Les1952 Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Yes, from that I need to darken it and reduce the rust. It certainly looks as if someone has cleaned it in the last couple of weeks. I wonder if someone had a fit of cleaning at 51A before it closed? All the very best. Les Tale of 90344 to follow, probably tomorrow.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Marshall Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Yes, from that I need to darken it and reduce the rust. It certainly looks as if someone has cleaned it in the last couple of weeks. I wonder if someone had a fit of cleaning at 51A before it closed? All the very best. Les Tale of 90344 to follow, probably tomorrow.... Les, Well, since you mention it - this doesn't look clean - from the same source: Regards, Roy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 The sorry tale of 90344 90344 was a West Hartlepool WD for a lot of years. Most photos show her to be quite mucky. The long-term West Hartlepool allocation was the reason for me choosing it for my second WD- but this seems to be the dodgy/unlucky one..... I ran it in and renumbered it last year when new, then Digitrains fitted the sound decoder and speaker. All fine so far except I'd only varnished one side of the cab and two numbers came off in the process. Not all that much later a pin sheared on the valve gear on the left hand side. BR Lines fixed it but couldn't test it as they have no DCC facility. "Please don't send any more hard wired locos for repair and if the loco has a 6-pin chip please remove it before sending" Yesterday I took the loco down to the club to test the test track I'm building. It turned three revolutions going forwards and jammed solid. Investigation showed the piston out of the cylinder and the drive rod banana shaped. A phone call to Bachmann Service - "Yes we can fix it" then "You'll need to take out the chip" then "If it is a hard wired chip we won't touch it"- the latter following an explanation that the 6-pin interface had had to come out to make room for the larger sound chip and speaker. This is despite the fact that the valve gear is part of the loco and all of the electronics are in the tender! However they are sending me a complete replacement valve gear set. Looking closely at the loco on the workbench the knitting in front of the slide bars has tied itself in a knot following failure of exactly the same pin that had failed on the other side. I've temporarily cut the offending knitting off and bent the drive rod back to almost its original shape and re-inserted the piston rod into the cylinder. The loco now runs as well as it has ever done. As the damaged side is away from the punters at exhibitions I'll leave it until I can find someone who will fit the replacement valve gear...... In the mean time it has had a light weathering- more to do - and 90014 has been darkened about the cab roof. Tomorrow I'll try to get them both a little nearer the photographs, darker and rust just beginning on 90014 and a bit more rusty on 90344. Dentist toady as I expected meant the end of another molar- bits have been coming off this one. A diet of soup and digestive biscuits for the next couple of days, no doubt accompanied by industrial strength painkillers...... All the very best Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted January 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28, 2015 Les these West Hartlepool WDs were a sorry sight. The cab numbers weren't always visible .. on one memorable day I, as a young "spotter" was standing by the loco spur at Horden pit with my piece of note paper and pencil poised..."Excuse me Mister Driver sir, what is your locomotives' number please?" The driver leant out of the cab and, using his oily rag rubbed the numbers clearer on the cab side... at which point the driver turned to his mate and said "we've got the wrong engine .. this is the one going for scrap today"...! Happy Days! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 More weathering and testing Funny sort of day yesterday, it didn't know whether to rain or snow or whether to give us some sunshine. As it was we got all three in random periods. All in all a good day to be snuggled up in the shed with trains and weathering chalks and pastels. Here some results- 90014, just about the finished product, though I might still tone down the cab roof a little more. Just really now got to check firstly it has the right lamps for a short fitted oil train and secondly if not that I actually have some spares. Otherwise it will be a case of try to find some- not always easy as I seem to keep cleaning Rural Railways (amongst others) out of them. By the same token I don't think I'm going to get 90344 much worse than this, though the can number might be a little too readable still. Lamps for unfitted sulphate empies still to go- it did have top and centre lamps, though the top one has gone walkies at some time. The first two sulphate wagons given an initial go with weathering chalks. There already is one weathered one in the rake, so putting varying amounts of grot onto the others will make a more homogenious train- there are also three spare ones for one-day shows when the fiddle yard has fewer but longer trains loaded. Lastly all but one of the short tanker