Wright writes.....

[Captain Kernow]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I saw half the class, but I cannot remember any ever being painted green. A few of the 82XXXs which worked the Chester-Birkenhead road were, however. 

I've always liked the BR standards and especially the Standard 3 2-6-2 tanks. I've built both the Kemilway and DJH ones in my time. I probably prefer the Kemilway chassis (for the lovely valve gear) and the DJH body (for the sensible way that they combine both etched brass and whitemetal, depending on the part being replicated).

 

I did acquire a couple of Bachmann ones, when they came out, but one got sold on. The other one refused to run smoothly, so eventually I replaced the RTR chassis with a modified Comet 76XXX chassis. 82044 is the last of the class (further batches were planned but never got built) and was also unique, livery-wise, in that it was the only black one to have no lining on the bunker and the number on the cab side. It was based at Barrow Road at the very end of Western Region steam in 1965. I built it to run on my S&D layouts, so in this photo, it's in Mid-Wales, a rather long way from home!

 

[Captain Kernow]

This is my Kemilway one, built almost 30 years ago now and I still haven't been able to bring myself to weather it!...

 

Apologies for the 'planter in the sky' behind the loco, never was any good with Photoshop...

 

[Tony Wright]

48 minutes ago, ecgtheow said:

Tony,

 

Mea Culpa! Having checked it was the BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2 tanks in the 82000 numbers series that were painted initially lined & later unlined green by the Western Region not the Class 2 2-6-2 tanks in the 84000 numbers series. As the Birkenhead to Chester line was originally a joint GWR/ LNWR line it now makes sense that there was at least one 2-6-2 tank painted green.

Incidentally how did Peter Lawson model his Chester to Birkenhead/Wirral layout? Is there an article about it published somewhere? The Chester to Birkenhead part was 4 track mainline to about Hooton as far as I remember.

 

William

 

Good afternoon William,

 

The plan (always 'dangerous' where I'm involved) is for me to go over to Cheshire and photograph Peter's layout for a magazine article/posterity later this year. Enough locos and stock have been kept back for that purpose.

 

The Chester-Birkenhead road was double track as far as (I think) Ledsham, where it became four tracks as far as, at least, Rock Ferry. The quadruple track was paired by speed (in typical L&NWR/GWR fashion).

 

Over 50 years ago, I travelled the line from Chester to Birkenhead Central (changing at Rock Ferry) to my job, teaching in Birkenhead. I started by driving, but I could never afford a reliable enough car at the time! DMUs were the order of the day, the through expresses having ceased a year or so before. I used these in the '60s, on trainspotting jaunts to Liverpool. The Paddington expresses were tightly-timed, usually hauled by Stanier 2-6-4Ts, running at speed, with just two stops 'twixt the General and Woodside (Hooton and Rock Ferry).

 

There's a Stanier 2-6-4T in the collection (which I'm photographing later, along with the rest of the locos/stock). 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Captain Kernow]

3 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

The Chester-Birkenhead road was double track as far as (I think) Ledsham, where it became four tracks as far as, at least, Rock Ferry. The quadruple track was paired by speed (in typical L&NWR/GWR fashion).

There are some good photographs of the area in Volume 11 of Lightmoor's 'British Railways, The First 25 Years', North Wales, Chester and the Wirral'.

 

[Bernard Lamb]

13 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon John,

 

They were brought along by David Rae. He bought them from the estate of the late John Brown of Spalding MRC. 

 

I believe they were made from kits, but from what source and by whom, I have no idea. 

 

I thought the whole ensemble was rather splendid, too. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Good afternoon Tony,

Probably Slaters.

I know they did a kit and I have a few. They mix in well with steel 21 tonners for a BR late 1950s period.

Bernard

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, 46444 said:

 

I was almost tempted as well Tony by the DJH 84xxx.

 

Wellingborough (15A) shed inherited two members of the class (84005/84006) in later years at times.

 

I believe they may have worked the Uppingham branch trains from Seaton, Rutland as well.

 

Like the Standard Class 3MT 77xxx 2-6-0's, the Standard Class 2MT 84xxx are locos I am interested in.

 

Do you have any pictures of the 84xxx running on Little Bytham Tony?

 

Also, has a Standard Class 3MT 77xxx ever run on Little Bytham?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Good afternoon Mark,

 

'Do you have any pictures of the 84xxx running on Little Bytham Tony?'

Only the one I took yesterday. The loco is now safely wrapped up for posting tomorrow.

