Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[Nearholmer]

In another thread, Brian is bemoaning the lack actual train content on RMWeb today, so here is a postcard from Birlstone, where things are in full-on ex-GWR mood in honour of the Mogul.

 

Not a very exciting picture, but it has got three trains in it!

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Just now, Nearholmer said:

In another thread, Brian is bemoaning the lack actual train content on RMWeb today, so here is a postcard from Birlstone, where things are in full-on ex-GWR mood in honour of the Mogul.

 

Not a very exciting picture, but it has got three trains in it!

 

 

Sir I believe you may have forgotten the picture...

[Annie]

26 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Not a very exciting picture, but it has got three trains in it!

 

What do you mean 'not exciting', - I'm thrilled to bits to see it.

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 ...snip...

Not a very exciting picture, but it has got three trains in it!

Even a pannier!

[GRASinBothell]

Of course, "full-on ex-GWR mood" probably requires some lower-quadrant signals...

Gordon

[brianusa]

Not exactly bemoaning, just concerned that sometimes that RMW loses its core rail related value to everyday problems that beset us all in these troubling times.  Not that the original premise needs to be rigidly adhered to as many a time the subject leads to something more interesting!

Changing the subject already, I need a new simple camera as the one I have now is getting on, and I cannot connect to web sites, etc.  Just in case my scintillating  train comments and photographic exercises were missed.  Any recommends greatly appreciated!

      Brian.

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

7 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

In another thread, Brian is bemoaning the lack actual train content on RMWeb today, so here is a postcard from Birlstone, where things are in full-on ex-GWR mood in honour of the Mogul.

 

Not a very exciting picture, but it has got three trains in it!

 

 

I’d say this is very exciting - I have a OO model of PT 5775 so I’ll claim a Trainspotter’s cop if I may.  
 

And then there’s the intriguing inclusion of what looks to me like a pre-wired OO fishplate in the six-foot, too?

 

I don’t think we see as many GWR (and WR) photos in Coarse O as the smaller scales (the Cyril Freezer legacy?)

 

Top marks for this anyway.

[Nearholmer]

Very short of LQ signals, I’m afraid, and the few that I have don’t look at all GWR, so viewers are encouraged to use their imaginations.

 

Pre-WW1, BL seems to have commissioned a reasonable amount for GWR fans, nice 4-4-0 and 2-4-2T locos, beautiful coaches and goods stock, but after that neither BL or Hornby were overly generous to the GWR, were they? The Hornby County was probably the recognisable loco produced in greatest numbers, although possibly the BL mogul might count too, but beyond that  ‘short run’ or generics. I think even the SR fared slightly better.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Very short of LQ signals, I’m afraid, and the few that I have don’t look at all GWR, so viewers are encouraged to use their imaginations.

 

Well, it's BR(W); I think we can assume a reorganisation of engineering responsibilities resulting in the replacement of worn-out GWR equipment by LMR equipment - very second-hand stuff by the look of it though, recycled from some WCML location where tubular posts had replaced the old LNWR wooden posts.

[Nearholmer]

Yes, either that or it’s part of the GWR/LNWR Colne Valley line from Uxbridge to Watford which seems to be missing from most railway maps.

[Nearholmer]

“Lord Ebury's vision was to construct a railway running 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) southbound from Watford to Uxbridge Vine Street on the Great Western Railway's Uxbridge branch, eventually providing a new route from Watford to London Paddington via Uxbridge and West Drayton. The GWR offered to put up £20,000 towards the project and in 1863, Parliamentary authorisation was obtained to construct an extension from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge. The GWR later withdrew its offer of funding and the scheme foundered. Lord Ebury's ambition to link Watford and Uxbridge was never realised, and the W&RR was to remain a short branch line for its entire operation.”

 

From the Wikipedia summary of the history of the Watford & Rickmansworth Railway.

[Joseph_Pestell]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Yes, either that or it’s part of the GWR/LNWR Colne Valley line from Uxbridge to Watford which seems to be missing from most railway maps.