train now given some weathering, though I'd like a couple of really disgusting wagons- but not the Robbies tankers as these are a bit less common than seen on most layouts- how many others have Dorman Long, Pease & Partners and South Durham Steel & Iron Co wagons in the same train? Today spent running and soak testing. More work over the weekend (hopefully) Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 My wife has suggested I get a couple of youngsters with notebooks to place by the signal - Barry and a mate asking the number of the engine. That probably also means applying a bit more muck to 90344's cab..... All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Marshall Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) More weathering and testing Funny sort of day yesterday, it didn't know whether to rain or snow or whether to give us some sunshine. As it was we got all three in random periods. All in all a good day to be snuggled up in the shed with trains and weathering chalks and pastels. Here some results- 90014- finalish.jpg 90014, just about the finished product, though I might still tone down the cab roof a little more. Just really now got to check firstly it has the right lamps for a short fitted oil train and secondly if not that I actually have some spares. Otherwise it will be a case of try to find some- not always easy as I seem to keep cleaning Rural Railways (amongst others) out of them. 90344-finalish.jpg By the same token I don't think I'm going to get 90344 much worse than this, though the can number might be a little too readable still. Lamps for unfitted sulphate empies still to go- it did have top and centre lamps, though the top one has gone walkies at some time. sulphate- firstgo1.JPGsulphate-first2.jpg The first two sulphate wagons given an initial go with weathering chalks. There already is one weathered one in the rake, so putting varying amounts of grot onto the others will make a more homogenious train- there are also three spare ones for one-day shows when the fiddle yard has fewer but longer trains loaded. 4tankers.jpg Lastly all but one of the short tanker train now given some weathering, though I'd like a couple of really disgusting wagons- but not the Robbies tankers as these are a bit less common than seen on most layouts- how many others have Dorman Long, Pease & Partners and South Durham Steel & Iron Co wagons in the same train? Today spent running and soak testing. More work over the weekend (hopefully) Les Les, I always thought left hand lamp iron was common for unfitted goods and for fitted - middle and left irons (though there were variations over some local branches, I believe - Q6s with 21t hoppers on Hesleden bank with middle and smokebox top and a WD at Newburn with the same code, ditto a Q6 on Covhops at Ferryhill - lots more like this too. 90344 at Billingham is odd with top centre and bottom left and a Q6 at Middlesbrough has the same on loaded coal hoppers). Tender first codes are a puzzle too - I'm led to believe that the LHS and RHS of a loco are not affected by direction of travel, but does this apply to lamp codes? In some pictures it seems to. Also I suspect that the crews may have got it wrong on occasion. Would like to see the South Durham wagons, when you get a moment - or did I miss them above? Regards, Roy Edited January 31, 2015 by R Marshall Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Marshall Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Les, I've also had a look at my Dad's old copy of the BR North Eastern Region "Sectional Appendix to the Working Timetable........", which covers all the lines near us - published 1960 (so could have changed thereafter) - the only local headlamp codes it shows are for: - Pilots between Newcastle and Gateshead yards; - NCB Cramlington and Seaton Delaval; -Tyneside electrified Lines; - Freight between Thornaby and Skinninggrove. Unfortunately, I don't have the General Appendix, which might have more to say. Regards, Roy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Marshall Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Les, There's more on RMWeb too - see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/44494-early-british-railways-headlamp-codes-er-express-freights/ Don't know if this is the right way to cross reference another thread - if it doesn't work, just search on headlamp codes. Regards, Roy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 I've enough photos to be fairly confident with top and centre lamps on 90344 with the sulphates. 90014 currently has a single lamp on the left side. That would probably make it wrong for the oil tankers. I may swap the loco onto another train- sadly neither WD is strong enough for the coal trains, which `will have to run with a Union Mills J27 or J25 or the tender-first Dapol B1 for now. I want to keep the Tyne Dock O1 on the steel train and the sheeted five-planks look good behind a Type 2 with brake tender, so that doesn't leave a lot of suitable trains. The WD is a bit big for the pickup goods. I'll take a couple of pics of the North Eastern tankers when I've got them weathered. Only two are done of these so far. Today's progress has been in getting the new distant signal done. Hopefully it will be ready to install tomorrow. I'll photograph it once in place. One pack of Farish trainspotters is now ordered. Two for Hawthorn Dene and the other four for the station platform of Rise Park. Bed time.... Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 90014 and 90344 now have the correct lamps for their trains, as does 64840 on the Northbound fast goods. Signal now installed. The bad news is I'm running out of lamps again. I'm going to Doncaster show next weekend (as a punter) but I WAS hoping not to gave a shopping list with me. A sort of forlorn hope really. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 The other tankers Before weathering, the lighter Weardale, SDSI and DL tanks. Heavy oil tankers after weathering. I think the Newcastle & Gateshead Gas Co tanker probably didn't survive to 1960 but who cares? Must remove the bits of cotton wool bud that have attached themselves to the wagons- they show up in the pic but not on the layout. Three Lobitos tankers from Ellesmere Port, largely because I remember a schoolfriend having a fit of hystrerical laughter when he saw the name..... More pics to follow. Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Another silly-o-clock post. Insomnia caused by a jaw still recovering from last week's tooth extracton...... Unfortunately the anti- bacterial stuff I'm taking has a 2-hour bar immediately after it when I'm not supposed to take painkillers. The "bomb" having been taken at about 11pm I've got half an hour before the painkiller tablet then another half-hour before it kicks in. The rest of today's photos- like it or not I've time to post all of them. If I've got to suffer so must the readers of this lot. Newly weathered 64840 approaches the new signal with a Northbound fitted freight, possibly a York to Newcastle dropping and picking up at West Hartlepool and Sunderland. I had real fun finding a J39 that had a raved-out 4200 gallon tender and survived to late crest. Only four reached BR (the others lost their tenders to V2s in the thirties) and two definitely went to scrap with early crests (the two numbers Farish have done with late crests). The third one has no definite scrapyard report and its last works visit wasn't a major repair, meaning it could have finished with either. However 64840 did get a General and a late tender crest- and that was even late enough for the lion to be pointing left on both sides. Having renumbered it I've almost weathered the number into hiding. A close-up of the new signal. Standing and secure, but probably wanting a little weathering. The sight line for enginemen isn't that brilliant, but there were worse ones. One of the levers has dropped off- a much more difficult repair than the original fix, but that is about normal Just to show the back of the arms and prove I remembered they shouldn't be yellow. . Meanwhile 90344 now has a new top lamp- those Springside ones are too big. It will no doubt go the way of its predecessor and disappear at some stage. As 61018 was on the front of the Southbound fast goods I took the opportunity to weather it a little as well. A good Darlington and Teesside engine having had spells at Haverton Hill, Stockton and Thornaby as well as Darlington, Nevile Hill, Wakefield and York. With the shortest name of any BR engine 61018 was a no-brainer for a named B1. Oddly enough my other B1 namer is a Great Eastern favourite , 61005 Bongo (the real class leader- Thompson may have THOUGHT they were Antelopes or Springboks but enginemen knew them as Bleeding Old Bongoes) Probably another shed day tomorrow- time to vacuum the front of the layout again and to start soak testing ready for Sileby- only 18 days left. I'll probably have to raid one or two of my analogue locos for lamps, there are only a couple of headlamps left, though sod's law states there are three packs of tail lamps. Then there are about 20 enginemen left in the box to add to cabs. All the very best Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Train Spotters They've arrived and are now standing on the bank by the signal. Barry and friend looking out for numbers. Can you read that one or should we have given the driver a yell? The V2 is the only one running at the moment. Les Edited February 3, 2015 by Les1952 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Looking at that last pic of 90344 I might try to hang the top lamp on the smokebox door front. Maybe do that tomorrow after I've been back to the dentist to get the stitches out. Not a pleasant trip I'm thinking- 25 miles each way and the weather forecast is lousy.... I've changed the V2 off the parcels temporarily for a 9F (though what a Newton Heath 9F is doing going South round the coast will remain a mystery) but I'll probably swap that back and use a 9F on fitted goods (assuming I can get the York one to co-operate with the fiddle yard.... But all that is for tomorrow- as is trying to find a pair of lamps for an A4.... Les Edited February 3, 2015 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted February 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Train Spotters They've arrived and are now standing on the bank by the signal. spotters1.jpg Barry and friend looking out for numbers. number mister.jpg Can you read that one or should we have given the driver a yell? The V2 is the only one running at the moment. Les But Les....its a green loco.....I only looked at the black (well I think they were black) ones.... Nice little cameo. It was probably watching locos that started my fascination with weathering! Baz Edited February 4, 2015 by Barry O Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 It is the one that happened to be out the front getting lamped at the time- I had considered running a black one out but was more worried that I'd lose the plot and end up with something unlamped or unweathered as a result.... 