Wright writes.....

[Jol Wilkinson]

8 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

Thanks Tony.

 

To clarify - dead frogs are used where we have no choice in Code 100, ie all crossings and slips; all other points are live frog.

 

Almost all RTR tender locos have tender pick-ups. The Gresley Pacific's benefit from careful checking before each exhibition that the tender pick-ups are functioning as designed whilst the Bachmann O4s just seem to go forever.

 

Perhaps the dodgiest are my 4-4-0s where I've fitted simple compensation to the front drivers (plus the weight of the tender bearing on the loco back end) to prevent rocking when a driver drops into a (dead) frog gap. It's fair to say that it isn't always 100% successful, although the locos do ride very smoothly.

 

Hand built points, such as the P4 ones on London Road invariably have live common crossings (frogs). As a result, and with the benefit of compensation or springing, locos like this LNWR Precursor Tank run through points without a problem. This one has pickups only on the driving wheels, fitting pickups to the bogie and pony truck wheels wouldn't be easy. The Mashima 1626 motor doesn't have a flywheel and runs on DC. I believe this supports Tony W's view that the basis of good running is down to getting the basic mechanism operating properly.

 

 

[lezz01]

2 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Halfords used to sell electro conductive paint for repairing broken ‘elements’ on heated car rear windows - remember using it with moderate success on a second hand Fiat Strada. That must be a few years ago now though!! 

I know Tony dislikes eBay but....here you go.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144329765518?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D251305%26meid%3De783ecb42f0242dd813f67500d00ed48%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D133311845184%26itm%3D144329765518%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V2V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecallWithVMEV3&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A144329765518e783ecb42f0242dd813f67500d00ed48|enc%3AAQAIAAABYPqB0EgCndAssfMWNy0AT0GytGzF9%2By0G%2BlcW69DgBK3Qlz4BjwJQqPkN4K8I7qz9GoVciN1QNWqyS8EeqYS8rZRsDvyvw34m3N%2FyJKokwCTIIc3RNym2SNW8ARudP72DyiwgIY0dfUnIr5%2BMZDTaouVWjE3p60JTmG0eahT88DY3elmt74I0stgT9IT2WXZDoDu5dXNab61qGlXCZFfKej%2BOjai0b5YH6NVF%2BXRg3HPGiuyN5SsRSqxc2%2FK777dxxLWsRljYEMzN2LLyELC0OjciRP0lbFZq3gqXDzddThOJxSK71mlz2qxDSX%2BP24BB5YXSBZpNRCvyUtZ1ATxtbDJCTTEXyQJW55f4Spw6VTR8f7MfPPfADNcuCD9gF5g50ns571%2FjB3gZshYbMJxbPJTpMBuEfRBAPoj553OMNAp8Ab0cgrmnLqhSnJ%2Bq7aIFwteRXgq7NvvEZBEL6jBya8%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2047675

Many more options up there as well.

This is for those who dislike eBay more than Tony.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MADPAINTS-Electrically-Conducting-Conductive-Electric/dp/B09NW594W5/ref=sr_1_6?crid=ALD4LNKE8GT&keywords=conductive+paint&qid=1689628948&sprefix=conductive+paint%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-6

Both major online market places covered you pay your money and take your choice.

Regards Lez.

[Woodcock29]

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

As they can be in this view. I assume other locos on Grantham (of which there are many) have extra pick-ups of some sort. 

 

A V2 I built didn't need extra pick-ups, but it's got a long coupled wheelbase, of course. 

An interesting photo Tony.

I assume the 2-6-2 in this photo is one of Graeme King's concoctions? It looks like an extended K2 with an Atlantic boiler - the GNs forerunner to a V2 perhaps? I think the O2/1 is his modification of a Heljan O2/3.

 

Although I use Peco code 75 I unfortunately have a few deadfrog slips in my main station area because I reused that station from my previous layout built in early 1990s before Peco made its slips with live frogs. It didn't make economic sense to buy newer live frog slips when I started this current layout in 2006. Other slips adjacent to the reused section are of course live frog. Most of my tender locos have tender pickup and all 4 -coupled tanks have bogie or pony pickups fitted.

