Trainspotting at Little Benton Sidings, Newcastle.

[rowanj 4,173]

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.

[rowanj 4,173]

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 ,,,,,

 

 

[manna 13,712]

G'Day Folks

 

What do you expect, GN loco's always ran like sowing machines.

 

manna

[rowanj 4,173]

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.

 

[rowanj 4,173]

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.

[rowanj 4,173]

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.

[rowanj 4,173]

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.

[46256 2,095]

I lke that van John....lots of character...as indeed does the rest of the train

 

best wishes Brian

[rowanj 4,173]

The last of the D20's heads "light engine" towards Newcastle. The Last Hurrah of the engines were on the Alnwick-Newcastle stoppers, so, hopefully, it had just been appropriated between turns for a short run up the ECML. Otherwise, sadly, it may be heading for Darlington, in which case I fear North Road Scrapyard beckons.

 

The expanding Engineers rake, now with a Grampus as a spoil wagon, sits in the loop.

[rowanj 4,173]

1962, and KOYLI takes a Kings X- Edinburgh express past Little Benton South. The loco is a GBL model on a Bachman chassis. Mike Trice 3D - Print V2 has a rake of non-corridor stock, which may be standing in for one of the regular Newcastle- Edinburgh school trips which ran in this period. I went on one in 1960, but to my disgust, the train was an 8-coach DMU. Interestingly, on the way back, it was routed from Morpeth to Newcastle via the Blyth and Tyne, via Bedlington, the only time I got to travel the route. Hopefully, I'll get the chance in 2022 when the line re-opens to passengers.

[rowanj 4,173]

60009 takes The Elizabethan past Little Benton North and busy sidings, which is how I remember them. They were, by 19560, more usually full of open wagons, which I suspect were condemned...as if we cared in those days.

 

Haymarket A4's were actually more common, at least in memory, than those at Gateshead, at Little Benton. 64B loved theirs, while the DMPS at 52A preferred A1's.  By 1960, Newcastle was a great place where one could see all the A4's, as well as all the other Pacifics from both north and south. I saw all the Canal A3's at Newcastle, as well as A2's from Dundee and Aberdeen. What we never saw were Copley Hill or Ardsley A1's, but Neville Hill A3's were common as muck.. The River Tyne, was, of course, a watery Berlin Wall, with engines changing from both Up and Down trains. So, other than on The Elizabethan, running a 34A A4 at Little Benton is stretching it a bit.

 

The view in the photo is from the top of The Powder Monkey, a spoil heap from a closed local colliery, which is now a BMX track..

 

[rowanj 4,173]

Gateshead's "Sir Walter Scott" (re-named Bachmann) has the Aberdeen Fish and, as a consequence, the V2 and its' coaches have been put into the relief sidings. The meat and fish traffic had prominence over everything other than passenger trains, so the V2 must have been on empty stock. 

[rowanj 4,173]

it's 1951, and Saltburn's A5 will soon be heading back to the GC. In the meantime, a short excursion of pigeon fanciers heads back to Teesside after a trip to Scots Gap. The loco is Craftsman on an Alan Gibson chassis. Believe it or not, it was fully lined, almost totally obscured when I tried a Weathermates Soot spray. I've tried a few times to use this but it always comes out too strong, 

I really should build the A5/2, which was the usual version in the North East, 52F do a kit. One of these days...

[rowanj 4,173]

The latest addition to the stock is a North Eastern Kits J73. 

As part of the official photograph. the other local J-series tanks were sent to Little Benton, and the official photographer managed to get them all.

Heaton's long-standing J94 is just a repainted/re-numbered Dapol model,

The J71 is modified Bachmann/Mainline on a Mainly Trains chassis, as is the short-bunkered J72. The other J72 is a modified Bachmann, with vacuum fittings.

The York-build J77 (with "arc" roof) is a Dave Alexander kit, while the later build with the "Worsdell" roof is from North Eastern Models.

[manna 13,712]

G'Day Folks

 

Nice collection of shunters, plus a marked improvement in picture quality. 

 

manna

[rowanj 4,173]

The J73 has a short ballast train as it awaits its' return to Yorkshire. Actually, it is being used to check the running of a newly built Dogfish in the rake. I have another Catfish to build, then I'll add a further spoil wagon to complete the rake.. at least for now.

[rowanj 4,173]

What's going on here? My very first ABC still had the W1, and I was desperate to see it, little knowing that it never got to Newcastle (although I believe it occasionally DID in the immediate post-War years). So it's a total flight of fancy to see it at Little Benton. The loco is Hornby/Graeme King, and it is really just out to give the model a run.

