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Inspired by Brent June 1947


The Fatadder
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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks for the information, I will have a proper read through when I get home from work. But certainly looks like I have a lot to learn!

 

trying to keep questions which may be of use to others supermare do people can see them, while keeping a connection in the main tyres so that I can remember where the answers are.

 

I really must make more of an effort to keep the index up to date in the first post...

Edited by The Fatadder
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Would the slip coach be dropped between Plymouth & London ? (I'm doubting that it would). Therefore, would the slip coach not be added as the first coach (up), so it's the last coach for the return journey (down), when it would be 'slipped' ?

 

 

The slip coach at the rear of the 8.30 am Plymouth to Paddington on Mondays to Fridays was slipped at Reading.  From there, according to the 1948 cwp, it was conveyed to Paddington in the 12.5 pm Oxford to Paddington parcels and returned to Plymouth as the last vehicle [once a van to Kingswear had been shed at Newton Abbot] of the 12.15 am newspaper train.  It was due into Plymouth at 8.5 am.  Apparently 25 minutes was considered insufficient to transfer the slip from the rear of the newspaper train to the rear of the up Paddington so two slip coaches were required.

 

This working, or a variant of it, survived until 1958, by which time the 8.30 express had become the Mayflower.

 

Chris

 

EDIT - the last time this train slipped at Reading was in the 1957-58 winter service.  The slip was attached to the 2.21 pm Paddington - Plymouth parcels at Reading so only one slip was needed.  

Edited by chrisf
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  • RMweb Gold

For those who don't read the blog section, another update on the continued efforts at renumbering / rebranding stock for Brent, along with the wartime black 42xx nearing completion.

 

Very nice to be working on something other than gluing track together for a change.

 

That said, with only a bit of varnishing to go, normal service will need to resume soon. (At which point I run out of reasons to put off installing the first 6 point motors...

 

Anyway the blog post is here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/853/entry-18279-rebranding-hall-king-72xx-and-wd-pt2/

 

post-54-0-76105700-1473537424_thumb.jpeg

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For those who don't read the blog section, another update on the continued efforts at renumbering / rebranding stock for Brent, along with the wartime black 42xx nearing completion.

 

Very nice to be working on something other than gluing track together for a change.

 

That said, with only a bit of varnishing to go, normal service will need to resume soon. (At which point I run out of reasons to put off installing the first 6 point motors...

 

Anyway the blog post is here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/853/entry-18279-rebranding-hall-king-72xx-and-wd-pt2/

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpeg

Is that the secret wartime fireless conversion Rich?

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  • RMweb Gold

Very slow progress on the layout recently, tiredness after a couple of false starts on the baby resulting in 2am trips to the maternity hospital haven't helped.

 

After shipping daughter no1 off to grandparents this afternoon, I did manage to get on with some construction work done.

First up the next point (mainline into up loop) has been fitted with switch rails etc and is now ready for wiring, that just leaves the up loop point and I am ready to buy another track order to get onto the next next batch.

 

The other jobs were completed around the end of the layout, fitting a lightweight base under the Avon bridge onto which the pink foam will be fitted for,img the embankment and river, and a curved back seen section at the Plymouth end (hiding a raised electrical conduit). The backsceen boards now need to be continued the whole length of the layout. The aim being to ensure that any raised scenics have something to be fitted against which is fully removable if (when) we end up moving house and need to dismantle the layout.

post-54-0-13493100-1474134618_thumb.jpeg

 

There has also been some progress on a couple more layouts. First up my Dukedog is now 9018, picked because of a photo (dated 1949) of this loco working a freight train somewhere on the gwml west of Bristol. This will be used as a substitute Bulldog until Bachmann bring one out (or if that hasn't happened by the time I 'finish' the layout I will build a Finney one...

post-54-0-44742800-1474133142_thumb.jpeg

 

The second loco is far more important, with a Bachmann small prairie now renumbered to 4582 a regular on the Kingsbridge branch. As with the Dukedog this has been renumbered using Coast Line Models plates, which were painted a couple of nights ago.

post-54-0-02282900-1474134593_thumb.jpg

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  • RMweb Gold

You're certainly cracking on with this.  Impressively so, given all the other stuff on your plate!  Your locos look great by the way. I now need to concentrate on improving mine.

