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


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They certainly were a handsome locomotive; - and you are quite right, - for such a big locomotive that's an awfully small looking coal bunker.  Come the new year when mail deliveries settle down again I'm really going to have to buy the digital archive of the BGS 'Broadsheet' magazine on a USB key.

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19 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

Don't forget to feel the width :)

 

But were BG engines much wider overall than SG engines? If the wheel profile is the same as for an SG engine, the width over the tyres would be about 9" greater than the gauge, so given how close to the outer valences seem to be to the wheel faces, the width over the footplate can't be much more than 8'0". The earlier series of Dean Goods SG 0-6-0s had 7'3" wide footplate, later 7'8"; I'm not so well up on Great Western engines of the period but, in general, side tank engines were wider, 8'0" being typical.

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2d3lII1.jpg

 

U2FOW0W.jpg

 

CEZbue2.jpg

 

I suppose what we need is for some mathematically inclined person to calculate exactly how much extra coal can be carried by a Broad Gauge tank engine.  

Edited by Annie
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In other news the copy of BGS Broadsheet No.64 I ordered almost exactly a month ago has arrived.  The reason I placed the order with the Guardians of the Inner Sanctum was to obtain the set of drawings of a Vale of Neath 0-6-0ST contained within Broadsheet No.64's sacred pages.  O and what a wonder they are, - a delight upon mine eyes. 

The accompanying notes for the drawings were penned by none other than that high priest  of Broad Gauge wisdom the Rev. Brian Arman.  All in all a very pleasant treat for me this morning.

 

I'm planning on purchasing all the copies of the Broadsheet in digital form after the season of unbridled retail greed has passed and overseas postage returns to something like normal.  Only I find myself wondering how well and accurately such images as the beautiful 19th century drawings in Broadsheet No.64 would be reproduced.  I suppose if there's any doubt over a drawing I can simply order a copy of that particular Broadsheet.

 

Broadsheel No.64 also contains other delights such as the Railway Timetable for Taunton Station for October 1886 and a photo of a 3521 Class 0-4-4T No.3544 which I hadn't seen before.  I haven't given up on the notion of commissioning a 3521 Class so any information about them is always welcome.

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2 hours ago, Northroader said:

Pinch and a punch on the first of the month.

Thanks, - I think......

2021 is just about a completely wrung out used year.  I'm not sure what I did in 2021, - slept mostly I suppose.

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14 hours ago, Annie said:

I'm planning on purchasing all the copies of the Broadsheet in digital form after the season of unbridled retail greed has passed and overseas postage returns to something like normal.  Only I find myself wondering how well and accurately such images as the beautiful 19th century drawings in Broadsheet No.64 would be reproduced.  I suppose if there's any doubt over a drawing I can simply order a copy of that particular Broadsheet.

The digital set of Broadsheets is a treasure-trove of information.  I enjoy the exploratory nature of the earliest issues when hardly anyone knew much at all about the Broad gauge.  Do not worry about the quality of reproduction.  In my opinion they are all excellent.

Mike

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On 30/11/2021 at 02:44, Annie said:

Broad Gauge cheer up picture:  Ostrich, one of the ten 2-4-0s of the Hawthorn class rebuilt as 2-4-0 saddle tanks in 1877 stands on the Newton Abbot traverser.  Newton Abbot Goods Shed is in the background. The photograph is believed to have been taken circa 1890.

(Broad Gauge Society: Broadsheet 43)

8Awe00k.jpg

 

According to the RTCS locos of the GWR Part 2, "Broad Gauge" 1952 (first?) edition, a 2-4-0 Loco named Ostrich was built by Sharp, Roberts in 12/1840 and ceased work 12/1865. The above loco has the looks of having a bunker added as an afterthought . Could it have been that original one modified?

