Firecracker

A little bit of alternate history, recently cribbed from an issue of ‘Lune line News’ the magazine of the L,S&I railway, a piece by Richard Davies, the railways CCE on his involvement in the early history of the line. ”The first time I visited the railway, I was 16. At that point, they’d got the Sedbergh station site and a run north, over Waterside viaduct to a loop at Waterside halt, just over the bridge. At the time, the land north of there wasn’t for sale and south of the station the road bridge was missing, so that was as far as they could go. I visited a couple of times again, and started coming regular as a volunteer after they’d reached Middleton. But again, when they reached Barbon, another roadblock, with the housing estate there and the old station wasn’t for sale anyway. So Barbon (North) was thrown up whilst we decided what was next, the joke was we ran from nowhere, through somewhere, to nowhere and back again. I’d found my way onto the track work by then and working for Monkey Harris, I’d often end up sent there whenever they wanted a digger or a bit of stuff shifting. Monkey always tended to loose the bill for me and my machine before it made it into the post. It’s about then we got wind that the land north of Waterside was finally, possibly on the market. I remember myself, Monkey and Pat Harper (the then GM) going to see the owner, best bib and tucker and getting the news that if we fenced it, put in an access road and shifted a power cable, it was ours. Well, there’s many things you can say about Monkey Harris, but one is he shifts fast. The road was in in a month, we had possession and we could start. Except….the railway didn’t have the money to build. So myself, Monkey, Tom Truslow and a gang of others got together and formed the ‘Lowgill extension gang’ (also known as the ‘Lowgill Junta’). At the time, the PWay gang was lead by Bill Thompson and Bob Jones, out of Sedbergh and they didn’t want us rough lot in their yard, thank you very much, they were much happier with maintaining what they’d got and a bit of measured shovel packing on a Sunday, so we were on our own. In the middle of this, the waybeams on Waterside Viaduct were condemned as well, so the railway decided to cut operations back to Sedbergh. At that point, we took over from Sedbergh top points, to Waterside and decided to start with the viaduct. To keep Bill and Bob happy, that’s why the sidings at Sedbergh North appeared. There’s a bad joke that does the rounds, that we delivered an extension the railway didn’t want. That’s not true, but we did cause a bit of a scatter as we progressed. When the LRO was applied for, there were several who said it was a mistake, we should focus on a decent station at Barbon, we were taking on the expense of two large bridges with no guarantee of a payback, doubling the length of the line was a mistake. Officially, the idea was repair the viaduct at Waterside (which turned into a saga all of its own), then sort the mile or so from Sedbergh, reopen and then decide what’s next. Only problems were, we had a LRO, itchy fingers, empty track bed, a gang of lunatics who spent their weekends lugging sleepers around, a fundraising operation and Monkey Harris. So when the viaduct was reopened, there was 1/2 mile of rails down north of Waterside and a field full of more at Sedbergh North, to several of the great and good’s surprise.” More of this nonsense if people like it… Owain

My thoughts exactly. I’ve seen a couple of preserved turbots in equally ratty condition, plus I remember sitting at Carlisle and seeing a rake of similar rust buckets in Dutch livery go through. I’ve fancied having a go at a bit of extreme weathering for a bit, I’m pleased with how it came out. Materials used are games workshop ‘Typhus corrosion’ (which is what’s given the texture) and Ryza rust. Also Mig washes, their light rust, track rust and oil/fuel stains. The effect on the floor is a coat of humbrol 121, let it dry then a coat of their blue grey wash, the excess removed with a cotton wool bud, then lightly dry brush with a stiff brush 121 in the direction of the grain in the planks. Owain

And another quick update, to show the finished(ish in the case of the turbot, I’m deciding if it wants a bit of algae in amongst the rust) articles. The pilchard is in the station groups work train, the turbot returns empty from the shed having delivered a load of scrap concrete sleepers. Owain

