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.