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

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

I photographed a model of 'Owl' at the Abingdon Model Railway Show in 2016.  It was on the 7mm scale layout of Bristol Goods Shed by Peter Boyce of the Broad Gauge Society.

 

Lovely, - thanks very much Mike.  That's a very nice model and it would be just the thing for a Broad Gauge layout in a small space.

[Annie]

I think I need a cup of tea and a lie down.  I've just completed writing the passenger service schedule for the Windweather Loop Line and it came as no surprise to discover it's the longest schedule I've written so far and it has the most driver instruction commands.  The passenger schedule for the Hopewood Tramway runs a close second with being about 20 or so commands shorter in length.

 

The old Windweather Loop Line schedule was written for portals which were hidden in the long carriage sheds at Great Marsh station.  These worked perfectly in TS2012, - though the schedule was slightly limited by the way the portals worked, - but in TRS19 something in the portal's magic scripting incantations got broken and it wasn't uncommon to find a train smash pile up inside the carriage sheds instead of them working properly.  N3V say they are going to fix the portals, but I can't be bothered waiting and I've been deleting them instead.  The bonus is that the carriage sheds can now be used for their proper purpose.

 

Along with the new schedule I took the opportunity to complete some long delayed jobs on the tramways' coaching stock.  The 1970s 4 wheelers have finally all been piped for the vacuum brake.  I have vacuum brake parts for converting wagons and coaches, but the original brakes fitted to the coaches' underframes are definitely not suitable for a full vacuum brake conversion. 

Even though these are older models for Trainz they are nicely put together and are easy to modify.  I've been very tempted to try joining two of them together on a new underframe to make a 6 wheel coach.

 

The ex-Barry Railway 4 wheel coaches have been modded to make a 2nd class coach and a 1st-2nd composite which brings them into line with the 1870s coaches which already had a 2nd class coach rounding out their numbers.  The GER might have done away with 2nd class except for certain very specific trains, but the Affiliated (Imaginary) Railway Companies aren't about to give up on it yet.

The ex-Barry coaches are fairly basic models in that one coach body mesh has been fudged to cover all the different types of 4 wheel coaches.  I don't really mind that too much as they are nice looking coaches considering they were made for an early version of TS2004.

 

So as to the pictures of the two different coach sets I've put together.  All the 1870s coaches have been sent off to the Tenpenny Branch except for a small number of Brake 3rd coaches.  Being piped they can now (officially) work with the ex-Barry coaches and the reason why they've been kept on is that they have a bigger luggage compartment than the ex-Barry Brake 3rds.

Set A will be the usual local coach set and Set B is intended for the passenger service to the (big, important) joint line station at Brenton Wood.  I still have yet to write that schedule, but with part of it being the same as the one I've just done that shouldn't take too long.

Some spare coaches are kept at Bluebell Woods on the Hopewood Tramway.  And there's a set (Set C ?) of ex-Barry Railway 4 wheelers in newly painted GER livery in the carriage shed at Winkle Bay on the Windweather Tramway that nobody knows what to do with yet.

The ex-Barry coaches almost pass for GER coaches except they have electric lighting and are vacuum braked.

 

Set A:  Four coaches (4 w).  Brake 3rd; 3rd; 1st-2nd Composite; 1870s Brake 3rd.

 

Set B: Five coaches (4 w).  Brake 3rd; 2nd; 1st; 3rd; 1870s Brake 3rd.

 

 

[Annie]

Various snaps taken while schedule testing.  Amazingly it all worked fine with just two or three signal adjustments needing to be done.

I'd done a few more modifications to the single driver tank engines including a new engine spec so I was keen to see well how No.7 was going to run.

 

Great Marsh station.

 

 

Along the way to Barrow Hills.

 

 

Approaching Tenpenny Beach station.

 

 

The timber viaduct across the salt marsh.

 

[Edwardian]

I think your single-tanks are Heroic, Annie.  Very handsome engines, indeed. Some great shots there; the 'study' of the engine on the trestle bridge is particularly effective. 

[Annie]

Thanks very much James.  The Windweather Loop is very much the single tanks' territory and the long trestle bridge across the salt marsh with its weight and speed restrictions is one of the reasons for that.  The Terriers handle the goods traffic on the Windweather Harbour- Tenpenny Wharf- Barrow Hills side of the Loop Line, but they can't beat the single tanks at chasing the horizon with keeping a good timing on the passenger service.

