West End Workbench

[coachmann]

Thanks Mick. I followed your link and have replied on there.

[jwealleans]

Something new tonight; one of those jobs that you wish you'd just said 'No, I haven't time...' A few weeks ago, the chap who services the locos on the Pilmoor layout at Ormesby said that he'd brought the last ones back, but "The N10 could do with a repaint". It's a whitemetal kit and it did - badly - need a repaint, so I said I'd do it. Quick dip in the Nitromors, stick all the details which fell off back on, spray it over and Bob's your uncle.

No.

The 'whitemetal' kit turned out to be scratchbuilt - mainly in brass - and soldered - mainly. There was a shower of bits of plastic, milliput, card, lord knows what else and to put the brass hat on it the Nitromors I was using turned out not ot be the kind you rinse off with water. Guess how I found that out?

It's had a month or so to dry off and this is what I'm left with:



The smokebox wrapper was glued on - or just stuck on with the paint. It came off in the Nitromors, anyway. A few bits must have vanished in the horrible sticky goo I threw out, but I ought to be able to replace those. So far I've cleaned it all up and run the polishing wheel over it then soldered the smokebox front back to the wrapper. I've also emptied the lead shot from the smokebox and put in some lumps of lead using UHU. It's drying on my WB at the moment.

I have a bit of a research task ahead; we've always referred to it as the N10, but the builder numbered it 238. 238, I find, was an N8. The loco had also been lettered in the Thompson style, but 238 was withdrawn in November 1929. I'll have to dig out what drawings and references I have to see what it really is and how to renumber it - Pilmoor is set in the latter half of the 1930s, so 238 is not really an option.

[Robpulham]

it looks like a challenge Jonathan, but it should make a nice looking loco at the end.

[52D]

A couple of early N8 pics in Tweedmouth yard. Note the westinghouse pump at the front of the tank on No.267 it seems to have disappeared from your model but No.857 does not have this addition. I have also noticed a difference in the front ends and sandboxes area between the two locos. I think i may have the LI that covers this class so send me a message about which one you intend to model and i will see if i can turn up some better pics for you.
Tweedmouths allocation always had a few of these tanks as well as an ex NBR N15 0-6-2T they lasted from the grouping to around 1940 when a wartime reshuffle of motive power concentrated them in areas of heavy industry such as Consett, Hull and the Tyneside area.
From the pics i wonder if they had a heavy rebuild in LNER times your model certainley looks like No.857.

[52D]

JW you need to decide which actual N8 you are going to model as there is an incredible amount of differences between individual locos of this Class.
I have found the relevant LI and can send you the required section if you wish.

[jwealleans]

Thanks, 52D, but I have the magazine in front of me. It's a blimmin' minefield, this class. I've taken the vernier to the model this morning and find the following: wheels diameter 19.5mm - probably intended to be 20mm, so within sight of the 5'1 1/4" of an N8; boiler diameter 18mm - should be 17 but I imagine the piece of copper tube was handy; distance front splasher front to buffer beam 7mm (if it was an N9 this would be longer). It has a piano front, which I imagine means piston valves, but I don't know how to tell whether it's superheated or not. There's no ejector pipe along the boiler, although it did have vac pipes fitted so I imagine I'll have to add that. There were no Westinghouse pipes on there. The other thing it has which not all seemed to have had is a step half way up the back of the bunker.

In addition it ideally needs to be a loco which might have been seen between York and Northallerton in 1938/39.

I think I probably need to order the relevant Greenie/Yeadon from the library. I can carry on sticking the non-specific bits back on in the meantime and there are things like brake gear which I'll have to add whatever loco it ends up as. In the meantime any advice and photographs are welcome.

[52D]

JW i think i have found a likely candidate for your time frame as on 9th of September 1940 No.861 was transferred from York to Consett. Probably in the same wartime reshuffle that saw Tweedmouth lose its allocation of the class. Its pictured in LI on page 39 as BR 69378.
Also just found this pic its an official NER works grey photo.

