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chesterfield

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Posts posted by chesterfield

  1. There has been quite a lot interest in the Australian standard Garratts in the last few months. An article in Australian Railway History in January 2023 gave  extensive coverage on them at their 80th anniversary.
    Unfortunately I don't have the article but I do have the September 2023 Australian Railway History.

    First there is an article about Queensland Railways during the Second World War and the Australian Standard Garratts and secondly In the same issue the "entire letters to the editor" is taken up with this subject. There are some photos of the standard Garratts on the Emu Bay line.I

    f anyone is interested in the ASGs there are plenty of references in the September edition Australian Railway History for you follow up
    As to the 300 and the 400 class Garratts in South Australia, a paper was presented in 2022 at the "Modelling the Railways of South Australia"convention.I don't think 402 will ever run again. I suspect that like a lot of volunteer organisations, there are not enough in Picci Ricci railway to enable them to restore her. Having said that, I believe the railway has a great program for teaching young locals about loco maintenance- you never know.

    • Informative/Useful 5
    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
  2. 23 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

    I finished the Paddington tea tray today.

     

    1608684532_20220416001PDlocotraytrialfit.JPG.662bc2f4e0f898a92948a291f02df438.JPG

    It fits (thank goodness) snugly between the wall and the front fence. The front and rear support are made of 4mm ply, so with the nominal 30mm clearance from the wall and the fence to the centre lines of tracks 1 and 14 respectively there is still plenty of room for the trains underneath.

     

    1889966563_20220416003PDlocotraycomplete.JPG.b44e320b28461b61bf8a7c6b8cfb22cf.JPG

    After I'd labelled it up I placed the spare locos on top. There's space for more, which will be needed once the Branch is operational.

     

    Having got this far, I'm a bit worried about how much of the loops it hides. Something, such as a 16xx pannier, could easily get lost in there. If that turns out to be a problem at our next running session, I might slice the tray down the middle to make two narrower (300mm wide nominally) ones and spread them out a bit.

     

    I then carried on with St Enodoc lever frame, completing Step 10 where the levers are fitted to the spindle. This is the stage at which it suddenly starts to look like a lever frame, not just a load of brass bits.

     

    1438240475_20220416006SEleverframeafterstep10leversfittedModratecview.JPG.dd18100133fb11f7f357b8961dccbfc7.JPG

    Here it is in Modratec mode with the levers at the back. There are only 27 working levers but of course the frame comes in modules of 6 levers, so I chopped the tops off levers 1, 2 and 3, just above the blind hole where the little spring and ball will go. That will let me connect them to their tappets and maintain the integrity of the frame when it's finished.

     

    263928451_20220416005SEleverframeafterstep10leversfittedlayoutview.JPG.569786d447653e7cab0cba05a757c6fb.JPG

    In layout mode the levers are at the front so the spaces become 28, 29 and 30.

     

    718297511_20220416007SEleverframeafterstep10leversfittedtrialfit.JPG.d5a72ea04703b1fee5845282b7d52c09.JPG

    Finally, I took the frame into the railway room for a trial fit at St Enodoc itself. So far so good, although the infamous Step 11 is next (fitting the springs and balls)...

    Nice Mr N interesting to see how it works -

    • Agree 1
    • Thanks 1
  3. If you want to print off a full copy of a UK magazine , it seems Exact Editions and other UK digital publishers ' software only allows you to print page by page or at best a doulble spread. Model Railroad Hobbyist - a USA digital publication - allows you to print an entire " magazine"as does the Layout design SIG and the Operations S IG.

    I have had digital subscriptions to BRM and Model Rail , but am not renewing because of not being able to print a full copy in one go. Pity

  4. 12 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

     

    see next post

    On 11/10/2017 at 10:40, Pacific231G said:

    I think it's more Cyril Freezer (Minories) and Geoff Ashdown (Tower Pier) that have helped you but glad to have passed on their collective wisdom. .

     

    Apologies if I sounded like I thought you had been dismissive; you were quite right to emphasise the importance of the bridge. The only problem with it is how to deal with it at the back of the layout. With enough room I suppose a T junction and a low relief street overlooking the railway is one solution. French stations including termini often had overall roofs no longer than the station building with the platform ends beyond so that should provide another view blocker. to hide the shortness of trains. 

     

     

     

    I found Tower Pier incredibly inspiring when I first saw it at ExpoEM in I think 2011 and a couple of times since. This is my rather crude re-rendering of the track plan using Peco pointwork but what I've shown as a slip in the lower right hand corner is actually two interlaced points . 

