Metro457

First post on RM Web for many months. I was browsing thorough and saw this thread and post a poor quality photo (by Kodak Instamatic if I remember) I took at Westbury in spring 1983 on one of my occasional trips up from Weymouth whilst on holiday. Hope it gives some impression of the traffic around them. Somewhere I also have a picture of Westbury North Signal Box and signalling at that end of the station. All that wagonload freight - where did it all go?. Such is progress.

The Goods Shed was supposed to be based on a typical standard GWR design i.e Tetbury. However going through my GWR books including the OPC Great Western Architecture failed to unearth any actual example. In any case a 7mm Goods Shed built to scale would cover the entire board. Also I wanted a loading platform/end loading dock as part of the scene but there was not enough space to keep it separate from the Goods Shed building. The building itself is scratch built with a card shell, downloaded Scalescenes cobblestones, brickwork and tiles together with any bits I could use from my 7mm and 4mm scrap boxes. For example the glazing bars on the roof are from a Dapol platform canopy kit. Actually it is only 2/3 of a Goods Shed as to give the impression of depth the building ends at the canopy, the rest of the building being assumed to be to the left, So to summarise it is scratch built from whatever I could find and not really despite my original intentions, based on a GWR building, although liberal use of Precision Paints GWR light and dark stone does make it look the part. Kevin

Thanks for the comments. It is amazing whatever the question or query someone on the Forum will know the answer. Slightly off my own topic I did build the scalescenes box file layout last year, but when completed the North Eastern Region layout sort of grew around it! I have 2 more photos of the layout both showing my trusty old CCW pannier 2789 - 1 looking towards the goods shed and 1 looking under he bridge/scenic break from the traverser. As the traverser was built for my main layout, the tracks do not line up but as only one is used it is not an operational problem but it is starting to look odd to my eye.

First post for over a year so I am bit rusty re active railway modelling so I don't know if this topic should go in the micro layout or 7mm section. Briefly about 12 months ago I dismantled and partially rebuilt my 10 year old O Gauge layout in preparation for a move which didn't materialise (has that happened to anyone else?). In its place in the loft I built or perhaps more accurately threw together a OO Gauge layout based on the BR North Eastern region which hasn't really worked as I intended. Last year I went to the annual Solihull Model Railway Group exhibition chiefly to buy some 2nd hand rolling stock for the OO Gauge layout. Whilst there I saw a very small O Gauge layout based I think on a steelworks or factory siding using just one point and a traverser or sector plate. I think this actual layout has appeared somewhere on the forum in the past and is one of a series of layouts by the same builder made to roughly to the same dimensions. I can't find the actual topic or name of the builder so in advance I will say thank you for the idea. Basically my attempt is a GWR good yard built on a 3' x 18" piece of plywood. There are 4 lines one of which behind the retaining wall making the layout self contained. The others serve the goods shed and a loading dock as well a general use siding. The layout has been built using parts left over from my main layout's rebuild except for the Good shed which itself is made up of leftovers from other projects and consequently doesn't look very Great Western. The traverser also comes from the main layout but only needs one line to be in use at any time whereas with use with the main layout it needs all 3. This effort has taken about 4 weeks to build from start to finish and if nothing else has given me a quick route back into O Gauge and somewhere to rum some of my GWR tank engines in next to no space. Once again thanks to the exhibitor at Solihull MRG who gave me the idea. Kevin

The signalling diagram of Withernsea was interesting but reminded me of a question that has puzzled me for years. The turnout (or previously the turntable) was protected by a "standard" type of home signal which I remember as a small boy could be seen over the fence from the street. My question is why was a home/stop signal used instead of a shunt signal?. My guess is that it was for sighting purposes from the signal box which was some distance away or alternatively was connected with the operation of the turntable which was at the end of a passenger carrying running line. Sorry for showing my ignorance on railway operating matters! Thanks for the information being supplied on East Yorkshire's railways. Regards Kevin

Hi Jim, First time poster on this thread, but I have followed it probably as back as your Chiltern days. I have probably seen or heard you coming through Solihull with either Chiltern or Colas trains on many occasions. Sorry to hear that things have turned out a bit sour with Colas. They seem to have a bit of a management communication problem but then as others have pointed out this seems to be a common failing these days and by no means just confined to the railway industry. Anyway thanks for the interesting photos and best wishes for your new job with GBRF. One thing I have been meaning to ask you for some time is how do you manage to maintain up to date knowledge of and consequently sign for so much route mileage and different traction?. To me it seems your route knowledge exceeds that of even the legendary Saltley crews of days gone by !. Best wishes Kevin

Received my unnumbered "Great Western" version from Tower Models this morning. I was impressed by the finish and the smooth slow running. Much better than anything I would be able to build. The only minor problem I have is that although it is unnumbered, it has 5700 on the buffer beams which at least gives me something to do with it! This is the first time I have bought anything ready to run in O Gauge and at the price is very good value. My concern now is that it makes the motley collection of GWR 0-6-0's I have built over the past 25 years (especially my dear old CCW "2721") look a bit shabby!.

