Wright writes.....

[rowanj]

Here is the ancient Wills A3 returning to Heaton with a stopper from Edinburgh to Newcastle.Sorry, Tony, I used to have lots of lamps, but now cant find them. Other than glazing, the loco is as complete as I will make it, other than to put a smear of Aroldite on the leading LH cylinder block where I'm getting an intermittent short.

 

The idea is that the loco is work-stained, rather than in Gateshead livery...

[Headstock]

Here is the ancient Wills A3 returning to Heaton with a stopper from Edinburgh to Newcastle.Sorry, Tony, I used to have lots of lamps, but now cant find them. Other than glazing, the loco is as complete as I will make it, other than to put a smear of Aroldite on the leading LH cylinder block where I'm getting an intermittent short.

 

The idea is that the loco is work-stained, rather than in Gateshead livery...

 

Afternoon rowanji,

 

your valve gear looks a lot better. One little trick that I employ with the Comet valve gear is to shorten the tail on the expansion link, it's a little long. It helps puts the eccentric rod in the right relation to everything else and gets a nice swing to the expansion link, even in mid gear. 

[thegreenhowards]

I thought I'd share a couple of purchases from the Bluebell Railway Toy and Rail Collectors' Fair yesterday. The first I'm very pleased with. It is a Nucast V2 bought as a poor runner for £40. It looks quite old so I assumed it would have an X04 motor which would need replacing, but to my delight it turned out to have a Portescap motor. An afternoon's work today freeing up the valve gear, and it goes very well, happily romping round my layout with 20 coaches. The paint  job is very good apart from a couple of bits of lining which have fallen off (see tender). It's sadly lacking in detail with no brake gear, lamp irons, glazing, screw shackles etc. But that's fairly easy to fix. Can anyone recommend good brake gear to retrofit? 

 

 

The second is a V4. This was more expensive (no RTR equivalent!), but at £85 I'm still pleased with it.  I've no idea of the origin of this loco, but I'm only aware of the ABS kit so it's probably that - can anyone recognise it?. Again the loco has been nicely constructed but lacking in detail and with rather clunky valve gear. It is currently tender drive, but that should be easy to fix, because it's all Romford wheels which will screw out for a Mashima or similar. The problem is the tender which seems to be a standard Hornby tender drive unit. It is the 4200 ton LNER standard which is wrong for a V4. Does anyone know the best source of a 3500 ton LNER standard tender? I've found DMR and SE Finecast so far, but are there others out there, and which is best?

 

 

Tony, sorry that these are only purchases, but at least I fixed the V2, and will be doing some work on the V4!

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Headstock]

I thought I'd share a couple of purchases from the Bluebell Railway Toy and Rail Collectors' Fair yesterday. The first I'm very pleased with. It is a Nucast V2 bought as a poor runner for £40. It looks quite old so I assumed it would have an X04 motor which would need replacing, but to my delight it turned out to have a Portescap motor. An afternoon's work today freeing up the valve gear, and it goes very well, happily romping round my layout with 20 coaches. The paint  job is very good apart from a couple of bits of lining which have fallen off (see tender). It's sadly lacking in detail with no brake gear, lamp irons, glazing, screw shackles etc. But that's fairly easy to fix. Can anyone recommend good brake gear to retrofit? 

 

DSC_1611.JPG

 

The second is a V4. This was more expensive (no RTR equivalent!), but at £85 I'm still pleased with it.  I've no idea of the origin of this loco, but I'm only aware of the ABS kit so it's probably that - can anyone recognise it?. Again the loco has been nicely constructed but lacking in detail and with rather clunky valve gear. It is currently tender drive, but that should be easy to fix, because it's all Romford wheels which will screw out for a Mashima or similar. The problem is the tender which seems to be a standard Hornby tender drive unit. It is the 4200 ton LNER standard which is wrong for a V4. Does anyone know the best source of a 3500 ton LNER standard tender? I've found DMR and SE Finecast so far, but are there others out there, and which is best?

 

DSC_1612.JPG

 

Tony, sorry that these are only purchases, but at least I fixed the V2, and will be doing some work on the V4!

 

Regards

 

Andy

 

Andy,

 

Mainly Trains do various etches for brake hangers and shoes. I think they may be now part of Wizard models extensive catalogue.

 

I think that The DMR tender would be more appropriate due to the position of the cutouts at the front end.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Headstock

[micklner]

Looks like old Hornby ( or similar) valve gear , perhaps a modified r.t.r chassis?

