Niu Models - NER - LNER Independent Snowplough

[SweenyTod1]

Hi Julia and Al,

Many thanks for the update, disappointing yes, but fully understand the difficulties you face. I will be patient though 

and wait for these to eventually appear, but not too long please, as I'm getting a bit long in the tooth!!

Keep up the good work,

Tod               

[micklner]

My 3d printed "Wood" Snowplough versions arrived today , a quick look and they are very good. No raised moulding lines or any warping apparent.

 

Photos in due course.

[micklner]

As arrived, there is  slight bending/flexing along the the base of the body , once the chassis is fixed in , I will add a piece(s) of Brass etch scrap to keep it level/straight before painting. A very simple kit and overall well made. Wheels and Decals are also included in the kit.

 

The front leading edge of the Snowplough is Steel on the real one. Would that have been painted as the body colour or left to rust any ideas please ?? .

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by micklner

[JaymzHatstand]

19 hours ago, micklner said:

The front leading edge of the Snowplough is Steel on the real one. Would that have been painted as the body colour or left to rust any ideas please ?? .

 

The photos in the NERA publication in Snowploughs, aren't very conclusive, as most show them with snow on the fronts, or not enough angle on the photo to tell! Black and white photos aren't always the easiest to work out either, especially as the different material would give the paint a slightly different sheen. There are colour photos of the two preserved examples, the NRM's No12 (D.U31) which has a bare metal leading edge, and No18 (D.U19) which has a fully painted leading edge. Both are in NER liveries.

 

There are a couple of BR olive green examples featured too, which are all over green. 

 

The best photo for LNER modelling features two U19s, one of which is a front 3/4 view, slightly elevated so the light on the plough is pretty even, and I'd say that the whole thing is Oxford blue.

 

Hopefully this is of some use (and makes sense!) Any questions, don't hesitate to ask and I'll see what I can find!

 

Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours (and to mine arriving)

 

Cheers

 

J

[micklner]

Thanks for the reply J and the photo in the PM. All over Oxford Blue sounds a nice and easy option !!. You can never have too much information!!.

[thetalkinlens]

I'm trying to make contact (email and contact form on web site) with Niu on ordering one of these, but haven't had a reply in a couple of weeks. I assume by @micklner's delivery only being a few week ago, they are still trading?

[micklner]

Had a email from him this morning.

[thetalkinlens]

13 minutes ago, micklner said:

Had a email from him this morning.

 

Thanks @micklner. I've resent my email, so will hopefully be third time lucky on a reply.

[thetalkinlens]

One snow plough now ordered 😊

[Nelson Jackson]

I too ordered a pack of NER wooden independent snowplough kits and was very happy with the product. A complete package in terms of wheels and transfers too! 

[thetalkinlens]

I'm currently putting my U19 plough together and am debating the colour to paint the rear face for N.E.R. period. The livery details in the instructions say signal red, however trawling through the LNER forum, there is some information from the owner of plough No.18 that his research indicated that by the time this diagram of ploughs were built (1909), the signal red end had been dispensed with and they were painted indian red all over and that is the finish he went with for No.18 itself.

 

In the case of NER brake vans, as I understand it, the same indian red livery was used, but the signal red ends was dispensed with in about 1903, so this would roughly marry up.

 

Does the NERA snow plough book mention this at all?

[NiuModels]

5 minutes ago, thetalkinlens said:

I'm currently putting my U19 plough together and am debating the colour to paint the rear face for N.E.R. period. The livery details in the instructions say signal red, however trawling through the LNER forum, there is some information from the owner of plough No.18 that his research indicated that by the time this diagram of ploughs were built (1909), the signal red end had been dispensed with and they were painted indian red all over and that is the finish he went with for No.18 itself.

 

In the case of NER brake vans, as I understand it, the same indian red livery was used, but the signal red ends was dispensed with in about 1903, so this would roughly marry up.

 

Does the NERA snow plough book mention this at all?

 

When researching the liveries we came across the same discrepancy. Of the preserved ploughs, Plough 12 in the NRM has the end painted Signal Red, while Plough 18 is Indian Red. The NERA book supports the Plough 12 livery. 

 

It would seem logical that the change to brake vans liveries would be replicated on the ploughs. Where is your info source from on this?

[NiuModels]

A few pics of the assembled and painted U19 plough.

 

Pics of the U20 to follow.

[thetalkinlens]

57 minutes ago, NiuModels said:

 

When researching the liveries we came across the same discrepancy. Of the preserved ploughs, Plough 12 in the NRM has the end painted Signal Red, while Plough 18 is Indian Red. The NERA book supports the Plough 12 livery. 

 

It would seem logical that the change to brake vans liveries would be replicated on the ploughs. Where is your info source from on this?

 

Plough No.12 was built in 1891. The livery it currently carries in the NRM includes shaded lettering and the signal red end.

 

The NER brake vans book by Ian Sadler states the shaded lettering was dropped in 1903 and the signal red ends was "thought also to be discontinued at this time".

