rowanj

I treated myself to a Sonic A5/1, which is an excellent model, especially at the price. almost all the A5's in the NER were the LNER -build A5/2's but, for a brief period in 1950, Saltburn had a few A5/1's. I renumbered mine- originally 69814- to 69811. As can be seen from the photo of the prototype at Darlington, the condition looks work-stained rather then filthy/rusty, so this is what I aimed for. in reality, I just toned down the shiny satin black, but the effect has workd out OK. I only have a short rake of ex-NER coaches to represent the stock on the real thing. A Saltburn loco at Little Benton is stretching things, though there was a SO Satburn-Newcastle, so this must be connected to that working. Alternatively, it is one of the Race Specials at Gosforth Park, so the train is heading for Killingworth Station where trains teminated in the Racetrack Sidings.

Other than some light weathering, this is the complete "Scrap/spares-box" Class C. The old Triang chassis block needed some relef, so I used some Slaters plastic brakes, wire for the very prominent sanding pipes, and scrap etch to make a pair of guard irons. I had a coupling in the box, and added the steam heating pipe to the coupling. The cab detail is just a fictional attempt to make it look as though there is something there, Coal came from Barrow Hill. For the green wheels, I used Railmatch Doncaster Green. Raking through a box, I found another Triang Jinty chassis block, but I don't think I have anything to use it for. I suppose it could go under a GBL J39 at a pinch.

The Class C on test. I always take photos of my modelling, as they show issues which my naked eyes don't always pick up. In this case, it is obvious that the body isnt sitting as it should, so that will need more fettling. On the positive side, the chassis runs well, as does the tender,The loco-tender connection is my usual hook and bar arrangement, taken from an idea from,I think, Tony Wright. All that's left is to add a few bits of detail. I have a casting for a backhead which should work, and I'll add some coal to the tender. The loco is no use for my layout, so I'll not bother with handrails, etc, and will keep it in this livery. I'll probably add some very light weathering to tone it down a bit, and give it a spray of matt varnish to dilute the plasticky look.

My ass? To be honest, looking at the photo of the real thing, but without having looked at the HL site, I wonder if one of Chris,s motor combo arrangements would not sit in the rear part of the front bunker. and not be visible. His latest 2 motors are fairly small but have bags of torque. I suppose its hard to tell until the it arrives and you see what room you have to play with. John

What about the loco boiler driving on the rear driving wheels? Will balancing the power and torque of 2 motors of be a problem anyway? Best wishes.

No, but I woulld either be looking for a tardis or wondering what I had been drinking and/or smoking....

We seemed to see Watling Street on every occasion we spotted, Eric. You might expect this, as we were on Tyneside, but other 52A and B Pacifics were rarely on view. 60001 ,2 and 16 took some spotting unless you managed to bunk Gateshead, which was tricky. Heaton wasn't any easier. I too have a renamed A2/3 as Watling Street, as a homage to all the times we groaned when it was her again...

A little bit more has been done to the scrap box(es) C class after rumaging through the spares. I had a dummy whitemetal tender chassis with the correct wheelbase from a Dave Alexander kit. Dave's kits were great, but the tender was always heavy, so I invariably discarded the sub-chassis and fitted pinpoint axles into bearings. I'll need to see what I have in the way of 16mm tender wheels, but these ones from Hornby confirm the clearances and ride hieght are OK. I also found, using a combination of etches, what appear to be suitable coupling rods. So far I've only fitted one side, so the proof of the pudding is still to come. Assuming I get the wheels to revolve freely under power, the rest of the work is just cosmetic. The loco doesnt have a backhead- I must have used it for something else -, and a buffer and vacuum pipe are missing, I'll fit brakes to the chassis, and see what else is needed, but so far so good.