Fergie spotters guide, 101 (the basic models, ignoring the industrials, or the lamp oil engine (which I’ve never seen one of)). First is the bonnet in line with the top of the dash or raised up? If it’s raised, it’s the aftermarket Perkins conversion, so started off as (probably) a petrol or TVO machine. If it’s flush, is the starter motor on the left or the right? If it’s on the right (and you haven’t spotted the injector pump) it’s the diesel (TEF-20). If it’s on the left, it’s either TVO or petrol. Easiest way to spot a TVO machine is the tin heat shield over the exhaust manifold. Second (and slightly more difficult) is the fuel tank has two separate filler caps. Now a TVO machine may have been built as such (TED-20) or be an aftermarket conversion. Finally, the petrol engine. Two different engines were used, the imported American ‘continental’ engine in initial production or a home made unit, designed by Standard Motor Co. (to reduce dollar expenditure on the imports, although Ferguson’s regarded the continental as a better engine and used them as demonstrators). Easiest way to tell the difference is look at the exhaust coming off the manifold. If it’s got a kink in it, it’s the continental (TE-20) and if it’s straight, it’s the standard motor (TEA-20). It’s my thread and I’ll go off on a tangent if I want to… Owain

Yes, 2022’s living up to my low hopes for modelling time. Anyway, another visit to my local lead to some goodies following me home. Including yet another distraction. Martin knows too well how to lay temptation in my path… Also, these. Which look far too clean. So, after the usual attack, they get nearer what I want. I’m aiming for ‘used and maintained’ for the pilchard (being unbraked, it’s come off front line PWay work and been adopted by the Sedbergh group) and ‘rust bucket’ for the turbot. Mind you, that was bought off a then EWS tender list, spent the next 3 years on the Lowgill extension work and the Lowgill Junta didn’t have money to burn on rolling stock. The railways also got a new scrap metal merchant. If you haven’t visited Ruston’s ‘Charlie Strong Metals’ thread yet, precisely why not? The lettering’s not the best, but after a bit of rust, I reckon it’ll pass. Owain

Agreed on the prices. She’s the TEF diesel version (and is NOT, I repeat NOT for sale). She’s been in the family for 45 years and was valued (for insurance purposes) in 2000 at £750. Now, she’s nearer 2.5k. I’ve been out of the vintage tractor world for about 15 years, the two things that amaze me now are the availability of spares online and the rise in prices. I understand the regret, fergies are lovely little tractors and superb pieces of engineering. Just need to sort her leaky rad (which, if the spares supplier comes through, is one of my Christmas jobs) Owain

I’m not really getting the hang of this regular update thing, am I? Due to reallife(tm) and work distractions, there hasn’t been a vast amount going on and at the moment I’m not holding my breath for 2022. Anyway….here’s some of the distractions. Right, moving on, I picked up one of the Hornby NCB brakevans and as is my wont, promptly beat it up with the usual mix of games workshop and Mig products. Fitted with kadees, it poses with one of the Rustons. Idea is it’s used on various PWay/S&T/station group workings, to save nicking one off the goods rake. And a few more from yesterdays running session. Owain

Another quick update, with the aftermath of today’s visit to Monk Bar models. First up, one of the Dapol bogie bolster E’s followed me home. Very nice, the brake rigging and exquisite stanchions stand out in particular. Only issue I might have is with the coupling pockets, I can see why they’re mounted so far out on the bogies, but even with short kadees the gap between the buffers is a mite excessive. It’s getting quite heavily weathered, plan is a wagon still in its last BR livery that’s still plugging on for the S&T department. It’s planned to get a load of bits of signal gantry as well. The next round of projects arrived as well, including one of the new dia. 1/142&1/124 13t hoppers. Now a while ago I built one of Five79’s lovely 21t minerals and said did Peco fancy redoing the Parkside instructions to the same standard? Well, if these are what Peco will produce going forward, I’m suitably impressed. Owain

Just a quick photo, the meeting of the two Rustons. So whilst Queenie (aka ‘Charlie Strong’) shunts the station groups wagon and the tool van into a position where it can be unloaded, the soon to be named ‘Alfie’ passes with a short working for the S&T department. Owain

A bit more, following it’s decoder being addressed correctly, the class 24 got gently weathered, with the usual games workshop and MIG products. Mostly focussed on the roof, the intention is a machine that’s used regularly, looked after, cleaned and stabled outside. As it may be noticed from this, the foam core back scene has been finished. Which makes it easier to get photos like this without the background clutter distracting from the subject. At the northern end, an idea occurred which is because the layout is used sometimes without the northern fiddleyard board in place, to prevent accidents and improve the cosmetics there would be a removable panel in the back scene (yes, that bridge us getting a wing wall at some point) thus: Finally, some Woodland Scenics fencing bought on spec a while back has been added to one of the field hedges. Owain

