Hornby Merchant Navy announced (formerly Facebook leak)

[TravisM]

1 minute ago, RFS said:

 

Here it is in June 1959 with tender in original condition carrying the later crest - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/e7001a4c7

Thanks for the information but I’ve got a few questions.  I thought that Merchant Navy’s had all moved over to the Bournemouth route by the late 50’s because of their route availability.  Also the Mk1’s at the head of the train, what colour are they as I thought they would have been in Southern Region green, not Carmine and Cream.

[RFS]

1 minute ago, jools1959 said:

Thanks for the information but I’ve got a few questions.  I thought that Merchant Navy’s had all moved over to the Bournemouth route by the late 50’s because of their route availability.  Also the Mk1’s at the head of the train, what colour are they as I thought they would have been in Southern Region green, not Carmine and Cream.

 

The coaches will be this colour as seen the previous year - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/ee3e8d35f

 

It was the first phase of the Kent Coast Electrification in 1959 which displaced the remaining Merchant Navys to the Western Section. 

[Dunsignalling]

1 minute ago, jools1959 said:

Thanks for the information but I’ve got a few questions.  I thought that Merchant Navy’s had all moved over to the Bournemouth route by the late 50’s because of their route availability.  Also the Mk1’s at the head of the train, what colour are they as I thought they would have been in Southern Region green, not Carmine and Cream.

AIUI, 35028 was transferred to Nine Elms the day after that photo was taken.

 

Not all to the Bournemouth route, though. They continued to work to/from Exeter well into 1964.

 

John

[RFS]

25 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

AIUI, 35028 was transferred to Nine Elms the day after that photo was taken.

 

Not all to the Bournemouth route, though. They continued to work to/from Exeter well into 1964.

 

John

I was 14 in 1959 and actually saw 35028 pass through Tonbridge in the summer of 1959. Thought it was later than June though ..

Edited July 5, 2021 by RFS

[Steamport Southport]

I got to go up on the footplate of 35028 when I was ten!

 

That was in 1980 though. So a little bit different. 

 

 

Jason

[SRman]

3 hours ago, jools1959 said:

Thanks for the information but I’ve got a few questions.  I thought that Merchant Navy’s had all moved over to the Bournemouth route by the late 50’s because of their route availability.  Also the Mk1’s at the head of the train, what colour are they as I thought they would have been in Southern Region green, not Carmine and Cream.

 

Crimson and cream survived on just a few SR sets right into 1963. In 1959, it was still fairly common.

[Dunsignalling]

4 hours ago, SRman said:

 

Crimson and cream survived on just a few SR sets right into 1963. In 1959, it was still fairly common.

But (AFAIK) all SR-designed corridor stock was back in green by the end of 1959.

 

The last SR-allocated Mk.1s in c/c were two 3-coach sets which remained that way until May/June 1963. 

 

There were a few sightings of odd examples of such stock working in from other regions for a while after that, but there can't have been all that much remaining anywhere  BY then.

 

John 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Dunsignalling
Undoing auto input

[SRman]

13 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

But (AFAIK) all SR-designed corridor stock was back in green by the end of 1959.

 

The last SR-allocated Mk.1s in c/c were two 3-coach sets which remained that way until May/June 1963. 

 

There were a few sightings of odd examples of such stock working in from other regions for a while after that, but there can't have been all that much remaining anywhere but then.

 

John 

True, but the coaches in question in the photo are loose mark 1s, so well within the c/c period of overlap. There is a pic in one of the many colour albums of a MN on a train in the snow in 1963 with a c/c mark 1 3-set, highly probably one of the sets you referred to.

[Dunsignalling]

10 hours ago, RFS said:

 

The coaches will be this colour as seen the previous year - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/ee3e8d35f

 

It was the first phase of the Kent Coast Electrification in 1959 which displaced the remaining Merchant Navys to the Western Section. 

That's the same photo as linked previously but in colour. The caption is incorrectly dated as 35028 did not get the late crest until mid-1959.

 

John

[RFS]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

That's the same photo as linked previously but in colour. The caption is incorrectly dated as 35028 did not get the late crest until mid-1959.

 

John

 

Here'a another photo of it allegedly in August 1958 with the late crest - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/ee3e93833

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by RFS

[Mallard60022]

14 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Here'a another photo of it allegedly in August 1958 with the late crest - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/ee3e93833

 

Close to being Modified then.