I spent some time over the weekend weathering my rake of hoppers, trying to get a range of conditions of coal, smoke and rust., whilst leaving an odd one in nearly clean condition. The photo of the Q6 was taken from what we used to call Halls Bridge which was, and still is, a farm track crossing the ECML at the site of Little Benton North Box. Nowadays, a crossover exists just beyond the bridge to allow trains on the Down line to gain access to the Blyth and Tyne to Ashington. Passenger services are supposed to re-start on this line by 1924, and I have been enjoying watching the work to install a passing loop at Backworth towards Seghill to allow a half-hourly service alongside the existing (rather sparse) freight traffic. It must be 1962, when Q6's started to appear in greater numbers at South Blyth. To be honest, this is the period I remember best - I was 13-, and Class 40's were very common on the passenger services. D325 on the Inverness- Marylebone is a bit anachronistic, being based in the Midlands, It is actually on test, while I decide what to do with it, as it is a bit of an unlkely visitor to Tyneside.-

it's nice to see these GBL models still being used- they were great fun at the time. and it is a shame so many photos were lost. I got a C Class with the thought it might be a potential conversion to a Caley loco, but I never got round to it- if indeed it is possible. Anyway, I dug it out to see what I could do with it along with stuff from the spares box, and this is where I have got to so far. The chassis is a Triang Jinty, cut away using my Dremel. i originally had adapted it to go under a BEC J11, so that tells you kow old it is, I had already hollowed out the space between the middle drivers to take a Comet gearbox/Mashima type motor, so this Highlevel.Mashima fits well enough. Wheels are 21mm W&T/Scalelink. I need to see if I have a set of suitable coupling rods, and the photos show some work is still needed to get the loco and tender level. I;ll probably just build a dummy chassis for the tender, this is all just for a bit of a lark alongside normal modelling work, and life outside railways, so will take a while. The loco is wholly inappropriate for my layout, so, although I would normally add wire handrails and other stuff, I may not bother in this case,

Just to wind up the LRM J21 build. here she is in service, returning to Tyneside on one of the Saturday "Garden Tours", this one to/from Rothbury. Thanks again to Mike Meggison for the extended smokebox, This really makes a distinctive difference between this ex-superheated loco and the short smokebox version which is the original kit. Just to summarise, over and above what was in the kit, I added.... Extra cab detail, including a "planked "floor.- you get away with this with a slimline Highlevel gearbox and motor driving on the middle axle. Working lubricator rod- built from etch scrap/leftover valve gear parts. Sanding rods to front splashers, and representation of the filler tanks- I just used pin heads. pipework under the valances on both sides to represent the runs to the front vacuum brake and train heating pipes on the front buffers. LNER buffers on tender and loco- the kit is supplied with ex-NER, fine for earlier periods. I'll certainly order another kit to build the short-smokebox version- 65033 will suit very nicely- and will do so while I still remember most of the issues I had with this build. To be honest, most were down to my ham-fistedness and the rest were clearance issues using Romford wheels- folk who used Gibsons don;t seem to have had these problems. Given that a modern kit from North Eastern models seems a long way off, I'm happy to recommend the LRM kit, but probably not for a beginner. As an aside, the loco approaching is the Dave Alexander version, adapted to one of the locos without vacuum brakes or train heating.

A pair of J21's pass Little Benton South. 65070 is the Dave Alexander kit, which has been converted to represent one of the locos without vacuum brakes. these seem to have all had a spell in the 30's around Doncaster and Retford before returning to ex-NER territory. 65110 is my latest LRM kit, and it heads home with a "Garden Tours" Saturday excursion to Rothbury. The J71 has ben sent into the headshunt while it awaits its' return to Heaton.