Andrew

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

An interesting photo Tony.

I assume the 2-6-2 in this photo is one of Graeme King's concoctions? It looks like an extended K2 with an Atlantic boiler - the GNs forerunner to a V2 perhaps? I think the O2/1 is his modification of a Heljan O2/3.

 

Although I use Peco code 75 I unfortunately have a few deadfrog slips in my main station area because I reused that station from my previous layout built in early 1990s before Peco made its slips with live frogs. It didn't make economic sense to buy newer live frog slips when I started this current layout in 2006. Other slips adjacent to the reused section are of course live frog. Most of my tender locos have tender pickup and all 4 -coupled tanks have bogie or pony pickups fitted.

Andrew

Good morning Andrew,

 

I believe it is one of Graeme's creations.

 

It's run on Little Bytham as well..........

 

 

In company with a much-altered Hornby P2 during the 1938 weekend in 2018. 

 

I think you're right in believing that it's what the GNR might have built as its first tender 2-6-2; rather like the first GNR Pacific might have looked like an extended Ivatt Atlantic.

 

I'm astonished by Graeme's ingenuity in creating all sorts of different locos/carriages using plastics and resin. The P2 is a case in point, starting off as 2001 (is Hornby to produce a P2 in 2002's guise?). 

 

Here are a couple more shots of his 2002 conversion..........

 

 

 

We had the 'unusual' situation of having potentially two 2002s running on LB simultaneously.......

 

 

Built by me from an ACE kit (well, it started off as an ACE kit), painted by Ian Rathbone. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Woodcock29]

32 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

is Hornby to produce a P2 in 2002's guise? 

Yes they are and I'm informed by Kernow that it's not far away!

Andrew

[gr.king]

13 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Halfords used to sell electro conductive paint for repairing broken ‘elements’ on heated car rear windows - remember using it with moderate success on a second hand Fiat Strada. That must be a few years ago now though!! 

I remember using that stuff too, finding (not unexpectedly) that it was only mildly electroconductive and that the "repaired" element in the heater would still be cooler than the rest over most of its length but with a pronounced hot-spot around the repair...

[gr.king]

14 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

An interesting photo Tony.

I assume the 2-6-2 in this photo is one of Graeme King's concoctions? It looks like an extended K2 with an Atlantic boiler - the GNs forerunner to a V2 perhaps? I think the O2/1 is his modification of a Heljan O2/3.

 

Andrew

 

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Andrew,

 

I believe it is one of Graeme's creations.

 

 

I think you're right in believing that it's what the GNR might have built as its first tender 2-6-2; rather like the first GNR Pacific might have looked like an extended Ivatt Atlantic.

 

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

A GNR 2-6-2 fast goods loco using the large Atlantic boiler was schemed out under Ivatt's regime, as a four-cylinder compound, presumably around the time when he was also playing around with compound versions of his Atlantics, without any great success. In fact, the requirement for a fast goods loco at that time was instead met by a simple large-wheeled version of the 0-6-0 goods engine, no doubt much more cheaply and predictably.  My "fantasy" loco was based on the idea that the 2-6-2 compound had indeed been built, but showing no outstanding advantage for all its complication, had been rebuilt in the early years of Gresley's time as a much simpler 2-cylinder loco using the same cylinders and motion parts as his second series of Moguls (LNER K2).  A "convenient" imaginary history that allowed the model to use an altered Bachmann V3 mechanism and most of a one-piece resin K2 body with a wide firebox grafted on..

Edited July 18, 2023 by gr.king
added info

[Tony Wright]

More work completed today on the saturated LRM D2..............

 

 

These really are splendid kits. Yes, a little bit of metal-forming is required, but nothing which a reasonably competent modeller cannot achieve.

 

The DJH AM10/GB2 motor/gearbox fits perfectly. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

More pairings..........

