, in my next life I'm going to model the GWR. You wouldn't want to see a video of me fighting with the strands on the valve gear, and certainly wouldn't  want to hear the audio. I take my hat of to folk who had build these things in 5 minutes.

 

I have photos of 70036 at York, and the modified "blinkers " are appropriate. Brits were reasonably common at York in the 60's, or else someone took a photo of every visit. However York was as far up the ECML as they got, so a visit to Newcastle/Little Benton is a bit of an anachronism.

[rowanj]

A few proving  photos of BOEDICEA before entering service. It/she needs draincocks, and I'll fit an AWS plate but the loco is otherwise finished. The Comet chassis was built in the usual way, and all I added was some pipework to the trailing bogie. The valve gear really needs the lubricator drive, and I did consider trying to do this, but chickened out.

This was a bit of a different build for me. I try to have locos which are appropriate to Little Benton, and there is no evidence of a Brit passing through. The odd one got to Newcastle, but York was the usual destination on the NER,  But I had a body and tender, and was given an unbuilt chassis kit. I had suitably sized wheels, but needed to purchase the valve gear and leading bogie. Ignoring (as you do) the cost of stuff  i already had, I spent about £20 on getting this ready to run. But to buy all the parts new - chassis, valve gear,nameplates, motor /gearbox and wheels, and source a decent tender and loco body, I suspect the real cost would be  nearer £200. If built as a kit, add another £100.

So would it be worth it? The chassis kit, though workable, is showing its' age, the valve gear isnt sufficiently detailed and is missing a very obvious visual component, ditto the trailing bogie. It would take a much better modeller than me to get a loco near the quality of the latest Hornby RTR, which can be picked up for £180 or so.

Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed putting this all together and the result is all mine. But in the RTR v Kit debate, this wouldnt be my ideal way to get a decent Brit. There are plenty of locos still not in the RTR catalogues to cut my teeth and fingers on

Incidentally, the weathering was my current go-to of Railmatch Weather Black and Light Rust with Tamiya "slabs" in varying shades.

[John Tomlinson]

This has turned out well, you've made good use of the parts you had, and better still its all yours!

 

A footex perhaps, non league Ashington at home to Grimsby Town in the Cup?

 

John.

[rowanj]

28 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

This has turned out well, you've made good use of the parts you had, and better still its all yours!

 

A footex perhaps, non league Ashington at home to Grimsby Town in the Cup?

 

John.

That would work, John. Or a Rugby International at Murrayfield?  They do seem to have been well-used in later days on this sort of duty.

 

[46256]

Hello John I take your point that a Brit was not in your modelling plans as such. It is therefore even more to your credit that you made such a good job of your model. It is a pity you sent me that Princess body and tender, as another region’s engine might have found its way on a footex/ rugby excursion.

 

 

 

[rowanj]

18 minutes ago, 46256 said:

Hello John I take your point that a Brit was not in your modelling plans as such. It is therefore even more to your credit that you made such a good job of your model. It is a pity you sent me that Princess body and tender, as another region’s engine might have found its way on a footex/ rugby excursion.

 

 

 

Thanks, Brian. I hope you think I've done justice to the gift of the frames.

 

I try to be careful about "strangers" on the layout, though if I have photographic evidence, I'm willing to give it a go. So a J38 occasionally appears, and a Clan would be OK, as would a Scottish K2/2. Darlington serviced all sorts of things after Doncaster closed to Steam, so a few running - in trips could be justified. But it's too easy to run anything and call it a "Special". 

 

John

[Blandford1969]

It looks lovely, and each one you build seems better than the last. Just one question, is there a reason the rear cab window is closed? - Its something that puzzles me about lots of models. The first thing you do is open it first thing in the day; and unless the weather is really bad they stay that way. 

 

[rowanj]

10 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

It looks lovely, and each one you build seems better than the last. Just one question, is there a reason the rear cab window is closed? - Its something that puzzles me about lots of models. The first thing you do is open it first thing in the day; and unless the weather is really bad they stay that way. 

 

Perhaps it's because the crew are soft Southerners and didn't know it gets cold up North...

But seriously, you are right and I should remove the rear window, which is just as Hornby  built it. I'll do that when I fit the added detail, and put real coal in the tender.

[MarkC]

On 21/11/2021 at 18:48, rowanj said:

Thanks, Brian. I hope you think I've done justice to the gift of the frames.

 

I try to be careful about "strangers" on the layout, though if I have photographic evidence, I'm willing to give it a go. So a J38 occasionally appears, and a Clan would be OK, as would a Scottish K2/2. Darlington serviced all sorts of things after Doncaster closed to Steam, so a few running - in trips could be justified. But it's too easy to run anything and call it a "Special". 

 

John

"Strangers" are a great thing to run on exhibition layouts, John, especially when photographic evidence is to hand. One can have great fun with <experts>... 

[rowanj]

I have evidence of 72005 at Newcastle, and 61789,72002 and 65912 at or near Little Benton, so I can get away with those if challenged. Brit-wise only 70048 on a Kings X-Edinburgh (in 1958) meets the test. North of York, which was the normal northern limit, 70020 got to Hartlepool in 1963 on an excursion taking fans to a Durham-Warwickshire Rugby match. it was one of 2 trains, the other being The Midland Pullman set, (now there's one to challenge the experts). I saw 70000 in 1964 at Darlington on an excursion. It pulled in, we copped it, then jumped on an A1 hauled train back to Newcastle, enjoying what was by then a rare chance to be steam-hauled.

