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Hi folks, weekend musings here. 

 

I see a lot of people who won't have a particular locomotive (it could equally be a coach or wagon) because :- " I can't find that loco on my list, ergo, I can't possibly have said loco on my layout. Now, I can understand that viewpoint, and I'll defend said modeller to have 'just that' loco, to the exclusion of all others.

 

Now, here's a conundrum...

 

Lets just think that a list of depot X was compiled on June 25th, 1932, and all & every locomotive was noted whilst at the depot, on that date. So far, so good.   Now, fast forward to depot X in July 7th, 1946.  (about 11 years)  Will we see the same locomotive? possibly. Will we see the additions & deletions? Also, most probably. But.... What about locomotives that were re-allocated one week before the first audit, and one week after the second  audit?  "It says here in black & white that loco XXXX never visited said depot X, and we've got the list to prove it" 

 

Hmmm.

 

 

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I use http://shedbashuk.blogspot.com/
 

With visiting locos listed, it gives an indication that if, say, a loco from y depot of x class was noted, then there is every possibility that another loco of the same class from y depot would have visited on another day.

 

Useful (in my tiny tortured mind) for what if's & might have beens.

 

Otherwise, Rule 1 applies.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

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The population of any but the smallest shed varied on a day to day basis, to the extent that it’s locos were away from home and other locos visited, so a bit of leeway to the list of locos allocated on a given date can be allowed.  But it should, IMHO, and in order to satisfy my sense of what is probable over what is possible, reflect aspects of actual operation (even at fictional locations).

 

To take my layout, Cwmdimbath, as an example, this is situated in the Mid-Glamorgan valleys of the Bridged hinterland, and it’s locos come from Tondu shed.  Tondu, as well as it’s own locos, played host to visitors from Canton, Barry, Dyffryn Yard, and Treherbert, possibly others.  But very few of these visitors would have ever penetrated into the valleys beyond Tondu; their crews did not have route knowledge to work past the shed except for Treherbert men working in the Llynfi valley.  

 

So, I can’t in all conscience allow a Barry or Treherbert BR Standard 3MT or rebuilt Taff A to appear at the top end of my valley, which is a pity because I’d like one to!  I probably can’t really get away with the 44xx small prairies from the Porthcawl branch either, though the boundaries of possibility are starting to blur a bit now.  

 

Now, I can invent all sorts of excuses to run a 3MT or Taff A; they were probably regular visitors at Tondu shed, but all of these excuses involve out of course working or ad hoc borrowing, and in the basis that good modelling recreates the normal and not the unusual, and they just won’t cut the mustard so far as I’m concerned. 

 

There’s another way to skin this rabbit, though.  I call it the 10% principle; my branch adds 10% to the work that actually existed at Tondu, which correspondingly would reqire a 10% increase in it’s allocation to cope with the workload, about another 6 locos.  One might reasonably expect one of these to appear on my branch about every other working day, and there’s no reason one of these can’t be a South Wales allocated BR 3MT tank or a Taff A transferred to Tondu, perhaps to replace 4145, which transferred out in March '48 to be replaced by 4144 in October '57, the extreme ends of my allowed period.  

 

Tondu had a large prairie during the interim, 3100, a Collett design with no.4 boiler and 5'3" wheels.  This is another blurry example, though; the loco was specifically used for the daily Porthcawl-Cardiff commuter train (Canton had 3105 for the reciprocal) because of it's ability to get away smartly from the main line stops, and again unlikely at the top end of a valley.  Re large prairies, I have 4144 worked up from an antediluvian Airfix 61xx but it's out of service with chassis issues; I may yet replace it and transfer the number plates to the new Hornby when it comes out.  But, here we go again, I want 4159, a Barry loco, because it carried the 'BRITISH RAILWAYS' Egyptian Serif lettering with unlined green livery as delivered to Barry in early '48.

 

Again, it comes down to whether my inner critic will accept it!  I listen to my inner critic; it has improved my modelling a lot since it wasn’t fully happy with my Rovex Black Princess in 1956.  Anything I punt on the basis of Rule 1, and there’s a good bit of it one way and another, has to be cleared by the Inner Critic Board of Censorship. 

 

As we used to say back in my hippie days, there is a policeman in all of our minds.  He must be destroyed!!!

Edited by The Johnster
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14 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

I use http://shedbashuk.blogspot.com/
 

With visiting locos listed, it gives an indication that if, say, a loco from y depot of x class was noted, then there is every possibility that another loco of the same class from y depot would have visited on another day.

 

Useful (in my tiny tortured mind) for what if's & might have beens.

 

Otherwise, Rule 1 applies.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

 

Thanks Ian, I'd never considered the shedbash pages. Back on the learning curve.

 

Ian (no, not that Ian, another Ian).

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