Peterborough North

[great northern]

Back to ground level, and a look at Doncaster Rovers, now in charge of the Birmingham-Ely.

 

 

[great northern]

Some sad news today. Paul.(Flying Fox) has informed me that Derek Betts died three weeks ago. Most will know him better as Cutler 2579, a regular visitor on here from the very start of the thread. Derek had serious health issues for many years, but dealt with them with fortitude and a wicked sense of humour. Another, like me, who had the great good fortune to see steam on the ECML in or near its prime, he will be greatly missed, by me, and I'm sure by the many others who will know him, if only through interaction on here. Our thoughts will be with his widow and family, I am sure.

[New Haven Neil]

On 13/01/2022 at 09:41, great northern said:

The C12 has had a bit of the limelight lately, but the poor old N5 has just been ignored, lucky if it is glimpsed in the background. Actually, I'm surprised there haven't been any complaints from a small island just to our west. In the end, someone strolling along Station Road took pity on it.

 

 

Another day of lovely sunshine forecast here, so more trains will run later.

 

He hasn't been paying attention, that's the problem!  Just like when he was at school, ho hum.  I promise to sit at the front from now on and watch closely!

[great northern]

The Birmingham-Ely has pulled away, to be quickly followed by the Up Cleethorpes-KX.

 

 

[great northern]

And the classic platform 3 view.

 

 

Tim coming today, and there will be goodies. Oh yes.

[great northern]

Today saw the first visit from Tim for quite a while, but he brought with him plentiful goodies. I don't want anyone getting over excited, so they will be revealed in stages. The first is another V2. There were few of the ones with separate cylinders in the South, so Rails announcement of 60964 in original condition was very welcome, and Tim's next task after 60881, which you saw some time ago. And here it is.

 

 

 

 

803 was a March engine, and may seem a strange choice, as their V2s spent most of their time on the GN/GE, and as far as York, or occasionally Newcastle. However, on summer weekends some of them were regularly loaned to New England or Kings Cross to help deal with all the extra trains, so it can be justified on that basis. There is a second reason for the choice though. 803 was a very regular choice for the Colchester-Newcastle through train, and I saw it at Lincoln many times, both in black livery and later in green. What's more, I have a memory which is confirmed by perusal of one of my early Ian Allans, which not only has it underlined, but a C beside it too. So, yes, I have been in the cab of 803 as it stood at Lincoln around 4.45pm on its way back East, and nostalgia dictated that I should find a reason to have it.

 

The brief to Tim was to give me a loco which was about six months out of shops, but well cared for and kept clean, and as always he has  come up with something special. Unfortunately today was an extremely overcast one, and so exposures of two seconds and more were needed to get this result, which doesn't do justice to the subtlety of Tim's work. I may well show some more images when we get some proper daylight. Again he has dealt with the poor fit of the smokebox door, and added another little tweak to get even closer to the real thing. I shall leave it to Tim to tell you what it is, and how he did it.

[New Haven Neil]

Oh I do like a V2 (in the way you like B17's!) and that is, as usual for Tim, a super bit of work.

[great northern]

Another look at 61130, now slowing for its five minute wait.

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Ah the old girl's in the shot.  Paying attention now.....

 

Hope you're doing OK, Gilbert.

[great northern]

Oh! Pictures are back now. There were none earlier. Hopefully I can now show you another Ivatt arriving with a train from Yarmouth Beach.

 

 

[Sharky]

On 02/02/2022 at 08:57, great northern said:

The Birmingham-Ely has pulled away, to be quickly followed by the Up Cleethorpes-KX.

 

 

I love this angle!
Gives the perspective of how large the locos really were.

[davidw]

16 hours ago, great northern said:

Today saw the first visit from Tim for quite a while, but he brought with him plentiful goodies. I don't want anyone getting over excited, so they will be revealed in stages. The first is another V2. There were few of the ones with separate cylinders in the South, so Rails announcement of 60964 in original condition was very welcome, and Tim's next task after 60881, which you saw some time ago. And here it is.

 

 

 

 

803 was a March engine, and may seem a strange choice, as their V2s spent most of their time on the GN/GE, and as far as York, or occasionally Newcastle. However, on summer weekends some of them were regularly loaned to New England or Kings Cross to help deal with all the extra trains, so it can be justified on that basis. There is a second reason for the choice though. 803 was a very regular choice for the Colchester-Newcastle through train, and I saw it at Lincoln many times, both in black livery and later in green. What's more, I have a memory which is confirmed by perusal of one of my early Ian Allans, which not only has it underlined, but a C beside it too. So, yes, I have been in the cab of 803 as it stood at Lincoln around 4.45pm on its way back East, and nostalgia dictated that I should find a reason to have it.

 

The brief to Tim was to give me a loco which was about six months out of shops, but well cared for and kept clean, and as always he has  come up with something special. Unfortunately today was an extremely overcast one, and so exposures of two seconds and more were needed to get this result, which doesn't do justice to the subtlety of Tim's work. I may well show some more images when we get some proper daylight. Again he has dealt with the poor fit of the smokebox door, and added another little tweak to get even closer to the real thing. I shall leave it to Tim to tell you what it is, and how he did it.

