Castle Aching

[JCL]

Well I don't have any books specifically on Sharp Stewart.  I have simply picked up stuff on the interweb and from books on other railways.  Quite a few companies had SS deigned locos, as well as contracting out the building of their own designs.  The Metropolitan, Barry, Cambrian, LBSC and GER, not to mention the Jersey Railway, and some Light Railways, all had 2-4-0Ts, for example. 

 

I just love these little fellas.

 

Thankyou very much.

[Edwardian]

Any suggestions as to who might produce components similar to the following.

 

I imagine several will be non-starters, but there may be some close enough to a proprietary accessory.  I suspect Alan Gibson's range is the most comprehensive these days, but is not illustrated so which Midland Johnson dome or safety valve bonnet, for instance, is best, I cannot tell.

 

I think the RT Models MW chimney, tapered safety valve cover, and buffers will be useful.

 

5and9 Models do Sharp Stewart buffers

 

Thankyou very much.

 

If there is anything particular you want to know, it's just possible that I might have looked it up, so PM me.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Edwardian

[Northroader]

Try this thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101647-has-any-one-ever-made-there-own-loco-chimney/

[Nearholmer]

That chimbley looks very like a Terrier one, so if someone sells those ......

 

K

[jcm@gwr]

Off topic, but does anyone know of someone interested in a bit of casual labour?

 

We need to address several things in order to get our house back onto the market. 

 

• Laying carpet tiles in 2 rooms, each approx. 10' x 10'

 

Thanks

 

James

 

You'll need a couple of guys to lay carpet tiles that size!

[JCL]

Hi there, I was really looking at the company history of Sharp Stewart and the Little Sharpies. They were quite popular on the GNR in their day, and in their 2-2-2T and 0-4-2T guises plied their trade to and from Skegness via my home town.

 

If you can't do the domes and chimneys any other way, let me know and I can out some together on a sprue using 3D printing. It's via Shapeways, so not that cheap, but the "standing charge" means that the more items there are on a sprue the cheaper the cost per item is (Shapeways slaps a $5 handling charge on some of their materials). I tend to wait until there's a sale on before making a purchase.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[wagonman]

Well I don't have any books specifically on Sharp Stewart.  I have simply picked up stuff on the interweb and from books on other railways.  Quite a few companies had SS deigned locos, as well as contracting out the building of their own designs.  The Metropolitan, Barry, Cambrian, LBSC and GER, not to mention the Jersey Railway, and some Light Railways, all had 2-4-0Ts, for example. 

 

I just love these little fellas.

 

 

The 'notorious' Peter K produced a 4mm scale model of Hesperus as rebuilt by the GWR. The kit was designed by Rod Neep I think, so is at least buildable.

[runs as required]

The last "Backtrack" in mid July  (the August 2016 one I think) included Part 1 of a really interesting piece of research through the surviving order books of Sharp Stewart about the locos ordered by Thomas Savin  for what coalesced as the Cambrian at Oswestry, and a clutch of other Welsh Railways he was involved in (including the Manchester & Milford). He regarded them as "Common user" between all the railways - which the individual Boards of Directors didnt!

Fascinating about the rather vague way locos were specified and described before the Whyte convention took hold, with some very pretty photos.

 

dh

[corneliuslundie]

I don't think any of the photos were previously unpublished, though I agree that they were a nice selection. There are in fact a surprisingly large number of photos around of these locos, and others belonging to the Cambrian.

There are two typos I spotted. The most obvious is that loco number 28 is shown twice but the cabless version is stated to be no 2. And how woiuld you like to have been the driver of that loco in a blizzard on Talerrdig?

The other typo is in the line under the heading "(5th) July 1860" where 87 should be 387.

I am not sure either that the basic information about how the locos moved around between companies is new but the actual order information is very interesting to see. I await Part 2 with interest.

But it is the pot calling the kettle black for me to talk about other people's typos!

Jonathan

[runs as required]

I don't think any of the photos were previously unpublished, though I agree that they were a nice selection. There are in fact a surprisingly large number of photos around of these locos, and others belonging to the Cambrian.

There are two typos I spotted. The most obvious is that loco number 28 is shown twice but the cabless version is stated to be no 2. And how woiuld you like to have been the driver of that loco in a blizzard on Talerrdig?

The other typo is in the line under the heading "(5th) July 1860" where 87 should be 387.

I am not sure either that the basic information about how the locos moved around between companies is new but the actual order information is very interesting to see. I await Part 2 with interest.

But it is the pot calling the kettle black for me to talk about other people's typos!

Jonathan

Yes I agree about the pics and the background info on Savin and his entrepreneurial role in Welsh railways being well known; in my opinion they were justified 'exposition' (as actors call it) to contextualise the really original research combing through SS's order books.

I particularly admired the author setting out beforehand his typographic conventions about which primary/secondary sources he was quoting from (and how he would interject his own comments) in the text.

Classy academic method - way above usual ex-trainspotters magazine ramblings about their 1950/60s schooldays.

dh

[Nearholmer]

Which is why 'Backtrack' is about the only magazine that appears on the shelves of WHS that rises above "comic" when it comes to railway history ......... On the downside, though, it is also why an edition of 'Backtrack' that doesn't include at least one article about something that is of personal interest is a perfect cure for insomnia.

