Jump to content
 

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


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium
1 minute ago, sem34090 said:

Sorry, probably should've asked first!

No it's fine Sem.  It was a nice surprise and the title now better reflects the rambling nature of my digital layout interests.

  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Annie said:

ywX6Sla.gif

 

So where the heck is everyone?  There seems to be only about six of us calling by on the pre-grouping forum these days and no-one seems to be doing anything much.

 

Not quite true, but how could you know, when I'm posting nothing? :)

After the breakdown of 'Rhye on Sea' (I still have no idea, why this happened) & a reinstallation of TS12 (which didn't help) I wanted to start something new; something small & simple, that looked like a tabletop model railway. So I downloaded a dozen or so layouts & decided to take one named 'Plan18 11x6', which looked like this:

capture_20200929_183934_006.jpg.81de8c7d14f6295a501bb3389d918b7c.jpg

 

OK, add a few buildings, signals & trains, & off we go... but then I built this & that & expanded here & there, & then things escalated a bit :pardon:, & now, a week later, it looks like this:

capture_20200929_183544_005.jpg.db3895e4e1ec8cdf63b2bd11e6d78038.jpg

 

For now, 4 British Railways express trains, hauled by 4 of my favourite locos (1 from each of the Big-4), are running around nicely, along with an ex-GWR autotrain; coal & goods traffic coming soon... :nyam:

 

P.S. Thanks to Sem for changing the thread title. :good: Now I don't have to feel guilty of being off-topic any more, when I post something Big-4 or BR.

Edited by Jake The Rat
  • Like 7
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

That's a really nice transformation Jake.  The original layout looked a bit well........ a mess, but what you've done with it looks great.  It's a shame that Rhye on Sea got messed up when TS2012 did a crash because you'd done some good work with that.

Yes I'm feeling a bit better about the title change too.  I don't bother with the Big 4 era all that much, but I do like the early BR era and whenever I posted anything to do with that I was always worried that someone official was going to turn up and say, 'You stop that!' and send me off to the naughty chair.

 

I'm getting to the stage now with Lickey that I can start work on train scheduling and figuring out how to bank trains without making a great mess of it.  The experiment with 'Big Bertha was interesting and it's been very well setup in that it runs quite slowly so that any train it couples to also has to run slowly no matter what the locomotive up from might be.  Add to that a great deal of smoke and noise and the illusion of climbing a steep gradient is complete. 

The only problem with it though is that for some trains all that's needed is a 'Jinty' or two and not a huge 10 wheeled monster.  With the loops on the layout having been reduced in their circumstances there simply isn't the siding space for 'Big Bertha' worthy trains and even the Garratt is having to make do with only 35 wagon coal trains (oh the shame of it).

 

In other news I obtained a clean version of my Fowler 3P.  Same number, it's just cleaner; - but working engine clean rather than ex-works and I like that.  (Snaps taken in the Birmingham fiddle yard)

 

YvHTMtd.jpg

 

I also purchased at the same time two more Fowler 3P's, - and got two LMS versions thrown if for free as well! - but they seem to be from a different version of their maker's work as their texturing is different and they are very much ex-works.  I'm not so sure if I like them like that and it's very likely that I'll do some work on their textures to see if I can make an improvement.

Also in the second snap you can see my mucky GP Locos Fowler 4F and one of the Bath area 2P's.

 

p1qppMC.jpg

 

4usmmMI.jpg

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
16 hours ago, Schooner said:

Annie, your work-rate at the moment is prodigious! I'm currently in lurker-mode, but very much enjoying the developments here. Thank you for sharing :)

My prodigious work rate is largely due to me being housebound due to having narcolepsy and not being able to do much else except mess about with the Trainz simulator and sleep, but thank you for your kind thoughts.  :tender:

 

I dug out a LNER upper quadrant converted McKenzie & Holland junction signal to stand in for the similarly converted Midland signals beside the Bromsgrove South signal box.  Not perfect, but definitely better than the more modern signals I had there before.

 

 GX14xo4.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

As far as I've been able to determine Blackwell had a small goods shed and from what I could see on the OS maps it wasn't very big at all.  After hunting around I found a small goods shed model based on the one at Massingham on the M&GNJR and I decided it would do the job.

 

3XUJojg.jpg

Edited by Annie
can't spell for toffee
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

The L&YR wagons and brake van I commissioned are now done and I'm absolutely delighted with them.  They won't be released for a while yet though as Cameron Scott wants to add further wagon types to make a more representative range of wagons available.

 

8EZaePl.png

 

08owRFh.png

 

lp4usza.png

  • Like 4
  • Craftsmanship/clever 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
On 29/09/2020 at 21:25, Annie said:

I also purchased at the same time two more Fowler 3P's, - and got two LMS versions thrown if for free as well! - but they seem to be from a different version of their maker's work as their texturing is different and they are very much ex-works.  I'm not so sure if I like them like that and it's very likely that I'll do some work on their textures to see if I can make an improvement.

