Wright writes.....

[john new]

6 hours ago, APOLLO said:

This may be of interest Springs Branch around 1966/7. The new diesel depot is being built. The 8F has an interesting number plate, curly numbers, the only loco this late on with this style of number plate I seem to have a photo of. At least she still has one, unlike the Black 5 next to her.

 

 

Black 8's, common as muck round here back then, but sadly missed now.

 

Brit15

 

Optical illusion I am sure but almost a Prototype for everything shot -

 

When you only have an HO scale Black Five!

[Theakerr]

FI, some of the early split chassis B1s had chassis fixing screws that were a bit too long and when screwed all the way home would cause either the cab to rise or the frame to drop

[robmcg]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

A most enjoyable afternoon has been spent thoroughly testing my new Horny A2/2 on Little Bytham....................

 

At first, I thought I'd do a comparison with my near 25 year old DJH prototype A2/2.

 

 

 

The top lamp bracket on the Hornby one will be replaced with a metal one. 

 

One interesting (very interesting?) point is the potential price comparison. Were I to build 60501 from the DJH kit for a customer (the kit would need alterations to the cab and tender for 60501/2, it really suiting 60505/6) and get Ian Rathbone (who painted this one) or Geoff Haynes to paint it, for the final price one could get six Hornby A2/2s! The equivalent of the whole class............ Food for thought.

 

 

Though the Hornby one is not as powerful in terms of pulling power as my kit-built A2/2s, this 13-car rake (mainly modified Bachmann Mk.1s with four kit-builds) was handled with relative ease, with (prototypically?) a fair bit of slipping to get it going. I'd imagine it's more than enough for most buyers. 

 

It goes fast as well..................

 

 

 

Once quality control issues are sorted out (and the 'problems' are not universal), it's a real winner in my opinion. 

 

 

 

Thanks for that post Tony, the thread in Hornby on the new A2/2 is rather stuck on complaints, and having just received an excellent version myself it is refreshing to see another satisfied buyer or owner...   as you say, for the price of any other source of this quality. 

[Tony Wright]

29 minutes ago, robmcg said:

 

Thanks for that post Tony, the thread in Hornby on the new A2/2 is rather stuck on complaints, and having just received an excellent version myself it is refreshing to see another satisfied buyer or owner...   as you say, for the price of any other source of this quality. 

Thanks Rob,

 

If you'd like to add digital smoke/steam to the two panned shots of 60501, please do. I'd be interested to see what they look like...............

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

[Clearwater]

I know the A2/2s are a controversial class but those little smoke deflectors really do not look at all elegant...

 

David

[robmcg]

16 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Rob,

 

If you'd like to add digital smoke/steam to the two panned shots of 60501, please do. I'd be interested to see what they look like...............

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Ok.  I presume or 60501 is accelerating with 11-on ,  a down train?   I think these engines were actually rather good at medium range power with loads, until the ride rose above about 75mph and let them down, and steam leaks,  Holloway Tunnel on frosty mornings must have been interesting!

 

Regardless it'll be mostly steam with a touch of 'fire going on', if I can achieve that, and I'm not sure about injector exhaust, which side? 

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

 

Is it a trick of the light (or my eyes), or is there something odd about the third coach?

[robmcg]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Rob,

 

If you'd like to add digital smoke/steam to the two panned shots of 60501, please do. I'd be interested to see what they look like...............

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

 

It's almost irreligious on this thread but I went to town in a haze of ignorance, except inasmuch I read in various books that A2s of the Thompson variety were not short of steam, nor in leaking it when the weather was cold...  so here is an example from Little Bytham where an unrecorded train is recovering from a permanent way slack or trying to clear the section for a following named train. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by robmcg
correction to pic

[AndyID]

17 hours ago, SP Steve said:

 

Not only ex loco tenders were used for this purpose. I remember attending the 1984 Doncaster Works open day at which 37.044 was hooked up to a mobile load bank. Numbered as internal user 041620 (ex Dia 1/208 12T Vent Van B770697), the vehicle was one of two (the other being 041619) containing two banks of load resistors which could be configured to give up to 15 different load settings. No liquid coolant was used with waste heat simply venting through hatches in the roof.

 

https://departmentals.com/photo/041620

 

As I recall staff had coupled up some external panel meters which allowed visitors to observe voltage / current readings with 37.044 under power.

 

The old tender load banks were most likely "liquid rheostats" - electrodes in salt water.

