West Sands - BR (SR) Electrified south coast branch terminus - MISSING PHOTOS SLOWLY BEING RESTORED

[Geep7]

There have been a couple of new arrivals at Blackhurst, courtesy of that well known Merseyside emporium.

 

First up is a Heljan BRCW Type 3 No. D6551 in BR Green with small yellow warning panels. I've fitted this with an NCE D13SRP 8-pin decoder. Fitting couldn't have been easier, with the body coming off really easily.

 

 

It's likely i'll renumber this loco, as my other Compton is D6511, so only 1 number is different. I'll probably renumber it as an example recorded on a Reading to Redhill turn.

 

The second arrival a Heljan DPU in the early Blue scheme. This is purely a "rule 1" purchase, as to my knowledge, none have been recorded as appearing on the Reading to Redhill route.

 

It is a beautiful model, and as noted elsewhere, has the power of an Ox. It happily pulled and pushed my remotored and weighted Lima Class 117 around the layout as if they weren't there.

 

 

This is my first 21-pin socket loco, so not having used any before, I took a punt with one of Hatton's own decoders. So far, it seems really good, and readily programmable on my PowerCab. The only issue I had fitting the decoder was getting the bodyshell off. It's a very tight fit, and really requires 3 hands to remove it. I managed to dislodge a couple of underframe moulding whilst doing so, so hopefully I won't need to change the decoder chip anytime soon.

 

Both will be weathered in due course when time permits.

 

BTW, please ignore the Ford Anglia in the tree that appears in the 2nd photo. My son happens to be a bit of a Harry Potter fan and told me it belongs in the tree (he's only 6!).

Edited June 6, 2017 by Geep7

[roythebus]

There is almost a prototype for the anglia in the tree. when I was a driver at Waterloo, we used to work to Alton. there was an oil depot near Alton, where the A31 crosses the railway. One morning there was an Escort in a tree by the oil depot, next to the railway! Talking to a copper who happened to be in Farnham a bit later, told me the car had come off the road due to excess speed and one wheel stud missing. Sadly not all the teenagers in the car survived.

[Geep7]

Here are a few new pix taken over the last couple of days.

 

Gloucester RCW DPU W59551 leaves Blackhurst on a parcels service to Reading, whilst D6511 waits to depart with fuel oil empties to Hither Green.

 

2-Hal 2623 has just arrived on a service from London Victoria via Redhill.

 

A Southdown Queen Mary leaves with a service to Fareham.

 

2h Thumper waits to depart with a service to Tonbridge, whilst the 2-Bil will form a London service.

 

A view of the signalbox. It must be a warm summer's day with all those windows open.

[Geep7]

So a house tidy up for my sons birthday and some unusually extreme hot weather in the south has meant i've not really done much modelling in the last month or so.

 

However, I have managed to make a start on detailing the new loading dock by adding a crane. This is the Wills kits....

 

 

Hoping this weekend to get on with finishing the TC set, and get it ready for the paintshop.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Geep7

[Crackers]

Looks all good Chris, I must say that the sight of the green Crompton as well as the 128 DPU and Thumper makes me turn just a very slight shade of green. I believe the paint code is named "envy"? I am well known amongst my mates for having a little bit of a "thing" for thumpers. The signalbox looks great also. Good work sir.

[Geep7]

So today i've managed to finally get a bit of time with the layout to do some scenic work by the loading dock.

 

As can be scene i've finished off the loading dock and crane as well, just adding a few more details.

 

I've also got a platelayers hut to place, but i'm unsure where to put it. Below are a few pics of ideas I have. Any thoughts as to which looks best? I do have another to make up, so I can change the position of the windows to suit it's location. Perhaps I can use both?

 

Anyway, here are the pics.

 

[Geep7]

Also, as detailed over on it's own thread, the reason I haven't done much on the layout is that i've been finishing my TC set off.

 

Here it is, having just arrived on a service from Reading.

 

[leopardml2341]

Platelayer's hut, 5th pic works best IMHO.

 

Edit: bl@@dy autocorrect

Edited August 20, 2017 by leopardml2341

[Oldddudders]

Platelayer's but, 5th pic works best IMHO.

Let's leave the platelayer's butt out of this - shades of builder's bum! - but you are absolutely right, Andy, pic 5 looks the most natural location.

[leopardml2341]

Let's leave the platelayer's butt out of this - shades of builder's bum! - but you are absolutely right, Andy, pic 5 looks the most natural location.

Post now editted

[Nearholmer]

I'm pretty sure that no P.Way man would elect to have his hut as in 4, because any vehicle diverted by that catch/trap point could easily squash it, and him.

 

K

[Geep7]

Thanks guys, number 5 was the one I had in mind.... re. number 4, funnily enough i'd also thought about the catch point being a bit close...

