Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

My modelling flits between several eras, including BR steam but also Big Four and increasingly a little pre-grouping. I've always been drawn to the BR era, though, not because I remember it - although it is closer to my lifetime, obviously - but because of the association with the optimism and idealism of the post-war period, the shrugging off of austerity, Festival of Britain, colour cinema and so on. I remember being enthralled by the BR maroon train in the 1959 version of The 39 Steps, and trying to get my eye as close to the track as possible as I attempted to recreate it with a mixed rake of LMS and BR maroon coaches. The Big Four era interests me for the elegance and variety of the trains, the liveries and advertising, private owner wagons and so on, but I find it hard to disassociate the period from the looming threat of war, and the thought of the disruption that was soon to visit itself on the country. Perhaps it's a case of rose-tinted glasses - after all, the fifties and sixties were overshadowed by cold war anxieties - but it seems a brighter, more optimistic period, when things were generally on the up. I'm sure I'm over-thinking this, but does anyone else find that their appreciation of historical modelling periods is clouded by such concerns? Or do they just get on and enjoy the modelling for it's own sake?

 

The LNER stuff looks terrific, in any case, and fully at home on Little Bytham. Thanks Tony and the gang for allowing us a preview of the delights to come.

 

Al

Thanks Al,

 

I must admit, what was going on in the World during the period I model didn't influence my decision-making for it. As is well known, it's what I saw, and I model what I remember. 

 

I suppose it did have a slight influence during my trainspotting days, at least with regard to epithets. Though we in Chester never called 9Fs 'Spaceships', I have heard them referred to as that. Their mass building was coincidental with the first explorations of space, so is that why they got the name? Certainly, when 6A got its diminutive MR 0-6-0, 58171, in 1957, it was immediately christened 'Sputnik' by the urchin gang 'spotting off Hoole Lane Bridge. 

 

Though nothing to do with railways, I recall (rather selfishly?) being rather concerned at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, because, at only 16, I'd not yet had carnal knowledge, and, with the planet's imminent destruction (or so we thought), I'd most-likely die a virgin!

 

With regard to the current (and temporary!) backdating of LB to the '30s, it's given me the opportunity to photograph some wonderful trains on my trainset. Wonderful trains in their right setting as well, because many of them don't run (at least in full-length) on Grantham. I think what impresses me most is how much has been made. I personally think there are far too many LNER RTR Pacifics present, especially those where nothing has been altered on them - particularly weathering, but the rolling stock is a wonderful record of personal craftsmanship and endeavour. In a way, that's the main difference between the two representations. Many of my principal expresses have plenty of modified Bachmann Mk.1s in them, and my 50-wagon mineral empties is almost all modified RTR. In the 1930s expresses, there's (thankfully) not a Hornby gangwayed Gresley in sight, and the freight stock is just incredible - kit-built, scratch-built; everything! Yet, Hornby Pacifics seem to reign on those expresses in the main, where almost all my RA9 motive power I've built. There are some lovely kit built/modified 1930s' locos, though. 

 

Anyway, on with taking some more pictures.................... 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Tony Wright

[Enterprisingwestern]

It would seem that, as the signals have been sold, this is a one off, never to be repeated event?

Plenty of pictures required then!

 

Mike.

[mdh1950]

Tony,

 

You are to be congratulated on your willingness to sponsor the '38 project and also all those who are contributing. Your photographs are fantastic and inspiring, I look forward to seeing more and more.

 

Cheers, Michael

[jwealleans]

...there are far too many LNER RTR Pacifics present, especially those where nothing has been altered on them - particularly weathering

I agree, but some context may be helpful. Those Pacifics belong to a collector who insists on everything being (i) pristine and (ii) in the condition it was on July 3rd 1938. So all the A3s and A4s have the right tender, dome (where applicable) and any other distinguishing features from that date. I hadn't realised until I serviced a number between shows that a great many are very high quality repaints of BR liveried models - from the time when Hornby had not released a 1930s condition A3. The back of the tender wheels is usually the giveaway.

 

The RTR pacific is an easy route to a finished loco and has allowed Graeme King the time to produce his J6s, K2s and the other small black locos which are just as important in the overall scheme of Grantham motive power - and myself the time to build all those carriages!

