Ray Flintoft

Sorry , Tony but I think you have fallen into the same trap as Simon . In fact 60115 ,60123 ,60135, 60153 60526,60538 & 60539 were all withdrawn before 60113 , if only by a few days . Fleet withdrawal of all the pacific classes started in late 1962 , the surprise is that 60113 , a one off , if it was as bad as some say , lasted that late . If it was really so bad it could have been withdrawn as early as 1959 . I won't say any more as I think enough has already been said apart from the fact that until mid 1942 the P.2's received their major repairs at Doncaster , not Cowlairs whereas the A2/2's were almost totally maintained at Cowlairs whilst in Scotland & thus suffered even more from the poor standard of repair there . Cheers , Ray .

Excellent stuff , David , your layout is looking more & more realistic as work progresses . Best wishes , Ray .

Hello , Tony , I hope Mo has fully recovered now , give her our best wishes . I agree with you , the Nu Cast V.2 can be made up into a fine representation of the prototype & like yourself have a good stock of kits to build ( probably too many ) including three more class V.2 , so have no need to buy the Bachman model . Generally , like you , I find kit building more satisfying , although it takes me much longer than you to build them . I know nothing about ebay but I am dubious about second hand kits , they often seem to have parts missing or are part built inaccurately & require more work than a new kit . Anyway here's the last Nu Cast V.2 I built a year or two back . Best Wishes , Ray .

Hi Tony , Glad to hear you are recovering from covid & hope Mo quickly shakes it off as well . Most people I know who've had covid have had the same symptoms as you , but how much worse would it have been without the vaccine? I too am currently working on a Nu Cast V.2 . one that I have had in stock for many years ( it cost £32.50 including wheels ) & am glad to see the modifications I made to the Comet chassis are virtually identical to yours . To me , personally , I just enjoy the kit building more than I do detailing & weathering RTR . Another factor for me is that on a limited pension , even with discount , the Bachman V.2 is just too expensive . Keep well , Ray .

Another model of 60508 in disreputable state . Painted & weathered by brush , this is a NuCast kit and is approaching it's 40th birthday . Ray .

AS an antidote to the interesting but somewhat depressing photos of 60145 & 60831 I enclose a couple of my dad's photos from 1966 . The first , slightly blurred by camera shake is 60145 in steam in the roundhouse on New Years Day 1966 . Second 60831 in steam in York shed yard .15/8/66 . Cheers , Ray .

Thanks , Tony , I have the Simon Martin book & it includes a great deal of hitherto unpublished material from the LNER files which should alter the commonly held views on ET . It is not perfect but I'll let you make your own mind up ! A photograph in it shows Thompson & Peppercorn together at Glenfinnan , both appearing totally at ease & smiling . Best Wishes , Ray .

I would not say that anyone is lying but Harrison was interviewed by Rogers many years after the event & memory may be at fault . He was not even at Doncaster at the time .Many of his statements appear to me somewhat self serving sometimes incorrect . For example he claimed that the A.1 was designed by him , Spencer & Windle when in fact he didn't move to Doncaster until April 1947 by which time the design was already on the drawing board . Spencer has written that Harrisons input was negligible & overstated . His statements about Thompson's treatment of Bert Spencer have also been proved to be wrong ( the full story from Spencer himself is in the Tim Hillier-Graves book on Thompson ) Whilst I don't rule out the story , Thompson & Peppercorn had been friends for many years , regularly playing golf & going fishing together ,which is why I still regard it as not proven . cheers , Ray .

I think it appeared in the Rogers book & was communicated to the author by the late Dorothy Mather many years later . The letter from Eisenhower thanked both Thompson & Peppercorn . I find it difficult to believe that the man who pushed for Peppercorn to receive an MBE & recommended him to the Board as CME would get upset over this , which is why I consider it " not proven " Cheers , Ray .

Thanks , Tony , I think any resemblance to NER tradition probably came from the Chief Locomotive Draughtsman D.D Gray who was ex Darlington as were some of his team . I seem to remember that Malcolm Crawley referred to them as "Ted Parker's engines " in the Gresley Observer . Cheers , Ray .

Oh dear , here we go again . The story about Thompson & " Bayonet " is one of many apocryphal stories about Thompson of which there is no proof , he was the C.M.E. & Peppercorn & the design team were working under his general direction . Locomotives & coaches were designed by a team of draughtsman & engineers , not by the C.M.E. personally . We call the "Duchesses " a Stanier design , even though he wasn't even in the country when Coleman & his team designed them . Just a little correction , the B.1's , although the first was built at Darlington , were designed at Doncaster , with Ted Parker as the leading draughtsman . However they were designed to Thompson's specification with 2 cylinders updated from class K.2 , a modified B.17 boiler, V. 2 wheels & as many standard parts as possible . Ray .