A little bit more progress. First up, the yellow Ruston has had its decoder fitted and has been reunited with its runner (which in turn has had the spurious lettering removed). The result on the deck of the conflat incidentally is a wash of Games Workshop ‘Nuln Oil’ over a coat of Humbrol 121. The idea is this is staying pretty clean, to suggest its recently ex-works. Then, a catch-up session with decoders, with the Ruston, the W&M railbus and the class 24 getting their addresses sorted. Finally, after over a year the MF135 tractor that sits in the field above the PWay yard has been weathered, with a mix of MIG and Games Workshop products. The bale spike also gained some paint at the same time. Owain

Right. Apologies for the prolonged absence, it’s been a crazy busy summer (following on from a busy spring, but, to quote Ned Kelly, ‘Such is life’). Anywhere, where were we? For those who haven’t already discovered it, have a look at Ruston’s ‘Charlie Strong Metals (and watery lane sidings)’. If you like excellent workmanship, he’s got it in spades and if (like me) you’re a Peaky Blinders fan, the name dropping is brilliant. Anyway, he’s done a Ruston in the fictional livery of Alfie Solomons (Civil engineering) of Camden Town (in the series, Alfie’s a Jewish gangster from Camden, played by the superb Tom Hardy. But I digress.). Anyway, I’d already tipped my hat with the suggestion that the other Ruston 48ds had entered preservation from Charlie’s yard, so when he suggests in his thread that preservationists are after the one ex. ole Alfie, what’s a man to do? Especially when Hornby releases one in (incorrect) Grant Plant yellow which Monk Bar happened to have in the case when I popped in today. So a quick dab with a bit of white spirit on a cotton wool bud later, it poses on its first trial run in Sedbergh yard. The sign writing is next to do, rumour has it it’s being named as well. In reality, it’s getting the wheels repainted and a gaugemaster 6 pin decoder fitted. It might end up with a stay alive shoehorned in as well (I do fancy having one that runs reliably without the runner wagon). Also picked up (well done amazon, you’ve finally, after 5 years, started to produce recommendations for things I’m actually interested in) some new stuff to try. In less positive news, following some customer work, I decided to attack (finally) one of the chassis blocks of the Heljan duff’s seen earlier with the milling machine. It skimmed up Ok, however during machining a crack appeared. So during... And after. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Anyone want a Heljan duff with a very duff chassis block? Ah well, another flat battery in the car park of life.... Owain

Today’s running session has yielded a few more photos, so here’s a selection of the standard mogul (this appears a lot because a) I like it and b) it runs smooth as oiled silk) and the class 24 in passenger services. A charter with the vintage carriages and the 56xx also makes an appearance, the bubble pops in and the little Ruston gets in on the fun with a short pway working. Owain

That was my understanding as well, so I’m glad you confirm it! Think Hatton have said they’re covering the NER in later releases. Owain

A very quick update, breathing on the Hornby coaches. I’ve focussed on the brake van and the SECR first, because the NBR efforts are page holders, to represent vehicles in NER livery. Anyway, they’ve both gained running boards from Evergreen styrene and the brake has been relettered as a Caledonian vehicle, with the ends retouched in Crimson. Now I know there’s a lot of errors with this, the paneling on the van is wrong, the livery details are wrong, the colours aren’t quite right, there should be a single rather than the double door into the guards compartment, but in my defence, it’s closer to the Caley vans than anything that the LNWR had (at least the Caley vans had the glazed end and duckets) If anyone who likes my ‘what if’ ramblings wants to know how these survived, the SECR coach was a recovered from its retirement as a summerhouse at St Bees and originally arrived in Cumbria in WW2 as transport for workers at ROF Drigg. The brake was recovered from a small holding outside Wigton, where it had been used as a feed and tack store. It owes its survival to being protected from the elements by a second shed being built over it and it’s fortunate discovery by a supporter of the railway, one Ben ‘Monkey’ Harris, who happened to also own the local company ‘Harris Plant’ who’d been contracted to clear the site for development. So it’s brisk recovery and despatch to Sedbergh on a Hiab lorry resulted. Owain

