LNER4479

There was a delivery last month.

The square-headed mice have been at it again. More point motor installation, more wiring ... ... and another 'phew!' moment when it all goes back in, this time for keeps. Underneath - for now - it's a rat's nest, pending installation of permanent control panel. But at least with pre-wiring done it's not quite as bad as it could be. I was thinking that this could be the most complex part of the layout to wire up ... but I keep reminding myself of the southern end of Citadel station, or Carlisle No.5 as it's better known. Talking of which ...

Good morning, Tony On your above point, is there not an adage / 'rule of thumb' that 90% of kits sold are never made ... at least the first time round? In which case, why be so concerned about kit manufacturers ceasing to produce any more? As you and I both know, there's a plentiful supply of unmade ones out there. As Anno Domini catches up on the current owner's 'kit mountain', they potentially get released ... to form the next generation's kit mountain! The recent Little Engines O4/7 you built. That had been sitting around in its box for probably 30 years. Yet you were able to build it, no problem? On that basis, there's an existing supply of kits for the next 200-300 years!! OK, I readily admit an element of over-extrapolation going on there (does white metal eventually crumble into dust?) but hopefully you take the point. You can pretty much buy any kit you want to via the 'pre-loved', on-line market place. I've commented in a positive vein on the associated thread you refer to. This wonderful hobby of ours has survived two world wars, nationalisation and the end of steam (potentially making the prototype less interesting?), earlier periods of significant cost of living rises (that make the current one look quite tame - I remember the 'shock horror' when a new loco breached the £20 mark in the late 1970s), etc. Currently we have a bewildering number of manufacturers, at least four mainstream hobby magazines (just in the UK), multiple shows each weekend in the main season. If we're suffering from anything, it's here-and-now-ism - one exhibiton ceases to operate and one shop ceases to trade and its the end of civilisation as we know it! Oh - and talking of the demise of old model shops: weren't Beatties principally box shifters?

'Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated ...' Thanks Andy for providing a thread to bring together views on this. I'm definitely in the 'glass half full' camp. The brave new world features digital things and influencers like 'Sam's Trains' ... but that doesn't mean the hobby is dying, just evolving. I'm one of those who believe there were too many shows pre-Covid - I certainly don't remember that many shows 40 years ago? And whilst it's a shock that a show like Warley has fallen by the wayside, there's certainly plenty of others to either visit or lug your layout to. See you at Doncaster. And York. And Bristol. And Gaydon ...

Indeed. If it were that simple, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The doors of the carriages in the Armagh (1889) accident were locked such that the passengers couldn't open them ...

Talking of which ... Yikes! An indication of the work involved. Note the two square holes to accommodate point motor plus switch. I pre-wire these - my days of being scrunched up underneath baseboards, trying to solder upwards in a restricted space are over (says he, boldly but naively). Phew - that's better. The slips in the foreground are next ...

Continuing on at Upperby. New boards corked and painted. The central, removable piece already has track alignment pins in (3ft radius), so here I'm using these as a 'springboard' to plot the new alignment pins in either direction. As always, entering the versines (offset of a pin from the two with side) as I go along. Can you see them? To the right of the length of track with the coaches on. And repeat, down at the Bog Junc end. So we're ready for more tracklaying? Well ... yes ... but there's some pointwork still to finalise at Upperby Juncs yet.

Absolutely. The version of that adage I particularly like is: RISK = HAZARD + OUTRAGE (I believe that came out of the petro-chemical industry. 'Nuff said) Like others on here, no doubt, I witnessed at close quarters the aftermath / outrage of Clapham, Labroke Grove, Hatfield, amongst others*. It's very real. (*not to mention dealing with the consequences of people falling from open doors of moving trains. Campaign changing all the door locks on a 304 EMU. That was fun.)

Great photo @46256 - thanks! That departure time (which is entirely logical) would account for why any pictures of the train on the S&C are always southbound. I would surmise a similar departure time from Carlisle for the return working, hence early evening pictures of the Up train on the S&C. I can see that 45268 was a Saltley ever-present throughout the 1950s. So, perhaps I'll number one of my Black 5s accordingly - and have the 9F for the other half of the lodging turn, then everyone's happy 🙂

Meanwhile - and as promised - some latest progress. With Bog Junc board modified and a certain amount of previous mocking up done, can now install the all important goods line between there and Upperby. The curve will have a removable section for access. It is also on a descending gradient. A bit steeper than I would have liked (@ 1-in-45), although most trains will be trip workings. Also, there's a trade-off with the WCML grad towards Citadel and priority is to have as gentle as gradients as possible for the big passenger trains. Here, my 3 foot radius template is being used to determine the optimum position for the removable section (an existing piece of 3 foot radius ply). The removable piece will be the steepest part of the curve; the idea here is to let each side of the curve ease out equally. And here we are with the aforementioned piece cut to length and trial fitted. Doesn't look too bad?

