Wright writes.....

[westerner]

A quiet afternoon at Blackney, as this is Tony's thread I'm pleased to say that everything you can see I've built or laid (the track), Station building scratch built, Bridge kit bashed wagon and lorry kit built, scenery built by me and backscene painted by me.

 

Edited March 28, 2021 by westerner

[Adam88]

Regarding buffers, this is how the North Western was observed looking after them on their carriages in the nineteenth century as recorded in FB Head's classic work Stokers and Pokers.

 

"We will now proceed to detail a few circumstances respecting the railway carriages, about which our readers have probably never cared to inquire.—And, firstly, as soon as an up-train arrives at the commencement of the Euston platform, while it is still in motion, and before its guard—distinguished by a silver- buckled black shiny patent-leather belt, hanging diagonally across the white buttons of his green uniform-coat—has ventured with practised skill to spring from the sideboard of the train to the platform, two greasy-faced men in canvas jackets, with an oil-can in each of their right hands and with something like a mophead of dirty cotton hugged under each of their left arms, are to be seen running on each side of the rails below in pursuit of the train; and while the porters, holding the handles of the carriage doors, to prevent any traveller from escaping, are still advancing at a brisk walk, these two oilmen, who have now overtaken the train, diligently wipe as they proceed the dust and perspiration from the buffer-rods of the last carriage. As soon as these irons are perfectly clean and dry rubbed, they oil them from their can; and then—crawling beneath the open doors of the carriages and beneath the feet and ankles of a crowd of exuding travellers of all ages, who care no more for oilmen than the oilmen of this world care for them—they hurry to the buffer-rods of the next carriage—and so rapidly do they proceed, that before the last omnibus has driven off, the buffer-rods of the whole train are as bright as when new. But, secondly, these two men have been closely followed by two others in green jackets—one on each side of the carriage—who deal solely in a yellow composition of tallow and palm-oil. Carrying a wooden box full of this ointnent in one hand and a sort of short flat salve-knife in the other, they open with the latter the small iron trap-doors which cover the receptacles for greasing the axles, restore whatever quantity has been exhausted, and then, closing with a dexterous snap the little unctuous chamber over which they preside, they proceed to the next tallow-box; and thus, while the buffer-rods of the whole train are being comfortably cleaned and greased, the glistening axles of the carriages are simultaneously fed with luxurious fat. Thirdly, while these two operations are proceeding in the lower region, at about the same rate two others are progressing, one inside the carriages and the other on their roofs; for on the arrival of every passenger-train, the carriage " searcher," also " beginning at the end," enters every carriage, lifts up first all the stuffed blue seats, next the carpet, which he drops in a heap in the middle of the carriage, and then, inquisitively peeping under the two seats, he leaves the carriage, laden with whatever article or articles may have been left in it, to continue his search throughout the train. The inconceivable number and variety of the articles which he collects we shall shortly have occasion to notice. Fourthly, above the searcher's head, on the roof, and following him very closely in his course, there " sits up aloft " a man called a " strapper" whose sole duty it is, on the arrival of every train, to inspect, clean, shampoo, and refresh with cold- drawn neat's-foot oil the luggage-straps, which, in consequence of several serious accidents that have occurred from their breaking, are now lined inside with strong iron wire. It is the especial duty of this inquisitor to condemn any straps that may be faulty, in order that they may be immediately replaced."

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Adam88

[96701]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

It's just that I greatly-admire those who are self-reliant in all aspects of their modelling.

 

I'm self reliant, just not much cop at any of it. Still, practice, practice, practice. All this practice is costing me a fortune and progress with anything is glacial, sometimes due to just getting despondent at having to do things three or four times to get it right.

[Woodcock29]

5 hours ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Hi Andrew

I think you are probably correct in that the model should have the number on the tender (damn it).  I provided Ian with a picture of 3009 as it was in the mid 1930's as I wanted him to paint it but also stipulated I wanted it lined.  It is obvious looking again at the picture that the loco was not lined by the time the picture was taken.  I'm still getting my head around many things LNER and I think I got tripped up by some narrative saying that after 1930 the LNER stopped lining out the J1's, so as Clayton is set around 1930 I took the opportunity to have a lined model.