 

'Also, has a Standard Class 3MT 77xxx ever run on Little Bytham?'

If one has, I haven't photographed it; so, the answer is probably 'no'.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

2 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

There are some good photographs of the area in Volume 11 of Lightmoor's 'British Railways, The First 25 Years', North Wales, Chester and the Wirral'.

 

Good afternoon Captain,

 

There are, and I hope the captions I provided for many of the Chester/Wirral pictures are accurate (the B1 at the General is not running wrong road. I was over-ruled!). 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[thegreenhowards]

3 hours ago, MJI said:

Transfers

 

Got a bit of a problem,  want to make up loads on TOPS panels, but cannot find the base transfers.

 

Over 50 wagons to be done.

 

Also one job i can't get railtec to do.

 

TOPS wagon panels pool version, letters for the codes, pool numbers.

 

Used to be SMS.

 

Anything like this anywhere?

 

Why not Railtec? I recently used the 7mm version of these for some Alumina wagons. They were very good.

 

https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=4886
 

Might be a bit expensive for 50 wagons, but he does do them in sets of 4.

 

You have to specify the numbers/ TOPS codes etc. but as always Steve is very good at asking for what he needs.

 

Andy

[Keith Turbutt]

2 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

That's absolutely right, according to the RCTS book on the Standard tank classes.

 

 

And since we've also mentioned the 77xxxs one of those, 77014, famously made it down to the Southern and was used on a number of railtours. It never returned to the LMR but stayed on the Southern right to the end of steam. I saw it on the LCGB Hampshire Branch lines railtour in Jan 67. Unfortunately it came onto the tour on one of the later legs when the light was fading so this is the best shot I could get.

 

Edited April 9 by Keith Turbutt
spelling

[MJI]

27 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

Why not Railtec? I recently used the 7mm version of these for some Alumina wagons. They were very good.

 

https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=4886
 

Might be a bit expensive for 50 wagons, but he does do them in sets of 4.

 

You have to specify the numbers/ TOPS codes etc. but as always Steve is very good at asking for what he needs.

 

Andy

I wanted custom MSV, about 18 of same pool, won't do them.

 

Prepared to pay as well.

 

Got the details somewhere. Actually have two complete rakes of numbers. But only want 7603 set.

[MarkC]

4 minutes ago, Keith Turbutt said:

 

And since we've also mentioned the 77xxxs one of those, 77014, famously made it down to the Southern and was used on a nuber of railtours. It never returned to the LMR but stayed on the Southern right to the end of steam. I saw it on the LCGB Hampshire Branch lines railtour in Jan 67. Unfortunately it came onto the tour on one of the later legs when the light was fading so this is the best shot I could get.

 

77014 - truly one that "Got away". She hauled the very last revenue-earning steam working on the Southern - a Bournemouth-Weymouth parcels on the evening of 9th July 1967. Presumably fire then dropped at Weymouth shed and it was all over...

 

Mark

[MJI]

32 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

Why not Railtec? I recently used the 7mm version of these for some Alumina wagons. They were very good.

 

https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=4886
 

Might be a bit expensive for 50 wagons, but he does do them in sets of 4.

 

You have to specify the numbers/ TOPS codes etc. but as always Steve is very good at asking for what he needs.

 

Andy

For my minerals i noted down type, tops layout, tare, number.

 

Had one anomaly a Morton equipoes labelled MCV not MXV.

[Jol Wilkinson]

2 hours ago, it's-er said:

It strikes me that’s a pretty good essay on why many of us aren’t into kit building.  So much can go wrong!  And unless you know at exactly any point just what the right thing to do is, you are lost ….

 

John S

On that basis I should imagine you wouldn't buy any RTR model locos either.

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Good afternoon Tony,

Probably Slaters.

I know they did a kit and I have a few. They mix in well with steel 21 tonners for a BR late 1950s period.

Bernard

IIRC, somebody did a whitemetal kit in the dim, distant past but I dread to think what finished ones would weigh!  If they're plastic, I agree; they are likely to be Slaters.

 

I built a small batch for a late friend some years ago; possibly the most enjoyable kit I've ever built.

 

Slaters ingeniously moulded jigs for bending up the various handrails/grab rails into the sprues.

 

John   

[railtec-models]

1 hour ago, MJI said:

I wanted custom MSV, about 18 of same pool, won't do them.

 

Prepared to pay as well.

 

Got the details somewhere. Actually have two complete rakes of numbers. But only want 7603 set.

