Wright writes.....

[drmditch]

A quick comment regarding Mr Wright's comments on Darlington North Road Works.

Rather more than a 'few' V2s were built at North Road.

If my sums are correct, out of 184 built, 159 were built at Darlington.

 

I find the whole subject of engineering policy very interesting. The LNER seem to have been better managed in this regard than some other railways.

As an example, the J38 and J39 constructed as an LNER standard, using inside valve gear reworked from the Robinson gear on the A5s.

(Or could that have been the Hawthorn, Leslie and Co. version of that gear after the 13 A5s were built by that company for the NE Area, and if so where was the re-design work done?)

 

A further quick comment on Atlantics - I actually prefer the look of the original Vs (as in C6) with the wide splashers.

 

And a further....... but I had better get back to finishing of a very distinctive ex-NER vehicle, if for no other reason so that I can post a picture of it on this thread to demonstrate even further the superiority of the NER!

[Tony Wright]

1 minute ago, drmditch said:

A quick comment regarding Mr Wright's comments on Darlington North Road Works.

Rather more than a 'few' V2s were built at North Road.

If my sums are correct, out of 184 built, 159 were built at Darlington.

 

I find the whole subject of engineering policy very interesting. The LNER seem to have been better managed in this regard than some other railways.

As an example, the J38 and J39 constructed as an LNER standard, using inside valve gear reworked from the Robinson gear on the A5s.

(Or could that have been the Hawthorn, Leslie and Co. version of that gear after the 13 A5s were built by that company for the NE Area, and if so where was the re-design work done?)

 

A further quick comment on Atlantics - I actually prefer the look of the original Vs (as in C6) with the wide splashers.

 

And a further....... but I had better get back to finishing of a very distinctive ex-NER vehicle, if for no other reason so that I can post a picture of it on this thread to demonstrate even further the superiority of the NER!

Regarding the 'few' V2s built at Darlington - clumsy writing on my part, I'm afraid. 

 

In fact, of the RA9 locos built for the LNER, Darlington must have built half of them (or almost, or more?). A proud record.

 

Mr Wright? That's a bit formal, even for April the 1st! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

[Tony Wright]

19 minutes ago, micklner said:

The GN Atlantic comment was a April the 1st comment .  I have never seen any steam engine that could be called totally ugly !!!  

 

As the D20 has been mentioned . 

 

Very attractive, Mick,

 

But what's happened to the coupling rod? The quartering looks out to me.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

29 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

I don't have any photos to share, but teh ex-GER Clauds take some beating for their elegant looks  Tragic that none survived :(

Very pretty locos indeed, and beautifully-presented by Hornby. 

 

 

 

 

The model can even be converted to P4!

 

 

 

 

[Jesse Sim]

Doesn’t matter if it’s GNR, GER, NER or NBR, they all look good in LNER  

 

[Clive Mortimore]

You all have a poor perception of what constitutes a good looking locomotive. Surely a BTH type 1 has to be the most attractive if they were one of the most useless classes. 

A pair of homemade ones from plastic card. Just look at all those handsome Derby DMUs just like the steam locos that used to emerge from the same works, can't beat a 990 class 4-4-0 for looks.

 

[Chamby]

1 hour ago, Jesse Sim said:

Doesn’t matter if it’s GNR, GER, NER or NBR, they all look good in LNER  

 

 

May I politely point out...

 

The LNER also had a wonderful line from Sheffield and beyond, to Marylebone!

[bbishop]

Most aesthetically pleasing class?  In my opiniony Dugald Drummond's four coupled tender locomotives.  Chimney directly above the bogie pivot, dome directly above the leading driving wheels.  Visual perfection.

 

And the D15 class (albeit superheated) were surely the second best 4-4-0 locomotives in the country.  Pity there were only ten of them.

 

Bill

[richard i]

3 hours ago, Chamby said:

If we’re talking about good looking locomotives, surely Mr. Robinson’s 4-6-0’s deserve a mention.  They may be regarded by some as a less successful design than others, but they looked great!

Whilst I agree with the first comment, I disagree on the less successful. But then that would be a whole other can of worms to open and I think one can is enough at a time. 

Richard

[jamie92208]

In pure Aesthetics then surely Johnson's 4-4-0's for the Midland with their lovely curved splashers or his sublime Spinners.

However I have to agree that the 990's are rather nice locos.

 

Jamie

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Personal opinion, but I don't see how most steam engines can be seen as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, edges, corners and flailing motion do nothing for me, the Loewy inspired American variety maybe.

Now, Bugatti railcars, GG1's, Westerns, amongst others, now you're talking.

 

Mike.

[Porcy Mane]

4 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Now, Bugatti railcars, GG1's, Westerns, amongst others, now you're talking.

 

Beauty, eye, beholder and all that jazz.

 

I'm more of a Helmut Newton man misenn.

 

"Skin deep" 

[jamie92208]

According to his biographer, O V S Bulleid's motto was "Form follows function and function creates form".  He was after all Gresley's assistant.

