rowanj

Ages ago, I ordered the Tyne Dock 9F from Hattons and it arrived today- a lovely model. I felt it did need toning down, as the black plastic on such a big loco looked odd. Not wanting to do too much to the model, I used some powders just to tone the thing down, I never saw a 9F at Little Benton, and have no photographic evidence other than the time one was used for the last weekend of steam services on the Alnwick branch in 1966. I understand the Tyne Dock locos were usually needed on the Consett trains, with no room for using them on anything else. This probably eased when disels started to be used as bankers, freeing up 9F's for other work. In my world they are occasional visitors on freights. 92079 in the headshunt is the Hornby model. 92067 is a GBL body on a Railroad chassis. The difference in the size of the cabside numerals is quite striking, I used a photo of 92067 with the larger numbers taken at 51A after a General repair at the Works.

Re weathering, I'm always nervous to tackle new RTR locos, mainly because I'm not very good at it. However I decided I had to do something with the newly- arrived Hornby "Tyne Dock" 9F. It just looked too shiny and plasticky. For those like me without an airbrush or artistic ability, I find modelling powders ideal, especially if all you want is to tone down the RTR loco. I also find that occassional careful handling means I don't need to seal the powders, so reversal of the process is relatively easy, Anyway, here is my effort at 92097.

Well, the G5 wasnt headed for Heaton, and instead reversed the stock into the sidings. In real life, the sidings wre run-through, but I didnt remotely have the space to fit them in, so on the layout, they really just act as a fiddle yard. By the time I was spotting, A1's were starting to be replaced by what became Class 40, 45 and 46, and then by Deltics on passenger trains. But Madge Wildfire is still perfectly capable to take this Glasgow- Kings X to Newcastle. The new order passes in the shape of a Class 17 on a short freight headed for Backworth Goods, where the empty mineral wagons will probably be taken on to one of the local pits. Humorist again, this time on a fitted freight for Forth Goods. The model needed some attention to the loco-tender arrangement, and while I had it apart, I amended the A4 =style cylinder block and draincocks, The chassis had been originally under an A4.

The Down QoS has the usual Haymarket A3 as motive power north of Newcastle, though the unique 60097 makes a nice change. Pure ex-NER . Heaton's J21 65110 leaves the sidings with a short transfer freight. This will take the long way round to the North Tyneside Loop at Heaton and then on to Percy Main where it will hand over in the exchange sidings to an NCB tank , as the timber is destined for the Rising Sun Colliery at Wallsend. Unusually, the signalman has given it priority over the G5 - Bachmann/TMC held on the mainline with an ECS rake probably heading for Heaton Carriage Sidings,

My rather hazy memory suggests A1's were seen as often as not on express services north of Newcastle, Certainly , Gateshead used them in preference to their A4's. Meg Merrilees heads North, while Auld Reekie takes the Up Queen os Scots on the last few miles to Newcastle. She will return on the Down North Briton. A touch of ex-NER. The N9 was based at Tyne Dock until withdrawal, so a run through Little Benton with a short rake of empties would be unusual. The loco is an LRM kit. 65110 has finally been released and has an even shorter rake of open wagons back to Heaton Yard. It too is from LRM.

Another couple of somewhat unusual locos at Little Benton. I'm gradually whittling down my stock of "inapproriate" locos, but will hang on to the O4/8 which was an early conversion to the Bachmann release, and didnt turn out too badly. From memory, it was a Replica B1 boiler and cab with some Graeme King resin castings. Some of these locos were repaired at Darlington late in the day, so that is today's excuse for seeing it . Local J21, LRM kit, sits in the sidings waiting for a path back to Heaton. The Class 37 is a Lima model with replacement CD motor. It was one of the first to get to Thornaby. Though they became a common sight later, when I was spotting the class was an unusual sight at Newcastle. Presumably it has worked a freight in from Teesside and then been borrowed for a relief to Edinburgh.

A couple of unusual SO trains pass Litlle Benton South. The B16/3, a PDK kit, has an excusion from Berwick to York, having picked up passengers at Beal, belford, Chathill and Alnmouth. It is a North Northumberland NFU trip, and the B16 has been on a turn to Tweedmouth, so this is a convenient way to get it home, Notice the pink elephants flying overhead? More plausibly, Blenheim thas the Leicester-Craigendoran, the loco is just a renamed Hornby, and the LMS stock re-sided Airfix. I keep intending to make my LMS rake more prototypical, but cannot find a description of the stock for this train. If anyone knows....

It must be 1966. Gateshead has just taken delivery of its' first pair of Class 17's. and has it on a short load of open wagons. I don't recall ever seeing one at Little Benton, though I do have a photo of one heading for Tyneside at Little Benton North in 1968. By 1966, my spotting days were almost over. Withdrawal of J27 and Q6 locos was well underway from the SE Northumberland sheds, and K1's and Ivatt 43xxx locos were arriving. To see these lined mixed-traffic locos at the head of rakes of hoppers was an incongrous sight, They were usually in deplorable external condition. Though hardly unknown, K1's were not that common around Tyneseide,although they did get in from Darlington from time to time. Alnmouth had a pair for the Alnwick service and for local freight turns, and were kept reasonably clean. 62006 has either had a spell there, or has been on excursion duty. With the best will in the world, I'm not going to try to get it into North Blyth condition..

