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Llanbourne North Wales in the 80s.


P.C.M
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I was watching your most recent videos with my sons (2 and 4), the eldest would like to point out that your brakevan should always be at the back... He wasn’t convinced about ballast ploughing as an explanation! Seriously, it’s a great section of layout that allows you to watch the trains go by as well as having the terminus. Are your 31s the Hornby one? The only blue ones I can find at the moment seem to be the railroad version, and I’m not sure how much work that will be to bring it up to standard.

Thanks Andy,

Well your 4 year old does seem to know his stuff and good on him. Though as you say it is used as a ballast plough more than a brakevan and could actually go anywhere in the train being as all wagons in the consist are braked. But just for him next time I run the train I will put the brake at the back.

 

I have 5 class 31s. One is a non powered Lima model, One is a Lima body repainted and detailed with a modified Lima chassis and Hornby drive in that it has the Hornby motor and drive to the Hornby bogies. A lot has been said about the Lima Body being better than the Hornby but I think they are both pretty good My other three loco's are Hornby.

 

The railroad model is based around the Lima molding but is a mix of early and later body mods so would need some work to make it right. I am not sure the railroad model would run as well either.

 

Cheers Peter.

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Thanks Andy,

Well your 4 year old does seem to know his stuff and good on him. Though as you say it is used as a ballast plough more than a brakevan and could actually go anywhere in the train being as all wagons in the consist are braked. But just for him next time I run the train I will put the brake at the back.

 

I have 5 class 31s. One is a non powered Lima model, One is a Lima body repainted and detailed with a modified Lima chassis and Hornby drive in that it has the Hornby motor and drive to the Hornby bogies. A lot has been said about the Lima Body being better than the Hornby but I think they are both pretty good My other three loco's are Hornby.

 

The railroad model is based around the Lima molding but is a mix of early and later body mods so would need some work to make it right. I am not sure the railroad model would run as well either.

 

Cheers Peter.

As you will remember Peter, the ballast train would normally be marshalled so that the plough brake was behind the hoppers when it got to the work site. The plough would then distribute the ballast after it had been dropped.

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Thanks Nigel, I only did that today and loaded it on to you Tube before going out. I thought it would give an idea of how it all fits in. Probably should have tidied up a bit first though. lol

 

Cheers Peter.

Wonderful, Thanks Peter.

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Thanks Andy,

Well your 4 year old does seem to know his stuff and good on him. Though as you say it is used as a ballast plough more than a brakevan and could actually go anywhere in the train being as all wagons in the consist are braked. But just for him next time I run the train I will put the brake at the back.

 

I have 5 class 31s. One is a non powered Lima model, One is a Lima body repainted and detailed with a modified Lima chassis and Hornby drive in that it has the Hornby motor and drive to the Hornby bogies. A lot has been said about the Lima Body being better than the Hornby but I think they are both pretty good My other three loco's are Hornby.

 

The railroad model is based around the Lima molding but is a mix of early and later body mods so would need some work to make it right. I am not sure the railroad model would run as well either.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

 

I agree about the Lima / Hornby Railroad Class 31 with detailing added, can happily sit along side the super detailed class 31.

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Really good to see an overall view of the layout including fiddle yard, puts things in perspective.

 

Martyn

Thanks Martyn, I should have done it ages ago I always like to see how other peoples layouts are set up.

 

Cheers Peter.

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As you will remember Peter, the ballast train would normally be marshalled so that the plough brake was behind the hoppers when it got to the work site. The plough would then distribute the ballast after it had been dropped.

Hi John, 

Agree they would be I have seen then marshalled in the middle of a train too. We didn't see the Shark ballast ploughs at Eastleigh I think they were banned from the Southern as the plough would probably hit the juice rail.

 

Cheers Peter.

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I agree about the Lima / Hornby Railroad Class 31 with detailing added, can happily sit along side the super detailed class 31.

Some of the older Lima class 31 body shells are a better starting point than the railroad body. If you can pck up a cheap Hornby chassis even better.

 

Cheers Peter.

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Thanks Nigel, I only did that today and loaded it on to you Tube before going out. I thought it would give an idea of how it all fits in. Probably should have tidied up a bit first though. lol

 

Cheers Peter.

 

A fascinating overview of the layout that, Peter. Thanks!

 

Dave

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Hi John, 

Agree they would be I have seen then marshalled in the middle of a train too. We didn't see the Shark ballast ploughs at Eastleigh I think they were banned from the Southern as the plough would probably hit the juice rail.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

That's right Peter. Here's an extract from the entry for DS62864 on the Bluebell railway website http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/ds62864.html:

 

"Shark" was the code used by BR to describe all its ballast plough brakes, and all the SR vehicle numbers were prefixed with a "DS". As built the ploughs were not suitable for use on lines electrified with a third rail. As more areas were electrified in the 1950s and 1960s the ploughs were modified, in an attempt to allow them to work without displacing the conductor rails; but this was not entirely successful. The vans therefore gradually migrated away from the Southern Region.

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Thanks Nigel, I only did that today and loaded it on to you Tube before going out. I thought it would give an idea of how it all fits in. Probably should have tidied up a bit first though. lol

 

Cheers Peter.

Thanks for uploading this video Peter, it's answered so many questions I had about your layout.