     

    post-6882-0-17837200-1507677568_thumb.jpg

     

    Geoff Ashdown's own SB diagram may be clearer

     

    post-6882-0-51407000-1507677880_thumb.jpg

     

    The only thing I didn't go for was having the goods lines effectively as a  separate layout though it's well justified by there being a junction at the next signal box and the goods lines have their own block instruments. It  does enable the goods lines to be at a slightly higher level which is visually very effective and also very Widened Lines.The "legend" that Geoff Ashdown has come up with for the layout, placing it in a real location and giving St. Katherine's Dock the rail connection it looks like it should have had is brilliant.

     

    Looking at it again now is reminding me just how well thought out it is. Operatonally the passenger side is equivalent to Minories though with the addition of the loco release crossover and this plan makes platform three slightly longer.. Overall the idea of a layout that effectively puts you in the signal box is terrific. 

    I also loved this little scenic touch

    post-6882-0-07164900-1507679588_thumb.jpg

    We really are in the City with the District and Circle passing beneath. The Underground train never moves but I used to commute on that line so no surprise there :no:

    I had been interested in Geoff Ashdown's Tower Pier for some time and as a result of this thread have managed to get the answers to a couple of mysteries. I'd never seen the photo with the underground train before nor had I found any photos of his fiddle yard. I have one question however in your drawing of the layout you show the second line to Saint Catherine Dock as if it was in use on the layout. My impression from the signalling diagram that there was only one line to the docks in use and it seems to be signalled that way. Do you remember if this was the case and whether or not Geoff used the other line as storage or was it "lifted" ?

     

    Thank you David  makes sense

  5. On 11/10/2017 at 10:40, Pacific231G said:

    I think it's more Cyril Freezer (Minories) and Geoff Ashdown (Tower Pier) that have helped you but glad to have passed on their collective wisdom. .

     

    Apologies if I sounded like I thought you had been dismissive; you were quite right to emphasise the importance of the bridge. The only problem with it is how to deal with it at the back of the layout. With enough room I suppose a T junction and a low relief street overlooking the railway is one solution. French stations including termini often had overall roofs no longer than the station building with the platform ends beyond so that should provide another view blocker. to hide the shortness of trains. 

     

     

     

    I found Tower Pier incredibly inspiring when I first saw it at ExpoEM in I think 2011 and a couple of times since. This is my rather crude re-rendering of the track plan using Peco pointwork but what I've shown as a slip in the lower right hand corner is actually two interlaced points . 

     

    post-6882-0-17837200-1507677568_thumb.jpg

     

    Geoff Ashdown's own SB diagram may be clearer

     

    post-6882-0-51407000-1507677880_thumb.jpg

     

    The only thing I didn't go for was having the goods lines effectively as a  separate layout though it's well justified by there being a junction at the next signal box and the goods lines have their own block instruments. It  does enable the goods lines to be at a slightly higher level which is visually very effective and also very Widened Lines.The "legend" that Geoff Ashdown has come up with for the layout, placing it in a real location and giving St. Katherine's Dock the rail connection it looks like it should have had is brilliant.

     

    Looking at it again now is reminding me just how well thought out it is. Operatonally the passenger side is equivalent to Minories though with the addition of the loco release crossover and this plan makes platform three slightly longer.. Overall the idea of a layout that effectively puts you in the signal box is terrific. 

    I also loved this little scenic touch

    post-6882-0-07164900-1507679588_thumb.jpg

    We really are in the City with the District and Circle passing beneath. The Underground train never moves but I used to commute on that line so no surprise there :no:

    I had been interested in Geoff Ashdown's Tower Pier for some time and as a result of this thread have managed to get the answers to a couple of mysteries. I'd never seen the photo with the underground train before nor had I found any photos of his fiddle yard. I have one question however in your drawing of the layout you show the second line to Saint Catherine Dock as if it was in use on the layout. My impression from the signalling diagram that there was only one line to the docks in use and it seems to be signalled that way. Do you remember if this was the case and whether or not Geoff used the other line as storage or was it "lifted" ?

    • Like 2
  6. On 04/11/2021 at 20:09, Re6/6 said:

    Thanks Rob. A 'sinuous look' was what I was looking for.

     

    After many tweaks, using the old reconditioned 'set track', the final plan is now decided upon (until it changes!). Much planning guidance about workability from the Chief Operations Manager has been incorporated to great effect! His railway operating knowledge and experience far exceeds mine! 

