Grantham - the Streamliner years

[LNER4479]

Thanks for various comments re signalling/logic.

 

I like doing it as my take on this wonderful hobby of ours is that a model railway is a model of a 'railway' and signalling is as much a part of that as the locos and stock.

 

There is actually another reason for doing it as I have done for this project. Grantham is a model of a mainline railway where many of the trains passed through at speed and it is very much the intention to run trains at speed on the model. I am acutely aware that many of those trains will not be mine and I will be relying on other kind folk making their precious possessions (many of which represent not inconsiderable investment in either time or money) available to be run on the layout. Now, even in OO gauge, a 10 coach train plus loco moving at speed has a fair bit of momentum. For such a train to run into a dead section, a point set wrong or - worse still - into the back of another train, is going to cause at best embarrassment, more likely a degree of damage. So the effort put into the signalling actually replicates a degree of safety on the layout (something I actually find quite satisfying) which should reduce the chance of such mishaps.

 

Finally (for now) on the subject of signalling, my introduction was the seminal work 'British Railway Signalling' by Kitchenside and Williams. Well worth a read if you can find a copy.

Edited October 20, 2013 by LNER4479

[LNER4479]

And now for something I have been 'sitting on' for a few weeks:

 

Most LNER/East Coast devotees will be familiar with this famous piece of LNER publicity:

 

Maybe you visited one of the railway events of the year at the NRM?:

 

Well I am pleased to advise (for those interested) that it has been agreed that Grantham will be appearing at Barrow Hill on 8th/9th February 2014 as part of the East Coast 'Giants of Steam' event. The stars of the show will be the two trans-Atlantic A4s (60008 & 4489) - but on Grantham you'll be able to see all 35 A4s! Yes, courtesy of Mark Allatt, who has just such a collection (see Model Rail, July 2013), we are going to attempt to run each of them at least once during the six hours of operating each day. (obviously, the layout will not be 'complete' as such but should be a good stage nonetheless and a chance to be part of the A4 party).

 

So, if that 'floats your boat', bring along your corn beef sandwiches, can of Tizer and 1938 LNER ABC (Spotting sheets will be provided if not!) and see if you can 'cop' the lot.

 

'Robert' (going to be quite busy over the next 4 months  )

[Alister_G]

That sounds great, and I will definitely be there in February.

[gr.king]

God bless this ship and all who sail in her (or who sink with her, refusing to desert their posts as they fight furiously to keep the track clean) 

[Markeg]

I think I am tempted to book my flight just to see that.

 

Mark in OZ

[westerner]

God bless this ship and all who sail in her (or who sink with her, refusing to desert their posts as they fight furiously to keep the track clean) 

And don't forget the wheels.

[Barry O]

Somewhere down the line a mysterious set of foreign engines have made it to Grantham and our intrepid photographer was on hand to "spot" them for us..

 

First off Lady Patricia appeared in all her finery..

 

 

then a red streak..

 

 

at which point the Grantham Station Master realised that there was something afoot..

 

Luckily thanks to Tom (2750) Mr Gresley had reinforcements ready..

 

 

and Mr Ivatt (Courtesy of a certain gr.king of this parish) waded in as well

 

 

All to no avail however as a train arrived from Gowholes (told you to stop at Sheffield) with a large engine on it..

 

 a nice Ks Garrat 

 

followed closely by ...

 

.

 

If that wasn't enough another Gresley loco appeared .. but what colour is this - its never right! So it was sent to the shed for further investigation.

 

 

And finally ... Mr Worsdell (of all people) turned up to see what this "Grantham" was like..

 

 

 

A little record of a great day at "Grantham"  and I have to thank Robert, Mrs Robert and the other attendees for a very enjoyable trip out..

 

now time to fix my Garrat...

Edited October 13, 2013 by Barry O

[Nelson Jackson]

Absolutely beautiful models, well done to the builders and painters, I would love to own an Atlantic engine.

Can't wait for the next instalment on the layout.

[Worsdell forever]

 

 

And finally ... Mr Worsdell (of all people) turned up to see what this "Grantham" was like..

 

IMG_2Worsdell on tour...091 (1280x521).jpg

 

 

 

Wasn't me, must have been an imposter 

[Barry O]

Wasn't me, must have been an imposter 

Probably your great grandad then(!)

 

He had a good inspection and  then wandered off in to the stock box.....

[gr.king]

A good visit indeed, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to stay longer.

 

The works manager here in North Lincolnshire has been told in no uncertain terms that his failure yesterday to ensure the dispatch of Mr Gresley's special heavy freight engine places his position with the company in jeopardy. On no account is there to be any repetition of this kind of error. The LNER must not be publicly humiliated by its inability to turn out a loco to match "nothing more than a pair of LMS Hughes moguls nailed together".

[LNER4479]

Yes indeed.

 

We were all looking forward to the coal train haulage re-match. But then came news that the 'beefed up' Gresley P1 contender had taken a wrong turn ('wimped out'?) and with 'the cat away...'

 

Well the layout is called 'the Streamliner years'!

 

An outbreak of LMS heavy haulage to handle the coal trains.

 

Having fetched some additional coal wagons out of storage, I'm now able to field two separate coal trains - one full (heading southbound) and one empty (heading north). Andy (Rush) would have approved.

 

'Ello, ello, ello - What's goin' on 'ere, then?   The inspection saloon was scrambled and the LMS motive power duly scattered!

