Ray Flintoft

Yet another new engine enters traffic during the never ending lock down . Just to show I don't just build pacifics this is a Nu - Cast K.1 2-6-0 .No .62042 was one of the last working from York , only moving to West Hartlepool on 30/04/067 . It's duties at York were usually making up trains in the engineers yard & tripping them to where they were needed for track work . Ray .

Good afternoon , Tony , I too have a DJH Raven class A.2 which is on my to do list , no 149 of 175 . I bought this many years ago from M.G.Sharp for £ 68.95 . I can remember the City of Ripon kit being advertised but I didn't know of a kit for no . 2402 to 2404 which would have suited me better as I will be doing no. 2402 "City of York " ( for obvious reasons ) This of course will involve me in extra work on the rear frames & Cartazzi truck . The full L.N.E.R livery is also a daunting prospect but if I get there I will post a picture on here for all to see . Best Wishes , Ray .

I understand completely , David , the Hornby ( is it horny !!!)K.1 is a superb model & I wouldn't like to spoil it either . You could renumber it as a Fort William based engine & have it appear occasionally on 64B in transit to or from Doncaster works . As Tony says Dave Alexander made a very nice kit of the K.4 ( I have one on my to do list for next year ) which you may find second hand but I wouldn't recommend it for a first kit build . Regards , Ray .

I wouldn't use the B.1 body myself as it has a much higher running plate & the front lower section is somewhat shorter than the K.1/1( sorry , Tony .) If you are happy to build the tender yourself then you'll be interested to know that the front curve down on my 61997 was made from thick card curved to shape & glued on , with a sheet of thin brass glued on top to give the sharp edge . High tec. or what ! I've had no problems with this & it is over 20 years old . What you could do with the B.1 is to transfer the slide bars as a cosmetic fitting to give the right appearance to the K.1/1 . If you do go ahead with this please put photos of the completed model up here as I would love to see it . Cheers , Ray .

Hello David , I see you have been asking on Tony's thread about the Thompson class K.1/1 . Most of the differences are quite minor such as the position of the lubricators & the sandbox fillers on the footplate . More awkward would be the curved front footplate & the different slide bar arrangement . The real stumbling block to using the Hornby model would be the tender as the 3,500 gall tender fitted to no. 61997 is noticeably smaller than the 4,200 gall tender . I'm not sure how you would get round this ! To show the differences I enclose a couple of shots of my attempt, using a Nu-Cast loco. with a Dave Alexander tender . All the best , Ray .

No , I don't have my own thread , David . The layout has been complete for several years & is in need of some remedial work , Also I don't feel I have enough time to spend on the web ( so many engines to build & so little time to do it in!!) I feel I am very much an average modeller & appreciate your kind comments & generous offer . I will continue to post the odd picture where it fits in with a topic being discussed but don't wish to take over your thread & look forward to work restarting soon on your rendition of 64B . Best Wishes , Ray .

Hi David , The kinked ejector pipe ( the steam pipe along the boiler you mention ) was already fitted to no. 60501 by 1950 so Hornby should really get this right . Another variation is that 60501 had no backing plates to the sandbox filler's during the 1950's unlike the others . I've set my layout in the period 1957-1968 to allow me to model engine's as I remember them best & give some latitude ( Jubilee's with yellow cab side stripes alongside A.2/2's for example) Anyway , some more "Big Thommo's" to look at . Best Wishes , Ray .

Hi David , Hope this helps . No. 60501 received the later B.R. emblem & A.W.S at a general repair out from Doncaster 23/10/58 . However she already had the lipped chimney , lowered lamp iron & front number plate before this date . Other things to note are the boiler handrails cut short on the smokebox & the shape of the ejector pipe ( the devil is definitely in the detail with class A.2/2 ) There is a good photo in T.I NO. 46.The Thompson Pacifics taken 01/8/58 which shows these details well . Only a week later ( aged 6 ) I was hauled by this engine from York to Newcastle with my family . Luckily my father took an interest & noted engines we were hauled by in his diary where possible ! Regards , Ray .

Some superb models of Thompson pacifics from everyone . Love to see other people's work & thankyou to David for allowing us to hijack his thread . I'll put some more of mine up in a little while if people still want to see them . Regards , Ray .

Very nice work , Richard . Here's an even dirtier York A.2/3 from the DJH kit . Lovely to see more of the under-rated Thompson pacifics in model form . Regards , Ray .

Correction , I of course mean my Peco turntable !

Very nice , David . You're engines always look the part & show how RTR can be made to look realistic . I don't think you need to fit fire irons as the B.1's ( or at least most of them ) had a fire iron tunnel on the tender . One less job to do !! I wish I had replaced the plastic handrails on my Peco tender as yours looks so much better . Regards , Ray .

You may well be right , Mick , I haven't seen the PDK version . Perhaps in attempting to correct the height of the cab sides they have used a generic Thompson cab side , which as you say is incorrect for Great Northern . I built my model when it was a new releases from Crownline & there was no alternative . If I was to build a model of Great Northern now , I would probably follow the same route as you have , as it does look slightly superior to the Crownline kit . Cheers , Ray .

