Castle Aching

[Martin S-C]

And now I've lost the D299 thread! Argh!

Edited December 21, 2019 by Martin S-C

[Compound2632]

16 minutes ago, Martin S-C said:

And now I've lost the D299 thread! Argh!

 

There you go. Though I'd struggle to find where we discussed that large load photo - there is a pre-grouping wagon loading thread too.

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

49 minutes ago, Martin S-C said:

The caption claims the second vehicle is an all third with a centre perishables compartment but no diagram number is given. It could be a mis-identification.

 

... or a flight of fancy. It's clearly a centre-luggage composite, either U12 or U16, or at least built as such. The tell-tale that it's not all third is the visible panel space between the windows. I suppose pershiable items could be conveyed in the luggage compartment. 

[Edwardian]

Peckett to Fox Walker.

 

 

Tom has done a wonderful job.  With some fettling of the printed body, and the invalidation of the Hornby warranty with a saw, we have a fit ....

 

[Annie]

What a lovely little locomotive.  That's going to be really corker when it's painted James.

[NeilHB]

The Fox Walker really does look good James. 
 

Well done to Tom as well.

[TurboSnail]

Looking good! The Peckett is a much nicer runner than the old Electrotren model.

 

For dealing with slightly wavy edges (where support material has been removed under bufferbeams and footplates etc.), I used to have some 180 grit stuck to some stiff card. I misplaced that and now just use a file held diagonally, which isn't as good. 

 

Did I send you all the detail bits with that body? Springs, toolboxes etc. If not, let me know and I'll get some printed for you.

[Edwardian]

55 minutes ago, TurboSnail said:

Looking good! The Peckett is a much nicer runner than the old Electrotren model.

 

For dealing with slightly wavy edges (where support material has been removed under bufferbeams and footplates etc.), I used to have some 180 grit stuck to some stiff card. I misplaced that and now just use a file held diagonally, which isn't as good. 

 

Did I send you all the detail bits with that body? Springs, toolboxes etc. If not, let me know and I'll get some printed for you.

 

Thanks, Tom.

 

No, you sent the body, cab and backhead.

 

The accessories will be useful, especially if you did the older, rectangular and probably wooden toolbox, as that is on my list of things to make for this!

 

I managed to crack the saddle tank by over-thinning, but I think I'll get away with it.  It will have to sit ever-so-slightly high none the less, but, again, I think I'll get away with it and it should look and run better than the one based on the Electrotren chassis. 

 

(that means I have chassis available for 2 ex-CMR 0-6-0s!)

[Compound2632]

This looks very smart so far. With the greatest respect to all involved, some turned metal buffer heads would add a touch of refinement.

 

I went back and looked up Ahrons* on the West Norfolk Railway. If I've read him correctly, this locomotive will be WNR No. 2, a Fox Walker 0-6-0ST of 1877, similar to the locomotive supplied to the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Lt Ry.

 

*E.L. Ahrons, The Railway Magazine (1922). For some unknown reason, this article was not included in the Heffer edition of 1952, Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century (6 Vols.).

[Edwardian]

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I went back and looked up Ahrons* on the West Norfolk Railway. If I've read him correctly, this locomotive will be WNR No. 2, a Fox Walker 0-6-0ST of 1877, similar to the locomotive supplied to the Great Yarmouth & Stalham Lt Ry.

 

*E.L. Ahrons, The Railway Magazine (1922). For some unknown reason, this article was not included in the Heffer edition of 1952, Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century (6 Vols.).

 

Quite correct!

[Bill_J]

Wishing a peaceful and relaxing Christmas to Edwardian and family, and to all CA parishioners that follow and contribute to this inspiring and thoroughly entertaining thread.

Edited December 25, 2019 by Bill_J
added three words

[Edwardian]

I hope everyone is having a good holiday.

 

As regulars here may know, some years ago I took to procuring my own Christmas and birthday presents in the face of a non-train family. This year my act of self-indulgent cheque-book modelling was this ....