 

Ordered restored... well sort of! A named ex-GCR 4-6-0 (sorry Barry, didn't get the name) heads south with a train full of ... ahem ... bananas!

 

Thanks to all visitors for participating in another enjoyable running day on the layout. (we did do some proper timetable running at one stage, honest!)

Edited October 13, 2013 by LNER4479

[Barry O]

Earl Roberts of Kandahar..

 

once he decided to work....  

 

great photos Robert... 

[great northern]

I didn't know bananas grew up your way Robert....... but they must, as they are heading South through Grantham   Andy would definitely have approved of the coal trains though.

[Barry O]

Travelled from Herculaneum dock and turned right at York...alles bananas!

 

 

edited by Barry O as I can't get my directions correct(!)

Edited October 14, 2013 by Barry O

[LNER4479]

A lot of the stuff on the 'to do' list is rather boring wiring up of endless point motors. However, this is one of the more photogenic tasks - sort the signal boxes out

 

I was fortunate to acquire this delightful D&S etch for a GN style box some while ago and have been dying to make it up. In the background is the existing Knightwing box that regularly flits between North and Yard box positions to suit the photograph. Can't be doing that at Barrow Hill

 

The main structure, freed from the etch

 

Folded up, with front window unit being prepared

 

Window installation proceeds...

 

End door fixed in position

 

Soldered assembly basically finished

 

Even though I say so myself, I do think it looks the business   (all down to Danny Pinnock's etch, of course!).

 

The plan is that this will sit on a Knightwing base to form Yard box. The Knightwing kit doesn't claim to be based on any particular prototype but is in fact a good match for a GN style box so, for now at least, North box will be made out of a fusion of two kits (North box was double-sided, ie windows each side). Further posts in due course.

Edited October 19, 2013 by LNER4479

[Alister_G]

That's looking very nice indeed.

 

You make it look so simple, and solder very cleanly!

 

Love it!

 

Al

[JCL]

It's lovely isn't it? I wish I could pop over in February to see it.

[62613]

Somewhere down the line a mysterious set of foreign engines have made it to Grantham and our intrepid photographer was on hand to "spot" them for us..

 

First off Lady Patricia appeared in all her finery..

 

Waiting for the off.JPG

 

then a red streak..

 

a red streamliner...JPG

 

at which point the Grantham Station Master realised that there was something afoot..

 

Luckily thanks to Tom (2750) Mr Gresley had reinforcements ready..

 

Gresley on duty (1280x545).jpg

 

and Mr Ivatt (Courtesy of a certain gr.king of this parish) waded in as well

 

Ivatt Atlantic awaits its turn.JPG

 

That loco. is the mutt's nuts!

 

 

All to no avail however as a train arrived from Gowholes (told you to stop at Sheffield) with a large engine on it..

 

Garrat on coal (1280x459).jpg  a nice Ks Garrat 

 

followed closely by ...

 

Lanky big boilered 0-8-0 (1280x447).jpg.

 

If that wasn't enough another Gresley loco appeared .. but what colour is this - its never right! So it was sent to the shed for further investigation.

 

Colombo on shed.jpg

 

And finally ... Mr Worsdell (of all people) turned up to see what this "Grantham" was like..

 

IMG_2Worsdell on tour...091 (1280x521).jpg

 

 

A little record of a great day at "Grantham"  and I have to thank Robert, Mrs Robert and the other attendees for a very enjoyable trip out..

 

now time to fix my Garrat...

[jonny777]

I didn't know bananas grew up your way Robert....... but they must, as they are heading South through Grantham   Andy would definitely have approved of the coal trains though.

 

There's no telling what vessels might be diverted to Boston docks, during an industrial dispute further west.

[Barry O]

Good job we didn't photograph the fish special then... or did you get a shot of that Robert or Tom?

[LNER4479]

More progress on the signalbox(es).

 

Having built the main signalbox body, the base pieces from the Knightwing kit have been modified to suit the size and configuration of Yard box.

 

Assembly proceeds...

 

Basic base complete with top half tried for size. In the background is the existing standard Knightwing product for comparison

 

The entrance steps for Yard box were (atypically) located round the back, located in a narrow space between it and the goods shed building. In practice it'll never be seen on the model; the Knightwing parts have been used to create a basic representation so at least it's there!

 

Meanwhile, point motor installation and associated wiring continues. Most of this work is pretty boring but here is moment of rare excitement:

 

This is the three way point at the south end of the depot. Being live frog, it requires switching adding for the frogs, but an additional challenge presented itself as it is located directly above the hidden roadway that passes beneath. This reduces the space available and makes direct soldering as good as impossible. Hence the motors have been attached directly to the underside of the points (requiring a cover for the rather large 'ole) and a larger than normal amount of pre-attaching of wires.

 

And here is the scene a few hours later - phew! All connected up and working OK - Robert demonstrates (trust me on that one!)

 

[Nelson Jackson]

Absolutely superb job on the signal box, cannot wait to see it finished and painted up.

[gr.king]

Blimey, you've been cracking on a bit by the look of it! I do like that fusion of Knightwing with D&S, and I agree that the Knightwing box just as it comes is quite nice anyway. I'd never really noticed them until I was struck by the "plausibility" of one on Mercator II's layout a couple of years ago.

[Mallard60022]

I'd never even seen the Knightwing box! Love the etched bits.

P