 

No.8 this time crossing the trestle bridge across the salt marsh.

 

 

 

A sparrowcam view near the Harbour station looking towards the lighthouse.  The GER provided funds to rebuild the Windweather-Tobit-Great Marsh - Barrow Hills side of the Loop Line into a becoming an almost typical GER branch line, but this side of the Loop Line is very much its own world.

 

[eheaps]

Oil tender for P43

 

[Annie]

45 minutes ago, eheaps said:

Oil tender for P43

Beautifully done Ed.  Very much a part of GER history.

[Annie]

Picture 'borrowed' from Ed Heap's thread on Auran/N3V's Trainz forum.  The P43 has been uploaded to N3V's Download station and should be available reasonably soon.  What an utterly superb example of digital model making it is too.

 

[Edwardian]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

Thanks very much James.  The Windweather Loop is very much the single tanks' territory and the long trestle bridge across the salt marsh with its weight and speed restrictions is one of the reasons for that.  The Terriers handle the goods traffic on the Windweather Harbour- Tenpenny Wharf- Barrow Hills side of the Loop Line, but they can't beat the single tanks at chasing the horizon with keeping a good timing on the passenger service.

 

No.8 this time crossing the trestle bridge across the salt marsh.

 

 

 

A sparrowcam view near the Harbour station looking towards the lighthouse.  The GER provided funds to rebuild the Windweather-Tobit-Great Marsh - Barrow Hills side of the Loop Line into a becoming an almost typical GER branch line, but this side of the Loop Line is very much its own world.

 

 

More utterly delightful pictures.  What a painter of pictures you are Annie.

 

37 minutes ago, Annie said:

Picture 'borrowed' from Ed Heap's thread on Auran/N3V's Trainz forum.  The P43 has been uploaded to N3V's Download station and should be available reasonably soon.  What an utterly superb example of digital model making it is too.

 

 

That's superb and a great advert for the virtual; I cannot imagine producing a P43 that good in 4mil!

[Annie]

10 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

More utterly delightful pictures.  What a painter of pictures you are Annie.

Thank you very much James.  My Norfolk layout is my special place and truth be told a small world I wouldn't mind inhabiting.  I might have other layouts I'm working on, but this is the one I have the strongest connection to and the one I come back to when i want immerse myself somewhere else for a while.

 

15 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

That's superb and a great advert for the virtual; I cannot imagine producing a P43 that good in 4mil!

Ed's locomotive models are superb and he would be one of the best digital modellers for the Trainz simulator.  And the most amazing thing is that he makes his models available for free.  

[MikeOxon]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

Picture 'borrowed' from Ed Heap's thread on Auran/N3V's Trainz forum.  ...

 

The picture has a depth and perspective that would be difficult to achieve on a 'real' model railway.

 

Mike

[Annie]

11 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

The picture has a depth and perspective that would be difficult to achieve on a 'real' model railway.

 

Mike

True enough Mike, - but that can be a two edged sword as so much more can be seen in a digital model railway including distant mistakes which always seem to turn up in the background of screenshots.

 

Broad Gauge cheer up picture:  'Sebastopol' circa 1880.  I know I've posted this picture before, but this is a much more detailed close up image.  Gosh those old glass plate cameras were wonderful things.

 

 

[Annie]

No.7 heading away from Great Marsh station.  Schedule testing continues on the Windweather Loop Line.

 

[Annie]

P43 class No.19 on the turntable at Foxhollow.  I am still absolutely stunned that such a beautiful GER locomotive has been created for Trainz.  Ed Heaps has not only made the P43 single, but he made the four variations of tender the class are known to have been coupled to as well.

The chances of a P43 being at Foxhollow on the old B&FER line would be very slight, but I wanted to borrow Foxhollow's 55 foot turntable to take this snap.  Once I set up a schedule the P43's will be running expresses on the joint line and can I see myself taking lots of footplate rides on these stunningly beautiful engines.

 

[Regularity]

3 hours ago, Annie said:

I am still absolutely stunned that such a beautiful GER locomotive has been created for Trainz. 