 

Jamie

[drmditch]

Dear Tony

(Succumbing to the 21st Century predilection for informal address!)

 

Here are some products of Gateshead works. The locomotive was first built 1889 (although rebuilt with simple expansion and piston valves in 1908.) The snowplough represents one of the four steel ploughs also built at Gateshead in 1909. (The majority of the NER ploughs were wooden and constructed at York carriage works.)

 

 

 

My model assumes a further two were constructed. (Although I have so far only managed to build a model of one.) Since No's 21 and 22 were allocated to Gateshead and 23 and 24 to Kirkby Stephen, and it would seem odd to have ploughs thus marked sitting in a siding in Durham, I decided that a 'fictional' number and allocation might be more appropriate for my railway.

 

 

'Railway Snowploughs of the North East' by David and Claire Williamson and published by NERA is a most interesting and useful book, and all the plans and information for the plough were taken from there. 

The model is constructed almost entirely from card, and uses recycled and reworked underframes from old RTR wagons; the bodies of which have been put to better use.

 

I have attempted to create a 'faded blue' look appropriate to the late 1940s, although the plough would have been re-numbered by then presumably as 900979. I was seduced by the attractions of a nice short number!

Page 52 of the above book shows what I have tried to emulate. The basic colour was based on page 51 of Ron White and Norman Johnston's ' 'LNER Locomotives in Colour', which shows one end of a coach in departmental use and is dated to 1938. The colour worried me. For a while I was worried that it looked far to much like BR blue. It varies very much according to the light. Some photographs make it seem a much lighter blue.

 

I apologise for my poor  photography. My models look a lot better when photographed by someone who knows what they are doing!

 

Still to make and fit are the plates and lamp-irons.

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by drmditch
Missed off reference to missing lamp-irons!

[Tony Wright]

Nothing really to do with aesthetics, though it's to do with signage, may I ask, please............................

 

When did the triangular 'No Smoking' sign appear on the inside of carriage windows? I have an idea it was a BR device, the Big Four having their own styles, though I could, as usual, be wrong. 

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, drmditch said:

Dear Tony

(Succumbing to the 21st Century predilection for informal address!)

 

Here are some products of Gateshead works. The locomotive was first built 1889 (although rebuilt with simple expansion and piston valves in 1908.) The snowplough represents one of the four steel ploughs also built at Gateshead in 1909. (The majority of the NER ploughs were wooden and constructed at York carriage works.)

 

 

 

My model assumes a further two were constructed. (Although I have so far only managed to build a model of one.) Since No's 21 and 22 were allocated to Gateshead and 23 and 24 to Kirkby Stephen, and it would seem odd to have ploughs thus marked sitting in a siding in Durham, I decided that a 'fictional' number and allocation might be more appropriate for my railway.

 

 

'Railway Snowploughs of the North East' by David and Claire Williamson and published by NERA is a most interesting and useful book, and all the plans and information for the plough were taken from there. 

The model is constructed almost entirely from card, and uses recycled and reworked underframes from old RTR wagons; the bodies of which have been put to better use.

 

I have attempted to create a 'faded blue' look appropriate to the late 1940s, although the plough would have been re-numbered by then presumably as 900979. I was seduced by the attractions of a nice short number!

Page 52 of the above book shows what I have tried to emulate. The basic colour was based on page 51 of Ron White and Norman Johnston's ' 'LNER Locomotives in Colour', which shows one end of a coach in departmental use and is dated to 1938. The colour worried me. For a while I was worried that it looked far to much like BR blue. It varies very much according to the light. Some photographs make it seem a much lighter blue.

 

I apologise for my poor  photography. My models look a lot better when photographed by someone who knows what they are doing!

 

Still to make and fit are the plates and lamp-irons.

 

No need to apologise for 'poor' photography. Please, keep on showing us your work.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[jwealleans]

The LNER were using the red triangle by the mid-1930s, replacing the former gold circular design.  The exact year is given in Harris (the large brown one).

[Flying Pig]

17 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

I like the look of NER motive power. I am beginning to build up quite a collection. I have 2 Met Cam 4 car units, a BRCW 4 car unit and a Derby 4 car unit. Plus I have 3 of the 5 Derby 3 car units the NER had, 2 Calder valley sets, a Met Cam class 111 power twin and various other 2 and 3 car units. I also have some NER based class 24s, 37s, a 27 (without boiler) and tonight I was working on a 25/0 all for my ER based layout, with through workings to Leeds York, Harrogate, Hull and other exotic places. I would like a B16/2 or B16/3 to work the odd passenger instead of a B1.

 

Then I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Good to see someone building NER railcars, Clive. It's hardly the kind of thing you'd expect to appear rtr...

[Clive Mortimore]

2 hours ago, drmditch said:

Dear Tony

(Succumbing to the 21st Century predilection for informal address!)

 

Here are some products of Gateshead works. The locomotive was first built 1889 (although rebuilt with simple expansion and piston valves in 1908.) The snowplough represents one of the four steel ploughs also built at Gateshead in 1909. (The majority of the NER ploughs were wooden and constructed at York carriage works.)

