Axlebox

...just heard, sadly there will be no slide show from the Armstrong Trust this year due to reasons beyond their control. I'm sure Dr Dunn will be with us again next year to project 101 views of your favorite station/locomotive/signalbox/etc...and for a taste of just how much the Trust has in its collection have a browse through Ernie's Railway Archive,

...the evidence (EM stock running on Croft)....with thanks to 'Worsdell Forever'

...always, bring something nice along and run it on Croft, we quite often flip from normal to DCC running and from P4 to EM (I once nipped out to the gentleman's rest room and came back to find a certain Mr G of North Yorks running his EM stock on Croft - weirdly it ran a lot better than I'd of expected).

Just a reminder folks, the North East and Borders area group of the EM Gauge Society are having their annual Workshop Wise event this very Saturday (9th October) at Stannington village hall (NE61 6EL for all you SatNavers). If you are coming for the legendary Bacon Butties then please come early to avoid disappointment, as one year they ran out of bacon... Everyone is welcome, this event is all about helping you develop your modelling skills, whatever your skill level...so come along, tuck into some of the best catering this side of Wakefield, watch a film show and chat to the demonstration team...did I mention the visiting layouts? (no connection to the event other than I'll be taking my trainset along)

ISTR there were some 'kept' in the harbour at a scrapyard at one of the docks on the Scottish east coast, Inverkeithing? Every time the tide came in, they went under...now if only someone has a photograph... (Edit...had a dig around and this is as good as I can find) https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/59/838/

Troon 1966 from Robert Sinclair's flickr site, photograph by his late father...seeing is believing, luckily someone had the presence of mind to photograph the event! ...and this how it was done... https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottishmaritimemuseum/5977724348/in/photolist-a7epbU-HdkAWY-TUbooG-GZB7QN-2eu6QzK-2jhu8rK-2g2mchh-MhRtqe-RRrMND-qBwHmV-22DSZcA-XZQt1s-X2wKcD-2gtvngF-GV9V1v-22Mtmn1-d5eKsj-LHKETL-hAyb1Q-jXpxTJ-7tBK4R-2gtvkWg-jKRePt-bABkFU-e7Z3hq-9LwVJN-rN4pic-a7ep69-9JnqqG-ypwLbh-25NbRc6-SbrYgo-gSK5K1-nZRmQd-EigxRM-2iLEAH8-RNVvzJ-RjqCjE-oQ3jpv-bsDvyV-Knpdtm-8FgKtF-Pdon3b-nGp2sn-26fShsW-4Nx7bJ-mjuwZW-XXCSqj-9XFZAG-XZQsaj

Shincliffe translates as 'haunted cliff'...so Shincliffe Castle wouldn't be somewhere you'd want to linger after dark!

Hi Mike How KS East was operated all depends on which period you're interested in as the traffic flows changed over time...for example the passenger service used to run from Darlington to Tebay with the Eden Valley as the branch...this was later flipped with the Tebay service as the branch and Penrith-Darlington being the main service. (BTW the branch train (when not in use) sat in the link that joins the up and down passenger lines just east of the station). On the mineral side, traffic had split at KS with traffic for West Cumberland going down the Eden valley and traffic for Millom and Barrow going via Tebay...so the goods loops had to have access to both branches. The actual who worked what and when depends on the period you're interested in...as over the years Shildon, Darlington, West Auckland, Tebay (NER) and KS sheds all had a hand in working the mineral traffic. In later years all mineral traffic went out via Tebay, which simplified the workings (a little). There were strict guidelines on the length of mineral trains over Stainmore (all dependent on the motive power available)...so it wasn't unusual for mineral trains to be re-marshaled in the goods loops with trains being joined for the onward journey westwards or split for the journey eastwards. General goods traffic wasn't huge, even though KS is/was a regional centre for the upper Eden valley. (I did once ask why there were so many PO wagons seen at KS and apparently the locals preferred Yorkshire coal to the duff that came over from Durham). The railway centre at KS have a rather interesting ledger from the mid 50s that lists all the wagons received and dispatched from KS. A lot of coal for the MPD came in, along with the usual suspects (cattle cake and building materials) and lime went out (from Merrygill?). All in all it would make a fascinating model...if you had a room big enough!

The Makems go to Wembley almost every year...its a tradition now...they don't often come back with anything mind.

Hi Smardale, unlike the viaducts you mention Smardale was built to take double track. When you walk down the Smardale nature trail, notice how all the structures down there are built to take 2 lines. There was a reason a second line of rails was never laid and the NER must have felt there was no profit to be gained from the expense. See link below to the Stainmore Railways facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/KirkbyStephenEast/photos/pcb.2969840233052776/2969820829721383

Indeed, Sandy Bank Signalbox closed in the 1930s and the single line section was extended back to Ravenstonedale (Rassendle), so the crossing was probably put in then. The reason the single line was retained rather than doubled like the rest of the Stainmore line may have had something to do with traffic splitting at Kirkby Stephen with coking coals going to Barrow and Millom via Tebay and to Workington via Cockermouth...however the local legend was it was retained to prevent the LNWR from getting running powers of Stainmore and buying a stake hold in West Hartlepool docks!

Just seen these... https://cumbrianrailways.zenfolio.com/p349676717 A couple of nice pictures of Smardale in there...

