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C126

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  1. C126
    Both surprised and pleased with the results of my pretend-ODA first kit previously, I bought a Peco 'Parkside' PC60 BR Ale Pallet Wagon.  An excuse to run something more unusual in my Southern Region goods yard, using 'Rule 1' to extend their working life into the late-1970's wagon-load network for breweries nationwide.
     
    Had I the time and talent, I would write a 'missing manual', but will just offer some tips I should have noted so others, if interested, do not make the same mistakes as me, and their wagons turn out better.  I was going to post Peco's instructions, but this would probably break Copyright law, so instead will describe them.  An A4 landscape sheet, with the instructions of five paragraphs taking up a quarter of the space, on the right side are four drawings of the sprues with part nos., sole-bar (including which parts to remove), underside of wagon to show brake-gear, and side elevation showing door pattern, etc.  There is a "Historical:" paragraph giving the history and operation of the wagon plus a couple of references, and livery notes.
     
    Again, not a 1970's Airfix booklet, so read everything several times and find a photograph of 'your wagon'.  Mine is to be B732383, illustrated on p.34 of Trevor Mann's excellent 'British Railways unfitted and vacuum-braked wagons in colour', Hersham : Ian Allan, 2013.  Photographed at Wigan in March 1981, and "one of the few that survived in ale traffic long enough to receive its 'ULV' Tops code".  Sadly, "ULV" is not included in the decal sheet provided with the model, only "ALE PALLET" and "RBV".  And nor is "B732383".  The mouldings are finely detailed - I am delighted with the thin end stanchions - with little flashing.  Unfortunately, the floor was distorted in all three dimensions and had to be returned to Devonshire for a replacement.
     
    Only after assembly, did I notice the floor was a fraction too narrow for the ends, and I should have glued a strip of 0.5mm. plasticard along one side to make it up to width.  Stupidly, I squeezed the sides onto the floor, leaving gaps at the wagon ends (see top right corner below).  Let this be the first lesson.
     

     
     
    Second lesson: the floor is not symmetrical.  Again, only after assembly did I realise one needs to align the sides' door pattern with the floor side abutting the brake cylinder - marked 'X' above on the moulding - and the sole-bars (again not identical).  To avoid further mistakes, I dabbed some correction-fluid to mark the end with the 'single door' on the floor and sole-bars:
     

     
     
    Now having four sides and a floor, I ignored Lesson 3 ('The Eternal'), 'Read the Instructions!'  Not knowing my 'Sprungs' from my 'Oleos', I used both buffer-beams from the same sprue, thinking they are identical, and it is the buffer that varies.  It is not.  Check your chosen photograph of the real thing.  Two (duplicate) black sprues of parts are supplied, but each has only one type of buffer-beam.
     
    The sole-bars were trimmed of flash and adjusted (removing a bracket on one side), and the brass bearing cups pushed in easily.  Like the ODA, I did not bother securing them with more glue, lest it foul something.  Here one learns the floor is not symmetrical, but has an off-set vacuum cylinder on one side, so check your sole-bars.  I bodged a piece of plasticard as a new mount for the brake-cylinder on the opposite side, and hope I have got away with it:
     

     
     
    I put the axle-boxes over the bearing cups before gluing the sole-bars on.  One then can use maximum pressure to secure them, rather than crushing a wagon in one's fingers, and I did not glue them as well.  Do check your photograph to ensure you have the correct sort.  The wheels were inserted and ran without wobbling: my major fear.  The brake-shoe assemblies had a piece of floor to be attached to, and in line with the 'OO' wheels, so all went well there.
     
    Some of the brake-gear is very fragile.  I have mended mine a couple of times, not helped by my lack of dexterity and shaky hands, and suggest adding it last after painting.  The buffers just push into the buffer-beams, and I added a pair of old Bachmann couplings on the mounts after the coupling hooks.
     
    Humbrol 'Liquid Poly' was used to glue parts, and I have still not learned 'less is more'.  The damage to the nearest end, where an excess leached onto my finger and melted part of the side moulding, can be discerned in the photograph below.
     

     
     
    Paints used were Humbrol no. 70 (Matt) - a guess for the faded Bauxite - and the new panel Precision Paints no. P129 'B.R. Freight Wagon Bauxite (Post 1964) (Matt)'.  I do not know what the interior is like, so chose a 'generic brown' - Revell no. 84 (Matt).
     

     
     
    Weathering and over-head electrification flashes need to be applied to match Mr Mann's photograph of B732383, not to mention a correct number and T.O.P.S. data panel, but until then, here is my model in 'revenue earning service':
     

     
     
    My Dad would turn in his grave if I did not have it being loaded with Harvey's of Lewes's kegs, so please excuse the over-sized promo. steam lorry as delivery vehicle.  The only picture I have seen of a correct Harvey's vehicle is a white Foden, not produced in a die-cast range in 1:76.  Aluminium beer/ale kegs are Bachmann 44-520, supplied with excellent service by post by Morris Models of Lancing, Colletts Models of Exmouth, and the Railway Conductor of Northants.
     
    I hope this will encourage others to try this kit.  However, I might have to start buying two of everything, to iron out my mistakes in the first attempt.
     
     
     
  2. C126

    40. Tarmac, or water in flood?

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    No, it is not a Turner sea-scape, but my umpteenth attempt to get a simple, even coat of tarmac-grey on the loading area for my goods-yard.
     