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Clearwater said:

I know the A2/2s are a controversial class but those little smoke deflectors really do not look at all elegant...

 

David

'Handsome is as handsome does' David.

 

The opposite is true in the case of the A2/2s' smoke deflectors (and the four A2/1s for a time, and five A3s for a time). They were no good at lifting smoke! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

7 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

Ok.  I presume or 60501 is accelerating with 11-on ,  a down train?   I think these engines were actually rather good at medium range power with loads, until the ride rose above about 75mph and let them down, and steam leaks,  Holloway Tunnel on frosty mornings must have been interesting!

 

Regardless it'll be mostly steam with a touch of 'fire going on', if I can achieve that, and I'm not sure about injector exhaust, which side? 

Good morning Rob,

 

Though the A2/2s were potentially fast and powerful, it was as 'vehicles' where they failed. They slipped all too easily, rode dreadfully (though no worse than some of the Peppercorn Pacifics) and the poor front end arrangement made it impossible to prevent the cylinders working loose and steam joints from fracturing. Most pictures of them at work (even on warm, dry days) show them to be wreathed in escaping steam around the saddle. 

 

I think they had injectors both sides underneath the cab; one live steam, the other exhaust, though I stand to be corrected.

 

The Hornby model is the complete opposite when it comes to the riding.....................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Is it a trick of the light (or my eyes), or is there something odd about the third coach?

I think it's both John,

 

Though not a fault in your vision. The coach in question is the Southern Pride Mk.1 BSO I built recently. It's glossy (highly reflective) and I think the side in view has bowed in my screwing the roof on. It's also reflecting a more-complex bit of trackwork, adding to the effect. 

 

I'll investigate.

 

It also illustrates claims I've seen elsewhere where 'banana-shaped' vehicles and leaning vehicles are blamed on aberrations in a camera's lens. I consider this to be nonsense in the main. If a vehicle is bent or leaning, it usually is. Anyway, my own cameras don't have lens aberrations. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Dunsignalling]

7 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

It's almost irreligious on this thread but I went to town in a haze of ignorance, except inasmuch I read in various books that A2s of the Thompson variety were not short of steam, nor in leaking it when the weather was cold...  so here is an example from Little Bytham where an unrecorded train is recovering from a permanent way slack or trying to clear the section for a following named train. 

 

 

 

 

Very nice, but I wish the Eastern would stop "borrowing" our useful  Vans B.....

 

John

[landscapes]

14 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

A most enjoyable afternoon has been spent thoroughly testing my new Horny A2/2 on Little Bytham....................

 

At first, I thought I'd do a comparison with my near 25 year old DJH prototype A2/2.

 

 

 

The top lamp bracket on the Hornby one will be replaced with a metal one. 

 

One interesting (very interesting?) point is the potential price comparison. Were I to build 60501 from the DJH kit for a customer (the kit would need alterations to the cab and tender for 60501/2, it really suiting 60505/6) and get Ian Rathbone (who painted this one) or Geoff Haynes to paint it, for the final price one could get six Hornby A2/2s! The equivalent of the whole class............ Food for thought.

 

 

Though the Hornby one is not as powerful in terms of pulling power as my kit-built A2/2s, this 13-car rake (mainly modified Bachmann Mk.1s with four kit-builds) was handled with relative ease, with (prototypically?) a fair bit of slipping to get it going. I'd imagine it's more than enough for most buyers. 

 

It goes fast as well..................

 

 

 

Once quality control issues are sorted out (and the 'problems' are not universal), it's a real winner in my opinion. 

 

 

Hi Tony

 

I must say your new 60501 Cock O The North looks right at home on Little Bytham.

 

At least you still had most of your smokebox top lamp bracket in place, mine was completely broken off and to make matters worse my pin vice does not grip my very fine drill bit so I am awaiting a replacement one before I can drill a hole and insert a cut down staple to represent a new lamp bracket.

 

I do think this is a superb model full of wonderful details.

 

If you don’t mind I would like to hear your view on the rear pony track flangeless wheel, unlike most other Hornby models no replacement flanged wheel was supplied with the model.

 

I took the wheel off my model and tried to replace it with a spare flanged wheel from a Hornby A3 I have and when testing the model the wheel would not turn at all and the model just slipped, possibly true to the prototype.

 

I believe that the axel of the flangeless wheel is thinner than normal so I am trying to file down the flanged wheel axel to see if that works better.

