Here we are all set up on Saturday morning and awaiting the masses. I’m still getting to grips with the new camera, so here are a few views regular readers may have seen before as I familiarised myself with it.
Newcastle show is always on Remembrance Weekend - which was impeccably observed this year – and so it seemed highly appropriate to place Valour in a prominent position for the duration. The poppy headboard was produced by Fox in 2018 for the Armistice centennial commemoration.
Just behind and below Valour, the steam engine works under the viaduct.
A large part of the operation of the layout are the loco changes. Longtime local resident Robert the Devil will start the weekend on the shed exit road ready to pick up an Up express at some point fairly early in the sequence. The excellent weathering is by Tom Foster.
The south end of the station. Some really nice detail here and John Smart’s lovely horsebox, dominated by ‘Black Bess’, somewhat cleaner in this prewar era. In the background an unidentifiable A3 (actually Grantham’s own Tracery) is ready for the first Up loco change of the weekend.
Just off the platform end, the south end pilot, built by Tony Wright and the recently refurbished gas tank. Although Gresley was very keen on anthracite for kitchen cars, gas remained a very common fuel and was also needed for lighting many of the older carriages.
Just a little further south, 7515 is ready to start the shuttle to Ambergate (the off-scene coal yard) with some wagons belonging to local merchants. It and J211806 will spend all weekend doing this.
I’m not passing up the chance to photograph some wagons and we can also look at Paul Bolton’s monumental Granary building. I made the ex-ROD open, now working for the Societe Belgo-Anglaise des Ferry-Boats, a long time before someone gave Bachmann the idea.
No apology for another picture of this wagon either, it’s one of the most distinctive in the shunting stock. It’s an LNWR glass wagons from Bill Bedford. Given the rather delicate nature of the superstructure it would be one of the vehicles I would most worry about in transit, but it’s stood up to it very well so far. I have recently had to repair the load retaining chains, but the wagon itself has not been a problem. To the left a Cambrian D1666, I think and to the right an unfitted LNER van made using a Parkside body on (probably) a scratchbuilt underframe. You can also use the underframe from the Cambrian LNER open to make the same vehicle.
Down past the factory (isn’t that a song?), under the Great North Road bridge is where 6049 often starts the weekend with a recessed Peterborough – Grantham goods. This train works in a couple of times in the sequence, sets back and is then shunted a few moves later. You also have the bonus of a close up of one of Graham’s incredibly delicate working signals.
That was all I had time for before the show; the next few were taken when the show got quiet in the last hour on Saturday afternoon. Some are taken from inside the layout, some when we had almost no-one on the barriers and I could get round without getting in anyone’s way.
4329 above is waiting to set off to somewhere like Burton-on-Trent. It’s almost directly behind where we looked at 4479 earlier. The triplet set behind is from a set of etches Tony Wright gave me which we think were from the 1970s. They were by a chap called David Gray, about whom I’ve been able to find nothing. There were two sets of etches issued which could make up either single vehicles or a twin or triplet. Neither was to an authentic diagram, however so in the end I stole a carriage from an almost equally elderly etch and made a correct set. It was the very early days of etching and there was no beading, just half etched grooves round the panels which I had to fill with plastic strip. Mallard Gresley carriages were very similar.
Also from inside the layout, 3523 either coming on or going off shed. Locos have to run right out on the viaduct to get sufficiently far up the ladder of points to access the platforms. This is a London Road Models kit as it’s the 521 variant (one of the first batch of J6s), the longer cab being the obvious giveaway.
From outside the layout now, 3554 (NuCast) shows the 536 variety of J6 which was by far the most common. This was Gresley’s revision of Ivatt’s design. It’s waiting in the Up goods loop to take a freight to Peterborough.
Back at the North end of the platforms, 3272 swings into view with the Up Scarborough Flyer. This was most probably a pacific working by 1937, but who can resist a C1? 3272 is an interesting model: it was scratchbuilt at King’s Cross Models by a chap called Mike Shepard and ran on Bert Collins’ Hitchin layout until that was broken up. I was then lucky enough to acquire it and with a new mechanism and some tlc it now works on Grantham. The carriage set comprises many of the GN diagrams which made up this service in the early part of the 1930s and has been built by Roy Mears.
Now we’ve moved back towards the viaduct, we find that 3523 has come onto the same cross-country service we saw behind 4329 above. By squinting you can tell from the roofboards that the Scarborough Flyer is just passing behind it on the Up Main.
On Sunday I was in early. Having taken a handful of locos home for repair, the night before, I wanted to try them out before everyone turned up on Sunday.
Gadwall had jumped out of mesh on Saturday – I found that a motor wire had got between motor and gear tower, pushing the motor back about half a mil, which was enough to allow it to move up and out of its housing. Suitably admonished and put back into place, it then strolled round the layout with the 13 car Flying Scotsman set.
4469 is now only remembered by a few as the unfortunate engine destroyed in what is now the Great Hall of the NRM. There was an article in a recent Gresley Observer (I think) reflecting on the turn of chance which has made 4468 the national treasure it has become, while the identical 4469 has vanished into obscurity. You can also reflect on the marvellous intricacy of another of the signals.
After testing (successfully) all the sicknotes from Saturday, I turned to a new loco which had been brought on a trial basis. 4323 is a NuCast D2 which I bought on Ebay several years ago and have been sporadically reworking since. It’s had a new mechanism and a repaint and did travel to Bristol, where we detected a slight tight spot so it went back into the box. I only got it out last week and fettled it, but I was advised that a capable 4-4-0 would be very welcome, so I brought it along. Just for daftness, I put it onto the FS set after I finished with Gadwall. It strolled away with it and glided round the layout with no real apparent effort and 13 on. To say I was chuffed is an understatement.
