Dunnington, Derwent Valley Light Railway.

[Signaller69]

3 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

That's really interesting. Do you know when the sugarbeet traffic ran until? Did it last into the '70s? I know it was very seasonable in nature, with incredibly intensive operation for very short spells during the year.

 

I have always been very interested in the Wissington railway in Norfolk too and have always found sugarbeet to be a fascinating  traffic flow. I know when the season was in full swing there, they used to scramble wagons from far and wife to handle the intensive requirements, with there being some wonderful photos of an eclectic mix of wagons, 16t minerals, wooden bodies opens and other hoppers, all trailing behind an industrial loco... right up my street It's one which you very rarely see modelled too, although geography plays a part in that too. 

 

Anyway, sorry for waffling and digressing. I'll let you get back to important matters rather than my rambling! Keep the updates coming. 

 

David

No problem David! According to the book, 1972 was the final sugar beet season for the line as British Sugar Corporation's York Refinery stopped receiving it by rail after that. In 1964 the crop was so great that 2 additional 500 ton trains a week were run to the BSC Nottingham refinery, along with bumper potato crops which needed transporting to Goole Docks.

Happily, whilst looking this up, I noticed a photo in the book of a line of steel open wagons almost overflowing with beet, at the Dunnington loading bank in 1972, confirming the short siding was still in situ at that point. Both the lines 04 Shunters are present, one of which appears to have brought in a long rake of further open wagons for loading and has pulled up to a string of Grain hoppers in the platform road, whilst the other looks ready to remove the loaded ones from the bank, presumably it would have then released the other 04 by Shunting the empties to the loading bank. For such a basic track layout it appears that Shunting could be quite a complicated affair!

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[south_tyne]

11 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

No problem David! According to the book, 1972 was the final sugar beet season for the line as British Sugar Corporation's York Refinery stopped receiving it by rail after that. In 1964 the crop was so great that 2 additional 500 ton trains a week were run to the BSC Nottingham refinery, along with bumper potato crops which needed transporting to Goole Docks.

Happily, whilst looking this up, I noticed a photo in the book of a line of steel open wagons almost overflowing with beet, at the Dunnington loading bank in 1972, confirming the short siding was still in situ at that point. Both the lines 04 Shunters are present, one of which appears to have brought in a long rake of further open wagons for loading and has pulled up to a string of Grain hoppers in the platform road, whilst the other looks ready to remove the loaded ones from the bank, presumably it would have then released the other 04 by Shunting the empties to the loading bank. For such a basic track layout it appears that Shunting could be quite a complicated affair!

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

 

Cheers Martyn, that really is fascinating stuff. The line obviously handled huge amounts of sugarbeet during the season. I'm pleased that you managed to track down that photo, it will help with developing the layout. Complicated shunting makes for interesting operation! Cannot wait to see this take shape. 

 

Thanks again for sharing such interesting information. 

 

David

 

[Tappa]

Hi Martyn,

 

I have built an EM gauge model of the DVLR. My layout draws inspiration from Dunnington as I modelled a cut down version of the grain warehouses. I also used the station plans from MRN and scratchbuilt it from plasticard. Incidentally, York Model Making do the correct style of roof tiles. My layout is an imagined station heading off north from Dunnington to meet up with a set of exchange sidings near Stamford Bridge (Layout is called Scoreby and in the best DVLR tradition, there really is very little at this location!)

The layout also features a couple of classic DVLR bits of rolling stock - the 6 wheel SECR van and the NER brake van as well as 04's. I rebuilt the Lima grain wagons to a more accurate version and this is what I use on the layout. I'm away from home for the next few weeks so can't post any piccies.

 

Jeff

[Signaller69]

2 hours ago, Tappa said:

Hi Martyn,

 

I have built an EM gauge model of the DVLR. My layout draws inspiration from Dunnington as I modelled a cut down version of the grain warehouses. I also used the station plans from MRN and scratchbuilt it from plasticard. Incidentally, York Model Making do the correct style of roof tiles. My layout is an imagined station heading off north from Dunnington to meet up with a set of exchange sidings near Stamford Bridge (Layout is called Scoreby and in the best DVLR tradition, there really is very little at this location!)

