Trainspotting at Little Benton Sidings, Newcastle.

[rowanj]

10 hours ago, Ray Flintoft said:

Looks a very nice job . As I promised earlier on Wright Writes I have been looking up visits of Brits to Newcastle  as reported  . The first visit reported is of  70041 on 30.8.1958 with an express from the south . There are then a few reports of them each year , mostly coming in from the south or in later years on freights from Carlisle . The most interesting probably for you are the following ;;

 10/5/1960   70038 at Heaton on a petrol train from the south .

  19/12/1961 70016 on a Niddrie to Heaton class C freight .

 17/9/1962 70000 on a down freight at Heaton 

 14/4/1966 70051on a Tyne Yard to Millerhill freight . 

 It is worth saying  that for every reported visit there would be several that went unrecorded  so I think you have every reason to use your Brit as a rare visitor on your layout  .

   Hope this is of help .

                     Cheers ,

                               Ray .  

Thanks, Ray- that is really useful. Visits were certainly more common than I expected, and I certainly never saw a Brit on Tyneside.

One loco we did see over and over again was 60521. Here she is as a re-numbered Hornby on an extra to Edinburgh. Apparently it was one of the highest mileage A2/3's. It got a Dia 117 boiler again in 1960 before its' last move to Tweedmouth, so the round dome was OK. I did replace the unlipped chimney - it just pulls out of the smokebox - and added the later tender emblem, then weathered it a bit.

[Ray Flintoft]

On 19/12/2021 at 11:07, rowanj said:

Thanks, Ray- that is really useful. Visits were certainly more common than I expected, and I certainly never saw a Brit on Tyneside.

One loco we did see over and over again was 60521. Here she is as a re-numbered Hornby on an extra to Edinburgh. Apparently it was one of the highest mileage A2/3's. It got a Dia 117 boiler again in 1960 before its' last move to Tweedmouth, so the round dome was OK. I did replace the unlipped chimney - it just pulls out of the smokebox - and added the later tender emblem, then weathered it a bit.

Glad the info. was useful. Always glad to see a Thompson pacific at work  . You are right that she was a higher mileage  engine , in fact the best of the N.E.R. members of the class withdrawn in Nov. 1962 with a recorded mileage of 836,461 miles  . When I was little I was taken to York station to see off my sister on a school trip to Seahouses & it was " Watling Street " which took her train north .

                                                      Cheers ,

                                                               Ray .

[Sandhole]

On 19/12/2021 at 11:07, rowanj said:

Thanks, Ray- that is really useful. Visits were certainly more common than I expected, and I certainly never saw a Brit on Tyneside.

One loco we did see over and over again was 60521. Here she is as a re-numbered Hornby on an extra to Edinburgh. Apparently it was one of the highest mileage A2/3's. It got a Dia 117 boiler again in 1960 before its' last move to Tweedmouth, so the round dome was OK. I did replace the unlipped chimney - it just pulls out of the smokebox - and added the later tender emblem, then weathered it a bit.

I just love these engines!
Chris.

[rowanj]

A while ago, there was a discussion on traffic between Burradon Colliery and the 2 Stella Power Stations on either side of the River Tyne, using 24.5T wagons. This prompted me to build a short rake of Parkside kits, and here a loaded train passes Little Benton South behind the usual J27 motive power. I'll add to the rake if I come across another kit, but for now, 7 plus a brake van will suffice.

[Sludger]

A Merry Christmas to you John.

 

Thanks for the continuing additions to  the thread.

I alway like to come back to it at regular intervals for

a bit of North East recollection.

 

Trev.

[Barry O]

The Parkside 24.5T kits are so much better than the original Kirk ones. Some of my Kirk ones were in the article in Railway Modeller of Mike Edges Cwmafon layout.. now transferred for use on Wentworth Junction. 

 

Baz

[rowanj]

4 hours ago, Barry O said:

The Parkside 24.5T kits are so much better than the original Kirk ones. Some of my Kirk ones were in the article in Railway Modeller of Mike Edges Cwmafon layout.. now transferred for use on Wentworth Junction. 