 

Are you aware of this or is it just a problem with the model I have?

 

Regards

 

David

Edited February 20, 2021 by landscapes
Additional text

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, landscapes said:

Hi Tony

 

I must say your new 60501 Cock O The North looks right at home on Little Bytham.

 

At least you still had most of your smokebox top lamp bracket in place, mine was completely broken off and to make matters worse my pin vice does not grip my very fine drill bit so I am awaiting a replacement one before I can drill a hole and insert a cut down staple to represent a new lamp bracket.

 

I do think this is a superb model full of wonderful details.

 

If you don’t mind I would like to hear your view on the rear pony track flangeless wheel, unlike most other Hornby models no replacement flanged wheel was supplied with the model.

 

I took the wheel off my model and tried to replace it with a spare flanged wheel from a Hornby A3 I have and when testing the model the wheel would not turn at all and the model just slipped, possibly true to the prototype.

 

I believe that the axel of the flangeless wheel is thinner than normal so I am trying to file down the flanged wheel axel to see if that works better.

 

Are you aware of this or is it just a problem with the model I have?

 

Regards

 

David

Good morning David,

 

Your mentioning of the missing top lamp bracket illustrates (at least to me) an area where the likes of Hornby 'cannot win'. Such is the demand nowadays for 'accurate' detail that, when it's actually applied, to dead scale, it's so flimsy as to disappear with no more than a 'breath of wind'. I make my own lamp brackets out of scrap etch, securely soldered in place. Even then, they're over-scale and still vulnerable. 

 

The flangeless pony wheel? I have to say I'm not particularly bothered (is that heresy?) because from most working viewing angles, the lack of flange is invisible. If I do replace it, it will be with a nearer scale wheelset, anyway. The axles on those tend to be thinner. Speaking of 'anyway', on some of Roy Jackson's Retford Pacifics there wasn't even a pony wheelset! Yet, nobody noticed until I pointed it out in a photograph. 

 

Let's hope that any manufacturing issues with the Hornby A2/2s are sorted out soon (Hornby is aware of the problems) and the models will take their place as among the finest RTR steam-outline locos ever made.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[bbishop]

Gentlemen,  I'm cataloguing Alan Cooper's photographs and have reached the LNER!  Alan kept a meticulous notebook with locomotive number, location and date.  I am transcribing to a spreadsheet and also am including the class.  So is there somewhere on the web where I can type in a number and get a class?  There's little point in looking at the photographs, the locomotives almost all look the same to me.  Thanks in advance.  Bill

[landscapes]

2 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Gentlemen,  I'm cataloguing Alan Cooper's photographs and have reached the LNER!  Alan kept a meticulous notebook with locomotive number, location and date.  I am transcribing to a spreadsheet and also am including the class.  So is there somewhere on the web where I can type in a number and get a class?  There's little point in looking at the photographs, the locomotives almost all look the same to me.  Thanks in advance.  Bill

Hi 

 

I think that’s a great idea and very useful if you are modelling a prototype location and want information on a particular class or an individual locomotive.

 

As to where it should go I am sure there will be members who can advise.

 

Regards

 

David

[ScRSG]

Try this one.

 

https://www.brdatabase.info/index.php

 

Chas

 

[Bucoops]

2 hours ago, ScRSG said:

Try this one.

 

https://www.brdatabase.info/index.php

 

Chas

 

 

Seconded - fantastic resource. Probably about time I put another fiver over the amount I use it!

[bbishop]

Spectacularly useful.  I have compiled most of the classes, just locations to do.

 

Alan Cooper bequeathed his photographic collection to the South Western Circle.  Obviously a lot of Southern constituents, also tours to Spain, Eastern Europe and Brittany, and some other British Railways.  I am cataloguing them for the SWC, then they will be watermarked and in due course the LSWR images will be incorporated into our Locomotive collection.

 

What to do with the others?  Not just my decision, but possibly we contact other societies with similar interests.  But may I tell you a worrying story.  We have come across a photograph from another collection owned by the SWC (and in our copyright) being sold on the web.  Basically provided to another society for research but they hadn't controlled distribution properly.  Bill

[APOLLO]

Personally, I'm against image copyrighting. In our internet dominated society images are everywhere, easily downloaded, stored, transmitted etc. If a person is so "up tight" about image being "theirs" then the answer is simple - keep it in a box under your bed !!!

