Dave Holt

The sea-side holiday excursion which departed Delph (Holt) last week behind Jubilee 45701 returned today with its load of happy holiday makers, refreshed and ready for the mills to restart next Monday. On this occasion, the train was hauled by ex-LMS 2-6-0 Crab, No. 42713. The train has run almost to the buffer stop to get the maximum number of coaches alongside the platform. Once all the passengers have got off, the loco will push the stock back, clear of the cross-over, run round its train and depart empty stock, as recorded in these photos:

Not too much progress with the layout or locos recently, although I have painted the cobbled area in the goods yard. I've been putting this off, fearing I'd wreck all the effort of hand scribing the setts. The initial results confirmed my fears had been well founded, but a couple more washes with very diluted black have blended the patches in a bit. I'm still not completely happy but hope it doesn't look too bad to others. In the lull, I've posed my Jubilee on the part of the layout currently erected, to illustrate a future operation. In the photos below, the Newton Heath shedded loco, in unusually clean condition, has arrive running tender first, with the stock for a sea-side excursion train and is seen in the process of running round its train, prior to departure...... The loco will be going off to be weathered shortly. Dave.

If you look at your pics of DoS you will also notice that Duchess has an additional fitting on top of the hanger bracket (to measure tread wear????), which I assume is a preservation fitting. That's the wheel flange lubricator I mentioned. It's a spring loaded block of some sort of solid lubricant in a holder, set to bear on the root of the wheel flange. Definitely a preservation mod, also seen on several other preserved locos (the Hall at the GWSR, for instance). Dave.

Hi Peter. The more photos of DoS we see, the more and more detailed changes from BR condition become apparent - many related to the conversion to air brakes (extra pipes on both sides and in the cab, extra gauges and drivers pedestal in cab, etc.). Also noticed are odd bulges in the middle sand filler pipe plates and wheel flange lubricator blocks. On balance, I would definitely base the model on CoB rather than DoS, where they differ. The larger pipe on the LH side running plate on CoB, you mentioned earlier, which obscures the lubricator heating pipes, is the conduit for the AWS system, so would only appear if you're modelling after that was fitted (late '50's or 1960). Dave.

Hi Peter. I have looked through the photos in the Wild Swan Loco profile book and it's pictorial supplement and, as far as I can make out, the steam heating pipes for the LH lubricators were coupled in LMS and BR service. There are clear close-ups showing this arrangement on LMS 6254 in 1946 and LMS 6256 (un-dated), so perhaps it varied from loco to loco or may be City of Birmingham has been modified since withdrawal? (just found a 1946 shot of CoB showing them linked!) Sorry if I'm confusing the issue. Dave.

The pipe joining the two lubricators is the steam heating pipe, so these must be for the cylinder oil, which is very thick and viscous and hard to pump in cold weather. As far as I can make out, on the other side, the front lubricator has steam heating pipes and the rear one doesn't. Just a word of caution in using preserved locos for detail, especially those that have been fitted with air brakes as there may be additional piping which was not there in BR service. Dave.

Sorry, I can't really help with the notice. It doesn't look look a standard LPG company notice to me - that would have the hazard diamond with "UN1978" product number. Although the photo becomes blurred when I enlarge it, it looks to me as if there is only three lines of large text, so perhaps it was a BR own notice, being on their property? Perhaps someone has a better photo of a BR LPG compound from the period? Dave.

Looking at your prototype photo, it's clear that, in this particular case, the LPG vessel does not have a valve hood fitted. Thus, the various valves and fittings along the top are exposed. The off-take pipe (which looks as if it is lagged, oddly, from the apparent size of it) rises vertically to a horizontal leg and then goes vertically down and into the ground on the far side of the vessel. Clearly visible are the vessel lifting lugs at each end, which look to be mounted on the corner of the dished ends - a classic location.on older vessels. Hope this helps. Dave.

Love seeing progress with this project. Superb modelling. Can i just point out that on the small LPG vessel in the cylinder compound, the angular projection on the body, which represents the hood over the valves and fittings, should be on the top centre line? Dave.