 

Really?? I seem to recall something around this from eons ago but acc to my notes it closed off for non-response. Can you msg me?

[New Haven Neil]

3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

I had thought that the repainting into unlined green came later, but there's a photo in the RCTS book (Volume 3) of 82007 standing outside Swindon Works, newly repainted into unlined green with a large early crest.

 

 

I'm pretty sure they were all black when built, the green did come later, I'd say that photo must be after an overhaul, especially as it is an early number.

[MJI]

19 minutes ago, railtec-models said:

 

Really?? I seem to recall something around this from eons ago but acc to my notes it closed off for non-response. Can you msg me?

I did not hear back from you,i will look up my notes and take it from there, since i havve ordered quite a bit as well from you.

 

May be isp or email issue

 

Got 34 minerals now to sort out as well.

 

The 2p looks great

 

 

[MJI]

 

Railtec transfers

[MJI]

Will send when next on pc as details not on my phone

[JamesSpooner]

4 hours ago, Keith Turbutt said:

 

I was sorry to have lost out on the DJH 84xxx that Tony had for sale. It would have been a nice addition to my 'collection' of BR Standards. I only need an 84xxx and 77xxx to have an example of each one - I do however have both DJH kits to build! It's strange that Bachmann did not capitalised on their existing products . For example they produced an Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 but did not take the opportunity to produce the equivalent Standard 78xxx which would have only required new loco and tender bodies. It was left to Hornby to produce it.  Similarly Bachmann's Ivatt 2-6-2T could, with a new body become an 84xxx and their BR Std 4 2-6-0 could, again with a new body, become a Std 3 2-6-0 77xxx.

 

While on the subject of the 84xxx class, I believe in the 60s they were being considered for use on the IOW as replacements for the ageing 02s. I saw this one at Eastleigh in Jan 66 on the occasion of the LCGB S15 farewell railtour, which included an Eastleigh shed and works visit. This never happened however, the IOW Steam Railway in preservation now run the similar Ivatt on their line - I think they may even have two?  

 

They do indeed and I took a photo last September.

 

Nigel

 

 

[Tony Wright]

I've photographed what's left of the Peter Lawson collection which I have (the rest is elsewhere).

 

There were five 4Fs. 

 

 

The best is this Gibson example; a fine runner, £150.00 to anyone interested.

 

There were two with Airfix bodies running on Comet frames (both sold to a friend yesterday).

 

And two, old Wills 4Fs, though running on etched chassis for the loco. These are of their time...........

 

 

But still tolerable layout locos.

 

 

This is the only loco so far in the collection which is noisy; by that I mean too noisy. Light engine, it's fine, but under load it really growls. I'll investigate. 

 

Though I've already got double figure numbers of 4Fs for the small bit on LB, I've decided to buy this Wills pair myself, though whether 4Fs from Crewe South or Alsager ever got as far east as Bytham is a moot point. 

 

Glaze the spectacles, add a crew and fit appropriate lamps, and they're now 'Bytham' locos! 

 

Another good runner................

 

 

Is this Gibson Stanier Mogul; £150.00 to anyone interested.

 

An 82XXX was seen earlier.

 

 

Here's one from the collection, built from a Kemilway kit. £90.00 to anyone interested. 

 

I'll post the rest of the images tomorrow. Prices reflect the condition and the quality of the various drives, though all (apart from the one 4F) run well. 

 

 

Edited April 10 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Captain Kernow]

Hi Tony, not wishing to contradict you on the origins of the 82XXX, but the shape of the individual castings around the cab and smokebox area, plus the thickness of the cab itself does look like the body at least was built from the Kemilway kit?

 

[malc60015]

On 08/04/2024 at 16:14, Bucoops said:

 

Just need someone to say they've seen George Formby and you're all top-trumped. Best guitarist? I'd say Knopfler personally. But it's largely down to personal taste. Clapton, technically, superb guitarist - but just too "technical" for me, not enough "feeling". 

I know it is personal taste but Number one for me has to be Jeff Beck, was a superb musician. sadly missed.

 

cheers Malc

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Hi Tony, not wishing to contradict you on the origins of the 82XXX, but the shape of the individual castings around the cab and smokebox area, plus the thickness of the cab itself does look like the body at least was built from the Kemilway kit?

 

Good morning,

 

Of course; you're right. My mistake, since altered.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Pleased to report that the Gibson 4F has sold.

 

More models later................