 

As to the position of the coal plate, as you said GN tenders are a real mine field.  The following part image is what I used for reference for the tool boxes and coal plate on 3009's tender.  The photo was one I picked up at a model railway exhibition so I don't have permission to share it, but hopefully this small section will be okay.  I'll remove if the copyright holder objects.  
.       

The toolbox looks to be narrower than I've seen previously and cannot be seen to the right of the driver's head.

 

Keep your eyes pealed in the press for announcements from LRM about new kits.  You may get what you've hoped for.

 

Frank

 

 

Hi Frank

I've done a bit of research on 3009. According to the late Malcolm Crawley's GN Tender book 3009 was paired with tender 345 when it came out from its general on 22 Feb 1930. Tender 345 is a Type A 3170 gallon tender (Horseshoe) not fitted with water pick up. This accords with the photo in Yeadon of 3009 which is post the 1930 general and shows such a tender with the later position of the front coal plate. I presume the photo you posted part of is actually of 3009?

 

Please excuse my love of getting into the detail. Locally here in Adelaide I'm described as pedantic and of course a lot of my earlier modelling is not as a accurate as the more recent stuff - actually not all of the more recent stuff is either depending on what you start with!

 

The joys of trying to get it right! Whenever I can get to the UK again (???) I look forward to seeing the progress on Clayton since my visit back in 2017.

 

I'll also send you an email.

 

Regards

 

Andrew 

[Chuffer Davies]

5 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Hi Frank

I've done a bit of research on 3009. According to the late Malcolm Crawley's GN Tender book 3009 was paired with tender 345 when it came out from its general on 22 Feb 1930. Tender 345 is a Type A 3170 gallon tender (Horseshoe) not fitted with water pick up. This accords with the photo in Yeadon of 3009 which is post the 1930 general and shows such a tender with the later position of the front coal plate. I presume the photo you posted part of is actually of 3009?

 

Please excuse my love of getting into the detail. Locally here in Adelaide I'm described as pedantic and of course a lot of my earlier modelling is not as a accurate as the more recent stuff - actually not all of the more recent stuff is either depending on what you start with!

 

The joys of trying to get it right! Whenever I can get to the UK again (???) I look forward to seeing the progress on Clayton since my visit back in 2017.

 

I'll also send you an email.

 

Regards

 

Andrew 

Hi Andrew,

I didn’t know about the alternate position for the coal plate and was guided by the instructions in the kit.  Too late now.  I think I’ll check with you first before I build any more models if that’s okay?  
I hope it won’t be too long before you can contemplate a visit to the UK.  As of now the earliest it is likely we’ll be allowed access to the club rooms will be May, and even then we may we’ll be limited with regards how many members will be allowed in at any one time.  

Regards,

Frank

 

[Tony Wright]

6 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Hi Frank

I've done a bit of research on 3009. According to the late Malcolm Crawley's GN Tender book 3009 was paired with tender 345 when it came out from its general on 22 Feb 1930. Tender 345 is a Type A 3170 gallon tender (Horseshoe) not fitted with water pick up. This accords with the photo in Yeadon of 3009 which is post the 1930 general and shows such a tender with the later position of the front coal plate. I presume the photo you posted part of is actually of 3009?

 

Please excuse my love of getting into the detail. Locally here in Adelaide I'm described as pedantic and of course a lot of my earlier modelling is not as a accurate as the more recent stuff - actually not all of the more recent stuff is either depending on what you start with!

 

The joys of trying to get it right! Whenever I can get to the UK again (???) I look forward to seeing the progress on Clayton since my visit back in 2017.

 

I'll also send you an email.

