Trainspotting at Little Benton Sidings, Newcastle.

[rowanj]

Some many moons ago, I tarted up a Britannia, then looked for an excuse to run it at Newcastle. Yesterday I came across a photo from July 1961 of 70023 VENUS on a service train, running in following a General at Doncaster. Apparently it was borrowed by Doncaster Carr for a couple of weeks before being returned to Cardiff Canton.

Edited January 16, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

A bit more diesel traction

I have a couple of Deltics- just standard early Bachmann, which I'm quite content with.  D9017 whisks a Down express past little Benton North- a common sight for we spotters from 1961 or so onwards.

Waiting to leave the sidings on a mixed freight is a Class 17, a type which pottered around Tyneside for a few years before the inbuilt issues with the locos and lack of appropriate work meant an early demise. This is a Silver Fox kit on Tenshodo bogies. I quite like the loco, though it is a bit late for my period, so am wondering about getting a better Heljan version and using the bogies to add a bit more va va voom to my 4-car Class 104, Something to think about.

And finally, the train passes which caused the 17 to be put in the siding- another Bachmann Class 46, This is an Edinburgh-Newcastle semi-fast, and in real life, would be a rare visitor North of Newcastle, where Class 40, and later, class 47.s were used on these trains. Gateshead's 45 and 46 engines normally went South, sometimes to Kings X, but often to the Midlands and the South West,

[rowanj]

A layout North of York and South of ,say, Morpeth, certainly should have a J27 or two, or , in my case, 6. two are Dave Alexander kits, one is NuCast, and three are from Oxford Rail. I picked up another of the RTR ones recently, new-in-box for £90, Youcouldn;t build a kit for less than twice that.

The only issue , for me, is the shiny plastic look, I needed to renumber it as I already had a 65837, but replacing the 7 with a 4 from my last remaining HMRS sheet was easy, as was replacing the smokebox door plate. I am surprised how the difference in shade has come out on the camera, as it looks pretty close in real life/light, I oversprayed the loco very lightly with Railmatch Weather Black to dull everything down before adding some tones with weathering powders.The loco is doing what the real one did on a daily basis, hauling hoppers around Tyneside from its' South Blyth 52F base.

As a contrast, the NuCast kit with the extended smokebox heads towards Heaton Yard to pick up the daily goods for Blyth.

 

[John Tomlinson]

1 hour ago, rowanj said:

A layout North of York and South of ,say, Morpeth, certainly should have a J27 or two, or , in my case, 6. two are Dave Alexander kits, one is NuCast, and three are from Oxford Rail. I picked up another of the RTR ones recently, new-in-box for £90, Youcouldn;t build a kit for less than twice that.

The only issue , for me, is the shiny plastic look, I needed to renumber it as I already had a 65837, but replacing the 7 with a 4 from my last remaining HMRS sheet was easy, as was replacing the smokebox door plate. I am surprised how the difference in shade has come out on the camera, as it looks pretty close in real life/light, I oversprayed the loco very lightly with Railmatch Weather Black to dull everything down before adding some tones with weathering powders.The loco is doing what the real one did on a daily basis, hauling hoppers around Tyneside from its' South Blyth 52F base.

As a contrast, the NuCast kit with the extended smokebox heads towards Heaton Yard to pick up the daily goods for Blyth.

 

 

There's something about the Nu-cast J27 which the RTR one doesn't have, it has a lot more presence and sense of power. Plus of course you made it!

 

A word to the wise about Heljan Claytons. Many of the earlier ones had motor problems, with defects in the drive train that caused the motors to burn out. So if you do go the pre-owned route probably safest to go for one with a higher Heljan code number. I wonder if anyone on here has knowledge of which ones are "good un's"? I rather like your Silver Fox one anyway. Long before the Heljan one was a twinkle in anyone's eye I built a dual motored  Dave Alexander kit, this runs quite well and is very powerful with the weight of the white metal components. Like your Nu-cast J27, it has a presence lacking in the RTR version.

 

John.

[rowanj]

I remember Dave Alexander telling me that the boiler on the Nu Cast was wrong at the firebox end, and was a bit too fat. He revised his own castings and produced a rolled etch on his last version. I have both versions and the cast boiler certainly looks chunkier. Next running session, I'll give them a spin.

