rowanj

I remember Dave Alexander telling me that the boiler on the Nu Cast was wrong at the firebox end, and was a bit too fat. He revised his own castings and produced a rolled etch on his last version. I have both versions and the cast boiler certainly looks chunkier. Next running session, I'll give them a spin. Rails seem to have a current Class 17, so I'll go down that route if I bother. By the time I decide, they will be sold out.

A layout North of York and South of ,say, Morpeth, certainly should have a J27 or two, or , in my case, 6. two are Dave Alexander kits, one is NuCast, and three are from Oxford Rail. I picked up another of the RTR ones recently, new-in-box for £90, Youcouldn;t build a kit for less than twice that. The only issue , for me, is the shiny plastic look, I needed to renumber it as I already had a 65837, but replacing the 7 with a 4 from my last remaining HMRS sheet was easy, as was replacing the smokebox door plate. I am surprised how the difference in shade has come out on the camera, as it looks pretty close in real life/light, I oversprayed the loco very lightly with Railmatch Weather Black to dull everything down before adding some tones with weathering powders.The loco is doing what the real one did on a daily basis, hauling hoppers around Tyneside from its' South Blyth 52F base. As a contrast, the NuCast kit with the extended smokebox heads towards Heaton Yard to pick up the daily goods for Blyth.

A bit more diesel traction I have a couple of Deltics- just standard early Bachmann, which I'm quite content with. D9017 whisks a Down express past little Benton North- a common sight for we spotters from 1961 or so onwards. Waiting to leave the sidings on a mixed freight is a Class 17, a type which pottered around Tyneside for a few years before the inbuilt issues with the locos and lack of appropriate work meant an early demise. This is a Silver Fox kit on Tenshodo bogies. I quite like the loco, though it is a bit late for my period, so am wondering about getting a better Heljan version and using the bogies to add a bit more va va voom to my 4-car Class 104, Something to think about. And finally, the train passes which caused the 17 to be put in the siding- another Bachmann Class 46, This is an Edinburgh-Newcastle semi-fast, and in real life, would be a rare visitor North of Newcastle, where Class 40, and later, class 47.s were used on these trains. Gateshead's 45 and 46 engines normally went South, sometimes to Kings X, but often to the Midlands and the South West,

There is nothing special about the pickups, J, other than the front piece of PCB was glued to an extra spacer between the front and centre drivers. I fitted that spacer both to give extra strength to the chassis - I dont thing those with the kit were sufficient- but at a height to allow the PCB to be flush with the bottom of the frames.. The rear PCB is glued to the firebox bottom, so is also "hidden" The chassis is live, so pickups obviously only go to the live wheels. I too will/have added extra details - the pipe running below the RH footplate to the vacuum standpipe, and a similar one on the LH side to the train heating hanging hose. Both are very conspicious on photos I have of 65110 and 65033 in later life- attached for info. Work otherwise is just bog-standard, so not worth a blow by blow. The tender is complete, and I'll not fit much more to the loco body until I fit the boiler. I fabricated the reversing lever, and will similarly fit the sanding rods , Having gone through the issues with this one, I will get another from LRM to build 65033, It's a pity that earlier builds by more accomplished folk than me seem to have vanished - was it David Addyman/Daddyman who made a whole series of mods to get the his build "right"?

Little Engines are another in the list of late lamented kits. I fought with a DJH version, and may tackle a 52F version one day. Interested to see how the leading bogie dodge works to get round curves, Mark..The curse of ex NER kits. What minimum radius are you building for?

Ian S Carr- my old Geography master..

Some many moons ago, I tarted up a Britannia, then looked for an excuse to run it at Newcastle. Yesterday I came across a photo from July 1961 of 70023 VENUS on a service train, running in following a General at Doncaster. Apparently it was borrowed by Doncaster Carr for a couple of weeks before being returned to Cardiff Canton.

I have a handful of diesels, and really should run them more often, as 1959-64 was about the height of my spotting time, D249 has a York- Edinburgh stopper. probably an extra given the Gresley coaches. Lima model, with only some moderate weathering. Class 24 backs down to reclaim the ballast train. They took over many of the goods turns during my spotting days, often with a Brake Tender at the head. There was an RTR one a few years ago, and I wish I had partaken. Loco is just renumbered Bachmann to become D5096. Thornaby got a handful of Class 27's without boiler heating, and these were apparently very popular with the crews, who were sorry to see them go to Scotland. Heading past Little Benton on a rake of empty cattle wagons would be a highly unusual turn. Loco is modified Heljan.

The S Exc Aberdeen-Kings X Fish, unusually, has a York 9F at the head. There were 2 evening trains within an hour of each other. I suspect the 9F had worked North on a Parcels and has been rostered to get it home, unless it is deputising for a failure. Either way, chances are it was a cop. 9F's, though not unknown, were rare beasts at Newcastle, even those at Tyne Dock. I have photos of a couple, one from Doncaster and another from Immingham. This loco is a GBL ex Evening Star on a Hornby tender-drive chassis, a far cry from the latest version. 92239 was a late transfer to York in September 1963 from the Southern Region.