 

John C.

 

My layout: STOKE COURTENAY, 4mm scale 1930s GWR junction station.  See layout topic.

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  • RMweb Gold

You're certainly cracking on with this. Impressively so, given all the other stuff on your plate! Your locos look great by the way. I now need to concentrate on improving mine.

 

John C.

 

My layout: STOKE COURTENAY, 4mm scale 1930s GWR junction station. See layout topic.

They still have a very long way to go until complication, with very few having screw couplings and only 2 having a decoder installed yet. Not to mention getting some real coal added and eventually one day some weathering...

 

Next up on the layout will either be finishing the up loop point or start building the bridge over the Avon so that I can get on with some more terror-forming

 

Edited to correct some awful iPhone autocorrect mess

Edited by The Fatadder
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  • RMweb Gold

Can anyone help with a question regarding the track formation at the Exeter end

 

I have been looking at a 1954 OS map of Brent station, and I think I have misread the track plan. I have based the plan along the lines of the last track formation, with a link directly between the down loop and the branch. Looking at the 1953 map I cannot see this feature, with the map,appearing to show the branch going straight into the double slip while the down loop ends in a point on the down main just before the single slip.

 

As usual I'm lacking in photos from my period showing this clearly (with everything I have seen showing the formation in the late 50s or 60s, with the final formation in place).

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  • RMweb Gold

Can anyone help with a question regarding the track formation at the Exeter end

 

I have been looking at a 1954 OS map of Brent station, and I think I have misread the track plan. I have based the plan along the lines of the last track formation, with a link directly between the down loop and the branch. Looking at the 1953 map I cannot see this feature, with the map,appearing to show the branch going straight into the double slip while the down loop ends in a point on the down main just before the single slip.

 

As usual I'm lacking in photos from my period showing this clearly (with everything I have seen showing the formation in the late 50s or 60s, with the final formation in place).

 

Rule 1 - don't trust track layouts on OS maps.  Generally they reflect the situation when the map was drawn or underwent its most recent major revision (if you're lucky) and they were very definitely not kept up to date for railway layout alterations in the 1950s (and probably later).

 

Prior to the 1943 alterations the Down Loop terminated in a trap pint leading to the Down Main east of the single slip in the Down Main.  In the 1943 alteration the trap became a full facing point on, probably, the same site as the trap had occupied (can't be sure of that) and a new trap was provided to the west of it - according to at least one photo on the 'net the new trap was single tongue and actually in the middle of the connection from the Loop to the Down Main (at the same time the loop was redesignated to passenger status).  The connection from the loop trailed into the branch east of the double slip which was roughly underneath the road bridge.

 

If George Pryer got things right (and sometimes he didn't) there were then no alterations until after closure of the Kingsbridge branch - he dates the alterations to March 1965

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  • RMweb Gold

Another evening of wiring tonight, with the red wire connected up for the Plymouth ends finished trackwork, and the black feeds soldered on and threaded through the holes.

 

One thing I have found is that a) I dislike soldering the dropers to the track and b) I really hate working under the layout. Because of the baseboard construction in a semi permanent fashion, I can't lift sections out to work on them. Further to this there's a lot of storage units under the layout reducing the space even more.

After soldering up one half, my back was giving me enough grief that the other half was postponed until tomorrow...

 

Next I feel the point motors need to be installed as I've put that hateful task off long enough. I have 10 tortoise liberated from Blackcombe, and will be needing 10 more. I'm trying to decide if I go for tortoise or cobolt motors, and struggling to work out which is better. Unfortunately the tortoise I have all need new longer pins, which doesn't help.

 

The rough plan at present is to drill a hole through the copperclad tie bar, hopefully over the top of the hole I previously drilled through the baseboard. This hole will be widened from the underside to provide sufficient clearance (for future builds it will be made a lot bigger from the start.)

