Gresley Junction

[thegreenhowards]

10 hours ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

I've re-found the picture, but cannot do anything with it, downloaded it, but can't open it, I can't even give you an address. It's on the HMRS site. I found it by typing in 'LNER Brick Wagon', then going to images, it's about a third of the way down the page, not a good thumbnail. It says it's '50t 6 plank brick wagon Hornsey, 1957' so they were still in service, 35 years of hard service.

 

manna

Thanks Manna

 

I found it with that help. It was a long way down both the google searcH and then the HMRS site.
 

It’s a really good find though as it suggests that such wagons were used on the slower trains (WD hauled) and as late as 1957. I will keep it as justification for my use of the wagon!

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

On 09/06/2020 at 22:53, 31A said:

Very good questions, which I have sometimes asked myself as well as I have a Parkside one to build, and an old Triang one that I might make presentable one day!

 

There's some information about it in the Wild Swan book "Goods Traffic of the LNER" (Geoff Goslin) which has a chapter on "Peterborough to London Coal and Brick Traffic".  I've just remembered about it, I'll have to read it again!  In the back of my mind I've read somewhere that the wagons were used to bring large quantities of bricks in connection with the London suburban expansion between the wars.

 

I just wanted to say that RMWeb is a wonderful resource. I posted the coal train on Tuesday, Steve mentioned the book that evening, I ordered it yesterday, it arrived this morning and I read the very informative chapter just now.
 

It certainly seems that, in the ‘30s at least, there were block brick trains from Fletton/ Yaxley To Ferme Park. If so, it’s surprising that no photos exist of such workings.
 

 

[thegreenhowards]

Running through the full sequence in Gresley Jn made me realise that I don’t have enough mundane locos for all those suburban services. So I helped myself to a Hornby B1, 61032, when they were going cheap and it has become 61097. I spent some time trying to understand different smokebox doors on B1s and came to the conclusion that either there is no difference between 61097’s and 61032’s or that I am too unobservant to spot what the difference is. Either way, I can live with this renumbering so here she is.

 

This is ‘inspired by’ a photo in The Power of the B1s (no page numbers but just over half way through) of this loco emerging from Potters Bar tunnel with the first three coaches being a Thompson ‘S’ and a Gresley D.210 twin as in my photo.
 

You may remember photos from this angle when I was running through the sequence had a view of my fiddle yard in the background like this.

 

Since then I’ve painted a slab of plywood with a Sky scene to act as a back scene which I think works quite well - probably need to do some more work on the lighting though. When not in use as a back scene it drops down to form a facia board for the layout.

 

Andy

Edited July 13, 2020 by thegreenhowards
Typo

[Wingman Mothergoose]

Wow that looks amazing! 
 

Chris

[thegreenhowards]

Hello everyone,

 

I just wanted to let you know that the Bluebell Railway (where I'm a volunteer) is having a Virtual event this weekend and it includes a model railway section. I'm please to say that Gresley Junction will feature in 'part two' which airs at 1000 on Sunday. I'm afraid that it's the video that followers of this thread will have already seen, but you might like a refresher and there should be some other layouts to look at.

 

https://www.bluebell-railway.com/steaming-through-60/?utm_source=The+Bluebell+Railway+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6cc5d9ac4c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_08_06_12_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47b78ff044-6cc5d9ac4c-377725781

 

I was working on a new video for the event, but I didn't get it finished in time, so I will air that on here in due course.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

It’s along time since I’ve posted on here. I’ve been busy with rolling stock projects over the Summer when it’s often too hot to get into the loft to ‘play trains’. These are written up on my workbench thread.

 

Anyway, following a recommendation from Gilbert on Peterborough North, yesterday I received a packet of ‘Elite’ magnetic couplings From West Hill Wagon Works. I’ve fitted them to my Yorkshire Pullman rake. Two of this rake have the older Hornby screw in couplings rather than NEM pockets so I used the Special couplings for this (https://www.westhillwagonworks.co.uk/couplings-new-c-2/hunt-couplings-elite-oo-gauge-new-c-21/hunt-couplings-elite-buckeye-close-coupling-clip-couplings-for-Hornby-pullman-coaches-oo-gauge-p-121). They were east to fit and work with the NEM type.

