Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[sem34090]

Regarding linkspans - I have yet to install a representation of equipment to raise it!

 

I would have used a reach wagon if I had one available to me. As it was the Queen Mary brake was the only vaguely suitable SR vehicle I had, and logic suggested that the tender loco had better weight distribution. Not prototypical, but it was fun to shunt!

[Schooner]

3 hours ago, Annie said:

.....

 

Thanks for the swift and helpful response, and the *agree*

 

As it happens, I was referring to the Dovetail Games offering rather than N3V's Trainz in hope of a comparison...but no matter as you've kindly confirmed my general impression that whilst each has devotees, Trainz offers more to a route builder.

 

As a result, it's downloading as I type. Looking forward to getting to grips with it 

 

Cheers,

 

Schooner

 

 

[Annie]

When starting out with route building don't panic if you make a mistake because the 'Undo' button is a useful friend.  Enjoy and have fun.  

[sem34090]

10 hours ago, Schooner said:

 

Thanks for the swift and helpful response, and the *agree*

 

As it happens, I was referring to the Dovetail Games offering rather than N3V's Trainz in hope of a comparison...but no matter as you've kindly confirmed my general impression that whilst each has devotees, Trainz offers more to a route builder.

 

As a result, it's downloading as I type. Looking forward to getting to grips with it 

 

Cheers,

 

Schooner

 

 

In my opinion, the DTG sim can produce superior-looking results. However, it costs more over time and whilst representing the prototype is probably easier than in Trainz, in some ways, it is harder to use it to visualise layout ideas. The screenshots above are just that, the visualisation of a layout idea.

 

I personally prefer the DTG sim, but it takes time to learn the editor.

Edited July 17, 2019 by sem34090

[Annie]

I do agree Sem.  I think Dovetail's simulator has the potential to create really stunning routes whereas you'd really have to work at it and fight the editing tools and game bugs more than a bit to get the same result with Trainz.  However Trainz is more immediately accessible to a newcomer and the readily available free assets make getting something worthwhile up and running fairly painless.  Once you start to try and move into specific eras of pre-group history and specific locations; - that's when Trainz starts to fall down.  But I will say that even in the past year a lot more pre-grouping content has become available thanks to the efforts of a small group of very talented digital modellers.

[Annie]

 

So a return to Ochre/Golden Gorse engines of doubtful provenance and the mostly almost semi-correct M&GNJR line between Melton Constable and Gayton Road.  When I pulled all my treasured GER and 'What-if' Minor Railways layouts apart and put them all back together again in a different more plausible configuration the M&GNJR bit was left over.  Due to me being not so well the M&GNJR section has languished in a sort of limbo state of not quite being a working layout anymore which is a bit of shame really.  I did like this section more than a bit and it was fully functional with a basic functional  timetable even if the other sections it was connected to had run off into the country of too many half baked ideas and over egged puddings.

 

Now that the GER and Minor (Imaginary) Railways sections have been mostly sorted out and are functional again more or less.  I would really like to get the M&GNJR section properly working again.  At this stage of things I'm planning on sorting it out as being entirely stand alone.  Attempting to connect it into the other sections would only put me back into the territory of amazing and implausible solutions once more as well as tearing apart the map of Norfolk again and I really don't want that.  It's a nice layout to run on its own so that is wot I'm going to do.

[Annie]

 

To refresh both yours and my memory this is essentially what I have represented on my layout.  As far as I've been able to determine the layout is a scale length and the original author of the now much modified layout used (or claimed to have used)1910 M&GNJR documents as a guide to laying out all of the stations.  That might be so but unfortunately his tracklaying was a crime against god, church and man which cause me a great deal of problems when it came to getting trains running properly over it.  By and large it does all work now and it's actually possible to shunt all the station goods yards which wasn't the case before.