The layout also features a couple of classic DVLR bits of rolling stock - the 6 wheel SECR van and the NER brake van as well as 04's. I rebuilt the Lima grain wagons to a more accurate version and this is what I use on the layout. I'm away from home for the next few weeks so can't post any piccies.

 

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, I had been wondering about sourcing the roof tiles so that is very handy information to know, I will pick some up at York Show hopefully - do you recall what the style is called?

 

Please feel free to add photos of your layout by all means (or a link if it online elsewhere), I would be most interested to see it. Was your SECR 6w brake a kit or did you scratchbuild it? It is something I would like to build at some point. I have both Lilliput/Bachmann and Lima grain wagons which I use on Crinan - the latter will be lowered to match the ride height of the others - I have a set of Cambrian replacement axleguards for experimenting with and if that is successful then the others will follow suit.

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

6 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

Cheers Martyn, that really is fascinating stuff. The line obviously handled huge amounts of sugarbeet during the season. I'm pleased that you managed to track down that photo, it will help with developing the layout. Complicated shunting makes for interesting operation! Cannot wait to see this take shape. 

 

Thanks again for sharing such interesting information. 

 

David

 

Thanks David, I'm hoping to get the second point done by tomorrow so that track laying can start shortly. Meanwhile my shopping list for York Show is growing exponentially as my good lady and I are having a long weekend there over Easter, hopefully with another visit to the current DVLR for good measure. (I got away with saying "we should visit the Yorkshire Museum of Farming" the first time, hopefully it will work again ha ha! Although the reconstruction of the Roman Fort and the Saxon village, not to mention the old farming equipment etc are well worth seeing in between riding the trains.)

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Tappa]

51 minutes ago, Signaller69 said:

Thanks Jeff, I had been wondering about sourcing the roof tiles so that is very handy information to know, I will pick some up at York Show hopefully - do you recall what the style is called?

 

Please feel free to add photos of your layout by all means (or a link if it online elsewhere), I would be most interested to see it. Was your SECR 6w brake a kit or did you scratchbuild it? It is something I would like to build at some point. I have both Lilliput/Bachmann and Lima grain wagons which I use on Crinan - the latter will be lowered to match the ride height of the others - I have a set of Cambrian replacement axleguards for experimenting with and if that is successful then the others will follow suit.

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

 

They are listed as diamond slates/tiles and are done in various colours. My SECR brake is the Branchlines brass kit. When I did my grain wagons, I didn't bother altering the height as it was around 1mm out I think. This would have been the width of the saw blade but I would then need to get the springs all square. I changed the board sides and added the board brackets as well as adding brake shoes, changing the buffers, etc.

 

I'll take a couple of photos when I get home but that will be after Easter. I don't think there are any on the 'net but I might be wrong!

 

Jeff

[Signaller69]

The second code 75 point (a large radius Right Hand) has now been re-sleepered, so I can start to think about track laying. Filing the lower web of code 75 flat bottom rail does indeed allow the new Bullhead rail joiners to slide into place as can be seen, boy are they small! (Cut down code 75 insulated joiners join the 2 points). These points form the end of the run-round loop into the platform and the short siding.

As mentioned above, the height difference between Bachmann and Lima grain hoppers (both fitted with scale size wheels) is apparent here too.

[Signaller69]

On 09/04/2019 at 09:02, Tappa said:

 

They are listed as diamond slates/tiles and are done in various colours. My SECR brake is the Branchlines brass kit. When I did my grain wagons, I didn't bother altering the height as it was around 1mm out I think. This would have been the width of the saw blade but I would then need to get the springs all square. I changed the board sides and added the board brackets as well as adding brake shoes, changing the buffers, etc.

 

I'll take a couple of photos when I get home but that will be after Easter. I don't think there are any on the 'net but I might be wrong!

 

Jeff

Thanks for the info Jeff, I have just sent an email to Branchlines for their pdf lists as they don't seem to have a website. As well as the SECR van, I may look into doing one of their complete Class 04 kits based on the Dapol kits (if still available) as Bachmann ones seem thin on the ground.