It's vintage ex-NER today. The J71 has been sent up to collect wagons to go, presumably, to Heaton , while Heaton's own B16/1 has a rake of empty cattle wagons heading north. 68264 is a modified Mainline body on Mainly Trains/Wizard chassis, while 61410 is the PDK kit. I don't have any pictures of cattle wagon rakes around Little Benton - the wagons were more usually in a mixed freight-- but I believe there was a path on Thursdays for the mart at Newcastle, so this train is taking the rake back to be dropped off at various points- Morpeth, Alnmouth, Belford then Tweedmouth, to go down the various branches and be reassembled the next week. Ebay can still offer some locos at decent prices. I fancied a second Q6 and this one was offered for £80. It was described as "weathered" and I was marginally apprehensive, but in the event, I think all that had been done was an overspray of weather black or similar. I added some rust and soot using weathering powders, The loco is a lovely runner so I am a happy camper. Actually, Q6's were more common in the Durham coalfield than in Northumberland, where the J27 ruled, until the last few years of steam.

I succumbed to tempation and bought a Heljan 17- Rails were discounting them and they were advertised, correctly, as "new",Running is excellent, and as the original number was D8607, replacement of 7 with 3 from a Modelmaster sheet gave me a Gateshead loco delivered in June 1964-right at the end of an appropriate date for the layout. The Heljan model is paired with the Silver Fox kit, whose days may be numbered, awaiting a path to get the ballast train out of the sidings and back to Heaton. I came across a photo of the Up Queen of Scots passing Tweedmouth in May 1959 headed by Heaton's 60517 Ocean Swell, the first evidence I have seen of a non 64B loco on the train north of Newcastle. I don't have 517, but do have 511 Airborne, so gave her a run. The model is a GBL A2. modified with Graeme King resin parts, on an adapted Hornby Brit chassis. I actually did a couple more of these, at a time when the chassis could be had as a spare for a decent price, but this is only one left. Muzak rot claimed the others, as well as the primer/paint having a chemical reaction with the loco boiler which I could never put right. This was the only GBL model where this happened - just one of those things. Why Haymarket needed to use a Heaton loco is another one of life's mysteries.

Other than the 9F's at Tyne Dock, Tyneside saw very few BR Standards. I certainly never saw any, though there are photos of occasional visitors from Darlington on SO trains. Gateshead got a couple of Class 5's, which moved on to Blaydon before vanishing South never to be seen again. Gateshead used them, among other things , on the Colchester trains as far as York, Blaydon used them to Carlisle, but they were very tight on Blaydon's turntable. 73060, renumbered Bachmann, is on an unusual turn, one of the last steam workings from Newcastle to Alnwick, probably substituting for a failed D20.

My LMS rake of 6 coaches is crying out for TLC, though mainly below the underframe. . For all their, faults, the Airfix stock did have flush glaze windows. I use the rake to represent the Leicester to Craigendoran service, and an occasional special cobbled together by Craigentinny. I have no photos of any regular service using LMS stock between Edinburgh and Newcastle, and cannot find a description of the Leicester consist. I know next to nothing about what a typical rake should look like, but can improve the Airfix underframes using stuff from Wizard. I did intend sticking a buffet into the rake, until I found that the LMS hardly had any ...was it only 3? So I currently run 6 coaches, 3 with Comet sides, an unaltered SK, a BSK bought as a prospective donor, and a 60 ft BCK with sides bought on EBay fitted to a cut down Triang Mk 1 with Bachmann LMS bogies. So, as you see,some upgrading needed,when I can identify suitable eating facilities for the weary travellers.

A final test for my latest build, an LRM J21, 65110 was one of the last pair in service, and was based at Heaton. It was often used on excursions from Newcastle into the wilds of Northumberland, In this case, it has picked up an excursion from Manchester, hence the LMS stock. I keep meaning to upgrade the rake, and it will happen, someday.

A couple of 64B locos pass. I have a nice photo of a Haymarket Class 40 on the Down Queen of Scots, albeit with the later Mark 1 stock,-the photo dates from 1962, when sufficient diesels had reached the shed to allow steam to start to become phased out. The loco is Bachmann, and I must add some pipework to the front end. Honeyway is a DJH kit, and, though the only A2/3 at Haymarket, was apparently well-liked. The train is a semi-fast Edinburgh-Newcastle. I remember buying the kit from DJH at a Newcastle Show. Those were the days.

