SL&NCR Beyer Peacock 0-6-4T “Lissadell”

Mick Bayliss My loco collection
SL&NCR Beyer Peacock 0-6-4T “Lissadell”
Lissadell
“Lissadell” of the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway, ‘Leitrim’ Class 0-6-4T, built in 1899 by Beyer Peacock & Co., works No.4073. This is my latest buy from auction. Very well built indeed from the North Star kit designed by Adrian Rowland, with an ABC motor/gears unit, wiper pick-ups, sprung hornblocks and Slaters wheels. As can be seen, it is presently in unpainted condition and has never been finished. It was bought with the intention to get my good friend Warren Haywood to paint it for me in it’s original SL&NCR livery, but the only photos that I can find of it are relatively recent ones in what looks like unlined black. I do have a builders photo of the class leader “Leitrim” in lined out works grey, but other than that I have no idea of what livery these locos carried in their early years. If anyone can help me get this lovely little tank loco completed in an early livery, I would be very much appreciative.

Thanks to the Railway Modellers Ireland Facebook group and Jonathan Beaumont in particular I have received the following information:

JB – Originally olive green – quite dark, and with lining. No actual details of the lining survive but perusal of early photos suggest black and white. The letters “S L N C R” were in shaded gold or yellow on the tank sides. It is not known what colour the nameplates were, though during the “black” era (probably about 1910/15 onwards) these were variously black with red writing, or red with polished writing.
MB – There is a photo of classmate “Lurganboy” on the smugmug website, with “SL&NCR” lettering on the tank sides, but the rest of the loco looks to be unlined. Would this lettering have been carried in the olive green days with the lining?
JB – Yes.
JB – After they started painting them unlined black I believe, but cannot be certain, that the lettering continued for a while (on the unlined black background). Connecting rods are often seen (copied) on models as red. Evidently they were not – they were black or more likely, unpainted.

LNER Gresley A1 class Pacific no. 4479 Robert the Devil

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos
LNER Gresley A1 class Pacific no. 4479 Robert the Devil

Robert the Devil
LNER Gresley A1 class Pacific no. 4479 Robert the Devil. Built (to 95% completion) from scratch by Walter (Wally) West circa 1980’s using driving wheel castings by Alan Harris and a massive Pittman gear and motor unit. For a reason unknown Robert the Devil (and his twin brother Great Northern, who will be appearing on this site very soon) were left unfinished until in early 2020, when I was commissioned by his family to complete the models. This entailed, in the main, the soldered assembly of cab parts and the fitting of all handrails on the boiler, cab and tender. It also entailed the preparation of the model for final painting by Warren Haywood. This model is now in the possession of Wally’s daughter Jane, as a memento of her father’s modelling skills.

RSH 0-6-0ST Aberconway

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos
RSH 0-6-0ST Aberconway

Aberconway, built from scratch with fully working inside motion, circa late 1990’s by Walter (Wally) West using wheels turned from good quality castings. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the non-insulated wheels and the frames to the JH motor and a double reduction gear unit. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted in fully lined green livery by Alan Brackenborough. The detail of the hand applied lining in particular should be admired. A superbly built and painted model in every respect. The full size locomotive, which Wally fired as a lad, was a Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-6-0ST no. 6942 of 1938 and worked at Cadeby colliery near Doncaster. She was scrapped in late 1963. I have had the model working with my rake of 20 mineral wagons and brake van. She has a modest top speed which is perfect for the job and would certainly pull twice that load, quietly and with no fuss.

BR(SR) N15 class 4-6-0 no. 30788 Sir Urre of the Mount

Mick Bayliss Loco commissions
BR(SR) N15 class 4-6-0 no. 30788 Sir Urre of the Mount

30788 Sir Urre of the Mount
BR(SR) N15 class 4-6-0 no. 30788 Sir Urre of the Mount.

Built from the Gladiator kit, which was originally designed by Adrian Rowland under the North Star Design label. I started building this model on the 11th November 2019 and finished it on April 30th, taking 131 hours. It has been built with sprung hornblocks on the first and second axles, otherwise straight from the box, with Slaters wheels and an ABC motor/gears unit. He will soon be with Warren Hayward for painting into BR green livery.

During the final stages of the build I got myself into a spot of bother with the left side motion. Throughout each stage of the build I had kept ensuring that there were no tight spots, with the coupling rods, then with the slide bars and crossheads, as any experienced builder does. Then when it came to the Walchearts valve gear. I built up each set exactly the same, (other than opposite hand of course) and fitted the right side first with no problems or tight spots. But when it came to the left side, something was wrong, too tight when the crosshead was at it’s end of the stroke on the slidebars. It took me some time to find the problem. As the right side had gone together so well, it couldn’t be a fault with the etches and I checked each side was built exactly the same. I can only put the cause down to tolerances (there is always a plus or minus tolerance on the location of everything) stacking-up all one way, needing the crosshead link to be extended by 1.5mm. All’s well now and he runs very smoothly.

