Early Steam and Early Electrics

[Chops]

I imagine it must be a huge undertaking for any manufacturer to bring any given product to market, especially as Model Railroaders are
such a fickle and diverse lot. I do hope that Hornby was rewarded, and rewarded well, for the new Hornby Rocket and set, including the
superb Third Class Carriages. That creation is a thing of beauty, and I got the Third Class Carriages to round out, as I am mad about First
Generation Steam. I cannot praise Hornby enough for such a delightful addition.

Would something like the "Planet" and some relevant coaching or goods stock be a worth while endeavor? I suppose Trevethick's steam locomotive would be out of the realm.

Nice attention to modern electrics, but haven't seen anything of the early phases since the Triang Electra, unless I'm entirely missing the boat.

While I'm at it, Oxford Rails did a simply superb job on the Dean Goods. I wish everything ran and looked as good as my specimen. Exquisite on every criteria. They got a nasty whack on the knuckles from Sam's Review, where he got a dud, but they did a spectacular comeback and reissued him a piece that is hardly outdone by any brass item or any other RTR stock.

[LC&DR]

Early 2-2-0 and 2-2-2 locomotives and early rolling stock would make an interesting basis for pioneering railway layouts. I am not sure how many people would go for them, but a layout featuring them would certainly be attractive. Hopefully early style track for them to run on too.

Turning now to early electrics, there were very few for many years. The North Eastern Railway was the largest user and had 13, two were shunters for taking wagons on to the quayside at Newcastle, one was a prototype for the electrification from York to Newcastkle which never happened, and ten were used on the goods line between Shildon and Newport (near Middlesbrough) . This lasted until just before World War 2.

The LNER was still pursuing electric traction and had started to electrify the hilly route from Manchester to Sheffield, but this was postponed due to the War, and wasn't completed until the early 1950s.

Elsewhere electrification was confined to multiple unit passenger operation. The London and South Western and London Brighton and South Coast Railways had electrified the busy routes into London before the First World War, and local systems around Newcastle upon Tyne, Liverpool and Manchester were also electrified in the same way. The London tube railways also pioneered electric traction. However apart for some early experiments with locomotives on the Central London Railway and City and South London Railway and a fleet of 20 Bo-Bo third rail locomotives on the Metropolitan Railway working from London to Rickmansworth all these used multiple units.

The LNER Manchester to Sheffield route was really the first main line to be worked by electric traction in the UK. The locomotive fleet included 58 Bo-Bo EM1 class and 7 Co-Co EM2 class, which operated on 1,500 volts DC. It had a mix of both passenger and freight traffic, and lasted until 1980. I had the pleasure to work alongside these locomotives in their final years.

[darkscot]

There is an eccentric Japanese guy I follow on Twitter who has an eclectic train collection, including several early steam.




https://muuseo.com/square/articles/357

[Chops]

1. A useful and compact summary. 2. The Japanese fellow, wow, what an astonishing collection. What is that extraordinary High Wheeler
affair in the upper right corner?? It appears to be a Victorian Hot Rod.

If I had the skill of a surgeon, I'd endeavor to scratch build the balance
of that collection. I knew a fellow, unusually here in El Paso, long since past, RIP, who scratch built a fine array of British range rolling stock.
This was in the pre-digital days, so unless you had a solid source, you were on your own; might as well try to model Soviet Railways, for the
most part. He scratch built. I don't know how anyone does that.

[darkscot]

It does seem surprising that there are not at least some kits for these early steam locos.

Here are some in action:

https://youtu.be/03OFDVEpnpo

[Chops]

Pretty neat!