Rails seem to have a current Class 17, so I'll go down that route if I bother. By the time I decide, they will be sold out.

Edited January 20, 2023 by rowanj

[micklner]

Nu cast Q6 , Boiler I believe was also too short more like a Q5 length .

Strange peoples attitudes re kits v r.t.r . I had a Nucast J27 I built years ago, not a patch on the etched Bradwell version. Once I built the Bradwell J27, the Nucast was quickly sold on, chunky poor detail castings and a whitemetal chassis, was no comparison for me at least . The same happended to my Nucast Q6 same issues re levels of detail.

The Oxford J27 version for the price is simply superb value.

[rowanj]

I agree with Mick- the Oxford Rail j27 is excellent value for money.  the 3 I now have, along with the kits, will see me out as far as the Class is concerned. I was tempted to try the Bradwell kit until the RTR version appeared, as it is clearly superior to the NuCast and Alexander kits as far as detail and overall accuracy goes.

 

To give a bit of comparison, Oxford rail 65837 is parked in the sidings along NuCast ex-superheated 65863. Both actually run equally well, despite the NUCast kit having a whitemetal chassis, opened out to take a Mashima.Highlevel motor/gearbox.

 

65822 on the hoppers is the original Dave Alexander kit with the whitemetal boiler. 65813 on the minerals is his later kit with an etched boiler, and I think it looks more akin to the RTR version. It's a shame his kits havent been picked up after his death, as they are a decent introduction for new kit-builders, and, for the more ambitious, an excellent modern chassis can be has from 52F Models,

[rowanj]

Here are the 2 photos "skipped" from the post above for exceeding the 10 meg limit.

[rowanj]

The J38 which somehow actually did get to Newcastle in 1964 is now on its' way back with empty meat and fish wagons. They are probably bound for Tweedmouth rather than Edinburgh, so the last leg of the journey back to St, Margarets light engine.

 

 

There is a build of a Little Engines A8 just beginning on the Kitbuilding thread, which will be well worth following. Little Engines made nice kits, and they are a loss to the hobby. This is my inferior DJH version. None of the ex-NER kits, which are now of a good age, are great, but they can be modified up to a point. I;m currently musing on the possibility of having a go at the 52F verison of the A8/2 and the A5/2. In the meantime, the loco, which for all its' faults is a nice runner, takes a Saturday Special from Alnmouth back to Teesside

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

A couple of 64B locos pass. I have a nice photo of a Haymarket Class 40 on the Down Queen of Scots, albeit with the later Mark 1 stock,-the photo dates from 1962, when sufficient diesels had reached the shed to allow steam to start to become phased out. The loco is Bachmann, and I must add some pipework to the front end.

Honeyway is a DJH kit, and, though the only A2/3 at Haymarket, was apparently well-liked. The train is a semi-fast Edinburgh-Newcastle. I remember buying the kit from DJH at a Newcastle Show. Those were the days.

Edited February 1, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

A final test for my latest build, an LRM J21, 65110 was one of the last pair in service, and was based at Heaton. It was often used on excursions from Newcastle into the wilds of Northumberland, In this case, it has picked up an excursion from Manchester, hence the LMS stock. I keep meaning to upgrade the rake, and it will happen, someday.

[John Tomlinson]

On 31/01/2023 at 10:30, rowanj said:

A final test for my latest build, an LRM J21, 65110 was one of the last pair in service, and was based at Heaton. It was often used on excursions from Newcastle into the wilds of Northumberland, In this case, it has picked up an excursion from Manchester, hence the LMS stock. I keep meaning to upgrade the rake, and it will happen, someday.

 

I suspect we've all got stock "awaiting upgrade"!  Recently I rediscovered SE Finecast "Flushglaze". Not as posh as the Extreme Etchings stuff, nor as expensive, but makes a big difference to older mouldings from the likes of Mainline that are basically very sound but suffer from visibly slab sided window surrounds on steel sided vehicles. I did a couple of Mainline Collett coaches and the improvement is huge.

 

John.

