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unravelled

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  1. I think there may be another Oxford station thread, but I haven't found it, so I am posting here. I was back in Oxford this weekend and made a quick visit to the station to see the works. For now the footbridge makes a good vantage point, and the only two high viz'd people I could see were also there looking at the site. There is one deep excavation of the westbound lane, which seems reasonably dry considering its depth and the rain we've had. I got the impression that they hoped all the surprises had been found, and it will just be a matter of getting on with it when revised plans are agreed.
  2. 73068 at Evercreech Junction and Windsor Hill tunnels. Mid 1965 82041 runing round at Binegar, also mid 1965 And at Evercreech, probably November 1965 Dave
  3. Around that date I only saw the hoppers on a couple of occasions, hauled by 56xx 0-6-2T's.
  4. 12/5/65. 7920 rescued D1593 somewhere north of Ardley Station. At Adley it was replaced by 6823, presumably sent out from Banbury For those of us interested in such things, the leading vehicle appears to be W111W, a K41 brake. Thanks Dave
  5. Now rails in the towpath. These are long gone, and were on the south bank of the Thames near Crossness. I think they disappeared in the tidying up after the completion of the waste transfer facility, which was then under construction. A scan of NLS shows a possible stretch of unconnected track leading from Belvedere mills (Bovril, disused) on the 1897 map. Some distance upstream, still on the South bank, between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges, this bullhead rail is seen. Possibly reinforcements for the wall, or fixings for timbers ob the river wall. On the river Lea, an improvised bollard/cleat And finally for tonight, some real rails in the ground. This time at Railway Fields Nature Reserve in Haringey, a repurposed goods yard. Thanks Dave
  6. I did a search on S J & R Stockton, ( I thought Stackton, but Google suggested the correct spelling), and they were making rails for New Zealand's railways in 1874, the date on this gatepost, so would know what a rail looked like for these castings. Incidentally I think it should be read as S J & R of Stockton, as another later supplier was S J R & Co Stockton. Looking again, I can see there is a full stop before Stockton on the casting. For info, a bit found in Graces Guide "The Moor Ironworks, situated upon the west side of the borough, and erected upon land purchased from Messrs Wren, are now in active operation. We take the following description of the works from the Iron and Coal Trades Review : — The proprietors are Messrs Shaw, Johnson and Reay. The works are laid for the manufacture of puddled bars and plates, though the addition of a sheet mill and rail mill is contemplated."
  7. This is a section of bridge rail in a stream, somewhere near Blaenavon, taken a few years ago. There was no sigh of a structure it might have come from And in Brentford, not quite in the road, is a fair length of Barlow rail, being used as a kerb. Also, to add to my erroneous identification more, presumably cast, rail styled posts. This time in the beer garden of the George, in Southwark. There is a railway connection here, as this former coaching in was used by The GNR as a parcels office, as were other coaching inns by other companies. Whether the posts date from then I don't know Thanks Dave
  8. That's interesting, thanks, I will have to reconsider some intended future posts (!). But I have plenty of genuine recycled rail photos to add. Incidentally, are there genuine cases of old rails being cut and reformed like this for neatness? I think that the thing which fooled me is that there looks to be a blobby join at the top. Did they intend to fool people, or did the castings copy an older version where recycled rails were used?
  9. A section I photographed about 5 years ago, but Google maps suggests it is still there. It is near Hayes and Harlington station, and would have extended to a Brewing sugar works next to the canal. It's near the centre of this NLS map. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.7&lat=51.50450&lon=-0.42525&layers=168&b=3 View across Blyth Road into Pressing LaneLan I'm not sure if these qualify for this thread, as they aren't exactly abandoned, more recycled. They are the gateposts at what used to be the Brockley Lane Station master's house. Thanks Dave
  10. I have recently started selling on ebay, and payments so far have been held for a while, I'm assumng until the buyer has a chance to leave feedback. I did notice the markup on postage, but consider it worthwhile. The convenience of having addresses autofilled, and consequent saving of time and reduction in mistakes. I would hope that using their integrated system provides a better audit trail in case of problems.