Source Ken Hoole North Eastern Locomotive Sheds.

[mick b]

Superheated Boilers are the longer smokebox projecting at front and the dome further back on boiler versions .

You need a vacumn ejector pipe on the offside and Westinghouse same side too.

The following retained Westinghouse Pump until scrapped

210 212 218 855

No date for when 863 lost its Westinghouse pump.

Glad I made my Nucast version as a steam braked N9 much simpler!!!

[jwealleans]

I'm afraid 861 is a no-go as it has slide valves, while my model has a piano front. Shame, that.

I'm starting to wonder whether the front of the loco is correct; looking at the picture of 69394 on page 38 of 'LI', the valve cover is square with shaped frame tops/extensions at each end. This loco has been built with a shaped front right across, like the G5 below. I'll need to go into this further, I can see. So far I haven't found a picture of an N8 like this one at all.

[Wolf of Badenoch]

Jonathan,

Looking through your build pictures of the GER coaches and noticed that they had (I believe) turned brass Queen Posts. Do you make these yourself or do you buy them in, if the latter is the case could you let me know where I can source these from.

Thanks, SteveT

[Bill Bedford]

boiler diameter 18mm - should be 17 but I imagine the piece of copper tube was handy;

The boiler should be 19mm the boiler was 4'3" i.e. 17mm but then there was 3" of lagging all round making 19mm.

distance front splasher front to buffer beam 7mm (if it was an N9 this would be longer). It has a piano front, which I imagine means piston valves, but I don't know how to tell whether it's superheated or not.

Only the superheated locos had piston valves. To tell them apart, the superheated locos had the smokebox extended about 6" in front of the sand boxes.

[mistahjim]

jwealleans wrote:
boiler diameter 18mm - should be 17 but I imagine the piece of copper tube was handy;
The boiler should be 19mm the boiler was 4'3" i.e. 17mm but then there was 3" of lagging all round making 19mm.

Apologies if this seems pedantic gents, but is 3'' in 4mm scale not 1mm, making a total diameter of 18mm for a (4'3'' boiler + 3'' of lagging) 4'6'' boiler?

I don't want to appear rivet counter-ish or anything, just checking whether or not my maths was correct.

[boeing757]

Sorry to contradict, but if you add a 3inch layer to a cylinder then its diameter will grow by 6inches ie 2mm in4mm scale. Yes I know I must get out more!
B

[jwealleans]

I'll await the arrival of the literature, but I am more and more convinced that the piano front is wrong on this loco. I wonder if the builder has worked from a side on photo and mistaken the small frame sections showing in front of the smokebox for a valve cover. This is when you really appreciate Willie Yeadon and his team - I don't suppose anyone knows when the relevant volume is due?

Although as Bill says only the superheated locos has piston valves, the LNER did revert a number to saturated only, so it may be we can find a suitable candidate.

WRT the boiler diameter, I think Bill means that there was 3" of lagging all the way round, which would add 1mm to each side of the boiler, making 19mm overall diameter.

SteveT; the queen posts are made up from brass tube and handrail knobs. I couldn't find anything which came anywhere near otherwise.

On the model itself I've dug out the funny orange goo which was under the coal and released a load more shot which had been used to weight the bunker. I've then refilled it with lumps of solid lead. I can see I'll need some bits and bobs to finish it off so I'll get those ordered before I go on a work trip for the rest of the week.

[Bill Bedford]

I'll await the arrival of the literature, but I am more and more convinced that the piano front is wrong on this loco. I wonder if the builder has worked from a side on photo and mistaken the small frame sections showing in front of the smokebox for a valve cover. This is when you really appreciate Willie Yeadon and his team - I don't suppose anyone knows when the relevant volume is due?

There is a photo of 69387 in Vol 9A with a staurated boiler and a piano front.