P

Edited July 6, 2021 by Mallard60022

[Dunsignalling]

13 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Here'a another photo of it allegedly in August 1958 with the late crest - https://railphotoprints.uk/p668741324/ee3e93833

 

Looks to be the same working. Possibly the last time an a/s MN worked the Arrow.

 

John

[Dunsignalling]

Just now, Mallard60022 said:

Don't think it was Modified until September?

November 59, the issue with the photos is that it still had the early emblem in 1958.

[Mallard60022]

Just now, Dunsignalling said:

November 59, the issue with the photos is that it still had the early emblem in 1958.

Oh I'd forgotten it was '59.  My memory fails again! It was the last wasn't it?

P

[Mallard60022]

2 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

November 59, the issue with the photos is that it still had the early emblem in 1958.

I reckon it might have kept that EE until Works visit in '59. Don't have many phots of that engine.

P

[Mallard60022]

21 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

I reckon it might have kept that EE until Works visit in '59. Don't have many phots of that engine.

P

Nope, I was wrong.

In The Book Of, p97, it shows 28 with The G Arrow, 13 June 1959 and the Tender has the later Emblem and states that Tender was the only unmodified one to get the later Emblem.

28 went into works on 21/08/59 and came out 24/10/59. 

P

[Graham_Muz]

The book of is slightly misleading with respect to 35028 as it correctly states that upon rebuilding she carried the late crest, it does however not state when she first carried the late crest prior to rebuilding, that was September 1958.

[SRman]

Dates in photo captions can be a little suspect. I have found the same photo in two different books of an early test train with a class 73 (as they became). One book has it in 1963, the other has it as 1965 (something like that - I am going from memory). I have no idea which was correct. All we can do is gather clues, such as the late crest on 'Clan Line', and do a bit of sleuthing to decide which date is the most likely.

[Right Away]

SRman makes a most valid point; discrepancies in photo captions cannot always be taken as accurate. 

Quite often, it is the less obvious, secondary material within photographs and film footage, rather than the prime subject itself, that can provide a reasonable “timeline” within which the shot was taken. 

Examples might be: road vehicles, buildings, road signage, accompanying liveries of other locomotives/rolling stock, advertisement hoardings, dress code etc.

Of course, there will be many occasions when these “date pointers” will not always be apparent, especially in open country for example.

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Right Away
omission

[Dunsignalling]

22 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

November 59, the issue with the photos is that it still had the early emblem in 1958.

I'm wrong. Date correct. See post by Muz between these two.

 

John

[Right Away]

 

No 35028 with later BR crest at Folkestone Junction; the presence of rebuilt sister engine “Rotterdam Lloyd” dating the photo from June 1958.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Right Away

[SD85]

Could someone give me a bit of advice on how to fix the driveshaft on my Merchant Navy?

 

I have a brand new 35024 but the motor spins and the loco doesn't go. Inspecting closer I found the drive shaft that was supposed to connect the flywheel and gear worm loose in the body shell. I would like to know how to get it back in as it seems a bit difficult to do so. Thanks.

[Hilux5972]

38 minutes ago, SD85 said:

Could someone give me a bit of advice on how to fix the driveshaft on my Merchant Navy?

 

I have a brand new 35024 but the motor spins and the loco doesn't go. Inspecting closer I found the drive shaft that was supposed to connect the flywheel and gear worm loose in the body shell. I would like to know how to get it back in as it seems a bit difficult to do so. Thanks.

Have you had a look at the service sheet? 

[SD85]

I don't seem to have that diagram, but thanks for posting it. The bit that is loose is the part on the left of the bits encircled in area 3.

 

EDIT: Any further help would be very much appreciated. I can find no information anywhere on the net which discusses this issue or what to do to fix it. Trying to slot the drive shaft back into its mountings seems difficult as to do so one would have to take the motor off the chassis block which doesn't seem doable. 

 

I don't think I can return the loco as I've already renumbered her to 35027 Port Line and have also added coal, some weight to the tender and given her a coat of Klear to make the paintwork shimmer a bit. So I need to find a way to repair her. It doesn't seem too complicated a task, but I just can't work out how to get the cardan shaft back into its mountings.

Edited August 1, 2021 by SD85

[Hilux5972]

Is it just this little end piece or more of the shaft? Perhaps you could provide a photo of the piece, that way it would help us to help you more.