Hoole says J26s were added to the list in June 1953. (The Stainmore Railway, Dalesman 1973)

The J26s (and J39s) were included in the locos that were allowed over the viaducts on the Stainmore line. The odd J39 worked over but I've not seen evidence of a J26. West Auckland had a pair of J26s right up the mass withdrawal in 1962, they were regulars on the Stanhope goods into Weardale. (they also worked up to Tow Law and along to Butterknowle). It was the footplate staff at West Auckland who petitioned the NER (via their trade union) to have larger cab front spectacles fitted to these locos and some J26s and all the J27s had this feature...ironically the last J26 at West Auckland had the small round spectacles.

Don't worry folks, I got a really comprehensive reply from Grainge and Hodder with dimensioned drawings.

What size are the Grainge and Hodder 45degree and 90 degree baseboards folks? I'm guessing they are 400mm wide but whats the dimension along the inner edge? I don't have a lot of space and need to check they will fit! Thanks A/box

Groby (Grewby) Quarry Junction Leicester 4th march 1967 from the rather nice photo collection of Nigel Tout http://www.nigeltout.com/ ...there are plenty more 16 tonners to be found in there.

From memory, it was laid by the Swannington Heritage Trust who set about preserving the site of the engine house, the incline and at least one of the bridges on the incline. They did have a long term aim to rebuild the engine house and re-install the engine...but that was back in the 1990s...more info here... https://swannington-heritage.co.uk/coal-rail/incline/

Workshopwise is back for 2021 Saturday 9th October, 10:30-5pm Stannington Village Hall Northumberland (just off the A1) 4 quality layouts 9 quality demonstrators covering a whole range of skills Slide show by popular author Dave Dunn (pictures from the Armstrong Trust) ...and the now legendary Stannington Bacon Butties. Entrance £3, accompanied children get in for free. In true Reiver tradition, all side arms must be left in the cloakroom PS I have no connection with the above, however I can vouch that they are a good bunch who put on a good show and, for a modest sum, will ensure you're well fed...

http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_026.htm

...love it Paul, but it needs just a little sacks appeal. All good goods sheds had a neat little pile or two...

Hi Smardale, the best place to start is the late peter Walton's "The Stainmore and Eden Valley railways", published by OPC. I've seen it go for silly money on ebay, so just hunt around in railway bookshops and you'll find a copy. "The Stainmore Railway" (Dalesman) by Ken Hoole is worth having, not a lot on Smardale, but it covers the South Durham and Lancashire Union quite well. Other than that try joining the North Eastern Railway Association and asking in their chatroom, or the Cumbrian Railway Association who also have an online chat presence...The preservation group at Kirkby Stephen are worth joining as their newsletter can be a good read, the group at Warcop on the Eden Valley Railway are also a very worthy cause. I've always seen the siding at Smardale described as just a 'siding', there is no reason a train in trouble couldn't be shunted in there until rescue arrives, however its not that far to either Kirkby Stephen or Sandy Bank/Ravestonedale and the double track sections. Peter Walton has a couple of signaling diagrams in his book that should help, the signal box was originally at the east end of the station before a new one was built at the west end, and then promptly closed! You won't find that many pictures of Smardale station, I've been looking for 40 years and come up with perhaps a dozen. The station used to be a holiday home for a family from Leeds and it was a fantastic time capsule, they had a wonderfully old picture of the station with the newly built S&C in the back ground...its the only picture I've seen with 'proper' goods wagons in the yard. By 1952 the line was an early version of a 'paytrain' with the guard collecting the fares as his one coach trundled from Kirkby Stephen to Tebay and back. On Fridays you did get the Ulverston to Durham and back Durham Miners Association train passing which spiced things up a bit and of course on Saturdays you got the Blackpool trains (not sure when they restarted after the war). On the Freight side in 1952 it was a mix of old and new with exNER J21s and J25s and brand new LMR 2mts. The working appendix for the line prescribes what locos were allowed over Stainmore with which loads. By 1953 BR Standard 2mts started to appear and then in 1954 BR 3mts and 4mts and LM 4mts were allowed (according to Hoole). The coke traffic through Smardale was a little different to that over Stainmore as none of the bridges here had weight restrictions so trains from the east were regularly combined at Kirkby Stephen. In 1955 2 Q6s arrived to run between Tebay and Kirkby Stephen (between the wars Q5s had been employed)...however after only a few weeks they had come to grief at Smardale and run off down the embankment just west of the station...(the remains of this derailment were still there 50 years later with a rather nicely smashed up wooden 13 tonner only recently being finally removed for preservation - not that there was much left of it). The Q6s went back over Stainmore to Darlington for repair, never to return. At the time of the derailment the yard and siding at Smardale was in use for storing old hopper wagons, and their are some nice colour pictures out there from this time. I've rattled on enough, good luck with the project. I always thought a goods loop rather than a siding would make for a lot more interesting layout of Smardale...

At Musgrave full coal wagons would have come from the Kirkby Stephen direction and reversed in, with empties being removed first. The little kick back may have held the odd wagon at times which would have been dropped off with the coal and then chained back. It would be collected using the same method. The NE had some cramped little yards where chaining wagons around was the only option, Witton Le Wear in Weardale was shunted this way right into the 1960s.

Great photo from Bruce Galloway's flickr site, the twilight of the 16tonner.

...nice film clip of an exNER A8 at Picton (does this mean we're going to get one of them next?)