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

[Edwardian]

That Claud on the viaduct is a glorious sight!

[Regularity]

That is one very nice model locomotive; - and 'S' Scale too.

Part me (some final details, brakes etc), but mostly Ken Morgan (body) and Trevor Nunn (making the wheels go round).

Over 20 years ago now I used to work in 'S' Scale

 

I know. I remember your articles.

and I thought it was the ideal scale for finescale work.

 

It’s not for everyone: the essential lack of RTR means it is not for the faint hearted, the unenlightenedly impatient, or those in a hurry, but for those prepared to take up the challenge it is very rewarding.

But then, I might be biased.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Regularity

[Annie]

 

 

I know. I remember your articles.

Oh dear my mis-spent past finds me out  

Gosh, - that seems so long ago now.  Life, bringing up two children, my marriage going down the tubes and then later on training as a social worker all conspired to take me away from railway modelling for quite a long time.  When I started again it was in coarse scale 'O' gauge which was a lot of fun.  And now I'm a digital railway modelling girl.

[Annie]

 

I've been looking at old photos of GCR 0-6-2 tank engines and this one doesn't seem to be lined out, but of course it's impossible to tell if it's black or bronze green.  There seems to be a different colour toning between the smoke box and the boiler which makes me wonder if it's unlined bronze green, but it really is difficult to say if it is one way or the other.

[Annie]

As the grouping begin to take hold the newly devised LNER has sent ex-NER J73's to work the coal trains over the slightly fragile wooden river bridge on the GNJt.R's Seaside branch.  At least two young schoolboys (Their Mum supervising with a stern eye) seem pleased to see them even if the GNJt.R crews are still a bit doubtful.

 

 

And the aforementioned bridge.  Some strengthening work has been carried out, but heavier locomotives than the J73's are still banned.

 

 

Earlier snaps taken with my virtual box Brownie of the coal train in transit.

 

 

 

 

On the approach to the river bridge.

 

 

The J73's are by Paulz Trainz and are older models from his stable, but are still very nice.

 

The fate of the GNJt.R's second hand Wainwright R1's is at present uncertain.

 

 

And ex-NER J72's in the livery of their new masters are also starting to appear on the GNJt.R's Seaside branch.

 

 

Where will it all end?!     (A small point of explanation: - The Grand Navigation Shipping & Railways Co's joint partner is or was the NER, - hence the GNJt.R or Grand Navigation Joint Railway.)

Edited April 7, 2018 by Annie

[Annie]

Once coal trains have crossed the river bridge they are handed over to the care of more serious and powerful 0-8-0's by various shunting and setting back manoeuvres into a long siding provided for the purpose.  Once the NER T1's take over it's out on the mainline.  Which as it happens is owned by the GWR, but by virtue of inexplicable running powers granted to the GNJt.R back in the dim mists of time the newly devised LNER are still able to use.

 

 

 

On the climb up to Debton station (GWR) it became very plain the the lead T1 was neither producing any smoke from its chimney, nor was it actually doing anything to help and was in fact being pushed up the hill by the second T1 which was also having to struggle with the whole weight of the coal train.  Sooooooo the leading engine got sent to the naughty chair of shame by being shunted into the GWR MPD at Debton until it could be fetched to be mended.  I think the poor thing was ashamed to be still carrying a BR number on its cabside so I'll have to fix that.

 

 

Fortunately there were no further problems for the rest of the journey.

 

 

Which ended at my steampunk version of a gasworks which may or may not actually look like what a gasworks is supposed to look like.

 

 

And that's all from my latest episode of playing with my trainset.  

Edited April 8, 2018 by Annie

[Annie]

Out and about on the Seaside branch with a J70 on a local train.  Part of the route is roadside running so the J70's have been needed on the branch for a while now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot more screenies than that from this passenger run, but I think these ones are the best out of the collection.

[Annie]

NER C1's waiting for signals.  These are from Paulz Trainz, but with sight texture modding by me.  Older models now, but still very nice.

 

[Annie]

Terriers got everywhere.  Here's one of the Terriers belonging to the GNJt.R.  It actually started out as a 'Thomas' Stepney which I 'defaced' because it was a better base model to work on than the proper ones on the DLS.