 

They are also surprisingly inconsistent - when I finished 4480 and 2752 we tried them both on the full 'Scotsman' set at a show and 2752 was noticeably more powerful than 4480.

 

My loco boxes were somewhere near the controllers when I last saw them, but there are plenty of weathered A1s/A3s in there as well as C1s, a Raven A2, C7, two B16s and more.

Edited August 1, 2018 by jwealleans

[gr.king]

I'm personally guilty of not yet having weathered, amongst others: Mallard (but I did have to put it together from a slack handful of broken parts with missing screws or wrong screws rammed into wrong holes by the previous owner); Peregrine (greatly upgraded from a 20-odd year old Bachmann version with new bogie wheels, new parabolic lining, fixed Cartazzi frames and totally rebuilt tender), Woodcock, also built from a selection of parts of Hornby Pacifics but not in this case damaged ones (and Hornby, bless them, then promptly announced a long overdue grass-green RTR one!); Earl Marischal and Lord President (the conversions from 2001 consumed enough time) and locos such as Royal Lancer (renamed, renumbered and change of tender). The enemy, as always, is time. The intention of weathering all stock is there, but intention alone does not result in realisation.

 

Good job I weathered a box full of goods vehicles and three more goods locos before I packed my stock for LB, otherwise I'd be in real trouble.

[Tony Wright]

Many thanks for all the comments.

 

I do take on board where the LNER locos and stock have come from, and I understand the wishes of someone who won't countenance anything being weathered. That said, surely it's our collective intention to make this event as 'realistic' as possible, or, I hope so. If someone wants to live in an 'unrealistic' model world, that's up to him, but I think for the running weekend we'll leave the too-shiny stuff in its boxes and accept it for the 'collecting' market for which it's meant. A pity, especially because, as starting points, they're rather good.

 

The all-white roofs on some of the carriages stand out as unrealistic as well. Brand new/refurbished, they might well have been pristine white, but an Up and Down journey from Edinburgh to London and back, in 'dirty' weather? How white would they be after that? 

 

Without appearing pompous (difficult, I admit), the 1930s period on LB should be at least as realistic as its normal BR condition. By that I mean that everything from the 1950s' period I have is weathered, even ex-works locos, with smut stains along the tops of boilers and road dirt on the frames. To reach LB, anything ex-works will have travelled at least as far as from Doncaster, and that's just its first run. Though my prestige rakes are 'clean', that only applies to the carriage sides. Roofs, bogies, underframes and ends are all work-stained. 

 

Anyway, I've spent the morning taking pictures of more realistic trains.............

 

 

Taken from Marsh Bridge, this GN Atlantic has charge of a West Riding Pullman service. Though the cars' sides would be clean, the other bits would not be - hence the drab roofs opposed to the unrealistic silver or white supplied on the RTR ones. The weathering on the loco is spot-on - full marks, Graeme. Just look at lovely, dirty freight as well. 

 

 

My putting this C2 I built on to this heavy train at the weekend caused some amusement, at least for me. In the nicest possible way, it was suggested that the load might be beyond it. I 'harruphed!' loudly, promptly opened the throttle and leaned back in smug satisfaction as the Klondike walked away with it! Don't you just hate a smart @rse?! The problem of making sure all stock rides uniformly is present again..............

 

 

I think this train is gorgeous. And, what a lovely interlude to have this (prototypically) short rake among the normally very long trains. Perhaps someone will explain exactly what the working is, please. 

 

 

An equally gorgeous short train; this time for killing weeds.

 

 

This is a gorgeous long train, romping along from Stoke behind one of Graeme King's own V2s. Oh, and I've now put the buffers on the CCT the right way round!

 

 

I liked the loco so much, I took a close-up. However, perhaps a touch of weathering is necessary? 

 

 

My knowledge of freight stock is limited, other than to know that this rake of returning fish empties is splendid! 

 

Those lovely (now sold) somersaults show up very nicely, as do the (long-overdue) areas of distress/dirt applied to the ballasting.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Tony Wright

[LNER4479]

Trains running 25 C1 on milk train.jpg

 

I think this train is gorgeous. And, what a lovely interlude to have this (prototypically) short rake among the normally very long trains. Perhaps someone will explain exactly what the working is, please. 

