Iron ore for the other Ironopolis

South Pelaw, with it's iron ore traffic going to Consett, will be on show in Middlesbrough, where, not that many years ago, a few tons of iron were produced.

Middlesbrough Model Railway Club Exhibition will take place in the Newport Settlement Community Hub, Union Street, TS1 4EE, on Saturday and Sunday 18th & 19th May. And South Pelaw will be there.

We have been taking photos for a proposed magazine article so whilst the real photographer was doing his stuff, I sneaked a few phone snaps of my own.

The train of empty oil tankers returns to Jarrow having delivered fuel for the plate mill at Consett.

There's a certain irony (sorry for the pun), about a coal fired Q6 pulling an oil train.

And now a Q7 bringing down some of the steel products. In these days portrayed, Consett produced plate for ship building and intermediate products such as billets and blooms to go to other finishing mills. The company had its own facilities in Jarrow but a lot of these materials went to places like Sheffield - probably via the different route through Lanchester.

These two view are of our condensed interpretation of the massive Stella Gill yard, at that time still handling coal and coke. The coke works also produced some benzol by products, hence the tankers. The model of the shed is only half its real length and was used by the NCB. It is one of the very few structures still standing but in a much more delapidated condition than portrayed here. The tragedy here is that the hours and hours spent faithfully modelling the intricate detail of the windows is lost as gaping black holes in these pictures. Come and see the detail in a few weeks time.

And to finish, one of the iconic 9F locos on it's way back to Tyne dock with the empty iron ore hoppers.

So if these few shots have tempted you, come and see the layout in operation at the Middlesbrough show. We won't be on show in the North East for some considerable time after this. Wakefield and then Glasgow next.