 

 

I mostly spent my modelling time today catching up with various jobs along the GNJt.R and one I've been meaning to do for a while was build the GNJt.R station at Debton so GNJt.R trains won't have to annoy the GWR anymore by using their station.  After doing semi-serious stuff on the NER side of things it was nice to have a mess around with my imaginary railway company.

Here's 'Fly' a very finely turned out J72 with the 'express' which is the all stations twice daily train from Seaside Magna to Debton.

 

 

The coaches are my own litho style ones vaguely based on ancient GWR designs.

 

 

A perfect example of the GNJt.R's inability to make up its mind about coaching stock liveries.  The station building is based on Stromeferry with the addition of a small awning.

 

 

 

The 'express' arriving at Debton station (GNJtR).  A totally fudged up static posed screenie as I didn't want to quit the editor to do a 'in motion' screenie.

 

 

 

The station staff are slightly overwhelmed with parcels and milk churns that need to be loaded into the 6 wheel birdcage road van.  Some of it might have to be loaded into the ancient luggage 3rd.

 

 

General view.  It's a wee bit of a long walk along that footpath to get to the town.

 

[Edwardian]

Wow, Annie, what a wonderful immersive world.

 

I wish I could have a layout that allowed such expansive views, and the details are a delight.

 

P.S. I like the E1 in blue!

Edited April 10, 2018 by Edwardian

[sem34090]

Reminds me that I need to think about doing myself a route...

[Annie]

Wow, Annie, what a wonderful immersive world.

 

I wish I could have a layout that allowed such expansive views, and the details are a delight.

 

P.S. I like the E1 in blue!

Thanks James.  The 'E1' is actually a 'never-been-an-E1' J72, - one of the LNER built ones rather than a NER built one so it has a different cab, - but that's a small detail I overlook since this particular engine shouldn't have really been built yet.  In my little world the GNJt.R rebuilt the cab on one of their second hand J72's around 1920 in that style and the LNER stole the idea.  

 

The blue livery was a complete happy accident as normally on the GNJt.R lined black is the passenger livery and grey is the goods livery.  Somehow while working on modding the loco's original textures I ended up with that shade of blue so I decided to go with it.  There are two other J72's in this blue livery, - 'Hornet' and 'Wasp' and they mostly work the local passenger, milk and parcel trains between Seaside Magna and Debton; - a distance of around 7 or 8 scale miles.

 

This particular layout, - which I call the 'HUGE UK' layout is BIG with around 100 scale miles of trackwork.  I originally downloaded the base layout I started with from Auran's Download Station and immediately saw that it had good 'bones' with regard to landscaping and especially the river and coastal areas.  I've done a lot to it since with doing major rebuilding and detailing on towns, building up and improving the industries on the layout and largely totally rebuilding what is now the GNJt.R's Seaside branch as well as dozens and dozens of other things too numerous to mention.

 

The lovely views are very much a part of this layout and I have done my best to enhance them without (hopefully) taking anything away from their visual delights.  The layout is large enough to get lost in and I do that fairly often.  It's my own little immersive world where I can go and play trains, plant trees, and generally detail everything to my heart's content and on those days when I'm not so well I can completely forget about being ill and being an invalid.

 

(Warning computer Geek alert!)The one problem with doing that though is that the graphics and memory loading on my computer has now reached the point where I'm going to have to upgrade my graphics card again and increase the RAM in my computer from 6Gb to 8Gb.  After that it will have to be a new computer as my present one has reached the limit of how far it can be hotrodded upgraded.  Fortunately the local computer recycling/refinishing businesses are starting to get ex-lease quad core i5's in stock now so a 'new' computer won't be a too awful expense for me.  I'm running a dual core 3Ghz processor in my present computer and while I can't remember the model number of the processor off the top of my head it's one of the really really good ones.  

Edited April 10, 2018 by Annie

[Annie]

Reminds me that I need to think about doing myself a route...

Go for it Sem you won't regret it.   I downloaded quite a few UK layouts from the DLS and looked them over before I settled on the HUGE UK layout and Valleyfields (I have a nice GWR one as well, but I'm deliberately ignoring that at the moment).  Most of the rejected layouts have been deleted now, but the great thing about downloading a layout is that all the scenic stuff and buildings come along with it and once the base layout file is deleted all those assets remain.  That helps a lot because it means you don'r have to spend ages searching for things when it comes to making a start on making a basic downloaded layout your own.

