foster104

10 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon David,

 

'Obviously care are must be taken with "photographic evidence" as some captions are a work of fiction. In one of the books I've got (can't remember the name ) a huge number of the A4's are report hauling the Elizabethan, which is very unlikely based on the coaches behind the tender.'

 

This is a conundrum which has made my captioning of pictures of the 'Lizzie' very difficult, especially when no actual date is provided on the print.

 

'Officially', 'The Elizabethan' only ran from Monday to Friday in the summer timetable. The set also ran on Saturdays, but was strengthened by at least two/three cars towards the north end (these could be almost any type). The same A4s were used and should have carried the headboard reversed. The train was not non-stop.

 

The same A4s were also used on a Sunday, but not the set (which would be cleaned/maintained on that day). The Sunday train was made up of all sorts of jumbled stock, and was usually longer. Again, the headboard should have been reversed. 

 

Some of these pictures have probably appeared before, though the same questions keep on cropping up......

 

 

 

Both these pictures, taken on the same day, show the Saturday train in the summer of 1960, at York. It would seem that Top Shed's crew has decided that the train should be actually named. There are two extra cars behind the Aberdeen portion behind FALCON, a Gresley and a Mk.1.

 

Haymarket's crew on MERLIN have correctly reversed the 'board. Again, this rake has been strengthened, including a car in carmine/cream, and the leading BG has been replaced by what looks like a Mk.1 BSO. And, the leading FK is not PV, so won't have a ladies' retiring room.

 

 

Another shot of a Saturday 'Lizzie', with correct way round headboard. This time the BG is a Mk.1 rather than one of the trio of Thompsons, and there is at least one car in c/c towards the rear. Note the 'correct' FK as second car in the rake, its covered solebars being very distinct. Beware this kind of detail, though. Because the covering of the solebars created a moisture trap and thus corrosion, there's evidence that some of the PV cars had the covers cut away later in their life. Oh, those joys of 'coach-picking'.  

 

 

This is a Sunday working in 1958, approaching Retford. A very jumbled rake indeed, at least 13 cars-long. Correctly, the 'board is reversed, but it's when it's not, on workings such as this, which causes confusion. 

 

That said, it's wonderful images like these which make my own personal model-making so interesting.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excuse the reference to a couple of pages back, but would someone kindly explain why a headboard would be displayed backwards? My logic is that if the name of the service is not displayed, then the presence of a headboard is essentially moot, and the board itself could ride ‘on the cushions’, but that must not be the case. 

thanks in advance,

Andrew

I can see it now: the modelling kids of tomorrow scratching their heads, trying to find which volume Yeadons the C-90 is profiled in...

...must be a very obscure Victorian ex-GNSR 4-4-2 tank engine I've never heard of...   

Thanks a lot for the feedback. It is so tempting to go straight for a kit because the prototype is so appealing, yet what you're all saying makes sense - something more realistically achievable is a better bet to build experience and confidence to take the next step in the future.

I had also read elsewhere that 4-4-0s and 0-4-4Ts can be difficult to balance.

My previous soldering experience was probably 15 years ago now with a few whitemetal wagon and building kits. I'm sure my best bet is to refresh myself with a few more of those before attempting a loco. If I am going to make it a project for this winter, I better get on with ordering something, because I will have to wait for it to get mailed to Canada!

Thanks again for the feedback, I don't want to hijack the thread with another 'what kit should I build?' tangent. Looking forward to seeing further updates on Grantham.

Robert,

Your layout is right up my street, great thread and I love the social history aspect to the discussion being generated.

Quick question: how would you rate the complexity of the LRM D2 kit? I am considering either that or their J3 as my first attempt at loco kit building.

Andrew

Industrial backscene gets my vote behind those warehouses!