 

Some of the NEM pockets were a tight fit with the new couplings and initially I had some problems with uncoupling and derailments. However I pushed the couplings out to the maximum extent possible within the pockets and the rake now runs perfectly while still looking close coupled as I hope this video shows.

 

 

The loco is another new acquisition over the Summer - 60139, Sea Eagle with original Bachmann sound. It’s been fitted with tender pick ups and lamps but still needs some weathering.

 

Andy

Edited September 12, 2020 by thegreenhowards
Typo

[great northern]

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

It’s along time since I’ve posted on here. I’ve been busy with rolling stock projects over the Summer when it’s often too hot to get into the loft to ‘play trains’. These are written up on my workbench thread.

 

Anyway, following a recommendation from Gilbert on Peterborough North, yesterday I received a packet of ‘Elite’ magnetic couplings From West Hill Wagon Works. I’ve fitted them to my Yorkshire Pullman rake. Two of this rake have the older Hornby screw in couplings rather than NEM pockets so I used the Special couplings for this (https://www.westhillwagonworks.co.uk/couplings-new-c-2/hunt-couplings-elite-oo-gauge-new-c-21/hunt-couplings-elite-buckeye-close-coupling-clip-couplings-for-Hornby-pullman-coaches-oo-gauge-p-121). They were east to fit and work with the NEM type.

 

Some of the NEM pockets were a tight fit with the new couplings and initially I had some problems with uncoupling and derailments. However I pushed the couplings out to the maximum extent possible within the pockets and the rake now runs perfectly while still looking close coupled as I hope this video shows.

 

 

The loco is another new acquisition over the Summer - 60139, Sea Eagle with original Bachmann sound. It’s been fitted with tender pick ups and lamps but still needs some weathering.

 

Andy

I'm glad you like the couplings, Andy. I've had the same experience with one or two decoupling, and also found that extending them as far as possible did the trick. I've now ordered even more, as I intend to fit them on everything where it is possible.

[thegreenhowards]

4 minutes ago, great northern said:

I'm glad you like the couplings, Andy. I've had the same experience with one or two decoupling, and also found that extending them as far as possible did the trick. I've now ordered even more, as I intend to fit them on everything where it is possible.

Thanks for the recommendation Gilbert. I was cursing you for a while when the rake was falling off the track and decoupling all over the place but it’s amazing how sorting out a couple of couplings made the whole train behave. I ordered twenty coaches worth so I’ll do one more rake, probably the Tyne Tees Pullman. I then intend to evaluate the results for a few weeks before rushing in and buying more.

I’ll be interested to see how you get on. Most of my rakes have some kit built coaches which won’t be suitable for conversion so it won’t be a panacea.

 

Andy

[great northern]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks for the recommendation Gilbert. I was cursing you for a while when the rake was falling off the track and decoupling all over the place but it’s amazing how sorting out a couple of couplings made the whole train behave. I ordered twenty coaches worth so I’ll do one more rake, probably the Tyne Tees Pullman. I then intend to evaluate the results for a few weeks before rushing in and buying more.

I’ll be interested to see how you get on. Most of my rakes have some kit built coaches which won’t be suitable for conversion so it won’t be a panacea.

 

Andy

I have the same problem with kit built coaches, so I've got the brains trust working on that. This morning I ran my Heart of Midlothian set, which I had fettled only a few weeks ago. Tension locks came apart in two places, and dragged each other off on curves, pretty awful really. So, before they went back in cassettes I replaced tension locks with elite close wherever I could. No more derailments, and just one pair of coaches came apart, quickly cured by extending the coupling a little. Time will tell, obviously, but these do seem to be a great improvement in reliability and staying on track. It helps that they couple so close that I don't need plug in corridor connectors any more, as I've found in the past they can cause derailments too.

[thegreenhowards]

Do you remove the corridor connectors completely? I wouldn’t want to rely on just the plastic mouldings which come with the coach as they never close the gap 100%. I like the paper type which I glue on. They seem to close the gap but not produce much friction between coaches.

[great northern]

20 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Do you remove the corridor connectors completely? I wouldn’t want to rely on just the plastic mouldings which come with the coach as they never close the gap 100%. I like the paper type which I glue on. They seem to close the gap but not produce much friction between coaches.