    I started with a darkened (water-based) Green Scene 'Light Tarmac' textured paint, and failed to apply it evenly.  Then I decided to cover this with a coat of sieved sand, glued down with P.V.A.  This did not adhere evenly either, not helped by my doing it in three areas (if immediately after each other on the same after-noon).  'Bother', I thought, 'at least I can use the faults as scenic details such as puddles.'  So I slapped on a few coats of acrylic paint, and again achieved a 'varied' finish.
     
    After several coats of slightly thinned acrylic, then much thinned poster paint, and all applied by a 1" paint-brush or a natty little sponge-roller my partner found in a charity shop for me, I returned to using the 1" paint-brush with a poster-paint, hoping this would be the last coat.  Alas, not: while it looked beautifully even on application, the paint has dried with pale and white 'flecks' and 'surf froth' I would be proud of if painting a view out to sea one stormy after-noon.
     
    Now I have given up for the moment, and gone back to playing trains...
     

     
    ... while I decide how to cover everything up satisfactorily for the final option: Halford's 'rattle can' primer spray-paint.  If this does not work, I will sulk and eat cake.  What I need is some fine-grained sand-paper in A2-sized sheets one can just paint and glue down.  But then would this 'blister' and warp?  Probably.
     
    Anyway, the wagon inspector visits...
     

     
    ... while the coal merchant leaves him to get on with his next round:
     

     
     
     
    Meanwhile, the mileage sidings are seeing traffic.
     

     

     
     
     
  3. C126

    18. The layout's rationale : or, Where, Why, and When.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Inspired by @Ray Von 's musings and the contributions re his blog - Third Rail N Gauge Shelf Terminus - while waiting for the weekend, my thoughts turned to Atherington's location, industries, and train services.  While not a simple re-naming of a real town, being an 'ex-Central Division child' I wanted somewhere on the Sussex Weald, inland to model imagined fish and milk trains, all in a 'declining 1970's aesthetic' with both electric and diesel services.  Inspired by memories of the East Grinstead and Seaford branches, I then 'stretched reality' to a more optimistic 'history', where freight could be struggling on still with a more supportive economy and government.
     
    My solution was thus:
     

    Atherington’s 'successful' west station is on an electrified main line direct to the Sussex coast, with another branch South-westerly like the Three Bridges - Horsham - Littlehampton line.  Atherington Victoria station, 30 miles and 41 mins. from London Bridge, was opened later by a rival company, celebrating Her Majesty the late Queen of course.  Its line South-east is to a mythical industrial port, the 'poorer cousin' to the 'Brighton Line'-ish route of its neighbouring station.  This 'cousin' was electrified southwards just before W.W. II., but the northwards scheme cancelled.  With this in mind, it would appear to suit the sites of Ashurst or Eridge, but with the Hastings main line going there, not to Royal Tunbridge Wells, which remained only on a 'loop' from Eridge to Tonbridge.  I wished a link with the latter as an excuse for a second freight service.
     
    Despite the slower service on its less direct route to London, commuter traffic from Atherington Victoria remains buoyant, fares being cheaper than its whizzy electric rival and with a wealthy First class passenger-population living in the villages on the Weald, and using also the stations northwards.  Similarly, commuters, school-children, and sixth-formers travel to Atherington for work and teaching from the north, east, and south-east.  Consequently, there are two '33'-hauled peak-time trains to London Bridge morning and evening to supplement a basic hourly service by DEMU, that joins and divides further up the line serving another branch.  This is a blatant attempt at catharsis, my being born too late to have been 'something in the City' and commute daily behind a '33' in Mk. I compartments, a standard of comfort now vanished from to-day's trains, and not appreciated by me until seeing their replacements.
     
    Both Atherington and the port's manufacturing economy is stable, if not growing significantly, with the 'legacy industries', agriculture, and reliable coal merchant excuse to run an 'optimistic' 1970's vacuum-braked (and predominantly drab bauxite) wagon-load goods service.  A morning train from Norwood Jn to the port and back stops both north- and south-bound to exchange wagons.  Lacey's Aggregates receives a cut of wagons of various minerals from a larger train from Acton to other terminals, and also contributes local chalk, sand, and gravel.  This service might have a wagon or two added direct from the Western Region for speed and convenience.  Additionally, there is a daily after-noon service from/to Tonbridge Yard, that can also include a wagon or two to/from the port.  Depending on traffic, there is a TThO Norwood Jn/port goods train to 'mop up' any excess wagons, running 'Q' as required.
     
    With the introduction of the SLK 'Speedlink' air-braked service and recession of the early 1980's, goods trains are reduced to a twice-daily stop on a service from/to Willesden Yard to the port.  The aggregate train from Acton is now a 'COY' company block-train, but booming in the era of expanding road building...
     
    I have yet to satisfy myself as to the delivery of coal in hoppers, not wanting to dig holes in baseboards to model a huge Concentration Yard.  Apart from the coal merchant, I considered an extra private delivery for a coal-fired greenhouse plant nursery, but wonder if this would thrive on the chilly slopes of the Weald, even if heated.  There is probably a good reason why the fruit and vegetable growers are along the Brighton-Portsmouth line on the warm coast.  I hope to build some sort of cheap 'under hopper over rail' elevator to use the HKVs, HBAs, and HEAs.
     
    Loco-hauled and Non-Passenger services are run with similar 'modellers' licence', if based upon examples from an early 1980's Working Time Table: an early morning Parcels service from/to Bricklayers Arms, the Newspapers from London Bridge arriving at 04.27, fish dropped off in a 'Parcels' train from the port, and a milk train to take some of the Weald's dairy production to London for bottling.  There is a short van train late morning to convey the greenhouses' produce to Bricklayers Arms for market, and the portion of an inter-regional service to Newcastle via Kensington Olympia once a day, with more lovely Mk. I. coaches.  Sketching all these on a draft, clock-face time table, it had never occurred to me how complicated platform dwell-times, running-round, etc., could be.
     
