Trev52A

@DaveF Fascinating shots of the Black 5s at Harrogate, Dave. So where would the coaches have been combined with the diesel-hauled train for the rest of the journey to KX? And were these portions always only 2 coaches? Cheers Trevor

Two more 1967 shots at Low Fell: 1) D1102 and 63429 from the road bridge, looking south on 29th March 2) 63346 and D6831 at Low Fell yard on 29th April Trevor

On 2nd October 1966 'the Wansbeck Piper' special ran from Newcastle to Woodburn, prior to closure of the ex-NB branch from Morpeth. Locos were 43000 and 43063 double-heading. Anybody else on this train? Pics are approaching Manors on the 3rd-rail electrified section from Newcastle and after arrival at Woodburn. Trevor

@ Mal/Alcanman Right at the death with 'Flying Pigs!' Super signal gantry at Newsham, as well. I think it was rare for these locos to come south of the Tyne (although my earlier shot included 43137 at Tyne Dock). I only ever photographed one in the Gateshead area, at Low Fell on 28/1/67 - note the other steam activity in Low Fell Yard visible through the murk in the right background. The loco is 43000, no less! By coincidence I was at the SLS Newcastle Area meeting on Friday when the talk was about the Blyth & Tyne lines around Newsham and points north. Plenty of shots of these locos in your stamping ground in the talk. Also here are a couple of shots at Pelaw, east of Gateshead. 65882 was heading east with coal empties on 30/5/67. Plus a modern view of the Tyne & Wear Metro station on the same site. Half a century of change! Please keep the photos coming in, chaps! Trevor

Away from the main line, here's a 1968 portrait of Jimmy McIvor, driver of the NCB 0-4-0ST loco which worked on the line to Ravensworth Park Drift Mine, which was a cycle ride away from where I used to live in Gateshead at the time. There's a shopping complex on the site these days! Trevor

@96701 Wow, thanks for the comment! @Rug Another one at Carlisle, on 12/8/67. Shows nice detail for anyone wanting to model cab doors in the closed position! Trevor

@ jonny777 Yes, both your shots were at Tyne Dock - to confirm, here's a similar view of mine from 23/7/67 showing 43137 and 65811. I've been trying to work out which is the earlier view by comparing the state of the smashed windows in the background - I think it's a draw! Actually, if your turntable shot was taken on the same day as the 9F it must be 1966 at the latest. And on a happier note: 62007 with a coal train at Low Fell, where I did my earliest spotting, taken on 4/3/67. The train is climbing up from Low Fell Sidings (or Low Fell yard, as we knew it.) Looking north with the ECML on the right. And to show how things have changed, a shot at the same spot 50 years later (29/7/17, in fact) of 60103 climbing the bank after a water stop, with a southbound Special. Trevor

I wish I had the smokebox plate off 90009. I would be tempted to mount it on the wall upside down and pass it off as an A4! Trevor

Ulverston right at the end of steam, on 18/7/68. The Black 5 was working an evening parcels train from Barrow. The drifting steam effect was due to a longer than usual exposure because of the low light, using a home-made tripod cobbled together at school from an old music stand! Trevor

@ pH. There's always something sad about the sight of locos minus their coupling rods, isn't there? It smacks if finality - next stop the scrapyard. @ Mal/Alcanman Those pics bring back memories of the very last day - 9th September 1967. Here's my shot of Clun Castle near King Edward Bridge Jn., Gateshead, on 9/9/67, just prior to being relieved by 62005 for the final pull into Newcastle. On the left 90417, complete with an enthusiastic crew plus a fellow spotter who I recognised at the time, is hauling probably its last coal train, waiting at a signal stop after the climb up from the Dunston direction. Goodness knows how I got so near the tracks for this shot - a hole in the fence, perhaps, but I wasn't alone if I remember correctly! This scan is from an early print - I seem to have misplaced the negative, hopefully only for the time being. Trevor.

