Blandford1969

Nice build of a rare prototype, it would be lovely to see your class 55 too.

Well I have continued slow work on the drawing. There are a couple of errors, having a senior moment I gave the loco fluted rods which will be removed when completed; and the spokes are not right on the drivers as the crankpin should be between the spokes. However with that one I'm not going to redo the spokes again. Finally I think the cab ventilator should be a two piece affair that pulls apart and I have got some checking on that to do. I have also done a partial view for the early boiler and frame view, which again needs some alterations. I've also downloaded QCAD and started going through some on line tutorials about drawing etching. I've also got the large drawing scanned and then reprinted to a more sensible size to help. To slow me down one of my friends also gave me two kits to build as quickies, 16020 the Pug based at Burton/ Bromsgrove (which of course needs lots of hacking to get it correct) and a Q7. I would very much like to finish it off in the next week. but we shall see.

No, not this year, however it will be back in next year. November can be very mild, it was this year, but you never can tell.

The last thing the SVR wanted was unhappy customers, if we could have run the engine for twice as long I suspect we would have had the same of tickets selling out. The demand was unprecedented and as Andy Ram said it arenas sometimes have similar problems. The railway is sorry for the website problems and that there were people who were unhappy at not being able to purchase tickets.

I'm afraid that was when the engine was made available to us. At that point we had not had the experience of the Scot / Tornado weekend, or autumn Gala last year, which of course as history shows was busy with the combination of engines and then led to the decision to just have the two engines and then have the November event. At a personal level I enjoy driving in the dark as it requires more skill, although if offered Tornado again I would happily drive her. The volunteers and paid staff involved since then have been deep in thought and they have tried to think through the options and are continuing to work on plans.

As many of you will know Flying Scotsman is confirmed as attending the Pacific Power event with Tornado in September. The dates available for operation were specified to us and there has been considerable negotiation to work things out. It was the events of the re launch of the engine which was far higher than ever before which led to the decision to have a specific event for this and move our normal autumn gala to November. (night running for that event is still being considered, although originally thought to be too much by the committee of volunteers who look after events, however listening to the comments on line the committee is seriously looking at this again) This morning 7000 tickets went on sale and the sheer demand which is far higher than ever received meant the website had problems which the railway apologised for and understands fully that some people were disappointed to not be able to get tickets for the event. The staff worked really hard today to deal with all the phone calls and people calling in person for tickets. The net result of which is that at the end of today the event is all but sold out. The number of trains, coaches and operating days are all set by the NRM so the SVR does not have the ability to be more flexible. I understand the NRM has said it will be available for other days, but only as a static exhibit. The planning for the event is still ongoing with discussions with both the ELR and NYMR as to the lessons they have learned from hosting the engine, which allows time for plans to be put in place. It is upsetting as a long term volunteer that there are some who appear intent on attacking the railway, even though its prices are the same as the NYMR and operating in the same way. It will be 5 days of very hard work, which possibly is of more interest to Jo public rather than enthusiasts, however it all helps towards keeping the railway, its tracks, viaducts and bridges which still need 100,000's of thousands spending on them in working condition.

Thanks for the replies. I can see why you would suggest the box being the splasher, the tank drawing shows that its width is to the outside of the driving wheels and is just the water tanks which extend to the back of the cab, but stepped down .Both driver and fireman had their own seats, which you should all see in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately it does not help with the question of if as you sensibly suggest they were extended to cover the wheels. Daft question, picking up on Clive's point does anyone know what happens in the cab of 2500 or a Fowler 2-6-4 as they also have the splashers, and sadly the Wild Swan book . In terms of etches, once drawings are done the next stage will be to attempt to work out how they could be turned into sensible etches, and then the big one to learn how to use CAD, I've only ever done hand drawn etches. I've also found some more variations to the class in rivets on the bunker flare, strengthening piece at the back of the bunker, all to be incorporated into the master spreadsheet. Best wishes Duncan

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm on the mend and being off work at least means that progress is happening on the drawings. Now to a question on the class. Looking at what the drawings show it appears that the tanks are narrower than the distance to the frames. In the cab it would appear that the wheels would intrude above the cab floor. I could make the assumption that there were splashers in the cab and from the tank drawing it looks like there were splashers. Unfortunately the only photos I know of the inside of the cabhttps://railway-photography.smugmug.com/LMSSteam/Stanier-Locomotives/Stanier-Tank-Engines/Stanier-3P-B-tank-engines/i-r8VLqL3/M and https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/LMSSteam/Stanier-Locomotives/Stanier-Tank-Engines/Stanier-3P-B-tank-engines/i-r8VLqL3/M don't help as they don't show what the cab floor looks like. Does anyone know ? - I would rather do the drawing accurately as the inaccuracy of the only option and wanting one is what started this off. Duncan