It's an interesting line to operate since parts of it are double track and other parts are single track which makes for lots of waiting for trains to clear the single line section.  I was on the brink of more closely studying the track layout with the aid of old OS maps to sort out some of the finer details when I stopped playing Trainz and took up shooting black dogs instead.

[Annie]

Things have been sorted out so trains can now be run.  Still kinds of smaller jobs to do, but I'll catch up with those over the next few days.

Testing has been carried out and all is good.

 

What are you doing there?  Somehow  H.T.Co No.5 ended up with its train on the M&GNJR side of things and forgotten about when all the rearranging of my layouts happened.  So since it was already coupled to a train of coaches it got roped into the test session.

 

4-4-2T Sharpie No.11.  No.11 is bodged together from all kinds of digital pieces that weren't really intended to go together, but despite that it is one sweet running engine with an exhaust beat that is distinctively different to my other Sharpies.

 

 

 

Melton Constable. Leaving platform 1 and heading for Great Yarmouth.

 

More engines wearing the 'Golden Gorse' livery.  Extreme liberties have been taken and all are of doubtful provenance.  But I'm having fun and that's all that counts really.

[Annie]

[corneliuslundie]

Any chance of a pic of East Rudham some time? My daughter lived there for a while and I actually found the old station site, but not much left to say it was a railway.

Good to see you back again.

Jonathan

[Annie]

Thanks Jonathan, - it's nice to be back.  Still a bit more sleepy and fuzzy brained that I like to be, but we're getting there.

 

So East Rudham.  My M&GNJR layout is a section taken from a layout built by a chap who proposed the idea, - 'What if the M&GNJR hadn't been closed and had still existed into the BR era'.  All good so far, - only he was a BR blue error heretic and while much of the M&GNJR he created was circa 1910(ish) everything around it and near it was tainted with the horrors of modernism.  His scenic modelling skills were almost zero and he couldn't lay track for toffee, BUT despite that he did do a good enough job of the M&GNJR section between Gayton Road and Melton Constable that I thought it worth trying to do something with it and take it back into the pre-grouping era.

So as it stands the layout is now about 90% scenically tidied up, the trackwork has been fixed, all the goods yards are now workable even if they might not be yet completely correct in their details and the stations have been tidied up, but are still essentially as per the original layout.  Meaning that while some of the building are models of M&GNJR prototypes they aren't correct for certain locations and other buildings are generic LNER ECML which are definitely not correct.

East Rudham map circa 1900.

 

 

Pictures of East Rudham on my layout.  The track layout still needs work and the buildings aren't correct even though some of them are to M&GNJR designs.   I think the goods shed is Ok though despite not being totally correct and the platform passenger shelter with the sloping roof is a good match.

 

 

 

 

 

Edit:  I'm fairly certain that East Rudham was built by the Lynn & Fakenham Railway and that the surviving buildings are L&FR ones which is why M&GNJR standard designs simply won't do.  I may be able to do something a little better using a modular station kit I have.  It's intended for for building Scottish stations, but from photos I've seen I think the stonework is a reasonably close match (provided you take your glasses off).

Edited August 7, 2019 by Annie
much more to say

[Annie]

During this bad patch I had with narcolepsy I started to get myself into a mindspace where I started to think everything I'd done was complete rubbish, bad and a waste of time which was one of the reasons why I took a good long step away from digital railways and went off to beat up Goblins instead and generally save the world in imaginary realms.

So today when I started up TS2012 and strolled into Melton Constable I decided to take a good long look at what I'd done; - especially with regard to my rolling stock models.

 

Apart from the brake van and the bolster wagons everything you can see in this picture is my own work.

 

Still WIP M&GNJR sheeted opens.  (Oooooooo look there's a West Norfolk saloon coach).

 

A better look.  I am planning on running W.N.R. coaches attached to passenger trains going to Great Yarmouth.

 

GNR 6 wheel Composite coaches.

 

One of my oldest coach models a GNR Brake 3rd; -  though it did get a bit of a tidy up and refresh of its textures not so long ago.  The 1st class coach it's coupled to was done much later when I'd had more experience with digital modelling.