  11. I have some track and points, but I'm not sure what types. I'll look them out in the next few days. Dave
  12. I'm glad I included it although it strictly falls outside the era I was asking about. It is tantalising that NLS reference two earlier 25 inch maps, but don't have copies. Thanks Dave
  13. I've always liked the 25 inch maps. My father was an architect in Oxford, and he had amassed quite a collection in the course of his work. I have managed to collect a few ones local to me in London. Looking at the maps, it seems to me that the cartograpers weren't averse to making what could have been seen as unnecessary alterations. I'm thinking here of the slight changes to the trackwork in the second image,, and the rermoving of two cattle pens, though not the legend. Interestingly there is one bit of what might be sloppiness in the addition of the track to the new cattle pens where it cuts through the hatching for the road embankment, rather than have the hatching modified. Again with the 6 inch maps there seems to have been an effort to be accurate. There are the correct numbers of tracks where it matters (for me), and between the last two examples the later one shows a clear change in style to inprove clarity. I think that I have been lucky with my location, in that the area isn't too cluttered, and most of the detail I want can be shown, even in the 6 inch maps. Does scale still exist now, in the way it did before computers? I wouldn't be surprised if the computer model effectively exists at full size, (even possibly on the surface of a sphere), and algorithms exist to simplify away what wont show, (and flatten them for output). Legends can be generated at any appropriate size from a single source. It's all another rabbithole I could too esily be tempted to explore... Thanks Dave
  14. Thanks, I do have a code 100 short crossing which I used as a placeholder until I could get a new code 75 one. I may have to resort to building a copperclad version if all else fails, but I think that's beyond my current skillset. Dave
  15. Since the last update I have made considerable progress(for me). This started with the removing of all the scenic track through the station, and relaying it to a new alignment, which I think looks much better. This is the current state of play. All the main track is in place, and only the goods yard lines need to be finalised. I made a late decision to put a double slip in the goods yard scissors, rather than back to back points as I had intended. This is harder work to set up, but matches the prototype. There is some evidence that back to back points may have been used at some stage, but I'm not convinced of that. The double slip was the last pointwork purchase, at Ally Pally in March. Since then I have been laying track and wiring points. Almost all points are now wired and motorised. I decided to go for Tortoise point machines, and these are fitted using a variety of 3d printed mounts. I have most of the wiring above the baseboard for now. It makes for easier modification and testing, but some sort of control panel is intended for the future. The section from the west bridge to the platform east ends should be to scale, with severe compression of the rest This compromises the goods yard length, but I hope I will be able to keep all the features of the prototype. The Peco pointwork has itself provided some useful compression. I have been pleasantly surprised by the robustness of the bullhead track and pointwork, and have successfully adapted some of the items to narrow the track spacing. The only issue I have is the lack of a short crossing. I have had to use a code 75 flat bottom item, and of course the sleepering doesn't match. I have some ideas about that, but flat bottom will get it running. It won't be difficult to swap it out for a better item should one appear. The platforms and other structures are just placeholders to get the feel of the space. There will be a lot of modelling to come. Track was laid with copydex, which made it easy to lift and modify when i made mistakes. It is als quieter than pva, but smellier. Once the electrics are completed, and the last of the track laid, I'll have to learn the art of ballasting, which should be fun. In an effort to get a more realistic model, I made a visit to Thame last week. It was quite easy, a train to Haddenham and Thame parkway, and a short cycle ride to the site, which is part of the Phoenix cycling and walking trail. I was surprised how much remains. As well as being able to measure up the bridges, there were some other identifiable bits of structure which will help the model. The platform structures are largely intact, with only the slabs removed after closure. One of the things I was able to confirm was that the south siding, at the front of tthe layout, was higher than the platform lines. I had guessed at about a foot difference, and rough measurements showed that this was about right. Time to get back to modelling. Thanks Dave
  16. As I am slowly making progress with my model of not Thame, I thought I'd try to gather some information about how the real place was worked. I have information from several books, studied lots of photos from the internet, and had a lot of help from David bigcheeseplant with plans and photos. Among other things, I started with this nls 25 inch map of 1921. This and other maps below are from the NLS website, https://maps.nls.uk/index.html. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland There are two sidings trailing from the up line, one joining under the west end bridge in a half scissors configuration, and one joining opposite the signal box. What I am interested in is what these two up sidings were used for at that time. Either could probably be used as a refuge siding, for putting a slow up train out of the way of something following. One later change was the repurposing of the south siding with the addition of what I imagine are quite extensive cattle docks alongside. In one other change between these maps the earlier one shows two sets of points toe to toe between the loading dock and the goods shed, while the later one shows a double slip. Later still, the west end pointwork was simplified with the connection to the siding relocated further west, as part of the oil depot. One aspect of the goods yard layout, not shown in the maps above is present on the BR maps in both Richard Lingard's book, and the GWR stations survey series. In this arrangement, the top siding and goods shed line rejoin at the top left of the site. These