Tony Wright

Pleased to report that the Gibson 4F has sold. More models later................

Good morning, Of course; you're right. My mistake, since altered. Regards, Tony.

I've photographed what's left of the Peter Lawson collection which I have (the rest is elsewhere). There were five 4Fs. The best is this Gibson example; a fine runner, £150.00 to anyone interested. There were two with Airfix bodies running on Comet frames (both sold to a friend yesterday). And two, old Wills 4Fs, though running on etched chassis for the loco. These are of their time........... But still tolerable layout locos. This is the only loco so far in the collection which is noisy; by that I mean too noisy. Light engine, it's fine, but under load it really growls. I'll investigate. Though I've already got double figure numbers of 4Fs for the small bit on LB, I've decided to buy this Wills pair myself, though whether 4Fs from Crewe South or Alsager ever got as far east as Bytham is a moot point. Glaze the spectacles, add a crew and fit appropriate lamps, and they're now 'Bytham' locos! Another good runner................ Is this Gibson Stanier Mogul; £150.00 to anyone interested. An 82XXX was seen earlier. Here's one from the collection, built from a Kemilway kit. £90.00 to anyone interested. I'll post the rest of the images tomorrow. Prices reflect the condition and the quality of the various drives, though all (apart from the one 4F) run well.

Good afternoon Captain, There are, and I hope the captions I provided for many of the Chester/Wirral pictures are accurate (the B1 at the General is not running wrong road. I was over-ruled!). Regards, Tony.

Good afternoon Mark, 'Do you have any pictures of the 84xxx running on Little Bytham Tony?' Only the one I took yesterday. The loco is now safely wrapped up for posting tomorrow. 'Also, has a Standard Class 3MT 77xxx ever run on Little Bytham?' If one has, I haven't photographed it; so, the answer is probably 'no'. Regards, Tony.

Good afternoon William, The plan (always 'dangerous' where I'm involved) is for me to go over to Cheshire and photograph Peter's layout for a magazine article/posterity later this year. Enough locos and stock have been kept back for that purpose. The Chester-Birkenhead road was double track as far as (I think) Ledsham, where it became four tracks as far as, at least, Rock Ferry. The quadruple track was paired by speed (in typical L&NWR/GWR fashion). Over 50 years ago, I travelled the line from Chester to Birkenhead Central (changing at Rock Ferry) to my job, teaching in Birkenhead. I started by driving, but I could never afford a reliable enough car at the time! DMUs were the order of the day, the through expresses having ceased a year or so before. I used these in the '60s, on trainspotting jaunts to Liverpool. The Paddington expresses were tightly-timed, usually hauled by Stanier 2-6-4Ts, running at speed, with just two stops 'twixt the General and Woodside (Hooton and Rock Ferry). There's a Stanier 2-6-4T in the collection (which I'm photographing later, along with the rest of the locos/stock). Regards, Tony. Regards, Tony.

Good afternoon John, They were brought along by David Rae. He bought them from the estate of the late John Brown of Spalding MRC. I believe they were made from kits, but from what source and by whom, I have no idea. I thought the whole ensemble was rather splendid, too. Regards, Tony.

Good afternoon William, I saw half the class, but I cannot remember any ever being painted green. A few of the 82XXXs which worked the Chester-Birkenhead road were, however. As I've mentioned, Peter Lawson's layout was representative of the Chest-Wirral district, and every loco I've handled so far, I saw the prototype of! Regards, Tony.

My goodness me! I could have sold five made-up DJH 84XXXs, but there was only one.

I've been to Roger Daltrey's home. And photographed Pete Waterman's model collection. That's all, with regard to music. It's not really my 'thing'.

I've just started photographing more of the Peter Lawson collection. This is the first; a delightful DJH 84XXX. Portescap-powered and a really sweet runner, I'm asking £140.00 (I'll straighten the step!). Anyone interested, please PM me.