 

 

Loving all the pictures Tony.

 

The milk train is one that doesn't (yet?) feature in the Grantham schedule. However, there are two interesting things of note. The LNER was one of the first of the 'Big Four' to switch over from handling milk in churns to conveying it en masse in specialist tank wagons in the mid-1930s. The very first tankers were 4-wheelers; however, they rode badly at speed, resulting in the milk being half way towards butter on arrival, hence the relatively rapid progression to the much more familiar 6-wheelers. The other interesting fact about the LNER milk service was its origination point - Ingestre. Where?!

 

One of the furthest-most points of the GNR empire was Stafford, reached via a railway line that branched off the Derby-Crewe line beyond Uttoxeter - the North Staffs Railway afforded the GNR running powers in order to reach it. Hopelessly uneconomic, it closed to passenger traffic in 1939; however, its one saving grace was that it ran through the middle of the Staffordshire milk farming area and the GNR was thus able to steal a march on the more logical providers of such traffic. United Dairies established a creamery at Ingestre and Weston railway station and it was from here that the milk traffic ran - possibly combined with traffic from other areas? Once it had picked up east coast metals at Grantham then it would be a fair gallop no doubt to the capital, the transit time before that not being particularly quick, one imagines? The destination was a distribution point at Finchley, I believe.

 

It was for this reason that the ex-GNR Stafford line remained open until 1951 (rails not finally lifted until 1959). Is that unique - a line staying open purely for milk traffic?

[Enterprisingwestern]

Loving all the pictures Tony.

 

The milk train is one that doesn't (yet?) feature in the Grantham schedule. However, there are two interesting things of note. The LNER was one of the first of the 'Big Four' to switch over from handling milk in churns to conveying it en masse in specialist tank wagons in the mid-1930s. The very first tankers were 4-wheelers; however, they rode badly at speed, resulting in the milk being half way towards butter on arrival, hence the relatively rapid progression to the much more familiar 6-wheelers. The other interesting fact about the LNER milk service was its origination point - Ingestre. Where?!

 

One of the furthest-most points of the GNR empire was Stafford, reached via a railway line that branched off the Derby-Crewe line beyond Uttoxeter - the North Staffs Railway afforded the GNR running powers in order to reach it. Hopelessly uneconomic, it closed to passenger traffic in 1939; however, its one saving grace was that it ran through the middle of the Staffordshire milk farming area and the GNR was thus able to steal a march on the more logical providers of such traffic. United Dairies established a creamery at Ingestre and Weston railway station and it was from here that the milk traffic ran - possibly combined with traffic from other areas? Once it had picked up east coast metals at Grantham then it would be a fair gallop no doubt to the capital, the transit time before that not being particularly quick, one imagines? The destination was a distribution point at Finchley, I believe.

 

It was for this reason that the ex-GNR Stafford line remained open until 1951 (rails not finally lifted until 1959). Is that unique - a line staying open purely for milk traffic?

 

A number of lines in West Wales stayed open later into the 20th century for milk traffic.

 

Mike.

[jwealleans]

 

Well, that's it.

 

I've been wavering over my wallpaper since Monday - there won't be a better picture than that for me. My favourite type of loco hauling one of my favourite pieces of my own stock in a perfect context.

 

Graham has talked about the working - I think it came through Grantham sometime after 9pm, so it fell outside our timeframe. There is a picture of it in Arthur Cawston's book although I think the brake is a 6 wheeler on that occasion.

 

The tanks are converted from the Hornby model and to be completely accurate should be dark blue with gold lettering. Otherwise I think they're pretty close to the LNER diagram as illustrated in the blue rolling stock book. The milk brake is a D.325, which is a Bill Bedford body kit on a chassis made up of scratchbuilt and odd kit bits.

 

The weedkilling train is slightly speculative - Chipmans had the contract for the LNER from the 1930s and kept it under BR until well into the 1950s. The train itself was modernised about 1955 with anchor mounted tankers and a pair of ex-SR PMVs but here still has the older vehicles with the ex-GE brake van used for spraying and the converted LSWR van for equipment. People may be familiar with this rake if they saw Thurston. All the vehicles are old enough to have been in the train in the 1930s but I have no pictures of it older than 1951.