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

No further progress on the layout, but I have lowered one of my Lima Grain Hoppers using a Cambrian Suspension kit (C40) as an experiment. Involved much cutting and filing of Lima plastic! Still unfinished as brake levers need replacing and brake shoes adding etc.

[steve1]

Do you think those Cambrian units would take EM wheelsets?

 

Thanks.

 

steve

[Signaller69]

8 minutes ago, steve1 said:

Do you think those Cambrian units would take EM wheelsets?

 

Thanks.

 

steve

I can't see a problem with that, but I did find I had to file the openings above each wheel a little to clear the flanges (using modern OO Hornby wheels, but I think these are a tad larger than Gibson etc.). They take standard pin point bearings.

 

Cheers, 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

A little progress today, I set the baseboard up on trestles and laid cork in the hidden sidings area, weighed down with a few bricks while the PVA glue sets. Just a few small gaps to complete now. Once dry, all the corked areas will receive a sealing coat of Matt black paint.

 

The sector plate just needs an alignment tab adding to the underside to keep the track level across the join.

 

The 2 rebuilt points will have unobtrusive feed wires soldered in place and holes drilled in the baseboard for point motors, before being fitted in place. I will probably also motorise the few points in the hidden sidings so that the layout can be run from front or rear via a simple moveable control panel.

 

I will try to get a track plan sorted on here shortly too!

 

The grain hopper I have been working on is almost done:

Fuller details are on my Work bench thread (page 29) for anyone interested: 

I have also had the proof artwork through for the name and works plates for the Fowler "Churchill" from Narrow Planet, very nice they look too!

 

More soon hopefully.

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

Now that the cork is 99% done, I bolted the sector plate on to check alignment. The first photo shows the upside-down sector plate (laid on top of the layout) which constructionally, is about as simple as it can get - The "T" shape support bolts to the end of the layout, and a vertical bolt through this allows the top to pivot within the cut out of the main board. A hardboard "lip" at the near end locates under the baseboard proper and ensures alignment:

 

And when fitted currently looks like this:

 

I put various points in place to give a rough idea of how the track plan will shape up and to test alignment:

The reason for having 2 points on the sector plate is to save space. Only the right and centre exit off the sector plate will align with fiddle yard tracks, the curved point may provide a loco spur in the lower left corner:

The fiddle sidings are not finalised yet as I need to decide exactly where and how to fit the curving backscene, which may need to cantilever over the fiddle tracks, these being hidden inside the low relief Grain plant - this has repercussions at the far end of the fiddle yard where the building ends roughly level with the long siding. 

 

Needless to say the Sector Plate will be tarted up and hardboard edging provided to prevent disasters occurring; it may even be semi scenic with a continuation of the backscene in a Paul Lunn-esque manner, which would avoid having trains appear through a rather large hole in the backscene - a scenic view blocker being fitted at the front left corner instead: the illusion would be lost when the sector plate was moved to access the fiddle yard, but that would only be as required. Plenty of ideas to think about anyway!

[Signaller69]

No modelling done, but a long Easter weekend in York gave me a chance to stock up with modelling bits at the York Show (Excellent as usual) and do some research to see if anything recognisable remained of the DVR's Layerthorpe station, as the hotel we were staying at was only a couple of hundred metres away. The Foss Islands branch is now a cycle & foot path, and a check on Google Maps showed the DVR line is also now part of the same path, so following the trackbed was straightforward as the footpath runs between industrial units (the former DVR land) and a small residential park. Sadly there is next to nothing left to see.

 

View roughly from the DVR junction of the Foss Islands Branch, Northwards towards Layerthorpe/ Hawthorne Grove road bridge, from Hallfield Road where it meets James Street (Latter is built on the trackbed where the Foss Islands branch ended in various industrial sidings.)

 

There was once a road bridge where the above photo was taken and numerous photos were taken from it, looking South, showing trains coming off the DVR onto BR Foss Islands Branch. Sadly the current view, of the comparatively recent James Street is somewhat different: The distant Church Spire is about the only point of reference in those old photos.

