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Re Daddyman's comment, Yeadon is quite clear that new tender bodies were built, However, captions to relevant photos in my Bellwood Books state equally clearly that the original tender bodies had the rorron coal rails removed and new skins fitted over the exisiting sides. It looks like the tender sides are in 2 parts, The bottom part reaches to a point where the curve on the NER tender would have begun, and a second piece is welded from there completing the tender side, and giving them the GS look. A similar looking mod appears at the rear. I'm still trying to work out the difference in dimensions, The sides certainly need to be about 4mm longer than my original effort. The front curve is shorter than on my first effort, but I cant quite tell from the photos where the curve at the back of the tender begins, The whole tender sides also look to be taller than a GS version, I think what I need to do is complete the tender chassis and footplate, then, short of tracking down a photo or drawing with the appropriate dimensions, construct a few plasticard versions until I get something which looks like what I can see in the various photos. I see now why Mike didnt bother....

I spent a couple of hours looking through all the photos I have of the D20 with the modified tender, I'll be able to build suitable sides and back, and have a good idea where the coal dividers go, but still can't identify the water filler, or details of the fronk bulkhead, However.... i assembled the dummy chassis - a really nice etching, The tender footplate, like all of Arthur's kits which I have built, comes in 2 layers, The lower one has the inner and outer buffer beams and side valances attached, and these are folded down using the half-etched lines. All very easy, but this revealed an issue with my homemade new sides, which I had been beginning to suspect., On the real thing, the descriptions all talk about the new sides as "similar to GS 3500 gallon", which they are. They were used when the original coal rails began to rot, and were a skin added over the original sides. I cut my part from an Ian Beattie drawing, and it is now clear that, while they may be accurate for an LNER tender, they are about 1 ft shorter than those fitted to the D20. I'll go back to my photo stash to see where the extra space occurs, and try to cut out a side of the correct length, then see where we go. from here.

He didnt go ahead, unfortunately, I should be OK if I can find a decent top-down view, and a view of the front end, For all I know, they were not changed during the rebuild, but I'll not make any irreperable change to the kit until I find out.

60506 leaves a lot be be deired, but it has a bit of sentimental value. being one of the first DJH kit I attempted. This was in the days when DJH attended the Newcastle MRS , and the kits included a full set of wheels, Although, over the years, I have reduced the "strangers" who would rarely, if ever, be seen at Little Benton, the Wolf has survived, I do have a photo of her at Newcastle, but new England locos north of that would be like gold dust to the spotters, Putting her on The Queen of Scots is adding insult to injury. I'm thinking of dragging her into works to do a bit of tarting up to become 60502. The D20 on the headshunt is there for photographic purposes, as I begin a Northeastern Kit of sister loco 62383, This one is modified DJH with a Dave Alexander tender,

NorthEastern Kits recently did a run of the D20, and I managed to get one. I'm at the very early stage of the build, but one thing I hope to do is build 62383, one of the locos based at Alnmouth which had a rebuilt tender top more or less akin to the smaller GS3500 Gallon version. Whether I get away with this without spoiling the tender remains to be seen, but I have begun to cut out the sides. The photo shows how the new tender, in my opinion, does nothing for the sleek looks of the loco when it was paired with an original ex-NER version, However this will give me an appropriate loco for the layout, and provide a counterpoint to the DJH version I built some time ago, I'll post a photo of that version here for comparison purposes. If I remember correctly, the kit was of a saturated (original) loco, with a short smokebox and Worsdell frames, which I extended and replaced with the Raven version. The DJH tender was replaced by one from Dave Alexander, and is now towed behind a J39.