 

Dave Bradwell does a 3500g Tender, which I am sure would be excellent.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/DaveBradwell/locos-tenders/

Edited July 29, 2018 by micklner

[Tony Wright]

I thought I'd share a couple of purchases from the Bluebell Railway Toy and Rail Collectors' Fair yesterday. The first I'm very pleased with. It is a Nucast V2 bought as a poor runner for £40. It looks quite old so I assumed it would have an X04 motor which would need replacing, but to my delight it turned out to have a Portescap motor. An afternoon's work today freeing up the valve gear, and it goes very well, happily romping round my layout with 20 coaches. The paint  job is very good apart from a couple of bits of lining which have fallen off (see tender). It's sadly lacking in detail with no brake gear, lamp irons, glazing, screw shackles etc. But that's fairly easy to fix. Can anyone recommend good brake gear to retrofit? 

 

DSC_1611.JPG

 

The second is a V4. This was more expensive (no RTR equivalent!), but at £85 I'm still pleased with it.  I've no idea of the origin of this loco, but I'm only aware of the ABS kit so it's probably that - can anyone recognise it?. Again the loco has been nicely constructed but lacking in detail and with rather clunky valve gear. It is currently tender drive, but that should be easy to fix, because it's all Romford wheels which will screw out for a Mashima or similar. The problem is the tender which seems to be a standard Hornby tender drive unit. It is the 4200 ton LNER standard which is wrong for a V4. Does anyone know the best source of a 3500 ton LNER standard tender? I've found DMR and SE Finecast so far, but are there others out there, and which is best?

 

DSC_1612.JPG

 

Tony, sorry that these are only purchases, but at least I fixed the V2, and will be doing some work on the V4!

 

Regards

 

Andy

Good evening Andy,

 

Brake gear from Comet/Wizard, the ex-Dave Cleal/Mainly Trains product. There's a set on the fret to suit a V2. 

 

V4 valve gear is Hornby, and awful! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

The weekend's  preparation for LB's LNER weekend has gone very well indeed. Many thanks to Graeme, Jonathan, Roy and Graham for all their help. 

 

 

The odd vehicle needed a tweak or two. 

 

 

The Saturday trio.

 

 

Ian Wilson arrived on Saturday afternoon, and looked surprised at the progress!

 

 

The first LNER train was run - a Down stopper. It ran perfectly.

 

 

The fiddle yard control panel seemed to be puzzling.

 

 

Time for a well-earned break!

 

 

Great care was taken in assembling the trains.

 

 

Anyone for assembling three-links?

 

 

A most-exciting train; the northbound pre-War Scotch Goods. 

 

 

Graham Nicholas arrived today, and he started on replacing the two signals with somersault equivalents.

 

 

 

A beautiful job. 

 

 

And fixing in the Down fast starter.

 

Some 35 replacement trains are now ready to go. They all work beautifully. Thanks chaps!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clearwater]

Looks fabulous Tony and others. The mix of colours is immediately noticeable. One quick question: I presume the 'back dating' is all prewar? I'm assuming that we won't see the A2/2s and other Thompson (and Peppercorn) pacifics in post war liveries but pre Brunswick green?

 

David

[Tony Wright]

Looks fabulous Tony and others. The mix of colours is immediately noticeable. One quick question: I presume the 'back dating' is all prewar? I'm assuming that we won't see the A2/2s and other Thompson (and Peppercorn) pacifics in post war liveries but pre Brunswick green?

 

David

It's around 1938 - so nothing Thompson at all, except, maybe, a B12/3. 

[robertcwp]

Did I see a resin streamlined B17 there?

[gr.king]

You may very well have done. Roy Mears has one on the go at present.

 

I must remember to suck my gut in for future photographs......

[thegreenhowards]

Looks like old Hornby ( or similar) valve gear , perhaps a modified r.t.r chassis?

 

Dave Bradwell does a 3500g Tender, which I am sure would be excellent.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/DaveBradwell/locos-tenders/

Thanks Mick. The chassis is definitely kit built with the standard two sides of brass and Romford wheels. However, the rear truck looks like Hornby and has horrible wheels which will need replacing. I’m sure you’re right about the valve gear (as ‘sir’ has confirmed) - that will be more of a challenge to replace.

[jrg1]

Leave the somersaults in place!  They look great!

[Clive Mortimore]

Thanks Mick. The chassis is definitely kit built with the standard two sides of brass and Romford wheels. However, the rear truck looks like Hornby and has horrible wheels which will need replacing. I’m sure you’re right about the valve gear (as ‘sir’ has confirmed) - that will be more of a challenge to replace.23F25848-9496-4A24-B472-1C09CA10ACA6.jpeg

Tonight I have been watching a You Tube video about commando training in WW2, it starts with a train arriving at Spean Bridge station being hauled by a V4. I couldn't see the number but it didn't look like it had a name plate so could well be 3402.

