thegreenhowards

I suspect you can put your card away until next year. They’re saying Dec2020 and how often do they deliver on time?!

Steve, I’ve just finished reading your thread through from the beginning. Finsbury Square is a very convincing back story and you have executed it beautifully. I love the semaphores you’ve built and look forward to seeing some more. I shall be following from now on. Andy

Clive, I fit the flanged wheels and have no probs on Gresley Jn (min radius generally 36” with the odd 30” for curved points). I have to refit the unflanged wheels to run at my club which has a minimum radius of c.26”. This is a pain which means that many stay unflanged and as Gilbert says I don’t really notice and they’re easier to put on the track. Andy

As discussed a couple of moves ago, The Talisman should follow the Scotch goods quite closely...so here it is. In this case headed by 60020, Guillemot. This is the first train to return from the centre reversible sidings in the fiddle yard, and the only one that you will see a third time as it also forms the up afternoon Talisman. An the video - a nice short one today to make up for the epic yesterday. This seems a little jerky, bit it wasn’t like that in real life so I’m rather puzzled by what has caused it.

They both look good to me, but I think I prefer the first one. If the second was much browner/ warmer on the daylight setting then you did the right thing to change to auto for that exposure.

Next up on Gresley Jn we have an inner suburban arrival on the 1454 from Kings Cross with a standard mark 1 5 set (BS-S-S-S-BS). This picture shows it having ran round and ready to depart. These Bachmann Mark 1st are a good starting point, but benefit from flush glazing and close coupling as on this pair. The back of the train is still to do. Today’s video shows the BRCW type 2 running round its train. You’ll have to be patient with this one as it’s 2.5 mins long but I think it shows off the legomanbiffo sound project very well - one of the best that I have. Andy

Planning a layout can be a large part of the fun. I have several pipe dreams including an O gauge test bench and a garden railway, but I doubt they will come to pass.

Clive, I have dropped into the Sheffield Exchange thread from time to time. I love your plan - anything with a flavour of King’s Cross floats my boat, and it offers lots of operational interest. The layout seems to be coming on well which is why I was surprised you said it would take so long to finish. But if that includes time to build lots of rolling stock then I can understand. I’m rather impatient and would like to think that Gresley Jn will be substantially finished in 2-3 years so that I can think about another layout. Andy

Rather late for the train fix today, but hopefully it will be worth the wait. Here is the up Elizabethan with 60013. Trains don’t get much sexier than this - at least for me. This is the formation as it was in 1957 with 10 rather fine Thompson PV carriages and just one mark 1 on the back letting the side down. The Thompsons are all built from Southern Pride sides on Bachmann donors, so it’s a fairly weighty train, but no problem for a standard Hornby A4. Here’s the video. Andy

I have deliberately kept the list short so as to make it realistic. One of the reasons I started this thread was to give me an incentive to crack on with the layout, so let’s see if it works! Thanks John, my problem is I’m probably happiest building rolling stock, but I need too remember that there’s no point in having lots of stock with nowhere to run it! 7.5 years sounds like a long time. I hope too be well into bodging my next layout by then!

It seems to be the fashion to make new year resolutions for layouts. So, following the example set my Tony Teague amongst others (see https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115550-churminster-stowe-magna-southern-railway/&do=findComment&comment=3783464 - his thread is well worth a look if you haven't already), here are my top three objectives for the year: 1. Finish ballasting the track - a bit of a chore, but well overdue and should be easy enough to knock on the head; 2. Replace the station buildings and get the scenery in the station area up to the standard of the rest of the layout (not necessarily finished, but largely presentable); and 3. Install at least 2 more working signals. There will be lots of other minor jobs (e.g. installing the trap points which those who follow Wright Writes will have seen me berated for) and hopefully a few new trains to play with, but if I haven't completed the three points above this year, I will be very disappointed and you will have the right to take me to task! Andy

Wouldn’t that imply that the scotch goods left after 1600?

Thanks. That sounds about right because I seem to remember stories of it being thrashed by Bill Hoole to keep ahead of the 1600 Talisman. I will have to amend my sequence. Andy

John, Thanks for your comment on the videos. They take quite a while to film and process, so it’s nice to know that they’re appreciated. As for the C1, thanks for your research. Given that I need a KX outer suburban example, I’ve more or less decided to go for 2881 in 1948 guise with LNER on the tender and I’ve ordered the decals for this in Modelmaster’s New Year sale. I did win a DJH C2 ‘Klondike’ (unmade) on eBay just before Christmas, so at some stage in the distant future I might be able to recreate the Plant Centenarian railtour from 1953 or the suburban trains that 251 and 990 worked in the week leading up to the tour - watch this space! Andy

I think it varied over the years from c.1400 to c.1600. I wasn’t even born and don’t have the freight WTT, so I’m relying on photo captions. Gilbert might be able to give us the definitive answer...at least for 1958.