 

 

Two B1s. Though route restricted, apparently a B1 (61159) ran on the M&GNR during the last months of the line's existence; nobody cared. This is a Modified Bachmann body on Comet frames.

 

61208 (one of Retford's 'Rockets') was built from an old Nu-Cast kit on Comet frames; both these locos are my work from some years ago. 

 

 

Two B12/3s this time. I built 61530 from a PDK kit and Ian Rathbone painted it. 

 

61553 is all my work; built from a Coopercraft kit, one of only three in the whole universe known to have been made which actually work!

 

Every time I take a picture featuring Dave Wager's magnificent girder bridge (with CAD work by Jamie Guest), I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such brilliant modelling on LB. 

 

Apologies for the diverging verticals in the image, caused by my use of a wide-angle lens. 

 

 

Two of Bytham's three K2s pass on respective Down and Up stopping trains. 

 

I built 61738 from a London Road kit, which Ian Rathbone painted, and 61760 from a Nu-Cast kit, which Geoff Haynes painted.

 

Do K2s score highly on the 'wish-list' RTR polls? 

 

I think they're pretty, even dainty 2-6-0s, if ever such descriptions can be applied to lumps of hot steel. 

 

Speaking of luck - there's the work of at least nine of LB's building team in the above image. 

 

 

A brace of Britannias. 

 

70010 featured of late, built by me and painted by Geoff Haynes.

 

70003 was started by the late Bob Alderman years ago. I bought it part-completed off him, finished it, and Ian Rathbone painted it.

 

Brits would be rather rare at Little Bytham, though since the Eastern's 7MTs were shopped at Doncaster it's quite possible. Indeed, I saw one at Retford on the main line, working a Down express freight in 1958. 

 

 

 

 

Two DJH A3s from different angles (the centre image more redolent of the 'helicopter' model railway shots of yore). 

 

I built 60046 and Geoff Haynes painted her.

 

60106 was built by Alan Hammet and weathered by Tony Geary; she's ex-Stoke and ex-Charwelton, and also ex-Peterborough North, but now she's 'home' so to speak. 

 

I'll next try some shots of locos travelling in the same direction - one can do that on a four-track main line!

 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Jesse Sim]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

More pairings..........

 

 

Two B1s. Though route restricted, apparently a B1 (61159) ran on the M&GNR during the last months of the line's existence; nobody cared. This is a Modified Bachmann body on Comet frames.

 

61208 (one of Retford's 'Rockets') was built from an old Nu-Cast kit on Comet frames; both these locos are my work from some years ago. 

 

 

Two B12/3s this time. I built 61530 from a PDK kit and Ian Rathbone painted it. 

 

61553 is all my work; built from a Coopercraft kit, one of only three in the whole universe known to have been made which actually work!

 

Every time I take a picture featuring Dave Wager's magnificent girder bridge (with CAD work by Jamie Guest), I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such brilliant modelling on LB. 

 

Apologies for the diverging verticals in the image, caused by my use of a wide-angle lens. 

 

 

Two of Bytham's three K2s pass on respective Down and Up stopping trains. 

 

I built 61738 from a London Road kit, which Ian Rathbone painted, and 61760 from a Nu-Cast kit, which Geoff Haynes painted.

 

Do K2s score highly on the 'wish-list' RTR polls? 

 

I think they're pretty, even dainty 2-6-0s, if ever such descriptions can be applied to lumps of hot steel. 

 

Speaking of luck - there's the work of at least nine of LB's building team in the above image. 

 

 

A brace of Britannias. 

 

70010 featured of late, built by me and painted by Geoff Haynes.

 

70003 was started by the late Bob Alderman years ago. I bought it part-completed off him, finished it, and Ian Rathbone painted it.

 

Brits would be rather rare at Little Bytham, though since the Eastern's 7MTs were shopped at Doncaster it's quite possible. Indeed, I saw one at Retford on the main line, working a Down express freight in 1958. 

