Max Stafford's Kennel

I’ve made a start on another Black Five; one of a mini batch project of three that were active in this area during that last summer of steam operation on ScR in 1966.

Two are Perth locos and the other is a Ferryhill engine.

This example is 44797 of Perth.

The other two being 44703 of Ferryhill and 44997 also of Perth.

The three were decided on after studying a number of photos taken round that time and after that, the fun really started. As one who is not unfamiliar with “rabbit holes”, I certainly found the mother of them when I started to research the details using every book I had in my library concerning the class. The tenders alone took a fair bit of sussing out as very few retained that which they were built with – it seems that they were swapped around in the most carefree fashion at works like wives at a posh 1970s cocktail party; I suppose they just stuck the tenders in the yard like car keys and took pot luck when the loco was finished…

Anyway back to more tasteful tones and the whole exercise was educational; I didn’t realise the last 110 locos had alterations to accommodate roller bearings on the loco axles that made subtle but conspicuous differences to the appearance. I had know that the last batches had the wheelbase extended by four inches but hadn’t actually questioned why until I read that the roller bearings had caused clearance difficulties around the ashpan which resulted in the boiler being put back 4″ too. This in turn led to the smokebox being extended aft, also by 4″ in an engineering chain reaction. It explains why I always felt there was something different looking about the later locos that I previously couldn’t put my finger on.

Fortunately, none of my chosen three belonged to that later batch.

The tenders however also generated questions from the answers I found whilst sorting out which type matched withing the period of choice. There were three basic tender variants which are well known to most of my followers I believe. The new knowledge I have after diving into this realm over a two hour telephone conversation with a like minded friend(!) is that there are visible differences in the tender axleboxes, primarily in the welded tender variants where the spring dampers were altered to a shorter design from tender number 10471 in November 1944 as noted in LMS Locomotive Profile No6.

This made the tender number a significant factor, particularly with the MK2 welded Stanier tender

Work started with the tender.

Using a Proxxon power tool with grinder and sander attachment certainly cleared away the unsightly ‘step’  below footplate level. It’s a messy job and one which takes some confidence to do, but the end result is worth the effort with a more convincing looking tender “below the waterline”.

Brassmasters, Comet and Lanarkshire Model Supplies parts are now in the process of fitting, along with Gibson bogie wheels and this is where we are currently at with the long process of reassembly and detailing.

Another update will follow when she’s ready for the paint shop. 🙂