 

 

Stephen (Compound) knows quite a bit about H&P wagons, and these Hornby ones are doubtless somewhat inaccurate representations of the wagons concerned.  They certainly contrast with the Slater's kit-version, which i daresay is not spot on either. 

 

Here are some earlier wagons with the other H&P pair of locos.

 

 

Be that as it may, at a significant reduction from RRP offered by Collett Models (who were a pleasure to deal with), it was a reasonable route to H&P 'C', which represents the second H&P identity, the earlier release being 'D'. 

 

 

Of course, I was unable to resist placing all 4 W4s together.

 

 

What gave me greatest pleasure as a gift was Tabitha, bless her, selecting a surprise volume, one I had not seen, heard of or requested, but which turns out to be a fine album of GNR photographs and with an intelligent and informative text that sets the pictures in the context of the line's history.  I would thoroughly recommend it. 

 

 

 

 

I hope fellow parishioners have done suitably well out of the festive season.

 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Merry Festmas Edwardian, very pretty engines, very pretty indeed.

 

Amng more mundane gifts, I did receive a very fancy folding potato masher, because I stand accused (and convicted without trial) of losing the previous two potato mashers while reorganising the kitchen.

 

No Railway presents this year, unless I count a slightly early present to self.

 

K

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I hope fellow parishioners have done suitably well out of the festive season.

 

A very nice selection box!

 

The GNR book looks fascinating, though I dind't realise that the GNR ran horse-drawn services*, I thought that was the province of the Fintona Railway....

 

My own personal Xmas present of an N Gauge train pack, some track and various scenic bits and bobs arrived safely.  All I have to do now is locate a suitable piece of ply for the baseboard.

 

 

* Yes I know, its just being shunted, but it was too tempting!

[Nearholmer]

Isn’t that a photo of the 3:15 at Doncaster?

[Edwardian]

2 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Isn’t that a photo of the 3:15 at Doncaster?

 

If so it's a handicap

[Nearholmer]

I don’t think they go over the sticks at Doncaster, which is probably a mercy under the circumstance.

[Compound2632]

44 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

these Hornby ones are doubtless somewhat inaccurate representations of the wagons concerned.  They certainly contrast with the Slater's kit-version, which i daresay is not spot on either. 

 

That didn't prevent me from gladly receiving the self same Christmas present! (Actually rather fortuitously my pre-order direct from Hornby arrived early in the month, so I was able to avoid discussion of the expense by putting it on my Christmas wish-list alongside an urgently-needed new belt...)

 

The Hornby 6-plank wagons are dimensionally spot-on for the Gloucester RC&W Co. wagons but are let down in some details - the inset cub rail doesn't bear too close examination although on some other wagons I have built it up with microstrip. The new underframe has rather finer brake gear - lever especially - than the old version but unfortunately it has oil axleboxes - the earlier version had nice round-bottom grease boxes (as does the Slaters kit). Unfortunately for the H&P wagons, built in 1908, those were a bit too old-fashioned, being found in Gloucester wagons of the early 90s. From the late 90s, the square-bottomed 4S axleboxes were standard. MJT do these. 

 

I take it your Slaters kit of No. 21 is the pre-printed Powsides version? My gut feeling is that this is too chocolatey for the description "purple brown", whereas Hornby's colour is a bit too red. I went for Precision LSWR purple brown applied as a thin wash over Halfords red primer:

 

 

Apologies for posting this photo yet again!

 

No. 24 is from the 1908 Gloucester batch, Nos. 21-25; Slaters kit with MJT axleboxes;

No. 6 is from the 1889 Birmingham RC&W Co. batch with iron frames, Nos. 6-10; bashed from a Cambrian 4-plank kit and a Cambrian RCH steel underframe, with MJT axleguards and axleboxes;

No. 1 is from the 1873 Birmingham RC&W Co. batch with dumb buffers, Nos. 1-5; also from parts of a Cambrian kit and MJT components. All three use POWSides transfers but only No. 24 as intended!

 

Several of the 1873 and 1889 wagons can be seen in the photo you posted from the Huntley & Palmers collection, where it is erroneously dated to c. 1920; I've stared long and hard at this photo and would put it at some time in the 1890s.

