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


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6 hours ago, Northroader said:

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)

An old one - was it a 'Carry-on' film?

Doctor "Big breaths"

Patient "Yeth, and I'm only Thixteen"

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6 hours ago, Annie said:

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

The work of Trevor Nunn. Ok, he bought the gears and the motor and the metal, but everything else - including painting and lettering - is his own work. That particular model is over 20 years old.

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6 hours ago, Northroader said:

White inside frames and not buff? And blue cab fronts instead of black? Tut tut.

For once, I am going to ask where is yours, built to the same standards with same minimum of bought-in materials.

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More from Ed Heaps's virtual workshop.  GER T19 with oil tender.  This looks to be much the same kind of tender that the very nice D27 single model by Trevor Nunn was coupled to.

 

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Edited by Annie
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I gave my new P43 single a run with the mail train and it did very well.  It's a superb runner and a real pleasure to drive.

 

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Mirely St Marys.

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Brenton Wood (the only scheduled station stop).

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And continuing onwards towards Bluebell Woods.

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Edited by Annie
can't spell for toffee
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5 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

how can all the people of Brenton Woods turn their backs on such a beautiful engine - Philistines!

Unfortunately it's how the Trainz simulator works Mike.  People who have left the train stand on the platform with their backs to the carriages and those who are catching the train stand facing the carriages.  With Brenton Wood being a 'large station' according to the inner workings of the simulator half of the people on the train will end their journey there so it makes for quite a crowd on the platform.

Sometimes with station stops where I've specified a longer time to represent parcel or mail bag loading the simulator can get slightly confused and those who have been waiting for the train become indecisive about wanting to travel and will get on and off the train a couple of times before they make up their minds.

A member of the creator group I belong to is making a pre-1920 passenger set so hopefully that will improve things and the time travelling people can all go back to their own era.  Some Trainz enthusiasts don't like interactive passenger platforms and will only have static people models on their station platforms or none at all, but I like to see the inhabitants of my little virtual world  making use of the passenger service.

Edited by Annie
fumble brain
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5 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

how can all the people of Brenton Woods turn their backs on such a beautiful engine - Philistines!

I misread that as Bretton Woods, which led to a degree of confusion, especially as the first railway near there was to a broad gauge (Portland gauge).

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I have recently discovered that on his appointment to the LMS, Stanier commanded that the Midland Railway museum locomotive collection be scrapped.  And then there is Churchward who commanded that 'North Star' be broken up so it is plain enough that I must shun the works of these taper boiler modernists and have nothing further to do with them.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Annie said:

I have recently discovered that on his appointment to the LMS, Stanier commanded that the Midland Railway museum locomotive collection be scrapped.  And then there is Churchward who commanded that 'North Star' be broken up so it is plain enough that I must shun the works of these taper boiler modernists and have nothing further to do with them.

 

 

It wasn’t Churchward. It was Bill Stanier’s father, as Works Manager.

 

To be fair, they had a point: if the publicity department thinks storing and displaying of historical artefacts has value, they should sort out a museum and not take up workshop space.

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3 minutes ago, Regularity said:

It wasn’t Churchward. It was Bill Stanier’s father, as Works Manager.

 

To be fair, they had a point: if the publicity department thinks storing and displaying of historical artefacts has value, they should sort out a museum and not take up workshop space.

Plainly I must now consider whether to allow my firmly held opinion to be let go in the face of the facts, - or do I become even more hidebound and grumpy than I was before.

 

My comment on the whole situation.

VZbeArk.gif

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From what I have read, it seems that both North Star and Lord of the Isles were offered to the Science Museum and some other museums but they were turned down.  It's not the job of an engineering works to provide museum space so, following these rejections, it seems reasonable that they were scrapped.  It also seems to be the case that some employees spirited away several components, which were included in the North Star replica.

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On 30/09/2021 at 09:36, MikeOxon said:

From what I have read, it seems that both North Star and Lord of the Isles were offered to the Science Museum and some other museums but they were turned down.  It's not the job of an engineering works to provide museum space so, following these rejections, it seems reasonable that they were scrapped.  It also seems to be the case that some employees spirited away several components, which were included in the North Star replica.

And that is what I can't understand Mike.  Why did the Science Museum and other museums refuse to take North Star and Lord of the Isles?  I suppose the answer to that is lost now in the mists of time so it must forever remain a mystery.

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12 hours ago, Annie said:

And that is what I can't understand Mike.  Why did the Science Museum and other museums refuse to take North Star and Lord of the Isles?  I suppose the answer to that is lost now in the mists of time so it must forever remain a mystery.

I can only assume that, at the time, the Broad Gauge was seen as a wrong turn and not worth commemorating.  I don't think that Churchward deserves all the opprobrium that some writers have heaped on him over this matter.