Glad to see the layout is getting used by all the family. In reading through this thread, I have a suggestion which may squeeze even more operating potential out the existing layout. Depending on Hope Street's location in relation to Birmingham's wholesale markets, perhaps platform 1 could be used for the unloading of perishable traffic in the late evening/early hours? The mixing of a few fitted freight trains and the late evening passenger train departures would make things interesting as well as being an excuse for bringing exotic beasts like B1's into Birmingham on a regular basis not to mention a busy late turn station pilot! I am not an expert on railway operating matters so I don't know the regulations about using a passenger station for freight traffic on a regular basis but I am sure I have seen a picture somewhere of a van train in Moor Street passenger station during the day. If in doubt the oft quoted rule 1 could apply! Regards Kevin

What a great layout! Being a native of the south Birmingham area, I have always intended to get round to building a "minories" type OO Gauge layout based on Moor Street as it was in the late 60's/early 70's but have never got round to it due to O Gauge taking what modelling time I have. I even got as far as collecting most of the DMU's for this project. After seeing your layout I am tempted to have another go. The backscene of factory units reminds me very much of the Digbeth area of the city as it was in the 60's/70's. The atmosphere you have created is very good. Indeed if this station did exist it would solve quite a few of the congestion problems that public transport in the area suffers from. I have one comment that won't cause you any extra work. About a mile south of the terminus, your line will meet the Birmingham - Gloucester (Camp Hill) line. An imaginary east or west facing connection on to this line would increase the operating potential even further. Kevin

After 6 months work, I have finally completed the later version of the GWR 36XX tank I started in October last year. I attach some pictures of the effort to date as the cab windows still need glazing and it needs coaling which will hide a few blemishes! On finishing the painting yesterday I started on the long overdue task of sorting out my collection of railway books. During this I found one which contained a picture of 3611 with a different type of bunker. This was the only book I did not refer to during the project. I also discovered on the JLTRT website yesterday that they sell a 56xx boiler as a spare. This if altered may have saved me a few weeks work. I suppose these things to most people. Something I would like comments on is that during the construction of the 2nd loco, faults on the 1st loco became obvious especially the height of the cab. Consequently I lowered the roof by 2mm and then on checking realised the cab was too big anyway so new cab sides had to built. The 1st loco looks more proportioned now but my question is would you rebuild something that already taken several months to complete to improve it or do you leave it alone for now and come back to it at a later date. I have a feeling that both locos will be "tinkered with" to improve them after all it is not as if they are expensive kits!. If anything the project has made me appreciate kit manufacturers and I will probably never criticise anyone who offers kits/components for sale again. Both locos were completed by extensive use of fittings from Warren Shephard's range without which the project would have come to a halt. Thanks for looking. Kevin

I agree on your comments on the bottom of the sides deteriorating quickly from personal experience. In the mid 1980's whilst involved in preservation I took it upon myself to volunteer to cosmetically restore a MCO that had been donated to us by British Rail a few years earlier and had been left in the Museum sidings. Before even starting on tidying the wagon up, several weekends were spent just emptying the remains of its last revenue load (coal) which had decayed to what could best be described as slack. On removing this it became apparent that the coal/coal dust had caused a great deal of corrosion to the lower sides and floor. After a few weeks chipping/scraping/painting the situation had been improved but was quite an effort for just one coal wagon. I could then start on the running gear and restoring the outside to something presentable for a museum. The original intention was apart making the place look a bit less like a scrapyard, was indeed a run it in a demonstration freight train, but in addition it found an additional perhaps more useful role as a mobile storage unit for large bulky items which would otherwise take up storage space. Not very useful on a heritage line but in a museum or workshop environment it still had a use. I enjoyed the project but wouldn't have liked a siding full of them!

Thanks for the information that Dyffryn station building is currently up for sale - that's something else for my list of things I want but will never be able to afford!. Actually you might have been staying in the same chalets by the station as we did. I remember being able to the see the line from the bedroom window. On the matter of making a working model of one of the smaller Cambrian coast line station, on the 7mm section (I think) is a topic on the construction of a model of Tonfanu station. The project includes sector plates at either end, an ingenious method of modelling a through station which is giving me some ideas.

I have questioned Dad about this and you are absolutely right !. It is a small world. He was quite pleased that someone still remembers her shop. Apparently she had guaranteed custom as the shop was near a school. I think it must have been when she retired that she bought the caravan at Withernsea and consequently my not very pleasant memories of the unnecessary closure and demolition of the Withernsea and Hornsea lines. Like the photo of the interior of West Parade box. It must have been a demanding place to work.

Hi Mick, My relatives were Frank & Winnie Webb, my dads Uncle & Aunt. They lived on the opposite side of Alliance Avenue from the railway embankment. I can't remember the number of the house now it was that long ago. Uncle Frank died about 1964 and Auntie Win eventually remarried and moved to Cottingham about 1970/1. My dad tells me that Uncle Frank was a keen motorist and changed his car every few years, so he must have endured Hull's many level crossings on a daily basis. Back to photo's of East Yorkshire's railways - I remember one year my aunt had saved me a copy of the local newspaper as there was an article and photo in it of the newly arrived D95xx/class14's from the WR. I can't remember any of the article but the photo was of a group of 3 or 4 locos around a turntable looking not exactly overworked. The picture could have been taken at Dairycoates or even in one of the remaining GWR roundhouses before they were dispatched to the Hull area. I have never seen this photograph in any publication since. It must have been an interesting job taking one to Bridlington and back with a pickup goods!

Thanks for posting this picture which a jogged a few memories. I had forgotten about the overbridge and the allotments. The light engine(s) were an interesting group probably an everyday scene back then. Am I right in thinking that at the date of the photo the line was still open for local passenger traffic which would have gained access to Hull Paragon via the Walton Street connection?.