 

So after wandering around the yard at Melton Constable for a bit I came to the conclusion that I'd been a pratt and let the black dog get the better of me because there was nuffing wrong with my models.

 

And after that I took a ride on No.11's footplate on the 11.30 All Stations to Great Yarmouth which was lots of fun.  

(The fully interactive cab interior model is actually for a Southern Railway tank engine, - forgot which one, - but don't tell anyone and let's keep it a secret Ok  )

[Northroader]

Annie, can’t agree with you ever being a prat, but the work you’re showing us there is really marvellous. There is nuffin wrong with your modelling.

[Annie]

Thanks Northroader.  Now that I'm feeling better I definitely agree with you, but it just goes to show how it's possible to get into some stupid ways of thinking when you're not well.

[Schooner]

2 hours ago, Annie said:

...there was nuffing wrong with my models.

 

Hear, hear! Your work is, quite literally, inspirational. I'm sure you don't do it purely for the pleasure of others, but it really is a joy to look at - thank you for sharing 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Schooner
One sentence, many typo's...

[Annie]

 

The GER Wells-Dereham line is represented by a single track line running between portals from one side of the layout to the other.  The portal is set up to produce trains at regular intervals and has about four variations that it can send forth to do its set piece of crossing a bridge above the M&GNJR line near Fakenham.  The AI for Trainz portals can be fairly stupid though which means it will end up always choosing what's at the top of the list so I get to see the Buckjumper and it's train of 6 wheelers fairly often.

[Annie]

Avert thine eyes and clutch thy scared pre-grouping relics to thy chest for lo I bring before you images that depict the early years of British Railways.............

 

So yes I've been playing trains and I dug out my early BR Scottish borders layout Middle Vale from where it's been languishing for far too long.  I spent months on building this layout up and it's about as complete as any layout can said to be.  And the great thing about it is that it works perfectly which makes it an excellent choice for a therapy layout while I'm getting back on my feet again.

 

Various snaps in chronological order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Edwardian]

On 06/08/2019 at 15:35, Annie said:

 

Your work is inspirational, Annie, a real visual feast.

 

You've managed to be the first get WNR stock running and the shot of the GE line crossing the MGN is, I suppose for sound geographical reasons, very much as I imagined the WNR crossing at Massingham!

 

Bravo on all your efforts; they invariably bring cheer to my mornings.

[Annie]

Thank you very much James.  Now that I'm starting to play trains again they're bringing cheer to my mornings too. 

I haven't forgotten about the crossing at Massingham and I will do a bit of thinking about it over the next few days.  Unlike Fakenham the layout board in the Massingham area is more narrow so it might involve some smoke and mirrors to have W.N.R. trains running through on a simple schedule.

[Annie]

Having too much fun.  And yes I do know that the ex-LMS Garratts didn't work in the border country.

Somewhat of a challenge to drive since it's capable of moving anything coupled to its drawbar and with a long train of loose coupled wagons starting from rest and applying the brakes has to be done with care.  If carelessly handled the real world Garratts could and did break couplings; - fortunately I don't have to worry about that, but I still like to do my best to drive my Garratt properly.

I can't remember how many wagons there are altogether in this coal train, but it's right at the limit of what the colliery sidings can handle.  Coal is a major traffic on Middle Vale and the ex-LNWR 'Super-Ds' and exWD 2-8-0s on the line are kept fully occupied keeping it moving.

 

 

 

[Annie]

So where did all that coal go?  To the brickworks at Lusk that's where.

 

 

 

Leaving the brickworks.  I thought I'd taken far too much coal to the brickworks, but when I checked the brickwork's coal bunker levels after unloading it said that there was now enough coal for the brickworks to operate for 83 minutes.  Seriously?  I do have to wonder if people take wild guesses when writing up the specs for these interactive industries.