[robertcwp]

You may very well have done. Roy Mears has one on the go at present.I must remember to suck my gut in for future photographs......

I recognised Roy in the photos.

 

Hope you have all the formations checked against photos and the carriage workings.

[Tony Wright]

Thanks Mick. The chassis is definitely kit built with the standard two sides of brass and Romford wheels. However, the rear truck looks like Hornby and has horrible wheels which will need replacing. I’m sure you’re right about the valve gear (as ‘sir’ has confirmed) - that will be more of a challenge to replace.23F25848-9496-4A24-B472-1C09CA10ACA6.jpeg

Good morning Andy,

 

A challenge? Fix a time up in the future and I'll help you make a set of motion. I've got lots of spares/frets which will be suitable. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

I recognised Roy in the photos.

 

Hope you have all the formations checked against photos and the carriage workings.

I hope so, too,

 

I just let them get on with it, Robert. 

 

There are some delicious sets made-up, including the '38 Scotsman, a train with the Leeds Quint in it (my favourite), plus the streamliners and rakes from antiquity. 

 

I'll be taking pictures over the next couple of weeks and posting them on here. Perhaps your good self, and others, would care to comment. 

 

One thing I have insisted upon is lamps! Thanks Graeme and Jonathan for fixing those in place. I was shown some beautiful rear lamps produced by ModelU, of all three appropriate types - passenger formations, goods formations and brake van 'outside' lamps. These will be fixed to all sets by the full running weekend. 

[2750Papyrus]

I hope so, too,

 

I just let them get on with it, Robert. 

 

There are some delicious sets made-up, including the '38 Scotsman, a train with the Leeds Quint in it (my favourite), plus the streamliners and rakes from antiquity. 

 

I'll be taking pictures over the next couple of weeks and posting them on here. Perhaps your good self, and others, would care to comment. 

 

One thing I have insisted upon is lamps! Thanks Graeme and Jonathan for fixing those in place. I was shown some beautiful rear lamps produced by ModelU, of all three appropriate types - passenger formations, goods formations and brake van 'outside' lamps. These will be fixed to all sets by the full running weekend. 

 

We all look forward to the photos.

[Jon4470]

Tony

 

I’m really looking forward to seeing these photos - my appetite is well and truly whetted!

 

Jon

[Barry O]

Has Jonathan found the knob for controlling the fiddle yard Tony?

Baz

[thegreenhowards]

Good morning Andy,

 

A challenge? Fix a time up in the future and I'll help you make a set of motion. I've got lots of spares/frets which will be suitable. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

 

Thanks Tony, that’s an offer I can’t refuse. I also have to pick up that A6 you put aside for me, so we can kill two birds with one stone. I’ll email you some dates.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Bucoops]

Tony

 

I’m really looking forward to seeing these photos - my appetite is well and truly whetted!

 

Jon

 

I'm full on dribbling

[StephenB]

We all look forward to the photos.

Indeed we do.

 

Stephen

[Tony Wright]

Has Jonathan found the knob for controlling the fiddle yard Tony?

Baz

You mean me?

 

If so, yes. 

 

I think for the running weekend, I'll operate the fiddle yard. One poor soul got completely bamboozled yesterday! 

[Tony Wright]

Just to whet appetites even further, a few pictures from this morning. 

 

My intention is to do as many stills as I can in the next twelve days or so, building up a library beforehand. All the LNER trains are now on and tested, so it gives me the ease and opportunity of photographing these beautiful models in plenty of time and in unrestricted (by bodies) space. 

 

 

 

Both ends of the fiddle yard now show a range of locos/trains previously unseen. 

 

 

There are some very nice pre-Nationalisation wagons/vans now occupying the goods yard (shame about the tension-lock, though!). 

 

 

This morning, Graham Nicholas assembled this 15-car West Riding express into its correct formation, and here it is bowling northwards behind is own namesake (note to self - insist that those who put locos on make sure that lamps are on straight and that front couplings 'dangle down' as they should!!!!!!). 

 

 

 

Two more shots as the express travels through LB. Tight perspective shots like this do display the problems in making sure all of the cars in a rake ride at a uniform height respectively. 

 

 

 

 

When Graham gets home, he'll describe this train in detail. He also took some pictures, and some moving footage. 

 

I have to say, I was very impressed with this Hornby A1's ability to take this kit-built set. Granted, I think some of the cars are made of plastic, but even so. 

 

Out of interest, I'll try one of my Hornby Pacifics on this set. It'll prove one of three things. Either my RTR A3 will pull it (which suggests the rake is very free-running and relatively light), or that I've got a dud if it won't, or that LB's kit-built rakes (being all-metal) are much heavier.