 

Baz

The Parkside ones go together pretty well too, Baz- certainly well enough for a reasonably good-looking rake. Mine are just built as a basic kit, with no embellishments other than added coal. I'm less keen on the latest wheels, and am using up my stock of the earlier version - now becoming rather low.

 

Best wishes to everyone for Christmas and 2022.

John

[46256]

Season greetings to you and your loved ones John , your love of your native area shines through in your models

 

best wishes Brian

[rowanj]

Clan's were slightly more common on Tyneside than Brits, but were still a rare breed, One of my abiding memories is seeing 5 of them being towed South one weekday evening, We were thrilled, little knowing they were on their way to Darlington for scrapping.

The photo of 72002 heading North at Little Benton persuaded me to acquire a Hornby Clan, and 72004 has become the loco in the layout photo. The HMRS BR loco sheet provided an exact siza and colour match for the renumbering. Plates are Modelmaster. Do I dare weather it?

 

[Sandhole]

Merry Christmas and a happy new year, John.
I've enjoyed reading your posts this year.
Regards,
Chris.

[rowanj]

The Brit needed some "tweaking", so found itself taking a rake of empty Blue Spots back to Scotland. I need some imagination to justify this train. Did it get to Edinburgh, or would Tweedmouth have provided a loco to get to Edinburgh,  with the Brit, having satisfied its' crew and the fitters at 52D that all was well, returning light engine to York. Tweedmouth had enough 7P and 6P for its' rosters, so was unlikely to have a suitable return working for Boadicea.

 

K2's were regular, if not exactly common, visitors to Tyneside. My NuCast kit is taking a cattle train to the Newcastle Mart. The rake has been assembled at various points in Northumberland, and there are sufficient produce to warrant it proceeding as a rake, rather than odd wagons being attached to the head of a fitted freight, as was more normally the case. 61759 was at Cowlairs for an unclassified repair in September 1955, so this is her on her way back to New England,

 

My rake is pretty hopeless, comprising the over-stretched Bachmann's, a pretty implausible couple of ex-GW Coopercraft kits, some Parkside ex-LNER kits and a Dapol kit, obtained as a stocking filler and built over the last few days. The Dapol one is fair enough, and the Parkside ones would be fair enough too, but are the older 8ft versions which had virtually all gone by the early 50's. So something else for the never ending "to-do" list.

Edited December 29, 2021 by rowanj

[rowanj]

I'm giving my diesel stock a bit of a run out -they don't get out all that often-, and will make a short video of them, This was the first shot, a Class 104 DMU on an Alnwick-Newcastle. With help and advice from Clive M, I converted it from the Hornby110 into the more appropriate 4-car version on the ER/NER.  It passes  Heaton-based Ivatt 4MT 43126 in the sidings on a short freight- probably a pick-up.

[rowanj]

I just picked up the BookLaw  Volume 78 on the Newcastle to Carlisle Line, and this photo, taken at Hexham, is of particular interest. It shows a very unusual loco on Tyneside, and I realised from other captions that it was common to spot rare strangers on these trains. In addition, I'm in the process of "improving" my cattle wagons, replacing the "stretched" Bachmann versions, so the rake the train is passing is useful. But can anyone identify the wagons, The first is ex-NER, but what is the second? After that it looks like BR Standards, as per the Dapol/Airfix kit and the stretched Bachmanns, but there is either an optical illusion, (which i suspect), or the stanchion across the LH side is missing. So is this alternative diagram? Research, here I come.

Edited January 9, 2022 by rowanj

[46256]

John a rare cop indeed….the same excitement when we saw a b1 go through, or on very rare occasion V2.

[Adrian Stevenson]

The second wagon looks GWR to me.

 

Cheers, Ade.

[rowanj]

1 hour ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

The second wagon looks GWR to me.

 

Cheers, Ade.

Thanks, Ade, I think you are right. Bit of luck, really. as I have a couple of Coopercraft kits, built years ago, in the rake,

[rowanj]

Cattle wagons heading North suggests empties returning for distribution to various loading points in Northumberland, possibly via either Morpeth, Alnmouth or Alnwick.  The Bachmann 25 is renumbered to a 52A loco D5180. new at Gateshead from Feb 1963.