[rowanj]

 

Re, Brits at Newcastle. 70004 got a Casual Light Repair at Darlington in Dec 1965 - the last steam loco repaired there, and the only Brit, according to the caption. 70013 is on a photo taken at Gateshead in Jan 1964, in transit from March to Polmadie, via Carlisle. apparently this was the regular route for ex-ER transferees. the photos are in Booklaw  Nos 4 and 5.

 

I'm down to my last unbuilt kit, a Wills A3 bought many moons ago. It will become Salmon Trout, a loco we saw all the time on Tyneside. I've begun the Comet chassis, and will use a Highlevel gearbox and Taff Valley Motor. As the loco needs an-ex GNR tenders, I've dug out a Dave Alexander body kit designed for the Hornby tender-drive. These old kits do scrub up pretty well, especially if a bit of added detail is fitted, as the one I did earlier, The Tetrarch, hopefully shows.

[rowanj]

Almost there, I wanted , as an experiment, to try to weather Salmon Trout in the condition she got into after transfer from Haymarket to St Margaret's. 64A was always less scrupulous about cleaning than 64B, and I have a couple of photos of 60041 in this work-stained condition.

[rowanj]

This is the Electrotren 0-6-0 from Hornby International. A few years ago, you could get the chassis as a spare for a reasonable price, and I wish I had bought a couple, as these days, you normally have to buy the complete loco, and if you can get it for under £70, you have done well.

 

The body is HO and it's stretching things to make it suitable for a British loco. However, the chassis is a smashing little runner, and fits under a few 3D printed kits, including the Hudswell Clarke range from Hardys Hobbies. Mine will be the donor for the short/sloped boiler version, which, as NCB no28, worked at Ashington Colliery then at Broomhill and Whittle Collieries and Amble at the northern end of the Northumberland Coalfield. 

 

I wont do the description of the build to death, as it's pretty straightforward, but I'll stick the odd photo on  as it progresses.

[Sandhole]

46 minutes ago, rowanj said:

This is the Electrotren 0-6-0 from Hornby International. A few years ago, you could get the chassis as a spare for a reasonable price, and I wish I had bought a couple, as these days, you normally have to buy the complete loco, and if you can get it for under £70, you have done well.

 

The body is HO and it's stretching things to make it suitable for a British loco. However, the chassis is a smashing little runner, and fits under a few 3D printed kits, including the Hudswell Clarke range from Hardys Hobbies. Mine will be the donor for the short/sloped boiler version, which, as NCB no28, worked at Ashington Colliery then at Broomhill and Whittle Collieries and Amble at the northern end of the Northumberland Coalfield. 

 

I wont do the description of the build to death, as it's pretty straightforward, but I'll stick the odd photo on  as it progresses.

I think this is a great chassis.
I have it running under Hardy's locos and a series of re-chassied Nellies.
I have my eye on other ways of using this power-drive.
Regards,
Chris.

[rowanj]

On 01/01/2022 at 15:25, Sandhole said:

I think this is a great chassis.
I have it running under Hardy's locos and a series of re-chassied Nellies.
I have my eye on other ways of using this power-drive.
Regards,
Chris.

I'm  a little slow in discovering this chassis and am certainly interested in finding other appropriate locos to fit it. CDC used to do an RSH which would work for an NCB loco in the Northumberland Coalfield, but that seems to be out of production.

Rails have the complete loco for £51, at lot less than current EBAY prices.

[Sandhole]

21 hours ago, rowanj said:

I'm  a little slow in discovering this chassis and am certainly interested in finding other appropriate locos to fit it. CDC used to do an RSH which would work for an NCB loco in the Northumberland Coalfield, but that seems to be out of production.

Rails have the complete loco for £51, at lot less than current EBAY prices.

Thanks, I'll investigate that, I could do with some more.
Regards,
chris.

[rowanj]

This is what happens to naughty boys who don't do their homework.  I decided I "needed" a "no-heat" Class 27 as delivered to Thornaby in 1962/3, so bought one in the correct livery. I assumed, correctly, that removing the boiler moulding and renumbering would be straightforward. What I missed was the fact that the model had a T cutout on 2 cab sides which the Thornaby locos did not. I assume this was part of the single line token apparatus fitted to Scottish based locos.

So it will be out with the filler, try to get a smooth join and match the Heljan paint, then hope that weathering hides my sins. Still, it will keep me out of mischief.

Edited January 5, 2022 by rowanj

[AJCT]

On 05/01/2022 at 12:08, rowanj said:

This is what happens to naughty boys who don't do their homework.  I decided I "needed" a "no-heat" Class 27 as delivered to Thornaby in 1962/3, so bought one in the correct livery. I assumed, correctly, that removing the boiler moulding and renumbering would be straightforward. What I missed was the fact that the model had a T cutout on 2 cab sides which the Thornaby locos did not. I assume this was part of the single line token apparatus fitted to Scottish based locos.

So it will be out with the filler, try to get a smooth join and match the Heljan paint, then hope that weathering hides my sins. Still, it will keep me out of mischief.

Yes, that's the tablet-catcher recess fitted to the initial Scottish batch of 27s (D5347-69), although unlike the 26s (D5320-46) I've never seen any of the 27s actually fitted with the catchers.  You may also need to alter the cabside windows to the "droplight" type - the sliding ones on your model were originally only fitted to locos with T/C recesses.

 

HTH...

 

Alasdair

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by AJCT
Correction

[rowanj]

I hadnt seen this before. Interesting stuff.

 

 

[46256]

Really enjoyed seeing the video John…never knew that a steam locomotive had windscreen wipers…always something new !

 

best wishes Brian