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Trainspotting at Little Benton Sidings, Newcastle.


rowanj
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60052 "Prince Palatine" has an Up TPO for Waverley. The loco is a GBL body on a Hornby chassis. The tender is a tender-drive body, cut back to appropriate dimensions, on a modern Hornby chassis. The loco is ex-works, literally, as its' valve gear locked up in classic Blue Peter fashion and the crosslink snapped at the crosshead joint. I sent for, and received, a replacement set, then remembered reading that, although most models are built with that joint in a pivot, it actually should be rigid on the crosshead. As an experiment, I soldered it up, and now have a spare set of valve gear.

This was the test run, which it passed.

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60113 ran well on the test track, but developed a loose driver on its' maiden run in service, so is back in the works. It was seen from time to time at Newcastle, normally on Parcels or Reliefs, but would have been sent back to Doncaster pretty sharpish, and there is no evidence of it further North. 

I "restored" the loco, which has lain in the spares box, with a Wills A3 chassis and misc. bits of valve gear etch and will persevere to get it running properly- it's nearly there.

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John you've answered  a question I was going to ask as to whether a regular visitor to your neck of the woods . In respect of a loose driver why is it always the one that necessitates taking the motion off to get at ? 

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A much more likely sight would be 60060 "The Tetrarch" on this Newcastle-Edinburgh semi-fast. The loco was a common sight on Tyneside, and seems to have been well-liked at Heaton and Gateshead. There are pictures of her at all points on the ECML. Being a common sight, she was, of course, despised by disappointed spotters searching for a cop. Loco is an old Wills kit on Comet chassis.

The leading coach is the a  Hachette £2.99 magazine effort, modified to a BSO . Comet sides, PECO interior.

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Edited by rowanj
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I have been steadily developing my non corridor stock, as I found myself unhappy having only RTR Hornby LNER, excellent though they are. In the distant past, I had built a couple of Kirk kits but was unhappy with my work fitting the roof and the underframe details. Funnily enough, the lack of flush glazing, which seems to be the major issue for many, didn't bother me.

Anyway, this rake has my Isinglass 6-Compartment Brake, and an all-1st Kirk with MJT fittings sitting alongside the Hornby stock. The DJH A8 has an SLS Special from Teesside and Sunderland which will take the West curve at Little Benton Quarry and head for the long closed station at Ponteland, and possibly the even longer closed end-of-branch at Darras Hall.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is probably an early-morning "workmans' train, diverted to get a faster run to Central via the ECML rather than the usual route to Manors. It will also allow connections at Central to far- flung outposts like Sunderland, ot even Middlesbrough.

Although the coaching stock is old, it still gives a comfortable ride, and the G5 can go on forever. The date is probably 1951.

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The time machine has leapt to 1960. I don't have too many diesels, and, frankly, they are pretty bog-standard and don't get out much. However, like the young lad watching the trains go by, this is the sort of scene I remember becoming more common as I ended my spotting days.

The 24/1 is renumbered as a Gateshead loco, as is the Lima 40, on the fully-fitted goods heading to Niddrie. Crepello has an Edinburgh -KingX relief to the Heart of Midlothian, and is a GBL body on a Lima chassis.

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The BP tank wagons have been collected from the sidings, and given the signal to head for Tyneside or beyond. in the meantime, my Clayton Class 17 - a Silver Fox kit- has a typical duty on a short goods,

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Then the time machine kicks in again, and we leave Status Quo on our trannie, and hear Cliff and Billy Fury, as Dave Alexander N10 takes the ex-NER rake an an ECS back to storage, probably at Morpeth.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Classic North East England in the latish 50's. The J27 is my latest build - one of the last superheated locos, based at North Blyth, but given a rest from hoppers and rostered on the Newbiggin-Newcastle Forth pick-up goods. It is actually on test after a bit of a fight with the ancient NuCast kit - details on my build thread. I didnt spot many builds of the superheated version, so it makes a bit of a change from my other pair - not that the spotters will care, or even know. 