I did try to take some video, but the camera wasn’t playing ball at all so you’ll have to take my word for it for the moment. Here it is approaching the station from the south, about to overtake a High Dyke working which has paused for the loco to turn.
I’m one of those people who spends as much time looking at fiddle yards as scenic sections and I know others like to see what happens under the hood as well. So I took some views of the fiddle yard operating positions on Sunday morning so you can see a little of what we get up to. This is North end, which I haven’t operated for many a year, but which handles most of the cross country trains into and out of both main and Nottingham yards.
From the left, there’s a length of track which holds mineral locos – usually the O4s for the High Dyke but here 2437 which usually pulls the loaded coal train has been relieved and 5001 (in the right background) has that train. The O4s for the High Dyke working are turned on the shed, so they have to have Kadees front and rear.
Steve looks to be commendably well ahead of the game here with a lot of trains prepared and ready to go. The Director at the back is on the storage line for tension lock locos (I think that’s the Nottingham service). K3 153 in front and below has the Up perishables, 4494 Osprey has the Leeds-KX (a 5 car steel set with an extra van) and further right 4412 is the most heavily weathered of the C1s. Note also the coupling stick, indispensable round the back.
I then went down to my end. I have all the express passenger and streamline sets. Starting again at left, there’s a Coronation twin on its own, which means that the Mallard test train is set up an dcan be seen behind the Silver Jubilee. 2512 in all its unweathered splendour is ready to work the down Jubilee in due course; behind that is the Junior Scotsman set (ready to work a Glasgow-KX service) and the Scarborough Flyer set. Above the Scotch Goods can be seen the loco holding tracks: Green Arrow alternates with 4005 on the Scotch Goods and the rest rotate on the down mineral empties. I can see the Q1, there’s a K3 and O2 behind 4771 and in the background O1 3465 still has the train as it was the last repaired loco I tested on it. In front of the operating instructions and visor are the box of loco lamps, coupling stick and notebook for any repairs or work required.
Turning to my right, I also manage the sidings which run round the south end of the layout. Some of the less used sets live here. Working from front to back, looking over the Pullmans and parcels sets, the Leeds-KX is ready with Spion Kop attached. Above it 4498 has been taken off the Scotsman so that 4323 can be attached. At the rear No. 1 has the 1888 Scotsman set. If both these trains are ready then this must be Move 9, which ends with them side by side in the station.
Turning completely around, this is the main loco store where the larger locos are kept. Smaller goods engines have an area at North End, as I don’t have any need for them and it saves the operator having to walk.
Those who know how basic our sense of humour can get will not be surprised to hear that the space with the two P2s in it is known as the ‘Cock’ holding area. Beyond that the pacifics are grouped by shed. The running instructions will often specify a loco from a particular area and this is how we find them. At the far end an area for atlantics, K3s and 4-6-0s. Specific locos which we need to find are across the front in marked spaces – closest to the camera is the West Riding A4 spot, and Mallard lives a little further along.
When we set out, all the locos point the same way – usually chimney out, but it’s not important. What is important is that after running they go back the opposite way round, so we can see what’s been run and ensure everything gets a turn. Looking at this, there are two pacifics which may not have moved all day, which is quite feasible. They’ll be the first out today.
Beyond the coffin is the most important part of the whole operation, the bit where we keep the mugs and cake. That’s all some of us come along for, really.
Later ion Sunday afternoon and still flushed with its success, we tried 4323 on the High Dyke empties. This is a heavy train for its length as there are some persistently draggy wagons in the rake. It’s also, remarkably, completely prototypical – there’s a picture by Arthur Cawston of a D2 taking a set of hoppers south to High Dyke in the 1930s. Needless to say 4323 walked it.
We’re getting to the end of the sensible photos now. Before it all goes downhill, a couple I took for Roy Mears. Roy has retired from shows with us as it was getting a bit much for him. However he has very kindly continued to supply stock and locos which now travel with me.
3592 is a scratchbuild by the last John Edgson of Isinglass drawings fame. I have one of his scratchbuilt locos as well and they are things of beauty. Here it has worked in with the goods from Peterborough and I think was just about to set back into the lie by. The Cheshire Lines wagon above the cab is a bit of an anachronism by 1937, but is also scratchbuilt (by Peter Simmerson) and so it gets a pass.
I was especially pleased to have 4638 with us as it’s a Gresley K1, a loco which I think I’ve only seen modelled twice. Roy made this on the basis of a NuCast K2 kit, with parts supplied by Graeme King and a fair amount of scratch building. If you’re very pedantic, the wheelbase is a little out, but you’d have to look very hard to tell. 4638 was the last rebuilt to a K2, in 1938. Here it’s taking the up stock train from Holgate to Hornsey.
I commented earlier on John Smart’s horsebox in the south end bay. On Sunday it was absent, replaced by a GN banana van of a type extinct by 1924 (and unique when it existed as far as I know). This was in honour of the visit of Dave Sutton - Dave S in these parts - who produced the etches for it. Credit to Dave, he spotted it pretty well as soon as he appeared. It’s a gorgeous thing which just needs lettering to complete.
Now, you can only be sensible for so long. This was so long. On Sunday morning, they were back.
After a session posing against the factory, the Beaver was placed at the front of the layout to be admired, along with a scratchbuilt Hurst Nelson bogie bolster which Barry Oliver lends us. The Dick wandered: the sharp-eyed may already have spotted that I slipped it into a goods train a couple of pictures back. I think that might be the first time it’s actually run in a train.
