Reflections on the Wrightscale Baldwin 4-6-0 WD Tank Locomotive

Could the Wrightscale Baldwin 4-6-0 WD Tank locomotive enrich your life?  Here are some reflections.

A model can help you appreciate life more. Here is what the Baldwin 4-6-0T has done for us. The first and most important service it performed was putting us in touch with generous friends.

Jim Hawkesworth was one of several who shared with us the knowledge and information he gathered over the years. This included photographs, references and research. Frequently, when we wanted to do a bit of research of our own, he was willing to come with us and point us in the right direction. If it suited us better, he would sit us down with a cup of tea and just listen! Others, such as Eric Fresné and Eric Lloyd have been more than generous. They have given us a chance to exercise our gratitude muscles.

This ex WD Baldwin 4-6-0T is in need of some restoration! This photograph is an example of the information kindly shared with us by Jim Hawkesworth

Gratitude is an under-used resource which yes, honestly, helps you live longer. A grateful person is less likely to be snarling at the world and therefore has a better balance of endorphins and hormones.

The feeling can and should be cultivated. It is all too easy to succumb to the opposite – the negative feeling. Advertisers and other practitioners of the black arts know that. An insider made this comment about social media: 'content that generates the most engagement (media-speak for interest) is whatever creates the negative feelings of sadness, anger or envy'. Advertising empires are built on this insight. This insider is Jaron Lanier, a 58-year-old technology guru who made a fortune as a virtual reality pioneer ie someone who really ought to know.

The positive feeling of gratitude should be nurtured otherwise it will be swamped.   

It is possible to exercise your gratitude muscles.

This is how we do it. Find a regular spot in the day to take stock. Focus on a couple of good things which have happened in the last twenty four hours. The delight may be simple – a ray of sunshine may do it. For the sophisticated 21^st century adventurer, one daily joy should be that ‘Ah hah!’ moment of discovery or of a problem solved. You see, whether simple or clever, we are living out our own stories. When a loose or dissonant thread is caught and tied into a personal story,  that is happiness. Social media protect us from dissonance and discomfort by whisking us into a protective bubble. We see only a carefully filtered version of the world. Along with discomforts, the joy of weaving in a loose strand for ourselves is denied. 

The Wrightscale adventurer faces down (rather than avoiding) difficulty and uncertainty. Without the possibility of being wrong, we deny ourselves the joy of being right. One specific which can be correct or incorrect is historical accuracy. 

 16mm scale Baldwin WD 4-6-0T built by Wrightscale. Photograph by MD Wright

Take, for example, my somewhat elaborate description of what seems a simple locomotive. You can understand why it is a 'Baldwin' - it was made by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia. One look at the wheel arrangement explains why it is a 4-6-0. The water tanks arranged around the boiler explain why it is called a 'tank' rather than a 'tender' loco. The number 854 refers to a specific locomotive that we know worked the War Department Light Railways. 

The abbreviation WD also tells a whole history. 

The War Department Light Railways (WDLR) of the British, Canadian and ANZAC forces of the First World War came late to the fight. The French and their great rivals the Germans had 60cm gauge portable railways from 1888 onwards. The British started World War One with a couple of miles of 2'6" (67cm) gauge railways and tried to manage without. By 1916, they realised their mistake and the WDLR - railway, rolling stock and locomotives - was born. The Canadians were particularly enthusiastic railway engineers and many photos show how Indian and Chinese troops were also involved.

Here, let me be suitably grateful. If you have read other entries on my blog or my books eg ‘Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the Trenches’, you will know how much generous help I received from people such as the Péchot family, Jim Hawkesworth, Dr Christian Cénac, Raymond Duton, the Tramways Touristiques du Tarn, Roy Link, Eric Fresné, Rich Dunn, Malcolm Wright and others. They gave their help and information willingly, along with encouraging messages. We have almost always found that if we seek out the owners of copyright, they are modest in their demands (always be willing to pay their expenses) and often very generous.

And yet there are people who do not follow this simple and obvious course. There are two ways in which they can be ‘wrong.’ It seems amazing and depressing.

Wrightscale 16mm Baldwin 4-6-0 pushing a WD D-class wagon and WD covered goods wagon, both built on Wrightscale WD bogies. Photo by MD Wright

There are those who decide to be accurate by lifting the designs off other people. You wouldn’t just take your neighbour’s garden tools without prior arrangement. As I have said above, 'ask and ye shall receive' Why would intellectual property be any different? All too often, people find that their research and creations can be stolen. Alas! We have had this experience several times, as have several of the finest names in the business – Roy Link, Pete Binny, Stuart Baker.   I trust that all readers deplore this evil theft of intellectual property.

Why do the IP thieves want to break the law, bend gentlemen’s agreements and deny themselves the joys of cooperation? They lay themselves open to quarrels and black-listing. Their experience is all aggression and confrontation. This leads to the build-up of cortisols in their bloodstream. Alternatively, they can retreat into a bubble where any negatives are filtered out while they, no doubt, feel safe in vilifying others. It is a brittle existence. One twist in their fortunes and they are lost.