 

And the curve into the Layerthorpe station site (looking roughly towards previous location) looks like this: (station building location was just beyond the grey stair rails, centre right beyond the trees and large industrial building, which appears in some later photos of the station):

 

The same industrial building is seen (centre) from the road side, the Station Building was on the site now occupied by the used car dealer on the right.

 

So not much to see, but the trackbed makes for an interesting walk (or cycle ride) on a nice day. 

[Signaller69]

Followed by an enjoyable afternoon at the re-born Derwent Valley Light Railway! Both "Churchill" and former DVR class 04 D2245 are based here along with the former Wheldrake Station Building, although the current station is not on the original site (which was the other side of the road). Did the "Driver for a fiver" on 03 079 too, which was great fun.

[Signaller69]

Some more from today:

[Signaller69]

Some major progress today, with track laying on the scenic section and most of the sector plate. Feed wires were soldered to the underside of rails where required and holes drilled as appropriate, including for the point motors. 

 

Random stock that was to hand was used for testing clearances, alignment etc. Hopefully the photos illustrate the "modus operandi" of the sector plate too. Unfortunately the weather beat me to spraying the track with track colour paint!

[coronach]

Great to see a model of Dunnington on RM Web.  I grew up on Tang Hall Lane during the 1970s and later on lived in Osbaldwick after the line was converted to a cycle track.  I have walked the 'lines' between Tang Hall bridge and Osbaldwick Mixconcrete works many times but rarely saw the daily train, which ran in the morning.  We would play around the siding and Presflow wagons at Osbaldwick, dodging the staff at MixConcrete - there was a key released ground frame lever to work the points.  By the late 70s, the track was knackered - Midland Railway chairs dated 1896 - allegedly bought second hand from the Midland Railway.  One of the reasons the line closed in 1981 was the cost of renewals to permit the use of heavier wagons.  I chased the final train from York to Dunnington and back.  The scrap yard at Murton was already encroaching onto the railway and passing clearances were very tight.  I think the most amazing event was the operation of 'Hardwicke' from York station to Dunnington and back.  My Dad couldn't believe that he had seen an LNWR Precedent class loco pass under Tang Hall Lane!!!

Edited April 24, 2019 by coronach

[Tappa]

Seeing Martyn's photo's prompted me to dig out those that I took over 20 years ago. They are interesting in that they are almost from the same view point as those taken by Martyn.

First up is a view from the road bridge with the DVLR peeling off to the left. As a marker for the recent photo, the church spire can be seen in the background.

Next is a view of what would have been the station platform, now occupied by Appleton's.

Finally a view from the road side showing the former station building, then occupied by Appleton's.

 

As I am now back in the UK, I'll set the layout up and take some photo's.

 

Jeff

 

[Signaller69]

2 hours ago, Tappa said:

Seeing Martyn's photo's prompted me to dig out those that I took over 20 years ago. They are interesting in that they are almost from the same view point as those taken by Martyn.

First up is a view from the road bridge with the DVLR peeling off to the left. As a marker for the recent photo, the church spire can be seen in the background.

Next is a view of what would have been the station platform, now occupied by Appleton's.

Finally a view from the road side showing the former station building, then occupied by Appleton's.

 

As I am now back in the UK, I'll set the layout up and take some photo's.

 

Jeff

 

Brilliant photos, many thanks for posting. There is so little that is left even from when you took your photos, that it makes finding exact locations difficult but they show how it was superbly! The top photo doesn't do justice to the mass of sidings which once served industries at the end of the Foss Islands branch on the right, also it is hard to imagine 102T tanks and bogie Grainflow wagons being shunted onto the DVR line (the former for storage, the latter destined for Dunnington behind one of the ex-BR Class 04's).

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

6 hours ago, coronach said:

Great to see a model of Dunnington on RM Web.  I grew up on Tang Hall Lane during the 1970s and later on lived in Osbaldwick after the line was converted to a cycle track.  I have walked the 'lines' between Tang Hall bridge and Osbaldwick Mixconcrete works many times but rarely saw the daily train, which ran in the morning.  We would play around the siding and Presflow wagons at Osbaldwick, dodging the staff at MixConcrete - there was a key released ground frame lever to work the points.  By the late 70s, the track was knackered - Midland Railway chairs dated 1896 - allegedly bought second hand from the Midland Railway.  One of the reasons the line closed in 1981 was the cost of renewals to permit the use of heavier wagons.  I chased the final train from York to Dunnington and back.  The scrap yard at Murton was already encroaching onto the railway and passing clearances were very tight.  I think the most amazing event was the operation of 'Hardwicke' from York station to Dunnington and back.  My Dad couldn't believe that he had seen an LNWR Precedent class loco pass under Tang Hall Lane!!!