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4 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

I don't think that Churchward deserves all the opprobrium that some writers have heaped on him over this matter.

Opprobrium - is that like coprolite? 

Seriously though, it's only because he was the boss at the time and therefore the most visible target that he caught the flak when other folk now invisible to history no doubt had a hand in it.  Churchward also goes down in history as shaking a lot of the Victorian era out of the GWR which doubly makes him a target.

 

4 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

I can only assume that, at the time, the Broad Gauge was seen as a wrong turn and not worth commemorating.

That's more than likely as good a reason as any Mike.  I would imagine that museums of the time would be very keen to show off the advancements of the British Empire and with the Broad Gauge being seen as a failure they didn't want to know about it.

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Railways were businesses and had to show a return on the investment which created and funded them. Massive initial cost in establishing the route, then continual upkeep of the permanent way, but a major cost centre was the mechanical engineering department. As with all such things, the CME was charged with running a tight ship and not wasting money. If old locos and stock are occupying his workshop space and getting in the way of efficient and effective running of the system, well, something has to give. In his shoes, it is perfectly understandable if he says to the board, “Sorry, but if you think we should keep these museum pieces, then find a museum for them. Or create one. Just not on my part of the business as this stuff is getting in the way.”

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4 hours ago, Regularity said:

Railways were businesses and had to show a return on the investment which created and funded them. Massive initial cost in establishing the route, then continual upkeep of the permanent way, but a major cost centre was the mechanical engineering department. As with all such things, the CME was charged with running a tight ship and not wasting money. If old locos and stock are occupying his workshop space and getting in the way of efficient and effective running of the system, well, something has to give. In his shoes, it is perfectly understandable if he says to the board, “Sorry, but if you think we should keep these museum pieces, then find a museum for them. Or create one. Just not on my part of the business as this stuff is getting in the way.”

All very true Simon and I do understand the hard realities of running a business, but it's still a pity that there wasn't a better outcome.

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Book Corner:

 

I had a wonderful cheer up surprise yesterday when our lovely local courier people dropped off my much awaited copy of the 'The Forest of Boland Light Railway' to me.  It's a 1955 1st Edition copy obtained from 'Shining Owl Bookshop' in the mysterious land of Oz.  My copy is not as pristine as the one illustrated and it's lost its dust jacket, but it's plainly been a much loved book that has been much read and handled which is how I like my second hand books to be.

I'm still working my way through reading it and it's a wonderfully engaging story very much of its time which to my mind makes it miles better than some of the trash that's offered up as children's stories these days.  And of course there's Denys Watkins-Pitchford's wonderful illustrations to enjoy as well.  When I was hunting down my copy I soon discovered that surviving copies of this book tend to be expensive, but by finding a copy for sale in Australia I was at least able to keep the postage costs to a minimum.  However to my mind this little book is well worth the price I paid for it and it shall be much treasured.

 

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(And yes I do know that 'BB' and Denys Watkins-Pitchford are one and the same person, but hush now and don't ruin the magic.)

Edited by Annie
Um.........
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Broad Gauge cheer up picture: 

Perhaps the earliest picture of an 8ft single 'Iron Duke' class locomotive discovered to date.  'Lord of the Isles' at Swindon in the early 1850s.

 

4URlWhY.jpg

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1 hour ago, Annie said:

Broad Gauge cheer up picture: 

Perhaps the earliest picture of an 8ft single 'Iron Duke' class locomotive discovered to date.  'Lord of the Isles' at Swindon in the early 1850s.

 

Who took these early photos? There is a sort of local connection to the Great Western: Henry Fox Talbot, who pioneered photography in England, lived at Laycock Abbey, 20 miles SW of Swindon, and was involved in the very first photographic shop, in Reading, in the 1840s.

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3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Who took these early photos?

In the case of this particular photo the Broad Gauge Society doesn't know unfortunately Stephen.  The Rev. Malan is well known for his amazing photos of Broad Gauge locomotives during the 1880s, but with most early photos the photographer is unknown.

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4 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Who took these early photos? ..........

In his book on Broad Gauge Engines of the GWR [Part 1], Brian Arman suggests that the early photo of what are believed to be 'Polar Star', 'Alligator' and 'Javelin', outside Cheltenham shed c.1849, were taken by Hugh Owen, who was a GWR employee and a close friend of Henry Fox Talbot.

 

Owen's calotypes were exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where his images so impressed the Commissioners that, along with his French contemporary Claude-Marie Ferrier, he was asked to make 155 photographs of the exhibits.  Owen exhibited at the Royal Society of Arts in 1852 and a review in The Times listed him among the best photographers of the day.

 

Mike

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