 

 

 

 

Two DJH A3s from different angles (the centre image more redolent of the 'helicopter' model railway shots of yore). 

 

I built 60046 and Geoff Haynes painted her.

 

60106 was built by Alan Hammet and weathered by Tony Geary; she's ex-Stoke and ex-Charwelton, and also ex-Peterborough North, but now she's 'home' so to speak. 

 

I'll next try some shots of locos travelling in the same direction - one can do that on a four-track main line!

 

 

I really do need to order myself a K2. I’ve got enough K3’s. 
 

I have one of Graeme Kings resin K2 conversions here running on a modified Bachmann K3 chassis but it’s not very good…. one of my first conversions and it shows! 

[Tony Wright]

7 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

I really do need to order myself a K2. I’ve got enough K3’s. 
 

I have one of Graeme Kings resin K2 conversions here running on a modified Bachmann K3 chassis but it’s not very good…. one of my first conversions and it shows! 

Good morning Jesse,

 

Might I suggest the Nu-Cast kit for a K2, much-revived by Nu-Cast and partners if you're going to build one? The LRM kit makes up very well, though there is a discrepancy in the dimensions of the driving wheel bearings and the coupling rods. I'm told that this doesn't matter if the compensation system (as prescribed) is employed, but for a rigid chassis (which I always employ), I made new coupling rods; not beyond a man of your abilities, but be forewarned. No such necessity is needed for the Nu-Cast K2, especially now it's got a proper etched brass set of frames. Though the last of the original Nu-Cast loco kits got etched frames, for years they were supplied with a cast metal lump for a chassis. If you're looking at acquiring an original Nu-Cast K2 (via eBay?) to build, make sure it's got an etched set of frames. The one I bought of late has, fortunately. 

 

I'm astonished at the number of K2s I've had running on Little Bytham. Here's a selection............

 

 

A Scottish example, built from a Nu-Cast kit. Who brought this, I can't recall.

 

 

Another Nu-Cast Scottish K2; again, whose this is, I've forgotten. 

 

More forgotten Nu-Cast K2s.............

 

 

This one appears to be on Bachmann frames.

 

 

As does this one, though is the body Nu-Cast?

 

 

Definitely all original Nu-Cast, but built by whom? 

 

 

This Nu-Cast K2 came to me as a bit of a wreck. I patched it up, then sold it to a friend on behalf of CRUK. 

 

 

I built this when the Nu-Cast kit first came out, scratch-building a brass chassis for it. Though lacking detail, it's all my work.

 

 

The latest Nu-Cast & Partners K2 is a different animal indeed. This was a test-build for the partners, and Geoff Haynes painted it. A pro-paint job as good as this enhances a model in great measure.

 

 

This is the older Nu-Cast K2 (on proper frames) I sold to Gilbert Barnatt last week. My build and Geoff Haynes' painting. 

 

 

A scratch-built K2 by Ray Lightfoot.

 

 

And an original Nu-Cast K2 in GNR guise. Again, I've forgotten who brought this.

 

 

Graeme King's resin K2 performed well during the 1938 LNER weekend. 

 

All things being equal............

 

 

The London Road K2 is probably the best, especially when painted by the likes of Ian Rathbone (note the new rods).

 

 

It's a regular on Little Bytham. 

 

You pays your money and you takes your choice..................

 

Will there ever be an RTR K2, I wonder? Not that it matters to me.................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

[Willie Whizz]

A r-t-r K2?  I do hope so, one day. Far more use to those who will operate their locomotives than some of these one-offs that will either just sit in their boxes or can only ever be justified in appearing on a particular layout by “Rule 1”. 

[JamieR4489]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

This one appears to be on Bachmann frames.

 

 

As does this one, though is the body Nu-Cast?

Good morning Tony,

 

4673 is a Graeme King resin body and tender on a modified Bachmann K3 chassis. One day I'll get round to lopping the front NEM pocket off!