 

I have no intention of doing anything to the Hornby wagons but I am spurred on to building more of my own! I don't yet have any of the 1903 Birmingham RC&W Co. batch, Nos. 11-20; these were steel framed 10 ton wagons like the 1889 batch but I'm not convinced they were exactly alike - I have my ideas.

 

Thanks once again to @wagonman for supplying the prototype information.

 

At any rate, the Hornby wagons are nearer the mark than the Bachmann offering:

 

 

... an RCH 1923 wagon. (That's my kit-built No. 24, not the Hornby one.)

Edited December 27, 2019 by Compound2632

[Northroader]

There’s level crossings each end at this station, so Dobbin could try a jump, although best done after uncoupling. I must admit your daughter is a real treasure finding that.

[webbcompound]

Very nice pressies Edwardian. I can see that you are also one of those whose rolling stock is always likely to far exceed the requirements of any track constructed. Whilst I do not normally buy my own presents the depressing nature of things in the run up to the 25th caused me to splash out on a loco built c1916 for the Premier Line. As you can see however this is the OTHER Premier Line, and this is a Lines West H-10, and I only exhibit it here to show how different countries took different directions in their locomotive developments. Although this is a long way from my proper project (1906 North Wales) my defence is that it will be running on one of those railways which, like the West Norfolk,  exists on a fold of the map, in this case a line jointly owned by the Pennsylavania and Illinois Central roads, the old HJ&CJ, the Hammond, Joliet and Calumet Junction. After this brief exposure however I promise this colonial stuff will never darken the portals of  Castle Aching again. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by webbcompound

[Compound2632]

@webbcompound, I trust your Penny stock will include a model of the Webb Dreadnought Class compound they had Beyer Peacock build:

 

 

Note the North Eastern rather than North Western cab! T.W. Worsdell spent several years at Altoona after graduating from Crewe.

[Donw]

I have a soft spot for the H&P stuff.  At the rear of the factory there was a tunnel/bridge under the GWR main lines on the north side there was various sidings running alond the side of Kings Meadow   the other side of Kings Meadow is the Thames and across the Thames is ( perhaps was now) a victorian terrace, we lived in one of the end ones until about 1960. 

 

I was told to buy something for myself and was tempted by a lot of railway stuff but as I have rather a lot awaiting time etc. to be put together I decided instead to buy a Yamha Keyboard something I have kept saying I wanted. I did learn piano for some years, but it was dismantled when we moved from the house by the Thames. In fact I remember some of the timber panels were used for baseboards in the next house. I did learn cello for a bit and later did have a guitar or two. The electric one and the twelve string were both sold when times were really tight. So I have been amusing myself learning Silent Night and God rest ye Merry Gentlemen and have started a simplified In the Halll of the Mountain King. All good fun but doesn't do much for the railway.

 

Don

 

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Donw said:

I have a soft spot for the H&P stuff.  At the rear of the factory there was a tunnel/bridge under the GWR main lines on the north side there was various sidings running alond the side of Kings Meadow   the other side of Kings Meadow is the Thames and across the Thames is ( perhaps was now) a victorian terrace, we lived in one of the end ones until about 1960. 

 

The Kings Meadow yard is now rail-less but largely given over to rail infrastructure premises; I go past it at least weekly on the way to Tesco! The Huntley & Palmers site is now largely given over to retail and light industrial units, though the latter seem to be moribund while some of the former alongside the Kennet have closed, with flats being built on the site. The tunnel reopened a couple of years ago as a pedestrian route, which means I can sneak round to Hobbycraft for light relief after doing Tesco. 

 

I don't think there's been any loss of the Victorian terraces on the Caversham side, though there has been some more recent (1980s) development there too. Our first house in Reading, also a Victorian terrace, was opposite the site of the Vastern Road goods yard.

[Compound2632]

23 minutes ago, Donw said:

Yamaha Keyboard

 

 

P45?

[Nearholmer]

You can’t sack a chap simply for having musical ambitions, can you?