Malcolm27

Evening all, On the subject of mixing imperial and metric dimensions the following tale might amuse. As a rolling stock engineer back in the early 1990s I found myself doing some consultancy work in the US, basically advising the MTA in New York on their Capital Programme. One of the projects was the refurbishment of Metro-North ML-9s. These were what we would know as electro-diesels, although the Americans referred to them as dual-mode locomotives. They were Co-Bos but built to the classic first generation diesel loco design, quite attractive for an oil burner! Rapido produced a HO scale model of one a few years ago. Now these were being refurbished by a outfit in South Carolina, if I remember correctly, but with new traction equipment from Siemens Europe. When the said equipment arrived it wouldn't fit out of the box and you can guess why - loco drawings were in imperial, but Siemens had worked in metric! There was also an issue with the fire loading of the locos with the NYC fire department, for the tunnel into Grand Central, but that is another story. Best regards, Malcolm

Evening folks, Not posted on this thread before but reading of LNER4472's interest in the German scene here are a few photos taken in 2016 on a visit to the Hartz metre gauge system. It was an organised visit, so the group was fortunate in having a tour of the maintenance facility at Wernigerode. The loco in the shed was in light steam despite being worked on by maintenance staff. Replacing a white metal bearing on the big end of the connecting rod if I remember rightly. Arriving by train the previous evening in the dark was like stepping back in time with a number of the metre gauge locos simmering outside the shed. Six inches of snow at the top of the Brocken! Regards, Malcolm

Hello Gordon, Not posted on here for a while, but great to see trains running on ET and operating so smoothly. I noticed your post a few days ago about working under the baseboard and struggling to focus on the work in hand. I've had the same problem, but have purchased some adjustable focal length glasses from a company "eyejusters" which allow you to alter the focal length to accommodate close work, or distance. Purchased them from an exhibition a couple of years ago, not particularly cheap, around £70 but very useful. I grew up in East Barnet, so remember the last few years of steam out of Kings Cross, used to watch the trains on my way home from school, around Oakleigh Park and got told off by my mum for being late home! Still commute into Kings Cross, but from a few stations further up the line, how things have changed in 50 years. Malcolm

Hello Gordon, Have been following your topic for some time and great to see your recent progress, the videos show just how smoothly your trains run. I was intrigued by the screenshot of the bridge in your post last Friday. Looks very much like Oakleigh Park looking north. I grew up in East Barnet and remember spotting from that bridge around 1960, I guess we are probably of a similar age. Later whilst studying mechanical engineering at Hatfield Polytechnic (now University of Hertfordshire) I would commute from Oakleigh Park to Hatfield, this would be around 1970. Steam all gone of course, but if going in later in the morning I remember aiming to catch a loco hauled train (Brush Type 2 usually) which was made up of mainline stock, may have been a Cambridge service which just happened to stop there. I remember seeing a Deltic at Brookmans Park one morning hauling 2 Quart Art sets, I guess it was the only loco available. No camera phones then! I still commute on the Great Northern, but from a few stations further north, now of course on the new 700 series EMUs built by Siemens - the ones with the hard seats! I bought a couple of your turnouts a couple of years ago, I thought you might like to see they have been put to good use on my own layout Afon Junction. Regards, Malcolm

Hi again, Great to see your progress on the new goods yard, the buildings work really well and the arrangement is visually well balanced. Not sure if this is of any interest, but I remember from a previous post that you were proposing wire in tube operation. I have done something similar on the current layout, in areas where access is limited underneath. In order to switch the polarity of the crossing vee, without any extra switches, I have used a miniature DPDT switch (Maplins) drilled to take the actuating wire to the tie bar. Hopefully the photos show the arrangement. Regards Malcolm

Hi, Not posted on your thread before, but have been admiring your work for some time. The Peco code 83 certainly gives a nice flow to the track work. I used some on a previous layout, as I thought they were better than the code 75 variety. On the current layout I have bitten the bullet and constructed some point work from C&L components, but its a bit time consuming and have also used tilling in some locations, I like their sprung switch rails and they do some large radius turnouts that can be curved, not cheap though. Some 20 years or so ago I did some consultancy work in the US and near where I was staying there was a bridge over the tracks on the entrance to a large freight yard, the track looked familiar and bore a striking resemblance to Peco Streamline, particularly as there were no inside signals or point rodding - a prototype for everything! I would post some photos, but in Turkey at the moment doing some DIY on our holiday place there. Look forward to seeing how the new goods yard develops. Malcolm.

Hello Gilbert, I've not posted on here for some time, but regularly admire your pictures of operations at Peterborough North, some of the shots are extremely life like and the careful weathering of the locos helps enormously in creating realistic cameos. From my train spotting days in the 60's around Barnet, the only double headed train I remember was a special with City of Truro and the Midland Compound, they made a splendid sight and I guess the axle loads were such as to satisfy the Civil Engineer. I happened through Peterborough last Friday, curtesy of Virgin East Coast, at fairly high speed, but I could still recognise the bridges and what is left of the old railway buildings at the north end of the station, from your creation of Peterborough North. Congratulations on over 600 pages to date. regards, Malcolm

Hello Gilbert, May I congratulate you on reaching 500 pages, I have been following Peterborough North for some time on this forum and I think you have built an amazing layout which captures the era very well. The pictures can almost be taken as the prototype and truly capture the atmosphere of the 1950's steam railway. I grew up in Hertfordshire close to the ECML and can remember trainspotting, at Oakleigh Park in 1959 on my way home from junior school. N2 on the locals and of course Gresley and Thompson pacifics on expresses. Unfortunately my mother took a dim view of me being late home from school, so by the time I resumed in the early 60's the changes were well advanced. I still have my notebook from 1962/3 and fortunately I had graduated from just recording numbers, to including details such as time of day, type of train and destination etc. But by the summer of 1963, steam was almost extinct at the southern end. I have to admit my modelling interest is centered around the LMR/GW, influenced by many holidays in North Wales, where in the early 1960's, apart from some DMUs, most trains were steam hauled along the coast and the branches. On the question of loco lamps have you tried the ones manufactured by Modelu, they are 3D printed to scale size and have holes already in the bases which fit most loco lamp irons - no more need to drill holes in Springside lamp bases, which I agree is a real pain. The lamps come unpainted and you have to fit the lenses, but once you have done the first few they are fairly straightforward. Congratulations once again and I look forward to more of your pictures.