Middlepeak

Very little about trains in this post I'm afraid, but at a time when I'm beginning to think more about the landscape around Friden and on the layout, along comes an old friend and former Buxton resident with a recommendation for some bedtime reading. This is very much a geographer's book, written by a professional archaeologist with long standing links to the Peak District National Park. What you get is a very authoritative but well written book, with a huge number of photos and maps to illustrate the subject. I'm barely a quarter of the way through the 200 plus pages, but there's already lots of useful background about villages, field systems and the fundamental differences in landscape between the White Peak and the Dark Peak. £30 well spent, for me at least! More railway next time - I promise! G

Sorry! More haste .... etc! G

Wow! £80+ on wheels for an 0-6-0! Hope they work OK for you. At that price I'll probably stick to the tender wheels plus etched crankpin bosses. Geraint

Jay, Be careful here, because the only NLT to carry H spoke driving wheels on the High Peak was 58850, and then only on the front and centre axles, as the following picture shows. When I first built my NLT, Sharman's wheels were available and he produced exactly the right one for the loco. Sadly, Gibson doesn't. The nearest size is a 4'3" wheel, of which there are two types, but neither has the correct number of spokes. For my second NLT, which is still in the 'to do' cupboard, I've therefore bought some of his 4'3" 12-spoke tender wheels, which I hope to fit with etched crankpin bosses of the correct profile and throw. Hopefully, with some careful design and the wind blowing in the right direction, these will work. Short of that, the only option would be to get some wheel centres 3D printed and Gibson tyres fitted. I personally have no experience of this technology, which appears to be in its infancy as far as wheel production is concerned, but is probably the way that things will ultimately go. Let's say I'm watching with interest, and if things progress suitably by the time I build the other kit, I may investigate! All the best, G

Marc, Any thoughts on the longevity of these brake vans and in particular what the numbering series would have been in BR days? Geraint

Best wishes Rod. I have found modelling to be a great therapy for the mental stresses caused by dealing with my wife's long term illness. I'm sure it will do the same for what must be a mix of physical and mental difficulties in your case. Take your time though, and make the most of the little successes! Regards, Geraint

Jay, My LNW brake van was an old D&S whitemetal kit, done up as a tool van for the Middlepeak PW gang. This is the 4 wheel version. The photos I have of this type of brake van are all from the ends, so I presumed that given the restrictions on the High Peak, it would have been the 4 wheel version. I notice that London Road Models have a plan to offer a kit for the 6 wheel version, which will have a resin body and etched nickel silver underframe. I have no information to compare the two, but you may find this useful. Here's mine, which is now being used to test the Friden PW as it gets built! Regards, G

Looks like a slope sided 13T mineral. I've got some details of these somewhere, but Parkside do a kit. A nice piece of additional "evidence" and justification for the model I have. Thanks! G

Thanks Jay. I've found a couple of photos of Mermaids at Hillhead, but the High Peak pictures I've found are mainly Gannets in the mid-60's, presumably from Prestwich Intake. Thanks for looking though! G

A query for all you wagon lovers out there! I seem to recall a photo somewhere of a J94 pulling a string of Mermaid wagons on the High Peak, but now I can't find it. Mermaids first saw the light of day in 1960, so it would be a later period photo, with a J94 as the motive power. I have plenty of photos of Gannets being used to take stone out of the Prestwich Intake Quarry, but Mermaids are something different, and I just happen to have a kit for one in the "cupboard of shame". Any help would be much appreciated. Geraint

Hi Jay, Looking good. From memory there was a grid under the hose to 'catch the drips'. I used an etch, I think from Brassmasters. Otherwise good to go with the rattle can! Geraint

Jay, My, that brings back memories! I think you've used exactly the same combination of materials that I used for mine, although that was a long time ago now. As you say, this is one of the real signature structures for Middleton and it looks a really convincing model - well done! As they say, here's one I made earlier ..... Regards, Geraint

A quick update, now that the track work for the east end if the yard is largely finished. Just (!) around 60 cosmetic chairs to add over the track rivets, then it can be sprayed before TOUs are fitted and the board turned over for wiring and installation of point motors and uncoupling magnets. No hurry! Geraint

Jay, The brass kit is produced by Dave Bradwell. I have two in the cupboard to build. I've also started an ironstone hopper kit from 51L - etched chassis and resin body - seen here in a part built state and in the queue for finishing in the coming months. A bit 'out of range' for Middleton Top, but confirmed seen at Friden, is is a Palbrick B, and I have a couple of etched kits for those too. It seems that the further east you go on the CHP, the more you're restricted to opens, minerals, hoppers and water tanks. I don't have the potential of an incline to play with, but I'm beginning to realise that at least Friden offers quite a bit more variety in operation. If we can get together at some stage this year, it will be interesting to compare photo collections! All the best, Geraint

Jay, The vans could be either for the milk shipment or the sea shell delivery. Not sure of the specifics - do you have a date for the photo? The nearest van appears to be unfitted. As for the hoppers, I read somewhere that the 21 tonners were not allowed on the inclines, maybe because of their wheelbase, but more likely because a run of 2 would have exceeded the run limit of 38 tons. The ones on the photo are more likely to be LMS iron stone hoppers. Regards, Geraint

