Peterborough North

[great northern]

The other thing high on my list for today was to show the carriage that 31A, Steve, built for me. First though, and he will fully understand why I say this, the layout's VDS, ( Visitor Detection System), immediately realised that no-one but myself was present, and ran faultlessly, save for one operator error.   Anyway, here we have a beautiful Gresley Dia 155 end door SK.

and the corridor side.

Steve built it using the Comet kit, but has made a number of alterations and enhancements, which subtle though they are, really improve the finished carriage. I am delighted with it.

[great northern]

  From July 1957 both 67367  & 67397 went onto Grantham where they stayed respectively until  August 1958 & March 1959 when they were withdrawn and scrapped,but not before 67397 had appeared in repainted Black with a Late Crest at the Wood Green exhibition.

It was 67352 which appeared both at Wood Green and shortly afterwards at Lincoln at the opening of the then new Holmes yard Goods depot. I cabbed it!  There was comment in Railway Observer that it left Lincoln in immaculate condition, and asking why they bothered to repaint and line it when they were going to cut it up immediately afterwards. Yes, a real opportunity missed, but sadly no-one came forward with money for the C12, as happened with the J52.

[great northern]

How about the Stour valley line between Cambridge and Marks Tey?

I'm speaking from memory now, which is a dangerous thing to do, but I recall that those two Cambridge C12s were used on the Saffron Walden branch exclusively, and went into store when replaced by, I think, N7s. I'm sure I've seen photos of them in store.

[Oldddudders]

Can you still get cauldrons?

Yes, but penicillin is generally effective in relieving the symptoms.

[31A]

The other thing high on my list for today was to show the carriage that 31A, Steve, built for me. First though, and he will fully understand why I say this, the layout's VDS, ( Visitor Detection System), immediately realised that no-one but myself was present, and ran faultlessly, save for one operator error.   Anyway, here we have a beautiful Gresley Dia 155 end door SK.

dia 155 1.jpg

and the corridor side.

dia 155 2.jpg

Steve built it using the Comet kit, but has made a number of alterations and enhancements, which subtle though they are, really improve the finished carriage. I am delighted with it.

 

 

You were quick to put a passenger in the middle compartment, Gilbert!   

[Clive Mortimore]

Can you still get cauldrons?

I will ask Mrs M next time she meets with her mates at the coven.

[Mallard60022]

There you go, Mr Duck, two rows of rivets above the axleboxes.

Yup, I used MJT sides instead of the Comet ones (I think)!

Duck

[great northern]

You were quick to put a passenger in the middle compartment, Gilbert!   

He gets everywhere, that porter, which is surprising, seeing as he is glued to the platform. Beautifully positioned though, eh?

[great northern]

I will ask Mrs M next time she meets with her mates at the coven.

Can you get her to magic up some proper Gresley coaches too, please?

[great northern]

We will finish today by looking to see what went on while you had popped into the Refreshment room to buy a fruit pie.

 

The 0743 York - KX is headed by that filthy A2/3 again.

and it doesn't improve much with closer viewing. Nice clean lamps though. Goodnight.

 

[St Enodoc]

I seem to be taking a lot of photos today, so I may as well post the last couple from the previous shoot. Both feature that B17 again.

1653 2.jpg

Now at the head of its train, the 0942 to Norwich. And for anyone having difficulty reading the name

1653 plate.jpg

And now to take some more.

That close up is stunning.

[trw1089]

The cries of "scrap it, scrap it!" could even be heard all the way over the pond out here.

[great northern]

The cries of "scrap it, scrap it!" could even be heard all the way over the pond out here.

York engines were actually rather rare down our end of the ECML Tony. I believe this was the only daytime regular diagram, so they were in the same category as Tyneside engines so far as we were concerned. We hardly ever saw the A1s, or the A2/2s, just an A2/3, usually Steady Aim, as I recall. Mind you, I suppose if the same one appeared every day for a week some oik would indeed have shouted "scrap it".

[great northern]

That filthy A2 has a  strange fascination for me, so I did a broadside shot to show it in all its magnificence.

Meanwhile, up the other end a local B1 has backed on to the stock of a Grimsby slow in number 4 bay.

I missed a bit while photoshopping.It's these glasses that do it. Too dark and dismal here to do any modelling, apart from the glasses problem, but there must be something I can get on with.

[great northern]

Nearly seven Hornby B17s! That's what new spectacles just cost me. OK, I was expecting it, and I'm quoting fire sale prices, but even so.... Another picture to take my mind off it, and as an antidote to that dirty A2, we have an ex works A3, which Doncaster has decided to give a bit of extra running in on a Leeds express before returning it to its rightful owners at 64B

[great northern]

To end the day, another couple of A3 pictures.

This was a very heavy crop of a shot taken from the other side of Crescent Bridge, and I couldn't avoid some ragged edges, which could be somewhat disguised by making the whole thing black and white. It seemed a shame though to do that when the engine is so gleaming green, so here is another to redress the balance.

[thegreenhowards]

Enough of this levity. We have had a C12 and a D16, and now reversing down onto its train we have a B17, completing the hat trick of the three classes I absolutely had to have on any layout.

1653 backing down.jpg

I did wonder where else all three classes might have been seen together on a daily basis in or around my period, and I could think of only one - Yarmouth South Town. Can anyone think of any more?