 

Regards,

 

Jamie

[Jol Wilkinson]

2 hours ago, Willie Whizz said:

A r-t-r K2?  I do hope so, one day. Far more use to those who will operate their locomotives than some of these one-offs that will either just sit in their boxes or can only ever be justified in appearing on a particular layout by “Rule 1”. 

There isn't a preserved K2, so given the RTR manufacturers/commissioners past record, I would think you will probably have a long wait.

[31A]

33 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

There isn't a preserved K2, so given the RTR manufacturers/commissioners past record, I would think you will probably have a long wait.

There aren't any preserved A5s either, yet a very nice RTR model of one came out earlier this year!

 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

There isn't a preserved K2, so given the RTR manufacturers/commissioners past record, I would think you will probably have a long wait...

I don't believe it is lack of preservation that's the cause, but rather that RTR brand management sees the final GNR (Doncaster) express design and all the LNER wide firebox follow on developments, and goes for the 'easy money'. I'd expect the 'also not preserved' P1 and V4 before any chance of a class 4 or smaller GNR design mixed traffic or goods tender loco design, cynic that I am...

[Northmoor]

5 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

There isn't a preserved K2, so given the RTR manufacturers/commissioners past record, I would think you will probably have a long wait.

Based on recent records I would suggest the opposite is the case.  Certainly when it comes to large LNER types - the worst represented of the Big Four in preservation - and prototype diesels or small classes withdrawn early, there have been a lot of extinct types made available RTR in recent years.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Gentlemen, (I use the word lightly), I stand corrected.

 

A look at this site is interesting, particularly the multiples of some locomotives, which gives the other companies of the Big Four rather more.

 

Preserved Steam Locomotive Listing (onlineweb.com)

 

Generally I don't follow what the RTR manufacturers do, but the few locos for my area of interest - the LNWR - are preserved prototypes, all two of them! No matter, there are kits covering the majority that were built.

[Tony Wright]

In my helping, at times, the RTR manufacturers, I'm often told that several criteria are 'best met' when considering introducing a steam-outline loco. These usually consist of....

 

1. Longevity. Pre-Grouping, Grouping, BR and preservation.

 

2. The last-mentioned in 1 is important, because it can be scanned.

 

3. Geographical spread. The wider the sphere of operation, the better.

 

4. Numbers in a class - the more the better, though one-offs seem popular - 71000, for instance; and the forthcoming 'Big Bertha'? 

 

5. Popularity. Is a particular class well-liked among enthusiasts? (This can be 'blown out of the water', of course. In 2010, in a book I wrote for Irwell on LNER Pacific modelling options, I opined that an RTR Thompson Pacific would never happen. Shows how much - or little - I know!). 

 

6. Not too many variations over the years (I think this is the reason it's taken so long for anyone to tackle an RTR 'Buckjumper').

 

There are several other factors mentioned, but I think these are the main ones. It's certainly not a prescriptive list, and those (noble folk) who compile the various RTR wish-list polls will know far more than me with regard to popularity. 

 

Though I help the manufacturers from time to time (Accurascale has a J69 I built to examine), I'm rather with Jol Wilkinson with regard to what's forthcoming RTR. Other than a 'professional' interest (as a semi-retired photo-journalist), I really don't give a fig. If I 'need' or 'want' a particular locomotive class, I'll scratch-build it or, most-often, kit-build it, whether or not an RTR alternative is available. I realise that my last statement is hardly in tune with the current trend of 'inclusivity', and it's hardly egalitarian, but that's my choice. We can all enjoy this great hobby in any way we like. That said, I was disappointed to learn that one friend rarely reads Wright writes because he believes it 'rather looks down on those who won't/can't build kits, particularly locos'. I find that sad. I also don't think it's true. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Tony Wright
tautology

[MarkC]

We NER modellers have been a bit of a backwater for RTR for many years - fortunately there have been a goodly assortment of kits to help; some good, some VERY good and some which are/were not so good at all...

 

It's been nice to see the Class O (G5), Class T2 (Q6)  and Class P3 (J27) appear as RTR, and they seem to be doing very well. Then there's the new A5, so there's been definite progress. J21, J24, J25 and A6, anyone?