Do you have an example in mind? I hear you ask. A manufacturer, you all know who, bought a Wrightscale locomotive, took it to pieces, paid a factory to reproduce the pieces and assemble the imitation. In the original, certain parts had to be assembled in sequence, something not understood by the plagiarists. They joined them any old how. As they were not under tension, they had the embarrassing tendency to fall apart. The plagiarists weren't the designers therefore they didn’t know why it happened and there was no way to correct the fault.

After 1918, the Glyn Valley Tramway regauged and adapted a Baldwin 4-6-0. Wrightscale 16mm gauge model. Photo MD Wright

On the other hand, there is the right way to be ‘wrong’. Start with a boiler, get it working. Add a system of wheels and motion. You end up with a free-lance model. That is fine. Most folk enter 16mm steam this way. What is sad is the freelance model to which a few castings have been added which is then passed off as a named locomotive. Still, if this floats your boat, enjoy!

Happy steaming, everyone. Feel the joy and be grateful.

The Data Protection Act

Your rights and Wrightscale (a reminder)

 Those of you who have put their names on lists of interest may be wondering about changes to the law on Data Protection. As you probably know, these changes come into effect on May 25^th. We have considered the implications of these changes, and how our information might affect your privacy.

We will be required to put our privacy policy on the website and any sales literature.

We currently store our email address book online. It simply has name and email but no other personal details. All of you who email and expect a reply go into this email address book automatically. Every couple of months, I remove the ‘once onlies’  but everyone who emails us has the right to have their address removed immediately. We shall remind every first contact of this right.

This is our only online data-base.

 Our interest list is held off-line. In it, we try to include date of contact, a full name, postal address and phone number as well as email. This is because email addresses keep changing and we need an alternative way of keeping in touch. We, for example, have been obliged by our providers to change our own email address at least three times. We do not keep other personal details such as partner’s name, date of birth etc.

 We do not hold any bank details online. As you all know, our policy is cash or cheque if at all possible. Where bank transfer is convenient, we do not hold details online though they will show up in our bank statements which are off-line. Privacy during the transaction will be ensured by the systems of the banks involved. Our bank is the Clydesdale. We have used paypal; in this case privacy is guaranteed by paypal and our own system as described above. If you wish any email correspondence deleted after a payment, please inform us. 

How Wrightscale could save you 200 grand

You could change your life by spending £200,000. This sort of money is the entry fee for what we shall call the Extraordinary Adventures Club. A-list celebrities and the very wealthy are willing to spend time and money to belong to an organisation of this kind. They find that the commitment is worthwhile.They may suffer from panic attacks, drug and alcohol abuse or just a grinding lack of self-confidence. The adventures are challenging – a day of sprinting through the heather perhaps followed by a plunge into an ice-cold Scottish burn, or six weeks guiding a sledge pulled by huskies through the Arctic.

This grey lady could restore your inner calm. Wrightscale 16mm scale Wren. Photo MD Wright

Inner insecurities have driven the typical client to panic, alcohol or such-like. The guides provided by the Club encourage them to think of theseinsecurities as the ‘saboteurs.’ The client takes on some tremendous challenge.  The point of the challenge is take club members out of the rut, give them new perspectives, the opportunity to ‘open up’ after a physically gruelling day. This in itself makes 'the saboteur' less threatening. With the right guidance and techniques, it can be cut down to size. Some of these exercises can be quite  simple. If you are fabulously wealthy try to explain your troubles to someone who has nothing.

Often it works.  A celebrity who was used to an adoring public was told after a day of dog-sledding in the Arctic that she was the subject of a critical magazine article. Her only companion was a native American with few possessions and who never read the gossip columns. He was quite worried at her reaction to the news. Only the death of a close family member could, to his mind, produce such grief.

 At this point, the usual health warning; if you need proper medical advice, take it. So what if the doctor is always busy? She will be glad you asked. Your symptoms may be important, especially if a close family member is ill. Your doctor may already have assured you that there’s nothing seriously wrong. You yourself may understand that the usual gremlins are circling or you may be putting off an important decision. In this case, join the Wrightscale adventure club.

How do you become a Wrightscale adventurer?

Ready for your journey? Hop aboard the Wrightscale Wren. Photo MD Wright

The aim is to escape the rut – boredom, negative thoughts and cynicism. Then you can relearn focus. You could do this the expensive way by dislocating from your usual environment. In the real world, this involves travel, time and money. On the other hand, you could add the Focus project to ordinary life.

Try to make certain activities routine - physical challenge, the to-do list with attitude, a regular pause for gratitude and the courage to do less.

Make a habit of planning the day ie creating a to-do list with attitude. Either start the day or end the previous day by running through the important things to be achieved over the next twenty four hours.