 

Like Graeme, time has prevented me weathering all my stock (ex-works fish vans, anyone?) and I can see I'm going to have to give those coaches a bit of a talking to.

 

Finally, it was me of little faith who wondered whether the Klondyke would take 9 or 10 on on Sunday - I should have remembered the C12 and 50+ coal wagons. I'll be getting that out on Grantham on a Sunday afternoon in future.

Edited August 1, 2018 by jwealleans

[Tony Wright]

post-18225-0-91871300-1533128326.jpg

 

Well, that's it.

 

I've been wavering over my wallpaper since Monday - there won't be a better picture than that for me. My favourite type of loco hauling one of my favourite pieces of my own stock in a perfect context.

 

Graham has talked about the working - I think it came through Grantham sometime after 9pm, so it fell outside our timeframe. There is a picture of it in Arthur Cawston's book although I think the brake is a 6 wheeler on that occasion.

 

The tanks are converted from the Hornby model and to be completely accurate should be dark blue with gold lettering. Otherwise I think they're pretty close to the LNER diagram as illustrated in the blue rolling stock book. The milk brake is a D.325, which is a Bill Bedford body kit on a chassis made up of scratchbuilt and odd kit bits.

 

The weedkilling train is slightly speculative - Chipmans had the contract for the LNER from the 1930s and kept it under BR until well into the 1950s. The train itself was modernised about 1955 with anchor mounted tankers and a pair of ex-SR PMVs but here still has the older vehicles with the ex-GE brake van used for spraying and the converted LSWR van for equipment. People may be familiar with this rake if they saw Thurston. All the vehicles are old enough to have been in the train in the 1930s but I have no pictures of it older than 1951.

 

Like Graeme, time has prevented me weathering all my stock (ex-works fish vans, anyone?) and I can see I'm going to have to give those coaches a bit of a talking to.

 

Finally, it was me of little faith who wondered whether the Klondyke would take 9 or 10 on on Sunday - I should have remembered the C12 and 50+ coal wagons. I'll be getting that out on Grantham on a Sunday afternoon in future.

Thanks Jonathan,

 

I thought you'd like it. 

 

I'm very pleased with the way the pictures are turning out. It doesn't matter how good a camera and its lens might be, if the principal subject matter in a picture is dud, then the picture will be awful. That is not the case with the 1930s stock it's my privilege to have on LB right now. 

 

You did tell me about that milk working, but, of course, I forgot. Ironically, we used to live just a hundred yards away from that 'withered arm bit of the GNR in Stafford, just off the Stone Road. That was in the mid-'70s, when the track was still in place, though only to the RAF depot. It used to branch off the L&NWR main line adjacent to Henry Venables' woodyard - from where I bought the base material for the layout I built in Stafford. One of our favourite pubs was in Ingestre, adjacent to the old formation. Another was in Salt, also right by the remains of the line. 

 

More appropriately, a big engine is now on that express (not that the C2 failed!). Graeme has put out a lovely five-set, at the moment hauled by a black K4 (?). Might we put the Klondike on that? It'll look fine bowling in, stopping in the station, and then rolling off in 'elegant' style. I'll capture it in movement as well. I'm buying a camcorder tomorrow!

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

[Jon4470]

I agree, but some context may be helpful. .My loco boxes were somewhere near the controllers when I last saw them, but there are plenty of weathered A1s/A3s in there as well as C1s, a Raven A2, C7, two B16s and more.

Hello Tony

 

I’m loving the photos! Great models in a superb environment- thank you for posting them.

 

I was reading this topic at lunchtime today and got as far as Jonathan’s post when work rudely interrupted me! The last sentence caught my eye - are we allowed requests? I’d love to see a Raven A2 on a teak set...if possible.

 

Jon

[gr.king]

The K4 went on to that 5 car set on Saturday afternoon when we were two men down, one through illness and the other still swanning around the North of England celebrating the birthday of a real locomotive. With some locos still to arrive and a degree of reluctance to delve into the stock boxes of our incapacitated colleague, the K4 turned out to be the available "sub heavy" passenger loco for the necessary proving runs of the coaches. There were plenty of Pacifics, Mikados and a six-wheel drive large boilered whitemetal Atlantic in my stock boxes, as well as a whitemetal GCR 4-6-0 or two, but it seemed better to keep those back for other turns. As the K4 needs a trumped-up excuse for being so far South (returning from special viewing by directors at KX) I'm sure it is reasonable to relieve it of duty now.