[rowanj]

My LMS rake of 6 coaches is crying out for TLC, though mainly below the underframe. . For all their, faults, the Airfix stock did have flush glaze windows. I use the rake to represent the Leicester to Craigendoran service, and an occasional special cobbled together by Craigentinny. I have no photos of any regular service using LMS stock between Edinburgh and Newcastle, and cannot find a description of the Leicester consist.

I know next to nothing about what a typical rake should look like, but can improve the Airfix underframes using stuff from Wizard. I did intend sticking a buffet into the rake, until I found that the LMS hardly had any ...was it only 3? So I currently run 6 coaches, 3 with Comet sides, an unaltered SK, a BSK bought as a prospective donor, and a 60 ft BCK with sides bought on EBay fitted to a cut down Triang Mk 1 with Bachmann LMS bogies. So, as you see,some upgrading needed,when I can identify suitable eating facilities for the weary travellers.

Edited February 4, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

Other than the 9F's at Tyne Dock, Tyneside saw very few BR Standards. I certainly never saw any, though there are photos of occasional visitors from Darlington on SO trains. Gateshead got a couple of Class 5's, which moved on to Blaydon before vanishing South never to be seen again. Gateshead used them, among other things , on the Colchester trains as far as York, Blaydon used them to Carlisle, but they were very tight on Blaydon's turntable.

73060, renumbered Bachmann, is on an unusual turn, one of the last steam workings from Newcastle to Alnwick, probably substituting for a failed D20.

[rowanj]

I succumbed to tempation and bought a Heljan 17- Rails were discounting them and they were advertised, correctly, as "new",Running is excellent, and as the original number was D8607, replacement of 7 with 3 from a Modelmaster sheet gave me a Gateshead loco delivered in June 1964-right at the end of an appropriate date for the layout. The Heljan model is paired with the Silver Fox kit, whose days may be numbered, awaiting a path to get the ballast train out of the sidings and back to Heaton.

I came across a photo of the Up Queen of Scots passing Tweedmouth in May 1959 headed by Heaton's 60517 Ocean Swell, the first evidence I have seen of a non 64B loco on the train north of Newcastle. I don't have 517, but do have 511 Airborne, so gave her a run. The model is a GBL A2. modified with Graeme King resin parts, on an adapted Hornby Brit chassis. I actually did a couple more of these, at a time when the chassis could be had as a spare for a decent price, but this is only one left. Muzak rot claimed the others, as well as the primer/paint having a chemical reaction with the loco boiler which I could never put right. This was the only GBL model where this happened - just one of those things. Why Haymarket needed to use a Heaton loco is another one of life's mysteries.

Edited February 5, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

It's vintage ex-NER today. The J71 has been sent up to collect wagons to go, presumably, to Heaton , while Heaton's own B16/1 has a rake of empty cattle wagons heading north. 68264 is a modified Mainline body on Mainly Trains/Wizard chassis, while 61410 is the PDK kit. I don't have any pictures of cattle wagon rakes around Little Benton - the wagons were more usually in a mixed freight-- but I believe there was a path on Thursdays for the mart at Newcastle, so this train is taking the rake back to be dropped off at various points- Morpeth, Alnmouth, Belford then Tweedmouth, to go down the various branches and be reassembled the next week.

 

Ebay can still offer some locos at decent prices. I fancied a second Q6 and this one was offered for £80. It was described as "weathered" and I was marginally apprehensive, but in the event, I think all that had been done was an overspray of weather black or similar. I added some rust and soot using weathering powders, The loco is a lovely runner so I am a happy camper.

Actually, Q6's were more common in the Durham coalfield than in Northumberland, where the J27 ruled, until the last few years of steam.

 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by rowanj

[rowanj]

A pair of J21's pass Little Benton South. 65070 is the Dave Alexander kit, which has been converted to represent one of the locos without vacuum brakes. these seem to have all had a spell in the 30's around Doncaster and Retford before returning to ex-NER territory.

65110 is my latest LRM kit, and it heads home with a "Garden Tours" Saturday excursion to Rothbury. The J71 has ben sent into the headshunt while it awaits its' return to Heaton.