My model of 60113 was an original Crownline kit .I found no difficulty with the tender , though that may be more luck than judgement ! It appears that the resin boilers vary a great deal , my own wasn't bad , though I prefer white metal as in DJH kits . The frames are a little wider than some but mine happily traverses medium radius points & some fairly sharp curves without problem . Regarding the cab , the rivet detail on mine was correct for 60113 , however, it is slightly too short in height , a problem common to all Crownline LNER pacific kits . The valve gear is simplified but it is easy to erect . All in all I thoroughly enjoyed building the kit ( many years ago ) It is not perfect but I feel captures the look of the original . Having said that I do like the look of your Graeme King conversions & it shows we all see things slightly differently . Cheers , Ray .

Thanks , Richard , one can never have too many pacific's on shed !! If David doesn't mind I would love to see your progress on both 60523 & 60113 .I always enjoy seeing other peoples work whether they are beginners or experts . I never got to the Southern in steam days but Basingstoke shed sounds a very interesting layout ( I was always a shed basher rather than a linesider ) Cheers , Ray .

The Crownline A.1/1 I found quite pleasant to build ; not as good as a DJH kit but still decent . With apologies to David here's mine on shed on Sowerby Road M.P.D. Regards , Ray .

This looks a fine model & I look forward to seeing it complete with tender . The DJH kit is a fine model apart from the lack of detail on the front frames which you have remedied very well . With regard to the sandbox plates , as far as I am aware they were always painted black ( Tony Wright will no doubt be able to confirm this ) . 60523 received her Smith Stones speedometer at a general repair out 21/12/61 , so close to the end of her career . At the time she was allocated to Doncaster shed (36A ) before finishing her life at New England . Hope this is of interest . Ray .

Hi David In the event that Graeme King can't help you a whitemetal A.3 door is available from Phoenix Precision - their code JEE324 . the smokebox door handles can be sourced from Wizard or Markits . She looks very good anyway . Ray .

I still have a number of Nu-Cast kits running on their original white metal lumps (& yes still with X04's ) & they still run pretty well ; good enough for my requirements , though maybe not up to heavy use on a large layout such as LB . It is not a route that I would follow now , but it is what was provided at the time & hey , if it isn't broken , don't fix it . Cheers , Ray .

Hi David , Your query regarding New England A.2's at Haymarket sent me looking through my collections of magazines & photos .I found 2 photographs of no .60513 DANTE , both southbound climbing Cockburnspath bank . Whilst 34E pacifics would be rare North of Newcastle they had regular turns to York & Newcastle . York & Gateshead were both notorious for using foreign engines on their own diagrams & this would account for occasional visits to Haymarket , I think . Holyrood60152 's evidence confirms this if you wish to model an A.2/3 you have actually seen . I have been experimenting with photos recently & enclose two you may be interested in : York A.2/2 no. 60503 Lord President on Haymarket , 1959 . (R. Blencowe collection ) York A.2/3 no . 60515 Sunstream on Haymarket . Undated but I would say 1959-1960 ;( A.W.S fitted but no electrification flashes ) Photographer unknown . Cheers , Ray.

I've been reading the debate on the Bachman split chassis V.2 & Hornby tender drive with interest . I have four early V.2's which all still run very well ( smooth & quiet even at a crawl ) & , having been modified with new dome , Cartazzi truck etc. I feel make good layout locos despite their faults . Money comes into the equation as well & I cannot justify £200 plus for the new model when it appears . Regarding Hornby tender drive , I find that adding extra weight in the tender transforms the running from skittish to controlled even at slow speeds . The noise level is extremely variable so it is a matter of luck , but again , layout loco's it would be difficult to replace due to time & money restraints . For the record no. 92006 received a double chimney during a lengthy general at Swindon from 23/2/60 to 21/9/60 according to the Book of the9.F's . Ray .

Hello , David , Yes , Tony has described the variations in the class very well . I think you should just bite the bullet & attempt to remove the high front number plate . I have done this a number of times & with care it can leave no marks . Incidentally in 1958 no . 60501 was running with the lowered no. plate whilst still carrying the early B.R. badge . I feel that Hornby would have been better doing no. 60505 as the early version & 60501 (or 60502 ) as the later one . Good luck whatever you decide . Cheers, Ray .

Thankyou for that , Tony , it makes all the remedial work worth while . The kit was bought many years ago , long before DJH brought out their much superior version . However , it only cost about £40 , hence my reason for persevering with it ! Best wishes , Ray .

The coal drencher was a ( usually built on site ) device for damping down the coal before it was hoisted up & tipped into a cenotaph coaling tower . This avoided the local area being blanketed with a cloud of coal dust ! I don't know how many sheds had them & information & photographs are very hard to find but York definitely had one . Hope this helps . Thanks , Ray .

In the spirit of lockdown here are my two latest projects . The first is a coal drencher built from bits in the spares box , an ideal project for when the modelling mojo is at a low ebb . The other Thompson A2/3 No .60517 OCEAN SWELL from Heaton shed . This is a lengthened & much modified Millholme kit ( sorry , Tony! ) towing a Nucast tender . Any comments , good or bad ( but not rude!) welcome , Ray .