The LNER Encyclopedia

Good evening,
I would like to draw people's attention to a new range of 4 mm scale etched kits for Great Eastern Railway four and six wheeled coaches. They can be seen on my website at www.eveleighcreations.com . I was looking to see how I could contact the administrators to have them included on the list of modeling products, but I couldn't find a contact button. Maybe someone can help me, please?
Best wishes,
David

Good morning David and welcome. I've been following the development of your kits for some time.

Have you been in touch with the Great Eastern Society? Paul Goldmith, who maintains their list of modelling items, is a member on here and a number of other forums. It would be worth speaking to him if you haven't already. A post in the Modelling section might also help, unless you already know a member who could post a build of one or more.

Hello David. I've sent Richard a PM, since newcomers don't have the PM facility at first, to draw his attention to this.

Hello,
Thank you for your helpful comments. Yes, I have known Paul Goldsmith for a long time - he has used three of my kits for lineside huts on his superb Colchester layout. He also kindly put notification of my 4mm coach kits in the Great Eastern Soc. publications and Nigel Bowdidge put an earlier announcement in the newsletter for me.
Best wishes,
David

Hello again Dave,

I gather that the D514 brake had a 34' 6" body length and 22' 6" total wheelbase. I wonder if you are aware of the brake thirds that were built by Ashburys and Brown Marshalls for the LD&ECR 1896-8 to what appears to have been an extremely similar design? There seem to have been both 3 and 4 compartment versions, but as far as the 3 compartment version is concerned my impression is that it differed minimally from the GER D514, being of 34' body length rather than 34' 6". That may have resulted in there being one panel less in the length of the upper van side. The outer faces of the duckets were also given mouldings rather than being plain. A reasonable modeller could probably live with the slight discrepancy in length and make up a small section of moulding for each ducket. Those LDEC carriages appear to have spread out into the wider GC area after the LDEC was absorbed, mixed freely with MS&L or GC designs. Perhaps there's an additional small opportunity there for your marketing strategy?

The LDEC full third with 31' body on 20' wheelbase, in identical style, seems not to resemble anything in your range though, which is pity, but a kit option for at least a brake third is presumably better than no LDEC carriage kits at all.

This cropped section of a grainy image of one of the (presumed) LDEC 3 compartment brakes in a train leaving Grimsby around 1930 is the "best" image I dare post, "for information/study only", given copyright considerations, but I do have other views. The LDEC brake in the un-cropped picture is seen to be followed by 3 former MSL/GC arc-roof carriages then possibly another LDEC six-wheeler...

Hello Graeme,

Thank you for your most interesting post. I was not aware of these coaches.

I knew that the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast had a rake of the four wheeled coaches - in fact one person bought a good number of my kits for these for use on his LDEC layout. Tatlow's npcs book shows that they also had some Great Eastern horseboxes. I think this may have been in exchange for running rights. (I do a kit for the horsebox in 2 mm scale, but not 4 mm at this time - I don't know if they are available from any other manufacturers?)

I wonder why the six inch difference in length? The duckets fare into the sides about level with the bottom door hinges, rather than starting at the bottom - and have paneling on the face as well, as you say. I would think my kits could be modified to represent this using plasticard and filing the existing components.

I would be interested to see any other pictures you would be prepared to share with me privately, please.

On a not unrelated topic for people interested in the GCR, our son is at Sheffield University and my wife and I have stayed a number of times at the Royal Victoria Hotel which is next to what used to be the GCR (ex-MS&LR) station. There are lots of items on display relating to the railway connections and I had an interesting conversation with the owner, who had arranged for the GCR war memorial to be re-erected in the gardens as it had been subject to vandalism in its previous location. As a happy customer, I would certainly recommend the hotel.

Best wishes,

David