 

Regards

 

Andrew 

Good morning Andrew,

 

If I were as diligent as you in my research, I'd discover that a lot of my modelling isn't as accurate as it should be. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

17 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

Mea culpa in terms of careless terminology.

 

I'm not so sure about real buffer shanks / head being painted black, however. My first hand experience - albeit in more modern times - are that those hefty castings comprising the shank and head are simply left unpainted. What they do have however, is regular application of grease (buffer head) and oil (shank) as part of planned maintenance. That attracts dirt like nobody's business and thus very quickly becomes extremely dark and as good as black in appearance. If they were genuinely painted in previous eras, then fair enough - I bow to your greater knowledge!

 

I'm also slightly influenced by playing with preserved locos! The following sequence of pictures from 2009 illustrates the point re grease on buffers.

 

Thornton Junction. Awaiting to go off shed with Tornado. Front buffer heads wiped clean. Note however contrast with No.9's tender buffers on the left hand side.

 

We were then called upon to shunt No.9 back into the shed ...

 

Result? See how quickly the dirt-ingrained grease transfers!

 

Fortunately, there was time in Millerhill yard to clean them up again. I then went one stage further and used the emery cloth to apply the distinctive 'quartering' effect in time-honoured Top shed and Haymarket style! Loco then stayed like that for the rest of the day whilst on public view but no doubt got greased up again the first time something else (less well cared for!) got coupled on the front end!

Wonderful images Graham,

 

Many thanks.

 

I think grease marks on the buffers of diesel locos are very important, because (unlike the A1s) they don't have 'front' buffers as such, and both sets are used in equal measure.

 

 

 

 

These are just satin black enamel, applied with the flick of a small sable...................................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

16 hours ago, westerner said:

A quiet afternoon at Blackney, as this is Tony's thread I'm pleased to say that everything you can see I've built or laid (the track), Station building scratch built, Bridge kit bashed wagon and lorry kit built, scenery built by me and backscene painted by me.

 

That's a wonderful image Alan,

 

Thanks for showing us. If anything, B&W is more natural.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Clive Mortimore]

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Wonderful images Graham,

 

Many thanks.

 

I think grease marks on the buffers of diesel locos are very important, because (unlike the A1s) they don't have 'front' buffers as such, and both sets are used in equal measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just satin black enamel, applied with the flick of a small sable...................................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

Hello Tony

 

I cannot read the number on this Deltic but having a two line nameplate I know it isn't a Finsbury Park loco therefore has the wrong type of yellow panel. The lower corners should be square not rounded. When yellow panels were first applied to the Deltics only 34G locos had the rounded bottom corners except number 20, she arrived from Newton le Willows with a standard yellow panel. The rest of the ER allocation received standard yellow panels when they had attention at Doncaster.

[Ray Flintoft]

Latest additions to the loco. roster at "Sowerby Road m.p.d "

   DGH Peppercorn A.2 no. 60530 " Sayajirao " ( try saying that in a hurry ) Ex works on its way back to  Haymarket 

  Hornby  Thompson A.2/3 no. 60523 "Sun Castle" around 1961 .

  Nucast J.27 no. 65811 . This was the last J.27 I saw in steam at York on 17th November 1966 . The loco. was on it's way back to South Blyth following repairs at Hull Dairycoates .

      Cheers ,

               Ray 

 

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hello Tony

 

I cannot read the number on this Deltic but having a two line nameplate I know it isn't a Finsbury Park loco therefore has the wrong type of yellow panel. The lower corners should be square not rounded. When yellow panels were first applied to the Deltics only 34G locos had the rounded bottom corners except number 20, she arrived from Newton le Willows with a standard yellow panel. The rest of the ER allocation received standard yellow panels when they had attention at Doncaster.

One learns something every day....................

 

PINZA (34G loco) also had square corners at the bottom of its yellow panel. So did CREPELLO. (Source, The Book of the Deltics from Irwell Press).

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Mentioning black and white imagery earlier, prompted me to try some monochrome shots on the MR/M&GNR bit of Little Bytham this afternoon. With the line's closure being as early as February 1959, colour images of it in operation aren't so common.