@ Brit15 You got there right at the death it seems. but happy memories for you. By then Holbeck was on its last legs, although I remember it in better times.. The K1 at Holbeck had been transferred there from Tyne Dock after it closed in September. @Iain Popplewell That's interesting, Iain. Well. it wouldn't have been a J26 as they had all gone several years earlier. Unlikely to be a J27 coming all the way from Sunderland - unless anyone knows differently? The nearest steam allocation was West Hartlepool which had Q6 and WD locos by then. A clean West Hartlepool WD? Unlikely. But Q6 63387 was quite smart at the end, from pics I've seen of it. The cleanest Q6 was 63395 which was the target for the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group and received attention from Group members and really sparkled - but again, that was a Sunderland loco (and was active on Tyneside on 9th September, the final day - but see below). Tyne Dock's K1 62005 was clean at the end too, as it was used on a Special on 9th September (taking over from Clun Castle for the last lap into Newcastle Central Station, due to platform clearance issues for the Castle) but it would be unlikely to be on Teesside. I think your best bet is 63387. @ Alcanman Yes, I recognise those views and look forward to the next batch. Good stuff - keep them coming! All of which raises the question - when exactly was the 'end'? I've always believed the final day for NE steam was Saturday 9th September (the first day of Clun Castle on Tyneside - it returned South on another Special the following day.) But Paul Bolger's book 'BR Steam Motive Power Depots, NER' states that Sunderland and West Hartlepool closed on 17th September! Where did that information come from? All the locos involved were withdrawn on 9th September according to the stock updates in 'Railway World' etc. Anyway, a couple more of mine at Sunderland. 1) 5xJ27 at the turntable on 3/9/67. The middle one is 65894, another NELPG target. 2) A 'different' view, with 90417 outside the window on 22/8/67 Trevor

Righto, Rug Two more at Carlisle in 1967 when Summer Saturdays still saw a fair number of steam-hauled passenger trains. 1) Here's something you don't see very often - a wheeltapper! Waiting for the train from the S&C arriving behind 45562 to draw to a halt before checking the coach wheels. 44802 is waiting to take forward a southbound train which will arrive from north of the border behind a diesel. Photographed from the window of a train waiting to leave behind D1631 on 5/8/67. 2) 45038 and 44878 waiting to take over southbound trains on 12/8/67. The engineman is sweeping away any surplus char from the last smokebox cleanout to prevent it blowing in his face later on! Cheers Trevor

The driver (complete with steam-era headgear) of the final North Tyneside 3rd-rail emu, pictured at Whitley Bay on the last day of operation, 17-6-67. I travelled on this train but did not make a note of the unit numbers! Can anybody help me out, please? Trevor

September 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the end of steam in North East England, with sheds at Blyth, Tyne Dock, Sunderland and West Hartlepool all closing to steam in September 1967. To mark this half-century (gulp!) how about sharing some pics and memories of that final year? I apologise in advance if I have inadvertently missed any similar threads. To start, a couple of photos in the Gateshead area: 1) 63346 crossing the River Derwent at Derwenthaugh (that's the Tyne on the left) with coal for Stella South power station (near Blaydon) on 20/5/67. It had been held at signals for a while, hence the steam from the cylinder drain cocks. and 2) 65879 passing the site of today's Metrocentre station, Dunston, with empties from Stella South on 8/7/67. The cooling towers in the left background were actually Stella North, on the other side of the Tyne near Newburn. Any takers? Trevor

D9012 at Newcastle with an express for Kings Cross, 5/3/70. I sent the driver a copy of the print so I've got his details somewhere in the archives. Trevor

..and a similar scene at Exeter St David's on 29/5/75 with D1036, fresh from the paint shop by the look of it. Trevor

Thanks, Rugd1022. Here's a crew change at Newcastle on 5/8/75 with 55021. Trevor

Another one at Carlisle station: Driver Lawson waits to depart with an evening Carlisle-Perth express on 13/5/66. The previous evening I had travelled to Lockerbie behind 70005 and a different driver. Trevor

Shap banker (the loco, not the man!): Tebay 15/7/67 Trevor

Just found this thread - good stuff! Loco crews were what kept the trains running! Here are three of mine: 70049 at Carlisle, 10/8/67; 62050 at Pelaw 26/5/67 with the driver coming to give the fireman a hand; Rheine (W.Germany) 18/8/74 with an 012 Pacific waiting to take over a northbound express just outside the station. Cheers Trevor