Also in the second snap you can see my mucky GP Locos Fowler 4F and one of the Bath area 2P's.

 

4usmmMI.jpg

 

 

 

The clean matt black does look a bit odd. The 2P and 4F really look the business though.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The clean matt black does look a bit odd. The 2P and 4F really look the business though.

Those two 3P tank engines are definitely going to get retextured you can count on that.  I know that they aren't exactly Lickey engines, but I have plans for something more suburban area like sometime in the future and they will be perfect for that.  They are very good runners despite being old models and  as I mentioned before I have a soft spot for the Fowler 3P tanks.

 

Banking with 'Jinties'.  Trainz is a bit awkward when it comes to banking and I have to stop a banked train at Blackwell so the banking engines can detach, but otherwise it's been working well.  Reinstating the missing pointwork at Bromsgrove south has made it very easy to detach the banking engines and send them back down the incline to their holding siding.  I don't know how the original layout builder got around that problem with the pointwork being missing, but it would have been none too easy.

 

ao5CuD8.jpg

 

k0cJype.jpg

 

lfHpogO.jpg

 

NcT4DYO.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Something seriously awry with the interlocking. We were signalled for the through line but ran into the platform loop.

 

I presume that 15 mph restriction applies to the route into the loop, not the through line, so ought really to have a left-facing arrow under it. A passenger train not stopping at Bromsgrove could come down the Lickey a good deal less cautiously!

 

I remember childhood journeys between Birmingham and Shrewsbury, sitting in the seats giving a forward view through the cab of the DMU. There was a point around Cosford I think, where there was a sharp change of gradient. It really did look as if the train was approaching the edge of the world!

Edited by Compound2632
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

Something seriously awry with the interlocking. We were signalled for the through line but ran into the platform loop.

That particular signal is being a bit dodgy Stephen.  Sometimes it works properly and sometimes it doesn't.  I need to have a further play with it to see if I can clear the problem.

 

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

I presume that 15 mph restriction applies to the route into the loop, not the through line, so ought really to have a left-facing arrow under it. A passenger train not stopping at Bromsgrove could come down the Lickey a good deal less cautiously!

Good point about the speed restriction post.  It's an old one from the original TC3 period of the layout and the correct type is available.  The 2P is on a run to Bath (or thereabouts)  and it is supposed to stop at Bromsgrove.  'Lady Godiva' thunders straight through on its run to  Bristol.

Things are very much at the fettling and refining stage where I'm getting the bugs out so everything runs smoothly and sometime it take quite a bit of frowning on my part to get things working properly.

 

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

I remember childhood journeys between Birmingham and Shrewsbury, sitting in the seats giving a forward view through the cab of the DMU. There was a point around Cosford I think, where there was a sharp change of gradient. It really did look as if the train was approaching the edge of the world!

The drop off the edge at Blackwell seems to be a bit like that.  Watching from Blackwell station at platform level I can hear a train coming up the incline and then all of a sudden it seems to bound up over the edge and appear on the up line.

Edited by Annie
can't spell for toffee
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I changed the 15 mph speed restriction post for a left arrow type and that's all good.  Through trains stay at 30 mph and trains for platform 2 put on the brakes and slow down.  BUT despite everything I tried the signal won't work.  I think it's beyond the detection distance for the trigger at the junction leading to platform 2.  That particular signal model is working fine at the three other sites where it's used so it has to be the distance to the trigger gubbins/thingy being too far.  I'll try another signal model, but if that doesn't work I'll have to get really creative.

 

The problem is that there are two overbridges close together and the signal can't go in between them or else it would be impossible for a driver to see it even if doing that would make the signal work properly.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Signal success!  :dancer::yahoo_mini:

 

I must've tried about four signals before I tried this one.  It's an older signal from TS2006 and uses a different operating script to what is commonly used these days, - though fortunately one that will still work with later signals

 

vKnPRlT.jpg

  • Like 4
  • Round of applause 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

The signal in question.  After playing trains undertaking serious testing I think I can say it's going to be fine in that position.  The only problem with these old signals is that the emissive lamp light texture is much larger than what is used now and in later versions of Trainz it looks like a large ball of light instead of anything plausible.  I'd not tried doing anything about it before since I'd normally just use newer signal models instead, but I had a go at reducing the size of the texture.  I reduced it by 60% and it certainly looks better, but I might take it down in size a little more yet.

 

eSS17iB.jpg

  • Like 3
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

'Britannia' heading out from the 'Birmingham' fiddle yard to do some route testing.  I'm trying out a rake of Mk1 coaches even though my inner pre-grouping spirit wants to  run away screaming  at the sight of them (don't worry I'm sure I'll get over it).  Almost every type of BR Mk1 coach is available in Trainz and then add in every livery that they were ever painted in and that makes for a very long list to go through.  Add to that the daft letter codes I can never figure out and it took me a while to put together a 5 coach train.  (5 coaches is the standard maximum train length for the layout; - in this case, Compartment brake 2nd, Composite, 1st, 2nd ordinary and another Compartment brake 2nd).

