Caledonian

First catch your crane...

measles

Despite their being hunted to virtual extinction in the wild, Peckettmania rages unabated in the latest Hornby Magazine: A chunky mention in the editorial Article by Paul Marshall-Potter on a compact layout - Shelfie - featuring a number of very nice photies of the forest green Peckett - with the horrid red blob cleaned off the tank Article on new Hornby Magazine two-level micro layout, headed with photie of the forest green Peckett,[retaining the horrid red blob] which was the "driving force" behind the layout Article by Paul Chetter on installing digital sound to Mr Wild's forest green Peckett with horrid red blob as featured in the micro-layout Reader letter on an alternative cunning plan for sound, again with a photie of a [different] forest green Peckett, still displaying the red blob Oh, and just for variety there was also a photie of the blue Huntley & Palmers one at the end of Mr Chetter's article.

Ironically of course isn't that the very photie used by Hornby? Actually, the point I was making is that Hornby's dodgy interpretation of the MSC livery does offer us a very typical and I would argue a more typical livery for a Peckett in service.

I think, to be honest, we may be getting away with ourselves on this argument. Whatever the colour scheme under the tarpaulin when the very last bright, shiny new Peckett came out through the factory gates away back in 1958, Hornby's so-called MSC livery is nothing of the sort, but it does represent what is probably a more typical appearance of one in service.

No link I'm afraid but there may well be one out there somewhere. The photie used by Hornby shows a fair bit of damage with a spectacularly crumpled cab and various other bent bits. Nothing fatal but somebody will have needed to give it some tender loving care and not improbably a lick of paint as well.

I've tracked down a photie of 1548, of 1920, an R2 supplied as new to the Culter Paper Mill. Described at the time as green, tonally it looks like forest green, there's a possible hint of very thin single lining. The quality of the print [in AD Farr's The Royal Deeside Line] isn't that great, but its not leaf green and certainly doesn't have the heavy lining of Dodo. And before anybody asks the "company livery" was confined to a small rectangular brass plate attached to the can side-sheets.

And nor does the photie match the ex-works livery "tonally". It probably is forest green but as you say is unlined. I still have this nagging suspicion that Peckett did sometimes deliver in a simplified [cheaper?] forest green livery rather than the elaborate lining out of Dodo and in this case it may have come back from the rebuild in forest green. At all events Hornby's case for presenting this as the true and authentic MSC livery seems a bit thin.

And by way of another cautionary tale, here's what Hornby actually said on the subject: http://www.Hornby.com/us-en/news/the-engine-shed/the-peckett-w4-liveries-are-here/ For this, our second livery of the Peckett W4, finalising the livery would be relatively simpler. Paul, amongst the mountains of research material he has, was able to locate a description of Manchester Ship Canal’s ‘house’ colours which he was then able to confirm by reference to other loco pictures, though it must be said, not of the Peckett itself. However due to the lack of reliable photographs of the Peckett in this livery, one has to suspend one’s disbelief somewhat and assume some historical and artistic licence.

I'm generally wary of statements that a particular colour scheme was a company livery - obvious exceptions being the Huntley & Palmers jobbie and the like. There's an interesting example of the pitfalls in Brotchie's absolutely splendid and otherwise authoritative book on the Wemyss Private Railway in Fife. More or less en passant he refers to the much larger rival Fife Coal Company having Caledonian blue locos - p175. Even Homer nods, and in fact the FCC livery was green, lined out in black and yellow, and later perpetuated as the NCB Fife area livery, albeit the lining was often conspicuous by its absence. The error over the Caledonian blue livery appears to have been down to a sighting of a second-hand wee Barclay [1943 sticks in my mind but I can't quote chapter and verse] which was still in that company's off-shelf blue livery on account of there being a war on and repainting not being a high priority.

Sounds good, but which Hornby colour are you referring to? The Dodo leaf green or the MSC forest green?

By way of a bit of "archaeology" I mentioned before the photies of the British Aluminium Pecketts at Burntisland. Although both had obviously been recently repainted in a fairly bright unlined green, one of them still appeared to have the original paintwork on the tool-boxes - a lined forest green looking remarkably similar to Hornby's No.11

Up to a point I'd agree, or rather two points: 1. whilst I won't quarrel with the Dodo livery as correct or its time I still have a strong suspicion from photies that the off-shelf livery changed at some point to the darker green and simplified lining of MSC 11, in other words I don't think its a specific Manchester Ship Canal livery but a later Peckett off-shelf one. 2. whatever the livery as bought some of these locos lasted a long time and received local repaints. Green appears to have been common but whatever shade was available rather than matched to the original - and rarely with lining

I'm inclined to agree, I already have three black L&Y puggies. Superior quality [and nostalgia] aside a green Peckett is a breath of fresh air.