[Woodcock29]

Tony

I feel like I'm in heaven looking at these wonderful photos. I'm lying on the bed after a busy afternoon wandering around the old town here in Prague (in 35C) immediately after we arrived following the rather arduous journey from Adelaide with an 8 hour changeover in Singapore with another change in Frankfurt. In fact I feel like somewhere during the journey I got into Dr Who's Tardis and was dropped off next to the ECML at LB in the late 30s!

 

One aspect that is so good to me is that as I have models of a lot of the classes of loco seen in the photos, as well as the stock, I can almost imagine I've contributed some of my stock for this exercise.

 

A couple of comments if I may. Is it possible to straighten the front vacuum pipe on the J41 on the M&GN before you take anymore photos - why do we only notice such things when we look at photos? I note also that Valour's livery is not quite correct as the LNER for some reason appear not to have lined around the cab windows on the exGC side window B3s which is contrary to what they did to all other green locos - I do realise that this Mike Edge's loco.

 

Please keep the photos coming.

 

Andrew

Edited August 1, 2018 by Woodcock29

[Jesse Sim]

Hi all,

 

I do apologise for being absent since the begining if this minth. Allow me to explain, my parents left for malta and the uk on the 25th of June so i have been running our family buisness, by myself doing three jobs at once. Not easy might i add. So i have had no time to model, look on Rmweb or to even have a coffee on some morning at work due to being so busy.

 

However, i landed in Malta last sunday, enjoying the time off, i only just sat down and thiught about Rmweb.

 

LB is looking womderdul, i cannot wait to join you all in a few weeks time.

 

I leave Malta next monday and head for london, Tony I will either call you or email you the time of my train arriving at Grantham on the friday before, thats if a lift to your place will be alright?

 

Cheers

 

See you all very soon.

 

Jesse

[Jesse Sim]

Aplogise for the spelling, im on my phone and cant edit anything

[jwealleans]

I thought you'd been quiet.  Not finished that D 171, then?

[Jesse Sim]

I thought you'd been quiet.  Not finished that D 171, then?

o

 

No I haven’t yet, but the last running session I had she was on the rails running perfectly, just need to add some weight before fitting the roof.

[jwealleans]

There's one on Tony's train set for you to find and examine.

[Tony Wright]

Hi all,

 

I do apologise for being absent since the begining if this minth. Allow me to explain, my parents left for malta and the uk on the 25th of June so i have been running our family buisness, by myself doing three jobs at once. Not easy might i add. So i have had no time to model, look on Rmweb or to even have a coffee on some morning at work due to being so busy.

 

However, i landed in Malta last sunday, enjoying the time off, i only just sat down and thiught about Rmweb.

 

LB is looking womderdul, i cannot wait to join you all in a few weeks time.

 

I leave Malta next monday and head for london, Tony I will either call you or email you the time of my train arriving at Grantham on the friday before, thats if a lift to your place will be alright?

 

Cheers

 

See you all very soon.

 

Jesse

We're looking forward to seeing you again, Jesse,

 

Just let me know the time of your arrival at Grantham in just over a week's time. 

 

Make sure you bring your little GoPro camera, please. I hope to do a fair bit of videoing before the big weekend, but we'll definitely need your moving shots. 

 

Safe journey.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

The K4 went on to that 5 car set on Saturday afternoon when we were two men down, one through illness and the other still swanning around the North of England celebrating the birthday of a real locomotive. With some locos still to arrive and a degree of reluctance to delve into the stock boxes of our incapacitated colleague, the K4 turned out to be the available "sub heavy" passenger loco for the necessary proving runs of the coaches. There were plenty of Pacifics, Mikados and a six-wheel drive large boilered whitemetal Atlantic in my stock boxes, as well as a whitemetal GCR 4-6-0 or two, but it seemed better to keep those back for other turns. As the K4 needs a trumped-up excuse for being so far South (returning from special viewing by directors at KX) I'm sure it is reasonable to relieve it of duty now.