 

There have been a few layouts based on the proposed Watford - Uxbridge - West Drayton line. But I am surprised that there have not been more given the opportunities that it gives for running different railway's stock.

[Nearholmer]

The odd thing about this not-railway is that the route would have been really simple - it’s a shallow valley with river and canal through it, really easy country, and I think it is now being used for HS2. For me, in ordinary times, it’s on a simple traffic-free cycling route from Watford Junction station to Windsor Great Park, which is then a ‘gateway to the south’, or a place to enjoy the scenery before pedalling back.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Nearholmer

[GRASinBothell]

The lack of LQ signals could be explained by it being an ex-Southern line that has been transferred to BR(W) control (like the LSWR lines in Devon and Cornwall, and the Somerset & Dorset), thus excusing the mixing in of a few of your Southern locos in BR colours, assuming they just hadn't been transferred out yet...

Gordon

[Nearholmer]

We don’t talk about when The Evil Empire seized some of our territory and laid waste it it. The whole sorry business is too painful.

[Northroader]

Never fear, I was working at Reading when we liberated the Chiltern line from the LM, so the Western ain’t all bad.

[Nearholmer]

Weren’t the Chiltern lines mostly GW/GC joint in the first place? I didn’t know that Derby had ever annexed them.

[Compound2632]

16 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Weren’t the Chiltern lines mostly GW/GC joint in the first place? I didn’t know that Derby had ever annexed them.

 

In 1974, I read. This would appear to have included the Birmingham line from Aynho Junction to Moor Street (the Snow Hill lines being disused by then I think). That would put Tyseley in the LMR which makes some operational sense since it was the depot for DMUs working New Street services (the Cross City line as it became, etc.) but presumably means that the North Warwickshire line was also transferred to LMR. 

[andi4x4]

Enjoying the pics and discussions in your thread as always, Kevin - given me enough mojo to get back to doing a little work on the pannier I started in my Unashamedly Coarse Scale thread. It has had some weight added and made a few circuits of a simple circle of track on the floor in the basement dragging a couple of Hornby bogie coaches around behind it really quite effortlessly I am pleased to say !

 

I have had the coaches for a while, and they were quite grubby/dirty when I acquired them. What do you guys use to 'clean' them without damaging the paint/litho print ?

 

 

 

 

[Northroader]

The dmus working out of Marylebone were maintained in a poky dive at M’bone, but any main jobs were done at Bletchley.

[Nearholmer]

Cleaning old toy trains?

 

Everyone seems to have their favourite method, mine being Waitrose Essential non-fragranced baby wipes. I’ve checked the recipe, and they contain nothing that will damage our toys.

[Simond]

And, being Essential, you can buy them in lockdown...

Edited November 14, 2020 by Simond

[Nearholmer]

Anyone who has ever had a baby's behind to decontaminate will realise that they are truly essential. I hate to contemplate how things were done before they were invented, although I have a dim recollection that damp cotton wool came into the equation somewhere.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Nearholmer

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

There have been a few layouts based on the proposed Watford - Uxbridge - West Drayton line. But I am surprised that there have not been more given the opportunities that it gives for running different railway's stock.

 

8 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The odd thing about this not-railway is that the route would have been really simple - it’s a shallow valley with river and canal through it, really easy country, and I think it is now being used for HS2. For me, in ordinary times, it’s on a simple traffic-free cycling route from Watford Junction station to Windsor Great Park, which is then a ‘gateway to the south’, or a place to enjoy the scenery before pedalling back.

 

 

I seem to recall a layout (or perhaps a proposed layout) some years ago that included Watford-Uxbridge (and Watford-Snorbns) in a sort of Outer Outer Circle or rail version of the M25, the idea being that all the Big Four companies would run on it.

Edited November 14, 2020 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Windsor Great Park, which is then a ‘gateway to the south’

Shurely shome mishtake?