Trainspotting at Little Benton Sidings, Newcastle.

[rowanj]

What is this doing here? Although I have a photo of a Scottish K2 at Little Benton, but I doubt there was ever a K4 there between them being built at Darlington and "The Great Marquess" being preserved. This is a model I cobbled together a few years ago from a GBL K3 and a Hornby B17 boiler, with a cur-down tender from GBL parts.  I also had a few  of the original Dave Alexander K4 chassis etches, bought for the princely sum of £1 each when he upgraded them.  So , just for fun, I had a go to see if I could get something like a K4 to go. Whether it was fun or not depends on your point of view ... it was a bit of a fight.

Anyway, here it is on test on the layout. It still needs some added weight, but otherwise seems OK as a classic "Layout " loco- in other words, don't look too closely. I assume it came South on something from Glasgow when Edinburgh had nothing better on Shed, or, looking at the condition, to get some mileage on it before a General. Heaton took the opportunity to get it, and its' crew home as soon as possible on an-all stations to Waverley.

Edited February 19, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

Thanks to Clive M, I now have a 2-Car Class 104- or at least a half of one, as I need to do the conversion to the Driving Car. It takes the ECML from Tynemouth to Central on a Workmans early morning SO, passing a 4-car set in the loop. This will follow the 2-car into Newcastle, where they will join to form a 6-car on the 10-25 SO to Alnwick.

 

Heading North, Saltburn's A5/1 has a Berwick Stopper. This train originated at Darlington, and the A5 has been left on the train, for some unknown reason. This is the sort of train, of course, that the 104 would shortly consign to history. The leading coach is a Kirk kit, built many moons ago but modified during lockdown with ABS bogies and various MJT and Comet parts, and repainted.

[rowanj]

I well remember trainspotting at Little Benton in 1960, and being disappointed when the distant signals were pulled off and, when this normally meant an express or fast goods rather than a local freight, all we got was a DMU.  I'm afraid we took no notice of them, other than enjoying the view if we were lucky enough to get a seat at the front or the back.

So the groans from the lads by the fence can be heard as the 6-car Class 104 heads for Alnwick, little knowing that the days of steam-hauled locals in the North-east were almost over.

[46256]

Hello John travelling in the first generation dmus sitting behind the driver...really changed how we saw the railway. I was travelling in one watching the road ahead when suddenly the drivers compartment filled with feathers...literally. A bird had smashed into the front indicator box at sixty odd miles an hour...the result was dramatic to say the least. 

[rowanj]

A busy few minutes on a Summer Saturday sees Prince Palatine heading for Newcastle with a Parcels from Edinburgh.  Heaton's sole J94 is shunting the sidings, probably to pick up the rake of Gresley's to form an extra to York. Heaton also had an Ivatt 2MT and it has an CIU Special to Chathill, where buses will take the passengers on to visit Seahouses, Bamburgh and Beadnell.

The A3 is a bit of a pet, as I spent a lot of time on the original GBL Scotsman body and Hornby tender-drive tender, cutting back the latter and adding handrails and wiggly pipes to the loco. The J94 is just a repainted.renumbered Airfix, but is a superb runner. The 2MT is re-numbered Bachmann. The short rake consists of a couple of Kirks and a Hachette Mk1, which I "converted" from an SK to an SO, and have emerged from their box to see how they run, and to decide whether its' worth doing anything to upgrade them.

[rowanj]

I found this photo of Little Benton recently. I can't get a view on the layout to replicate it, and need to try and find a source of a ClassT/Q5/1. A couple of the last few which lasted to 1951 were at Borough Gardens in Gateshead, so running one is legitimate, even though it does nothing for the layouts' timescale, which was originally planned to be 1958-64 but has gradually slipped backwards.

This is the best I can do, with a Hornby Q6. I'm ashamed to say I have hardly run this super loco since I got more involved in kits. It really needs renumbered and weathered, but I just never got round to it. One of these days...

Edited March 11, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

The sidings are busier than normal, as 60517 Ocean Swell emerges from under Halls Bridge and heads for Tyneside, The loco is a GBL A2 body, modified using Graeme King resin parts, on a modified SEF A2 chassis. The tender is a spare Bachmann from their A2. The loco is getting a run while I decide whether to buy the Hornby version. I had one on pre-order from Hattons, got charged for it, then the next day had the order cancelled as they  didn't have enough stock. Bure Valley Models did, were a touch cheaper, and I assume part of the profit goes to the Railway, so a no brainer, really.