This close without anything else Andy, so I haven't looked to add anything so far.

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

I haven’t run many trains on Gresley Jn since the end of my run through of the sequence on here in March. That’s because I normally only ‘play trains’ when I have a visitor and they’re haven’t been any of those for obvious reasons. It also gets too hot in the Summer and I’ve had a back since September which I’ve only recently got on top off.

 

So I thought I need an incentive to run some trains and decided to run through the sequence again showing pictures on here. I’ve added a few trains since last time so it might take even longer. But it will keep me entertained during lockdown 2 and hopefully some of you will enjoy the pictures. I will throw in some videos but not every day this time as they take a while to process.

 

We start around midday and first up is the 0845 Hull/ 0915 York too Kings Cross; a regular turn for the W1 (a Graeme King/ Hornby conversion).

 

[thegreenhowards]

Next in the sequence is the down Aberdeen fish empties, today being hauled by my new(ish) V2 60869.

I promise the second lamp was there when it left the fiddle yard! This is a Nucast loco which weighs a ton and is fitted with an old white metal chassis and open frame 5 pole motor. It still seems to run OK though if a bit noisy.
 

I have done a video of the first two trains passing each other on ‘Welwyn’ viaduct.

 

 

This shows the formation of the up express which is based on the 1958 CWN and includes a Thompson RK. I have substituted Doncaster Mk1 prototype FO, E3083 for a standard FO as this appears in the CWN from 1959 and I wanted an excuse to run it! 
 

 

[John Tomlinson]

I do like the look of your station roof, don't recall seeing that before.

 

The angle of the fish train shot also shows the quality of your tracklaying, with nice smooth curves (as they should be), so often however not the case.

 

John.

[davidw]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

Next in the sequence is the down Aberdeen fish empties, today being hauled by my new(ish) V2 60869.

I promise the second lamp was there when it left the fiddle yard! This is a Nucast loco which weighs a ton and is fitted with an old white metal chassis and open frame 5 pole motor. It still seems to run OK though if a bit noisy.
 

I have done a video of the first two trains passing each other on ‘Welwyn’ viaduct.

 

 

This shows the formation of the up express which is based on the 1958 CWN and includes a Thompson RK. I have substituted Doncaster Mk1 prototype FO, E3083 for a standard FO as this appears in the CWN from 1959 and I wanted an excuse to run it! 
 

 

Who produces the fish vans?

[thegreenhowards]

5 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

I do like the look of your station roof, don't recall seeing that before.

 

The angle of the fish train shot also shows the quality of your tracklaying, with nice smooth curves (as they should be), so often however not the case.

 

John.

Thanks John,

 

I think Peco code 100 can look quite good if laid properly and ballasted. It’s a 60” radius on the outermost line on that stretch.

 

The station roof made an appearance towards the end of the last sequence but I’m still not happy with it so I may not have said much about it. The roof is Scalescenes and I intend eventually to have a run of three - four of them on the fast lines. However, the first one was printed on my wife’s work printer and the second on our home printer and the colours are different, so I’m deciding what to do about that before doing any more.  I may also have two-three on the slow lines providing a double roof (think York or King’s Cross) - a bit over grand but I look on it as practising for a future layout. I still have to work out how to get the footbridge under the roof.

 

The station building which I am quite pleased with is from the same Scalescenes ‘kit’. Sadly I had to cut off the front bit (which was it’s most pleasing angle) to get it to fit.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

4 hours ago, davidw said:

Who produces the fish vans?

They are mainly Renumbered and weathered Hornby but there are two Wrenn vans and three Parkside ones at the rear of the train. It makes quite a statement as a train doesn’t it?

Edited November 1, 2020 by thegreenhowards

[davidw]

Would happen to know the R number of the Hornby model?

[thegreenhowards]

10 minutes ago, davidw said:

Would happen to know the R number of the Hornby model?

R6624 was a three pack and R6692/A/B were single wagons. I bought about 10 of the single wagons whenHornby were selling them off at £9.99 each and I had one of the three packs. The others came in bad dribs and drabs when I saw a bargain.

[FoxUnpopuli]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

R6624 was a three pack and R6692/A/B were single wagons. I bought about 10 of the single wagons whenHornby were selling them off at £9.99 each and I had one of the three packs. The others came in bad dribs and drabs when I saw a bargain.