 

However, no matter how many times they appear on the wish list, I still think that it'll be a long time before we see things like Class D (H1), Class S3 (B16) or A8, or the Raven Atlantics, in RTR, simply because of the limited clearances for the bogie wheels behind the cylinders. This, the ability (or lack of it) to negotiate even 3rd radius curves is another criteria to add to Tony's list, I suggest.

 

Mark

[Tony Wright]

12 minutes ago, MarkC said:

We NER modellers have been a bit of a backwater for RTR for many years - fortunately there have been a goodly assortment of kits to help; some good, some VERY good and some which are/were not so good at all...

 

It's been nice to see the Class O (G5), Class T2 (Q6)  and Class P3 (J27) appear as RTR, and they seem to be doing very well. Then there's the new A5, so there's been definite progress. J21, J24, J25 and A6, anyone?

 

However, no matter how many times they appear on the wish list, I still think that it'll be a long time before we see things like Class D (H1), Class S3 (B16) or A8, or the Raven Atlantics, in RTR, simply because of the limited clearances for the bogie wheels behind the cylinders. This, the ability (or lack of it) to negotiate even 3rd radius curves is another criteria to add to Tony's list, I suggest.

 

Mark

Good evening Mark,

 

'This, the ability (or lack of it) to negotiate even 3rd radius curves is another criteria to add to Tony's list, I suggest.'

 

You make a good point. I wonder how many other (non-NER) types of outside-cylindered classes cause so many problems in model form because of restricted clearances on curves? Of those NER types which qualify, I've had to shave loads of the inside edges of the cylinders, especially the B16/1s and Atlantics. Oddly, the B16/2s and B16/3s I've built need less metal removal. 

 

Did the real things have clearance problems? I found it less so with the couple of Raven Pacifics I've built; because the cylinders are higher? 

 

Say what one likes about the Thompson Pacifics, in model form I rarely have to shave anything off the inside faces of the cylinders - they're so far out of the way!

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

 

 

[uax6]

On 18/07/2023 at 09:19, gr.king said:

I remember using that stuff too, finding (not unexpectedly) that it was only mildly electroconductive and that the "repaired" element in the heater would still be cooler than the rest over most of its length but with a pronounced hot-spot around the repair...

 

If you have a tin of Humbrol metallic silver paint, you will find that this is conductive as well. I discovered this as I was fed up with the side/indicators on my Moggy Minor rusting through*. New backs fitted and painted with the above has stopped the rust, and the lamps always work now... (except of course when they die).

 

Andy G

*daily driver, I have two options to get to the box, a 67 4 dr saloon, or a 67 GPO engineers van....

[Bucoops]

6 minutes ago, uax6 said:

 

If you have a tin of Humbrol metallic silver paint, you will find that this is conductive as well. I discovered this as I was fed up with the side/indicators on my Moggy Minor rusting through*. New backs fitted and painted with the above has stopped the rust, and the lamps always work now... (except of course when they die).

 

Andy G

*daily driver, I have two options to get to the box, a 67 4 dr saloon, or a 67 GPO engineers van....

 

My Dad had a 1971 Traveller as his Daily Drive for 49 years. A wise choice in motor :)

[gr.king]

7 minutes ago, uax6 said:

 

If you have a tin of Humbrol metallic silver paint, you will find that this is conductive as well. I discovered this as I was fed up with the side/indicators on my Moggy Minor rusting through*. New backs fitted and painted with the above has stopped the rust, and the lamps always work now... (except of course when they die).

 

Andy G

*daily driver, I have two options to get to the box, a 67 4 dr saloon, or a 67 GPO engineers van....

Is that the metallic paint in the standard range of enamels, as opposed to the "apply and buff up" metalcote?

[uax6]

2 minutes ago, gr.king said:

Is that the metallic paint in the standard range of enamels, as opposed to the "apply and buff up" metalcote?

 

Yes from memory.

 

Andy G