Middlepeak

Tusind tak Mikkel! Sven and Claus are named after two friends of mine in Ribe, and Sven does spell his name like that! Best wishes, Geraint

A bit of a fallow period in modelling terms, but for a very good reason as I've been spending quite a bit of time decorating the new railway room in the hope of having it finished by Christmas. Both Obbekær and Friden will have permanent homes then, and playing trains can take on a new meaning. In the mean time, the RGVJ has been indulging in the second hand market again. The PW department has long expressed the need for a better inspection vehicle, so management has secured a small diesel-engined beast from Austria, which now looks quite smart in the RGVJ livery. Sadly it's not big enough to carry all the tools of the trade, so the team also has a Litra TA one plank open which it can propel to site, and as you can see, platelayers Sven and Claus prefer to travel 'al fresco', sitting on a pile of sleepers in amongst their paraphernalia. Little was needed to convert the Lilliput trolley, apart from new wheels, but the TA is scratchbuilt with a brass chassis and plasticard body. A quick raid of the 'odds and sods' box provided the load, along with some etched tools from Severn Models. Sven and Claus are from Modelu's excellent range. Not to be outdone, the parcels department has now completed the painting and lettering of the rumpeged, which is posed here with the skinnebus. I just have to sort out a means of coupling them, given that the skinnebus is fitted with fixed cosmetic couplings at each end. I'll wait for some divine inspiration before I contemplate that little problem!

Some sad news to relate in that my friend of many years Ian Thompson, who was in many ways the other essential ingredient of the Obbekaer project, has passed away after what was a very private battle with Parkinson's. Ian and I first got together around the Millenium, when I was first having ideas of a Danish layout and a dabble with p87. Looking back through my records, I see that we both participated in a p87 demonstration at Scaleforum in 2001, when Obbekaer was little more than a test track with no pretentions of being a fully scenic layout. That started a friendship which was to see him providing a lot of the input on the rolling stock for the layout in the early years, with his creations of the RGVJ's two steam locos being the highlights for many of the exhibitions we attended. Ian's Mallet Tank, a regular performer on freight trains through Obbekaer. Regular exhibition attendances started in 2008, and over the years have included a number of the major shows in the UK, as well as two trips to the Netherlands and one to Denmark. Ian also became firm friends with my contacts at the Ribe club, who had provided me with much of the background and inspiration for the model. A 'team photograph' from Scaleforum 2013. Ian (2nd from right) with friends from the Ribe Model Railway Club, who joined us for the weekend and invited us back to Denmark the following year. Even after his diagnosis, Ian kept up his contacts with the Obbekaer team, and I'm very pleased to say that he managed a day operating with us at Scaleforum 2022, despite the impacts of his condition beginning to show. The last time we saw him was at the Biggleswade show in February of this year. We will always remember him as a modeller of exceptional capabilities who dabbled in many scales but always turned out some beautiful pieces. He was also a quiet but sociable type with a wicked sense of humour, all of which made it a pleasure and an honour to be his friend. Ian operating at the Uckfield show in 2015. I'm pleased to say that his Danish models may soon be returning to the Obbekaer fleet, so we will be able to enjoy the products of his skills for some time to come. Geraint

Probably constructed in a very similar way Jerry - costs mattered in them days, just like today!

A case of - spot the difference! Having spent some considerable time masking up the trailer and spraying it, I find that I don't have a colour match with the Skinnebus! Sadly the latter was painted many years ago and I don't have a record of the shade of red used. In more recent times I standardised on a tin of Precision GWR China Red for coaches and diesel locos , but that's obviously not right. The skinnebus fleet was often painted in a more orangey red, so I'll have to go back to the model shop for another search and do some test sprays. Further thoughts on couplings have suggested that magnets will be best, as the two vehicles will be permanently coupled for service through Obbekær and turned in each fiddle yard. Turning at the terminus was often the case on the prototype, especially in the summer, as a headwind helped to supplement the meagre radiator in keeping the engine cool! Moral of the story - keep a record of how you do things and which paints you use!

It seems like an age since I posted here, with most of the modelling activity in recent weeks being on the Danish side of things. However, the big news this week is that after about 10 days of building work, the new room for Friden is almost complete. Still a matter of decoration and a floor to be laid, but I couldn't resist the temptation of bringing the boards out of storage this morning and laying them out on the floor, just to see if they still fitted - and they do! I'm hopeful therefore that I will have some of the boards erected by Christmas, and that it will be full steam ahead on electrics and the remainder of the tracklaying in the new year. For the first time in my life, I can look forward to a permanently erected layout in a purpose built location. Something special! G

Reading some additional notes in the Jack & Hollick article, it appears that there was strong 'circumstantial evidence' that the frames used to support the DX boiler were those from tank number 17.

Hi Jol, The authoritative work on this is an article in the HMRS Journal written by Harry Jack and J R Hollick, which lists the CHP water tanks as follows: Nos 1-4 Canada Works four-wheeled tender frames Nos 5,7,9,11,14,15 McConnell four-wheeled tender frames Nos 16, 17 McConnell six-wheeled tender frames, on four wheels Nos 18,19 Webb six-wheeled tenders reduced to four-wheelers So the McConnell four-wheelers were actually the most numbered tenders on the list. Regards, Geraint

Probably! I think this photo confirms it. There was never a proper buffer stop on the end of the shed road. When the engine house boilers were still in use, a wagon load of wood was regularly parked here, providing fuel. As this photo shows, there was a simple scotch made from an old sleeper, shored up with ash ballast. Nothing sophisticated here! Apologies for the poor quality of the photo - copy of a copy!

