Ray Flintoft

A bit late as usual but examples of some of my DJH A.1's & also ( if Rmweb is ready for it ) a shot of my father's featuring a 13 year old me in front of newly stored no. 60151 "Midlothian", York dead line 28/11/65. No's 60138 & 60145 demonstrate the minor differences which appeared in later life; 60138 retains electric lights but has the divided handrail & lowered lamp iron, whilst 60145 retains the single handrail but has had electric lighting removed ( but retains the special long lamp irons ) Hope this is of interest. Ray.

When I was a young trainspotter at York in the late 1950's onwards " I died here waiting for William Whitelaw" was chalked on the wall of the gents for many years. I too was lucky enough to see all 34 B.R. A.4s & most of the other pacifics as well . I have to say I always enjoy checking in on this thread , as it gives a view of what was happening further north than my own memories. Best Wishes, Ray.

Lovely picture of no.60512. She was one of two Thompson A2/3's with the yellow stripe, the other being 60522 "Straight Deal". They were both based at Polmadie from Sept. 1963 & it was possible, though extremely unlikely, that they would reach Crewe. Regarding no. 60526, like all the York A.2 varieties, she appeared on very varied duties from express passenger to all sorts of parcels & goods turns . As a 10 year old spotter I haunted York station during 1962 & "Sugar Palm" always seemed to be South end standing pilot & well cleaned. The York A.2/3's continued to keep busy right up to going into store at Scarborough. Regards Ray.

No problem, Clive, hope it helps with your choice of engine. For those interested, 77002 was photographed running down from York ash pits to the shed on 15/10/66, whilst 77012 is standing on the ash pits on28/12/66. Cheers, Ray.

Hi Clive, Sorry to take a few days to answer. The only difference in the front steps I can see is that 77002 did not have the oval cut outs as seen on 77012. The most obvious modification to allow the fitting of a snow/ballast plough was the fitting of an LNER style vacuum stand pipe & the lack of an A.W.S. protector plate. I enclose a couple of my dad's photo's which I hope show this. During their last days at York 77002 was still lined out, although it was hard to tell through the rust & dirt, 77012 was in unlined black but was kept clean until the end as it was the "pet" engine of York shedmaster Geoff Bird. Hope this is of help & interest& look forward to the finished engine appearing on here in the future. Regards , Ray.

I look forward to seeing the completed model in the near future, Tony. We seem to be about equally divided on here regarding compensation etc. I don't think anyone is right or wrong, it is just horses for courses & whatever suits the individual. I hope someone will buy the redundant Pro Scale chassis; as you know the cash you paid for the kit went straight off to the TBLT to help with the £750,000 overhaul of 61264 & it would be nice if CRUK also benefitted from the same kit. Regards, Ray.

Generally speaking, I am in agreement with you regarding springs, compensation et al. However , I built my Proscale B.1's years ago, possibly before Comet produced a B.1 chassis kit & certainly before the later more accurate one. Due to this I decided to have a go at the sprung horn blocks . Was it fiddly? Yes. Do they run any better than the Nu- Cast B.1's I have built? No, but at least I got there in the end. They are, incidentally, the only sprung locomotives I have built! Best Wishes, Ray.

As I remember Tony, I did warn you about the problems with the boiler. I did exactly the same as you with the couple I have built. As you say, used without modification, it will just look silly. I used the Proscale chassis, including the sprung horn blocks, & they run pretty well on my less than perfect trackwork. I have to agree with you & Roy Jackson. I have far too many locomotives but it is what I enjoy doing. Cheers, Ray.

After a spell when I have been under doctors' orders & unable to work on kit building I thought I would enclose a couple of RTR engines I have managed to complete. No. 60516 started life as a Hornby apple green "Edward Thompson" reduced to £130 at Monk Bar model shop. It has required a number of modifications to represent " Hycilla" in about 1960 plus a complete repaint . no.42665 is also Hornby & is virtually as it comes, barring renumbering & weathering ,which totally transformed the look of the engine. Ray.

Yet another Nu-Cast model of 60508. I built this many years ago using the original cast block frames & an XO4 motor. It still runs well enough for my layout although it might struggle with 12 on on Little Bytham ! The wiggly pipework will be fitted in due course. Ray.

That's fine Tony, I hope Brian enjoys building the kit & thanks to him for mentioning the kits still available on E-Bay. Up to now the trust has gained £700 from them which is desperately needed ( the overhaul is costed at roughly £750,000 ! ) I will post off the spare smokebox door to you in the next day or two. Regards, Ray.

Hi Tony, The kit Brian bought was one I had donated to the TBLT to help raise money for the overhaul of 61264. He has been in contact with me directly & I have found the missing smokebox door ( it probably fell out when I was checking the kit for missing parts ! )I will be posting it on to him in the next day or two & look forward to seeing the completed kit on here. Regards, Ray.

I would agree with most of what you say, Gilbert. The A./2's averaged around 40,000 miles p.a. somewhat below the other pacifics( though about the same as the Bulleid West Countries !) The New England trio were very common however at York, usually on expresses through to Newcastle. Of course, the crews judged them on performance, comfort, & coal consumption & weren't interested in design variation or annual mileages. Despite their maintenance problems the A.2/2's were, at times, capable of fine performances with 60502 probably being the best. There were definitely good, bad & indifferent in the same class & it is fascinating to look back at them now. Ray.

I have read somewhere that New England crews regarded 60533 as on a par with the A.2/2's but inferior to the Thompson A.2/3's. York men I have talked to said much the same about 60526, although opinions could vary widely even from the same shed. Food for thought anyway. Ray.

Hi David, Arriving late as usual, I would like to add my regrets to those already stated. I think your layout was on it's way to becoming exceptional & have always enjoyed your thread. I'm sorry your circumstances have forced this decision on you & wish you all the best for the future ( you never know, thing's might change in the future! ) Cheers , Ray.