Edited January 10, 2022 by rowanj

[rowanj]

Thornaby 51L got   Class 27'D5372 in Jan 1962, and by all accounts, the class was very popular. The whole batch were supplied  without train heating, so were largely confined to goods work, with only occasional anecdotal, but as yet unproven forays onto passenger traffic during the Summer season when carriage  heating wasn't needed.

 

My Heljan model sits in the sidings waiting to head back to Teesside,  I got it to simply remove the boiler and renumber it, only to discover that this particular version, the only one I found in the livery I wanted, had  2 deep  T shaped cutouts where some Scottish locos were to have carried single line tablet apparatus. This required fairly substantial filling and repainting, but I think, with some weathering, it hasnt turned out too badly. It is almost certainly a cop- I never saw one on Tyneside, but certainly did at Thornaby, which was an easy shed to "bunk", A bit like Blaydon and Tyne Dock, it was a goldmine of stored and withdrawn steam locos.

[46256]

Nicely done John, if it’s like my Heljan 27 it’s a good runner too

 

best wishes Brian

[rowanj]

It certainly is a good runner, Brian, Here it is on its' maiden voyage,..

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by rowanj

[rowanj]

After the Lord Mayors Show, the spotters are back to normal fare, as a J27 heads north on another rake of hoppers - they should, strictly speaking, be empties in that direction. 65837 was a common sight, so would have been largely ignored by the trackside gang.

 

The J94 was, at that time, Heaton's only class member, and is also of little spotting interest. It must be getting towards the end of summer, and the Kitchen/Dining set has been detached and will either go into store, or be sent to York for servicing. It is, in real life, on test through my pointwork to check whether the Hornby fixed couplings work without uncoupling or derailement. They seem to. The stock are re-sided Comet/Bedford etches on Hornby donors.

Edited January 16, 2022 by rowanj

[rowanj]

Santa brought me Oxford Rail J27 65817. I renamed it to Blyth's 65815 and "scruffed" it up a little. As a change from trundling coal hoppers, it takes a rake of wagons to the refinery at Howdon., near Wallsend. Confession time- it was actually an ESSO, rather than Shell/BP facility.

 

The NCB slope sided Hudswell Clarke is a 3D Hardy's Hobbies model on an Electotren chassis, Resin/3D prints are not to everyone's taste, esp old fogies like me, but they are more and more becoming a staple in the hobby, and are steadily filling gaps in the market. The service from Hardy's was excellent, and assembly should be within almost everybody's ability level. Mine is a close, but not exact, approximation of No 28, which, post War, was in Northumberland at Ashington, then Shilbottle and Broomhill, where it worked the Amble staithes. The blue Is Halfords Vauxhall Royal Blue and the transfers are Railtec.

[rowanj]

The V3 has one of the occasional Newbiggin (or possibly Blyth) -Central trains which provided a direct contact with one of the premier London trains, avoiding the more usual hop from the Manors terminal. The rake is a mix of Hornby, Kirk and Isinglass kits.

 

 

The Hudswell Clarke No 28, wholly unprotypically, removes NCB internal stock from the sidings, Hardy Hobbies 3D Print on Electrotren chassis,

[rowanj]

Though not very exciting in modelling terms, the spotters will be jumping up and down. it must be Sept 1962 and pioneer Brush Type 4 D1500 of Finsbury Park heads for Edinburgh on one of its' first trips North. The loco is re-numbered Heljan, with paintwork toned-down using Humbrol enamel weathering paints, which I have still to get used to.  The train has a pair of coaches for Inverness at the front, one being a re-sided Thompson CK.

I vividly remember seeing my first 47 standing light engine at the East end of Central, by King Edward Bridge, as we came in on a DMU having been shed-bashing at Blaydon. I cant recall the number, but do remember wondering what on earth the loco was. Happy days.

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by rowanj

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

My favorite class 47, first one I ever saw to, I was lucky enough to drive in on many occasions in and around Kings Cross.

 

manna