maps also show the toe to toe points rather than a double slip. I haven't found an earlier 25 inch map to illustrate this, but it is on the 6 inch ones. This is from 1900, but the yard layout seems not to have been resurveyed later I am not trusting all track details from 6 inch maps, but this is to illustrate the arrangement in the BR plans. This arrangement has interested me and I wondered how it might be used and whether it is common? Comparing boundaries between the 6 and 25 inch maps shows a little widening of the goods yard area, possibly connected with the change in track plan. One idea has come to me while writing this. The loop within the goods yard might make more sense if it relates to an earlier layout before the double track section was extended. Although not trusting the track plan, this 1880s map suggests much more limited shunting opportunities, as well as a shorter yard layout But why BR plans are outdated intrigues me, perhaps the authors requested older plans for publication. Thanks for reading, any comments would be welcome. Dave
  17. This is an update on my earlier post on using the bullhead pointwork in ways that were not intended by Peco. I haven't reread the whole thread, so I can't be sure if any of this is new information. To begin, some thoughts about the construction. Most, if not all sections of rail have one or more small disks spot welded to the foot These seem to have a double purpose, first to lock the rail sections into the base, and second as something to spot weld the jumper wires to. In a couple of pieces of pointwork I needed to remove the short frog extension sections, to close up the track spacing. After breaking the wire link off, I was able to pull the rail away from the frog through its chairs. The disk cut its way through the first chair, and I was then able to cut away the disk and completely withdraw the rail, While this did damage the first chair, it still holds the replacement rail in gauge. While I have been pleasantly surprised by the robustness of the bullhead system, I have had a couple of the link wire spot welds fail, needing extra feeds to be addedI have put this down to my heavy handedness Another modification I have used in some places is to break the links to a frog rail extension, isolating it. This saves having an extra insulated rail joiner between the point and an adjacent isolated section. Dave
  18. I have a load of 5 pin latching din connector pairs to dispose of, (freeish). PM if interested. Dave
  19. I know this is a long shot, but has anyone a damaged bullhead slip they want to sell? Single or double will do, I want to harvest some components for a project. Thanks Dave
  20. Over the years my layout has been in constant reconstruction, I have come up with some designs for manual point operation, using dpdt slide switches. My first attempt was a variant of the common arrangement, with the operating rod connection using a hole drilled through the slider. Not eally much new here, except that the omega loop substitute is part of a relay clip. One of the issues I found with this basic version was adjusting it to get the throw just right, so I came up with this design, which I think looks neater, and is easier to adjust. It also was suitable for positioning further from the point. In this version, I had a faceplate which could be screwed down, which the switch was fixed to. Spacers held the switch away from the faceplate allowing an operating slide to fit round the switch slider. A section of choc bar connector allowed easy adjustment of the operating rod length. Yes, a lot of my offscene track is screwed down. I may fix it with pva once yhe layout is certain... These have worked well but I thought I could improve on them. The latest version is essentially a 3d printed redesign giving a direct drive which turned out to be nice and compact. I've only used this on code 100 points, as it is really only meant for off scene areas. As made, it might be a bit tall for code 75fb , unless the track is on cork. As well as allowing a choice of position for the assembly, the double headed actuator plate is reversible to allow a choice of how the movement of the switch affects the path set. In my case moving the switch in the toe to heel direction changed the points from normal to reversed. The unused side can be trimmed off if space is tight.The straight slot was to allow for a hold down screw, but this hasn't seemed necessary. The operating slots have been given plenty of play, as the intention was to nudge the spring over centre, and allow it to do the work as designed. A different approach will be needed for the Peco bullhead points, as they have holes not pegs at the ends of the tiebar. Thanks Dave
  21. I have successfully cut the joins with an xacto type saw blade, but this was with the track soldered too pcb either side of the cut line, so firmly held. The ends were cut at an angle to help clearances. There has been at least one other thread on here but images may have been lost. Early in my "wylde" thread, (link in sig), I described my build of an off-scenelifting flap. I used furniture connectors to help aignment. One thing I did was to provide separate adjustments for level and side to side alighment, wood swells throwing things off, so some adjustment is essential. If you want a scenic lifting board, some company produces sections of sleeper base in pcb which interlock across a Join, and which the rail can be soldered to, providing a better looking result. I will try to look out the name later. Edit: the sleeper pcb is Modeltech ProTrack rail aligner from www.modeltech.uk, available in several types Dave
  22. Looking at a map, I think that at the angle the photo was taken, the footbridge would have been hidden by the building. One detail of the building which differs from its final state is that there are notice boards at the right hand end of the building, where later there was a window. Is there a known date for this alteration? What seems to be the same tree is present to the end, by which time it was the height of the building.
  23. This link was posted on a thread yesterday. http://www.bwwmrc.co.uk/bricks/ It can do all sorts of proper bonding, various arches etc. Well worth a download. The results aren't as photorealistic as scalescenes, but it will produce accurate brickwork. What it outputs does need resizing at the print stage for the scale you need. I'm just playing with it for a project which has stalled on the brickwork stage. Dave
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