The Stonebridge Railway (Maxstoke is the station midway along the line) had very few passenger trains, indeed very little traffic of any sort!
In the early days (1853 timetable) there were 5 daily passenger trains between Hampton and Whitacre- this was reduced to four in 1856. Throughout this period the first train of the day was a mineral train. in 1877 the passenger trains become referred to as 'Pass & Goods' on the time table, (four per day) with a passenger only train in the early after
I am conscious that posts here have been sparse lateley, mainly the result of building works at home. 1860s terraced houses are draughty, especially when the windows are original! So new glazing units all round, which has meant decanting the workshop. Then while there is noting in the workshop thought I'd redecorate, er........
So old floor boards up, new wiring, new floors, (hard wearing laminate) new skirting ( still to fit). Many thanks to Mike R in getting the floor down. Then I can reb
It seemed appropriate to show a picture of the bits that make it work. The servo motor is self explanatory. the brass plate screwed to the small block of ply is the main below baseboard drive. The red and black wires power the LED.
What may not be so obvious is the double crank arrangement for the signal. Just below the red and black wires can be seen a small section of copper Mercontrol tube, a steel wire attached to the signal is guided through this to a small hole on the crank, which is very
It has long been a task to get Lambourn's platform mounted starter signal into operation. In fact the original non-working signal was broken some time ago.
A fit of enthusiasm, and a wet weekend (Well two actually) has seen the task completed.
the signal was sited at the end of the platform, and so was unusual in that the balance weights were mounted high on the post, an early example of 'elf and safety'!
I confess that the model is actually too tall, ( it should be a bit lower for the dri
Maxstoke- restarted
After a break of several years, I have decided to re-start work on Maxstoke, a model of the only intermediate station on the ‘Stonebridge Railway’, a single track connecting line running from Hampton in Arden ( the LNWR east of Birmingham ) roughly northwards to join the Birmingham-Derby line of the Midland Railway at Whitacre.
The inspiration for the model was a picture of the simple station building in an article published in the BRJ some years ago and the station bu
So here we are. Not sure about the paint finish or the photograpy- need to put proper safety valves on and do a bit of weathering, but the loco is substantially complete. Now all I have to do is finish the layout
Evening all,
It's been a not very nice day today, overcast and cool-perfect for spending an afternoon in the workshop!
Having cleared a bit of space on the workbench, attention has turned to assembling the cylinders. David's design produces a sturdy slidebar assembly, but you do need some small (tiny) files to size the apertures in the cylinder covers.
Here I am showing one completed unit, and one with the cylinder cover off, to show the internal assembly.
It was quite fun to make these up
The motor is mounted by machining a support ring which is then tapped to accept the thread on the motor nose. Once soldered to the chassis the motor can be mounted. I took care to align things such that when screwed in tight the connection tags are horizontal
The balance weights are fixed in place on the wheels with epoxy
And all are now ready for painting- 1st coat is cellulose red oxide