 

Anyway, brickbats or bouquets......................

 

 

A particularly despicable ex-MR 2P (Millholme/SE Finecast/Wright) heads westwards towards Castle Bytham. 

 

 

Late in the piece,  the 'Leicester' heads westwards across the ECML. 

 

 

 

Two views of a Notts-Lynn service heading eastwards behind a D16/3 (Mallard/Little Engines/Wright/Haynes).

 

 

An express for the Norfolk coast will swap its tablet as it runs on to the double track section towards Bourne. The loco (PDK/Wright/Rathbone) featured yesterday. 

 

These monochrome images 'capture' the 1950s perhaps better than full colour.....................

[robmcg]

Black and white photos represent the reality of railways from the 1940s and 50s, at least inasmuch I imagined them from reading 'The Railway Magazine' and many others of the time. I was lucky to have a father who not only worked for the NZ Railways but was a prolific writer and editor, so afternoons when school finished were often occupied reading such things. Lying on the floor in a patch of sun with a library of books about the walls, back to bound volumes from 1923-on, no wonder I like Britain. Model Railway News, Trains Illustrated, theUS Kamblach 'Trains', and more.

 

Early colour images weren't bad if Kodachrome II transparencies but in print? Quite poor at times. I never learned the art of colour printing, too exact in processing, too poor in results! 

G F Heiron paintings were great though on the cover of Model Railway News. I think I have that right, c1964?

 

Nowadays colour is so nearly universal it makes the subtleties of b+w white rather refreshing, and certainly 'of the age'.  I associate colour largely with heritage railways now, and my 'real' 1950s trains will mostly be black and white. I mean, what would one make of a full colour Eric Treacy Liverpool Lime Street study? 

 

Long live the subtleties of tonal gradation and warmth or otherwise of different papers.  Remember 'Brovira Rapid' and 'Portriga Rapid' Agfa papers? They were beautiful in texture and tone, double weight, semi-gloss, exhibition quality!   

Edited March 29, 2021 by robmcg
addition

[Tony Wright]

4 minutes ago, robmcg said:

Black and white photos represent the reality of railways from the 1940s and 50s, at least inasmuch I imagined them from reading 'The Railway Magazine' and many others of the time. I was lucky to have a father who not only worked for the NZ Railways but was a prolific writer and editor, so afternoons when school finished were often occupied reading such things.

 

Early colour images weren't bad if Kodachrome II transparencies but in print? Quite poor at times. I never learned the art of colour printing, too exact in processing, too poor in results! 

 

Nowadays colour is so nearly universal it makes the subtleties of b+w white rather refreshing, and certainly 'of the age'.  I associate colour largely with heritage railways now, and my 'real' 1950s trains will mostly be black and white. I mean, what would one make of a full colour Eric Treacy Liverpool Lime Street study? 

 

Long live the subtleties of tonal gradation and warmth or otherwise of different papers.  Remember 'Brovira Rapid' and 'Portriga Rapid' Agfa papers? They were beautiful in texture and tone, double weight, semi-gloss, exhibition quality!   

Good evening Rob,

 

I think B&W imagery is very redolent of the '50s - Irwell used it as a catchphrase, 'Remember Those Black and White Days'.

 

I never mastered colour printing at all. Far too high a failure rate and poor results, anyway.

 

B&W, yes. But, I wouldn't ever go back to my wet darkroom (I no longer have one, and I've given all my equipment away). I recall one day achieving an absolute belter of a print, only to find a speck on the glazing drum caused the emulsion to become detached! Resin-bonded papers solved that problem, of course, but none of them ever had the deepest black. 

 

Nowadays, my cameras take the images in colour and I just turn them to B&W in the programme.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[robmcg]

7 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Rob,

 

I think B&W imagery is very redolent of the '50s - Irwell used it as a catchphrase, 'Remember Those Black and White Days'.