I don't have much 3rd rail stock, and, of what I do have, 26500 is an unlikely sight at Little Benton. However I saw the 26500 and 26501, or at least one of them, on almost every trip from my home in Wallsend to Central. The Bachmann model is quite splendid, and I found it irresistable. It has an unlikely pick-up goods turn probably from Tynemouth to Trafalgar Yard. All fictional, I'm afraid,

This photo caused a bit of a stir on a Facebook page when I posted it, so I may as well put it up here. heading south past Little Benton South, North Tyneside DMBS , on e of only 2 built for the Contol Unit (need to research what that was),leads a 2-car South Tyneside EBP, with a North Tyneside MPV at the rear, No date but probably c 1958, Lots of speculation about what was going on. More prosaically, 65033 completes its'test runs by taking a LOCO coal train out of the sidings to Heaton, The signal guarding the mainline was alyays of interest to us spotters, as it heralded the next arrival on the Up line. Home only meant, in all probability, another J27 on a load of hoppers,-. If the distant was also pulled, it presaged something a bit more exciting,. The whole model Ratio signal is about to be pulled, as I have discovered it should also have a dolly to control the siding nearest the Up mainline,

I get the odd query about the 3rd rail on my layout. It was used a couple of times each day for "express" EMU services from Whitley Bay via Monkseaton to Newcastle, usually early morning and evening for business travel to and from Newcastle, In addition it saw occasional use to get stock back to South Gosforth Sheds, The photo shows such a train, an 8-car set made up of 4 x 2-car articulated sets. The photo is from about 200 yards beyond the northern limit of my layout. I would love to have a model of the ex LNER North Tyneside EMU's- Dave Alexander was in the process of developing a kit before his death- and , one of these days..... The NW curve which the train is following was removed in the 1980's when the Rowntree factory at Fawdon ceased rail operations, To the right, just beyond the photo, is the sole remaining SE curve, currently freight only, but due to be the route of the re-opened Northumberland Line to Ashington. The second photo shows the 8.27 express passing the site of the lifted sidings in 1967, the last year before the EMU's were replaced by DMU's

Hi Gilbert. Even I as, a mere stripling of 74, have these "Oh Dear" moments. Does Great Northern Towers perhaps have the facility for a smaller train set? Perhaps a stripped down version of Peterborough East, it too set in 1958.

The end of railway Modelling must really be nigh if it made it onto BBC Breakfast the other day. To be fair the BUT ( which is how the BBC always follows any good news these days) Broadcasting Corp, gave a very positive spin on the hobby on its' piece from Spalding MRC. Perhaps the aAmaggedon of the loss of Hattons and Warley has been a tad exaggerated? I have just finished the LRM J21 as in the photograph. Once I could have wandered into the Newcastle Model Shop or Northumbria Models and picked up a kit, along with all the wheels and motor and anything else I needed, Now, in Newcastle, only Fenwicks exists with its; Hornby franchise (at RRP's_. To get the J21 built involved an online order for the body/tender and separate orders and delays for the motor, gearbox and wheels. Nothing insuperable, but hardly as convenient as in days of yore, especially when some parts were missing, I wouldn't have bothered if an RTR had been available. I am firmly of the view that you have to enjoy building kits, and have the confidence to believe you can complete them to your own satisfaction and get them to run to make the exercise worthwhile, In fact, I suspect that the building exercise is nore important than actually running them is at least as important to many However, for most folk, the majority of stock you need is available RTR and will be better than you can build and paint yourself anyway. Nowadays, I build to fill in the gaps, and for the pleasure of construction, and I'm old enough not to care if anyone thinks my efforts are not good enough.

My latest effort is this LRM J21, which I built as the preserved 65033 in the period between its; last General in 1956 and its' repaint in 1860 for a railtour. It and 65110 were the last survivors, both at Heaton, and so seeing them at Little Benton is not the most improbable thing to happen on my trainset.

How about these?

Might these do? What about the throw compared to the ones in the kit?

This photo, undated but I suspect around 1960, turned up the other day on a Facebook site I visit, The Q6 passes Little Benton South cabin. Unusually, at least in my memory, is the coaching stock in the sidings, It may be mid-week, during the Summer, when the SO Glasgow -Whitley-Bay was kept there for a week, before returning to Glasgow on the following Saturday, The loco is heading into the headshunt- something I never saw. Looking at the points, it has come down, headed for Newcastle, on the siding nearest the mainlines, and will presumably reverse to collect wagons from the line behind the rake of coaches.