The B16/1 was the first etched kit I ever built. 61410 has a special to Morpeth, then up the "Wannie" to Scots Gap for the Bellingham Agricultural Show. It has a buffet in the train, so may have been part- booked by one of the major employers on Tyneside. the date must be the last Saturday in October 1958, as the Bellingham Show is the last in the calendar.

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Edited by rowanj
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Just for a change, I bought a couple of Cambrian Models kits - a Shark and Catfish - with the intention of building a short ballast train. Here, Heaton's J71 takes the Shark, still awaiting transfers, to Heaton Yard. The loco is a converted Mainline J72 using the Wizard/Mainly Trains kit. It doesnt appear often, at Little Benton, so may well hace been a "cop". 

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On 01/07/2020 at 19:22, rowanj said:

This is probably an early-morning "workmans' train, diverted to get a faster run to Central via the ECML rather than the usual route to Manors. It will also allow connections at Central to far- flung outposts like Sunderland, ot even Middlesbrough.

Although the coaching stock is old, it still gives a comfortable ride, and the G5 can go on forever. The date is probably 1951.

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Having lived there at one time I like the idea of Middlesbrough as a far-flung outpost....

 

Les

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10 hours ago, Les1952 said:

 

Having lived there at one time I like the idea of Middlesbrough as a far-flung outpost....

 

Les

It certainly seemed like one in 2001_6 when I queued for the Tyne Tunnel then fought my way up and down the A19 every day. Nice folks when I got there, though.

 

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The latest additions are "spotted" by the lads on their Saturday morning trip to what we called "The Powder Monkey". It was actually am abandoned slag heap from a long-closed mine, and is now a mountain bike haunt. To get lineside where we used to go involves a trip with a machete akin to a walk in the jungle.

 

Anyway, 2 locos were noted. V2 60922 is a 52B loco, and is the superb Mike Trice 3D print. It has an Edinburgh -Newcastle relief to Heart of Midlothian, and was put on at Tweedmouth to replace a failed A3.

 

65863, the superheated J27 leaves the scenic section past Little Benton North Cabin with its' 3-way splitting distant and return light-engine to North Blyth.

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Before Mike Trice's 3D printed V2. Graeme King produced a superb resin casting. I got a couple from him, but understand the mould is now kaput. A great pity, as can be seen in the photo of one of the locos with the stepped tender heading a Down semi-fast.

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I'm also making slow progress with the Engineers Ballast train. The Cambrian Catfish, still awaiting transfers (and ballast) was a pig to get square, but it runs OK eventually. It is still under the care of the J71, which has just been into the paintshop to hide the white line on the footplate as revealed by the photos. 

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Before "Bittern" was a celebrity, it was "common as muck" on Tyneside. My young teenage memories are, actually, that an A4 at Little Benton was more likely to be from 64B, and at Newcastle from 34A. Gateshead's A4 duties were usually handled by A1's and their A4's seemed to run under cover of darkness. Perhaps I'm mistaken..

 

Anyway, 60019 is my Wills A4. For all the Comet chassis I have built, I just couldn't get this one to run properly, so I'll strip it down and try again. In the meantime, Bittern has a Hornby chassis. The tender is from the GBL Mallard, on a Hornby chassis, with the loco in typically scruffy Gateshead condition. It's probably still doing about 60, but will be slowing down soon as it approaches Heaton Yard and Junction.

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Passing on the way back to South Gosforth is the North Tyneside EMU Parcels car. I could really do with an articulated set, but the only source I have found is a fiendishly expensive model on Shapeways, and this is only for a body shell, so all the chassis and associated gubbins, including the bogies, would need to be sourced, I havent seen a build anywhere, though I do recall acut and shut conversion a few years ago in a now mis-placed magazine article.IMG_20200811_133914.jpg.dc8d6ad706fec9a5de7b04a64b36406b.jpg

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Probably my favourite loco, the LRM J25, takes the ECS ex-NER set into the sidings to allow a more important train to get through.