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5 minutes ago, DonB said:

 

According to the RTCS locos of the GWR Part 2, "Broad Gauge" 1952 (first?) edition, a 2-4-0 Loco named Ostrich was built by Sharp, Roberts in 12/1840 and ceased work 12/1865. The above loco has the looks of having a bunker added as an afterthought . Could it have been that original one modified?

On page B15, the RCTS book states "In 1865-66 ...Ostrich ... was replaced by an entirely new engine bearing the same name"  The original was a member of the 'Fire-Fly' or 'Priam' class.

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Broad Gauge cheer up picture (Shamelessly stolen from the BGS Farcebook page):  Here's a couple of 7mm "Rover" class locos - "Dragon" and "Emperor", expertly built from Martin Finney kits by Alan Garner, and beautifully painted by Alan Brackenborough. Broad Gauge perfection!

 

lSFeWkC.jpg

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The thing I enjoy about my Norfolk layout is that there's always somewhere nice to visit.  I hadn't visited the Sudden branch on the Eastlingwold & Great Mulling for months.  More than likely not since I'd converted the layout over to TRS19 from TS2012, - and then it would have only been a quick look round to make sure nothing was broken or out of place.

 

The big project for the branch back when it was still in TS2012 was getting a push-pull/Motor-Train service up and running under Trainz AI control.  My own interest with the branch was solving the shunting puzzles in the harbour sidings and trip working to the goods yard at Eastlingwold without disrupting the passenger service too much, so a fair bit of frowning was involved with getting the motor-train to behave itself and cope with the tricky business of travelling to Eastlingwold station on the moderately busy E&GR mainline and returning to Less Sudden again without having any accidents along the way.  Of all the Trainz schedules I've written this was the most involved and difficult one I've ever done, but at the end of it all the ex-NER motor trailer in company with a strengthening six wheel coach and a Terrier in charge could carry out its schedule without a hitch.

 

Only now that the Sudden branch is in Trainz TRS19 I'm having to look at setting everything up again and after having a think about the branch's purpose, traffic & etc I'm strongly considering changing it to being single track.  Not for any kind of BR-like penny pinching and unfun reasons, but because that's how I now think it should have been from the start.   I will confess that I particularly like single line operation and the tramways and the Tenpenny branch have always been single tracked and have worked reasonably well without too many glitches.  Having just converted what is now the Foxwood branch to single track makes me feel a lot happier about that section of the layout as well.

 

In TR2012 Great Sudden was represented by portals, but one of the things I did do on my last visit to the branch was to change out the portals for a return loop since the portal scripting had been broken and they didn't work properly anymore.  The portal scripting has now been fixed and they work flawlessly, but I prefer to use return loops and storage sidings now since they give greater operational flexibility.  And besides I like the rolling stock on the Affiliated (Imaginary) Companies lines to be a visible constant presence on the layout and not spat out from time to time by 'magic' from a portal.

So once I've finished my present program of works on the Foxwood branch and have it properly up and running I'll be moving on to the Sudden branch.  After that it's the Grimwold branch and then the E&GR lines will be getting a tidy up.

 

Sudden by Sea.

8SPX6xh.jpg

 

Less Sudden.

KMrMlSf.jpg

 

Sudden Harbour.

FL2p5Gf.jpg

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The other thing I had been wondering about was whether to make the Sudden branch something of a Wootton tramway kind of thing, but I decided I wouldn't as its appealing enough as it stands and doing a single line conversion should be quite enough to enhance its quiet and pleasant rural nature.  The place to continue with any Wootton tramway kind of experiments would be the Tenpenny branch since it's part way along to being like that already.

 

6O1c0aO.jpg

 

ciJR6VU.jpg

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2 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

Does anything ever happen there all of a sudden?  :jester:

 

Jim  (sorry, I've picked ma windae!)

I'm not sure why I picked the name 'Sudden' for the branch Jim, - and then of course the name 'Less Sudden' is a good match for a station on a sleepy branchline.  After that the off stage larger town 'Great Sudden' more or less named itself  and for the village by the sea halfway along the branch 'Sudden by Sea' sounded perfect to me.

