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Gresley Junction


thegreenhowards
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15 minutes ago, bigwordsmith said:

Seeing a Crompton on the GN looked really odd to me as I always thought they were Scottish - until I learned differently from Gilbert! The Sound chip is very effective, but I'm still struggling at the thought of the thought  of going DCC with over 100 locos to convert!

 

The freight train doodling through is gorgeous as well.

 

Annoyingly your layout is making me wonder if I'm doing the right thing at the New Waverley line by not having a station...

 

 

Thanks Peter,

 

The station is one of the less developed parts of the layout. They take a lot of work to get right including a lot of signals. So I think you may well be on the right track. I didn’t photograph it much on the last sequence because it wasn’t even ballasted. At least I’ve largely done that now!  But in terms of getting something up and running to view your trains on, a no station approach seems pretty sensible to me. 

 

As for DCC, the trick is to do it bit by bit. Why not convert one circuit and try a few locos. Then you haven’t lost much if you don’t like it. Do you have many kit built locos? They are much more hassle to convert. If it’s the cost that’s worrying you, then try LAIS DCC chips. They’re about £10 and work very well. No sound of course, but I only do a few locos with sound - it’s much too expensive otherwise.

 

Andy

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2 hours ago, bigwordsmith said:

Seeing a Crompton on the GN looked really odd to me as I always thought they were Scottish 

 

I’ve never heard the 26s called Cromptons before. In my spotting/ bashing days, Cromptons were Class 33s and 26s we’re called teacups (after their sound on Rickover) or MacRats (I.e. Scottish class 25s). I suppose it makes sense as they had Crompton Parkinson traction motors like the class 33s, but I’d never heard it before.

 

I always had a soft spot for both despite generally preferring English Electric diesels.
 

Andy

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On 06/11/2020 at 18:19, thegreenhowards said:

Sadly, I’m well behind Tony both in quality and quantity. Mine are mainly RTR (with some mods) with only about 20% kit built, whereas his are nearly all kit built. I have more Pacifics than I really need but I still managed to give nearly all of them a run on the last run through the sequence. I’m a bit short of utility engines still - B1s and similiar. 

Perhaps?

 

But remember, I've been building up my collection for the last 45 years and more. It takes time.

 

I definitely think you exceed my diesel numbers, though.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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1 minute ago, Tony Wright said:

Perhaps?

 

But remember, I've been building up my collection for the last 45 years and more. It takes time.

 

I definitely think you exceed my diesel numbers, though.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Well I grew up with diesels and like them (at least everything pre 47s!) as much as steam locos. I originally chose my transition time period to be able to run both but I have drifted back towards the early fifties as I've got more interested in coaching stock.

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6 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

 

I’ve never heard the 26s called Cromptons before. In my spotting/ bashing days, Cromptons were Class 33s and 26s we’re called teacups (after their sound on Rickover) or MacRats (I.e. Scottish class 25s). I suppose it makes sense as they had Crompton Parkinson traction motors like the class 33s, but I’d never heard it before.

 

I always had a soft spot for both despite generally preferring English Electric diesels.
 

Andy

Hi Andy

 

A Crompton was a Peak with Crompton Parkinson electrical gear, and  a Brush was a Peak with Brush gear.

 

A BRCW type 2 was that or a Sulzer Bo-Bo

 

And the SR type 3 were Brimingham Type 3s.

 

I don't know these new train spotters with their modern nicknames for locos. :no:

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2 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Andy

 

A Crompton was a Peak with Crompton Parkinson electrical gear, and  a Brush was a Peak with Brush gear.

 

A BRCW type 2 was that or a Sulzer Bo-Bo

 

And the SR type 3 were Brimingham Type 3s.

 

I don't know these new train spotters with their modern nicknames for locos. :no:

...and a "Brush Type 4" was a "four-and-a-half" at Toton (and, no doubt, at other paces too).

 

BRCW type 3s were always Cromptons on the Southern.