Those TMC/Bachmann G5's are really nice models. 67261 has the early morning Blyth - Central train, one of the very few which would use the ECML through Little Benton. Making sense of the Blyth and Tyne services post -war is a bit of a brain-puzzler, Most services to Newcastle went to Manors north via South Gosforth- not very helpful for my layout. Latterly the usual way to Blyth was via the North Tyneside electic train to Monkseaton then up the Avenue Branch to Newsham. The re-opened service from August 2024 will use the more obvious route between Central and Ashington.

The 1963 WTT is interesting, as I hadn't realized that 1car was detached at Newcastle. 5 running North, and dropping the FK would suit my layout, (and save a bit of cash, too). 8 coach trains are all I can comfortably accommodate. When spotting at Central, there always seemed to be a car carrier stabled near the parcels at the East end of the station. Though, in my memory of 60 years ago, I remember more than 1, but rather a rake, I suppose that it could have been just a single coach, though it may have been a pair for the Up and Down services. And a spare? The idea of putting your car on a train to get from Newcastle to Edinburgh ,120 miles, would be ludicrous today. Even then, it would appear odd. Didn't the service in earlier years go to Perth? 1955 is the usually quoted date for the start of the service. Finally,did they really, as note d suggests, serve meals at all seats, including the FK and BSK?

Happy to wish my great pal Brian all the best with his move,the news of which he shared we me a few weeks ago. When I read some, admittedly few, posts on some threads, I am convinced I wouldnt let a minority of RM Webbers past the front door, Them (originally via the GBL thread,) I come across Sir William and a real friendship is born, albeit we have never met and only spoken a handful of times. Best wishes with the move and the new layout, and hope 2024 sees us having a pint somewhere near the G&WR,

I had a couple of NuCast G5's but couldnt resist the TMC/Bachmann releases, and bought a couple. here they are, in all their "out of the box" glory, They run beautifully and I think they look a treat. They are far too pristine, of course, but photos of them in the 1950's suggest they did get cleaned pretty often. So far, all I have done is add the bits from the detailing pack, G5' were staple motive power on the Blyth and Tyne rains from Newcastle and Monkseaton to Blyth and Newbiggin The locos are a "bog-standard" 67342 with Westinghouse brakes and early crest - the one on the rake of ex-NER carriages-, and 67261 with push-pull equipment and late crest. 42 was a Sunderland loco, so unlikely to get through Little Benton and should therefore be re-numbered. 61 was a Blyth loco until late 1955, when it too went to Sunderland, so to work my layout, it should have an early crest. Alternatively, changing one number to 67281 would give me a Blyth loco with a late crest. What to do? For the time being, nothing, while I continue re-laying a fiddle yard whose tracks looked like they were crossing the Cheviot Hills.

60041 was common as muck so largely ignored by us as we searched for rarer breeds. It was often on freights by 1960 when I began serious number collection, and here she is on exactly that sort of duty. The loco is an original Wills kit, on a modern Hornby chassis, bought when you could get them for a reasonable price. The tender is a Dave Alexander body kit, designed for a Hornby tender-drive, but fitted in this case on the later version.

Always great fun trainspotting at Longdrem, Eric.

Two latest acquisitions from my "downsizing" friend, 60077 is a bog-standard Hornby from the very first issue of the China- built loco drive models. The loco was at Heaton until 1960, then went to Holbeck, affter which it rarely, if indeed ever, appeared on Tyneside. All I have done is add a vacuum standpipe and draincocks, I may well, however, renumber it to represent Blink Bonny which was on the railtour I mentioned in an earlier post. I need to check when , 77, got the German blinkers. Well, it turns out that was in1961, so this photo must be from 1963, at which time she was at 64A (though looks far too clean for a loco from there), Here, she is on an express for Edinburgh. The B16/3 is quite a different kettle of fish. Brian built a classic cut and shut, using parts from a B12, J39, K3 and D11, I believe all ex GBL magazine. The chassis is modified Hornby B12, with Comet extras. How he did it iwas posted on his thread some time ago, and the result is so good, and particularly "Do-able", that I;ve asked if I can post some of the work on my "build" thread. I think many visitors there are of an LNER persuasion, while his devotees are sad ex-LMS types, The only issue I may have is the tender, which is a great effort to get a GC to NER representation, but I think the top detail ahead of the front coal rail may need amending- it should have a pair of tool boxes. Or should it?