 

I now make sure I have a jolly good browse of it at WHS, but only invest if it has something in it that I know I will want to keep.

 

K

[Nearholmer]

Or ....... And thus is there still, just about, room to put towels and clothes away in our house, because not quite every single cupboard is totally filled with railway books and magazines.

 

(Personally, I could manage with fewer towels and clothes, but SWMBO has different ideas)

 

K

[runs as required]

Nothing beats railway history literature for countering insomnia. The most sleep inducing phrase I know is 'a cold collation'

 

dh

[Shadow]

A while ago we were discussing small churches for CA and Shereford came up.

 

Well I passed it today and took a few snaps.

 

 

 

 

Got a few more if anyones interested.

[uax6]

Interesting church that, note how the north aisle has been removed and the aches blocked up at some point in history. Not a typical roof to the tower either. Nicely kept, which in this day and age is nice to see. Although not a church goer these days, I find the beauty and peacefulness of this small country churches something very special.....

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Andy G

[Shadow]

Interesting church that, note how the north aisle has been removed and the aches blocked up at some point in history. Not a typical roof to the tower either. Nicely kept, which in this day and age is nice to see. Although not a church goer these days, I find the beauty and peacefulness of this small country churches something very special.....

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Andy G

 

There was some history sheets displayed with a few details

 

 

 

 

[runs as required]

Triggered by the fascinating post above on St Nicholas Shereford, I've been trying to remember where and when I first learnt about why towers were round in Norfolk.

I see my Observers book of British Architecture is dated 1952, the year I first joined the YHA and cycled from N Derbyshire,(via Sutton Bridge & Castle Acre) to grandparents in Essex producing several bad pencil sketches of architectural details on the way.

So my scarily austere maternal grandfather gave me the Batsford Book on the Parish Churches of England by Cox & Ford (price 12s 6d) for Christmas 1953. I now see that on p 68 it singles out "East Anglian circular towers carrying on a pre-Conquest tradition...largely dictated by economy to obviate the use of dressed stones for quoins"

 

Not sure I now agree for almost always Norfolk round towers are very close to nearby most elaborately crafted dressed stone churches.

dh

[uax6]

I would think that the round towers of Norfolk were because of economy. They appear in the flint bands across the area, and so the building materials are dug up locally. I'm presuming that the dressed stone for the corners and arches had to be imported from elsewhere, hence costing brass. The round towers are mainly on parish churches in rural areas, the more populous areas seem to have the (later) fully dressed churches, presumably because of fashion and that more money was available.

 

I also wonder if flint was lighter on the foundations than dressed stone?

 

Andy G

[Andy Hayter]

Round towers date from a time before Norfolk developed a rich agricultural base (13th cent onwards IIRC)  - wool in particular - which could then finance fancy churches with expensive imported stone blocks.

[runs as required]

The books I referred to above both dated from that postwar utilitarian 'form follows function' idealism.

I suppose what I meant in

Not sure I now agree for almost always Norfolk round towers are very close to nearby most elaborately crafted dressed stone churches.

is that these days we are more savvy; a theorist would argue that the conceptual idea for a tower is "round" - ( rather as a child draws a house as a square, with a face and a triagular hat - even in flat roofed dry regions of the world.)

dh

[Edwardian]

What a wonderful church.  I don't know where we might fit it in, but a great building.  I like the fact it's clearly been b*ggered about; makes it all the more interesting.  The photographs were excellent and the notes were very useful, as they included both some key dimensions and an explanation of how the top of the tower should look.

 

Is there room for a Saxon Church to defy my Norman Keep? More tempting stuff. 

 

As far as CA is concerned, I have been researching suitable components for locomotives and GER wagons.  Interesting, but time consuming.

 

Went to a show at Redcar yesterday.  Lots of inspiration there too. 

 

When I grow up, I want one of these:

[Caley Jim]

Nothing to do with Norfolk church towers, but some churches in Scotland were circular, notably Bowmore on Islay, as were some burial grounds.  Reason?  Nae corners whaur the De'il could hide!  

 

Jim

[Edwardian]

Jim, is there not a famous house/cottage somewhere, round for the same reason?

 

 

Oh, but I forgot.  There was something at Redcar of relevance to CA; a GER horsebox.  Marske today enjoyed the luxury of a little 0-4-0T to shunt for the train engines.  She needed to get at some fish trucks to be added to a passenger train, but had to dispose of the GER horsebox first.  The train engine, a BTP, did not have to exert itself beyond running round, while all the shunting was done for it.

[runs as required]

What was the advantage of a BTP? Compared say to the Armstrongs' inspired GW 0-6-0 saddle (or later GW pannier) tanks ?

 

Was it constant adhesion of the coupled drivers and better visibility for shunting control? BTPs seem to have been very long lived on a very prosperous railway.

dh

[Nearholmer]

And, one of the Isle of Wight Railways had a loco that was clearly based on the same design, which it bought secondhand from whoever owned the Seaham docks (Lord Londonderry?).

 

http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/no-2-isle-of-wight-central-with-no-1-isle-of-wight-central-in-the-background-17254

P

 

Kevin

Edited August 8, 2016 by Nearholmer