rapidoTom

I don't have regulatory requirements on hand, but according to one drawing initial charge pressure was 200psi, and the reservoir would be proof tested to 350psi before sending the loco to the customer. Cylinders and pipework would be tested to a slightly less stringent 240psi. Several early locos had no safety valve at all (!) but by the time of the "Caledonia" type they had one on top of the dome. For those without safety valves, the pressure may have been regulated externally, on whatever boiler the location's steam supply was using. They would often be single-manned, which was part of the cost-saving appeal - although given the industrial sites they worked on there would almost always be workers about to lend a hand if needed. Unless you want the Bowaters site in Northfleet, Kent... research was a little tricky sometimes when a photo is just labelled "Bowaters" and you can't tell which is which!

The drawings refer to the sliding panel on the left hand side of the ends, as simply "door" - the reference book calls it a "sliding flap". So it seems to be a door rather than a vent, but what for is not explicitly mentioned. I shall leave that up for debate!

The blue lined loco represents an earlier example - the features on it were typical of locos built in the 1920s. The red lined loco has features typical of the 1940s, so either (or both!) would be suitable for the 1950s. Both types were in use for decades afterwards as well. Having said that, the differences are minimal - it's testament to the original design that it was built for so long with very minor alterations! We had similar difficulty finding exactly when Croda ceased rail operations - one commenter (on Twitter of all places) says it was used right up until the track was lifted, but doesn't cite a source for that info, so we've not called it definite. Multiple sources say the track was lifted and the loco moved to Telford in '94 so we're confident it wasn't used past that! The fireless at Glaxo was used a couple of times a week up to 1991 according to an article from mdrs.org.uk, when a Class 08 was adapted for use inside the factory and took over its duties - that loco went to Steamtown so I'm not sure if it's still extant.

No plans to at the moment - we were concerned that making it robust enough to withstand general handling would have meant overscale details and losing some of the fidelity, but we have managed to incorporate separately fitted elements such as the lower door rail. 10ft 6in - enough for some to get BR XP markings! You could spend a fair while spotting the differences, I certainly spent a while CAD modelling them all! Van No. 266 left Cadbury's in 1967 but we think it was still in this livery in 1977 if the photo is dated correctly. Van 278 was preserved at the same time, I don't know when they were originally sold to Cadbury though. Traffic is not entirely clear, some vans on site were used to store ingredients, others were used as permanent way tool storage. Cadbury had at least 4 of these ex-CR vans and as they were ventilated, my guess would be ingredient storage - there are hints to that in various places online but I can't say for certain!

In the older photos it appears to have a thinner pipe, with lagging over the section near the valve - in preservation it looks like the whole thing is metal, so may well be cosmetic only. Apologies, but I can't post the older images on here as I'm not sure what the copyright is on those, wouldn't want to offend the original owners who have kindly lent us their photos to help develop the models!

Heysham No.2 was works no. 1950, delivered in 1928 - as such, it carries the features of the earlier locos, including the earlier short buffer guides, and the vertical reservoir supports/covers. It has no reducing valve. The closest one in the range is probably 965002 or 965003, though both have a reducing valve fitted. For No.2, you may wish to add cab front handholds, a whistle, and of course the alternative routing of the charge pipe - though looking at how it's constructed (scalloped sections of straight pipe with lots of joins) I'm not sure I'd want to be standing too close to it when it was under pressure! That might be a preservation thing as "in-service" photos of it show a thinner pipe. (my photo)

Not as our primary source, but it did provide some very useful photos of the reducing valve, seen in front of the cab - they were always covered on the historic photos! We also had works drawings for a number of locos, and photo surveyed a couple of others at other sites.

For some photos but not others - it very much depends on the archive and/or photographer how in-depth their record-keeping is. We used photos from lots of different sources, some are just the photo, some have notes including locations and dates.

The livery was an experimental one, applied in 1903 to a Class T and to Class H no.898 at Gateshead, described as having blue wheels and blue panels bordered by a pale blue line. Another Class H got a similar livery at Darlington. Meanwhile, another Class T got a black livery with red lining at approximately the same time, which was eventually chosen to be the standard goods livery from then on.

The axles on the latest drawings are plain 2mm dia. rod if that helps. We found one of s1065 in "BRITISH RAILWAYS" Southern-style lettering from 1948, and have included that in our livery list. All the running no./livery combinations we're making have photos of them in the depicted condition.

We think, based on photos of it in '61, that it might have been spruced up a bit before the railtours, including fitting the later buffers with the larger heads. It may have spent less time in this specification, but the reason we chose it is that was famous for doing the Hawkhurst closure railtours - in its final configuration, if you will. As Corbs says, it has been done to the drawings - we can have a look at it again to check. Given how hard the team have worked in the last couple of weeks to get these launches ready, it might have to wait until we have some spare time next week! That CAD will be 65, as preserved. 65 had a rebuilt smokebox at some point in the 1940s, where it lost one set of rivets - this is reflected on the models in several of our liveries. The other "full Wainwright" version (373 in pre-grouping spec) has the extra set of rivets as they were originally built (or originally re-built from Os!), as do most of the models we're offering.

All of the versions of this model were sourced from photos - so slight differences in lettering and position, and things like wheel types come from prototypical evidence. I can't remember if the disc wheels were common practice (it's been a while since I looked at the research for this project), but it was common enough for us to decide it was worth tooling!

I'm glad the time spent squinting at the works drawings to work out the details paid off! I'm not sure our warranty engineer would be happy when people start ringing him up to ask for spare planks when they drop theirs all over the floor...

Hide what?

Unfortunately (as an ex-Folkestonian myself) 752 had a number of unique bits following the SECR rebuild, including the cab - and most K Classes could tell a similar story. The Old I/K actually differ in wheelbase as well as being more difficult to fit all the motor gubbins in. The Ls were more of a souped-up K Class and were "modern"* enough that there was some degree of standardisation which means we can model it more practically. Hope that helps!