31A

Thanks for these Chris! I grew up near Sandy (Gamlingay to be precise), and was involved with a group who tried to preserve a small part of the LNW line. The last loco I saw passing through Potton was an 08 like the one in your last picture; quite possibly the same one. Although by then no longer a through route to Cambridge (having been lifted from the middle outwards), I remember the equivalent demolition trains at the eastern end arriving in Cambridge past my school playing fields and recall they sometimes also used a short LNE brake van, which were getting pretty rare even then. With hindsight, I don't know how a preserved railway would have fared, as I'm sure the plans to rebuild Sandy station into its present format and eliminate the bottleneck must have been in the process of being formulated at the time.

You're welcome, Ian. I hope the noise from the mechanism doesn't drown out your sound chip - it doesn't seem to be getting any quieter despite oiling and some running in. It runs smoothly enough, but is noisier than the other Hornby N2s that I have. I did wonder whether it's the same motor as was discussed in the P2 thread?

Thanks, 34C - that does ring a bell now you mention it, I have had the cab roof off one of these before a long time ago - I seem to recall the vent pipes on the cab front are somehow attached to it though so some care is needed? Actually I hope a Xuron cutter will be able to reach inside the cab roof to lop off the offending article without needing to dismantle it. Thanks also for the comments re my layout; glad you like it and probably time I did a bit of an update in the Layout Topics section. There has been some progress lately in the right hand corner, some of which can be seen in the lower two pictures, so now I can post views looking in this direction without too much embarrassment!

There doesn't seem to be a thread for this model yet, so I thought I'd start one. I purchased one this morning from my local model shop, and as usual they gave it a test run for me. The first one off the shelf was rather 'growly', especially when running forwards so a second was tried which seemed the same. I bought the first one. Initial reactions on getting it home were good; the standard of finish on this loco is much better than on previous N2s I've bought (two others of Hornby origin, and several of the original Mainline variety), with a nice satin black finish. The lining in particular is very fine. Looking through a magnifying glass, I had difficulty convincing myself there was a cream line between the grey and red, but on viewing my photos under extreme magnification on the computer, I believe it is there! Apart from that, the classification 'N2' is carried on the front buffer beam and RA6 on the cabside. Physical alterations to the body are predictably few, although I don't think I've seen one with correct 'upright' vacuum pipes on the buffer beams before so this may be an alteration - earlier incarnations carried an incorrect short vac pipe. Sprung buffers are fitted as per previous Hornby issues of the model; they're not a bad representation of the GN cylindrical buffers with round bases. As with other Hornby releases, the rear buffer beam retains the square holes which originally accommodated the rear chassis attachment lugs; this function is now fulfilled by the outer lamp irons which are part of the chassis moulding and protrude through holes in the bunker rear. Looking though the cab cutout on the left hand side, there's a strange vertical pillar coming down from the cab roof, which doesn't improve the view of the cab which as usual is filled with motor. On removing the body, it appears this pillar is just a piece of moulding flash which should be easy to cut off. I've not come across a DCC ready version before, although I believe this isn't the first one that's been released; the weight casting has been modified to accommodate this. Perhaps because of this, the boiler front / smokebox has a heavy cylindrical metal weight inserted, which will save me doing it! The large can motor seems to be slightly different from the one fitted to my other Hornby N2s. There seemed to be plenty of grease on the mechanism (although maybe not in the right places); attempting to resolve the growling noise, I lubricated the armature bearings and gears with light oil. After a few runs up and down, it did seem to run more freely if no quieter, and time will tell whether it improves with running in. As with previous N2s however, it failed my acid test of traversing the dead frog double slips in the station throat at low speed. Looks like my usual modification of springing the middle axle will be necessary on this one too! 'Large' type couplings remain front and rear. I must admit I've so far not worked out how to fit 'small' ones to my other N2s either; the attachment point is too far behind the buffers for this to be achieved easily. A little mystery surrounds the prototype picture on the rear of the box sleeve. As noted elsewhere ('Where are the Hornby models?' thread) this model was originally announced as 69589 but it seems was changed to 69543 as that loco carried the type of condensing gear depicted by the model. However the picture on the box sleeve shows a loco numbered 69543, but with the 'wrong' type of condensing gear! The box sleeve also carries the factory code TEC05. Otherwise, for a 30+ year old model, the body is pretty sound and a good basis for as much detailing as you want to carry out. In particular, I think the smokebox door handrail should be moved to above the upper hinge strap as I think all N2s were like this by BR days, and front lamp irons will also improve the frontal aspect. Here's a few pictures of her on my layout.

Some nice pictures of the old goods shed, Chris! I certainly remember it when I used to go spotting after school in front of the Cattle Market by Hills Road bridge, but have never seen any pictures of the inside before. I think the GN loco would still have been standing nearby at that time, as well.

I think it was probably hidden behind those cement tanks most of that time, Jonathan! It may have gone by 1996 though. I see Paul Bartlett's pictures of it are dated 1990. Might have met you on the train in a previous life - I was commuting to King's Cross during that time.