Although I did take a number of photos during the build, mainly to check how it was looking, I frankly could not see any point in postibg them. How many hundreds of this kit have been built since it was originally lintroduced getting on for 50 years ago? And by much better modellers than me. I didnt do anything unusual to the kit. I've built a J21 before, and the similar J25 and still struggle to get the boiler cab adaptation right, Clearances for 20mm Romfords were very tight, and I needed some pretty serious filing before the wheels wouldnt short, I was glad I used the vive chassis method, as I would not have wanted to foght uninsulated wheels on both sides. Having said that, I don;t see why anyone with even moderate experience would have a problem building this kit. I wanted 65033, the preserved loco, in its' post 1956 guise, -after its' last General at Darlington. Yeadon 47A has a photo of each side so that was the basis. Using 0.7mm rod, I added the pipework which runs along the bottom of the valance on both sides, and the long LH and short RH rods leading to the front sandboxes. The dome and smokebox are from ArthurK, and I used a hook and bar combo from loco to tender, On my layout thread, I'll show photos of 33 alongside 65110, the other survivor into the 60's.- they were overhauled, and the superheater removed at more or less the same time, On 65033, I fitted the shorter smokebox, fitted when the superheater was removed. I was surprised to see the link from the LH centre driver to the mechanical lubricator had been removed from 33 but left on 110 after the superheater was removed, so that saved a job and created another visual difference between the pair. they will work alongside my Dave Alexander version, which is the loco with vacuum brake removed and brake linkage behind the wheels. So here it is, awaiting a bit of touching up. then weathering. I know folk find some the inaccuracies in the dimensions - I forget what they are, but I think the splashers were an issue-but I'm content with how it turned out. Just don't use the supplied axle bushes, and save yourself hours of work and blistered fingers!

A5/2 69839 leaves the sidings to head back to Darlington. It has arrived on a Special of some sort- possibly a race meeting at Gosforth Park, However I have determined, as is my right as "Medium-build Contoller", that this was the occasion of an Inter-Counties Rugby match between Durham and Northumberland, held at Northern Rugby Club, The presence of the Composite suggests that the Club President and other Board members attended, The loco was converted from a Craftsman kit. I is probably an A5 one and 3 quarters, as there are some inaccuracies. I changed the chimney and dome, reprofiled the cab roof and amended the spectacle plates, changed it to LH drive, and did a few other mods which I cant remember, It sort of looks the part,

I can see William Whitelaw whenever I like, as it is one of my stud of 64B's A4's. Here, she passes Lilltle Benton heading for Waverley. I saw all the A4's which passed into BR hands, If you could get into Gateshead, which was decidedly tricky, or even get a decent view over the wall, there was a good chance to see a selection from 34A, 52A or 64B waiting for the next turn, Regrettably, I have very few memories of particular locos, including 60004. I do remember 60001 bringing condemned wagons into Little Benton Sidings, 60002 racing North through Chathill, and 60003 standing at Platform 9 at Central waiting to leave on the Up Tees-Tyne Pullman, We always groaned when the A4 turned out to be either 60005 or 60019, Of the rest, I have no particular memory, though I saw them all.

This loco was DCC fitted, and I did wonder if this was the reason for the jerky running, while in reverse, on my DC layout. Going forward , it was fine. On my test track with another Gaugemaster, it ran perfectly, so that seemed to discount any parts jamming or snagging, Getting the body off without damaging anything was a bit of a pig but once a blanking plate was fitted, the loco behaved properly on the layout. I took the oppertunity to dust down the "shine" with Humbrol powders, noticing that, when I re-numbered it, I hadnt altered the smokebox door-now rectified,

60004 does not seen to have been photographed very often even on Tyneside, never mind further south.Other than on a railtour in 1965, all my photos of WILLIAM WHITELAW are in Scotland, usually at either Waverley or Haymarket, and on trains heading north to Dundee or beyond, It is underlined in my ABC, so I must have seen it, either at Little Benton or Central, 64B's top-link drivers had allocated locos, so perhaps the pair allocated to 60004 had a reluctance to cross the Border!!!! Here is the last of my acquisitions from 46256, It arrived as STEADY AIM which I already had, so has become 60517 OCEAN SWELL, which we saw very often when it was at Heaton, then Tweedmouth, I had the plates, and my ancient HMRC transfer sheet had a perfect match to replace only the last digit, Checking photos, I realised I need to replace the rimless chimney with a Graeme King resin casting, The smokebox door also was differnt, with the numberplate on the lower hinge, Here she is on an Edinburgh - Kings X relief to The Heart of Midlothian,