From what I can ascertain, the traffic pattern was such that it was the faster-moving, partially or fully fitted goods traffic that was concentrated on the Shap route, with the slower moving stuff routed over the S&C - where necessary, using the now lost Wigan-Chorley-Blackburn link. Consequently, Black 5s (supplemented by occasional 5XPs) were far more common on the Shap route than 8Fs, as has already been alluded to. It was Shap bank itself that led to operating restrictions, a max 15 unbraked wagons being allowed without a banker. And slowing moving trains held up the faster, more prestigious traffic in any case. Not so over the S&C, where there was no banking, fewer prestige trains and where an 8F was good for a prolonged 25mph slog up the 'long drag'. There were some faster goods traffic over the S&C (eg the Washwood Heath working already quoted) but not as much as over Shap. Happy for the above to be corrected / clarified - do bear in mind that it is the 1950s I'm focused on.

Yes, that's 92167, one of the 3 stoker fitted examples. They were initially allocated to Saltley depot (from 1958) for use on the 'famous' through fitted goods service from Washwood Heath to Carlisle via the S&C, a long standing ex-MR institution. That was always Saltley's 'top link' job, the crews lodging at Carlisle. It was Black 5s, prior to that date. I was aware of the use of 9Fs on this service but again, a late 1950s scenario. Otherwise, I've been checking the intial allocation of 9Fs to the LMR, as per the lists in the Xpress Locomotive Register book (quicker than checking each one individually on BR Database). They comment - and it's quite evident from the lists - that the LMR didn't have a pressing need for such a loco (initially at least); their most immediate impact was to see off the LMS Garratts from the MR London coal train workings, with many of the initial allocations to Toton and Wellingborough. No 1950s allocations at all to any WCML depots. So, other than the above, there's little justification for one on my scheme, as I suspected (and as Terry refers to above). We do use them on the 1960s phase of Shap exhibition layout, however.

Just remembered - one final batch of photos 'in the can' from the final run before severing the mainline (for now). With the other trains gone, it fell to the 9F to assemble all the remaining wagons in Upperby yard for the run back to Central. A lengthy(?) consist of 28 wagons, although not too taxing for such a mighty loco. 30-35 wagons will be about the maximum for practical purposes. Much more than that and it starts to cause problems in the yards. Gently dropping down the other side of Shap. I have to say that I've hitherto been relatively ambivalent towards 9Fs, magnificent though the originals were. I have to bear in mind that they only first entered traffic after the start of my target era (1953-1959) and the last examples after the end of that. Much more a loco of the '60s. Nonetheless, I've been impressed with the running of this (Bachmann) example, so I think I'll make room for one or two on the roster (subject to finding suitable 1950s pix of them on either the Shap or S&C routes) The train is checked, awaiting entry into Central Goods Yard. In actual fact, the section switching does allow for simultaneous moves like this. The handy Peco sideways-on point motor (alongside the guards van being shunted) has been a recent solution to one of the awkward-to-motorise points in the yard. The 9F now snakes its train into the yard, quite a satisfying manoeuvre. And, illustrating how 'long' 28 wagons actually is for the layout, takes advantage of the continuation of the goods arrival road to get the rear of the train (seen peeping out beyond the overall roof, top centre) clear of the goods yard pointwork. Locos from other arrivals wait their turn to make it back to the loco sidings. All this was a couple of months ago. After a quiet December, work has resumed in the Upperby area. Update soon ...

Glad it was of interest to some. And you took the words right out of my mouth there in terms of the properly integrated transport system. It really is a joy. Anyone thinking of going, don't even consider taking your car. Fly to Geneva (if you must) and just use the public transport from there. We were provided with a TELL pass (https://www.tellpass.ch/en) - this covered ALL public transport in the central Switz area (roughly south of Luzern as far as Interlaken (via Meiringen) and Andermatt (via the Gotthard)). 240CHF for 10 days (we were only there six days). When you consider that ALL transport includes the cable cars / funiculars as well, its outstanding value for a transport enthusiast. Titlis, Rigi, Stoosbahn plus boats on the lake - all included. I've just checked the Titlis cable car price as a one-off - 72CHF!! The trip we were on was marketted (via the hotel) as the White Pass Snow Train Adventure (Golden Pass, Voralpen Express, Glacier Express*, Engelberg Express (Titlis) and Rigi) *Stretching a point a bit with this one - it actually covers Andermatt-Oberalp as a 20 min taster only! In the summer, they do the Steam Dream Adventure, which includes: Furka steam railway (2016) - should be on every steam lover's bucket list Brienz-Rothorn mountain railway (2015). Think Snowdon on steroids. And 'new' steam, too. Lake Brienz paddle-steamer (2015). We didn't book this at all - it just 'turned up' as part of the ordinary BLS schedule. No special fare applied. Marvellous. (Steam Dream Adventure also includes Rigi steam and paddle steamers on lakes Luzern and Zurich) For what it's worth, in case anyone is musing? Meanwhile ... be back on again before too long with some more Grantham-specific news, in advance of York show appearance.