    With their charming, arcane, artisan compositing I like so much, I should mock up a W.T.T. in 'Word', but lack the creative flair to compose three-dozen fictional names for the lines' subsequent stations.  No doubt there are many errors as to the suppositions above, if only owing to the physical geography of which I know little.  However, I hope this is of interest, and any ideas for improvements will be received gratefully.
  4. C126
    Despite Mr David Larkin confirming for me the floor of a XVA wagon is an open frame-work, compared to the BDA steel bolster wagon's wooden platform, I am determined to have a means of conveying over-size steel from the manufacturers up north to a small ship-yard south of Atherington East Yard, at Tilling Docks.  The wagon would be conveyed at the head of the goods train 'passing through' my goods yard, so I need not consider load handling in my little general sidings.
     
    What decided me was if I keep the loaded side facing the viewer, the wagon floor would be obscured largely, and if painted black I hope will not be obvious.  So I bought some packs of Evergreen L-shape angle - Nos. 292, 0.080"/2.0 mm. and 294, 0.125"/3.2 mm. and tried to calculate the dimensions of the trestle frame.  Taking Colin J. Marsden's measurements from his 1984 BR and private owner wagons, pp.87-88, of an 8'6" high frame at a 48Deg. angle, I drew a scale diagram of the trestle arrangement:
     

     
    However, I made the first of several mistakes in thinking the frame propping the 'loading side' was at a right-angle to it.  As one can see from Paul Bartlett's excellent web-site, it is not...
     
    https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brtrestlexva
     
    In blissful ignorance, I made a paper mock-up to balance on the Bachmann wagon, now stripped of its bolsters with a large pair of pliers, and popped a Lima Class 33 diesel in front of it.  The trestle stuck out alarmingly above the loco, so I trimmed off six mm. gradually by eye, this being the final length of the main trestle 'stakes', giving a measurement of 40mm. and the supporting girders of 24mm.  I cut off three sides of the BDA's 'lip', and painted the edges black.  I should have done the whole floor then as well.
     

     
     
    Then it was just a case of cutting and shaping ten pairs of girders, and making sure they were the correct orientation.  I glued the bottom of each to a thin strip of plastic square to provide a second 'mount', and worked from the outside to the wagon centre, lest the spacing appear in need of correction - I thought this would give better scope for adjustment.  The gap is 19.5mm.  Propping up the 'load frame' against the wagon's edge, I glued on the supporting girders, scraping paint off the wagon floor to allow the Liquid Poly to adhere, and finally the cross-braces on the back.  The 'diamond' junction plates are 120g./m2 paper, cut to shape.  All was then painted with Humbrol silver, no. 11.
     
    One of many errors is the lack of the three 'steps' either side of the larger central one on the 'support side'.  I assume owing to mis-measurement and/or over-size plastic angle, these will not fit, so am undecided as to whether to ignore them (they will be hidden by the sheet steel load anyway) or cut away the step or girder to fit.
     

     
     
    And here is the result in revenue earning service on its way to Tilling Docks, in the yard arrival line.  I intend to fit 0.5mm. painted paper strips over the loads for the plastic strapping.  I assume each sheet was loaded individually, i.e., there was no 'sandwiching' of steel the same size, but could be wrong.  Also there is a hand rail above the steps to add, with painted garden wire.
     

     
     
    Lessons for the future: use smaller L-shape angle.  These were the only two on sale at the exhibition, but are too large; there might be smaller sizes made by Evergreen.  Try and get correct measurements (but I do not know how); this might permit the other steps to fit.
     
    I hope this encourages others to have a go.  My results are going to win no prizes, but I like the look, and it might prompt fate to bring out a ready-to-run version.  And my ship-yard can get its steel delivery.
     
     
  5. C126
    Taking time off from theoretical musings, I have reverted to the 'wagon-load' aesthetic in the general merchandise sidings, to try a homage to one of my favourite photographs around of goods yards, by Mr Kevin Lane :
     
     

     
    [73 005, Guildford Yard, February 1980.]
     
    I first came across it in Michael Hymans's 'Southern region through the 1970s year by year', Stroud : Amberley Publishing, 2018, and then discovered it on Flickr.  When I have time, I must browse the rest of this gentleman's pictures.
     
    Having taken delivery last week of several Bachmann VVVs, of which my 1970's consist was severely lacking, I played around arranging the wagons and '73' in suitable poses.  Of course, my yard is only two loading sidings wide and has no such buildings in the background, but it got me thinking about picture composition, wagon arrangement, and why I find the above photograph so evocative; I might post what I think are 'good and bad compositions' in another post.  Meanwhile, here is my Sunday morning's efforts, playing around with cropping and a filter.  Much more scenery is required and the background ignored, but I like the 'flow' of the wagons, and visual relationship with them, the tracks, yard scene and lorry, and locos (the 'milk train' on the viaduct above is a debatable bonus!).  When I get my model looking as atmospheric and detailed as Mr Lane's picture, I will be happy.
     

     
    The header photograph is courtesy of my partner, a picture of a visitor to the bird-feeder last year.
     
  6. C126

    56. "Through to the Continent by British Rail."

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Taking a week off work recently, I started 'the factory' as what I thought would be a quick, simple, discrete project.  This monolith hides the passenger station viaduct on the left of the layout, behind the minerals yard and arrival/departure sidings, currently substituted by cardboard boxes to give an idea of the 'massing'.
     