Hi Gilbert, Any further V2 shots. 

[great northern]

Time to disclose the second goodie, which is another V2. This time we have a Kings Cross engine, and one which seems to have been something of a Top Shed pet, as it was very frequently photographed in the late 50s and early 60s, and always in immaculate condition. In particular, it seems to have been a favourite choice fot the Scarborough Flyer, year in, year out. Last time out of the paint shop was March 58, so the KX cleaners could still get this level of cleanliness and shine in August.

 

 

34A had both the first and last of the class, and now so have I.

 

 

 

 

 

[30368]

7 minutes ago, great northern said:

Time to disclose the second goodie, which is another V2.

 

A really lovely piece of work to create that used but looked after look. I assume these two lovelies are Bachmann? It really illustrates how a truly skilled "painter and decorator" (no office intended and not to mention the skills of the photographer) can transform a ready to run loco.

I shall continue to try and emulate Tim's work to the best of my abilities. Meanwhile I am diverted onto completing (a relative tern I know) my layout "70D" before I return to loco building.

Thanks for the memories of the ECML Gilbert.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

[davidw]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

Time to disclose the second goodie, which is another V2. This time we have a Kings Cross engine, and one which seems to have been something of a Top Shed pet, as it was very frequently photographed in the late 50s and early 60s, and always in immaculate condition. In particular, it seems to have been a favourite choice fot the Scarborough Flyer, year in, year out. Last time out of the paint shop was March 58, so the KX cleaners could still get this level of cleanliness and shine in August.

 

 

34A had both the first and last of the class, and now so have I.

 

 

 

 

 

Tim's really done the works on these two. You must be delighted. It's certainly caused me to rethink my disappointment with the V2. Thanks for posting

Edited February 3, 2022 by davidw

[Timara]

Thanks all!  Below are some photos of these two in the winter sunlight,  which really shows off how gorgeous a shade of green Bachmann have given them. 

 

Firstly 60803....

 

 

 

Secondly, 60983....

 

 

 

Both of these have had their smokebox doors thinned down, which isn't a difficult job to do, in fairness, though my views on this are known and I don't need to repeat them...   I think I may have mentioned before, but no T-Cut was used on either of these, as it will remove the decoration in no time, unlike the vast majority of models from Bachmann. The printing process has clearly changed.....

 

60803 needed the earlier style of valve guide on the front of the cylinders.  As luck would have it, the cylinder mouldings of both this and the interim model are broadly the same, so the fronts were swapped over (there's one of these earlier chassis being fitted under an older body; more anon!).

 

Both locos were tested on class C freights yesterday, so here's 60983 a down working, taken using my tablet.

 

 

 

[davidw]

20 minutes ago, Tim said:

Thanks all!  Below are some photos of these two in the winter sunlight,  which really shows off how gorgeous a shade of green Bachmann have given them. 

 

Firstly 60803....

 

 

 

Secondly, 60983....

 

 

 

Both of these have had their smokebox doors thinned down, which isn't a difficult job to do, in fairness, though my views on this are known and I don't need to repeat them...   I think I may have mentioned before, but no T-Cut was used on either of these, as it will remove the decoration in no time, unlike the vast majority of models from Bachmann. The printing process has clearly changed.....

 

60803 needed the earlier style of valve guide on the front of the cylinders.  As luck would have it, the cylinder mouldings of both this and the interim model are broadly the same, so the fronts were swapped over (there's one of these earlier chassis being fitted under an older body; more anon!).

 

Both locos were tested on class C freights yesterday, so here's 60983 a down working, taken using my tablet.

 

 

 

Yummy

[Clive Mortimore]

39 minutes ago, Tim said:

Thanks all!  Below are some photos of these two in the winter sunlight,  which really shows off how gorgeous a shade of green Bachmann have given them. 

 

Firstly 60803....

 

 

 

Secondly, 60983....

 

 

 

Both of these have had their smokebox doors thinned down, which isn't a difficult job to do, in fairness, though my views on this are known and I don't need to repeat them...   I think I may have mentioned before, but no T-Cut was used on either of these, as it will remove the decoration in no time, unlike the vast majority of models from Bachmann. The printing process has clearly changed.....

 

60803 needed the earlier style of valve guide on the front of the cylinders.  As luck would have it, the cylinder mouldings of both this and the interim model are broadly the same, so the fronts were swapped over (there's one of these earlier chassis being fitted under an older body; more anon!).

 

Both locos were tested on class C freights yesterday, so here's 60983 a down working, taken using my tablet.

 

 

 

You could have given them a clean before giving them to Mr B.

[Timara]

15 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

You could have given them a clean before giving them to Mr B.

 

Best you don't see the ones in future plans then......! 

[great northern]

On the margins of the last image,but 60504 now gets centre stage, as it waits at the head of the 1130 Edinburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

[great northern]

The Ivatt is onto the last yards of its journey, while the DMU is stabled at Platform 5, waiting to move to 4, and go all the way to Cleethorpes.