If it is more convenient, run through your list the evening before Leave yourself plenty of time. Then switch off before sleep with a pleasurable activity and NO, do not look into a little blue screen until the early hours! Catching up with your emails or exploring the Instasphere do not count as late-night pleasurable activities!  While creating the list, you should briefly imagine that each item has been completed successfully. Try to visualise the success. For example, if you plan to be running a model, see that locomotive pulling away on the track. Hear the satisfying chuff. Smell the lubricant. The ‘internal saboteur’ hates it when you are grounded and specific.

 The physical challenge could be a cold shower, or just taking the stairs instead of the lift. It can be mastering a skill. This is where the Wrightscale Wren can help. It is supposedly one of the trickier 16mm locomotives to run. There are various reasons why it is considered rather delicate.

Here is 'Peter Pan' a 2' gauge Kerr Stuart Wren at Alston in 1992. Photo courtesy R. Bodenschats

It is a very small locomotive. The 16mm Wren is a convincing model of a well-loved prototype. Kerr Stuart produced the first two examples of the Wren design in 1905 - adapted from an existing design. Well did it deserve the name of Wren, one of the smallest British birds. At 3 ton 7 cwt /3.4 tonnes and with a wheelbase of 3’/45cm it was tiny and aimed at the ultra-narrow-gauge market.

In 1915, the ‘new’ type Wren was introduced. The ‘old’ type had Stephenson’s links, the ‘new’ ones Hackworth valve gear. (More about the specifics below). This, seemingly small, change brought a number of others. The reversing shaft had to be fitted above the driving wheels, boiler parts raised and cylinders installed at an angle. In fact typical duties were heading trains of skips to the rubbish dump!

Types old and new have been written in quotation marks because ‘old’ ones were produced as late as 1926, long after the ‘new’ had come into production. In fact, if you want a 2’ gauge prototype, you could still have one. Hunslet took over Kerr Stuart and Statfold Barn Engineering took over Hunslet. As of 2018, Statfold are still going strong.

The Wrightscale model is based on a specific prototype. Kerr Stuart no 3114 was a ‘new’ type supplied in 1918. Faithful to the original, the Wrightscale model has a scaled-down Hackworth Link as well as many other features. There are simpler and cheaper ways to build a model locomotive.

The Hackworth link, die and pin characterise the Kerr Stuart Wren as built after 1915. Simplified diagram courtesy MD Wright

Other manufacturers start with a freelance design of valve gear and everything else – whatever works in that scale. If the customer wants an electrically operated locomotive or a brick on wheels, that is fine. (A ‘freelance’ design’ to which a few cosmetic features have been added is not a faithful model.) A model, whose design priority is ease of operation, should indeed be easy to operate. We extend our good wishes to all those who simply want the experience of clocking up the miniature miles. By comparison, the Wrightscale Wren is a slow-paced little locomotive.

 And yet.

A Wrightscale model can give you a sense of proportion. A thousand miles by modern transport is not necessarily a thousand times better than a miles covered on foot. Stop and think why. Push back at the assumption that more is always better. Too many of us are under pressure to be productive. We end up with unreal expectations on ourselves. It is as though we have to be forever explaining to the inner saboteur ‘Look how MUCH I’ve done!’ Try to be yourself. If a mile matters to you more than a thousand, then go for the small one. Face down the inner demon. Be yourself. This is the lesson that an Extraordinary Adventure or a Wrightscale Adventure can teach.

The Hackworth link is at near vertical, the tipping point. Photo MD Wright

Running a Wrightscale Wren, for example, may well be slower than running an electric or ‘convenience’ model. Built into this little Wren are important aspects of running the real thing. Raising steam involves sight, hearing, touch and smell and also that sixth sense which comes with experience. A Wren seems to know if it is loved. Starting off is more than just pressing an ignition or pushing a lever. It takes patience and knowledge. There is genuine life in the slow initial movement of the Hackworth link.

At the heart of the motion is the valve gear. At the heart of the valve gear is the Hackworth link. This is in three parts – link, die-plate and pin. The link is the largest of the three. During construction, it must be filed just enough so that a bolt can slide up and down, neither wobbling nor binding. The die-plate also fits within the link, snugly but also able to move without binding. The Hackworth pin goes in the die-plate. When fitted, all must move smoothly whether the valve-gear is rotating forwards or back. There are other, no doubt far simpler, ways of linking power to wheels but Hackworth is truly prototypical. It explains why the locomotive looks the way it does and helps to explain the faults, failures and successes of the original Wren.  A model on an electric chassis will not do that for you.

Wrightscale 16mm Wren in green, the commonest prototype colour. Photo MD Wright

At this point, recognise that you have done less, but done well.

The Wrightscale adventurer is also able to be grateful. Admit first of all that there is a bit of control-freakery about us all. We want things done yesterday. Any obstacle is an insult. Yet even this can be turned into an adventure. Try to see an obstacle overcome as a good thing, problem solving as an adventure. Yes, this could make you more grateful. Give yourself time to enjoy the feeling.