     

    The two straight tracks that originally went to a 'closed' pit will stop short of the overbridge and modelled as removed and overgrown. The lump of wood represents the old wooden platform for the workman's train. Being a cheapskate, the hotch-potch of baseboard construction has evolved using old recycled and re-modelling unused ones.

    20211028_104315c.jpg.fcd94ef74fde093f4c7ee550e7936af3.jpg

     

    The new three -way has now been 'chaired'. The cutting of the C&L/Exactoscale chairs in half was a mind-numbing task as usual! There's still a fair bit of cosmetic work to be done but at least stock runs through it nice and smoothly.

    20211104_080942a.jpg.2ffc210ac79457986d19a6596a367284.jpg


    Workman's trains from 1957 which will be modelled. Pictures from ''Tondu Valleys' book by J.Hodge.

    1527058865_Welsh5a.jpg.d724c6f1e0c2586917c3a448ab6079dc.jpg  

     

    Ctsy I.A. Wright. 'Tondu Valley' book.

    1061936190_Welsh2a.jpg.ec33b1126ac28bcafd3113b4d3527f40.jpg

     

    Interesting photos - in the second of  ? why is the pannier facing downhill or isnt it?

  7. 13 hours ago, The Johnster said:

    Now, that, Nevermakeit, is a very good question, because I have never really considered it from someone else's point of view.  All my layouts, even the very many I have planned and never built, have had at least the basis of this sort of backstory, ever since my teenage effort 'Blackwater', inspired by Barnstaple with the addition of boat trains connecting to a steamer service to Rosslare. 

     

    The thought process behind Cwmdimbath was informed by what I thought I would want from

    a layout of this size and shape, and alternatives were the throat of a yard of coal storage sidings in northern Cardiff, based loosely on Crwys Sidings, a small wharf terminus somewhere on the Glamorgan coast, geographically inspired by Ogmore-by-Sea, and Cwmdimbath.  I visited this rather remote and forgotten valley as a teenager as part of a picnic day out with a chum and his parents in the mid 70s, and have sort of had it lurking away somewhere in the back of my mind ever since; unspoilt valleys not destroyed by the quest for more and more coal are rarer than rocking horse doodoo, and here was a blank slate!  The real valley is farmed but is wild forestry in it's upper reaches.  There's coal under it right enough, but it was literally undermined by pits in the neighbouring valleys, from Gilfach Goch, Clydach Vale (Tonypandy) and Ogmore Vale.  It sort of dovetailed into an idea for a single track roundyround with a branch junction, based on Hendreforgan, the real junction for Gilfach Goch, that I never built. 

     

    Some features were givens, absolutely essential for my needs, notably a South Walian location, tank engines, and coal trains.  Amatuer 6th form geology shapes the landscape, and the layout has to fit in to the real industrial history of the area.  Tondu valleys are particularly amenable to this scenario, as few 'foreign' locos penetrated the hinterland beyond Tondu, so we have a defined and distinctive allocation of locos.  There is wobble room for 2 or 3 rule 1 locos that never appeared at Tondu, or did not do so within my timeframe. 

     

    I chose 1948 to 1958 as the period because of the variety and interest of this transitional livery period.  I've identified a dozen different loco livery variations that might have appeared during the period, and have photographic evidence of them in some cases, and have painted some locos in liveries which may be incorrect, in which case I am prepared to repaint them if better knowledges becomes available.  Along with the changeover liveries for passenger and freight stock and the WR's pre-1950 habit of painting auto trailers in carmine and cream, there is plenty of variety!

     

    Once I had decided on the location and period, the layout built itself.  The track was laid to requirements rather than a specific plan; I have never been able to lay track accurately to a plan.  The main thing is that there had to be a run around loop, and the headshunt for it had to be able to accommodate the largest loco on the layout (42xx/5101) with room to spare so that the thing did not look cramped.  In the event the panniers can clear 3 10' wheelbase wagons here if needed.  Having used that to determine where the engine release turnout was to go in relation to the actual buffer stop end of the branch, I simply laid what and where I wanted; a spur off the loop to service a goods platform, another at the other end to service a private factory siding, and one off the platform road back through the scenic break as the exchange road for the colliery.  The colliery loco shed is a spur off this at the station end

     

    Scenery in reality in this spot is a very steep and narrow valley, all but a gorge. with heavily wooded mountainsides each side of the Nant Lechyd stream that runs through it, and of course on my layout the trees have all been cut down for pitprops ages ago, so the backscene is a mountainside rising precipitously behind the track, to the east of the stream.  The corresponding steep slope on the western, viewing, side, is imagined.  That, basically, is Cwmimbath. 