 

I never mastered colour printing at all. Far too high a failure rate and poor results, anyway.

 

B&W, yes. But, I wouldn't ever go back to my wet darkroom (I no longer have one, and I've given all my equipment away). I recall one day achieving an absolute belter of a print, only to find a speck on the glazing drum caused the emulsion to become detached! Resin-bonded papers solved that problem, of course, but none of them ever had the deepest black. 

 

Nowadays, my cameras take the images in colour and I just turn them to B&W in the programme.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Just shows the level of skill of our best photographers before the age of colour.  Myriad skills involved.

 

I too spent many an hour in photo darkrooms, and as I understand it there are a few hardy souls who still create images that way.  I stopped doing serious large b+w about 1993. But it took until about 2010 before digital cameras became the equal of a good 6x6 or 35mm Leica.

Edited March 29, 2021 by robmcg
typo

[robmcg]

Further to my reference to 1950s and 60s photos and magazines,  here is a current Bachmann 9F at speed, re-numbered and edited, similar inspiration was derived from 'Model Railway News' with a G F Heiron cover showing a 9F from a low angle, albeit in beautiful colour. Were some of his paintings oils over a photographic template?

 

[Bernard Lamb]

17 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

I never mastered colour printing at all. Far too high a failure rate and poor results, anyway.

 

 

Tony.

I never mastered photography but managed to produce acceptable colour prints in the darkroom To the level of once winning the Kodak Bride of the Month Competition. The series of negatives  that I was given were superb but they still needed some burning in of the area behind the brides head and holding back her cheeks. Giving different areas of a colour print different exposure times while keeping the colour balance under control is quite stressful. Although there were certain "rules" that helped you to know just how to push things. Weddings at 15.30 on a wet November Saturday needed great skill from the photographer and the printer. Medium format being an essential requirement to have any chance of success.  

Back in the early 1980s when stone cladding was popular amongst a certain sector of the population I had to produce a colour brochure of 12 samples. Apart from the usual variables any variation in the direction of the light source and/or the colour temperature rendered the job almost impossible. That exercise pushed me to the limit and did waste a lot of paper.  It was probably the only time that I ever told a photographer just what they needed to do from a technical standpoint. Gold and silver ornaments was an area that I left to others.

Bernard 

[robmcg]

20 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Wonderful images Graham,

 

Many thanks.

 

I think grease marks on the buffers of diesel locos are very important, because (unlike the A1s) they don't have 'front' buffers as such, and both sets are used in equal measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just satin black enamel, applied with the flick of a small sable...................................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony, you have thrown down the gauntlet. Again.  Such phenomenal depth-of-field and realistic perspective, I am going to try to approach this with my Canon half-frame EOS-M and lenses, but suspect I will struggle to match the full-frame Nikon Df and 55mm micro at some impossible F-stop...

 

But I shall try! 

 

Here is your photo cropped

 

 

I suspect that superlative optics, using TIF format and full frame will give you the edge, but I have ways!

 

Actually, in .ight of the differences between EM and 00 I did just for fun 'convert' Little Bytham to EM   just to see what difference it might make.  The next two photos might show how little it matters...

 

 

00

 

 

 

 

 

A guess at EM...  apologies that it's guesswork, my physics teacher at school would not have approved.

 

In fact my teachers tended to think of me as something of a trouble-maker, not concentrating, laughing too much, and so on. The aforementioned physics teacher berated me in front of a laboratory class for writing lab results on a scrap of paper, rather than in a tidy manner in an exercise book.  But teachers nevertheless gave me high marks in a fiercely competitive school environment, even a 'first' in Additional Maths. I rather liked that subject, with in those days measurements in feet and pounds, with latin abbreviations... p = ma  or v2 = u2 + 2as  all ft lbs and hp and so on, when the world taught Latin, and many kids had even read Thomas Hardy and Dickens.. 

 

So I apologise in advance for guessing what Little Bytham would look like in EM gauge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by robmcg
foolishness

[Tony Wright]

12 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Tony.