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  • RMweb Gold

All of the track that has been built at the Plymouth end is now wired up and tested this evening, along with laying the first half of the up loop and adding switch rails to be up loop point. Testing initially with a 72xx went well through all bar one point, on which the wheels would bind and there was a lot of rocking.

 

I started with some slowmo filming on the iPhone to watch exactly where the issue was, as running slowly the loco would stop. I also re did the tests with Eynsham Hall, with the knowledge that Tony Wright had tweaked it before sale its probably the best set up loco I have.

 

On running this through the only problem was the wobble, indicating a possible gauge issue (with dodgy back to backs on the other two locos tested.) Further inspection indicated a height issue on the short length between the switch rail and the vee, along with the potential that the angle between running and check rail is slightly wrong. After playing with the height the issue almost was solved, but I am still thinking about unsoldering it and making a new one.

 

post-54-0-79271900-1474618428.png

 

The final test was a King with a full rake of 7 coaches running at full speed, which it performed perfectly.

 

 

So that's almost all the wiring, it just needs one point at the Exeter end, and the loop track I laid this evening to be wired and everything is up to date. Then I guess those dammed point motors need to be fitted!

 

So the question is Cobolt or Tortoise? Both will be powered by traditional DC initially with title switches (I have the first 6leavers of a scalefour society leaver frame to add eventually).

The long term plan is to fully interlink points and signals

Edited by The Fatadder
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  • RMweb Gold

After a little track building adding the final touches to the up loop point this afternoon I wired up the first Tortoise motor. After test fitting it above the board and drilling through 2 pilot holes. I then realised I didn't have any short screws and the village hardware shop was shut.

 

Headed off to Stroud to buy the screws but upon arriving home Grandparents returned no1 daughter so no more model time. Once she was finally asleep it was back out to continue.

 

All was going well until adjusting for the 2nd screw the rod on the Tortoise snapped the tie bar. I think there wasn't enough material around the operating hole. After fabricating a new one and resoldering, it was a nightmare. First soldering in the wrong place, then refusing to unsolder, before finally soldering the switch rail to the outer rail (at which point I gave up for a lost cause and opened a bottle of wine!)

 

Hopefully tomorrow will go better, but I'm now very worried about my remaining tie bars...

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After a little track building adding the final touches to the up loop point this afternoon I wired up the first Tortoise motor. After test fitting it above the board and drilling through 2 pilot holes. I then realised I didn't have any short screws and the village hardware shop was shut.

 

Headed off to Stroud to buy the screws but upon arriving home Grandparents returned no1 daughter so no more model time. Once she was finally asleep it was back out to continue.

 

All was going well until adjusting for the 2nd screw the rod on the Tortoise snapped the tie bar. I think there wasn't enough material around the operating hole. After fabricating a new one and resoldering, it was a nightmare. First soldering in the wrong place, then refusing to unsolder, before finally soldering the switch rail to the outer rail (at which point I gave up for a lost cause and opened a bottle of wine!)

 

Hopefully tomorrow will go better, but I'm now very worried about my remaining tie bars...

Rich, I couldn't see from a quick scan of previous posts what your tiebars are made of, but how about reinforcing the hole with a small washer - either soldered or glued in place?

 

As for soldering the whole thing up solid, I always slip a piece of baking paper under the stock rail and up between the stock rail and the blade before soldering.

 

Good luck.

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  • RMweb Gold

The tie at is a length of copperclad sleeper cut in half along the centreline, with a .6 mm hole drilled in the middle (made worse by this being the place where the copper has been stripped off to isolate the blades.

I will try gluing on the washer on the next one to be worked on tomorrow if I get a chance, but I think the real solution going forward is to increase the width of the tie bar. My worry is if it can break now, there's a high chance of failure in the future once it's operating

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  • RMweb Gold

Your last few posts took me right back to those happy (?) days a couple of years or so ago, crouching on the hard chipboard floor under the baseboard in the dark while trying to solder wiring and install point motors. Great when it's finished.