Also very much depends on where they were employed. Those working coal mines, quarries and heavy industry are bound to get mucky. I read in Steam Days that the Johnson 1Fs hired to the Stavely ironworks were run 24 hours a day for a week on end - actually saved boiler wear as it never cooled down. Those and other hard-worked locos at Stavely obviously didn't see much in the way of external cleaning. On the other hand factory [or brewery] based locos tended to be much better looked after. As always context is everything.

Ah that takes me back. Silent running is one of the strongest memories I have of the Culter Mill puggy.

30% off per the Fenwicks, Newcastle one?

There were a couple of good colour photies in Steam Days for November 2009, which also highlight a couple of differences besides the size - nothing insuperable but you need to be aware, and there is a bit of a bummer on the livery. As to the form, you need the big brass dome and that curious lubricator gubbins on the lum, which points to either Dodo or Huntley and Palmers, although the original safety valves had been replaced, but whatever you go for will need the cab altering per the video - it looks like they were originally backless, but then had a locally fabricated rear welded on angled out to the bottom to accommodate the brake standard. Then you need to infill the forward part of the cab with wriggly tin sheeting - which appears to be unpainted. Looking at the photies it doesn't appear that either of them had the lower handrail on the saddle tank. Moving on to livery the two photies show them to be slightly different, but I think that reflects their probably being taken at different dates - two different photographers are credited. No.1 [1376 of 1915] appears to be newly repainted in an unlined bright green with red buffer beams and red edge to the running plate, cylinders are also green but the rods aren't painted, while the dome as mentioned is polished brass and the lum is black with a copper [not brass] cap. No.2 [1579 of 1921] is intriguing because apart from the brass dome and red-edged running plate it has the same shade of green and same lining as the MSC model, which makes me think that during or after WWI the off-the-shelf livery changed to that rather than the light leaf green displayed by Dodo. Both the Culter Mill Pecketts were darkish green. Both locos had name plates on the saddle tank. The older loco simply had BAC Ltd while the newer one had the addition of No2

I think the point is that most models commissioned by shops are local to their area and as a result appeal not just to the collectors of the rare and curious but to their local customers. No matter how attractive the model, [and I'm not talking about Faye] C&M in Carlisle are unlikely to sell anywhere near as many Southern or Great Western wagons as they do of their own Cumberland themed ones.

Now they are, but back in November when that review was written the boat carrying the Pecketts hadn't even docked.

That, alas, is the blinkered attitude which almost drove Hornby to the wall. Most magazines and not just railway modelling ones make their money from advertising rather than sales. I don't know what the current advertising rates are but I do know that as the list price of the Peckett is/was a penny shy of £80,[and worth every penny spent says I], although quite clearly the wholesale cost is rather less. Stick with the £80 though. Hornby Magazine reviewed the Peckett in the January issue, which came out in December just ahead of the retail release and removed any last lingering doubt that skint or not I wanted to pick one up - and did. That review featured both Dodo and MSC 11; two locos = £160 retail cost. The review filled four pages and then there were another four pages covering the history, making eight in all. Is there any way that you can get a whole eight full pages of advertising space for £160? Add to which of course there's the quality of the advertising. In the same issue, for example, Bachmann had a full page advert for the Wickham trolley. The advert was a perfectly good one which did what it was supposed to; it featured good quality photies of the product and alerted potential customers to the two different liveries, and no doubt if there were other variations it would have done that too, but compare and contrast that single page with the 4-8 pages of in-depth coverage of the Peckett. I don't know the source of the two Pecketts reviewed but for £160 it was an absolute bargain in terms of product exposure.

Just by the by, as you may know Hornby are shutting down all or most of their concessions. The concession in the Fenwicks department store in Newcastle upon Tyne which I've had occasion to mention before is offering 30% off everything until the end of the month. They never received any Pecketts, alas, but otherwise its good, up to date stock. Today's purchase was the current J50 as LNER 585 for £56.

Second hand market!!! But a Peckett is for life, not just for Christmas!

Sad, but the Model Rail review remains the gold standard so I'm still keen to see what it makes of my favourite little pet loco.

Just a thought. Hornby Magazine reviewed the Peckett in their January issue, out before Christmas and just ahead of the feeding frenzy. Nobody else managed it. BRM, Model Rail and Railway Modeller for February are now out but no review, so presumably by the time they do get a review out this time next month the current generation will be as extinct as the original Dodo - except in captivity [protective custody] of course.