 

All did not go well though since 'Britannia' derailed on a single slip at Bromsgrove.  Not one of mine though, - it was original to the layout and like a fool I assumed it would be alright.  All the other double and single slips on the layout are either ones I replaced or are new work and they've been fine.  I've since relayed the single slip and it should be fine now (touch wood).

 

hhMgEVr.jpg

 

SJ9qIoD.jpg

Edited by Annie
More information
  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

The FK (or is it an FO?) is probably a bit OTT for a Bradford-Bristol, but all Mk1s look the same to me so I'm not too bothered!

 

Some LMS Period 3 (aka Stanier) carriages in crimson and cream would look good!

Edited by Compound2632
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

The FK (or is it an FO?) is probably a bit OTT for a Bradford-Bristol, but all Mk1s look the same to me so I'm not too bothered!

 

Some LMS Period 3 (aka Stanier) carriages in crimson and cream would look good!

The worst problem that I had with the Mk1's is that they did look all the same.  Even when I had them all in front of me on the layout I found it hard to pick what was what.  At least the firsts and composites had a '1' on the door and the open 2nds were fairly blindingly obvious, but apart from that who knows.  There were three different brake coaches with different letter codes, but they looked all the same too.  It might have been that the interiors had all been done using the same textures with no other clue than small details like compartment mirrors and lamps to tell them apart that made them all look so blandly the same.

 

I do have a set of Stanier coaches in crimson & cream that were a payware bundle with a Duchess from Auran/N3V, but it's not exactly a good assortment of Stanier coaches.  If you wanted a kitchen coach and assorted dining coaches fine, - but coaches for more ordinary traffic were seriously lacking.  Back when they were released there were complaints about them, but with nothing better released since it's a case of putting up with them.

 

Here's 'Lady Godiva' with two brake firsts and three thirds.  

 

AIXa2TX.jpg

 

SC7spem.jpg

Edited by Annie
added picture
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Annie said:

'Britannia' heading out from the 'Birmingham' fiddle yard to do some route testing.  I'm trying out a rake of Mk1 coaches even though my inner pre-grouping spirit wants to  run away screaming  at the sight of them (don't worry I'm sure I'll get over it).  Almost every type of BR Mk1 coach is available in Trainz and then add in every livery that they were ever painted in and that makes for a very long list to go through.  Add to that the daft letter codes I can never figure out and it took me a while to put together a 5 coach train.  (5 coaches is the standard maximum train length for the layout; - in this case, Compartment brake 2nd, Composite, 1st, 2nd ordinary and another Compartment brake 2nd).

 

All did not go well though since 'Britannia' derailed on a single slip at Bromsgrove.  Not one of mine though, - it was original to the layout and like a fool I assumed it would be alright.  All the other double and single slips on the layout are either ones I replaced or are new work and they've been fine.  I've since relayed the single slip and it should be fine now (touch wood).

 

hhMgEVr.jpg

 

SJ9qIoD.jpg

 

 

I thought that does not look like Britannia, so felt compelled to google.

 

Poor Britannia, Robert Riddles stripped her of her name in 1951, there is no happy ending to the story either, cut up in 1964.

 

However Britannia's original nameplate survives, it was sold at auction in 2014 for £6,500.  

  • Like 2
  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, rocor said:

 

 

I thought that does not look like Britannia, so felt compelled to google.

 

Poor Britannia, Robert Riddles stripped her of her name in 1951, there is no happy ending to the story either, cut up in 1964.

 

However Britannia's original nameplate survives, it was sold at auction in 2014 for £6,500.  

Yes I have the real 'Britannia'; - which is one of the reasons why I chose this particular Jubilee even though it's a wee bit out of area for working over Lickey.  I've never been particularly fond of the idea of engines being stripped of their names to give them to something bright and shiny and new just out of the works.

 

I've sent the Mk1's back to my digital trainset box.  They're a pretty poor lot really and are basic models at best.  The Stanier coaches are waaay better models.

I had a closer look at my Stanier coaches and I've taken some snaps of their interiors.  It's not that easy trying to take snaps of coach interiors since the camera controls in Trainz don't have a great deal of precision to them.

 

Stanier BFK

 

VR0BqmX.jpg

 

Stanier BTK (the FK is the same)

 

SdrDUGy.jpg

 

Stanier BTK-P

 

hmByVs7.jpg

 

cWnQIQv.jpg

 

Stanier TO

 

PXCtb3x.jpg

 

 

'Lady Godiva' being a bit posh has a BFK, - FK,- TO,- TO,-BTK

 

'Britannia' being more work-a-day has a BTK-P,- TO,- TO,- TO,- BFK

 

And the new Compound hauled Worcester service I'm figuring out  has a TO, -TO,- TO,- BFK

 

Edited by Annie
Horrid mistakes
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Yes that was one of the complaints about this series of coaches Stephen; - no composites.

It's a pity really since they are nicely made and detailed coaches.  The lack of composites makes it difficult to put together any kind of prototypical coach formations.

  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...