 

All Sulzer-engined Type 2s tended to be known just as Sulzers, irrespective of builder.

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I thought they were also called Cromptons as they were a similar shape to the 33, I didn't realise they had different guts! 

 

Shows the downside of living all your life on the backwater that is the Southern Region!

 

An amusing aside - I see my autocorrect tries to call them 'Crampons'

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4 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Modern = 1980s!

Lookie 'ere matey, I get called a modern image modeller and my interest is from when I started spotting in the 1960s.

 

1980s I was married and had gone through my beer , rock music and rejected by women stage of life so came back to trains, in between time some blighter had renumbered the engines so I didn't have a clue what I had seen and what I hadn't so took up modelling not spotting. Anything past 1974 is modern.

 

 

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Next up is the 1310 Baldock-KX. I’ve chosen to model this in very early post nationalisation days as an excuse to run my C1 Atlantic. These outer suburban services produced quite a mix of rolling stock in pre mark 1 days. They seem to contain a random mix of Gresley twin artics and single non corridor coaches with an occasional corridor coach thrown in. The single non-corridor coaches always seem to be pre-grouping (ex GNR or NER)  or Thompson but not LNER Gresleys. I’ve chosen to model this one with three Thompsons, a Gresley Corridor coach and a twin art (Kirk). I will be adding a D.210 in teak livery to this rake soon(ish).

 

Firstly two pictures on the approach.

 

90F214AA-4098-46F5-B32D-2C5022574E9B.jpeg.88ad4e299b4a18e6f46623e4ce590c57.jpeg

 

343B6ED1-9DC7-440A-88BD-E4F00D4F18C8.jpeg.96fccdeaef26f1053292f17f9bed5be5.jpeg

 

And now a picture in platform 5 (the up slow platform). It will shortly depart and pass the pick up goods while the latter shunts at Potters Bar.

 

8135C479-B008-411B-802A-8F94BD53DA96.jpeg.7d674eef585405f8057b409dcbe2b18d.jpeg

 

 

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Next on the down line we have the 1321 Kings Cross-Royston hauled by B1, 61394. Here it is approaching Gresley Jn. under the canal tunnel.

IMG_1531-compressed.JPG.09c72b5c9305914f3ad68900ce6f15ae.JPG

 

This is an attempt at a shot under the station roof. I think I need to get some LED lighting in there to make this work well but it gives a new angle.DSC_1699.JPG.c5a075efc74afa28b2cd26a5d181a03e.JPG

 

And finally here is a shot as it leaves Gresley Jn. past the gas works.IMG_1540-compressed.JPG.24feab7c726b74992074dc9d2e2bf525.JPG

 

 

 

Edited by thegreenhowards
Deleting surplus photo
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Today we feature the first of a brace of Pullmans. But this one is rather unconventional - The Ashburton Pullman was the nickname given to the rubbish train from Ashburton Grove to Blackridge tip on the Hatfield Dunstable branch. I can't find this train in any WTT that I have, but I have photos which show it returning south in what looks like the early afternoon (from the angle of the sun) so that's when I run it. The wagons are ex sulphate wagons which were repurposed for this train in the late '50s. Mine are made from Parkside kits. The train had power varying from N7s to B1s in steam days and then (at least) classes 15,20,23 and 31 singly or in multiple in diesel days. I feature a Paxman Type 1/ Class 15 today.

 

Firstly one of my conventional angles.

IMG_1561-compressed.JPG.65aef98d5fed16ea02c2dab920a9def7.JPG

 

Then some angles taken from the rear of the layout with my son holding my new sky painted backscene to block views across to the fiddle yard. 

 

I like this high shot.

IMG_1556-compressed.JPG.cbdcb0c24a4ac45b0f7646cd999fd972.JPG

 

But I know many people prefer lower perspectives, so here are a couple.