When I was 10, I went with my parents to Blenheim Palace, and was fascinated by it and the history of the Duke of Marlborough- and Mrs Rowanj and I have been back many times since. So it is no surprise that I was always happy to see Blenheim on its' regular visits to Tyneside, or that I have a model of the loco. This one is about the 3rd version I've had over 50 years, and is the first version of the China loco-drive model, itself now superceeded. The A3 is on the Down Queen of Scots, which is made up of the correct formation North of Leeds, All the cars are the all-steel K-types, the latest from Hornby, Putting the rake together took a fair bit of research, a fair bit of help and a fair bit of cash. I have 3 "spares" including a couple of the earlier K types which were known to have been in the train when the purpose-built cars were unavailable. Leaving the sidings is a Thornaby EE Class 3 (37) taking my newly acquired twins back to Teesside. I needed to adjust the bogie on the artic centre bogie, and it now manages all my curves and dodgy trackwork with impunity.

Thanks for the comments on the "twins", which have now been re-united with their correct siblings. The LNER pair are ready to go into service in a rake. The ex-GN pair need a bit of work to get tound my bends- the corridor connectors touch and cause a derailment. Meanwhile, my MikeTtrice/Bachmann V2 heads for Tyneside. The train may be The North Briton, a service we saw regularly, For spotters looking for cops, it never produced anything very interesting, It also had a poor reputation for time-keeping, and was nicknamed by staff as The Ancient Briton. Equally boring to the spotters is the Class 101 on a local to Morpeth. Now, of course, I would pay a fortune for the chance to go back and see a scene like this, The photo taken a few days ago at the same location shows how much our railway landscape has changed. Whether it's for the better is a matter of opinion.

And , to quote Young Frankenstein, here is something distinctly "Abbe - normal". A great friend id downsizing, and kindly donated this pair of artic twins. I need to research the diagrams, of which I know next to nothig, to find a reasonable turn for them around Tyneside. But they are lovely models and a generous gift. The current excuse is a Rugby Special between Durham and Northumberland, Darlington's L1 has brought them up from Hartlepool to Morpeth, and is now on its' way home, The passengers are pretty disgruntled, having suffered a hammering,

Starting with something "normal", a local K3 is on its' typical turn of a freight for Berwick and Edinburghj. These turns were shared with St Margarets, and K3's were common motive power. Unlike further South , it seems to have been a rare event to see them on passenger duties- the only photo I have of one on Tyneside is captioned as an ECS train.

I'm not sure what has brought this D49/1 to Little Benton. Possibly, a Casual at Darlington has resulted in a run-in up to tyneside, and Heaton has hung on to Berkshire for a service to Berwick. The loco started out as a Hornby Railroad , to which I added a GC tender body. My repainted Bachmann J72 has been held (for some days, actually) in the sidings, but is at last about to be released to get empty fish and meat vans to Heaton Yard, ready for a return trip to Tweedmouth, Finally, a photo I recently found on Facebook has 60001 on a cattle train heading North at Alnmouth in 1963. I have a model of Sir Ronald, and a rake of cattle wagons, so may try to replicate this, albeit that my loco has a single chimney, Despite the typical external condition of the loco, posts on the 52A threaf on Facebook by ex-employees would seem to suggest that this A4 was highly regarded for its' reliability, especially after the double chimney was fitted.

I had a schoolmaster, I S Carr, who was a well-known railway photographer. He was a source of loco name and number plates from scrapped locos, and I remember paying 10 shillings for the plate from an Ivatt "MT 41xxx. I sold it later when cash was short for £20, carrying it down to Kings Cross by train where I passed it to its' new owner. Ian Carr organised seats on specials, and in 1965 I went from Newcastle to York behind A3 Blink Bonny, where the preserved FlyingScotsman was on a Special going North, We then went behind a B1 to Whitby, reversed to Middlesbrough, then went from there to Newcastle behind Q7 63460. I remember a photo stop at the closed station at Wellfield. Here is my attempt to represent the last lap, though my Q7 is 63464.

The photos in the previous post were taken from more or less behind where the Q6 is, at the head of a rake of empty mineral wagons. The leading pair are the recently released Chivers 21T wagons. I modified the leading one to represent a replated wagon, having seen it done on one of Wallsrails excellent Youtube videos. The Chivers kits are, I think, excellent value at £10. You need to supply wheels and bearings, and couplings, Transfers are from CCT.

I went trainspotting at Little Benton for real this morning, for the first time in at least 55 years. The scene today is barely recognisable, but I did spot a steam engine, Not a cop, unfortunately.

I built this kit some time ago, John. It went together well, and Little Engines, sadly missed, had a good reputation. It suffers from the usual issue we/I have with NER bogies in getting it round corners without shorting on the cylinder block. I resorted to under scale bogie wheels. It gets out on the layout from time to time, so I will get a photo taken. Good luck to Paul in getting an Rtr chassis to work. I would follow that build with interest. John

I know 3D printed locos are not to everyone's taste on WW, but they can produce a useful loco and allow for added detailing and modifications to enhance modelling skills. This is a print of ex Lambton/NCB No 5, now under restoration on the NYMR, and was produced in part to raise funds to get the loco back in service, What I did to get the loco running is on my thread in the Kitbuilding section. This is its' first run out in service on my Little Benton layout.