 

 

[great northern]

Right, I have kept the best for last. Yet another V2, but I really do need a lot of these, especially when it comes to the Saturday timetable. I also have to remember that I still have two original split chassis locos which probably don't have much longer to live, and that one V2 has to spend its time standing doing nothing as main line pilot. Thus, this one will not be the last.

 

I decided that a York engine would be appropriate, there being two KX-Dringhouses Class Cs in the WTT, one of which they would have worked. York's reputation for loco cleanliness was no better than New England's, though whether that was caused by lack of staff as at 34E I don't know. it seems a shame, as Tim pointed out, to cover up this lovely rich green, but the sad truth is that there were far more dirty V2s than clean one like those which you have seen this last couple of days.

 

60961 was the loco I chose, but the only colour photos I could find in my period were posed shots out side Darlington paint shop, and it wouldn't have stayed like that for long. I try to keep pushing Tim a little further with each commission I give him, so I looked for a good photo of an engine in poor external condition as a challenge. I have recently acquired the Great Northern Books publication Gresleys V2s by Peter Tuffrey, and therein I found a very good image of 60889, which I felt would give Tim something to push his talents still further, so I sent that image to him and said "do it like that, please". I've noticed that a number of Doncaster engines had marks that look as though they were caused by priming all along the boiler, presumably caused by the water available there. It is subtle, but noticeable. So, a dirty engine it was to be, and Tim was not to be beaten by the challenge. These photos were taken in poor light conditions, and they don't do Tim's work full justice, but they are enough to show the quality of what he came up with.

 

 

 

 

Tim has his own shots taken in full sunlight, and when he posts those you will be able to fully see what he has achieved.

[Ray Flintoft]

5 hours ago, great northern said:

Right, I have kept the best for last. Yet another V2, but I really do need a lot of these, especially when it comes to the Saturday timetable. I also have to remember that I still have two original split chassis locos which probably don't have much longer to live, and that one V2 has to spend its time standing doing nothing as main line pilot. Thus, this one will not be the last.

 

I decided that a York engine would be appropriate, there being two KX-Dringhouses Class Cs in the WTT, one of which they would have worked. York's reputation for loco cleanliness was no better than New England's, though whether that was caused by lack of staff as at 34E I don't know. it seems a shame, as Tim pointed out, to cover up this lovely rich green, but the sad truth is that there were far more dirty V2s than clean one like those which you have seen this last couple of days.

 

60961 was the loco I chose, but the only colour photos I could find in my period were posed shots out side Darlington paint shop, and it wouldn't have stayed like that for long. I try to keep pushing Tim a little further with each commission I give him, so I looked for a good photo of an engine in poor external condition as a challenge. I have recently acquired the Great Northern Books publication Gresleys V2s by Peter Tuffrey, and therein I found a very good image of 60889, which I felt would give Tim something to push his talents still further, so I sent that image to him and said "do it like that, please". I've noticed that a number of Doncaster engines had marks that look as though they were caused by priming all along the boiler, presumably caused by the water available there. It is subtle, but noticeable. So, a dirty engine it was to be, and Tim was not to be beaten by the challenge. These photos were taken in poor light conditions, and they don't do Tim's work full justice, but they are enough to show the quality of what he came up with.

 

 

 

 

Tim has his own shots taken in full sunlight, and when he posts those you will be able to fully see what he has achieved.

The new V.2's look excellent & 60961 looks a typical York example . York did indeed suffer a continual shortage of cleaners , mainly due to better paid work with more regular hours being available at Rowntree's , Terry's & Cravens sweet factories . What cleaning took place concentrated on the A.1's followed by the A.2/3's . In the high summer , with all the passed cleaners out firing , no cleaning took place at all much of the time .

                                     Ray . 

[great northern]

6 minutes ago, Ray Flintoft said:

The new V.2's look excellent & 60961 looks a typical York example . York did indeed suffer a continual shortage of cleaners , mainly due to better paid work with more regular hours being available at Rowntree's , Terry's & Cravens sweet factories . What cleaning took place concentrated on the A.1's followed by the A.2/3's . In the high summer , with all the passed cleaners out firing , no cleaning took place at all much of the time .

                                     Ray . 

Many thanks, that sorts that little puzzle. The same as at New England then, factories just up the road, with better pay and much better working conditions.

[Timara]

As requested by Gilbert, some photos of 60961....  Taking one of these lovely shiny new models and weathering it in such a fashion does take a bit of a leap of faith, I can assure you!  However, you just have to bite the metaphorical bullet and do it..... 

 

The stage I enjoy the most is when the gouache is brought out.  I have to use my modelling glasses for this bit, as my eyesight isn't what it once was and my normal distance pair don't allow the close focusing I once had.  Old age isn't all it's had out yo be, trust me! (I'm 42, but almost blind as a bat with glasses!)  Anyway, this stuff is magic for steam era modelling, as it allows all manner of texture to be reproduced, to represent (almost) everything you'd have found on a cared-for but uncleaned steam locomotive.  Two images in natural light follow below....

 

 

 

As with 60983 earlier, testing on class C freights were undertaken and one such portrait was captured, this time on an up working.

 

 

As for more like this, stay tuned... I cannot confirm nor deny that there might be an even filthier one to come, so you'll just have to wait and see if that happens!