    I can not say the modelling has been enjoyable, but have been able at last to stage a cameo dreamed of when first mooting the layout's track plan.  A VIX is shunted away from the loading dock of the 'international food-stuffs' company, while the warehouse men check and move the last of the pallets, dusted with sand from the Dasht-e Loot Desert and perfumed with the exotic orient: dates, pistachios, rice, and dried fruit.
     

     

     
     
     
    Here is the complete elevation, thus :
     

     
     
     
    The glazing must be installed and the canopy is un-finished, but I am impatient.  I must sculpt the external corner element to join to a plain wall on the right, and glue on the 2" wide brick wall on the left, as part of what will be the main agricultural warehouse and grain silos.  For this, I will be hoping to bodge a Superquick card kit or three...
     
  7. C126

    46. Sorry for cluttering up the Blog lists.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Please accept my apologies for cluttering up the list of blogs.  Re-numbering my posts is an attempt to get them back in date-order, as 'editing' to restore the lost photographs then puts the post at the head of one's list, and so quite out of date sequence.
     
    I am very sorry for the temporary dominance of the 'front list', and assure readers it is not a crude attempt to 'bump' interest.  I look forward to reading far more worthy entries from others as soon as possible.  Thank you for your tolerance.
     
  8. C126

    25. Terminus station loco-release loop design.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Rather a dry subject, but I hope it will caution others from making this mistake.  Before cutting a single piece of wood, having designed and refined my layout to 'perfection' over the years, the passenger station throat looked like this :
     

    Perfect! I believed.  The junction was only 'two points long', so allowing the maximum length of train either side.  Trains could depart to the left, and be un-coupled by the 'Hand of God' un-seen behind a tall warehouse.
     
    However, in February I wondered again how a locomotive would run round its train.  Having had the pleasure of being aboard a '47' during such a manoeuvre one Saturday evening at Eastbourne - the 'Sussex Scot' running E.C.S. to Brighton - I looked more closely at the track layout I had proposed...
     
    After arriving and the crew changing cabs, the loco in Platform 1 would have to propel (push) its train back onto the bi-directional running line, un-couple and reverse a little into Platform 2 (which, therefore, also has to be empty), before running along the loop and back onto its train, pushing it back into Platform 1 for departure.  This also required smooth running over a 3-way point - not my favourite piece of model permanent way.
     
    A faster-operating and more elegant solution would be to have the loop on the other side of the running line and straight ahead of the platform :
     

    It also replaces a 3-way point.  The (shorter) Platform 2 can continue to be used by multiple-units, and the loco's train does not foul the running line.  The disadvantage is making the run-round loop less accessible to rarer loco-hauled trains using Platform 2 or the Milk siding, but I think this is out-weighed by the advantages.
     
    Thankfully, I realised all this before laying a single rail.  With model shops closed preventing me from buying the track, this is still a theoretical solution, but I hope it is the most economical and practical, and it appears more 'realistic'.  Any comments gratefully received, and I hope this is of use to others designing stations.
  9. C126

    30. A little more back-drop completed.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    I will not pretend the making of the passenger viaduct sides is now fun.  Found a burst of enthusiasm this weekend to complete another stage of the arches, etc., including the more difficult 'stretching' of brick panels and cutting bespoke piers, buttresses, etc.
     

     
     
    The arch section of the extreme left need not be finished with another buttress, as it is to be hid by the end of the warehouse (still substituted by cardboard boxes).
     
    Sadly, I can not say I am happy with the results.  The joined panels from rail height look 'joined' despite my best efforts with modelling clay, scribing, more painting, and finally hand-painting some of the bricks to try and make it uniform.  Now disillusioned of the making of a bespoke passenger station building from plastic brick sheet - however superior the preferred finish is to cardboard - I bought a 'Superquick' 'Country Station Building' I hope I can bodge into a sort of terminus structure one day.
     
    I tried painting the extreme left arch's orange 'rubbers' individually with a fine brush (took half-an-hour) to compare to the others done with a sponge.
     

     
     
    It does not appear superior, but I think this is my novice brick painting technique.  These photographs were taken using a 'daylight bulb' for the first time, as well.
     
    Just need to finish a row of banding on the right arch above, and then do 'Stage 3', being new brick piers for the girder, and the walls under the bridge.  Now to regain my enthsiasm by contemplating more wagon loads, especially how to make tea-chests 5x6x8mm.
  10. C126
    In an effort to provoke the Fates into an announcement of a ready-to-run new 'OO' wagon, instead of all these high-spec. re-releases, I have made a model of an IIB 'Inter-frigo' ferry-wagon to convey (under Rule 1) meat and fish to and from the Sussex Weald.
     

     
     

     
     
    Unworthy of close examination - owing not least to my unsteady hand and unwanted ability to glue tiny pieces of plastic to everything except where wanted - I am content with its capturing the likeness and romance of the real thing for me.  I just wish someone did decals of its singular livery.
     
    Hacking the body off a Triang-Hornby VIX, picked up for a fiver at an exhibition, it took two attempts to build a plasticard 'box' body (the first, built around balsa blocks, looked too low).
     

     
     
    The (erroneously shaped) roof is balsa, the door fastenings and access steps rails plastic-coated garden wire, and the ladders Ratio signal parts.  Only after clearing away the remnants of this project, did I discover some lengths of finer wire for the door-fastenings.  Perhaps I will try a door with these on the other side of the wagon when feeling brave.
     