It's sitting low at the front, Mick.There is a saddle to fit which will bring it up, but I will need to amend this part to accomodate the extended smokebox. It is the typical LRM part, with 2 folds, withe the leading part representing the smokebox front, the bottom having a hole where the front fixing bolt passes through, (so useful for positioning the boiler), and a rear part with a groove in which the boiler sits. It is the length of the short saturated smokebox. No doubt you would have one in your J25. I'll need to split the front from the etch. I' ll know for sure when I get round to fitting the smokebox. On the basis that a picture paints a thousand words,,,

Boiler cut to clear the motor and gearbox. and the extension where it enters the cab marked and cut flushto the pont where it enters the cab. time to give it a run on the layout, where a short on the leading RH live driing wheel was spotted on the curve. Hopefully now sorted. I need to think about the best order to fit the cab/boiler/smokebox, so in the meantime, I'll tackle the tender body.

I think it was his 1320. Seems very smooth and certainly powerful enough for the J21

The chassis is now up and running. I accept it looks scruffy in the photo, but It will be tarted up in due course. It was more problematic than I expected, I drilled a hole in the LH chassis to take a pin for the mechanical lubricator, fitted the brakes, then gave it a coat of Humbrol Red Primer and Railmatch Weather Black, anticipating an easy fit of a Highlevel gearbox and small Mashima motor. However, the motor, when fitted, clearly hadnt enough torque, and needed replacing. All the handling dislodged some of the work on the brakes, etc, and also damaged the paintwork - Weather Black is a fairly fine spray, and does need careful handling. But I normally weather chassis anyway, so going back in with powder and dry brush isnt an issue. 65110 had outside brake rigging, and a mechanical lubricator. You can't miss the link for latter on photos of superheated or -ex-superheated locos, so I fitted one from scrap valve gear parts from the spares box. It was so easy that I'll tackle my Q7 in the same way. The footplate fits without causing any shorts.. Tomorrow, I;ll make a suitable cut to the boiler bottom, then tackle the cab interior, including making the cut in the overlong boiler where it enters the cab, I want to replicate the wooden floor, so I soldered a flat-head screw, face down in the rear fixing point at the back of the cab, which should let let me conceal it in a recess beneath the plasticard floor.This has also given me an easy way to get the footplate on and off the chassis as I go about the build. You really do need to check everything as you go with this kit.

Others will know better, but I'd be surprised if you can get kit built locos to run reliably round R2 setrack. I find R3 can be a challenge. Best of luck and best wishes, On Little Benton, I use R4 to get out of the scenic section into the fiddle yards. Peco setrack R3 and R4 match Hornby ..the radius measurements are the same, I used bushes with the tophats inside on a PDK fold-up chassis - a B16/3 if I recall. I still had the devils own job, and on the next one, used narrower spacers.

According to Hornby, their curves are Radius 2 438 mm Radius 3 505 mm Radius 4 572 mm. I use R3 on my test track, on the basis that this is tighter than anything on the layout, so if a kit will get round that.... I enjoy building LRM kits, and am the proud owner of an N8, N9 and J25. The J21 chassis is will go into the paint shop tomorrow.

I'm currently building an LRM J21 and can report similar issues getting the wheels to turn. I'm using Romfords in OO.I have managed to get the chassis together, and to go round R3 curves after filing down the bearings..almost flat on the live side. All part of the fun as far as I am concerned, but the sort of thing which would frustrate newcomers to kit building. How I am slowly getting on is on my thread. Best wishes

It looks more like a candidate for North Road Scrapyard than Heaton Shed, but everything is just posed to get an idea of how it will go together. I started to fit the splashers to check wheel clearances, and have tack soldered the cab sides. I was given the dimensions for the extended smokebox, and this is my third, and hopefully final, attempt to roll it from 080,cm brass sheet, I still need to reduce the diameter a bit more to make a snugger join to the boiler, rather than relying on solder to hold it. The extended smokebox really alters the look of the front end of the loco, and given that may were in this condition, I dont know why the option wasnt offered in the origial kit. My current thinking is to use Archers Rivet Transfers to add the missing detail. Following Mick's comments on the coupling rods on his J25 version, I thought I'd better check mine. In the event, assembly was straightforward. I'm using bog-standard Romford crankpins, and needed to ease the holes with a broach, At this point, I think, I may as well complete the chassis and get it running, so that is the next task.

Thanks Mike, and Pebbles- really helpful. I intend to have a go at the mechanical lubricator, which is very prominent on photos of the locos with superheating. As I recall, Arthur wasnt going to inclede an etch in his kit. 65110 finished up at Heaton, where it was used, among other things, on summer excursions from Newcastle up the ECML to Morpeth then onto the branches to Rothbury and Bellingham, so fits my purposes admirably The LRM kit is a bit long in the tooth now, and a modern kit would be great. John

Thanks, but isn't that the short one, fitted to the saturated locos, or often,as in 65033, fitted when the superheated was removed Edit Apologies, Pebbles, following the info on Mike's post. You are quite correct. Thanks John

Hi Mike. In lieu of Arthur's J21 kit, I'm building the LRM version, as 65110 which kept its extended smoke box after the superheater was remove ...up to withdrawal in 1960. This isn't supplied in the LRM kit, so needs to be scratchbuilt. I can use photos, but wonder if Arthur's kit which you test built has information to confirm the width of the etch in his kit? John

Thanks, Mick. I am about to build up the basic cab, which will confirm, I think, that the boiler is too long at the back. I'll almost certainly cut it back almost flush to the cab front. Re that spacer, I should have said that I added some extra spacers, home made in this case, as those in the kit didn't give me the rigidity I wanted. I added them purely as strengtheners after I'd built the basic chassis and checked for squareness. I'm afraid I was a bit careless with that one, but it won't be seen. I'm still inclined to fabricate the extended smokebox, so will try to put the saddle together to see how it might work.