 

 

 

My model assumes a further two were constructed. (Although I have so far only managed to build a model of one.) Since No's 21 and 22 were allocated to Gateshead and 23 and 24 to Kirkby Stephen, and it would seem odd to have ploughs thus marked sitting in a siding in Durham, I decided that a 'fictional' number and allocation might be more appropriate for my railway.

 

 

'Railway Snowploughs of the North East' by David and Claire Williamson and published by NERA is a most interesting and useful book, and all the plans and information for the plough were taken from there. 

The model is constructed almost entirely from card, and uses recycled and reworked underframes from old RTR wagons; the bodies of which have been put to better use.

 

I have attempted to create a 'faded blue' look appropriate to the late 1940s, although the plough would have been re-numbered by then presumably as 900979. I was seduced by the attractions of a nice short number!

Page 52 of the above book shows what I have tried to emulate. The basic colour was based on page 51 of Ron White and Norman Johnston's ' 'LNER Locomotives in Colour', which shows one end of a coach in departmental use and is dated to 1938. The colour worried me. For a while I was worried that it looked far to much like BR blue. It varies very much according to the light. Some photographs make it seem a much lighter blue.

 

I apologise for my poor  photography. My models look a lot better when photographed by someone who knows what they are doing!

 

Still to make and fit are the plates and lamp-irons.

 

Isn't the snowplough book wonderful. I do intend to build a Gateshead steel plough and one of the 1902 York wooden ploughs. I know they were never paired but Rule 1 can apply in this case. I do have a model of a later Gorton built plough for the NE Region, I didn't have a drawing so worked out the sizes using some of Paul Bartlett's great photos. After buying the snowplough book I checked mine against the drawing and I an 2 mm longer in the cab and 2mm shorter in the plough length but overall length is correct, as is the height and width.

Here it is alongside a BR standard plough (ex V2 tender frame) and a 350 converted to a plough.

 

The NER plough under construction.

The BR plough in raw plastic card state.

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

Here's a first.

 

How about a Railhead Treatment Train? 

 

 

Available from Hattons, and a full review will be in BRM. 

 

Never before seen on Little Bytham (and never again, though it has gone past on the real thing). 

[drmditch]

1 hour ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Isn't the snowplough book wonderful. I do intend to build a Gateshead steel plough and one of the 1902 York wooden ploughs. I know they were never paired but Rule 1 can apply in this case. I do have a model of a later Gorton built plough for the NE Region, I didn't have a drawing so worked out the sizes using some of Paul Bartlett's great photos. After buying the snowplough book I checked mine against the drawing and I an 2 mm longer in the cab and 2mm shorter in the plough length but overall length is correct, as is the height and width.

 

It's interesting that after several attempted re-designs, the ploughs built at Gorton in 1956/58 were so similiar to the Gateshead ploughs of 49 years earlier.
 

May I ask how you made the curved fairings between the blade/prow/roof?

Edited April 1, 2019 by drmditch

[micklner]

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Very attractive, Mick,

 

But what's happened to the coupling rod? The quartering looks out to me.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

A old photo  , at the time it had K's drivers (don't ask ) on which the D mounting had twisted/failed on the axle. It now has new drivers and all is well.  Good spot Tony !!

 

Thanks

Edited April 1, 2019 by micklner

[Clive Mortimore]

41 minutes ago, drmditch said:

It's interesting that after several attempted re-designs, the ploughs built at Gorton in 1956/58 were so similiar to the Gateshead ploughs of 49 years earlier.
 

Nay I ask how you made the curved fairings between the blade/plough/roof?

It was a bit "Why reinvent the wheel?"

 

The curved faring is a big dollop of Milliput.

 

A few years ago at Lyddrail we had a snowplough competition. The ploughs were rolled down a slope into a pile of sugar, my NER plough won, proving what a good design it was.

[2750Papyrus]

10 hours ago, micklner said:

Is this not beautiful ??  The GN version is miles behind in looks !!

 

 

A drawing of a "Z" class appeared in one of the first Railway Modeller magazines my Dad and I bought (April 1954?).  Aged 7, I thought it to be the best looking loco in the world and pleaded with Dad to build me one! 

 

Many years later Mum & Dad contributed to a birthday purchase of a kit-built example from a model shop near Goodge Street.  However, by then I was a Gresley convert, especially the S shaped running plate when compared to full depth splashers.  So for me, it would be A1/A3 followed by B17. 

 

But it makes a change and my excuse for one on the southern end of the ECML in 1938 is a football or Thomas Cook special.

 

[Atso]

After a bit of a lack of mojo, I've actually been doing some modelling over the last couple of days. No locomotives I'm afraid, just some more N Gauge wagons.

 

 

An GCR fish van built from a BH Enterprises body kit and a 2mm Association chassis.

 

 

The NGS kit for an LMS Trestrol. I've only been working on it for around half an hour but the bulk of it is done. I'll be finishing this one as one of the late 1930's LNER built examples.