 

I've found Cobalt point motors to be very good indeed, especially in their latest incarnation as Cobalt IP Digital.  Easy to set up, very reliable, almost silent in operation, and with lots of switching options.  I haven't actually screwed any to the underside of the baseboard, finding that they adhere perfectly adequately with Halfords double-sided foam tape.  Makes them even quieter too.

 

The hardest part was offering them up from below, squinting upwards into the light and trying to get the actuator wire into the hole in the tie-bar (or in my case the vertical piece of brass tubing soldered to the 'on edge' pcb tie-bar) before the top of the motor made contact with the Halfords sticky pad.

 

Pointwork looking good.  Look forward to keeping up with your progress.

 

John C.

 

​My layout: STOKE COURTENAY, 4mm scale 1930s GWR junction station.  See layout topic.

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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks, I hadn't thought about using sticky pads.  I may give that a go now, and see if I have more luck.

 

Wiring and especially fitting the point motors are about the only bit of building a layout that I truly hate, and on Brent I feel I have made my life a lot more difficult through the baseboard structure (trying to thread the control wire through the tie bar hole with my head above the board and my arms below it was particularly fun.  

 

In order to force me to get on and finish the job, I am making sure I do not go to C&L to buy more track components until the 8 points I have already finished are connected to motors and working.

 

As for the motor type, I am going to have a look at a Colbalt motor on Monday and try to decide if it is worth the extra bit of cost over a Tortoise.  But at the moment other than the push connectors rather than soldering under the baseboard, I dont see any additional benefit.  (and the latter is only of any interest when I eventually get round to signalling and want to use the second internal switch to activate the signals.

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  • RMweb Gold

I use double sided carpet tape for placing point motors and a host of other things, it comes in handy when spraying small light parts it save the sprayer from blasting the bits all over the floor. 

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  • RMweb Gold

After popping back to B&Q on Sunday to buy point screws, and deciding to take Tuesday off work to work on the layout, we had to rush back to the hospital on Sunday afternoon with reduced movements. They decided to induce and finally 3 days later Imogen Grace Victoria arrived weighing 8lb6oz.

 

No more modelling for a little while I think

post-54-0-80619400-1475229801_thumb.png

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  • RMweb Gold

Today I finally managed to find a little time for myself while the baby was sleeping and got out to the garage to do some work on Brent.

 

First up here is a photo of the point tiebar, there's a bit of variance on the width, but it's all similar. This is from then next point to be powered, and is wider than the one which failed.

post-54-0-10059800-1475667176_thumb.jpg

 

The yard enterence point from the down main is now fitted with a Tortoise, after a little adjustment of the tie bar it is now working properly. There was a slight issue in that the red / black wires the wrong way round (I never know which way these need to be wired to get them to work correctly). In the end I chopped the wires back to about a 1 inch length and then flipped the wires around.

post-54-0-80737500-1475667412_thumb.jpg

 

Now to wait for the next opportunity to get on with the next one (although it will need a lot more effort clearing space under the layout in which to work.

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Today I finally managed to find a little time for myself while the baby was sleeping and got out to the garage to do some work on Brent.

 

First up here is a photo of the point tiebar, there's a bit of variance on the width, but it's all similar. This is from then next point to be powered, and is wider than the one which failed.

attachicon.gifIMG_0229.JPG

 

The yard enterence point from the down main is now fitted with a Tortoise, after a little adjustment of the tie bar it is now working properly. There was a slight issue in that the red / black wires the wrong way round (I never know which way these need to be wired to get them to work correctly). In the end I chopped the wires back to about a 1 inch length and then flipped the wires around.

attachicon.gifIMG_0232.JPG

 

Now to wait for the next opportunity to get on with the next one (although it will need a lot more effort clearing space under the layout in which to work.

Looks good Rich. I still reckon a washer would help! Also, have you thought about getting some narrower copperclad to save time cutting it along the length?

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