The usual LB operating team gathered today, and we almost ran the sequence without fault (I set a road incorrectly). No matter, because much enjoyment was had. Geoff West brought along............. This DC kits Derby Lightweight DMU, built/painted by the late Ken Gibbons originally for Gilbert Barnatt. Gilbert later sold it to Geoff (presumably because it's not RTR?). It's run on Bytham before, but not that well because the two cars were coupled by tension-locks attached to the inner bogies. Running caused the bogies to 'jump', so Geoff has arranged the couplings to work via the headstocks. The result? Perfect running. Last month, David Rae bought a 3D-printed body off me for a Lambton tank (donated for CRUK - thanks Les). A Bachmann pannier chassis came with it. I made a pony truck for it, and David married it to the chassis, completed it and painted it; to make this rather splendid (and unusual) loco. The appropriate wagons are kit-built. Thanks for bringing these, chaps.

Great stuff Jesse, Hijack away! Regards, Tony.

Just to report on a splendid show at Cotgrave over the weekend. My thanks to the organisers, the exhibitors, traders and visitors with whom I spoke. All together I made over £110.00 for CRUK, thanks to material donations sold, direct donations placed in my CRUK collecting box and donations for my fixing 'dud' locomotives. I fixed quite a few, but one defeated me - an N Gauge big Prairie which was completely dismantled and presented to me in a polythene bag. Even the rods had been taken off the wheels! 'It didn't work, so I took it apart. Do you think you can fix it?'. 'No!'. The most amusing 'fix' involved a Scotsman who handed over a Tesco bag with four Tri-ang Hornby locos piled on top of each other. 'My grandson bought these at Ally Pally last month off a second-hand trader. He was told that they worked. They don't'. A clean of the wheels/pick-ups, a clean of the commutators, brush adjustment and a few drops of oil, and away they all went. His donation was generous!

Good evening Andy, I'm comparing the price I'm asking with the price of the component parts of the kits. For instance, I sold a very nice DJH Crab today for £150.00 (anything higher, and it won't move). It works well and is very well-finished in lightly weathered condition. The last price I can find from DJH (yes, I know the range has gone to Squires, but the prices are unlikely to come down) is on parity with that, or a bit more. So, all the wheels (Romford/Markits) and the drive (Mashima and gearbox) are effectively 'free', as is the build-time and painting. Total cost of all the parts? At least £100.00 more! I don't think it's a comparison, it's a contrast. My preferences are well-known. I generally have less time for layouts which are RTR-dependent with regard to locos. As you know, Bytham has very few (which are never used, anyway!), and the locos from the Peter Lawson collection are far more interesting to me than anything RTR, new or second-hand. Interesting to me, but not to the 'general' population of 'modellers' out there it might seem, at least not interesting enough to pay what I'd consider a 'fair' price. That said, my thanks to those who are buying them. I assure you, you've got some real bargains! I'll be posting pictures later this week. Regards, Tony.

Good evening Robert, All the ex-LMS carriages have gone, and most of the ex-GWR ones sold today. Regards, Tony.

It was a typo Graeme, But you rescued it! Regards, Tony.

A few things are beginning to dawn on me now with regard to the 'value' of the locos/stock I'm selling on behalf of bereaved/distressed families of late. All the locos/rolling stock are kit-built (Mo and I don't 'deal' in RTR), and, in the main, it's of a good/high standard. The most-recent locos run particularly well. Yet, I'm struggling to even get the cost of the components. I took some locos to Doncaster, Preston and York, and, while a few sold, I still came back with several. Yet, I'd priced them at under the cost of a new kit and all the bits to build it. Granted, the making of locos (at least to the likes of me) is more important than buying them ready-made (why should I pay for something I can build myself?). And, from anecdotal evidence, it would appear that unmade kits (by that I mean in a virgin state) are more-desirable than the equivalent made-up item. What I find hard to reconcile is the difference in price now between reasonable kit-built locos and current RTR. Most big RTR steam-outline locos (not DCC) are in excess of £200.00 - well in excess in some cases; in fact, are we reaching the £300.00 barrier? Though, in some cases, I've got near price-parity for equivalent types, for most of the time I'm well below it - and the models still don't shift! I suppose RTR stuff is 'guaranteed', and, to be fair, the quality in terms of accuracy and finish is better than most kit-built equivalents, but are they as robust? Will they last as long? Do they give the same satisfaction? Who knows? We'll keep on trying our best. The cause deserves it.

Good morning Robert, A couple of communications, the answering of a few questions, and it looks like the ex-LMS carriages have already gone! There are some very nice ex-GWR carriages, however. That said, I'll have them for sale at the Cotgrave Show this weekend, so there might not be a need for any photography. Regards, Tony.