    If it can be done in 'HO', I hope someone will now release a model of this soon for us.
     
     
  11. C126

    29. 'Sliding doors' ; or, putting a wagon under the knife.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Ignoring the urgent jobs that need doing on the layout - cleaning track, painting ballast, finishing brick-work, and painting the poor Yard Foreman! - on Wednesday I wondered how difficult it would be to cut open the doors on a Bachmann VBB van.  With only the Hornby VIX to pose as being loaded in East Yard, I wanted a change.  To my surprise, armed with a new blade in the Stanley knife and a metal edge, it was a doddle.  I spent this morning making some loads for the large pallets, and here is the result.
     

     
    The lorry has gone back to the depot for more stock to send up North - perhaps the soap and perfume manufacturer at Lewes - and the Yard Foreman keeps an eye on the part-loaded VBB van.
     
    I chose this rather than the Hornby VDA because the latter's doors are hinged, and are double the number each side.  I confess I am ridiculously pleased with the result, and will try doing a VVV Vanfit next for the 'wagon-load' era.  Now to making some better boxes, and continue cutting up drinks stirrers into 65mm. lengths for a timber load...
     
  12. C126

    42. A day out : D.E.M.U. Show-case 2022.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    In an effort to escape the problems on my own layout (see future post), I sought solace last weekend at Sutton Coldfield.  Glad to see it is now rather easier to reach by public transport.  Realising quickly (a) how difficult it is to photograph a layout that captures its atmosphere accurately, and (b) it is impossible to photograph every one, I offer (sadly mediocre) photographs of three.
     
    Being a declining wagon-load goods yard in B.R. Blue, it was inevitable 'Clackmannan Goods' was the layout I wanted to take home with me.  I see how it is designed to put the shunting in the foreground, and uses two fans of sidings.  The air of dereliction was captured beautifully, and by using 'less as more'.  I.e., instead of crowding the mileage sidings (as I have) with lorries, figures, and loads, all is bleak and empty, with a few cameos of coal-yard equipment, pallets, and a couple of skips.
     

     
     

     
     
     
    'Towcester' had a wonderful cameo I will 'borrow' of steel coils being un-loaded, and looking rather better than the models I have.  Again, lovely 'brown stock' running, and a compact goods yard with a siding either side of the old goods shed, one from each direction.  If only I had the space and cash to make an offer for it...
     

     
     

     
     
     
    'Wellpark' was a beautfully observed 'cramped' location, with a couple of derelict scenes: an abandoned shed(?) and a 'King's Cross York Road-style' platform tucked away.
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
    I was glad of the opportunity to talk briefly to Mr Si Bendall about his splendid 'Modelling British Railways' 'bookazines', published by Key Publishing, Ltd.
     
    https://shop.keypublishing.com/products/modelling-br-wagonload-formations
     
    Pleading for a supplement to v.2, 'Wagonload formations' (China clay, Timber, Nuclear flasks, Scrap metal, and Cargowaggons), I hope he might make up for a copy I never found to buy of v.1 of 'Moving the goods' ('Railways of Britain' ser., Kelsey Media, Ltd.).
     
    https://shop.kelsey.co.uk/product/moving-the-goods-1-serving-the-community
     
    'Wagonload formations' being an excellent source of inspiring photographs, Mr Bendall told me the pubishers are influenced by locomotives being modelled, so he is reliant on them.  I had no idea this was how such monographs are marketed.  Whom should I lobby...?
     
    Despite resisting the second-hand stall on the stage, I still spent my day's budget, not helped by twenty-five per cent. off Dr Michael Rhodes's 'From gridiron to grassland : the rise and fall of Britain's marshalling yards', Sheffield : Platform 5, 2016.  2019 repr.  I remember buying the previous 'Illustrated History' at a 'Brighton Model World' nearly thirty years ago.
     
    Thank you to all the D.E.M.U. members who organised this show, the exhibitors, staff, and venue volunteers, and made it such a success.  I hope it thrives, and am looking forward to 2023's show.
  13. C126

    35. Storage solutions.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Weary of the clutter on my un-built viaduct passenger station behind the Goods Yard, I decided to do something about it.  From this:
     

     
    ... to this :
     

     
    Thanks to some box-files ...
     

     
    ... with bodged dividers made from corrugated cardboard, some divisions lined with bubble-wrap:
     

     

     
    Had I the talent, they would be bespoke boxes of wood with dove-tailed joints, etc.  But I do not, so this will have to do.  The disadvantage of having full-depth dividers (making it less easy to retrieve items) is out-weighed, in my opinion, by having the contents remaining within if one upsets the box.
     
    I am making another for the motor vehicles.  Hope this is of interest to others.
  14. C126

    39. Put that bricklayer's trowel down.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    The third stage of this task has not been 'fun', I admit.  I will spare the details of what felt like 'one step forward, two back' - see the bodged height of the girder, for example - but I think the viaduct looks presentable now, and have learned much from its construction over too long a time.  Most importantly, paint everything at once, so one does not get variations in tones.
     

     

     

     
    (Not a total success the final picture, but I like the perspective, if too far up the pier owing to a lack of desire to drill a large hole in the baseboard for the camera.)
     
     
    May I thank @Edward and @Nick Holliday for recommending solutions to the lack of capping stones, in answer to a question from me.  I went for a higher pier than expected, desiring a 'monumental' feel to the structure, and leading up visually to the increasing height (leftwards) of the warehouse (yet to be built).
     
    Again, the quality of the brick corners up close leaves something to be desired, but previous readers of my rambles have recommended using foliage to disguise errors, which sounds good.  When I have the courage, I will try and 'rust' the girder to get that neglected 1970's aesthetic.
     