 

I have done some digital layout building from bare baseboards, but I quite enjoy the challenge of having a layout's landscape as a given quality and then having to think like the railway builders of old had to do with building things up to fit into that landscape.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Annie

[Annie]

Pocket money spent on a NER Class '59' (J22) by McDonnell (built 1883-1885).  I placed the order for one in NER livery.  These particular locomotives were somewhat underwhelming and were scrapped in 1930.  The design by McDonnell had several faults which Worsdell tried to remedy in later years without success.  Underpowered compared with the locomotives they were supposed to replace their fate was pretty much written up large after the Grouping.

 

 

Basically they are a mixed traffic 0-6-0 with a lighter axle loading so the way I see it the NER would have only been too pleased to palm one or two off on the GNJt.R.  They certainly are light enough to cross the wooden river bridge safely and that has always been the yardstick by which GNJt.R locomotives tend to be measured.  As far as the GNJt.R is concerned if a locomotive can cross the bridge without breaking it and it can move under its own steam they'll take it.  (I have devised some operating rules for the wooden river bridge which are rigorously adhered to during running sessions).

 

I might rework a Class '59' into GNJt.R livery, - a job which would mostly involve lettering work and putting in place the Grand Navigation anchor crest, - and perhaps keep the other in NER livery.  I'm presently going over the GNJt.R's locomotive stud and some engines might get quietly retired.  Others might appear in new liveries too so it's not going to be a major sell off of redundant engines by any means. The wandering twiglet of a branch to the timber sawmill is where most old engines end up so some will be going there; - and that reminds me that I've got a few jobs to do down that way.

[Annie]

Paul of Paulz Trainz has just revealed to me a web page of NER goods rolling stock that isn't on his usual shop website and I feel like a kiddie that's just been thrown into a sweet shop.  Unfortunately it's a week where I have to be terribly adult and pay horrible nasty boring bills so I can't go mad and buy everything just yet.  I may be able to afford some NER 20 ton coal hoppers this week though, but but I might have to scratch a little down the back of the couch cushions for odd stray coins though.

[Annie]

'Fly' about to leave Debton station (GNJt.R) for the return journey to Seaside Magna.  Just as a by the way that leading coach is a litho and its sides are completely flat.  All the apparent depth to the panelling you can see is done with shading and texture work and is entirely illusionary.  Needless to say I'm rather proud of that coach and I regard it as being one of my better efforts.

 

 

A snap I took of the river wharf at Debton.  The coal barges beside the wharf are actually made for TTTE digital railways and are surprisingly good models.  Across the river you can see the timber mill and wood products factory which is served by its own branchline..

 

 

And just to round off the snaps I took while doing some work on the layout here's the Treacle Works at Seaside Magna.  The grim rusty looking buildings on a higher level above the Treacle factory are part of the steelmill, - which is huge and is just about an entire layout in itself.

 

[Annie]

The Class '59' (J22) has arrived and I'm very pleased with it.  It's a later model by Paul so has various small refinements to its digital make up as compared to the older Class C's (J21) which are very nice.  Fun fact, - the Class C's were built by Worsdell as a replacement for the underwhelming Class 59's designed by McDonnell so it's slightly amusing that the new Class 59 is the more refined digital model out of the two.

With a lot of digital steam loco models being made these days lettering and numbers are on small attached mesh patches rather than on the main body texture which means that it can be quite difficult to make changes to another era if the attached patches aren't in the right place.  I'd had to compromise with the Class C's tenders to give them NER style lettering, but having purchased the Class 59 in NER condition I decided to use the same tender on the Class C's since it had its lettering attachment patches in the right place.  The Class 59 tender is smaller and of an older type, but I decided that in my little world the smaller tenders were fitted to the Class C's before they were transferred to the GNJt.R's Seaside branch.  The ever present fact of the fragile wooden river bridge would have been the likely reason since nobody wants to be the one who did something to break it.  Being a swing bridge that opens to river traffic would make any stronger modern replacement for the wooden bridge far more expensive than anybody wants to shell out for so the wooden bridge remains and the operating department just has to live with all the necessary compromises involved with keeping traffic moving over the bridge.  (The bridge is animated and really does open and close by the way).

