O GAUGE MODEL -- BR CLASS C13 67417

4-4-2T Class C13 Atlantic Tank (O Gauge)
Another of my late fathers O Gauge kits built to LNER / BR design for the Class C13 (ex Great Central Railway Class 9K) Believe it was built and customised from a 7mm scale kit produced by Gladiator. Dad built a number of LNER/BR steam locomotives and several of these would have been kits purchased from Gladiator, having quickly looked at their website they appear to still sell this kit although doesn't have further details at this point in time, sadly. This particular model has been given the number 67417 which represented the last surviving locomotive of it's class during it's BR days. The original locomotive having been scrapped in 1960 some five years after the majority of it's class had already been broken up. You can find further technical details about this model and class by clicking this LINK.
Class C13 Background / History
The Great Central Railway 9K and 9L classes were two related classes of 4-4-2T Atlantic steam locomotives. They were both intended for suburban passenger services and after the 1923 Grouping they served the LNER as classes C13 and C14. The 9K / C13 class was built for the London suburban services, running from the GCR's Marylebone terminus. Their designer was John G. Robinson. The design was based on the earlier Pollitt Class 9G 2-4-2T locomotives, but with a lengthened boiler and a leading bogie to carry it

Within a few years, the timing of these suburban trains was facing competition from electric services. Competing with these required faster acceleration and the more powerful 4-6-2T Class 9N was introduced. From 1922 they were dispersed away from London through the GCR network, to South Yorkshire between Manchester, Sheffield and Mexborough. Most notably, many of them went to Wrexham were they were based successfully until the 1950s. The South Yorkshire engines gradually moved to Gorton locomotive shed, from where they were used on Manchester suburban services, and destinations as far as Hayfield and Macclesfield, later joined by the 9Ls, until they were both replaced by DMUs after post-1955 dieselisation.

All members of the class passed into British Railways service and survived until at least 1952. Eventually being withdrawn between 1955 and 1959. The last No 67417 was scrapped in 1960 and is the subject of the model here as sadly none were preserved.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE - PART TWO - MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITIONS

This is the second part of a recent lock down activity looking ahead to some of the special events that we would be keen to visit and support later in the year. The first focused upon a few of our Heritage Railways and now we turn our focus to look at Model Railways, Open Days as well as Exhibitions which we hope will be able to open up to the public later in the summer. It's been a long time so I am sure that like myself there are many waiting to get back out there and visit especially recommend some of the smaller shows that will really welcome your support when we can return. What we will be doing here is browsing the anticipated shows and open days that were in the calendar for the latter part of the year, we already see cancellations up to and including July therefore our search starts in August were we will pick a few shows out from that month at first, then September too.

August 2020 Shows / Events.
While there are plenty of events listed on club sites we see a number of these are already showing as cancelled in as far in as early August. So with the hope and optimism that by late August we'll be allowed out here are just a few of the interesting events that are scheduled and catch our eye.
_________________________
Bressingham Steam Museum
  - The East Anglia Garden Railway Show
Saturday 8th August 2020
Location; Bressingham Steam Museum, Low Road, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk IP22 2AA
Opening Times:  10:30 - 17:00  Admission:  Adults £7.00
The Annual Garden Railway Show at Bressingham Steam Museum. Featuring Garden Railway Scale exhibition Layouts and trade stalls selling Garden Railway products. Entry includes access to the whole attraction (Museum and Gardens). Narrow Gauge passenger railways will be running too. Well worth a visit (when we can).
_________________________
Bishops Stortford Model Railway Exhibition
Saturday 22nd August 2020
Location; Birchwood High School Sports Hall, Parsonage Lane, Bishops Stortford  [10.30am - 4.30pm]
In it's seventh year at this enhanced venue. 16+ layouts in main gauges including some vintage from mostly local clubs and ourselves; 8+ trade stands covering new and second hand stock, and modelling materials, 5 society stands and a number of club stands featuring other transport activities our members pursue.
_________________________

Bournville Model Railway Exhibition

Saturday 29th August 2020
Location; The Hollymoor Centre, 8 Manor Park Grove, Northfield, Birmingham.
Bournville MRC presents its annual exhibition on Saturday 29th August 2020. [10:00am - 4:30pm]
Admission:  Adults £5.00  Concessions £4.00  Family £9.00
_________________________
September 2020 Shows / Events.
Let us also look at a few for September, some interesting shows here and fingers crossed all can go ahead.
Medway Model Railway Show
Saturday 5th - Sunday 6th September 2020
Location; Fort Pitt Grammar School, Fort Pitt Hill, Chatham, Kent ME4 6TJ
Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-4.00pm  [Adults £6.00]
In our popular venue of Fort Pitt Grammar School, our 22nd Exhibition will offer a greater selection of layouts, covering a variety of scales and gauges with high quality trade support for both the average and specialist modeller.
_________________________
The EM Gauge Society
 - Expo EM Autumn 2020
Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th September 2020
Location;  Kettlethorpe High School, Standbridge Lane, Sandal, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF2 7EL
Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm [Adults £9.00  Concessions £7.00]
Following the success of the move to our new venue for expo EM Autumn, the autumnal flagship event of the EM Gauge Society, the event in 2020 will once again take place at Kettlethorpe High School, Wakefield. There will be a range of finescale 4mm scale layouts in EM and P4 and a visiting guest layout, demonstrations, specialist traders, and also the EMGS Trade Stand and the ever popular members' second hand sales stand.
_________________________
The Yorkshire Group of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers
 - The Yorkshire Garden Railway Show.
Saturday 26th September 2020
Location; Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, South Yorkshire S74 8HJ
Sat 10am-4.30pm  [Adults £5.00]
The best show for railways normally seen in our gardens, held in the Elsecar Heritage Centre where all aspects of this hobby can be seen. On display are 16mm scale model steam engines and rolling stock running on 6 layouts with superb buildings. 30+ Sales displays of the best in model railways.
_________________________
We'll aim to update these nearer the time and assuming that they are still going ahead write up further details about the events and what model railways are expected to be on show. In the mean time please take care, be nice, stay safe and we'll get back to some sort of normal life soon.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE - PART ONE - HERITAGE RAILWAY SUMMER EVENTS