I've been away from this site for a while, so I've missed out on this thread, but do these count? Two LNER-built 3rd-rail North Tyneside electrics at Newcastle on 6th May 1967, shortly before the line to the coast was turned over completely to DMUs. Also on the left a 2-coach DMU is awaiting departure for Alnwick (!) if the headboard is correct. (The Tyne & Wear metro trains now link Newcastle to the coast using much of the ex-BR route and stations and this part of Central Station is now a car park!) Trevor

@ coachmann Well spotted, sir! - my mistake. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. You got in before I realised the error. (In fact the only maroon one I saw was 46244 'King George VI') (Of course, I could invoke 'Rule 1', but I don't think I'd get away with that!) Trevor

I can't see there will ever be a perfect solution to suit everyone, due to the inherent problem of trying to run a large (4-6-2 in particular) loco around 'normal' model railway curves - i.e. the overhang at the cab end. (There is also an overhang at the front, or course, but this does not seem to cause so much gnashing of teeth.) We can't stop the overhang, it's what happens to the rear wheelset where opinions seem to differ. As far as I can see there have been three options tried by Bachmann and Hornby between them: Bachmann: a fixed rear chassis with a flanged wheel. Pros: 1) As this manufacturer only makes ex-LNER examples (A1,A2 and latest A4) it is prototypical as a cartazzi truck. 2) In most cases the rear wheels stay on the track. (In my case I had to swap the wheels on one of my temperamental A1s for another set from a donor wagon!) Cons: As has been pointed out, to accommodate the extra sideplay needed, the frame under the cab is overwide. Hornby (original versions): a pivoting truck with a flanged wheel. Pros: 1) Apart from the ex-LNER models this looks prototypical. 2) the wheel follows the track. Cons: There is a gap above the wheel which is noticeable when viewed from the side. Hornby (latest versions): a fixed rear chassis with a flangeless wheel. Pros: 1) Looks prototypical for the LNER locos only. 2) Lots of detail (e.g. pipework) can be included under the cab, as nothing has to swing out of the way. (I thought this was the main reason given by Hornby for this new style of fixed chassis, but I may be wrong.) 3) No gap visible below the cab. Cons: 1) Doesn't look 'right' for non-LNER locos (i.e. BR Standard Pacifics, Bulleid Pacifics and of course Stanier Pacifics. 2) The rear wheel has no flange and is overwide compared with the others. 3) The rear wheel hovers above the track and is particularly noticeable when traversing curves and points, although those modellers with more generous curves on their layouts are more forgiving in this respect. I think I am being objective on the matter, but can anyone add to the Pros and Cons of the above? Perhaps there is no 'right' solution, but until one is found those of us with 'normal' trackwork will have to make the best of it or perhaps modify what the manufacturers give us, as many experienced modellers on this site have done. I would have loved to have a model of a maroon 46257 'City of Salford', complete with cabside yellow stripe as I remember it (sadly the only modified 'Coronation' I saw) but the fixed rear wheel is a bit of a put off for me, anyway. (I know the yellow stripe is regarded as sacrilege by many, but for me it's a nostalgia thing!) Trevor

This must have been discussed before (but perhaps not on this thread), so apologies for raising it again, but didn't Bachmann get over the problem of the rear truck years ago? Their A1 and A2 4-6-2s have fixed framework under the cab as per prototype (so no gap when viewed from the side) yet the flanged wheel still has enough side play to negotiate 2nd radius curves, and points, (most of the time, anyway!) In other words, an acceptable Cartazzi truck as per the original locos, to all intents and purposes. Why did Hornby feel the need to reinvent the wheel (pun intended!) on their A3 and A4 models? Have I missed something? (I know this argument doesn't apply to Stanier Pacifics, which had pivoting trailing trucks in real life, but worth mentioning, as we now seem to be discussing rear trucks in general.) Trevor

Thanks for your kind comments Steve, and also Bill. I suspect like Bill I am rather running out of steam with pics from West Germany, but some great memories to look back on. Incidentally, has any else had a go at making these 'photobooks'? This is where you download the software (loads of sites offer it, such as Jessops) and compose your books pages online and eventually get a picture book in the post (or collect from a Jessops store, in my case, thus saving on postage.). A great way of combining b&w and colour shots in one place, provided you have your original negs and slides digitally scanned to start with. I made one last year which is a great reminder of my trip to Rheine, complete with captions etc. (Needless to say I do not have any commercial interest in Jessops, they are just one of the firms I have tried.) Cheers Trevor