 

Based on this it would seem logical that No.12 being built before 1903 (1891) would display the earlier livery with shaded text and signal red ends, and No.18 being built after 1903 (1909) would be indian red all over with no signal red ends and no shaded lettering.

 

I'm not sure if this information for brake van livery directly translates to snowploughs though, but as you say it would be logical that was the case.

 

The thread about the decision to paint the end of No.18 indian red can be found on the first page of this thread:
https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2698

 

Direct quote from that thread:

Quote

Livery wise it is intended to return to NER Indian Red but unlike the NRM plough 12 it will not have the red rear end. As I have not been able to find any trace of it ever being carried and according to another thread, the reason for it being carried was withdrawn before this vehicle entered service.

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by thetalkinlens

[NiuModels]

13 hours ago, thetalkinlens said:

 

The NER brake vans book by Ian Sadler states the shaded lettering was dropped in 1903 and the signal red ends was "thought also to be discontinued at this time".

 

 

 

Thanks. I'll get hold of a copy.

[Michael Hodgson]

It's an excellent kit, goes together very easily, didn't need to do any cleaning up of flash etc, and I'm very pleased. 

A couple of minor points on the various liveries .... but perhaps I'm just reading too much into the drawings.

 

The instruction sheet illustrates the body colour for the four liveries as brown/oxford blue/black/green, but only on the vertically planked woodwork.  The tapered front and horizontally planked part are shown in grey.  However the wording of the instructions just refers to "body" as these colours, with blade described as steel for all four and the illustrations above follow the written description rather than the drawings.

So the drawings are incorrectly coloured?

Roof is described as white or slate grey, depending on the era.  Does this mean only the rounded roof, or also the flat roof to the tapered section too?

The illustrations for the BR liveries also show a red rectangle just in front of the top step to the cabin - does this have any significance?

Buffer beams are described as Olive green in the wording, but they (or at least the buffer housings) are illustrated as red.

 

Do the elongated slots on the blade mean that it could somehow be retracted/extended to be even closer to the rails?

 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Michael Hodgson

[micklner]

LNER Period Oxford Dark Blue, with White Roof on both areas.

 

All of the few photos I have seen show all of the Body in Blue including the front plough (if it was left in Steel it would be Rust coloured within days). The original b&W photo shown for educational puprposes only.

No evidence on the Wooden Snowploughs of any slots on the Steel Plough,  or the Bufferbeam (if there was one? ) at the rear being painted Red. No White handrails either I believe.

 

One of my NIU kit builds. I have changed the lettering on mine  to match the original photo. The NIU supplied transfers have the wrong wording, and sizes for the LNER versions including the large NE letters which are far too wide on the Transfer sheet. I have'nt checked the NIU lettering for NER and BR periods.

 

Nice kits.

 

Prototype photo of 18 &20

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by micklner

[moore43grm]

My version of the plough, side view and a front on view . I will have to try and fix that dislodged window ! 

[NiuModels]

On 27/01/2023 at 21:01, Michael Hodgson said:

It's an excellent kit, goes together very easily, didn't need to do any cleaning up of flash etc, and I'm very pleased. 

A couple of minor points on the various liveries .... but perhaps I'm just reading too much into the drawings.

 

 

 

Thanks for your feedback. Response in bold. We'll make amendments where required to improve the kit.

 

The instruction sheet illustrates the body colour for the four liveries as brown/oxford blue/black/green, but only on the vertically planked woodwork.  The tapered front and horizontally planked part are shown in grey.  However the wording of the instructions just refers to "body" as these colours, with blade described as steel for all four and the illustrations above follow the written description rather than the drawings. So the drawings are incorrectly coloured? - It misalignment between the drawing and the text. The whole body should be painted as per the text.

 

Roof is described as white or slate grey, depending on the era.  Does this mean only the rounded roof, or also the flat roof to the tapered section too? - Both roof sections should be painted.

 

The illustrations for the BR liveries also show a red rectangle just in front of the top step to the cabin - does this have any significance? - This an error on the drawing. This was a plate fitted in this during this period, but not included on the model. 

 

Buffer beams are described as Olive green in the wording, but they (or at least the buffer housings) are illustrated as red. - Another error on the drawing. The buffers should be green as per the text.

 

Do the elongated slots on the blade mean that it could somehow be retracted/extended to be even closer to the rails? - I'll look into this.

 

[NiuModels]

Darlington 1967 - U19 snowploughs No.18 & 20, now painted green and numbered 900572 & 900574, are coupled to a pair of Thornaby Class 25s.

 

Most people associate the U19 snowploughs with the NER or LNER periods, but the ploughs remained in service well into the Diesel era, only being withdrawn in 1973. The models are shown assembled and painted in BR green Livery and lightly weathered, and are accompanied by Class 25's D5176 & D5178, which have also had a light weathering.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Having the Flangeway BR pair, I'm rather taken with these, but just one question, the buffer height seems a bit high, is this prototypical to avoid problems when ramming snowdrifts?

 

Mike.