Ready to go onto the layout where it will work local short-trip and pick-up goods turns from Heaton, as well as summer excursions around Northumberland, here is 65110. I'm not the greatest painter, but I think the loco is suitably workstained for never having seen a cleaner after its' last General, but having been reasonably well maintained by 52B. On 65033, I'll use sturdier brass for the brake rigging, and something thicker for the rod to the mechanical lubricator, Neither are strong enough to prevent bending when handled, so I;ll straighten them when the loco goes into the loft tomorrow, ready for action.

Nearly there. The photo shows something odd about the cab roof which isnt clear to the naked eye, so I'll look at that. The extended smokebox was c/o Mike Meggison, and is from the North Eastern Kits test. The pipe under the footplate- there is one on each side- led to the vacuum brake (RH sise) and train heating pipe (LH side) o the buffer beam i added some additional pipework ahead of the leading splasher.To be honest, there is a fair bit which could be added to the basic kit, but it looks to be the only way to get a J21 for the forseeable future, and it is is an enjoyable, if sometimes frustrating build. I'll certainly get another from LRM to build 65033. Still to do is some paintwork in the cab, number the RH side using Modelmaster straw numerals, print a smokebox door number, glaze the windows and add crew. I'll also weather the loco to add anvoverall dusty look, which seems to be the condition it was in after its' last General in 1956.

The J38 which somehow actually did get to Newcastle in 1964 is now on its' way back with empty meat and fish wagons. They are probably bound for Tweedmouth rather than Edinburgh, so the last leg of the journey back to St, Margarets light engine. There is a build of a Little Engines A8 just beginning on the Kitbuilding thread, which will be well worth following. Little Engines made nice kits, and they are a loss to the hobby. This is my inferior DJH version. None of the ex-NER kits, which are now of a good age, are great, but they can be modified up to a point. I;m currently musing on the possibility of having a go at the 52F verison of the A8/2 and the A5/2. In the meantime, the loco, which for all its' faults is a nice runner, takes a Saturday Special from Alnmouth back to Teesside

Lovely model, Jonathan-puts mine to shame. Look forward to seeing Grantham and hopefully saying "hello" at the Newcastle Show. Here on test, the J21 is doing what I will want it to do - pulling short passenger services (and local goods and transfer freights). I cant do much more until the boiler is soldered in place, as I suspect the heat involved may have an adverse effect on small details. Anyway, so far so so-so. It runs well and this rake of 5 coaches, without any added weight in the loco body, was handled without difficulty.

Here are the 2 photos "skipped" from the post above for exceeding the 10 meg limit.

I agree with Mick- the Oxford Rail j27 is excellent value for money. the 3 I now have, along with the kits, will see me out as far as the Class is concerned. I was tempted to try the Bradwell kit until the RTR version appeared, as it is clearly superior to the NuCast and Alexander kits as far as detail and overall accuracy goes. To give a bit of comparison, Oxford rail 65837 is parked in the sidings along NuCast ex-superheated 65863. Both actually run equally well, despite the NUCast kit having a whitemetal chassis, opened out to take a Mashima.Highlevel motor/gearbox. 65822 on the hoppers is the original Dave Alexander kit with the whitemetal boiler. 65813 on the minerals is his later kit with an etched boiler, and I think it looks more akin to the RTR version. It's a shame his kits havent been picked up after his death, as they are a decent introduction for new kit-builders, and, for the more ambitious, an excellent modern chassis can be has from 52F Models,

More likely from York. Gilbert? The train would be Class 5 (probably B1) hauled from Scarborough with a loco change at York, and I can't see a York loco taking it onfor the short hop to Doncaster. I have a picture from 1960 of the train with Kings X V2 60983 leaving York on the train- though I admit the roster may have changed since 1958.