Finally managed to get a photo I was happy enough with to put on this thread. 76080 departs Sedbergh with the 1100 departure for Ingleton. Owain

A couple from today’s services, with the 8f on the lunchtime diner and the standard mogul on the passenger service, plus the bubble filling in. The class 24’s stabled in the yard, ready for tomorrow’s service (one diesel and one steam loco, no diner). The 8F propels the empty diner stock to shed for stabling and servicing, returning with the maroon rake. This runs the last train, the mogul will propel its coaches to shed to stable in Jackdaw siding and the maroon rake will stable in the platform overnight, to be taken out by the 24 as the first train of the day tomorrow Owain

It’s one of the two that were staff accommodation at the Bungalow Hotel, Sandsend, that were recovered to Blennerhasset mill. It’s been rechassised onto the PMV chassis following the discovery of the condition of the LMS ex tube wagon chassis it was on (which the railways CME condemned on the spot). As an aside, the class 24 owes its survival to one Bill Fredrickson (who worked in BR management on the LM and GE regions). He purchased it (along with the class 25 and the class 15 (which was dumped at Stratford, awaiting scrapping, after its second life as a carriage heating unit) from BR and ownership was transferred to the railway trust in return for life membership. The class 24 has been a long term overhaul project, including major bodywork, a full engine overhaul, rewinding of the traction motors and retyreing, but has now reentered service, allowing the class 25 to be withdrawn for an overdue top end overhaul on the power unit and some bogie work. Owain

So, when I splashed out on the new controller, Martin (being the shrewd gadgie he is) instead of plopping something simple onto the track to demo it in the shop laid temptation before me in the form of a very nice sound fitted class 24. After token resistance, I caved in and allowed him to order one in for me. It arrived today. Itsa verra noice... You feeling alright Bachman? The NEM pockets are even at the right height.. Now the last time I played with DCC sound was a while ago and it was a bit gimmicky at the time. Now, however, I do like it. Another project was purchased, following a bit of playing. Take a Hornby generic 6w coach and the chassis out of a park side SECR PMV kit (which will also yield a grounded body) and (hopefully) you’ll end up with something that’s definitely got that preserved edge and is different. Owain

What is it with Bachmann and NEM pockets? On the mark 1’s, they’re too high. On the LMS porthole, they’re too low (as a kadee shows against the test gauge). I decided I wanted to keep the close coupler mechanism and for once it’s not the pocket’s too slack, so the pocket needed to be raised. So file out the lower edge of the groove in the arm where it runs on the floor and add a shim to the the top edge to raise it. Think that’s called a result. But WHY!? And running in the diner rake. A couple more photos, the signals have been sited with the 8F (still needs a little dirt) on the diner and the 4F on a passenger. The diner departs southwards. Owain

The results of the latest wringing out of my wallet at my local. First up, I picked up two packs of the whitemetal figures Hornby have released as the Basset Lowke steampunk effort. Now, the detail on these is exquisite, they scale to between 5’4” to 6’4” tall and for a preserved railway they’ll add a nice cameo or two. Not everyone’s cup of tea (other beverages are available) but I think I’ll have fun with these. Just got to loose the bases first. Next up, a Stanier porthole composite at a reduced price (I saw this last week and resolved to look for it the following week). Idea is it’s going into the diner rake as non-dining accommodation. Also passengers for the rail busses and a coach or two lurk in the background. On the modelling front, I’ve made a start on the signals, from the Ratio kits. Some of these were built for a previous layout, they’re being tarted up and breathed on. So from L to R, we have Pl 1 northbound starter, pl1 southbound starter, pl2 northbound starter (with disc for Waterside siding (I’m not 100 % sure how correct this signal is, so if it’s wrong, shout)) and finally pl2 southbound starter, with doll for movements to the shed. Apart from a ground signal to control the run round movements, that’s the lot, I’m assuming all other signals are off stage. Owain