     

    As for the trains, the locos are correct Tondu for the period but for one rule 1 example, not completely implausible, and the colliery W4. and we are making progress with coaches.  I am satisfied with the layout, which does everything I want it to and will provide modelling projects for probably the rest of my miserable existence.

     

    I suppose I was influenced by the likes of Peter Denny's GCR opua, Frank Dyer's Borchester, Iain Rice's wonderful little oddities, and Ian Petherton or Pemberton (I can never get it right) with South Shields, all layouts that influenced me greatly and all layouts with well thought out and entirely plausible backstories; South Shields is of course a real place with a real well thought out and plausible backstory  I was involved with layouts depicting real places during my club days, but space considerations made it impossible for this layout (though I looked very closely at Abergwynfi).

     

    So, how would someone else apply this sort of philosophy and backstory to a layout.  I think the givens are essential; area, type of operation (branch, roundyround, main line; this will be goverened by the space and resources you have available) and period need to be established and observed.  Also, consider what you want the layout to do for you; are you interested in operation, or other aspects of railway modelling.  If you are interested in operation, like me, there is little point in a roundyround where trains just pass through and don't do anything, and OTOH there is little point in a complex terminus like Borchester Town which requires several trained operators to get the best from it if you are a lone wolf operating at home.  The BLT is the obvious answer, but is often not very exciting.  For example, Wallingford; lovely looking bucolic backwater with lots of character, but once you've shuttled the 14xx and auto trailer back and forth a few times and run a pickup goods, you've done it all, and then you need to build another one to maintain your interest.  South Wales mining branches were a good compromise; restricted track layouts despite very busy working timetables and maximum utilisation of capacity, and Tondu was the hub of a network of single line branches.

     

    I'm not young and this is my last layout, and it must provide me with entertainment for the rest of whatever time I have before I am withdrawn from service.  A younger modeller may be in a better position to consider being a serial layout builder, but not me; I'm done with all that.  I needed a layout I could get to a 'finished' (no such thing of course) and operational in a fairly short time with consideration to it being simple enough to not need much wiring; all turnouts are hand operated, though a later addition has been Dapol working signals.  Another alternative might have been industrial layout; lots of action and character in a small space, but I wanted a bit of ex GW action!

     

    I think I can only describe the thought processes behind Cwmdimbath, Nevermakeit, and suggest generalised ideas for you rather than try to talk you through the process, because my needs and wants are going to be different to yours.  Establish the givens, study the area in terms of geology, landscape, vernacular architecture, even farming practices in order to evoke the general appearance and 'feel' of the thing.  Learn about the area to be modelled in the period to be modelled so that you can assess what the traffic would have probably been; the more thought you put in and the more you know about your area and your railways' operating practices in your period, the better your layout will be because you will automatically lay it out to cater to your railway's methods and automatically devise means of providing a plausible appearance. 

     

    For steam era track plans, look at real examples on National Library of Scotland's OS datebase, free, and adapt the real plans to your purposes.  If your thing is post steam, then you are a bit more limited in your track plans, many of the smaller locations you may need to model will have been rationalised to the bone and operating interest will be limited.  How about a suburban/parcels section of a larger station, like KX suburban which is outsided of the overall roof, running local passenger trains during the day and berthing parcels traffic at night, can be done in minimal space and you can use big main line locos.  This could also be done as a steam era layout of course, if you like big tender locos and a restricted for space...

     

    Sorry, that turned into one of my screeds a bit; hope some of my thoughts are of use to you!

    and when do we get the next one? From following this particular topic, I started to appreciate what the valleys must've been like. Have managed to pick up – finally – how small the area is and that the traffic was intense but comparatively short runs – I am use to goods traffic operating over 100 to 200 miles as a minimum. Rickard's Record has been my starting point, so keep up the good work.

    • Like 2
  8. On 20/08/2021 at 09:40, Ramrig said:

    Hi Steve. Only just caught up on this thread, the only thing I would say is I’m sure I have read/seen somewhere that if you run PVC coated wiring through polystyrene one attacks the other, something to do with the plasticisers, and you end up with a gooey mess. Might be worth a quick google before you start 

     

    Steve aka Ramrig.

     

    PS still not finished my Skirted Drewry 04 yet. Still in primer and it’s for a very long in the future Wisbech based layout along with my J70 tram. I will look out who I purchased the 3D printed parts off and post on here if that’s ok with you?

    3D printed parts supplier - yes please

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