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That's right Peter. Here's an extract from the entry for DS62864 on the Bluebell railway website http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/ds62864.html:

 

"Shark" was the code used by BR to describe all its ballast plough brakes, and all the SR vehicle numbers were prefixed with a "DS". As built the ploughs were not suitable for use on lines electrified with a third rail. As more areas were electrified in the 1950s and 1960s the ploughs were modified, in an attempt to allow them to work without displacing the conductor rails; but this was not entirely successful. The vans therefore gradually migrated away from the Southern Region.

Well there you go, my memory isn't  as bad as I thought.

 

Cheers Peter.

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Great few videos there Pete. You can’t beat a peak on a tran-pennine service! Having mine running again I’ve been looking through the North Wales books and websites again, your railway really does capture the railway at that time, it’s fantastic.

 

I notice you’ve got an Intercity (raspberry ripple) mk1 in one of your sets - were they very common? Aside from BGs and RBRs I can’t find many pictures of intercity mk1s.

 

I was also wondering if you knew when the mk3 restaurant buffets first started making an appearance to Holyhead? The earliest picture I can find is about 1988, before then seems to be exclusively mk1s.

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Great few videos there Pete. You can’t beat a peak on a tran-pennine service! Having mine running again I’ve been looking through the North Wales books and websites again, your railway really does capture the railway at that time, it’s fantastic.

I notice you’ve got an Intercity (raspberry ripple) mk1 in one of your sets - were they very common? Aside from BGs and RBRs I can’t find many pictures of intercity mk1s.

I was also wondering if you knew when the mk3 restaurant buffets first started making an appearance to Holyhead? The earliest picture I can find is about 1988, before then seems to be exclusively mk1s.

IC Mk1 stock wasn’t common in terms of numbers as only a few rakes were done for everyday use. Those had specific duties mostly on the WCML including a Euston - Shrewsbury - Euston diagram which on summer Saturdays ran overnight Euston - Pwllheli (with a five-hour stop on the Abbey Foregate loop) then the daytime return.

 

These coaches were renovated inside with dark grey seat covers and new(? or completely renovated) tables. IC described them as a “Director’s Reserve”. As they were kept so far as possible to the intended diagrams they were very common sightings but only on those duties.

 

There was also the IC Charter fleet of white-roof raspberry ripple stock used largely on high-end land cruise trains and for private charters. These were mostly open firsts and often used for full at-seat dining. These were based at Ferme Park at the London end of the ECML and could be found on charter operations allover the network’s most scenic lines.

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Thanks for the information Rick. I remember seeing the odd Inter- City MK1 in some rakes. The only pic I have is a short set  of MK1s at Southampton with one IC MK1 behind the loco. 

 

I only have the one IC mk1 at the moment, it normally goes into my set which is used on my Stoke to Llanbourne service that also does a trip down the branch. There was actually a summer dated service from Stoke to Llandudno which also did a trip down the branch, during the summer of 1986 D200 worked the train a number of times. The train was formed of MK1s but I haven't seen a pic of it with an Inter-City MK1. 

 

I think you are right the MK3 Buffets didn't appear until 88. I have an Inter-City MK3 SO that I put in my Holyhead - Euston sets. I have seen pictures of almost full rakes of MK3s and the odd one or two in the Euston sets but they seem to be more common in the early 80s.

 

Cheers Peter.

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You’re welcome Peter.

 

I was working at Euston during the last year of full Mk1 rakes on the main lines. The IC-liveried rakes worked alongside a number of b/g rakes based on Euston Downside and normally used on Northampton turns. They had daytime fill-in trips to Birmingham and I sometimes finished an early turn, hopped aboard a down IC rake to New Street and returned almost straight home on the b/g set. I think their long lives and the need to renovate some so late in life arose from service enhancements which the Mk2 fleet couldn’t cope with. Full Mk3 operation was still some years away.

 

In the modern era the “Pretendolino” set of Mk3 stock was formed to cover a slight shortfall in the newer things bringing a repeat of history on the route.

 

Those “Master Cobbler” sets used on peak time Northampton trips ultimately passed to NSE with several rakes receiving toothpaste stripes

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Thanks for the information Rick. I remember seeing the odd Inter- City MK1 in some rakes. The only pic I have is a short set  of MK1s at Southampton with one IC MK1 behind the loco. 

 

I only have the one IC mk1 at the moment, it normally goes into my set which is used on my Stoke to Llanbourne service that also does a trip down the branch. There was actually a summer dated service from Stoke to Llandudno which also did a trip down the branch, during the summer of 1986 D200 worked the train a number of times. The train was formed of MK1s but I haven't seen a pic of it with an Inter-City MK1. 

 

I think you are right the MK3 Buffets didn't appear until 88. I have an Inter-City MK3 SO that I put in my Holyhead - Euston sets. I have seen pictures of almost full rakes of MK3s and the odd one or two in the Euston sets but they seem to be more common in the early 80s.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

None on those Stoke-Llandudno-Blaenau workings.

However some of those Mk1 TSOs worked odd specials some years later, c1994

The charter, all dining set was often seen to Llandudno & Blaenau in 1989

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None on those Stoke-Llandudno-Blaenau workings.

However some of those Mk1 TSOs worked odd specials some years later, c1994

The charter, all dining set was often seen to Llandudno & Blaenau in 1989

Hi Merf,

Thought you might know. I have searched flickr for pics of the train it seems between 6 and 9 MK1 s were the norn with a brake at one end and the rest SKs or TSOs  sometimes a Ck. All were Blue Grey.  

 

I will leave my Inter- city MK1 in the rake for now but will drop a blue Grey one in and some point.

 

Cheers Peter.

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