Because we haven’t had some for a while, I fancied a few photos showing the overall progress. So, the pway gang natter to one of the station lot, who’s tidying up the grass with the fergie and topper. Their steed waits on the headshunt along with the gunpowder van that’s used as a mobile store. The class 15 sits on a southbound service. The northbound DMU it’s waiting for runs in and tokens are swapped. The shop stores vans in the car park and someone’s taking their dad out for a day on the train. The Ruston sits in Waterside siding with a short works train. The trout’s to be loaded with fresh ballast for a spot ballasting job later in the week. The top of the car park, a snapper waits for the DMU to depart, a new running in board for Barbon gets its paint and a joke’s shared outside the S&T workshop container. Finally the class 15 departs southwards. Owain

A quick update on yesterday’s purchases, having spent the morning in a testing and development session with them. The prodigy express - very taken. I know I’m used to using an out of date system, but the large backlit LCD is easy to read, it’s logical to use, plays nicely with every decoder it’s been introduced to (Zimo, Lenz and Gaugemaster (it BETTER HAD play nicely with the last!). Seems to have a finer speed control, more user friendly than the lenz (however see earlier comment, in 18-20 years I hope usability would improve on a system). Very pleased. The Hornby coaches, apart from Hornby adopting the slack NEM pocket off Bachmann (hence requiring the micro strip trick) I’m happy, they’re exactly what I was expecting. I know they’re not accurate replicas, but the paint finish and lining is far better that I can achieve, so their generic-ness for me can be summed up in the words of my grandfather as ‘They won’t notice that going through Crewe station at 60’. Certainly they look the part trundling around behind the 4f with the suburban tagged on. There’s a few little details, as I said the brake’s getting relettered as a Caledonian vehicle, I’m going to fit proper foot boards, loose the Westinghouse cylinders, loose the gas tanks and fit vac cylinders, but certainly they’re less of a pageholder than I first expected. Mind you, I also sat a southern PMV next to one, I do fancy a bit of a kitbash with the park side chassis at some stage. Owain

So, my local (along with several other establishments I wanted to visit) reopened, so off I ventured. First up, the 20 year old lenz had grown increasingly unreliable (and had also started doing some strange things with decoder functions). Now I’ve received excellent support and advice from A&H models, but I wasn’t happy pouring money into a 20 year old hole with no guarantee further issues weren’t going to show up (plus it’s got the limitations of an older design). So, on Martins advice (and because I’d always rather see my money go into my local shops rather than Amazon) a modernisation occurred. He then tried to sell me a sound fitted class 25, but that hasn’t happened (yet!). To irk the purists, a few of the Hornby coaches followed. The idea here is that the LNWR ‘thing’ is being relettered, to represent a Caledonian vehicle. I know it’s not exact, but it’s near enough for me for the moment. The NBR third is a page holder, waiting for Hornby (or Hattons) to release some in NER livery. Finally the SECR first is there because I understand it’s the most accurate livery (and I’m open to correction on that). It’s also there as a ‘how did that survive in Cumbria?’ (Local history has it’s due to being commandeered for worker transport to Vickers and ROF Drigg in WW2.) A more accurate coach has joined the fleet, in the form of a mk1 suburban. Finally, the W&M railbus visiting from the KWVR has gained its destination blinds, care of rail tech. Owain

Another quick update - some more progress. First, some more Railtec goodies have emerged, in the form of these custom destination blinds. They're going into these (both of which are now chipped). The idea is the clear sheet they’ve been applied to will be trimmed to fit the opening and the original glazing fitted over the top. A gala visitor from the SVR has arrived and put in some time on the rollers. Still a bit jerky at slow speed, so a bit more tweaking needed. Some detail bits have also appeared, first up a gang of kids on their bikes (Woodland Scenics) The chap attacking the JCB’s found some tools Some more metcalfe picnic benches have appeared in the car park (these have been treated with Mig’s wood wash, then gently scraped with a scalpel blade to create some wear) along with the vending machine out of the above WS figures set. And a station nameboard (genuine Cooper Craft!) from a long ago scrapped layout (which bore no resemblance to Barbon at all!) was found in a box of junk. So two trestles and a bit of paint to suggest bare wood later, it’s a project for someone (presumably matey’s checking he spelled it right). EDIT- I realised that the containers behind matey had doors that would open (not sure of make, they came off a secondhand stall). So this tweak was added, with a tool chest, other bits and a second figure in the container. An improvement, methinks... Owain