Thanks for the recollections. Apparently the 85lb  track that was purchased from the Midland Railway in the early 20th century had seen service on the Settle & Carlisle and "was worn to 80lb in places" when newly laid on the DVLR; some of the chairs are still in use on the re-born DVLR.*

 

And yes the steam specials are something I hope to model!

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

 

*I refer to both the DVR and DVLR; the railway was known as the Derwent Valley Light Railway until 23rd March 1973, when the company, wanting to be seen as a serious concern became the Derwent Valley Railway.

[Signaller69]

I was up early today to beat the predicted rain; the track has had a base coat of Railmatch Sleeper Grime applied (including the sector plate), and the cork has been painted with Poundland's finest Matt black emulsion....

 

The sector plate can also double as a self contained test track if required.

 

Although I am able to visualise the overall scheme, a lot of detail still has to be decided on as regards to dating the layout, particularly the Station, as there were a number of changes between the 1950s and 1970s (even in narrowing it down to 1965-77, my main period of interest), including extensions, roof tile colours, overall paint scheme, store room being removed and replaced with a Portakabin, platform end cut back, loading bank removed etc. Also of course, the line from the then terminus at Elvington was cut back to Dunnington in 1972 but the Station had been repainted grey & white by this time; I prefer the earlier green & cream colours though so I may model it with a level crossing gate over the track, rather than the buffer stop which appeared after the line was shortened........

Decisions, decisions!

Edited April 26, 2019 by Signaller69
I should add that the track was all tested for running prior to painting, a Hornby 110 DMU ran fine through everything (reminiscent of the final management DMU charter) & "Churchill" shunted a few wagons around without issue, which was all jolly pleasing!

[Signaller69]

Today the track has been cleaned and the first 2 SEEP point motors fitted, with all the wiring taken to a connector block. With a controller connected, a short was found with one of the re-sleepered points which hadn't been apparent yesterday; after checking a few sleepers had had the copper surface cut through, this was traced to a sliver of cut wire under the point somehow making contact where it shouldn't (sods law had struck).....

 

Once rectified, "Churchill" was able to potter about with some grain hoppers. I recently had the artwork emailed from Narrow Planet for the works and name plates for this loco, and am looking forward to fitting them.

 

I am currently without a class 04 Shunter (I need 2 eventually) so my 05 and 08 (borrowed from Crinan) may have to substitute as "hired help" until then. If anyone is selling one please drop me a PM.

 

The next phase will be to finalise and lay the fiddle yard.

[Signaller69]

Fiddle yard track now fitted, still need to add the point motors.

 

This arrangement should allow 3 trains to be held in the hidden sidings, with one on the scenic section. Utilising the sector plate, 2 trains can pass either on the scenic side or hidden sidings if required.

 

I have also been working on the plan for the main Station building; this was a lot larger than other DVLR Station buildings, being substantially extended at the left hand end by the 1960s when in use by a Road Contractor, and in smaller ways subsequently. The right hand (original) end was scaled up from the elevation in the DVLR book, and an appropriately longer section added, taking care to note details such as the longitudinal ridge lines are in different places between the old and new parts and not aligned; It's probably not to exact scale but should be close, being just over 32cms long. Note that the "approximate" modern window outlines are based on what existed c.1965 on the platform side elevation & lean-to (photos show even the lean-to changed during its existence); It contains errors and corrections and still needs refining, needless to say.

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by Signaller69
Correction.

[south_tyne]

Great to see progress. I really like the novel approach to the sector plate, I don't think I have ever seen a one incorporating points before. What a smashing idea though and it should offer excellent flexibility for operation. The weathered track looks great too.