The brickworks sidings hadn't been setup for a locomotive like a Garratt so a little creative shunting had to happen before it could run around it's train for the return journey.  Normally I'd use a 'Super D' on this run, but I wanted to play with my Garratt instead of being properly sensible.

 

 

[Annie]

With evening coming on it was the turn of one of my Compounds to take the express from Dunleer to Avafoyle and then onto Donabate.  Middle Vales has some 50+ scale miles of trackwork so it's a good long run.

Elsewhere the Compounds are working down their final years, but on the Middle Vales section they are still doing useful work.  When I started to develop Middle Vales I decided on a 4-6-0 ban as well as a taper boiler ban and while there are a couple of Horwich Crabs working on the line handling the fitted goods and perishable traffic, the passenger trains are almost the sole province of Deeley/Fowler 4-4-0s.  2Ps do the ordinary trains and the Compounds do the expresses and semi-fast work.

 

Yes I know it's a rather short express,  but an important one for the Middle Vale communities and a great source of pride for the people of the Vale.

 

Ex LMS coaches as you would expect.

 

Passing through Dromin.

 

On the way to Avavoyle.  The Compounds I have are by two different content creators for Trainz and when No.41098 came to me it had sound files for a two cylinder engine.  That has been changed and it now has proper Compound sound files.  Part of the joy of running these engines is their distinctive sound.

 

Avavoyle.  And that's all the Compound pictures because my daughter wanted to show me something she was doing and I stopped there.

 

 

 

[Annie]

The LMS Fowler 3P Tank engines were not especially well regarded, but despite that I have one on Middle Vale.  I built a 4mm scale model of one of these in cardboard when I was a teenager and ponked it on the usual Triang  chassis as we did back then.  Eventually it fell apart, but it left a certain soft spot in my heart for the class so when I discovered that Paulz Trainz listed one in BR livery I had to have one for Middle Vale.  Paul also gave me two LMS versions, but I don't run those on Middle Vale.

Along with a couple of ex-LNWR 5ft3in 2-6-2 tanks it works the local passenger services in company with the 2Ps, but also does some occasional pick up goods work as well.  

 

 

 

[Annie]

The coal team.  'Super-Ds'

 

I have three ex-LNWR 'Super-Ds' on Middle Vale and they really are superb digital models and lovely to drive.  I run mine with tender cabs because they do a lot of mileage running in reverse.

I also have an 'Austin 7', the Fowler 0-8-0 design that was supposed to replace the 'Super-Ds' only the 'Super-Ds' ended up outlasting the 'Austin 7s' and several were still at work at the end of steam on BR where as the 'Austin 7s' were long gone.

My 'Austin 7' is a payware model made by a chap who specialises in LMS steam engines and I especially ordered a dead mucky one ('heavily weathered' for those who don't understand Annie speak), because that was how they were as a rule, - dead mucky. (click 3 times to enlarge images to full size)

 

 

The steel bodied open wagons in the picture are ex-WD and preceded the more familiar 16 ton steel bodied opens built by BR.  I have a very large number of them on Middle Vale along with ex-LMS 7 plank wagons and a smaller number of ex-PO wagons.

 

Next from the coal team will be the ex-WD engines.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Annie
more to say

[Annie]

I took a couple snaps of the ex-WD engines.

 

I did not want a Stanier 8F on Middle Vale due to my allergy towards engines with taper boilers so I took the next best thing.  Don't let its grimy appearance fool you, - this is a superb digital model and it drives beautifully.

 

I have been told by various enthusiasts born and raised in Scotland that the WD 2-10-0s didn't work in the border area, but were to be found much further north.  Despite that one lurks about sometimes on Middle Vale, but I do use it on any heavy goods trains heading north just so as to have a nod in the direction of prototype fidelity.  This is quite an old digital model, but it does capture the presence of the prototype despite its age; - or at least in my opinion it does.  It's a beautiful locomotive to drive and it is as powerful as it looks.