The LNER Encyclopedia

Hello all and greetings from Canada. I've been lurking on your site for a long time and you seem to have a wealth of knowledge of the LNER.

Background ... I'm retired now but grew up in Fife Scotland to the age of 13 when my family moved here in 1951. As a youngster I was fascinated by steam and those memories haven't changed much ... well, the ones I can remember!

I took up scratchbuilding a few years ago as a way to pass the time and built mostly racing cars and a sailboat model. When I came across a set of drawings for 4472 I decided to have a go at it and now, off-and-on two years later, I'm nearly ready to paint it.

I have a few questions that I'd like to ask ...

1: Is the black paint (e.g. front of the boiler) a true gloss paint or a semi-gloss? My collection of photos shows that it's usually a dull black but I wonder if that's just from usage and smoke blackened.

2: There is quite a gap between the cab and the tender floors. How was this gap filled during running of the loco? Is there a plate that would be dropped in here?

Before I ask the next one please understand that I have virtually zero-knowledge about the proper names of parts of a locomotive and only rudimentary knowledge about how it works.

3: There are a couple of boxy mechanisms on the right hand side (almost under the boiler). One is just ahead of the name-plate and has a wheel attached to its face. The other, further forward just has a lot of plumbing coming from it. There are no similar devices on the driver-side.

My guess is they have something to do with lubrication ... mechanical pumps maybe?

4: There is a flap that attaches under the rear of the cab roof and rests on the leading edge of the tender. What was that made of (canvas?) and was it attached to or just resting on the tender?

Well, I'll leave it at that for now.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Frank

Hello. Greetings from South of the Border. The smokebox was painted gloss black, but the shine would not last very long, due to heat more than anything else. After only a few trips, the finish would become quite dull and tinged with grey and rust. There are many photographs showing that the bottom of the smokebox door has become hot enough to burn the paint off, leaving rusty patches. On more prestigious engines, this might be touched up with some gloss black. As for your question 3, those boxes festooned with wheels and piping are indeed mechanical lubricators. Hope this helps. John

Rubber sheeting between cab and tender
There is a "fallplate" between cab and tender on a hinge on the loco. This would lay flat when the loco was on its own.

Mick

Thanks for the quick replies Mick and John.

I'll post some pictures in a month or so when the paint is on.

Frank