60027Merlin

A couple of (slightly) upward shots.

If it was, that would have been the LNER black version as all the B.R. black and N.B.R. versions did not linger too long. In fact the local model shop during the past few years were still receiving telephone enquiries for them. The shop could not help as they had been sold out of J36s for some time.

As the J36 sold really well for Hornby the Glen and Scott are long overdue. Two loco classes for the tooling costs of one and a fraction. Pre-Grouping, Grouping, B. R. plus the Glen preserved with both operating over a wide area unlike the D40 Gordon Highlander. Plenty sales potential plus just as important additional repeat sales and of course all with wonderful names.

Re your last sentence; Of course! the vast majority of us modellers up north model the Southern stuff ! (In fact they fly of the shelves like a lead weight).

Tony, Re a few postings back. It's still going strong round the layout and here is an older photo of it posed with a Waverley Route emblem, a few of which were made by a member of the Hawick Model Railway Club, for one of their annual exhibitions back in the 90s. The model has outlived the real thing! Eric

John, Same for me spotting at Little Benton. Of course some of my local engines are passing your way as well! Eric

With some heavy showers today putting paid to cutting the grass etc. I took the opportunity to look through the photos from a year or two back and selected some workings around the layout with two photos for each train. Hopefully there will be some of interest.

More of the variety of workings in the area. Plenty for the spotters! and again now moving off after the gossip

Gilbert, I checked up the 1958 records and found that Golden Plover was on the Non-Stop on the 11th. August for the Up train and returned on the Down train on the 14th. August. Rather than returning to London on the 11th. as normal, it appears that Haymarket must have found something wrong with Golden Fleece which worked the Down on the 10th. August as it did not work back on the Up until the 13th. August. This meant that two Haymarket locos worked both ways on the 11th. August, Commonwealth of Australia as booked on the Down and Golden Plover filling in for the Kings Cross loco on the Up. This of course meant unbalanced working with Golden Plover ending up at the wrong Shed! This working was a bonus for it as noted below! After reading this, my mind drifted to the late Harry Knox who knew Haymarket inside out and I recalled his story of the Golden Plover incident in 1958 as Haymarket had prepared it for working the Non-Stop that year. As a matter of interest Golden Plover worked the Non-Stop from the 9th. June until the 20th.June. The reason that it did not work on the Non-Stop after that is recounted by Harry in one of his Haymarket books. - - When one of Haymarket’s J36s, 65235 Gough, was on “Disposal” meaning moving the engines from the ash pits after cleaning of the ashpans, smokeboxes etc. and filling up the tender then move the engine up to the head shunt at the top of the west end of the Shed. Unfortunately, as Harry recalled,” the young Fireman was a Cleaner of no great experience” and on this occasion a few corners “had been cut” regarding the manning of working procedures. Whilst carrying out what he thought was all the procedures he forgot to close the Regulator and thinking that all was in order he jumped off the loco to walk down to the points to set the correct Shed road. After setting the road he turned to head back to the engine and found that it was already on its way passing him by heading for the Shed. Apparently all he could do was watch it fly past gathering speed. As luck would have it the engine ran through one of the Shed roads which was unoccupied but outside in the east end standing all sparkling clean in Non –Stop condition was Golden Plover. The J36 crashed into the A4’s front end causing a fair bit of damage to the streamlined casing, main frames buckled etc. whilst the J36 only suffered a fractured buffer casing! Golden Plover was then Doncaster bound for repair hence why it was not in the Non-Stop as planned. Merlin took over on the 21st. June until the 30th. July then it was Commonwealth of Australia. Hopefully this makes sense! Eric

Gilbert, A rare bird for the local train spotters. It is familiar! Eric

Just come across this section. Here is Haymarket's Number 1 Link lined up for the camera.

Nobody died waiting for it here.

Some shots of the trains in the western approaches to the city plus at the station and on the branch with quite a few locos from 64A and64B, as usual!

To weather or not to weather? Yes but restraint is required!

Just over a couple of weeks ago one of Haymarket’s finest arrived at Balbuthie Farm in Fife which is owned by the engines’ owner, John Cameron. The K4, The Great Marquess arrived there a few days earlier. Thank you to John Cameron for purchasing no. 9 in 1966 and giving it an extended life in service which has been appreciated by countless people throughout the decades.