    Only last week did I realise I need more arches, or rather the brick panels above with piers and capping stones, for the far side of the viaduct (facing the viewer) as well.  Doh!
     
    The next stage involves removing the upper base-board to lay the passenger station track, etc., and line the underneath of the bridge with more sheets of brick.  Thankfully, there are plenty more easier jobs in the Goods Yard to finish before I must face this.
  15. C126

    34. Timber!

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Passing Cooksbridge timber yard whenever we went up to Town by train is a vivid memory from childhood, and I am pleased to say it is still trading (if never rail-connected to my knowledge).  We even walked out there from Lewes one day in the 1970's when it caught fire.  My commuting providing free drinks-stirrers every day, I had to have some loads of timber for my Goods Yard.  As storm Eunice prevented me from going to work on Friday, I put the 'forced holiday' to good use by finishing my model stacks of timber thus:
     

     
    It is tea-break on the right for the Freightlifter operator and timber-yard loaders.  They have almost finished the 'thin planks', and their lorry can return to the depot.
     
     
     
     

     
    The yard Foreman makes a note of the OAA's number, and the stacks of 'thick planks' await the end of the morning tea-break.  Sadly, I did not think to do the 'red ends' until the stacks of thin planks were all glued together.  If anyone knows why red is painted on the end of wood stacks, I would love to know.  Something I have pondered since childhood...  Thanks for taking the time to visit.
  16. C126

    1. Introduction.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    The model world is awash with 'shunting planks', I know, but I hope my design might be of interest to a few readers, and maintaining this diary might spur me to keep working on the layout.  The track plan (9'6" x 2'6") is thus:
     
    [PICT2209 DESTROYED]
     
    The red line denotes the boundary between the two levels.  Inspired by a diagram by Iain Rice, I can claim no credit for the ideas.  I am working on the lower layout at the moment:
     
    [PICT2204 DESTROYED]
     
     
    Below is before I started track-laying, with the upper (passenger station) board, 'Atherington Victoria', balanced on timber to give an idea of design.  The boxes are where buildings will be - a warehouse and grain silos on the left, and a small station building (part) on the right end of the viaduct.  Hope this all makes sense.  The yard on the lower board, 'East Yard', will be a B.R. blue-era general goods yard, merging into a 'Speedlink' yard depending on the stock run, somewhere on the High Weald of the South Downs (Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Guildford).  However, as I rather like boat trains, it might be 'moved' occasionally to the Sussex coast to allow an inter-regional portion to use the station.
     
     

     
    I will post more, when I get the hang of this 'blogging lark'.  Thanks for reading.
  17. C126

    33. A 'military special', with brick-work.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    As we appear now to be heading for a new Cold War, it might be appropriate to return to the 1970's and play 'soldiers' with a few resin and white-metal kits from S. & S. Models.
     
    Using the excuse of a camp like Crowborough nearby on the High Weald, a 'military special' train collects a couple of C.V.R.(T) FV107 Scimitar Armoured Fighting Vehicles and a Casspir Personnel Carrier (the latter under 'Rule 1' because I wanted something more sinister-looking than anything the British Army had).
     

     
    (Sorry about the garden tap in the background.)
     
     
     

     
    Of course the scene needs swarms of soldiers, and perhaps a crane to get the Casspir onto the Lowmac, but it kept me amused as a trial shoot.  I made a little ramp from Pastikard and staples to cover the gap between the brick ramp and the PFB's buffer-beam.  I have no idea if this is realistic.  To model a formation thus in air-braked/Speedlink days, I asssume I need to find a 'Warwell'.
     
    Thanks for reading, and I hope this is of interest.
  18. C126

    45. A couple of photographs, including a new wagon.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Pottering between jobs awaiting replacement permanent way for the south fan of sidings, I have tried to maintain my motivation by composing a few pictures of wagon-load goods trains.  Taking delivery this week of a new Bachmann 'Pipe' SOV, I included it in a 'military special' from the West Country, pulled by a Hymek - such a handsome loco.  I took @Fat Controller 's idea of having a filing cabinet buttressed by stout timbers in a VVV as a load.  Thanks!
     

     
    The local copper keeps an eye on the wagon with the ammunition, and the Bedford positions itself to take the filing-cabinet.
     
     
    Here a different train arrives - the daily Up Goods from Tilling port - with some home-made steel loads rather too small to see: some concrete reinforcing mesh (to be rusted) and some 6" R.S.J. for the local builder's merchant.  The '71' is pretending to be a '74'.
     

     
     
    Again, the lack of suitable figures is annoying.  I am trying to think of a shot that captured some of the atmosphere of layouts seen recently exhibiting a real sense of abandonment.  Almost a 'last train to clear out the wagons before the track-lifter moved in', with empty expanses of hard-standing and sidings, but I can not get the result wanted in an eye-level shot.  Perhaps just a '73' with only three wagons?  Time next weekend, I hope, to try more compositions.
     
     
  19. C126
    Real life having intervened six months ago, the model railway has been neglected.  Dissatisfied with the results of my changes to the Wills railway arches on the station viaduct, I wanted to practice scratch-building a small brick structure, and in a darker colour, to improve my corners and try and get better looking mortar.  This is the result.
     

     
     
     

     
    (My dark jumper as background in the second plate is an attempt to get the camera not to over-expose.)
     
    I wanted a brick loading ramp looking like the station platforms I remembered from childhood - stone edged - and an excuse to run military traffic to a training camp on the High Weald.  A cameo will be attempted when time permits.
     