 

Now the next question is.... which way would the windows face...?

[Nearholmer]

It doesn't matter. The PWay always obscured them, so that nobody could see how many were asleep inside on 'borrowed' seat cushions from compartment stock.

 

That might get a backlash from PWay men on here, who will ask how an 'electrical' would know, being as they were always asleep in substations (which is a vicious calumny).

 

In truth, they were usually boarded over to keep thieves out, added to which, the frames rusted and the glass cracked, letting drafts in.

 

K

Edited August 20, 2017 by Nearholmer

[Georgeconna]

This has come on leaps and bounds. Looks Fab.

[Geep7]

So it's been a quiet couple of months on the layout front, but recently i've rebuilt the fiddle yard into a cassette yard.

 

Here are a couple of pics:

 

 

 

The biggest job now is to build cassettes, and quite a few of them. The plan is to have the stored on the racking behind the fiddle yard.

 

 

As can be seen in that photo is the latest arrival on the layout. A Kernow 4-TC set. I've already posted about it in the 4-TC thread on here, but suffice it to say, it's a beautiful model, and probably worth every penny it cost. It looks the real deal, and the front end screams SR EMU.

 

Here is a pic of it paired up with push/pull fitted D6511, about to depart for Reading

 

[Geep7]

Just a very short update to wish everyone on RMweb a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

[Geep7]

So it's almost a month into the new year, and i've been busy making cassettes for the fiddle yard.

 

However, today i've decided to make a start on adding more detail to the layout. Namely things like point rodding etc. First thing on the list was to move the signal box from its current location.

 

Below is where the signal box is now. This location is more appropriate for the rodding.

 

 

 

Next job is to work out where the rodding would run.

[Nearholmer]

Good move.

 

The hole would be a natural for a disused or demolished water tower.

[Geep7]

Good move.

 

The hole would be a natural for a disused or demolished water tower.

 

I'm actually thinking about putting a small substation there for the 3rd rail. The branch is roughly 30 miles from where it leaves the main line, so I think this might be a bit far for it to be fed from one end. Unless anyone knows any different (which is almost a certainty).

[Oldddudders]

I'm actually thinking about putting a small substation there for the 3rd rail. The branch is roughly 30 miles from where it leaves the main line, so I think this might be a bit far for it to be fed from one end. Unless anyone knows any different (which is almost a certainty).

 

30 miles is a long way in the South East!

[Nearholmer]

Ah, since you mention that topic .......

 

30 miles is a seriously long way in dc traction terms, and there would be several substations in that distance. If it is a single track branch, it will be expensive to electrify, so maybe assume that only the last bit is single line.

 

When was it electrified? Once I know that, I can suggest a substation design.

 

Kevin

[Geep7]

Ah, since you mention that topic .......

 

30 miles is a seriously long way in dc traction terms, and there would be several substations in that distance. If it is a single track branch, it will be expensive to electrify, so maybe assume that only the last bit is single line.

 

When was it electrified? Once I know that, I can suggest a substation design.

 

Kevin

I'm assuming the line diverges from the Redhill to Guildford line a small distance after Reigate in the Guildford direction. Reigate was electrified in 1932 as part of the Brighton Line electrification scheme (according to "Southern Electric"), so I could suppose the branch was electrified then. Or slightly later in '36, around the time of the Alton line / Portsmouth via Horsham electrification.

 

It would make a lot more sense if the last section was single track and the rest double. The single track section could have been built by the LSWR, with the double track LBSCR line coming a few years later.

[Nearholmer]

Ok.

 

It will have mercury arc rectifier substations, with outdoor 33kV switchgear. Alton was an ‘end of the line, with possible future extension of electrification’ substation of the right date, but I don’t think it will fit your site.

 

Someone has built a pretty close model of newhaven sub in 4mm scale, and that is another candidate.

 

The trouble is the width needed. The Bachmann(?) Model is ok, but omits an important room from the back of the building, housing rectifier cooling plant, so is unprototypicalky narrow.

 

On the motorway now (wife driving!) so I’ll do a sketch later.

[Geep7]

Someone has built a pretty close model of newhaven sub in 4mm scale, and that is another candidate.

Ah, that will have been Colin Park's Newhaven Harbour I believe. One layout which inspired me to come back to UK modelling. Looking at my layout I sometimes think it's more than inspiration, even though i've tried not to make a copy.

[Nearholmer]

Right, step one is a plan of a typical sub of the period. The original is no better than this copy, sorry.

 

You won’t need anything like all of the outdoor gear at the end of a line, so later I’ll show you what you can manage without.

 

The rectifier transformer is big! The rectifier is indoors, but I thought you might want to see what it looks like. Known as a witches cauldron, for obvious reasons if you’ve seen the original Disney Snow White.