60884 was borrowed when new by Fred Hempsall for photography - I can't remember whether it appeared in the Journal at that time or not. It was a black early crest loco at that time. Fred replaced the coal in the tender with a soft matting of real coal. It took me a long time from starting to paint it green to actually finishing the job, largely down to the difficulty of getting the lining to stick to the boiler. Even now there is a small gap at the top of two of the boiler bands, which can't be seen now under the weathering. There were still "green" engines going round the coast as late as 1964-5 as Gateshead still had some passenger diagrams, and there would be substitutions for EE Type 4s on heavier passenger and parcels- these weren't exactly known for their reliability. At Darlington you often only knew a loco on the shed dead line was supposed to be green from its number. I only really remember cleaner green engines- everything dirty seemed to be a shade of grey. All the very best Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Train Spotters They've arrived and are now standing on the bank by the signal. spotters1.jpg Barry and friend looking out for numbers. number mister.jpg Can you read that one or should we have given the driver a yell? The V2 is the only one running at the moment. Les When I was a lad lineside in the 1960s at Easington, I was always behind the railway fence Les. Have a word with Barry and his mate Seriously, I've always loved V2s and I have two Bachmann versions, one black, one green on the roster. Regards, Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 They'll be behind the fence when I get round to doing it - that is the only bit I haven't fenced off yet....... Sorry! Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) It looks as if those spotters have been seen.... ""I'm sure that wasn't there yesterday" The fence runs right up to the bridge - trespassers will have to climb up the other end where there is a fence gap at the baseboard join...... "I told you the parcels would have a namer on it" A low-stress visit to the Warner show at Doncaster yesterday gave me enough enthusiasm to put in the last length of boundary fence today. The second pic shows I need to do a little touching up of the wire here and there, but apart from a bit of grass and a few small bushes it is done. I used brass rod for the uprights for two reasons- firstly the plastic rod uprights at the board edge further along are too fragile, and secondly it was all I could find! Our intrepid spotters may have missed the spaceship running round- I'm not happy with it going clockwise as it doesn't like the entrance to the fiddle yard. I'll give it a go anticlockwise before putting it out as a "spare to be used when desperate". Tea time. Les Edited February 8, 2015 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 A couple more pics. Our two intrepid spotters get a good view of 60085 MANNA, which after a little shuffling has found its way onto the parcels- the V2 is now running Northwards on parcels. A view of the South end of the fiddle yard showing a procession of Northbound trains waiting to go. Still some lamps to add. I failed to find any at Doncaster so I've ordered some online from Peters Spares. Left to right 90014 on oil with 60124 on express behind, 61321 tender-first on coal empties, Tyne Dock O1 2-8-0 on steel plate, V2 60884 on parcels and 46477 with inspection saloon with J39 on goods behind it. I'm setting tomorrow aside to try to fit a decoder to a Hornby J94. All the very best Les 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 A couple more pics. manna on parcels.jpg Our two intrepid spotters get a good view of 60085 MANNA, which after a little shuffling has found its way onto the parcels- the V2 is now running Northwards on parcels. fiddleyard -south.jpg A view of the South end of the fiddle yard showing a procession of Northbound trains waiting to go. Still some lamps to add. I failed to find any at Doncaster so I've ordered some online from Peters Spares. Left to right 90014 on oil with 60124 on express behind, 61321 tender-first on coal empties, Tyne Dock O1 2-8-0 on steel plate, V2 60884 on parcels and 46477 with inspection saloon with J39 on goods behind it. I'm setting tomorrow aside to try to fit a decoder to a Hornby J94. All the very best Les I just love the "German Type" smoke deflectors on the A3s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) I'm one of the heretics that think A3s look better with double chimneys and blinkers- mostly because that is how I remember them. The last one with a naked smokebox had gone before my spotting days. Nice to know I'm not alone. Manna has a lighter weathering than normal as it was a Heaton rather than a Gateshead loco. All