PEREGRINE? Anyone who can clearly remember seeing an A4 named after the fastest creature on the planet (how apposite?) must be very old now. Me? This is how I remember seeing the last-built A4............ I had to have a model of LORD FARINGDON because I was at Retford when it went through light engine, captured in a Keith Pirt picture. Fresh from the Plant, she positively gleamed! I made it from a much-altered Bachmann body, mounted on a South Eastern Finecast chassis and towing an SEF corridor tender (with cut-down rear end). Ian Rathbone produced the perfect paint job. She was a regular............ On Stoke Summit............ And is now always used on the principal expresses on Little Bytham......... The morning Talisman. As well as the afternoon Talisman. And other, non-named expresses. Packed with lead, she's far more powerful than any RTR equivalent and really is (in my view) an ideal 'layout loco'.

By successful, does it mean that I can now sing Soprano? No, thankfully. Regards, Tony.

I know a picture can be 'posed'. However, Just to prove to Jesse Sim (who's buying this loco) that this O4/3 just played with 40 wagons (some white metal). In fact, all of Peter Lawson's locos so far are more than capable of easily shifting prototype-length trains (even the Pro-Scale B1, now it's packed with lead). I'm tempted to buy one or two for myself; including........... This Little Engines O4/8; I suppose I better had, having changed the pony wheels to the correct number of spokes type, fitted a lamp and glazed the spectacles. And installed a crew and fireirons. Of all the many locos so far I've checked, this was the only one which didn't run as well as expected. It grinded along, then the motor just spun. On investigation, the gearwheel grub-screw had become loose, and the wheel was no longer centred. Less than a couple of minutes' adjustment, a tightening of the grub-screw, and now she's fine. It makes an interesting comparison with............. The O4/8 I cobbled together from various bits and pieces last year. This Austerity below ran fine without any need of tweaking................ Built from a DJH kit, the only thing I've had to do is find a replacement for the nearside front buffer (which had got knocked off, somehow). Having masses of spares has its uses! It 'suffers' in comparison with later-built Austerities in only having etched overlays to represent the characteristic driving wheels. With the correct depth/relief to the inside. Nonetheless, 90147 performs faultlessly. It's for sale, and I'm asking £150.00 for it; anyone interested, please PM me. Speaking of 90147, being Mold Junction-allocated (6B), it's one I saw regularly, as I did the Gorton-allocated O4s built by Peter. In fact, most of his locos (built to be representative of the Chester/Wirral area) invoke nostalgia in me - I saw all of them! By next week, I'll be posting pictures of the Lawson locos for sale - ex-LMS and BR Standards this time. There are some rather nice ex-GWR and ex-LMS carriages as well................

Thanks Tony, I puzzled over the Pro-Scale B1's boiler; the brass one is actually nearer the correct diameter/length at source than the cast metal one. It was great to see you again - we must really get over to where I used to play cricket all those years ago - Llani, Caersws (where both Nick (?) and Gwil (?) deposited one each of my balls into the Severn!), Newtown, Montgomery, Welshpool, Guilsfield (where I took five for five in 15 overs!), Knockin (where I took five wickets and hit the winning run), Oswestry, Whittington (where I took one of my four hat-tricks), Baschurch and many grounds in Shrewsbury and Telford. At Shelton Hospital (in Shrewsbury), the inmates often asked if they could come home with us! Regards, Tony.

Good morning John, K's motors, whether they be Mk.1, Mk. 2 or HP2M all had both brushes insulated at source. For a 'live' chassis, one just bent the tab on one of the brushes of the Mk.1 or 2 downwards to make contact with the motor frame. 50 tears ago, I used K's motors, but I never got any to run properly (though the HP2Ms made very realistic smoke!). Hornby Dublo's (earlier, vertical) motors were literally part of the chassis (if replacement were needed, it was the armature), with only one brush insulated. Not only was a 3-rail loco 'live to one side' - in fact, 'live to both sides', but (in tinplate days, with all metal wheels) also its whole train. No Hornby Dublo train I ran ever failed because of poor pick-ups. Regards, Tony.

Good evening Frank, We've been here before........... D11 and D13 open-framed motors have one brush live to the motor frame. The O4/3 Jesse expressed an interest in has a Mashima can motor, where both brushes are insulated. Regards, Tony.