It seemed to live a charmed life, that strange tank wagon! It was there until relatively recently (late 1990s?), not that it ever moved! A couple of pictures of similar ones (DE962033 and 961881) taken at March appear in 'Odd Corners of the Eastern' by Eric Sawford.

Quite agree; I (usually remember to!) scribe the door outlines inside my Bachmann ones, using a Plastikard jig: The long side goes to to the bottom with the left hand corner against the left hand corner of the wagon. Scribe round two sides of the outline of the side door. Slide the jig across so that the right hand corner is in the right hand corner of the wagon, and scribe round two sides of the top flap. Turn the jig inside out and do the same for the remaining side of each door, then repeat on the other side of the wagon. I don't think I've got a jig for the end door top but usually just cut one from a piece of scrap 40 thou lying on the bench. Here's a couple I did earlier - factory weathered ones as it happens, although I have painted the insides! Not worked out a way of representing the insides of the pressed steel side doors yet!

Well there was a Colchester-Glasgow at one time but whether it still ran in 1968 I wouldn't like to say. I've been able to find a copy of the ER Summer 1959 timetable which shows it as 5.15pm ex Colchester, Bury 6.46-6.56pm, terminating at Glasgow QS 5.56am SX (Edinburgh Waverley 4.43am SO). I've probably got a 1968 ER timetable somewhere, but it would be harder to find!

Nice pictures, Dave - thanks for posting! At another time of day, you might have seen me playing Rugby on the field to the right of the line in C566 (or more likely, standing watching the train go past!). At that time, the site of Trumpington sidings was still quite clear, and you can see the buffer stop on the then recently truncated remains of the Bedford line quite clearly above the signalbox roof.

Some more very interesting pictures Chris which once again take me back to a misspent youth when the sun always shone and every train was a green Brush 2! I presume the blue thing in the centre of the first picture is a sugar factory industrial loco? I don't remember ever seeing one at Bury although presume they must have existed.

I wonder whether you're thinking of the LNWR rather than the M&GN when you talk about the Fletton Loop?

A bit anecdotal from the dim & distant recesses of my memory, but I've got a recollection of seeing 08s trundling along light on the Biggleswade / Sandy stretch delivering drinking water to signalboxes and level crossings with no water supply. This would be late '60s-early '70s and I presume using a Hitchin based loco but the same sort have thing might have happened from the Peterborough end as well. In those days what are now the Slow lines were designated Goods lines, and there were far fewer stopping passenger trains than we're used to these days, so perhaps they didn't cause as much disruption as might be expected, on the 4-track sections at least. Anyway, another reason for a light engine to run.

Hi Clive, I'll be interested to see how you get on with the coach conversions, particularly the CL. I contemplated such a conversion a while ago but decided there wouldn't be much left of the upper part of the sides if I carried on with it, and bought some brass sides from Marc Models instead! Having just carried out a couple of conversions to SLOs, I must admit I've so far taken refuge for the moment in a couple of Hornby Thompson CLs instead. The layout looks as though it'll be interesting and look forward to seeing your progress with it, but I'm afraid I can't help with the location of the relay cabinets.

Thanks for these photos Chris, they certainly take me back! Interesting to hear the Ipswich-Liverpool St via Bury called the 'Parliamentary' - I can understand why it would be, but in Cambridge it was often referred to as the 'Bury Fenman' (I think the up train left Cambridge shortly after the 'real' Fenman). Keep 'em coming!

Are the above pictures of real models, or just photoshopped images for catalogue purposes?

Difficult to know what colour the various parts of the valve gear might have been with colour photos of the real thing being very rare if not non existent, but I wondered whether the painting at the head of this web page (which has also been reproduced in various magazines) might be taken as an inference that the rotating shafts at least might have originally been polished steel, i.e. a similar colour to the connecting and coupling rods? Although I'm not sure on what basis the artist might have decided that (if indeed that is what he did intend to depict). http://www.p2steam.com/

Not may Rob, but I would say in the area of the valve gear. At the time the A3 came out, I thought the Hornby valve gear and motion was rather 'one dimensional' compared with Bachmann's contemporary offerings (e.g. A1) on which the various components looked like forgings, castings etc. compared with the Hornby equivalents which tend to look like flat etchings. But that's perhaps being a bit nit picking; the proportions and body detailing of the A3 still stand comparison with the latest, and I think Hornby have generally caught up now. Looking at Rob's 60103 in the pictures, it also seems to have suffered a slight 'ding' to the front corner of the running plate on the left hand (driver's) side, although the steps, buffers and lamp irons in that area look perfectly OK. Perhaps actually not unrealistic for an engine in that condition!

Thanks for confirming my recollection Jonathan, I couldn't remember why it happened!

I have a recollection that some of the ER sets did run with nine cars for a short time when they were new, as a temporary measure to do with the delivery schedule of the coaches, then went back to 8s for the majority of their BR service until GNER got hold of some more Mk3s and extended them all to 9s. Might be what MrB's driver friend had in mind?