IMG_1557-compressed.JPG.4324d32ef69053c6014cec5be25ad70b.JPGIMG_1560-compressed.JPG.bfbcb7c96a0ca091bf20fb39671a6a20.JPG

 

Any comments welcome (I know that I need a new signal!).

 

Finally a video of the last two trains.

 

 

 

 

Edited by thegreenhowards
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A proper Pullman today - the up Yorkshire Pullman headed today by 60123, HA Ivatt. This is my only Bachmann A1 renumbered from the early ‘Aberdonian’ batch and it still has the smaller motor. It’s noticeably weaker than my other A1s and needed a bit of ‘manual banking’ to get out of the fiddle yard (which is round a curve and slightly uphill). All my other A1s have no problem with this train (11 heavy Hornby Pullmans). I can see why people complain about RTR haulage capability if their experience is from the era when this model came out (early noughties?). I must remember to put this on a less demanding duty in future.

 

Here she is rounding ‘gasworks curve’.

FD33261E-554C-4DAE-9EB9-529F69EDA184.jpeg.f30e6cf082e219ba476334272f9f5eea.jpeg

 

Then approaching the station.

5EA60994-A41F-40EB-A881-83959EFC1AF4.jpeg.dd8db790c14147ea1f4c2d425cded244.jpeg

 

And finally showing off my Fox tailboard.

86A0F337-74D6-4965-A668-B4F0AE543268.jpeg.3bb3cd003b211ed0f52c6dc239cf96d1.jpeg

 

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3 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Does that include the ones with the supposedly dodgy motors?

I think those were more prone to melting. Most of mine have now either had weight added, or the Bachmann loco to tender coupling replaced by a hook and bar. Those will handle 12 coaches with ease. One that hasn't slips with 8 on.

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45 minutes ago, great northern said:

I think those were more prone to melting. Most of mine have now either had weight added, or the Bachmann loco to tender coupling replaced by a hook and bar. Those will handle 12 coaches with ease. One that hasn't slips with 8 on.

I find the more modern ones, particularly the ones with the DCC chip in the tender will handle 12 easily with no mods. 

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This is one of my favourite moves of the sequence - the Gresley Jn gas trip. I have based the train on pictures of the Barnet gas trip in the 1950s which seemed to consist of a rake of c.10 assorted mineral wagons and a J50.

 

Here we see my J50 reversing the loaded wagons into a gas works siding. The empty wagons which it will pick up later are on the right.

 

C33C9476-4CFC-49A6-B8FC-F82A42E8D088.jpeg.09c4911ea44b6020fba72503c3ef1745.jpeg

 

And here she is having deposited the wagons.

 

F41CE022-E3AA-4B2A-8B93-FAB84CCAF489.jpeg.ba827e9c73f350dc833e2a6386574855.jpeg

 

Two videos today. The first shows the J50 shunting across to pick up the empties and the second shows the full train departing. If you’ve only got the stamina for one, I’d go for the second.

 

First the shunt move.

 

and now the departure.

 

 

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17 hours ago, bigwordsmith said:

I found early peppercorns were great pullers, until Until you close couple the tender
 

go figure!

There were issues with the strength and size of the springs on both the front bogie and rear pony trucks on these. The effect was to lift the loco so that at least one driving axle wasn't in contact with the rails. I wonder if the close coupling served to lift the rear of the loco, particularly on curves, so that adhesion was lost?

 

My four Bachmann A1's have had the springs modified, I think by the simple expedient of cutting them in half and re-fitting. I also have quite close coupling, using IIRC the inner hole on the coupling bar, but with the hole elongated a bit to slightly increase the space between tender and loco. Mine have also been weighted, and the first two, with the dodgy motors, had them replaced by Bachmann. All four now pull extremely well, and have been cosmetically enhanced with etched plates, detail packs, renumbering etc.

 

Coincidentally, in the last week or two I picked up a 60114 in LNER green but with "British Railways" on the tender. This is "as new" and runs well, but will have a dismantle and mods. in due course.

 

John.