Really not very much happens suddenly, - despite the two second hand Terriers assigned to the branch having secret ambitions of being in the top link.

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Various snaps taken at Bleakhorse Road.  I've just about finished here for now and I'll be moving onto Foxwood next.

 

Zs72lrh.jpg

 

I found some buffer stop models that were similar to those I'd seen in pre-WW1 photos of GER stations.  And yes I know the point levers for the goods yard are the wrong way round.  Somehow they got switched about when I was sorting out the goods yard trackwork and I didn't notice until I saw the snap just now.

3M0XsIB.jpg

 

aeMYFyH.jpg

 

I've replaced the cattle dock at Bleakhorse Road with this one that's fast becoming the group standard for the Affiliated (Imaginary) Companies.  Finding the moveable stock ramp model was a real bonus.

eLoSxlf.jpg

 

Edited by Annie
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3 hours ago, Annie said:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35027  'Mr Punch's Railway Book'  by J.A. Hammerton et al.

 

This was fun reading, at least the part I understood. Other parts I didn't quite get because either I lack background information about railway in the Victorian age, or because it's written in some idiom or slang in phonetic script, or both. :dontknow::blush:

'Plumpwell-on-Tyme' & 'Muddleby Junction' might serve as names for future layouts or stations... :scratchhead::)

 

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Don't worry Jake I found some of the Victorian idiom/slang difficult to figure out as well and usually I'm fairly good at that sort of thing.

I have to agree both 'Plumpwell-on-Tyme' & 'Muddleby Junction' sound like they'd be fine names for stations.

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A perhaps not so great a Broad Gauge cheer up picture this morning, - but the photographs taken of the dump sidings at Swindon still remain a major resource for Broad Gauge modellers,

 

RokZtfU.jpg

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1 hour ago, Annie said:

the photographs taken of the dump sidings at Swindon still remain a major resource for Broad Gauge modellers,

 

For me, it's particularly interesting to see the BG version of the three-plank wagons, many of which (as I understand it) were converted to SG. Certainly from the side elevation alone one would struggle to spot the difference. 

 

The 6-wheeler vans are sui generis - nothing like them on the SG. One wonders why?

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Another old photo because I wanted to post it.  No date information or anything else with this one, but I'd say it's safe money that it was taken at Swindon Wolverhampton Swindon (....um).  This is a large image so there's lots to see.  Nice pair of 517's there.

 

TIJdrg0.jpg

 

In other news I finally have my new 'super specs' so I can see better now.  I still find myself picking up my old ones though simply because they are so familiar.  They are wire frame specs made from titanium and I've owned them for the past twenty years or more; - they must've had at least six different sets of lenses in them by now.  Wonderfully light and comfortable to wear. 

Unfortunately though my eyesight had reached the point where magic progressive lenses could no longer do it for me so I had to have these Ministry of Social Services approved 'super specs' I'm presently wearing at the moment.  No more fabulous titanium framed retro specs for this OAP (sigh); - BUT my old ones are still fine for navigating the world where fine detail isn't needed so it's not total abandonment.

Gosh it's lovely to be able to see properly though.  I was reading Russell this morning (Alleluia! Alleluia!) and I could see everything on the pages so clearly without having to reach for my big magnifying glass.  I could get used to this.

 

33 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

For me, it's particularly interesting to see the BG version of the three-plank wagons, many of which (as I understand it) were converted to SG. Certainly from the side elevation alone one would struggle to spot the difference. 

 

The 6-wheeler vans are sui generis - nothing like them on the SG. One wonders why?

True enough, with those three plank opens you'd never know they were Broad Gauge wagons looking at them from a side on view.  This photo reminds me as well that I have some 6 wheel open wagons that I must hunt out.

 

A nice big van with plenty of room inside riding on 6 wheels, - yes it is a mystery as to why there weren't any built for the standard gauge.

Edited by Annie
Um.........
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