Did Hornby do an LNER version of this?  I see a Parkside kit... but not anything RTR pre-BR?

 

[thegreenhowards]

15 minutes ago, FoxUnpopuli said:

Did Hornby do an LNER version of this?  I see a Parkside kit... but not anything RTR pre-BR?

 

No. They were an LNER design but only built by BR from 1949.

[John Tomlinson]

17 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks John,

 

I think Peco code 100 can look quite good if laid properly and ballasted. It’s a 60” radius on the outermost line on that stretch.

 

The station roof made an appearance towards the end of the last sequence but I’m still not happy with it so I may not have said much about it. The roof is Scalescenes and I intend eventually to have a run of three - four of them on the fast lines. However, the first one was printed on my wife’s work printer and the second on our home printer and the colours are different, so I’m deciding what to do about that before doing any more.  I may also have two-three on the slow lines providing a double roof (think York or King’s Cross) - a bit over grand but I look on it as practising for a future layout. I still have to work out how to get the footbridge under the roof.

 

The station building which I am quite pleased with is from the same Scalescenes ‘kit’. Sadly I had to cut off the front bit (which was it’s most pleasing angle) to get it to fit.

 

Andy

The station issue is a difficult one. In my case my layout is a smidge under 16' long, and I concluded that for a main line operation that didn't really give enough space for a convincing station with proper approaches and pointwork. So I don't have one! In your case I think the layout is twice if not more that length, so it works fine.

 

The thought I had when I saw the fish train picture was that it made me think of old Peterborough, not something I ever saw in the flesh as my first visit was in the mid '70's. However it has the attraction of having a fair bit of open space at the sides, and having put all that effort into your coaching stock it seems a shame to hide it. Another thought was that if you wanted to add some more weatherproofing for your passengers, you could have platform canopies rather than more overall roof, which would still enable a lot more to be seen, and also add character to the platforms themselves.

 

John.

[thegreenhowards]

25 minutes ago, John Tomlinson said:

The station issue is a difficult one. In my case my layout is a smidge under 16' long, and I concluded that for a main line operation that didn't really give enough space for a convincing station with proper approaches and pointwork. So I don't have one! In your case I think the layout is twice if not more that length, so it works fine.

 

The thought I had when I saw the fish train picture was that it made me think of old Peterborough, not something I ever saw in the flesh as my first visit was in the mid '70's. However it has the attraction of having a fair bit of open space at the sides, and having put all that effort into your coaching stock it seems a shame to hide it. Another thought was that if you wanted to add some more weatherproofing for your passengers, you could have platform canopies rather than more overall roof, which would still enable a lot more to be seen, and also add character to the platforms themselves.

 

John.

Thanks John,

 

My layout is 31ft long, but split into two halves so the station area is about 16 feet with the rest of that side containing the fiddle yard. But the advantage of not having to curve where it exits to the fiddle yard means I have a bit more space then you and the gentle curves at the other end have allowed me to extend the station round the curve.

 

Platform canopies is certainly an option worth considering. I think I'll build one more overall roof section for the mainline before I make any further decisions.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

Today it’s the turn of the 08h00 Newcastle - King’s Cross hauled by 60073.

This is the Summer 1956 formation when there were still some Thompson brakes in the formation.

 

 

But the star turn in the formation is the ex Silver Jubilee triplet which was in this formation during the mid ‘50s but later moved to the Northumbrian. My model is based on the Marc models kit and is ex Gamston Bank.

 

 

Apologies that this formation still awaits the weathering and corridor connector treatment.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

Another shot on ‘Welwyn Viaduct’, this time V2, 60850 on 1235 KX-York parcels. This train was described as to York in the WTT but seemed to carry a mix of vans for all sorts of destinations. This rake is rather generic so not strictly representative of the train which I’m sure varied from day to day anyway. I’m slowly weeding out the maroon liveried stock in this rake to make it an early ‘50s consist - just a couple of vans to go. The plan then will be that this will form the basis of all down parcels trains with later ‘50s/ early ‘60s rake forming the up services. 

 

The loco is standard Bachmann with most recent chassis. I’ve added tender pick ups which I find helps a lot with these locos.