In the 1990s I sometimes had cause to visit Harwich Town station in the course of my work, and was told by the staff there that the train ferry link span was retained for strategic reasons. At that time (as I remember), the railway infrastructure leading to it had been reduced to a single line running across a new road without any proper level crossing and through a very solid new security fence (can't remember whether or not there were gates in the fence). In other words, it COULD have been put into use in an emergency but couldn't be used regularly. The 1998 Quail map shows this simplified layout, but the 2006 version doesn't show any sidings at Harwich Town at all. I wonder whether the end of the Cold War had anything to do with it?

There's a works photo of the van Invicta have numbered their maroon version for (M94291) in the Parkin Mk1 Coaches book but as it's in black and white it isn't easy to tell whether the ends are black or not. However there's a colour picture of M94149 quite clearly ex works and passing through Rugby in Robert Hendry's book 'British Railway Coaching Stock in Colour'. The caption dates the as 30th July 1964, and the ends of this one are very clearly black. As you say, Parkin gives the changeover to red ends as 'during 1964 and 1965'.

I did wonder whether they would do the 'other' kind of smokebox door, but it seems to be the same as the one on 61138. I noticed Rails have photos (rather than catalogue images) of the other late B1 model on their web site (R3114A, 61267), and unless my eyes deceive me this seems to have the more angular type of dome cover: https://railsofsheffield.com/Hornby-br-4-6-0-thompson-b1-antelope-class-br-late-b1-61267-r3114a-JJJA27060.aspx

Thanks Market65! I must admit I did wonder whether something like that may have happened, as the conduit finishes abruptly at the smokebox. I wondered whether the 'Scottish' one was the same or not; I don't have one myself although I did consider getting one. I thought they might be the kind of thing that might be 'remaindered' cheaply, and noted that two of the real ones were reallocated to English sheds (although not sure whether they correspond in other details to the model); however before I found one going cheap 61270 was announced so I've waited for that instead rather than be too greedy! I may consider adding the missing bits with wire; after all I added all the conduits to the Bachmann ones as they didn't have any of it modelled! I've just had another look at 61270 and the front spectacle frames are there, part of the cab front moulding, they just haven't been picked out with 'brass' paint. To be honest I think I prefer them like that - I don't suppose they stayed shiny long in reality - but it would be possible to pick out the mouldings with paint and some care.

After the excitement of a certain big green 2-8-2, today I was able to collect something more mundane but much more suitable from my local model shop - the long awaited (by me, anyway!) B1 61270 (R3114 - BR late crest), for which I had placed an order getting on for 2 years ago. I was interested to see how it would differ from the other Hornby B1s that I have; both of these started life as R2999 61138 (early crest), although one has now been renumbered and weathered, etc. This engine carries representations of the electric lighting equipment fitted to a large number of B1s - as far as a model is concerned, this consists of the electric headlamps front and rear (with lamp irons on top), and a representation of the steam driven generator on the right hand side of the smokebox. There is also a pipe or conduit running horizontally along the right hand side of the boiler, from the cab to the generator. On the model, these are present with the conduit being moulded as part of the boiler. Unfortunately, it stops at the join between the boiler and the smokebox and consequently doesn't reach as far as the generator! On the rear of the tender, the lamps / lamp irons are present and correct as is the conduit which connects them These items all seem to be separately added details, and on mine there is no section of conduit joining the left hand lamp with the middle one - which I assume there should be; not sure whether this item is missing or broken from my specimen, or is absent by design? It should be possible to replace with a piece of blackened wire. Also on the tender, the rear coal plate is in the 'forward' position adopted for these tenders from the 1950s, and is of the later higher type. I had wondered whether this model would have AWS fittings, but this is not the case. I don't know when (or if) the real 61270 was fitted with AWS, but I may add these fittings myself using a battery box (attached to the fireman's side step) 'robbed' from one of my now-withdrawn Bachmann B1s and a reservoir on the running plate from a piece of rod. Nevertheless the bag of bits to add does include an AWS deflector plate to fit under the front buffer beam; I don't think this was included with the R2999 models. However the NEM coupling pocket on the bogie protrudes so much that it would be impossible to fit this! This model has a screw coupling fitted at the front; however the NEM coupling pocket fouls this even if it is stowed onto the draw hook. I think I'll be taking a hacksaw and files to the bogie casting to get rid of the coupling pocket. Other bits supplied to be attached by the purchaser include vacuum and steam pipes for the buffer beams, cylinder drain cocks, brake rigging for loco and tender, and front footsteps. None of these had been added when I took the photographs, and sadly I've so far been unable to fit the front steps to B1s, as the footplate narrows towards the front and consequently I find they foul the bogie wheels. The bag also includes an optional screw coupling for the tender, and an auto coupling for the front. Otherwise, the model is well finished with the livery beautifully applied, including a 32A (Norwich) shed plate on the smokebox door. The engine runs smoothly straight from the box, and on testing, all pick ups on the loco and tender make good contact with their wheels. The tender drawbar gives alternative 'wide' and 'close' positions; on previous experience I should be able to run the loco on the 'close' setting if I trim back the tender buffers. The electrical connection is by pre-fitted plug. The three letter code on the box is 'REF'. I see there is also an R3114A version to come, advertised as 61267.