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Surprisingly, it is  merely a fully-fitted freight. The loco is one of the last V2's to get a "general" and be re-painted black. The body is another of Graeme King's superb resin moulds,

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Conversely, the V2 on the Down "Fish n' Meat" is a real hybrid, built several years ago. If I remember correctly, it has a GBL cab and footplate, a  modified Triang boiler and smokebox from an A3 and a full box of Milliput to fill the gaps. If I can get a replacement from Mike Trice, I may retire this one, though it does have sentimental value.

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Edited by rowanj
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On 13/08/2020 at 23:58, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Surely keeping the homemade V2 would be a bonus another big engine on the books.

 

manna 

 

The homemade V2 is actually a good runner-or at least the original Bachmann chassis is. I was thinking about simply replacing the body with Mike's superior version. I need to think about it...

 

A 34A A4, other than on The Elizabethan, was virtually unknown north of Newcastle. 60030 "failed" yesterday on my Lizzie, - the valve gear was catching. Anyway, Haymarket must have sorted it out, and, rather than sending it home light engine, has put it on an Edinburgh-KingsX express. So the spotters will be pleased to see Golden Fleece, which is a GBL Mallard, GBl Scotsman tender, all on a modern Hornby chassis, from the days eyou could get them for a reasonable price on EBay.

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There was a time when if the loco stared with a 6,I'd be tempted to buy it or build it. Nowadays, I restrict myself to stock which had a bit of a chance being seen at Newcastle, then I allow it to sneak a bit further North through Little Benton. Most of the "impossible" locos, D16, B12 and the like, have now gone, but a few unlikely candidates remain.

 

The pair of 02's were built from NuCast kits. I t remember ever seeing one at Newcastle, nor have I found a photo. However when Darlington started servicing all sorts of steam, and after Gorton closed, a few O2's went there,  That's my excuse for giving this pair a rare run-out. Of course, it's sods law that, not having turned a wheel since pussy was a kitten, they ran superbly ,,,,,

 

 

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I've been building a couple of BY Gresley 4-wheel brakes, one from the reissued Chivers kit and the other from Isinglass. This is the Isinglass version, behind the J39/3 held at signals. In my world, the van has come down  from Ashington and the Clerestory brake is probably the conveyancing coach for the pigeon fanciers. The van will be detached at Newcastle, and pigeon fanciers, almost certainly pitmen, will join a train headed south. In this case the destination will be Banbury. The pigeons will get home long before their owners.

 

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My stock is now a nice mix of RTR and kits, with a lot of the RTR modified in some way. This has given me a reasonably authentic mix for the location at Little Benton.

 

The T1 is on a LOCO coal train. The engine was based at Tyne Dock, only 10 miles away, but was as likely to be seen at Little Benton as a King or WC, The wagons are a mix of Parkside and Kirk kits, and is having a run out as I have another Parkside kit to build to complete the rake.

 

The coach behind Bittern started as a BSK, but was altered to a BSO using PECO card interior.

 

The Chivers BYP is immediately behind the V3, while the 6-compartment brake at the rear of the rake is from Isinglass, and I think it looks fine alongside the Hornby models, and adds something a bit different. A bit too different, actually, as not many of this type were built and were predominantly on the GC.

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Again, though the spotters are delighted, reality takes a back seat as an O4/7 heads south on a rake of mineral wagons. If one was ever seen on Tyneside, I have no evidence, but the loco has sentimental value as, like Thompson himself, I converted it using a Replica B1 boiler and cab.

The D20, though, is entirely legitimate , as it heads for Alnmouth on a SO stopper. My pair of Isinglass 3d prints head the rake.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm in the process of putting together a short Engineers Train. I still have kits to build for a Dogfish, another Catfish, and a Grampus. In the meantime .a D&S 6-wheel BY, probably an ex-NER Milk Van, has been appropriated as a toolvan, and heads to Heaton Yard behind a local J27 (Dave Alexander kit) with a Catfish and Shark brake.

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