Slightly earlier than your period, but in the early 50s I think you would have seen all three at Finsbury Park. The c12 on the Ally Pally shuttle and D16s and B17s were fairly regular on the Cambridge Kings Cross services then. That's my excuse for having all three anyway!

 

Andy

[The Blue Streak]

Gilbert sorry to hear about the glasses, I have just gone through the same, but thankfully mine only came out at 4 and a bit B17's.

 

I have to say Grand Parade is a brilliant example of an ex works Engine. To my eye it looks about perfect. Glossy without being over the top. What a fantastic contrast to that A2 (which is also great, although at the other end of the dirt spectrum). 

 

Pressing the like button didn't seem enough.

[Alister_G]

Late to the party as usual Gilbert, but I just wanted to say that the close up shot of B17 61653 on the previous page is quite remarkable, both in terms of the photography, and the fact that it is very hard to tell that it is a shot of a 2 inch high model, and not the real thing.

[great northern]

Gilbert sorry to hear about the glasses, I have just gone through the same, but thankfully mine only came out at 4 and a bit B17's.

 

I have to say Grand Parade is a brilliant example of an ex works Engine. To my eye it looks about perfect. Glossy without being over the top. What a fantastic contrast to that A2 (which is also great, although at the other end of the dirt spectrum). 

 

Pressing the like button didn't seem enough.

Complex lenses on mine Ted, not fancy designer frames. 60090 looked like that when I saw it at Retford in 1958, and John Houlden did a fine job capturing what I tried to explain to him. He hadn't used Klear before, but was a convert after doing this.

[great northern]

Late to the party as usual Gilbert, but I just wanted to say that the close up shot of B17 61653 on the previous page is quite remarkable, both in terms of the photography, and the fact that it is very hard to tell that it is a shot of a 2 inch high model, and not the real thing.

It is a credit to the standard of the model really. I can't believe all the whinging about prices when this sort of thing is available. Even at full price it is great value IMO, and at the knock down prices just now, well perhaps I should get another dozen.

[Alister_G]

And...

 

Just to follow on, that last photo also has that lighting to it which makes it look remarkably real, the reflections off the smokebox and boiler have that oily metallic sheen to them. The only thing that detracts from the reality are those damn lamps, but hey presto! and they're gone

 

 

As you say, it's partly due to the modelling, but capturing that light, and the focussing and composition is down to you.

 

Al

[great northern]

This morning we have an antique on view.

Wolf of Badenoch, what a name!, is running down the engine road from New England en route to number 1 bay, where it will await the arrival of the stock for the 1033 to KX. This loco must be well over 30 years old now, and it shows, but it must be one of the first model A2/2s ever, and was a regular on Stoke Summit until the DJH kit came out, when TW offered it to me. It still runs OK, and is a nice bit of history to have on the layout. it has also lasted considerably longer than the real thing did in rebuilt form.

The Wolf is now simmering in the bay, as Silver Fox swings under Crescent Bridge, at the head of a train I have been wanting to be able to reproduce for ages. This is the Down Norseman, a boat train to and  from Tyne Commission Quay carrying passengers from Scandinavia. I can only find one Down service in my WTT, and that had mainly MK1 stock, but there were three Up services running on different days of the week, and they featured more Gresley carriages, so my rake is one of those. They must have got back to Newcastle somehow, surely. To celebrate this long awaited success, here are photos of the formation.

Four compartment BSK and MK1 CK, nothing noteworthy there.

But then we get to the interesting bit. Gresley end door FO and RF.

and then RSP and dining SO.

Finally more MK1s. SK and BSK for the hoi polloi. There can have been few formations in which half of the stock was made up of catering cars. Didn't people get fed on these ships?

 

This is the biggest victory so far for my policy of using loose stock to make up the more unusual services, as all the carriages come from spurs or a drawer in which I keep other stuff. All can and will be employed on quite a few other services too, in different combinations of course, so all in all I'm well pleased. The Norseman apparently hardly ever carried the nameboard, which is good, as I don't have one.

 

[great northern]

And...

 

Just to follow on, that last photo also has that lighting to it which makes it look remarkably real, the reflections off the smokebox and boiler have that oily metallic sheen to them. The only thing that detracts from the reality are those damn lamps, but hey presto! and they're gone

 

gilbert-peterborough-north001.jpg

 

As you say, it's partly due to the modelling, but capturing that light, and the focussing and composition is down to you.

 

Al

They'll have to come back before the train can leave though Al.

[Flood]

 I can only find one Down service in my WTT, and that had mainly MK1 stock, but there were three Up services running on different days of the week, and they featured more Gresley carriages, so my rake is one of those. They must have got back to Newcastle somehow, surely. To celebrate this long awaited success, here are photos of the formation.

11.55am MO from Newcastle, returned on the 9.5am on a Wednesday from Kings Cross, to then work the 8.40am on a Thursday from Newcastle, returned on the 9.8am SO from Kings Cross, to then work the 9.55am SuO from Newcastle (via West Hartlepool)

 

9.5am on a Monday from Kings Cross, to then work the 8.40am on a Wednesday from Newcastle, returned on the 9.5am on a Thursday from Kings Cross, to then work the 12.10pm SO from Newcastle, returned on the 3.10pm SuO from Kings Cross (via West Hartlepool), to next work the 11.55am MO from Newcastle

 

The consists are the same, it's just that the 9.5am/9.8am from Kings Cross shows the FO with an asterisk (i.e. Mk1 stock) but none of the other services do.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Flood