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Here is the 0947 Newcastle- Kings Cross headed by my newly built A2/2, 60523, Sun Castle. This is a conversion of the Bachmann A2 using Graeme King’s resin parts which featured on my workbench thread, Coulsdon Works recently. The train was a relief to the 0955 Newcastle-King’s Cross and seemed to run in a different formation every day of the week, at least during the 1958 timetable. Sometimes it had a boat train portion from Tyne Commission Quay but not on Thursdays when I’ve chosen to model it. 
 

90E9018C-955C-4E56-B869-CBCF075F94BA.jpeg.22f42e064b63020b9f164ed46b0830d2.jpeg
 

The formation was a rather splendid 12 car rake of Gresley stock. It possibly had the odd Thompson included but difficult to tell from the carriage workings. I have modelled it almost entirely using Kirk Gresley stock with just a couple of Hornby SKs and one MJT/ Hornby CK combo thrown in.  It includes my Kirk dining triplet, the first Kirk kit I built. I’ve managed to match the CWN apart from an SK substituting for an FK and a couple of all door instead of EV coaches. I have a Mousa EV FK in the roundtuit pile which I must dig out before the next this time this train runs!

 

Here are a couple of closer views of the engine.

 

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And finally a video. This follows the train as it runs right round the main scenic half of the loft - please excuse the clutter under the layout!

 

 

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Here is my latest K3, 61905 (SE Finecast - bought from eBay and repaired, renumbered and weathered) on down coal empties. A K3 was not the typical Power for these trains but I’m told by Gilbert that it happened from time to time and I wanted to give the K3 a leg stretch so here she is passing the gas works.

D297E079-6C38-4474-9C6C-577033D3C750.jpeg.ff6881b13051cc8b3f0081f6b8bc0b7f.jpeg

 

846F483B-F80A-4C6C-95E0-41614F7C5DCD.jpeg.a1b8848467f0f1d48faa1c1b5abfe703.jpeg

 

And a close up of the K3.

09CF2901-6DE2-4DE0-8D1C-EA6C503F3096.jpeg.74bbd3c4989c72a723142f7e62f62f22.jpeg

 

And finally a video. I love the way the wagons snake round the reverse curves and across the points where the 4 track section comes down to 2.

 

 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, bigwordsmith said:

41 wagons plus brake van - you must have a huge fiddle yard!

At least that proves someone watches my videos! - I’m never sure whether they’re worth the effort.

 

The fiddle yard takes up a fair chunk of the loft as you can see from the track plan on page 1 of this thread.

 

 

As a reminder here is a picture of the full fiddle yard - the coal empties can just be seen in the top right hand corner.

 

D9730920-8C6F-4AC3-8C3D-0B5C2F8B7CE1.jpeg.890bd18bcbc061f38c953680f887e116.jpeg

In practice they split into two for storage - the front part is from the ‘Barnet gas’ empties and is the part you can see in the photo above and in close up in the photo below.

930B4640-621E-4CCF-B6AC-5EF0B4F9A0EE.jpeg.2be0e0eb5908a48b1615fba7f0e0fc09.jpeg

 

 

The rest of the train fits into a kick back siding which goes round the bend and extends behind the viaduct for 50cm or so. The photo below tries to illustrate that but it was awkward to take so you can’t see it all. The back of the tunnel mouth at the end of the viaduct is visible centre left - the siding goes behind that. 

 

BB1683A8-B57A-4336-8F17-5E88F53373BA.jpeg.2381b3ee85b1430c6826dd9783c28dcb.jpeg

 

In theory it’s great, but in practice I can rarely put the whole train away without a derailment somewhere!

 

I didn’t run this train on the last sequence as I hadn’t got enough wagons at that stage and didn’t have the storage. I’ve had to evict my oil tanks to a cassette to make space for the coal empties but given that they will run a few times in the sequence that seemed sensible. 

 

The loaded coal which you can see the back of in the top picture is even longer (46 wagons I think).

 

Andy

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