North Eastern Railway Raven class D 4-4-4T no. 2143
My latest build of a good looking and unusual prototype, after a wash and brush-up it will be ready for painting. Built on a commission basis from the very comprehensive DJH kit. As can be seen from the photo, many parts of this model are cast in white metal, the smokebox/boiler/firebox has been usual for DJH kits for as long as I have been building, but this kit has the cab floor cast a drop in from below casting, to which the backhead can be screwed, making a well detailed unit. The cab roof and splasher box castings are well detailed and everything fits together well. Each of the bogies are also one piece castings, the leading one has a very clever wiper power pickup idea, designed and incorporated into the kit. All in all making a quick to build model and recommended for the more inexperienced model builder.
BR(ER) A4 class Pacific no. 60003 Andrew K. McCosh.
Built on commission from the DJH/Piercy kit by myself between May and October 2020. Now beautifully painted by John Cockcroft she (he?) is ready to go to her new owner. Because of the new travelling restrictions when that will be, who knows?
BR (ex LSWR) IOW O2 class no. W22 Brading. Built by myself from the Alan Gibson kit with Gibson wheels and an ABC motor/gear unit. Warren Haywood takes the credit for the superb painting.
Models of these delightful little Isle of Wight locos rarely appear and even more rarely come up for sale. I was fortunate to be taken to the Isle of Wight on holiday when in my early teens and I still have a photo of Brading, taken on the small turntable at the end of the line at Ventnor. Thus the motivation for me to buy and build this kit. Check out Jim McGowan’s Connoiseur website http://www.jimmcgeown.com/Photo%20Gallery%20Customers%20Models/Southern%20Class%2002%20Photo%20Gallery.html for more photos of models of these locos. (All in green livery? None in black, I wonder why??)
I bought this kit in completely untouched condition from a good friend who has decided to sell his collection because of health problems. He had bought it probably 30 years previously and it had lain in the bottom of his wardrobe ever since. That was 3 months ago and now here it is built, painted and running like a dream and none the worse for spending 30 years in the dark.
Southern Railway King Arthur Class no. E785 Sir Mador de la Porte. This model was built by myself many years ago from the Modern Outline kit, with Slaters wheels and an ABC motor/gear unit. I originally painted it in an identical livery as E792 Sir Hervis de Revel and with that identity he gave me many years excellent service, but unfortunately the paint deteriorated, resulting in me stripping it for a repaint. New paint, new identity. Now expertly painted by Warren Haywood. The model as Sir Mador is now all ready to give many more years service.
GNR Stirling single wheeler no. 1. From the Swanage Models kit with Slaters wheels and a Portescap motor and gearbox. This model was originally built by a person unknown and I won it in a GNRA railwayana auction. Not the best £605 I have ever spent. It was bought because I have confidence in buying second hand models that have been built from quality kits, and as I had already built one of these before, my confidence remained that I could strip and rebuild it into a superb model. Well I have done that, but at a cost in time that convinces me that never again will I tackle one of these in that way. The model now has a pair of plunger pickups on the driving wheels and wiper pickups on the tender. Although clearances are very tight on the bogie and trailing wheels, it works well. Thanks also to Warren Haywood for a stunning paint job.
LNER Gresley A1 class Pacific no. 1470N Great Northern. 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 Great Northern (and his twin brother Robert the Devil, who appears on a separate posting on this site) were left unfinished until in early 2020, when I was commissioned by Wally’s 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. I am very proud to have completed the model to a standard worthy of the builder and honoured to have this fabulous model as part of my collection.
“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 John Cockcroft 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. 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 Wally’s 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.
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) King Arthur 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. The superb painting and lining is by Warren Hayward.
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.
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