[rowanj]

I spent some time over the weekend weathering my rake of hoppers, trying to get a range of conditions of coal, smoke and rust., whilst leaving an odd one in nearly clean condition. The photo of the Q6 was taken from what we used to call Halls Bridge which was, and still is, a farm track crossing the ECML at the site of Little Benton North Box. Nowadays, a crossover exists just beyond the bridge to allow trains on the Down line to gain access to the Blyth and Tyne to Ashington. Passenger services are supposed to re-start on this line by 1924, and I have been enjoying watching the work to install a passing loop at Backworth towards Seghill to allow a half-hourly service alongside the existing (rather sparse) freight traffic.

It must be 1962, when Q6's started to appear in greater numbers at  South Blyth. To be honest, this is the period I remember best - I was 13-, and Class 40's were very common on the passenger services. D325 on the Inverness- Marylebone is a bit anachronistic, being based in the Midlands, It is actually on test, while I decide what to do with it, as it is a bit of an unlkely visitor to Tyneside.- 

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

I wouldn't worry to much on a Midland based class 40 passing Little Benton, it was the nature of the railway for loco's to turn up in the most unusual of locations. I can remember a Green class 40, turning up at Kings Cross in the mid 70's, that one was based I believe was LM North Western allocated.

 

manna

[46256]

John I remember being told by an ex driver he once got a western up to York.

[rowanj]

I treated myself to a Sonic A5/1, which is an excellent model, especially at the price. almost all the A5's in the NER were the LNER -build A5/2's but, for a brief period in 1950, Saltburn had a few A5/1's. I renumbered mine- originally 69814- to 69811. As can be seen from the photo of the prototype at Darlington, the  condition looks work-stained rather then filthy/rusty, so this is what I aimed for. in reality, I just toned down the shiny satin black, but the effect has workd out OK.  I only have a short rake of ex-NER coaches to represent the stock on the real thing.

 

A Saltburn loco at Little Benton is stretching things, though there was a SO Satburn-Newcastle, so this must be connected to that working. Alternatively, it is one of the Race Specials at Gosforth Park, so the train is heading for Killingworth Station where trains teminated in the Racetrack Sidings.

 

[rowanj]

What on earth is this doing here?  It is the ex-GBL SECR C Class which I got running from the spares box. The wagons were obtained from a stall at Tynemoth Station Market,  and I'm slowly "distressing "them to run in my "pick-up" goods rakes.   The loco was just put together for fun, and to see if I could get it together. There are some photos of the "build" on the Great British Locomotives thread.

[rowanj]

Oops- forgot to post the photo of the real 69811.

 

 

[rowanj]

A few ex-NER locos, all built from kits from various sources, pass Little Benton Sidings. The DJH D20 is on a Newcastle-Alnwick, where the last members of the class saw out their existence from their base at Alnmouth. The J27 on loaded hoppers is a Dave Alexander kit.

 

The PDK B16/1 is running light, held at Little Benton North, for the simple reason that the tender coupling has fallen off, and will head into "Works" for repair.  Then the LRM N8 brings a short rake of wagons to be stored in the yard at Benton Station, pending scrapping..

 

 

[rowanj]

I have become a fan of Humbrol Weathering Powders. I don't have an airbrush and am pretty poor as a painter, so powders are an easy way to weather stock, knowing you can readily remove them if the results aren't what you wanted. I don't handle my stock very much, so normally do not bother sealing the powders with varnish - I got this as a tip from a Youtube video and it seems to be the case that the powders do stick reasonably well without additional help.

Anyway, I have been frustrated for a while by my pristine Blue Spot rake, and also by the irritating tendancy of the couplings to drop out the moulded  plates under the chassis. So a day spent with the powders and spots of superglue has addressed both issues. The wagons still seem a bit light in the photo, but all are weathered to a greater or lesser degree.

The rake is mainly Hornby with a couple of Parkside kits. The loco is Hornby on a Comet chassis. Brit's were uncommon on Tyneside, but did get there from time to time. The spotters will be happy. This is a Down train, so will be empties heading back to Aberdeen. The Brit probably came on at York.

Edited February 27, 2023 by rowanj