Just to prove that progress is being made on the first elevation of the engine, please see attached. There is some way to go on this first one before the following 2) Top elevation 3) Front elevation - showing differences on each side for lubrication modifications 4) Cab front 5) Bunker front 6) Rear 7) Bunker internal 8) Reverser detail - cab from drivers side. I also need to do 2 side elevations a) with key hole and domed tank vent and B) with separate dome and top feed, no keyhole. I'm making the progress as early stage peritonitis and a ruptured stomach last Monday stopped all play for at least 4 weeks. Duncan

Have you seen the image of the said tender in BRILL Vol 25 no 3, December 2015 on page 104 and seen this https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c8/9a/2f/c89a2f3b298e23da3d3ba7cea273ce95.jpg&imgrefurl=https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/493425702902027126/&h=561&w=736&tbnid=mbz3bNhX5bpSPM:&docid=Abg2bV4lPvZWBM&ei=KsH6Vv32KuG56AS0xIOoBQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwj9s_evu-bLAhXhHJoKHTTiAFUQMwgcKAAwAA Kind regards Duncan

We all really enjoyed the gala and there were a few failures that were fixed a pannier on Friday night and 1450 on Saturday night when we thought 5 bars needed replacing to find in the end 11 were replaced. The workings were different, which makes it interesting for the crews. Even though it was cold I hope everyone who came enjoyed themselves as much.

That could be the one. It does not have any of the tender or and just the beginning of the edge of the cab. It was enough to do a drawing though.

I found the D20/2 pipe and rod drawing, sadly there is no reference number on it, although I am sure it came from the NRM

Mike, Sadly I don't have anything on the rebuilt tenders. The drawing I got of the D20/2 only had part of the tender and it looks like it is just the raving on the top which was different. I've looked for the drawing this evening, which I used to make an 8mm drawing, but cant find the blessed thing at the moment. Will let you know when I find it. Duncan

Arthur, It took me a while to find one too, I will check and let you know. Duncan

I think that the mechanical lubricator would be feeding the axleboxes and or cylinders (if two were fitted) and would expect the pots to have remained, ultimately they are lubricating the crossheads and are not subject to the heat of the superheated steam. Most crossheads have a oil reservoir in them, which works well on outside cylindered engines. Cylinder oil is able to cope with the higher temperatures to maintain lubrication with the valves and pistons. A drawing of the D20/2 which is superheated and fitted with lubricators, appears to show the pots too. Lovely engine by the way.

It's also worth adding that the taps are used if you get water carry over,(priming) which is shown either through droplets of water in the exhaust or a change in the sound - I cant really describe it well but looses its clear beat. They can also be a blessed nuisance as when starting away on a cold morning with a cold engine with the taps open just adds to the fun of getting away without slipping. The taps can also then not close properly if bits of piston ring break off and get in the way of the mechanism. The rule is if you leave an engine and get off the taps are always left open. Once on a train and the engine is warm you generally don't need to leave the taps open if only stopped for short periods of time. The thing I always find funny is that most companies had the operating mechanism at the drivers feet so to speak, but the LNER put it on the fireman's side. I agree on the black book or for more detail 'Locomotive Management'

Lovely model. The reverser on the 97 is interesting appearing to go back further than a 57xx

Your welcome Clive There is still more to come. best wishes Duncan

With thanks to Simon I have been making progress on proper scaled drawings for this engine. In the meantime I have been working on (for some considerable time) a database of all the engines in this class with the aim of showing the detail differences and as many photographic references. As has been said this class is complicated on details. This is still a work in progress, if anyone knows of any shots of the class on the internet which I have not found please let me know as the idea is to make this as comprehensive a record as possible. I have still to add more on allocations. One day I hope to get to York to look through the engine record cards to identify all of the alterations to the engines and their works dates. Let me know what you think? Stanier 262 tanks details.xls

Nothing wrong with it as it gives enough to work on. I have started laying out the end and side elevations. I will do a photographic survey of the class to try to illustrate all the variations of the class, apart from the strange draft screen, which will have to be a link to flickr post.

Coooor on that V4

On the cab are there any windshields on the back of the cab? Some engines appear to have a vertical windshield, but is very rare. Within the etching details I have it shows one for each side, but that does not tie up with the photographic evidence. I have got a nice photo of the front of the bunker from a scrapped engine. I'm lucky though that my drawing did not come via the NRM. Does it have any dimensions on the cab windows, height from the bottom of the tanks? Duncan

I sold my Nucast one as I though the chassis was not very good sadly.

The Fowler version shared the same dimensions on the frames so it gives a few useful details. In doing a bit more looking at the etch drawings and photographic evidence as well as the variations on boilers, chimneys, lubrication (visible on the front of the tanks), vents, where the 'British Railways;' transfer is on the tanks, there is also screens at the cab doors. I have been working on a spreadsheet for a few years capturing all the detail variations I could find through photographic evidence in books and on the internet. The purpose being for modelling