I never mastered photography but managed to produce acceptable colour prints in the darkroom To the level of once winning the Kodak Bride of the Month Competition. The series of negatives  that I was given were superb but they still needed some burning in of the area behind the brides head and holding back her cheeks. Giving different areas of a colour print different exposure times while keeping the colour balance under control is quite stressful. Although there were certain "rules" that helped you to know just how to push things. Weddings at 15.30 on a wet November Saturday needed great skill from the photographer and the printer. Medium format being an essential requirement to have any chance of success.  

Back in the early 1980s when stone cladding was popular amongst a certain sector of the population I had to produce a colour brochure of 12 samples. Apart from the usual variables any variation in the direction of the light source and/or the colour temperature rendered the job almost impossible. That exercise pushed me to the limit and did waste a lot of paper.  It was probably the only time that I ever told a photographer just what they needed to do from a technical standpoint. Gold and silver ornaments was an area that I left to others.

Bernard 

'Kodak Bride of the Month' competition! And you won! I had to read that carefully, Bernard, but congratulations on your printing.

 

I just left such impossibilities (for me) up to a firm called Colab, who gave a fantastic service, both in colour printing and processing transparencies. They had branches throughout the West Midlands, but they've probably all gone now. I also used to use a 'proper' photographic suppliers, Warners in Wolverhampton. Any question was answered, and they had a vast range of second-hand equipment for sale. They also used to give seminars and tutorials - all gone now.

 

The hardest wedding job I had to do concerned a blonde and a Nigerian (there is no racial connotation here, I assure you). It was a bright, high summer day. Put the light-meter one side and it was 500th at F11, then the other and it was 60th at F4.5, or that kind of range. I averaged out the exposures, and hoped for the best, angling the flash gun as required. The pictures worked and the couple were delighted.

 

Though lucrative, I used to dislike wedding photography. I always doubted my experience and my (medium-/large-format) equipment, and was on tenterhooks until the results came back. The only time I had a camera fail was during a wedding, but, fortunately, I was aware of its not working and discarded it, shooting the rest on two further cameras (never use just one at a wedding!). A colleague used just one once, and it failed. However, he didn't know it had failed (the shutter blind only exposed half the frame) and blithely carried on. Unfortunately, the results were disastrous.

 

Digital is much less-stressing these days, but I only take wedding pictures now as wedding presents. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Compound2632]

16 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Mentioning black and white imagery earlier, prompted me to try some monochrome shots on the MR/M&GNR bit of Little Bytham this afternoon. With the line's closure being as early as February 1959, colour images of it in operation aren't so common.

 

Anyway, brickbats or bouquets......................

 

The 2P comes up smelling of roses, or something... it looks like a photograph. I'm afraid the Great Eastern engines just look a bit too smooth - clean without being polished. The B12 looks like a toy train, which it didn't, in colour.

[Tony Wright]

11 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

 

Tony, you have thrown down the gauntlet. Again.  Such phenomenal depth-of-field and realistic perspective, I am going to try to approach this with my Canon half-frame EOS-M and lenses, but suspect I will struggle to match the full-frame Nikon Df and 55mm micro at some impossible F-stop...

 

But I shall try! 

 

Here is your photo cropped

 

 

I suspect that superlative optics, using TIF format and full frame will give you the edge, but I have ways!

 

Actually, in .ight of the differences between EM and 00 I did just for fun 'convert' Little Bytham to EM   just to see what difference it might make.  The next two photos might show how little it matters...

 

 

00

 

 

 

 

 

A guess at EM...  apologies that it's guesswork, my physics teacher at school would not have approved.

 

In fact my teachers tended to think of me as something of a trouble-maker, not concentrating, laughing too much, and so on. The aforementioned physics teacher berated me in front of a laboratory class for writing lab results on a scrap of paper, rather than in a tidy manner in an exercise book.  But teachers nevertheless gave me high marks in a fiercely competitive school environment, even a 'first' in Additional Maths. I rather liked that subject, with in those days measurements in feet and pounds, with latin abbreviations... p = ma  or v2 = u2 + 2as  all ft lbs and hp and so on, when the world taught Latin, and many kids had even read Thomas Hardy and Dickens.. 