While lock down is still in effect and it's unlikely to be completely removed any time soon we will now look ahead to what might be on later this summer? While it is possible that a lock down may begin to ease soon, it's unlikely that we'll have a complete restart in the coming months, so it would seem sensible to look a little further ahead into the summer and see what is planned for some of our wonderful heritage railways. We will start by focus on some of the easier to visit railways around the south east of England as travelling will still be a limiting factor even when we are allowed out.  Two of my nearest and most accessible Heritage Steam Railways are The Bluebell Railway [East Grinstead - Sheffield Park] in Sussex and The Mid-Hants Railway [Alton - Alresford] in Hampshire.

Bluebell Railway
The events scheduled for April, May and June have already been postponed. We've therefore been looking a bit further ahead and it's going to be the Bluebell's 60th anniversary as a heritage railway. Really hope they can get this staged as planned as it would surely have been one of the most popular events in the 2020 calendar. Always enjoyed my trips here since a youngster, and since 2013 their northern extension which reached East Grinstead meant it was easier to make that visit via Southern Railways services from Clapham Junction.

Bluebell Railway's Diamond Anniversary
"Our heritage railway is turning 60 years old in summer 2020 come along (if we can) and help celebrate all our achievements over the past 60 years, with festivities planned across the railway from 7 – 9 August".  There will be events and activities at each of the lines stations, music and entertainment at Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes, Kingscote and East Grinstead. The railway will also be running their most intensive timetable ever, with six trains operating on every day of the weekend.

The various stations along the preserved line have been restored to show different periods of the railway's life:
Sheffield Park has been restored to a Victorian ambience, as it would have appeared during the time of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (up to 1922).
Horsted Keynes emulates the Southern Railway from 1922 to 1948.
Kingscote echoes the British Railways of the 1950s.
East Grinstead is an amalgam of British Railways of the 1950s and 1960s.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mid Hants Railway (Watercress Line)

Been planning a visit here for the last year but during 2019 they had major issues with some road works taking place and the replacement of a bridge so this was postponed to 2020. It's accessible by South Western Railway services to Alton (Waterloo service) which means I can get here fairly easily from Feltham via either Clapham Junction or the Ascot service, that's a huge advantage for me as I no longer drive.
Autumn Steam Gala
Friday 16th - Sunday 18th October 2020
The railway look forward to welcoming you to our three day weekend. There will be steam locomotives operating a varied timetable from 9am to 5pm each day.
Stations of the Watercress Line
The Watercress Line has four stations on the site of former British Rail stations. All feature a passing loop, allowing trains to pass one another, with all but Alton station having two platforms connected via a footbridge.
Alton – at the north-east end of the line. Alton has one passenger platform (two are assigned to South Western Railway), with a cross-platform connection to the town and to onwards services to London Waterloo. Alton effectively has two passing loops, one at, and one just outside the station, allowing trains to pass one another outside of the station and thus reducing the impact of the single platform during intensive operations.
Medstead and Four Marks – the highest station in Hampshire and a depiction of a quiet 1940s Southern Railway station building. The line's Signal and Telegraph department is here, Permanent Way group and Building department. This is where trains usually pass on standard running days.
Ropley – the engineering centre of the line and the location of the locomotive maintenance and running sheds. The station has flower beds and topiary, adjoining is the largest signal box, controlling movements through the station, as well as much shunting to and from the locomotive yard. The ongoing re-signalling project in the area will see a significant increase in the possible diversity of operations through the station.
Alresford – at the southern end of the line is the top visitor station and has the most passenger facilities, including a museum, buffet and two shops. Most of the carriage stock is stored at this station, with Alresford Train Care performing day-to-day maintenance and cleaning of the carriages.

MAY UPDATE - ANY LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

While we are still on lock down in early May and we are yet to know when this is going to improve, we take the time to look ahead to the Summer months and what might be in store for us. Naturally at the current time we are missing the regular Model Railway Exhibitions around the country and the open days for the many railway clubs and associations. My models sure do need a good run on a extensive test track when this is all over and it's safer to go out. The Heritage railways are also suffering as they would have planned and paid out for special rail tours, experiences and although generally staffed by wonderful volunteers the maintenance and general upkeep does need to come from somewhere.

An interesting example of how one such Heritage site has been actively gaining support can be seen at the Talyllyn Railway They have existed for 155 years (69 of those in preservation) and they don't intend to go away so have been using social media to promote their "Virtual Visit" campaign. This has already raised over £70,000 for them which doesn't surprise me as they are very popular and their social media and interaction is to be recommended. 

Will update soon with two separate posts, one will be focusing on Heritage Railways and looking ahead to some of their special events that we would be keen to visit and support later in the year, while the other will look at Model Railways, Open Days as well as exhibitions which we hope will be able to open up to the public later in the summer.