I also dislike intensely watermarked images - again why ?. 

 

I worry a bit (just a bit as I border on sod it) as to where society, social media and the net is going, re the Facebook / Australia case currently in the news (which I don't fully understand). yes, it's all about money.

 

Remember the phrase "Publish and be damned" !!!! If it is in the public domain it belongs to the public in my mind..

 

I've probably, nay most certainly touched nerves there, and will be slated, but that's just how I feel about the subject. I will follow "the rules" as much as possible (law) - just that I think the rules are wrong, soo out of date.

 

Tin hat on - incoming flack !!!!!!!!!

 

Brit15 (my images anyone can use, just as a courtesy please mention the source.) 

[bbishop]

10 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Personally, I'm against image copyrighting. In our internet dominated society images are everywhere, easily downloaded, stored, transmitted etc. If a person is so "up tight" about image being "theirs" then the answer is simple - keep it in a box under your bed !!!  And in the pre-scanning days, the likes of Lens of Sutton acquired collections, created postcards and sold them to enthusiasts.

 

I also dislike intensely watermarked images - again why ?. Agree with you there.  

 

I worry a bit (just a bit as I border on sod it) as to where society, social media and the net is going, re the Facebook / Australia case currently in the news (which I don't fully understand). yes, it's all about money. And we have curated and catalogued the collection and don't want to be ripped off by someone with an e-bay and pay-pal account.

 

Remember the phrase "Publish and be damned" !!!! If it is in the public domain it belongs to the public in my mind..  It is a private collection.

 

I've probably, nay most certainly touched nerves there, and will be slated, but that's just how I feel about the subject. I will follow "the rules" as much as possible (law) - just that I think the rules are wrong, soo out of date.

 

Tin hat on - incoming flack !!!!!!!!!

 

Brit15 (my images anyone can use, just as a courtesy please mention the source.) 

My thoughts in bold.  We have divergent views but let's not get in a keyboard war.  Bill

[MJI]

I bought a pile of piccies of RCTS

 

It pays for the hosting for a start

[Chamby]

A request for prototype information, if I may.  

 

I am currently building my station platform canopy.  Based on Leicester (LNER), I am struggling to find any colour photographs of the canopy structure during the early nationalisation period... most images available on the web are either in black-and-white or depict the station after it was transferred over to the London Midland region in the late fifties.

 

Reference sources suggest that it was one of the first stations to be repainted in the revised LNER scheme introduced in 1936/7, and it probably retained this scheme through early nationalisation and right up to the point of 'midland-isation'.   To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Leicester (along with many other ex-LNER stations) ever saw the intended BR(E) scheme in blue.  The revised LNER scheme is described as being Deep Cream BS381C 353 for the canopies and valences, Buckingham Green (aka Deep Brunswick Green BS381C 227) for the columns, and a paler Sea Green BS381C 217 (not dissimilar to Wedgwood Green) for the support brackets and girder frame.  I have no reason to doubt the reference sources, but have no recollection of ever seeing this scheme painted on a canopy supported by columns.  I am wondering if anyone has any personal recollection, or independent photographic record of this colour scheme generally (or otherwise for Leicester) before I progress too far down this route?

 

As an aside, this canopy project is a first venture for me into 3D printing, as the distinctive shape of the canopy is not available commercially.  I struck a deal with my son, whereby I bought him a 3D printer and in return he's designing and producing bespoke components for my railway, to my brief.  He's done a cracking job of it so far... I'll post more about it in due course, but here's a photo of the basic structure:

 

 

 

Columns, girder frames and valences are still to add at this stage, the canopies are just placed on the platform for a first impression.  Oh, and I've discovered a model railway task that's even more tedious than ballasting... glazing platform canopies!

 

Phil

[cctransuk]

37 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Personally, I'm against image copyrighting.

 

37 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

I also dislike intensely watermarked images - again why ?. 

 

 If it is in the public domain it belongs to the public in my mind.

 

What is the point of putting watermarks; copyright notices, etc., etc. on internet images?

 

Some site curators try to give the impression that they have disabled downloading, and even have pop-ups which say something similar to "The copyright owner has disabled downloading". Nonsense; any image which appears on your monitor has already been downloaded, and can be saved to your device. It may take a few extra key strokes, but it can be done.

 

The bottom line is - if you are 'precious' about your images - don't put them on the internet.

 

John Isherwood.