Maybe "chassis" is too technical a term, but here it is. I went for compensation in the end. "Simples"!!

Roof done, so I can start thinking about the chassis, such as it is - in reality just two axles running in inside bearings. As I think I said before, I'll have to think whether the axles should be solid, compensated or sprung. Maybe a coat of primer awaits, while I think that one through!

John, Lovely to see the layout in the 'flesh' today. Very nicely displayed and operated, with plenty of detail to marvel at. I also enjoyed your explanation of the pronunciation of 'Shwt' to one of your audience! Hope you have a good day tomorrow. Geraint

Hej Mikkel, Thank you for that insight into Danish / English translation - it's certainly defeated Google Translate! The layered roof copies the method that I used on the C22 coach, only in that case I used ABS plastic, largely on the advice of Gordon Gravett, who used it extensively when creating his Reseau Breton railcars for Pempoul. The problem this time is the complex shape around the ends, where you're not only dealing with a curve to front and sides, but also a very shallow point to the end panels. I started the profiling this afternoon, using a scraping motion with a scalpel blade. It seemed to work, but after 5 minutes I was covered in white bits of plasticard that looked like a very bad dose of dandruff! I'm off to the Uckfield show tomorrow, so I'll continue the experiment next week. And I'll chase up the "bumgoat" reference when I'm in Ribe in November!

A little bit further on, with the main body carcass now complete with steps, handrails and marker lights. I've also started the roof, which because of its compound profile is made of seven layers of plasticard, each cut from templates generated by my CAD drawing. Shaping it accurately is going to be a difficult task. I will probably cut some profiles out of nickel silver sheet to check that I've got things right. The other question is whether the chassis should be rigid, compensated or sprung. Given that the wheelbase is only 40mm, I may start with the rigid option and see how that performs.

A slight hiatus in posting, partly because of our appearance at the Cambridge show in September, which went well. I normally like to have one or two new items completed for every exhibition appearance, so with one show finished, thoughts immediately turn to the next one (Tonbridge in February) and what can be finished for that. The skinnebus has been the reliable mainstay of local passenger traffic for a number of years. It's always operated as a single unit, although the prototype could operate with a driving trailer or various options of 2-axle baggage or mail trailers, known as "Rumpegeder". So the basic bodywork is taking shape on the workbench. 20thou and 40thou plasticard in the main, which builds up into quite a sturdy structure. The wheels, like those on the skinnebus, are turned down N gauge wagon wheels. These were kindly provided by Brian Harrop many years ago - he must have guessed that I would want to build a trailer at some stage! More later, hopefully with news of further rolling stock developments!

Wonderful news, which restores my faith in human nature somewhat. As someone who's never seen the model, I can only think it will be all the more spectacular when I do have the chance to view it. My best wishes to all the Lime Street team. Your expertise and commitment really justifies this unexpected reward! Geraint

Jay, Best course of action is to take the rods off and the Sharman's crankpin bearings. Put each bearing on a flat hard surface and thread the appropriate rod onto it. Then gently file the bearing down until it's only just proud of the face of the rod - a few thou, that's all. When it's back on the wheel, the crankpin nut will tighten down onto the end of the bearing, leaving the few thou as working clearance. From memory, the original Sharman's wheels used 14BA crankpins, whereas as micklner points out, Gibsons are M1. The Sharman's crankpins are moulded into the wheels, so they can't be removed without destroying the wheel. Best to stick with what you've got - they will be fine!! G

Blunder is much too strong a word Jay! These things are there to trip us up. It's always down to the individual as to whether they take note of them! G

Hi Jay, Good to see progress and glad that you seem to have resolved the issues with the cylinders. One thing you might like to check is the balance weights. These differed from loco to loco and from a quick look through my photos, the only one I can find with such large balance weights is 58850, and then only on the leading and centre axles, where the LNWR H-section spoked wheels were fitted. Not sure which loco you're modelling, but worth checking - they are rather noticeable as things stand! G

I think it's the other way round. Empties were returned to Parsley Hay so they could be worked to the Prestwich Intake Quarry at Middleton Top for loading. They would then go back to Parsley Hay as fulls for distribution elsewhere. There is evidence that the Ashbourne Line was used for ballast traffic from the Peak District through to the Midlands, although the photo I have to substantiate this shows Mermaids rather than Gannets.

Jay, One of the Paul Bartlett photos I found appeared to show one of them with Instanter couplings. G

Brian, Some reminiscing this weekend with Gerco van Zetten in Holland, as we were watching DVDs of the Rail exhibitions in 1998 and 2009 with ZOB and Quai87 as highlights, along with Iain Rice's Bodesmeer. We all looked so much younger then! Also a trip to the narrow gauge museum at Katwijk for their modelling weekend, where I spotted this picture. Clearly a simple (for you) track layout! Best wishes, Geraint

Interesting that said wagon is holding two empty containers of the type used to convey firebricks from the DSF factory at Friden. I've seen photos of these being loaded, but always wondered which route they took to get there. Now I know! Thanks, Geraint

I found this drawing in some papers within the LNWRS archive, which is rather odd as the prototype location was GWR. However, I think it relates to a lot of locations across BR so may be of some use. Sadly from my perspective the levers at Friden were of a different design, with a straight operating arm that had a normal horizontal position, presumably because of tight clearances between running lines.

Steve, Thoroughly enjoyed watching your layout at RailWells today. Wonderfully portrayed and excellently presented. Well done! Geraint