I think the reason is on your description, Annie!

[Annie]

It's only now that I've had a chance to sort out my C53B tram engines after moving my Norfolk layout over to TRS19.  They had quite a few faults that hadn't shown up before in TS2012, but that TRS19 took an exception to, - which fortunately proved to be minor and easily fixed.  A strange one was the smoke from the funnel blowing in two different directions which proved to be caused by an attachment point TS2012 ignored, but TRS19 didn't.  Why they were setup with two smoke attachment point I wouldn't know.

For those who haven't seen my C53B tram engines before, they are based around a GER tram engine that a member of the creator group I belong to made.  Only thing is though it's too long for a C53 by about 25%, but despite that I decided to see what I could do with it.  I added some extra details and reworked its texturing.  I found a boiler model that looked about the right length and that went in too, - only the question remained as to its wheel arrangement.  The trackwork at Windweather goods yard and harbour would not be good for anything with a long wheelbase so I mounted the tram engine on a pair of 0-4-0 bogies as if it was a Meyer articulated locomotive.  And I can report that this kitbash of mine has proved to be very successful.  They only have a top speed of 20mph and their engine spec is basically two Y7's joined together, but they can easily handle the tight radius curves at the harbour and they're able to shift heavy loads at a walking pace without stalling.  And they are fun, - and if you're not having fun with your trainset, then what are you doing it for.

 

Departing light engine from Windweather.

 

Great Marsh goods yard.

 

Waiting for the local passenger to pass.

 

And heading off to the Hopewood Tramway.

[Annie]

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better Ed Heaps has just posted this picture on the Auran/N3V Trainz forum.

A Holden T19! - and it's a sight to soothe sore eyes.

 

 

 

[Annie]

And now Ed Heaps has said that he's considering a Holden D27 next.  Even though they were all gone by 1907 in the Real World (TM) I'm sure I could twist history's arm and have at least one (maybe two) transferred to the Eastlingwold & Great Mulling.

 

My doctor has said I should do my best to remain calm and remember to take deep breaths.

 

[Northroader]

I think that on is more attractive than the 4-2-2, one less wheelset, so it’s cheaper to build, too. Breath comes in short pants. (The old ones are the good ones)

[Annie]

As magnificent as the P43 4-2-2 is The D27 2-2-2 would be the more useful engine to have on my layout.  In my alternative world they would be a very suitable replacement for the most elderly of the Beyer Peacock singles on the Eastlingwold & Great Mulling whereas the P43 will only get used once on an express run down the joint line on the morning timetable.  (Though it would be twice in a day if I get so far as running an evening timetable). 

I did some work on the joint line loops this afternoon, but I haven't got as far as testing anything yet.

 

The T19 will be very welcome as presently I have T26's pretending to be T19's when there's other work they should be doing.

[Compound2632]

8 hours ago, Annie said:

And now Ed Heaps has said that he's considering a Holden D27 next.  Even though they were all gone by 1907 in the Real World (TM) I'm sure I could twist history's arm and have at least one (maybe two) transferred to the Eastlingwold & Great Mulling.

 

My doctor has said I should do my best to remain calm and remember to take deep breaths.

 

 

That's a nice well-balanced 2-2-2. For simplicity of outline, I think only Stroudley's G Class can compare:

 

 

His pupil Dugald Drummond built some very similar engines for the North British, which might have the edge on elegance with the dome further forward but are a bit let down by fussiness around the tender frames.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by Compound2632

[Annie]

15 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

That's a nice well-balanced 2-2-2. For simplicity of outline, I think only Stroudley's G Class can compare:

I must agree, - an elegant design in every way.

[Regularity]

10 hours ago, Annie said:

My doctor has said I should do my best to remain calm and remember to take deep breaths.

This won't help...

 

[eheaps]

4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

His pupil Dugald Drummond built some very similar engines for the North British, which might have the edge on elegance with the dome further forward but are a bit let down by fussiness around the tender frames.

 

The NBR single has been lurking on my "I'd quite like to do that eventually" list for quite a while. Perhaps one day I will actually get around to modelling it...

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Regularity said:

This won't help...

What a lovely model Simon.  Is it 'S' scale perchance?