David, I was shocked to read this and still cannot quite take it in. You have achieved so much and to such a high standard, in a relatively short period of time. We had much correspondence about 64B over the years and it was wonderful to see your work taking shape in a realistic fashion capturing the atmosphere down to a tee. Hopefully things will work out. Eric

Gilbert, A gap in the middle or off centre may be the way. In the gap, a painted impression of a curved path leading further down the garden could be effective as I have noticed in gardens I have visited that curved paths give a different look to the setting and also suggest a bit of distance. Perhaps a vague outline of a small tree painted on the back as well will give added depth . Eric

Gilbert, Re your query about "something about the blank at the back" in the 5th. last photo. Some shrubs, flowering varieties or evergreen may be the answer. Great stuff! Eric

No. the smokebox door was straight but required changing. I had purchased Steady Aim which was the early emblem version with the smokebox number plate higher than the strapping. This required it to be removed and a new one fitted lower down plus a new lamp iron. I also replaced the B.R. emblem on the tender with the later one plus an identity change. Photo below. From memory the removal was easy but it may depend on how much glue Hornby use for each model. Eric

I suggest taking the body off. Then use a long file, I used a triangular one, by placing one end against the inside of the smokebox door and use a toffee hammer at the other end quite gently and that should remove the door. You can then make any adjustments to the detail and replace it straight. Eric

Some snaps of the Peppercorn A2s. There were 15 in the class with 11 based in Scotland. Here are 10 of them with the 6 from Haymarket, the 2 from Dundee Tay Bridge and 2 of the 3 from Aberdeen Ferryhill. All well used and seen regularly but not south of Newcastle, apart from trips for overhaul at Doncaster.

Gilbert, That is a lovely photo. After taking it all in for five or so minutes I thought that that a figure of the occupant standing looking out the bay window area would be an additional feature. Not knowing the detail of the building of the house is this practical? Eric

Tony, Just catching up on things and noticed your photos of the Bachmann A2, Bachelors Button, on the previous page. I had added quite a bit of extra detail including change of dome (photo attached), wiggly pipes, AWS pipe along the running plate etc. I repaint the valve gear, wheels, etc. but for the Haymarket locos i am loathe to weather the bodies as a mark of respect to the staff there who always attempted to keep the Pacifics as clean as possible. For the Gateshead and Heaton visitors that is another story! I'll take DJH/other kits and certain good r-t-r locos any time if they fit in to the layout! Eric During the "doing up" Now finished before painting the nameplate black Regular visitor to 64B

Interesting to read the posts regarding the pros and cons of kits and r-t-r locos etc. It all depends on the free time a person has for modelling and also the area and period the model represents bearing in mind the average human life span. The ECML in the 50s is a popular subject but depending where on the ECML the model is based then the availability of suitable locos can be tricky. The further north the subject the greater chance there is of next to nothing suitable in the r-t-r for smaller classes therefore kit building is essential. Even then, the available kits are now less in number than decades ago. In recent years the r-t-r Pacific classes have increased and if requiring another Pacific the choice is either that or a kit. But it again comes down to available time. A kit for an A1 or A3 for example will take up quite a bit of time to build and paint but then the priority is to have a representation of classes in the area running on the layout. If you have a few of these kit built Pacifics then the requirement is for smaller classes and the only option is to build them from a kit hopefully either available new or second hand. Alternatively if you require some more Pacifics then r-t-r is preferable as that frees up your time for building kits of these smaller classes. Most of the 0-6-0s, 4-4-0s and tanks etc. in Scotland are not available r-t-r therefore there is no choice but kit building. Of course some kits are no longer available so even that eats into free time in attempting to track one down! Another point, that is for me, preferable on the modelling side is that after purchasing a r-t-r loco, it is important to “do it up” to make it look as near as possible to a kit built one in an effort to blend it in on a layout. Of course from a foot or so away it is possible for the knowing eye to tell but from a few feet away it can be less so. I see that the sun is still shining so it is now back into the garden for an hour or so to continue with the Spring preparations, less free time again!