Christmas and keeping up with taking videos of Gresley Jn for that thread has slowed up my workbench progress a little, but I have now made some progress with the d.16 RKB. The basic structure is now complete and I’ve built the under frame according to what I can see on the photos, but I don’t claim that it’s 100% accurate. There’s was definitely a heavy duty bogie at the kitchen end (MJT) and a standard bogie at the other end (Bachmann). The roof was the trickiest bit as none of the photos are definitive and some seem to show different vents to others. There were definitely some of the standard LNER oblong catering car vents and some photos seem to show a BR style round monsoon type vent. I’ve settled on the layout below, but it’s little more than educated guesswork I’m afraid. Next up decals and glazing. Then glueing the roof on. Any comments welcome. Andy

An iconic train today - the Scotch goods. This left King's Cross around 1600 and headed overnight to Scotland. It was fully fitted and kept reasonably short (about 25 vans I think) in order to allow it to travel fast. From inception to mid '50s it was V2 hauled - this is what they were built for, but sometime in the late '50s it switched to Pacific haulage. Anyway, V2's are my favourite steam engine, so I had to have one on the front. It should probably be black as the train switched to pacific power around the time the V2s were painted green, but my only black one is Bachmann and struggles with this train. 60835 is Nucast stuffed with lead and will pull anything I've asked of it. This picture is in the station (obviously!) and I think reinforces the amount of work needed in this area. I'm working on a Scalescenes station building at present, and when that is finished a major session on this area is called for. This picture gives a view of most of the train snaking round the S curve. Here's the video which shows the whole train.

I do like these aerial shots from the bridge.

Thanks Tony, The signals are just plonked for now. I’m planning to build a MSE gantry to cross the four lines at about the point where the junction signal is now. Two reasons for not building an actual prototype. Firstly, at the time I started Gresley Jn, it was designed to get the kids involved, so operational interest was paramount which is easier with a made up location. Sadly, that plan failed! Secondly, I’m not really a scenery builder, so I like to plonk RTP stuff. That’s easier when you’re not having to replicate something accurately. Having said this, my next layout will be an actual prototype - hopefully King’s Cross station. I will keep the non railway buildings to a minimum and probably have to have help, simplify or commission some of the other structures if I’m going to get it done in my lifetime! Andy

Thanks for your comments Tony and ‘ Philou’, constructive criticism is always welcome. I had to wait to reply until I returned home as, despite having lots of photos of the layout they all had trains in the way obscuring the point I want to make. You are certainly right that I squeezed in sidings where I could, and it’s likely that in some cases, I’ve made situations that are improbably with regard to the prototype. However, I don’t think it’s as bad as you suggest. This is a view looking the other way from the position where the previous photographs were taken. I hope this shows that the fans of five sidings leads into a headshunt. The running lines drop from 4 to 2 at about this point and that headshunt provides protection for the up fast as the down slow/ station access diverges from it as well as access to the fans of five sidings. I can not see that there’s anything wrong with this arrangement, but I stand to be corrected if I’ve missed anything. On the down side, the sidings are accessed directly off the down slow just before it joins the down fast. There is a headshunt for the sidings as seen terminating to the left of the tunnel mouth. Again this is the same headshunt which provides protection for the down fast as the down slow joins it. Following this discussion, I suspect I should have put the crossover from down slow to down fast (seen centre right in the photo) further back (behind the camera). Then what is currently the down slow could have been a dedicated siding access line at this point. However, it’s too late for that, so I think I will have to add a couple of trap points and accept that it’s a ‘less common’ operational feature. I attach a plan of the layout below to allow readers to make a bit more sense of the photos. On the subject of large layouts, I hope that Gresley Jn. qualifies (it's c.32ftx10ft). I’m lucky enough to have a large converted loft in which to base it. Indeed, that loft rather sold the house to me! Andy

Today we have a partially fitted pipe and steel train headed by WD 2-8-0, 90428.

Thanks for this - I think I could easily incorporate dummy blades into the point, and failing that the double slip is certainly an option which would require minimal relaying. Thanks also to St Enodoc for your comments on the other siding. Andy

Well when you see the barren industrial complex behind which still needs to be built and the whole station area is embryonic you will realise that I have other priorities!

Here we have another up train, the 0800 Newcastle-KX. This should have been much earlier in the sequence...but I forgot - sorry! Anyway, it’s the last of the four trains which inhabit the three reversible centre roads in the fiddle yard and which you will see again on their down journey later in the day. The others being The Talisman, The Tyne Tees Pullman (which being short can share a road) and The Yorkshire Pullman. The most interesting vehicle on this train is the triplet dining set from the pre war ‘Silver Jubilee’ which you can see in the video. The rest is Mark 1 with some Thompson brakes. The formation is as it was in Winter ‘55/56. Andy

Tony, Thanks for your trap point illustration. They look good and easy to achieve...that is until I look at where they’re needed on Gresley Jn.! Can I ask for some advice? I have two sets of sidings that I think need protecting. The first is this one (sidings with five coal wagons and pipe and van): I seem to have three options: 1. Fit it between the two points in the middle bottom of the photo; 2. Fit separate trap points on each siding; or 3. Relay the sidings (which probably won’t happen). The second siding is below (with the coal wagons): Should the trap point go inside the ‘gate’ (which isn’t yet built) or between the gate and the point onto the down slow? If the latter, should it face directly into the brick wall/ boiler house in the back scene as the alternative would be onto the running line which doesn’t make sense! I’m sure you will tell me that this sort of question is why I should model a prototype, but all I can say to that is ‘next time’. In the meantime I want to finish Gresley Jn as accurately as I can. Andy