    Structure is made from plastic card, paint is acrylic (the brick Winsor & Newton 'Galeria' Burnt Umber), and the tarmac is fine grade glass-paper.  I hope to bed it into the cork base with some greenery soon, to counteract the distortion and make a smooth run up to the buffer-beams.
     
    Can I build my own Goods Yard office and crew room?  We shall see...
  20. C126

    53. D.E.M.U. Show-case 2023.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Thought I would add my two-penn’orth of praise for D.E.M.U. Show-case 2023 with some photos of my favourite layout there, @sf315 ‘s ‘Hillport Goods’.  All the models were to an enviably high standard I thought, but this one beat the others by a whisker (and a few of my resulting pictures are presentable), having the liveries I like best and capturing an ‘atmosphere’ I find so evocative.  Thank you to the operators for letting me distract them with my photographing: I was trying to reproduce the feel of ‘peering over the wall’ one got from certain viewpoints.  I hope others agreed it worth a prolonged viewing.
     

     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
    I rather liked Bakewell Street as well, and caught the cameo of the covert photographer:
     

     
     
     
    I managed to arrive as the doors opened at 10.00, and did not leave till 16.15 there was so much to see and do and try to resist buying.  Too shy to harangue the manufacturers’ stands – they will have heard it all before anyway - but was told Bachmann’s Bitumen tanker’s C.A.D. files are in China and the rep. had no idea when they would be for sale.  Sigh.
     
    Paid my respects to the ‘Wagon God’ Mr David Larkin, and thought of a question:
     
    “Can one modify a model of a BDA to a ‘Trestle’ XVA?”
    “No”.  The latter has an open frame beneath the trestle.  Bother.
     
    I am looking forward (August?) to his first volume of four on Speedlink wagons with lots of photographs, and, if I understood correctly, there will be three more to follow on Wagon-load trucks.
     
    Prompted to explore the town for luncheon, I was delighted to find my way, past many attractive buildings, to the 1970’s ‘The Parade’ where a Saturday Market was being held, including… Indian Street Food.  Hurrah!  Gorged myself on veggie samosas and pakoras, and bought a jar of 'Hibiscus' mixed-peppers and jalapeno chutney (can not find a web-site, and not tried yet).  With cheery Sikhs pressing bottled water on passers-by, the day could not get much better.
     
    I will book a week’s Annual Leave after in 2024, so the energy and enthusiasm are not dissipated like this year into lethargy and ennui at work.  And now I know where to get lunch.  Thanks again to all concerned for a wonderful day.
     
     
  21. C126

    31. "Care for a little trade, sir?"

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    As a relief from the brick-work, I have been churning out loads for wagons and lorries over the last week.  As a confirmed tea-drinker, I had to have pallets of tea-chests, inspired by @Mikkel 's (if nowhere near as good), so I sawed, trimmed, and edged in silver some wood strip.  A delivery awaits collection and complete unloading from the VBB:
     

     
     
     
    A load of timber planking is put on a wagon for its customer from the lorry, with the unorthodox aid of the Freightlifter, the product of the plantations on the High Weald:
     

     
     
     
    I have been playing around with tissue paper, trying to get a tarpaulin to 'drape' nicely.  This looks as if made from Barbour coat cloth (the day-light bulb is flattering) - I will try weathering it later with a grey tone - but I was pleased with the appearance.  The gang take a tea-break from loading wool bales, having completed and sheeted an OBA, before putting the remainder on the OCA behind it.
     

     
     
     
    I obtained a lump of genuine Lewes chalk, to my delight, when pottering round Southerham on a visit a few months ago.  This has been crushed and sieved, and made into loads for lorry and wagon, and a (unconvincing, I admit) pile for the J.C.B. to load.  A '56' makes a rare visit to take the minerals away.
     

     
     
     
    Finally, after collecting four pallets of widgets, the engineering firm's delivery driver does a little 'private business' with his brother-in-law, taking a package back on the lorry to drop off at home en route...
     

     
     
    Lots more to do to the model, of course, but I am glad still to be making some sort of progress.
     
  22. C126

    19. The motor-car appears.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    It is a Summer Monday morning, and the staff and traders arrive at East Yard with varying degrees of enthusiasm.  Mr Hunt the coal merchant is looking forward to the sound of his coal loader, compared to the noise at home of the grand-children all day yester-day which left him with a head-ache and needing an early night.  However, the family lunch had been excellent, and at least the little 'darlings' ("So spirited!") had given his Austin a good clean beforehand.  Not that this has made up for the football through the greenhouse a few months ago...
     

     
     
     
     
    In contrast, Mr Lacey is in a joyous mood, having taken delivery of his new Rover P6.  A life-time's humouring of his Great Aunt Evadne, or, "Evadne Juliette Philadelphia Ochterlony de Lacey" as she had been at her funeral a few months ago, had paid off with her remembering 'Young Roger' in her will.
     
    Having died at the age of 92, now-not-so-young Roger had heard, several times and in increasingly lurid detail after one-too-many Pernods, Great Aunt Evadne's tales of the distressing loss of her husband in the Boer War - she would never take a glass of Constantia again! - and moving to Paris.  Enjoying a string of admirers amongst the fashionable 'fast set' despite her widow's weeds and bustle, she retired to England twenty years ago with her recipe book and love of French wines.
     