[rowanj 4,173]

After the J-series shunters, here are my N's, with the T1 to round it off. The N5 is an SEF kit, and represents a loco which was at Sunderland for a short spell. The T1 is Little Engines, the N8 from LRM , the nearer N10 is a Dave Alexander kit with a North Eastern kit behind it.

I 'll build an LRM N9 to complete the set= the last couple survived until 1955 based at Tyne Dock.

[rowanj 4,173]

Haymarket has sent 60700 back as soon as possible. and it looks to be an Edinburgh-Kings X "extra", The train is running "wrong-line", entirely prototypically as this stretch was, and still is, signalled for 2-way running. The ballast train confirms that engineers have possession of the Up line.

 

The stock is whatever Craigentinny could get there hands on, and includes a Cravens Prototype FO, built from a Southern Pride kit.

Edited November 1, 2020 by rowanj

[rowanj 4,173]

After the excitement of the unlikely spotting of the W1, things have returned to normal at Little Benton North, as my collection of local J27's are all out together. The superheated loco furthest from the camera is from NuCast,  the one coming under Halls Bridge is the original Dave Alexander kit and the nearest is his last version.

[rowanj 4,173]

Gateshead's suitably scruffy "Bittern" is held at signals, running light back from Edinburgh. The loco is an original Wills kit. I bought a Comet chassis for it, but, even though I'd built a number before, I just couldn't get it to work, so stuck the body on a Hornby chassis, A couple of weeks ago I sent for a replacement valve gear and cylinder block, and tried again. I actually got the damn thing working virtually first time using most of the original valve gear, replacing the rear "crosspiece which holds the 2 sides of the valve gear together ahead of the motor with a piece from a broken Hornby set. So I now need to buy a new set of frames to go under my last GBL A3. Can anyone explain why I cocked it up the first time, tried for weeks to sort it out, failed miserably, and then got it going well in a few hours when I went back to it? ! ? !....

 

The K3, on the other hand, is ex-works, and is a GBL body on an SEF chassis, There were always a few to be seen at Little Benton, as locos from Heaton, Tweedmouth and St. Margarets were rostered on many of the fitted freights, 

[rowanj 4,173]

Like many, I have a few locos which would be well out of place in my modelling prototype. The K1/1 was "cut and shut" a good few years ago, largely from a Replica B1 if I remember correctly. The tender was cut to represent the 3500 gallon variety. The loco runs on a Bachmann K3 chassis, taking advantage of the underscale (for a K3) driving wheels. I have a Dave Alexander K4 chassis etch which I'll build one day...maybe.

I dig these anomalous locos out from time to time. Perhaps it is on an SLS Special and is heading home?. It passes Little Benton South, the a couple of minutes later is at LB North, where a local J27 is shunting the sidings.

Edited November 16, 2020 by rowanj

[rowanj 4,173]

As it's a Sunday, there aren't sufficient Express diagrams  for all of 64B's Deltics, so it has been rostered on a Mail to Newcastle. I imagine there will be a sufficiently important job to get it home to Edinburgh, otherwise the passengers on a Stopper will get whisked between stations rather more briskly than the usual B1 or V2. 

 

After that, a G5 67341running light heads for Heaton, It has been giving trouble. literally, but now seems to running well. I confess this is one kit which will be replaced if and when the TMC RTR model arrives, as it seems to need adjusting every time at get it out.

 

[Sandhole 656]

On 16/11/2020 at 15:46, rowanj said:

Like many, I have a few locos which would be well out of place in my modelling prototype. The K1/1 was "cut and shut" a good few years ago, largely from a Replica B1 if I remember correctly. The tender was cut to represent the 3500 gallon variety. The loco runs on a Bachmann K3 chassis, taking advantage of the underscale (for a K3) driving wheels. I have a Dave Alexander K4 chassis etch which I'll build one day...maybe.

I dig these anomalous locos out from time to time. Perhaps it is on an SLS Special and is heading home?. It passes Little Benton South, the a couple of minutes later is at LB North, where a local J27 is shunting the sidings.

I love your K1.
Modelling like we used to do.
I saw the photo and said, "K1, NICE!". Your model works.
I'm also a firm believer in keeping your model railway history models. That's why my Q Kits Falcon that Coach Bogie and I worked on 40 odd years ago, still takes a turn on my line, despite having the Heljan model/
Mike still runs the 47 his Dad made out of a Triang 31.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Love your layout.

[rowanj 4,173]

That's incredibly kind of you, Sandhole. I do still have a few models from my earlier days,, a Bec J17, Wills N7 and an Airfix Railbus on a Scratch chassis spring to mind. I did a K4 and K5 around the same time as the K1/1 and I'll dig them out and see how they run.

 

I'm actually thinking of relaying the scenic parts of the layout with code 75 and N gauge ballast, and try to make a better stab at the 3rd rail. Could be a project for over the winter.