 

So I apologise in advance for guessing what Little Bytham would look like in EM gauge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never a need to apologise Rob,

 

It's rather interesting......................

 

Your mentioning schooldays reminded me of how, on occasions, I got into trouble.

 

I had two RK (religious knowledge) teachers. One was a kind and caring man, and he was eaten alive! The other was a fiery, non-conformist Welshman who tried to put fear of God into us. He once refused to have a non-Christian in his class because they might 'dilute' his fire and brimstone approach. I think the term 'Bible Thumper' summed him up exactly. 

 

One day, he brought in another bulging-eyed zealot who told us we were damned unless we gave ourselves completely to Jesus Christ. Since this might interfere with our post-school footie matches or trainspotting, this was quite alarming. Would Jesus disapprove? Anyway, to 'prove' the existence of God, this roaring madman showed some slides. One, was a close-up (via a microscope) of a sewing needle. It looked like it were made of gravel!  The next showed a wasp's sting to equal magnification; it was, of course, perfect. 'There' bellowed the loony, his eyes almost popping out, 'Proof of God. Man's work is crude, but God's is perfect! Any questions?'. 

 

My mates egged me on - 'Go on Wrighty, you've always got some smart-ar$e answer'. 'Please Sir, who made the device by which we're able to see this 'miracle'?'. It was worth the flogging! 

 

On another occasion, another visiting religious 'nutter' told us we must never question God's work. It's always perfection we were told. 'What about Thalidomide children?' I asked. 'How dare you question God's work!' he shrieked at me.

 

It's a wonder there aren't more atheists................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

13 hours ago, robmcg said:

Further to my reference to 1950s and 60s photos and magazines,  here is a current Bachmann 9F at speed, re-numbered and edited, similar inspiration was derived from 'Model Railway News' with a G F Heiron cover showing a 9F from a low angle, albeit in beautiful colour. Were some of his paintings oils over a photographic template?

 

I'm sure George Heiron used photographs as a guide, Rob,

 

But I think his principal medium was watercolour.

 

I could be wrong........................

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

[Tony Wright]

16 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The 2P comes up smelling of roses, or something... it looks like a photograph. I'm afraid the Great Eastern engines just look a bit too smooth - clean without being polished. The B12 looks like a toy train, which it didn't, in colour.

 

 

 

Better?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Compound2632]

57 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Better?

 

Yes. I think this may be because the colour photo invites a greater degree of willing suspension of disbelief - always a vital state of mind when looking at any model railway, no matter its fidelity to the prototype. I went looking for photos of B12/3s in service. This photo of one on an Ian Allan tour at South Lynn is relevant:

 

 

[Ben Brooksbank / Ex-GE B12/3 4-6-0 on Rail Tour at South Lynn, via Wikimedia Commons.]

 

I suppose this engine did get some special preparation for the excursion but it by no means presents the uniform surface finish of the model. Unlined, too. 

 

Also, I think there may be some deep-seated prejudice at work: a Triang B12 was the second engine I ever had, second hand from my cousins. So to my eyes any B12/3 looks like a toy.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Compound2632
Typo corrected

[Tony Wright]

B12s were lined/unlined throughout the '50s, dependent on specific dates. Some individuals changed, others remained the same.

 

I think that you're right in that their finishes didn't always present a uniform surface.................

 

 

Lined.

 

 

Lined, and with the brass splasher beading picked-out.

 

 

Unlined (I think).

 

 

Lined.

 

In the prototype picture I used for making my model of 61533, the loco was unlined.

 

 

 

Perhaps my shabby old MacGowan B12/3 isn't quite as inaccurate as I feared............

 

Regards,

 

Tony.