Edited March 11, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

I was looking for something different last year, and came across Mike Edge's kit for the Kitson Consett A Class Industrial. The preserved loco is about 5 miles away at The Stephenson Steam Railway, so I thought I'd give the kit a go. The locos were built for the Consett Iron Company, but were dispersed after coal nationalisation to the NCB at the Derwenthaugh complex, which had formerly been part of the Steelworks' estate .

There were no exchange sidings at Little Benton, so the loco is a bit of an anomaly, but has been fun to build. By the 60's no two were alike , and I'm still trying to find parts to adapt for the injectors and other boiler fittings. But I have the basic loco completed and the chassis running, so here it is on test. The ongoing build is on my other thread.

Edited March 14, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

This is the A2/2 you can't get out of the Hornby models. 60503 was a York loco, and occasionally got North to Edinburgh. Here it makes it's way back home, Haymarket being glad to see the back of it. If I remember, it was an A4 cab, modified A3 boiler and Graeme King resin parts, The chassis is a modified Hornby Brit.

[Sandhole]

23 minutes ago, rowanj said:

I was looking for something different last year, and came across Mike Edge's kit for the Kitson Consett A Class Industrial. The preserved loco is about 5 miles away at The Stephenson Steam Railway, so I thought I'd give the kit a go. The locos were built for the Consett Iron Company, but were dispersed in the late 50's to the NCB at Derwenthaugh. There were no exchange sidings at Little Benton, so the loco is a bit of an anomaly, but has been fun too build. By the 60's no two were alike , and I'm still trying to find parts to adapt for the injectors and other boiler fittings. But I have the basic loco completed and the chassis running, so here it is on test. The ongoing build is on my other thread.

That looks so right on your layout.
All you need, is a train of wooden hoppers with a colliery brakevan.
Going to look TASTY.
Regards,
Chris.

[manna]

10 hours ago, Sandhole said:

That looks so right on your layout.
All you need, is a train of wooden hoppers with a colliery brakevan.
Going to look TASTY.
Regards,
Chris.

G'Day Folks

 

Or 'The Elizabethan'....................

[rowanj]

12 hours ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Or 'The Elizabethan'....................

Funny you should say that....

 

"In 1957, 60022 Mallard failed on The Elizabethan and had to be taken off at Newcastle. All that either Gateshead or Heaton could provide was a Kitson Consett A tank from NCB Derwenthaugh, which was in Gateshead Works at the time. Unfortunately, the limited coal capacity mean the Kitson only got as far as Little Benton, before running out of fuel, and a pair of North Blyth J27's took The Lizzie on to Waverley"

From the Book of Modelling Bull and Baloney , John Rowan Copyright 2021.

 

I have photographic proof of this event, which I will publish in due course.

Edited March 14, 2021 by rowanj

[Sandhole]

6 hours ago, rowanj said:

Funny you should say that....

 

"In 1957, 60022 Mallard failed on The Elizabethan and had to be taken off at Newcastle. All that either Gateshead or Heaton could provide was a Kitson Consett A tank from NCB Derwenthaugh, which was in Gateshead Works at the time. Unfortunately, the limited coal capacity mean the Kitson only got as far as Little Benton, before running out of fuel, and a pair of North Blyth J27's took The Lizzie on to Waverley"

From the Book of Modelling Bull and Baloney , John Rowan Copyright 2021.

 

I have photographic proof of this event, which I will publish in due course.

OH, looking forward to that.

[rowanj]

1 hour ago, Sandhole said:

OH, looking forward to that.

Amazingly, some folk don't believe me... how dare they?

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Love it, looking forward to seeing that.

 

manna

[rowanj]

The proof of the pudding...

The pair of North Blyth's J27's stand in the siding waiting to take over The Elizabethan. Presumably an inspector or Gateshead/Heaton driver is on the footplate, as the regular crew are unlikely to have got as far North as Shilbottle, if that. 

 

The Consett A struggles in (actually it ran as well as the A4 would) before coming to a halt on the Down Main, 

[rowanj]

The Consett A detaches, runs past Little Benton North, then returns, exhausted, to Gateshead, The J27's couple up and head North. Pigs flying overhead can be clearly heard.