When this kit was originally released, I was in the market to buy a King Arthur to build for myself and had a choice between the Modern Outline Kit and the North Star Design. I chose the MOK and enjoyed building it and have never regretted it. So when asked to build this on commission I looked forward to making the comparison. I can now advise that the MOK is a superior product, but is a good deal more expensive to buy. Sir Urre of the Mount here has built into a very nice model and I would say is good value for money. You pays yer money and makes yer choice.

BR Britannia class 4-6-2 no. 70006 Robert Burns

Mick Bayliss My loco collection
BR Britannia class 4-6-2 no. 70006 Robert Burns

Robert Burns
BR Britannia class 4-6-2 no. 70006 Robert Burns. A Masterpiece model loco, obtained in a swap deal, second hand and with only very minor repairs needed, otherwise mint condition. Switchable DC/DCC and sound. Truly amazing detail and surprisingly robust. I have photographic evidence that I spotted the original loco heading south on a goods train, at the signals at Syston North Junction, waiting to go round the sharp curve towards Melton Mowbray in 1966. Admittedly she was without nameplates and didn’t look as clean as depicted in the model, but still great memories.

Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST Sprotborough

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos

Sprotborough, built from scratch with fully working inside motion, circa late 1990’s by Walter (Wally) West using wheels turned from good quality castings. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the non-insulated wheels and the frames to the JH motor and a double reduction gear unit. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted in fully lined green livery by Alan Brackenborough. The detail of the hand applied lining in particular should be admired. A superbly built and painted model in every respect. The full size locomotive, which Wally fired as a lad, was a Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST no. 3658 of 1926 and worked at Cadeby colliery near Doncaster. She was scrapped in June 1966. I have had the model working with my rake of 20 mineral wagons and brake van. She has a modest top speed which is perfect for the job and would certainly pull twice that load, quietly and with no fuss.

North Eastern Railway W class 4-6-2T (Whitby Tank) no. 688

Mick Bayliss Loco commissions
North Eastern Railway W class 4-6-2T (Whitby Tank) no. 688
Whitby Tank no. 688
North Eastern Railway class W 4-6-2T no. 688. Built predominantly from a spare set of nickel silver etchings from Nick Dunhill, but as is always the case, a fair amount of the build had to be from scratch. Most lost wax castings are from the Laurie Griffin range, including the representation of static inside motion. Wheels are Slaters and the motor and gearbox unit are from ABC. The lovely paintwork, with lining by bowpen, has been expertly applied by John Cockcroft. Number plates by Diane Carney. The etches were collected from Nick at Kettering 2019, work started on the 28th May 2019 and was completed on the 10th February 2020, with 125 hours booked for the build, exclusive of painting.

LNER (ex NER) J72 class 0-6-0T no. 524

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos
LNER (ex NER) J72 class 0-6-0T no. 524

LNER (ex NER) J72 class 0-6-0T no. 524. Built circa 1966 by Walter (Wally) West using wheels turned from good quality castings, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the non-insulated wheels and frames to the Pittman type motor and gears. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. Originally painted by brush, believed by Wally Mayhew, in fully lined LNER black livery. This lovely little model has seen some use, but still works well and is shown on Arthur Dewar’s layout in Jack Ray’s book ‘Model Railways and their builders’ published by Atlantic Press. The original care worn paintwork has now been stripped by myself and been repainted exactly as it was by John Cockcroft, at the request of the West family.

Midland Railway 0-4-4T passenger tank no. 1832

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos
Midland Railway 0-4-4T passenger tank no. 1832

Midland Railway 0-4-4T passenger tank no. 1832. Built circa early 1970’s by Walter (Wally) West using a set of pantograph milled parts produced by Ron Spiers and wheels turned from very good castings, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the non-insulated wheels and frames to the John Hart RM type motor no. 1048. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted in fully lined Midland Railway passenger livery by Bernard Miller.

LNER D49 (Hunt) class no. 366 The Oakley

Mick Bayliss Wally West scratchbuilt locos
LNER D49 (Hunt) class no. 366 The Oakley

366 The Oakley
LNER D49 (Hunt) Class 4-4-0 no. 366 The Oakley. Built circa early-sixties from scratch by Walter (Wally) West using non-insulated wheels turned from good quality castings, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected from the tender wheels and transferred to the loco via strong springs, which also represent water hoses under the fallplate. The motor and 12:1 gears are of the short Bonds type. Power is also collected by plunger pick-ups on the driving wheels. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco driving and tender axles have sprung hornblocks. Painted by Wally Mayhew in fully lined LNER passenger green livery. This model has had a hard life, but still works well and is shown in use on Arthur Dewar’s layout in Jack Ray’s book ‘Model Railways and their builders’ published by Atlantic Press.