Quite detailed information on the maroon painted Princess Royals is given in the Wild Swan book:- LMS Locomotive Profiles, No. 4, The 'Princess Royal' Pacifics. It states that 46208 (and 46204) was out shopped in maroon livery in September 1958 with BR style orange and black lining. A year later the lining was changed to ex-LMS yellow and black, similar to the other two locos, 46200 and 46207. In all cases, the step back plates and the tender frames were lined maroon. Maroon was the official BR description but, apparently, it was exactly the same color as LMS crimson lake. Also interesting to note is that 46208 had BR standard steam operated cylinder drain cocks, with less noticeable, shorter drain pipes than the original mechanical type. Dave.

Very good, Larry. Mind you, a Lees WD would have manged those on its own! Dave.

As best I can make out from the official drawings, the cab roof should be about 6 5/16" higher than the top of the firebox cladding, on the loco centre line, at the cab front plate. Hope this helps. Dave.

My Brassmasters Jubilee, 45701, Conqueror, has been painted and lined by good friend, David Clarke. It's now come back to me to be re-assembled and various smaller items attached before it goes back to David to be weathered. The attached, very poor quality, photos show the re-assembled loco ready for some test running prior to the weathering. Dave.

I must be losing the plot. I could have sworn I read a post saying you no longer needed one of these and that the loco was for sale. Can't see it now, though. I was rather surprised as I thought these locos were the mainstay of passenger services on the line in its later days. Perhaps you're setting your model before that period? Dave. (It's not too late to revert to Greenfield!)

Yes, sorry for any confusion. I was referring to the boiler pressure relief valves being green. The cylinder relief valves were probably bare metal although I'm not absolutely certain. If not, black. These latter don't get as hot as the boiler and tend to tarnish but retain the gunmetal look. Dave.

The whistle was bare metal. Dave.

Very glad to see you managed to press the wheels on without mishap this time. I bet you're both relieved and very happy! Dave.

According to the official painting instructions, the relief valves should be Brunswick Green, the same as the boiler/firebox, not "brass" colour. In any case, relief valves were made from gunmetal, which quickly discolours almost to black at boiler temperatures. The item next to the lubricator is the atomiser assembly. Dave.

Very much looking forward to the functional oil bath and chain driven valve gear........

This is looking very nice indeed. I hope I'm not being too picky, but it does look as if the top of the inside cylinder cover isn't quite straight and slopes up towards the back rather than being truly horizontal and parallel with the top edge of the frames. Regards, Dave.

Think the bottom of the cab sides answers that one? I must say, you've achieved a very nice match between the resin firebox casting and the sheet metal boiler, especially if things weren't all quite right, as supplied. Looking forward to watching the model progress. Dave.

Larry, I'm intrigued why you haven't cut out the window opening behind the lower bay window? Looking good, though. Dave.

A minefield, indeed. According to the Wild Swan book, this loco was originally provided with a part-welded tender with roller bearings and external sieve boxes. From Dec 1951 to Aug 1955 it had an old style fully rivetted tender.. From Aug 1955 to Mar 1957, back to a part-welded type and then another fully rivetted type after that. It appears never to have had a welded tender. Quite confusing and I wouldn't fully guarantee to accuracy of this information. As always, it would be best to choose a period and obtain some photographs of your chosen locomotive at that time. Dave.

Your crank axle looks very good. Personally, I wouldn't have cut out the axle between the cranks till after pressing the wheels on (that's what I did on my re-built West Country crank axle) as I think you will need to fit tight fitting packing now to avoid any risk of distortion during wheel fitting. Hope it goes well. Dave.

Looking good, John. I've bought a couple of Rumney chassis to try out, not having done any wagons before, although I'm planning to use Bachmann RTR bodies for mine. It looks as though you've used Exactoscale wheel sets. If so, are they parallel or pin-point axles? Did you need spacing washers behind the bearings to get the right end float? Dave.