[Sandhole]

5 hours ago, rowanj said:

The Consett A detaches, runs past Little Benton North, then returns, exhausted, to Gateshead, The J27's couple up and head North. Pigs flying overhead can be clearly heard.

LOVE IT.

 

[manna]

G'day Folks

 

Truth is sometime stranger than fiction, back in the early 50's, a Pacific got into trouble near Hitchin and had to come off it's train, the only engine available was a veteran J1 0-6-0, it was hooked on and dragged the 14 coaches into Kings Cross !

 

manna

[rowanj]

Things are more or less back to normal. 60033 Seagull is on The Elizabethan, and an Alnmouth D20 has the Alnwick-Newcastle. Both locos are entirely prototypical, but as usual on my layout, there are timescale anomalies.  The Elizabethan stock is OK as far as it goes, but with Seagull in this condition, with a late crest, there should be more MK1's than the pure Thompson stock in my rake. The D20 62396, also has a late crest, which it actually did have  at the end in 1957, but the stock had gone by 1951. C'est la vie.

33 is a GBL Mallard, with a GBL Scotsman tender, cut at the rear as was done for the 1948 Loco Exchanges. It is far too scruffy for The Lizzie, really. The D20 is from DJH with a Dave Alexander tender.

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

Tyne Dock locos did get to Little Benton, though not as often as my photos might suggest- and 2 at once is really pushing it The Q7 and O1's were largely displaced by the 9F's on the Consett trains, and were used on regular freight trips, normally south of The Tyne. 

Both these are thanks to the late Dave Alexander. The Q7 is one of his kits, and the Hornby O1 has his "Tyne Dock Accessory Pack" fitted and the loco re-numbered. Dave is a miss, partly for his kits - he was planning a North Tyneside EMU set before he became poorly- but rather for himself...he was a lovely guy.

Edited March 24, 2021 by rowanj

[Sandhole]

4 hours ago, rowanj said:

Tyne Dock locos did get to Little Benton, though not as often as my photos might suggest- and 2 at once is really pushing it The Q7 and O1's were largely displaced by the 9F's on the Consett trains, and were used on regular freight trips, normally south of The Tyne. 

Both these are thanks to the late Dave Alexander. The Q7 is one of his kits, and the Hornby O1 has his "Tyne Dock Accessory Pack" fitted and the loco re-numbered. Dave is a miss, partly for his kits - he was planning a North Tyneside EMU set before he became poorly- but rather for himself...he was a lovely guy.

I totally agree with your opinion of Dave Alexander.
I'm running his tender kits behind Hornby 9Fs.
He was a complete gentleman.
Chris.

[rowanj]

43 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

I totally agree with your opinion of Dave Alexander.
I'm running his tender kits behind Hornby 9Fs.
He was a complete gentleman.
Chris.

Dave only lived 5 minutes drive away from me. I used to see him at all the shows, and I also remember him, (though he didnt remember me), from when he ran a model shop in  South Shields, His was a great business, as he sold not just complete kits but also tenders, spares, motors and wheels. I still have a couple of smokebox doors, whistles and the like in the spares box. I could phone him with an order, then nip to the ATM and pop down for a cup of tea and a chat to collect it. It was sad to see his health decline in the last couple of years, and COVID meant I didnt get to the funeral. 

I hear the odd rumour about his moulds being taken over, and hope that it can happen - Dave Ellis, for example, would be a great one to take forward his legacy, as no doubt would others.

 

[rowanj]

There were no exchange sidings at Little Benton, so these photos are no more accurate than were the ones on The Elizabethan. But there is no point in building a kit if you dont run it, so the Kitson has a short rake of hoppers which it has taken out of the sidings, Perversely, this loco runs superbly,. It still needs dummy couplings, glazing and transfers, and really could do with crew hanging on at the cab doors.

[Sandhole]

2 hours ago, rowanj said:

There were no exchange sidings at Little Benton, so these photos are no more accurate than were the ones on The Elizabethan. But there is no point in building a kit if you dont run it, so the Kitson has a short rake of hoppers which it has taken out of the sidings, Perversely, this loco runs superbly,. It still needs dummy couplings, glazing and transfers, and really could do with crew hanging on at the cab doors.

Lovely job, my friend.
I have to resist buying this kit. I'm waiting for Mike to produce the Dorman Long Sentinels.
I, also, have a Hardy's MW 0-4-0 to build.
Any chance of some more EMU action, please.
Regards,
Chris.