I'm reluctant to delve into boxes belonging to others as well, Graeme,

 

The K4 looks good and works well, so I'll take its picture before replacing it with something more suitable for the GN main line. 

 

I'm going through everything which was put on over the weekend, taking its photograph on its train (trying to feature the trains as well). When you all arrive again in just over a week's time, I think it would be a good idea to carefully select the most appropriate locos for the full session. As I've intimated to Jesse, my intention is to buy a camcorder myself, and 'get the hang of it' over the next few days, before the full filming next weekend. So far, everything runs really well, but we'll still need to test 'replacement' locos thoroughly. 

 

May I make a list of suggestions, to all, please? 

 

1. The most-appropriate loco for every train.

2. No non-weathered locos for any of the pictures. 

3. As thorough a test of every loco/train as is practicable before filming begins.

4. Where possible kit-built/modified locos to be used instead of straight-from-the-box proprietary ones. 

5. The operator of the fiddle yard knowing what he's doing. Since I'll be doing the filming (I assume?), then it can't be me. Jonathan's probably best, judging by his expertise in operating one of the ends on Grantham. 

6. That a good (even great) time is had by all!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Tony

I feel like I'm in heaven looking at these wonderful photos. I'm lying on the bed after a busy afternoon wandering around the old town here in Prague (in 35C) immediately after we arrived following the rather arduous journey from Adelaide with an 8 hour changeover in Singapore with another change in Frankfurt. In fact I feel like somewhere during the journey I got into Dr Who's Tardis and was dropped off next to the ECML at LB in the late 30s!

 

One aspect that is so good to me is that as I have models of a lot of the classes of loco seen in the photos, as well as the stock, I can almost imagine I've contributed some of my stock for this exercise.

 

A couple of comments if I may. Is it possible to straighten the front vacuum pipe on the J41 on the M&GN before you take anymore photos - why do we only notice such things when we look at photos? I note also that Valour's livery is not quite correct as the LNER for some reason appear not to have lined around the cab windows on the exGC side window B3s which is contrary to what they did to all other green locos - I do realise that this Mike Edge's loco.

 

Please keep the photos coming.

 

Andrew

Thanks Andrew,

 

As requested................

 

 

 

 

I finished off last evening following the progress of this lovely little Up stopper. 

 

 

It'll almost be a shame to 'uproot' this beautiful signal in less than a fortnight. Aren't those wagons gorgeous? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

 

Another loco has arrived to be sold for a 'good cause'. 

 

Built from a DJH kit, it's very-well painted indeed. It has the 'feel' of a professional paint job, but it's not signed. 

 

I've made a new drawbar for it (it must have been a display model, because it wouldn't go round any curve at all!), adjusted and fettled it and it now runs really well.

 

Anyone interested? I'm asking £175.00. 

 

Thanks,

 

Tony. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Tony Wright

[Tony Wright]

Hello Tony

 

I’m loving the photos! Great models in a superb environment- thank you for posting them.

 

I was reading this topic at lunchtime today and got as far as Jonathan’s post when work rudely interrupted me! The last sentence caught my eye - are we allowed requests? I’d love to see a Raven A2 on a teak set...if possible.

 

Jon

Thanks Jon,

 

I hope Jesse brings his Raven A2 over from Oz with him. Jonathan's also got a Raven A2, so we can certainly show that. 

 

Watch this space!

[Jesse Sim]

Unfortunately the A2 has been going through some troubles since I converted it to DCC, could just be she doesn’t like my layout so I didn’t bring her along, however I did my famous Commonwealth of Australia, she’s a bit of a mascot to me every time I’m over. There’s another surprise that I think you might all like, but it’s not what you may expect. Unless I get the A2 posted over?

 

I do have my GoPro and I also brought a Nikon of my mate for 300$, which works wonders.

 

I am not as superior with filming as Tom is, but I will try my best, a simple train driver will do me fine, happy to be apart of the day.

[Tony Wright]

Before Tony gets it all out again, I am cleaning the wheels of my Detics and Type 4 1/2s. I have some very nice colour light signals.

Clive,

 

When all the retro stuff has been put away and before all mine has been put back on, why not arrange to bring some of your modern trains along for a photo-shoot? I'd be delighted, though I'm not demolishing Little Bytham Station (closed 59 years ago!) just for the sake of authenticity.