Busy day at Little Benton. The Ashington Miners train, hauled by RSH No 40, is parked in the sisings. I took this photo for a Facebook thread, but thought I may as well share it here. The loco body was a scratch build gifrt from my pal, 46256. Speaking of him, I bought 4 of the locos he didnt need when he was downsizing, As both mine and Jesus' birthdays are in December, they were perloined for presents, The last pair arrived on Christmas Day. The Hornby A3 model has seen a few identities, It seems to have started as Coronach, then was altered by Brian into Woolwinder, a 34A loco. I was tempted to keep it as that, as it was one of the very last I saw in BR service, as it stood light engine for a really good while at Central on what I think was my last spotting day there. However, Woolwinder would have been a very rare bird at Little benton, so , having alternative nameplates, it has had a further identity crisis and is now 60101 Cicero from 64B, Those down South who died waiting to see her will need to wait a bit longer as she heads back home on a stopper, The spotters will actually be much more interested in 76024 from 51A, as it heads a loaded cattle train to Darlington. Just a bog-standard re-numbered Bachmann, but it will need to go into works to see why it is a jumpy runner in reverse.

With the boiler just placed on the chassis, and thus making it look like a scrapyard case, 65033 is on test with my 3 ex-NER coaches. Even without weight, it handled the load easilym but I will add lead on due course. As I suspected, the DJH AM2 was lust too big, in that it protruded into the cab, I uses a mashima 1220 I had with a Highlevel Roadrunner gear box. Other than some tidying, the chassis is almost finished, and both loco and tender footplates and splashers are pitted to check clearances, which are very tight, I doubt I;ll get much more done over the next week, but the rest is just detailing and not reallly worthy of much comment or photos- unless, of course, I cock things up.... Incidentally, I'm wondering if it's feasible to convert a J25 kit to represent a J24, I know from Yeadon that the wheelbase was shorter on the J24, but photos of the pair look remarkably similar. I would go with a North Eastern kit, but understand it is long out of stock.

5 ft 10 rounded to 6 ft? Who says size isn't everything?. Best wishes. John

Thanks, Eric. That makes the famous photo of Golden Plover on the train at Queen Street even more unusual- A4;s seem to have been very rare birds on the QoS. John

A couple of month's ago, I asked on this thread, and others, for help in identifying suitable coaches for a push-pull set to go with the TMC/ Bachmann G5, I also showed my weathered loco, using powders which I find a safer option on expensive RTR for the "artistically challenged" folk like myself, Here is the result in action. The driving trailer is an ex-NER Dia 162 , built from a D$S kit, Dan kindly responded to a letter and he has/had a few ex-NER OO kits in stock, including this one, Behind it is an Isinglass Gresley 3rd, and finally, next to the loco, a "one-off" Dia 320 Gresley driving trailer, again from Isinglass. Andrew was able to supply the non-standard sides and small=windowed front, and , after I convinced him that this coach actually did run on them, Fox bogies. So, as a result of lots of information from RMwebbers, and great and friendly service from "small suppliers", I now have a pretty authentic rendition of a Monkseaton- Blyth /Newbiggin push-pull set Best wishes to all for Xmas and 2024.

Finally, for 2023, spotters get to see the 3 models I spent most time on this year, The push-pull set heads for Newcastle, with the D&S ex-NER driving trailer at the head, and the pair of Isinglass Gresley's behind. The loco is the regular TMC?Bachmann G5. Irish Elegance takes the Queen of Scots to Glasgow, Would it have come off at Waverley? 64B did use their A2's, (including their A2/1's) on this turn, which was the return trip from the North Briton. An A3 seems to have been the preferred loco. I recently found a photo of Ocean Swell from Heaton on this train, so non-Haymarket locos did appear on the QoS North of Newcastle. Finally Robert Stephenson Lambton No 5 , currently on the NYMR, waits patiently to take a short train out of the sidings to Weetslade, This is a 3D print on a Bachmann chassis, but I recall with horror how much metal had to be removed to get the body to fit, However, a nice loco has come out of it, Finally, finally, best wishes for Christmas, and have a Happy Modelling New Year,