 

 

I used my own shaded lettering on the now Class C tenders.  Mine is based on some accurate NER images I found somewhere and is a little bit better than Paul's.  I had a problem though in that my correct width 'N' wouldn't fit on Paul's attachment patch so I ended up having to make it narrower than it should be.  At some stage I'll change the lettering on the Class 59 tender as well which won't be so difficult since I've already done the 'N' and the 'E' to suit.  I use a dove grey for the normal maps on my lettering instead of white as Paul does and I find this stops the lettering from looking unnaturally bright.

 

 

I was going to buy the similar looking, but slightly smaller NER Worsdell Class 'P' (J24), but decided on the McDonnell Class '59' mostly because it's visually different looking to the Class 'C' and also more likely to have been orphaned out to the GNJt.R as a way of getting rid of a couple of not especially useful locomotives.  I have yet to do anything about a second Class '59', but it's definitely on the 'to do' list.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Annie

[Caley Jim]

And just to round off the snaps I took while doing some work on the layout here's the Treacle Works at Seaside Magna.  T

 

I thought treacle came from the treacle mines at Knotty Ash and was mined by the Diddymen!   

 

Or have I been watching too much of the recently departed, and much lamented Ken Dodd?

 

Jim

[Regularity]

I thought treacle came from the treacle mines at Knotty Ash and was mined by the Diddymen!   

 

Or have I been watching too much of the recently departed, and much lamented Ken Dodd?

 

Jim

 

Having been privileged enough to have seen the great man live (Scarborough, circa 1979!) all I can say is that it is impossible to watch too much of him.

[Annie]

These are the closest thing the GNJt.R has to 'top link' locomotives.  How the GNJt.R came to own a pair of ex-SECR locomotives is (conveniently) lost to the mists of time, but No.5 and No.4 (inside the engine shed) are the two 'express' engines worthy of the name on the GNJt.R.  Even though the unlined No.5 should be the more 'plain Jane' of the pair to my mind it has always been the more visually striking of the two locomotives.  I'm thinking of altering No.4 to carry the same 'GNJt.R' lettering on its tanksides as a part of the general upgrading of I'm doing with the original GNJt.R locomotives at the moment.

 

 

Edit: These digital models are quite old, the base 'H' class model having been made for TS2004, but recently someone very clever made a brand new detailed cab interior for them which has certainly helped to make them look a little better.  Originally the cab was empty with a bare backhead which made them look very plain.  Lovely locomotives to drive with quite a tenacious performance and a good turn of speed when hauling a a train of 6 bogie coaches.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Annie

[Annie]

Ha ha.  I do have another layout, - a 3ft 6in gauge one that does have a treacle mine, - but I thought I'd be a little more sensible with the HUGE UK layout and have a proper factory instead.  The name 'Golden Bounty' has been carried across to this layout from the other layout though.

[Caley Jim]

I once thought of building a shunting plank layout of an irn bru factory. Only three types of vehicles needed, bolster wagons for the inward girders and vans and tankers for the outgoing product!   

 

Jim.

[Annie]

Nice.  It would be just the thing for a Scottish themed layout  

[Annie]

After paying all my horrible nasty boring bills for the week I had enough left over to buy a 20 ton NER coal hopper wagon and a 10 ton NER coke wagon from Paulz Trainz.  Nice models too and only $4.00 each.  Next week should be bill free so I'll have a little more pocket money to buy some more pre-group NER wagons.  Most NER wagons were quite distinctive and nobody is making anything in the way of freeware for the NER.

 

The LNER/NER page can be found here; -  http://www.paulztrainz.myenet.info/inside/LNER_Wagons.htm

 

All wagons $4.00 each and pay via PayPal at this email address  paulztrainzusa@gmail.com

 

And I don't get any commission for passing this information on I'm just a happy customer who wants to share the joy.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Annie

[sem34090]

Meanwhile, at Newport:

A train from Ventnor West waiting for the return trip, a train from Cowes through to Ryde Pier Head in the centre about to depart, with a Sandown train behind.