    How she had lived so long no-one in the family could understand, but Mr Lacey was starting to wish he had written down some of those fire-side stories of fin de siecle Paris and the Left Bank.  He pondered buying a bottle of Pernod on the way home, to raise a glass to Great Aunt Evadne after dinner.
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
  23. C126

    58. Brown study.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Having bought many Preiser figures last month, I have taken photographs trying composition and colours.  The layout is strewn with 1970's wagon-load stock at the moment, and while bauxite shades dominate, I wanted to try other-coloured wagons in some pictures to see the effect.  Sadly, focus and camera-shake is not my strong point, and some backgrounds must be excused.
     
     
    D7070 rests in the grain/warehouse siding, having brought in a special Company train of minerals from Acton Yard (despite what the head-code says).  The '03' yard shunter bustles around arranging the wagons.  I hoped the completed part of the warehouse would dominate, but this teaches me to pull back further, for the train to be smaller in the frame.
     

     
     
    The minerals company's JCB loads an Accurascale MDV, and a lorry arrives with more shingle for one of the bins.
     

     
     
     
    Meanwhile, further down the siding, the coal merchant arranges sacks.  ModelU have brought out some more suitable figures recently, rather than these generic warehouse staff.
     

     
     

     
     

     
    I rather like the way, in the last picture above, the size of the vehicles increases from left to right, and the blue grain wagon gives a splash of colour on the right of the frame, but not out of balance with the drab grey and bauxite.
     
     
     
    Meanwhile, the '33' on 7N44 departs for Tonbridge Yard, taking the grain wagons, an empty Vanfit for sacks of fertiliser, and a VIX Ferry Van back to Kent.
     

     
    I shot this with the camera raised slightly above ground level; for some reason I thought it looked better.  Please excuse the un-painted 'onion dome' on the corner of the warehouse.  I did not expect it to be in shot.
     
     
     
    In the two Mileage Sidings, staff load and unload the day's freight from 7L57, the 09.08 from Norwood Down Yard, with 33 039 deputising for the rostered '73' EDL.  This was the first time I have played with the Accurascale Coil wagons.  These will be headed for a canning factory, an idea for which I am indebted to @Nearholmer .  Still not fixed a realistic hook on that Coles crane...
     

     
     
     
    A Vanfit is unloaded, as two staff bicker about how best to get the load into the back of the red drop-side lorry.  The pale poles on the BEV on the left of the picture were an attempt at 36' telegraph poles from pine felled on the High Weald, made from bamboo kebab sticks.  I must find a dark wood-stainer to simulate creosote.  Again, the colours are muted, but the yellow and red of the road vehicles bring a splash of colour.
     

     
     
     
    71 012 pulls away with the 'Up' after-noon milk train from the passenger station on the viaduct, as the '33' shunts two vans out of the way in the goods yard.  I should not have included the N.C.L. lorry; the picture did not need more bright primary colour.  The yellow 'Freight-Lifter' would have drawn the eye to the loading of the Vanfit and the Supervisor chalking the destination.
     

     
     
     
     
    At last, the train is made up and the '33' pulls its vans into the departure siding, ready to have more added by the shunter, and then run round and be off as 7L58 to Norwood Jn Yard.
     

     
     
     
     
    I like the opportunity now of including more figures in my pictures.  Presumably goods yards were run down and mostly deserted in the 1970's, but there must have been several people bustling about (or, in this decade, probably just standing around) when un-/loading had to be done.  The railways are for people, and British Rail itself employed thousands of them.  It is easy to get fixated on the trains and their constituent machinery.
     
    I will re-take some shots, and try a few more when next I have the opportunity.  I must also repaint more of the figures with high-vis. vests and yellow hard-hats.  Do watch Using T.O.P.S. (1978) if you are interested.  It has been my inspiration.
     
  24. C126

    8. 'Do not try this at home'; or, the tedium of ballasting.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    Having waited a week for the modelling clay to dry, on closer examination I see my method of squashing and scraping with my thumb a large lump of modelling clay across and into the track has caused the sleepers to move and distort:
     

     
     
    My how I laughed!  Thankfully, this was done for only one-third of the layout.  For the right hand sidings (general merchandise) I will make little 'sausages' and cut them off to push down into the sleeper gaps.  For the passenger station viaduct, I will be using granite chippings and P.V.A. glue, so the problems will differ, no doubt.  'Let the shipwrecks of others' misfortunes be your lighthouses', or suchlike...
  25. C126

    43. 'Three Colours : Red'.

    By C126,


    B.R. blue goods yard.
    ... Scarlet, and Crimson with rage.  A point has broken, so must be dug out thus destroying all the track leading from it, then replaced and ballasted again.  I tried to fix it by soldering a 'jump lead' to the following rail, but did the wrong rail (should have been the inner), and cut the wire too short to move it to the correct one.  My, how I laughed on realising.
     

     
     
    There is plenty of 'real life' going on around me to keep this problem in perspective, but why ballast its replacement when it could happen again?  Dazzled by the scenery on the D.E.M.U. 'Show-case' layouts, I realise my 'modelling clay ballast' looks rubbish anyway, needing 'texture' however fine.  Struggling to see 'opportunities' from this shambles, compared to other layouts there is space to add a 'tram-way' siding down the middle and stage a few more wagons to give the atmosphere of Mr Kevin Lane's 1980 'Guildford Shunt', with the hard-standing up to rail level made from cork sheet.
     

     
     
    If I can get some over-time to pay for the replacement permanent way I might have something to report after Christmas.  Now I am off to make the first strawberry jam of the season and try and forget.  Meanwhile, have a look at @Alcanman 's masterpieces 'Craiglang', completed in just two months, or 'Springburn Yard' as examples of how to do things properly...
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