I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence. I need to get the boiler to a point where I know the motor will fit, and this involves afair bit of removal of the boiler bottom ahead of the smokebox, probably to a point just ahead of the middle splasher. I know where the front of the boiler starts, and the consequence of this is that a substantial amount of the boiler continues into the cab. There is no reference that I can see to cutting this back, though I suppose it must be done. There is a castingfor the backhead which I think, when soldered to the cab front, will give the right depth into the cab. But cutting back the boiler is a condiderable and irreversable procedure. The J25 proves I can build the kit, and the backhead in this cab was soldered to the cab front. Why cant I remember how I did it? Time for a glass of Sancerre to stimulate the little grey cells.

That spacer was a touch crooked, Mick though not as bad as it looked in the photo. Now adjusted. This is not a kit to be hurried. A week later, amongst all the festivities, the tender chassis is complete, though I'll tinker with the brakes to get them closer to the wheels - just in time for them to be hidden behing the frames. The footplates for tender and loco are ready for the detailing, and I'll start with the splashers- not my favourite job. The cab front has been married to the boiler, The instructions are clear that you need to remove metal from the cab front where the firebox sides enter.This is a job needing care, as the firebox sides also need bending out. A modern kit would have a mark on the boiler to show where the cab front goes, and slot and tabs to join it to the footplate. There is a hole in the boller bottom which os the point where a fixing bolt passis through the chassis and footplate, so that gives the forward position for the boiler. Washout plugs are etched on the boiler side, so they, plus a good drawing of the loco and lots of photos of the real thing show where the cab goes. I will be fitting the motor to the middle axle, so the boiler bottom will need to be cut to that point. Mick mentioned the J25, and this is essentially the same kit. The larger wheels of the J21 means clearances are tight. Metal needs removing from the loco footplate to prevent shorting of the live wheels, and you can see where I needed to put in a curve over the rear drivers where the firebox sides enter the cab. I don;t know where things are with ArthurK;s J21 kit, for which I think/hope I am on the waiting list. Mike Meggison built the test kits some time ago, but all has gone quiet since then.

The basic chassis is complete, to the extent that it can be pushed around the layout, through pointwork and round corners, and stay on the track. The kit supplies axle bushes, and I always fit them, As can be seen from the photo, a lot of metal needs to be removed before they pass through the chassis. I used a broach, and would not like to tackle the job without one. I suspect you could simply open uot the holes to allow the axles to pass freely and use washers to adjust sideplay, rather than fit the bearings. I had the file the tops down quite a fair bit to get the wheels to rotate freely, whilst checking all the while that the live ones didnt touch the sides, The kit doesnt have the slot and tab fixtures which are such a boon to building a nice square chassis, but instead you solder 2 spacers into notches on the top of the chassis etch. I found this a right faff, and much cursing and hot fingers resulted. I didnt think the result gave a sufficently robust chassis, so added a further 3 spacers from a Mainly Trains etch, bought via Wizard. The same applies to the tender chassis etches, and the basic tender chassis is almost there. With the tender, the dummy chassis should have been a doddle, as the kit provides an option for a fold-up alternative. But, just as with the J25 I built, it results in too wide a part, so OO wheels wont turn. I now build the basic loco chassis, tender chassis and footplate together to check clearances, and I'd suggest that is particularly important with this oldish kit, as there are fewer aids to endure everything goes together properly. Neverthelss, if other LRM Kits I've done are anything to go by, a nice loco should result after all.

I'm now at the planning stage for the LRM J21, which Santa delivered yesterday. Having built the similar J25, I don't anticipate any drastic issues. Literally hundreds of these kits must have been built over the last 50 years, though the thread I hoped to follow lost its' photos in the great purge. My preferred loco is 65110. which was long-lasting and based at Heaton, so fits my purposes. it was regularly used on summer excursions from Newcastle up the ECML to Morpeth and then on the branches to Rothbury or Scots Gap/Bellingham. The photos of the loco in BR days show a few addditions needed for the kit- prominent pipe runs along both footplate valences, outside brake rods, and amechanical lubricator drive rod from the LH middle driving wheel. More significantly, the loco kept an extended smokebox after losing its' superheater, which isnt supplied in the kit, I dont have a drawing, so if I go down that route, I'll need to estimate the extra width using the photos in Yeadon. At least this gives me an excuse to get another kit to build 65033. which has the short smokebox. It's a while since I built my last kit, so we shall see how I get on.