the best Les Edited February 8, 2015 by Les1952 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Preparing for Sileby and Nottingham - part 3-ish the last couple of days have been spent preparing and lamping locos- three packs of lamps from Peters Spares delivered quickly if not exactly cheap. Only one van still to lamp, and I've no shortage of tail lamps. However soak testing isn't all going smoothly. The secondhand A1, 60116, has decided it doesn't want to go. Change of chip and no better. Still no better on analogue, so it will probably have to go off to BR lines for a service. One of the A3s has managed to lose its piston rod from between the slide bars. Fiddly to repair but I'll have a go before sending it to DCC Supplies for fixing. It might be the "Not Quite Perfect" one, so if it is it won't go anywhere other than the spares box if I can't sort it. Some views- The Tyne Dock O1 showing its vacuum pumps in all their glory. It will be standing there a while as I've discovered which train was still mostly to weather and it is this one! The other end of the train showing which van got missed. Also the results of the first layer of blackening applied to the overbridge. I think it needs a bit more yet. Further along the layout Mr Fox is trying not to be heard by the two men chatting on the other side of the hedge. He knows by experience that 65860 will be making enough noise to mask his progress. Still a lot to do. The V2 has returned from Northbound service to Southbound after deciding it didn't like the curve behind the colliery. The J39 is now on that train, and the Southbound parcels has been shortened again so that 60884 can actually pull it- two vans moved to run the other way. As it shares road 9 of the fiddleyard with 90344 on the sulphates I've been able to add another wagon to 90344's train. Now- a question. What colour did grey sulphate wagons weather to. I'm working on white as that is the colour of magnesium sulphate. However putting "sulphate wagons" into Google image search brings up plenty of pictures of models (including mine) but no good prototype pics. This may be flattering but is far from helpful. Nice to know Google's netbots look at this blog, though....... All the very best Les 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Preparing for Sileby and Nottingham, Sunday's bit I've now run all trains round several times and I'm happy we have a fighting chance of not having derailments caused by stock- operator error is another matter! Every time I look at another box I find something else that missed out for weathering. I'm now putting trains into boxes in reverse order (ie the ones at the front of the fiddleyard go in at the bottom of the box.) Each train is being stored minus loco in the order it should be set on the track. If the theory works it will be a miracle..... Problem locos. 60116 has gone up in smoke on the analogue test track so it is off to BR Lines tomorrow for a new motor. I've had a Dapol 26 go up like that when the circuit board failed but that's the first Farish. The "Not Quite Perfect" A3 I bought for spares last year is now withdrawn for spares- this is the one that has slipped its piston rod out from the slide bar - it also has a BHE double chimney that just doesn't look right. Two 9Fs will go back into the showcase- they run but are giving interesting tmes on the fiddleyard pointwork. 92133 will stay on the Southbound through goods and 92231 will be a tender-first reserve for coal trains. The Tyne Dock O1 has developed a pickup problem and is unlikely to get to Sileby, though it might make it to Nottingham. It needs a strip down. As a result the class 27 has been promoted to the steel train (balancing the number of diesels, which were all running Southbound up to now), and the spare J25 has gone onto the short coal train, which is a more appropriate loco and increases the NER presence. A few more pics. A view the punter doesn't see. Operator's eye view of Lemberg waiting for the signal to clear. Gateshead's finest! (or one of them) 60018 Sparrow Hawk is getting close to the stage where you can't tell what colour it is under the soot. If I need to use Golden Fleece in the opposite direction they will make a nice contrast- Golden Fleece is in "Elizabethan" bulled-up condition, if only to show there was such a thing as a sparkly steam loco. 60018 is working the two-coach express which oddly enough this year is running through to Sunderland (saves a set of ECS lamps). Ten members of class 27 were allocated to Thornaby when new, though like others of Thornaby's type 2s they were reallocated elsewhere when class 37 flooded in. This one is seen on the short coal train before the O1 failed and it was reallocated. Plenty still to do- only 3 roads boxed yet out of 10. Jim is coming over on Wednesday to help get the layout ready for travel, and in particular to help me to devise a system of locking the legs in place. Hopefully that will avoid the problem we had at Grantham when a leg descended to the floor as we were carrying the layout back to the car. Once HD is packed I can finish off the work on Furtwangen Ost, which is out at Lincoln the following weekend. Busy times! Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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