Hi Mark, For my P4 Friden layout I have TOUs mounted under the boards, with 1.6mm dia brass tubes running up through the board and cork underlay and 0.7mm brass wire inside them, soldered to the point blades and to the bottom end of the tube. This allows a degree of torsion of the wire, but the tubes can still flex a little. To make the assembly more rigid, which also maintains the correct clearance at the toe of the blades, I've made tie bars using 1.0mm x 0.5mm U section brass. A short length of the U is filed flat and bent through 90 degrees to form an L shape. Two of these pieces are then soldered to either side of a piece of thin copper clad paxolin, which insulates the centre of the tie bar. The tie bar is then soldered to same location on the rail as the operating wire from the TOU, which gives a neat but strong joint. For the second tie bar, the joints are reinforced with a small loop of 0.3mm brass wire hooked over the top of the tie bar, with the nose of the loop pushed over the bottom flange of the rail and into the web. No problems at all with operation and no broken joints as yet (famous last words?!!). Hope this helps. Geraint

Jay, Here's the Peckett (Works no 1669 of 1924), taken in May 1951 (cty T G Wassell). A later view in 1955 shows it out of use in the works sidings. Here's the Pug at Cromford in May 1952 (cty A J Cocker). There was also a Sentinel shunter at Killers after WW2. As far as the NLT numbering is concerned, the four locos went through 2 renumberings during their stay in Derbyshire. 7505 - 27505 - 58850 7515 - 27515 - 58856 7527 - 27527 - 58860 7530 - 27530 - 58862 Of the four, the 58862 was unique in retaining its original NLR chimney until the end. A few thoughts on traffic. In addition to the obvious movements of stone, coal and water, bricks were conveyed from the works at Minninglow and Friden. Certainly for Friden, the raw clay was obtained locally. I presume the same applied at Minninglow. There is mention of a weekly milk shipment from Longcliffe, presumably towards Manchester, although I'm not sure when this finished. Finally, Longcliffe also had a regular inward working of sea shells from Cornwall, used in the production of chicken feed, which I believe was carried in sacks stored in covered vans. I presume as well that the quarries may have had deliveries of gunpowder, but it's not obvious as to how these were carried - presumably in covered vans, but I haven't seen any photos of special gunpowder vans being used on the line. Hope this helps. Geraint

Jay, Three more to add to your list - A Caledonian Pug 56020 spent a short amount of time at Cromford in the early 1950s, presumably before the J94s took over. I have a couple of photos of it shunting there in May 1952. Here's my model of it posed at Middlepeak Top. An LMS 350HP diesel shunter (forerunner of the 08s) number 12006 was involved in trials on the line on 7th April 1959. Here's a photo of it at Parsley Hay before the run (photo - E R Morten). It later disgraced itself trying to get around Gotham! Finally, Killers Quarry had a small Peckett 0-4-0ST, with incredibly small driving wheels. I'll try to dig out a photo of this at some stage, when I can access my albums. Regards, Geraint

Richard, Just to illustrate my previous point, here's a photo of my old layout "Middlepeak" showing the results of ash ballasting with the black sand. It was laid dry, then secured with the conventional mix of thinned PVA with a drop of washing up liquid, before weathering slightly with the airbrush.

Hi Richard, Just wondered if you'd considered sand? Although I model in 4mm and 3.5mm, I've found it gives a very fine texture, which also helps to bring out the detail in the track. When I did my previous P4 layout, Middlepeak, I used some fine black sand, which I think came from the weight in an old washing machine, which gave an excellent representation of ash ballast. Not sure if that's as readily available these days, but might be worth a try. Happy New Year when it comes, Geraint

Glaedelig Jul Mikkel, og godt nytaar! Geraint

Jay, Same to you and yours. Hopefully 2021 will allow us to get together 'on site' with a beer or two! G

Hi Jonathan, Here's a photo of one of the Mark 1 units, upside down to show the detail. The two tubes are soldered to a suitably gapped piece of paxolin, which in turn is fixed to the sliding carriage. The tubes go up through the baseboard and underlay and a length of brass wire runs through the tube, soldered to the blade at the top end. The length of wire gives a degree of flex to the blades, which is helpful. The wires can be soldered to the tubes at the bottom end, which helps to keep the blades at the correct height relative to the stock rails. Regards, Geraint

I felt I had to prove that the last 5 months have not been entirely idle, so here's a quick update on progress. Boards 1 and 2, covering the east end of the yard have now been joined and are sitting temporarily on the old Middlepeak legs to allow better access for track building. With the exception of two sets of point blades, all of this track has now been built and various tests with the Peckett and the battery controller show that everything is OK. Stretcher bars and a few cosmetic chairs around the rivets will then be added before an initial coat of paint across board 2. The photo below shows the view from the Middleton end of the layout. I've now taken delivery of the first batch of under board gubbins from my good friend Brian Page. Firstly the turnout operating units, which follow a design we first came up with many years ago, using K&S brass tube. Brian has now produced an etched nickel silver version, which will need the tubes soldering on that run up through the baseboard surface, with the wires attached to the point blades. Secondly we have a new version of the point motor. This uses a small enclosed motor and gearbox to drive a rotating cam, with a piston arrangement to provide an adjustable final throw. These work off a 12vdc supply, with a variable resistor to provide variation in throw speed. This design has proved very reliable for points and signals up to now, but the improved motor unit should increase the reliability still further. The less time fiddling under baseboards the better! It's been a very strange year for us all, but here's to a much better 2021! Happy Christmas All!! Geraint

Looks like the tram driver playing chicken with the swing bridge - reminds me of the bus drivers taking their chance with the traffic lights on the Cambridge Guided Busway! Geraint