This may well be possible , Tony , but the one thing all the pacifics which we know had a lined fire box band had in common , was that they all received a general or intermediate repair at Darlington . This would have include a complete repaint . The visits to Cowlairs& Inverurie were for light repairs only & would not have entailed repainting (in some cases , not even cleaning!) For the record , the engines which I have found photographic proof of the lining are as follows . A.4 : 60019/60024/60034 A.1 : 60124/60129/60145 A.2 : 60532 . Best Wishes , Ray .

Hi , Clem , Yes , we all have memories of those times . I remember walking through York roundhouse only to see York's well known shed master , Geoff Bird , coming the other way . I feared the worst but all he said as he passed was " I haven't seen you , son ." They were indeed great days , never to be seen again . Ray .

As far as I am aware , it was standard policy at Darlington to line the firebox band on the V.2's going through works . When they took over maintenance of the 4-6-2's in 1963 they did the same thing with them thus all the pacific's seen with the firebox lining had been repaired at Darlington rather than been painted on shed . Cheers , Ray .

What a difference , David , it now looks like the real thing . I think the RA9 lettering on the Hornby model is slightly overscale & the Fox or Modelmaster are the correct size . I use both firms regularly but I have heard that Modelmaster is cutting down on his range , so perhaps a quick phone call is required . Best wishes , Ray .

Another one for polybear ; a general view of " Sowerby Road M.P.D. " The layout is 7'6'' x 3' and takes up most of the space in the spare bedroom , added to which my work bench is in there as well . I'm sure Tony still recalls the struggle he had to get all his photographic equipment in when he photographed the layout for BRM back in 2010 ! Also a couple of views of the type familiar to Clem & all who bunked B.R. steam sheds . Ray .

If you want a weathered engine ,David , then a couple of coats of satin varnish improve the colour considerably & the engine looks fine after weathering .However , if you want a clean engine ( & 60519 was usually clean ) then I have to agree that a full repaint is the best route to go . Cheers , Ray .

Hi Clem , Thankyou for your kind comments , my layout is meant to bring back those days of bunking round sheds in those long lost last days of steam . Unfortunately you also get some of the wall as my limited computer skills don't allow me to extend the back scene . Your own layout is looking very good indeed & your locos & stock look really natural , please keep the photos & videos coming . Cheers , Ray .

Hi everyone , It's good to have RMWEB up & running again . for those who like to see other's work ( as I do ) the two latest additions to my loco. stud . Little Engines Thompson class O.1 no. 63571 . the repainted smokebox was a trademark of Staveley G.C. her last shed . Crownline Thompson class A.2/3 NO. 60500 " Edward Thompson " in early 1960's condition . She has been fitted with a spare A.2/3 cab from a DJH A.2/2 kit . Cheers , Ray .

With all this talk of dirty York V.2's I thought you might like to see this shot taken by my father , Frank Flintoft , of York's last V.2 no. 60831 in the yard prior to taking a freight to Healey Mills . 15/8/66 . Cheers , Ray .

The new V.2's look excellent & 60961 looks a typical York example . York did indeed suffer a continual shortage of cleaners , mainly due to better paid work with more regular hours being available at Rowntree's , Terry's & Cravens sweet factories . What cleaning took place concentrated on the A.1's followed by the A.2/3's . In the high summer , with all the passed cleaners out firing , no cleaning took place at all much of the time . Ray .

Happy New Year ,Tony ,and all who frequent this site . When I was a very young train spotter at York station ( 1958 onwards ) the wall in the gents carried a similar plaintive message , in this case " I died here waiting for William Whitelaw ". Best wishes , Ray .

Now that's what I call a Christmas Card ! Happy Christmas to you & your family .David & to everyone else who visits Haymarket shed . Best Wishes , Ray .

Glad the info. was useful. Always glad to see a Thompson pacific at work . You are right that she was a higher mileage engine , in fact the best of the N.E.R. members of the class withdrawn in Nov. 1962 with a recorded mileage of 836,461 miles . When I was little I was taken to York station to see off my sister on a school trip to Seahouses & it was " Watling Street " which took her train north . Cheers , Ray .

Looks a very nice job . As I promised earlier on Wright Writes I have been looking up visits of Brits to Newcastle as reported . The first visit reported is of 70041 on 30.8.1958 with an express from the south . There are then a few reports of them each year , mostly coming in from the south or in later years on freights from Carlisle . The most interesting probably for you are the following ;; 10/5/1960 70038 at Heaton on a petrol train from the south . 19/12/1961 70016 on a Niddrie to Heaton class C freight . 17/9/1962 70000 on a down freight at Heaton 14/4/1966 70051on a Tyne Yard to Millerhill freight . It is worth saying that for every reported visit there would be several that went unrecorded so I think you have every reason to use your Brit as a rare visitor on your layout . Hope this is of help . Cheers , Ray .