Once out of the tunnels at the top of the cliff, the whole thing levels out. Arriving at the top station. You can see the tunnel in the background. It's not actually a particularly long run. It does of course serve the mountain village of Stoos, doing what it sez on the tin. But that's not important right now. (nice sunshine again 😎) Last view on the way back. You can see just how steep that initial climb is.

Nice to hear. I'd love to spend some time at Wassen; someone said that the station there has now been closed? Seems odd, although there may be a bus service. And so to our last excursion of the visit. Did I say 'railway'? Well, it does run on rails. Is it a funicular or a cable way? This is the remarkable Stoosbahn. We'd heard of it and I'd sussed out that it was nearby, a short bus ride from Schwyz station. Opened just seven years, to replace a venerable, conventional funicular, it launches itself at this dramatic cliff face, the four circular gondolas rotating to compensate for the gradient, London eye style. Boarding via platform doors. We let this one go so as to be in pole position for the next one. And off we go. It attains an angle of 47.7deg - that's steeper than 1-in-1. That's a World Record for a funicular ... when it's not being a cable way(?)

To complete our 'required track', we travelled back down on the Arth Goldau line Two trains, one following the other (as is often the case on mountain railways) Lovely end to the day, up by the city walls Tomorrow - a most remarkable railway to conclude our trip.

More interesting trackwork! At the penultimate station, we're joined by the other line, up from Art Goldau Both lines head up towards the summit, above the snow line. The view from a rather windy summit.

Boxing Day and a dramatic sky effect shortly after dawn Taken from outside our hotel. Right of centre, our mountain awaits! Just to prove that we were on a boat this morning. Heading across the lake to Vitznau. How's this for a trackwork challenge?(!) This is a giant turntable; the shed building, in part roundhouse form, is behind me. And so here we go, up the famous Rigi Railway.

I have one of my own to do. I'll tackle it at the weekend, take some pix and report back.

Our train back emerges out of the tunnel to pick us up. Well OK - that's a Lugano-bound train heading out of the station. On the way back, we broke our journey at Flüelen for a look around. Not a bad way to spend 25th Dec?

A Disentis bound train snakes up the zig-zags overlooking the town from the east. We experience a parallel departure, heading back the way we came. Sun at it's highest at this time of year to partially illuminate the famous bridges in the Schöllenen gorge. Back in Göschenen. Well, OK - that's the shuttle train heading back out.

Indeed. Now I know about the lion and seen what a remarkable thing it is I'm somewhat ashamed that I didn't previously know about it. You live and learn, I guess? Now then, one of the many great things about Switzerland is that the trains run as normal on Christmas Day. Not even a reduced / limited bank hol timetable, just the everyday timetable. Marvellous. Taking full advantage, we boarded this standard gauge train and headed south, towards the heart of the Alps. Those in the know will readily recognise this place. We're on the Gotthard pass and these are the famous reverse curves that take the railway up and around the village of Wassen and it's distinctive church. Of course, the service is a bit up the wall at the mo following the freight train derailment in the new base tunnel but that didn't seem to affect our schedule too much. A change at Göschenen for the short connecting link brings us to Andermatt, the cross roads of the Alps. We were rather taken with Andermatt when we last stayed here in 2016. The clear blue skies point invitingly to the Furka pass - impassable this time of the year.

Thanks - that's a great photo for detailing. It's so long ago I can't be certain but I'm trying to convince myself that I saw a photo of the loco actually on the 'Bonniface' working; that's what would have put me on to it as a loco choice in the first place. That's my usual modus operandi when choosing loco identities. But I'm blowed if I can find it just at the moment? I think I'll stick with 42093 as an identity and hope the photo resurfaces!

Even though it was some 35 years ago, I do seem to recall that it would be based on a Brighton built example. From what I understand, they were originally allocated to the Southern region but subsequently got transferred to NE Region (displaced by electrification?). The two survivors (42073 & 42085) are both such examples. I have a note somewhere that it was going to be 42093, which was allocated to Manningham from 1957 and hence feasible that it would be used on the Hawes working. I must have based the choice on a photo ... but I can't put my hands on it just at the moment? Meanwhile, the controversial screw heads have been flooded with solder and filed back. Chassis stripped down and cleaned - now drying off in the paint shop ...