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Hi Nick, yes, its surprising what proves acceptable in the 12 inch to the foot railway world!

 

Meanwhile, I thought I might not get to post much more until the weekend, but this afternoon we got a call postponing our Flu jabs from tomorrow until Saturday morning because the delivery of the vaccine had been delayed, so tomorrow looks a good day to get some layout work and photos done!

Having over the last week taken delivery of two "modern" sets of rolling stock, the Dapol hoppers I posted a photo of recently, and now the Bachmann Collectors Club DRS liveried Mk2s, I hope soon to run these on Bradenham, the first time I have run anything except 1960s stock on the layout.

Both these sets have lighting built in, so for the first time some of my modern locos will get to stretch their legs, previously being restricted to shunting on Wycombe End.

 

I also have some new NGR photos from last weekend, showing that stock does run ok over the "straight" curves shown in my recent photos!

 

Take care all,

Cheers

Paul   

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So, as i hoped I got a good session in the railway room today. Didn't move forward very far on the work needed on Bradenham, but I did have an enjoyable running session, even getting two trains running each way at the same time on the mainlines! 

 

So here are a few shots taken from my low level chair. I didn't dare try taking photos with four trains running, so this is earlier on with just two running:-

 

Firstly we have my 64xx with a short mixed freight:-

 

1672266793_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-1.jpg.25ca60db698c3984c48f9a7624b49895.jpg

The houses in the background are just temporary, to break up the bae baseboard. This loco sounds good, it came to me from Jersey, and worked out not as expensive as i feared as I thought when the seller suggested I might have to pay VAT on it!

 

Next we have a Hornby (ex Lima) AEC Parcels car. I am not sure this has the correct sound file in it, but it sounds good!

 

667904076_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-3.jpg.47412f2d0bf72d08d62780b4c87a8d13.jpg

 

Here we have the approching 64xx, next time round!

 

1069493696_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-4.jpg.b2627d710fe3c00163c759fb55668816.jpg

 

Swivelling round to look in the oposite direction we catch the 64xx proceeding into the distance:-

 

1530074547_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-6.jpg.8b74c89220a11c28705a8f719b868b8a.jpg

 

The Hall in the distance is on the stub of what will be a future development loop to swing past the front of Wycombe End. This may only be storage loops as I think I will have enough scenic work to do on Bradenham!

We follow the last shot with a view of the toad at the back of the 64xx's train. Yes I do know there are no lamps fitted, they are a winter job!

 

244749082_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-7.jpg.6ca5a8a5470e040d81950421fd4614f4.jpg

 

 

Here is the parcels car, roaring round again!

 

1470980445_PaulBradenhamTrains07-12-9.jpg.4f9f9a064daf4ae33053acad103ea020.jpg

 

There are two more temporary scenic features on the left- what looks like a signal box, but is in fact a workshop ,and a small hut.

Apologies for the patterned insulating cloth on the walls. This will eventually be covered by some backscenes.

 

The pics of the NGR will have to wait until next time.

Meanwhile, happy modelling everyone!

Paul

 

 

 

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Yes, Nick I was

While the trains circled round filling the railway room with nostalgic sounds, I made a start on positioning uncoupling magnets for the Kadee couplers.

One of the most important uncoupling magnets is that at the neck of the main group of sidings. It needs to be a delayed action type, to allow wagons to be separated into individuals or groups and pushed into the different sidings. 

Where things get tricky, is deciding how far in advance of the first point the uncoupling needs to take place. Place it too close to the point and only one or two wagons can be  put into that siding, too far away and therefore too near the main line and the train may block the main line too frequently. In my case, a further factor is that for the different eras of operation of my layout, the length of wagons varies, generally increasing the more modern the operating era!

 

However, I didn't get too far with trials as it soon became evident that while I had the correct magnets for my code 100 track, the wagons that i have converted so far, have the Kadee units mounted too low, as their bottom arms were hitting the magnet. This is surprising as they were inserted into original equipment NEM sockets on the wagons.

 

319655279_PaulBradenhamUncoupler07-09-1.jpg.17bcde2d5231891f674bc39ca6e1c099.jpg 

 

My first attempt at positioning a magnet left just one long wheel base wagon space between the magnet and the first point:-

 

120579135_PaulBradenhamUncoupler07-09-2.jpg.60fe70ec97e52e59a6a7d048385345d5.jpg 

 

By the way, the small upended screw marks the possible placement for a signal to control exit from the mainline bay on which the loco in the foreground of the photo is sitting.

 

So the next stages are an investigation of the coupling position on some wagons, and the height of the top surface of the coupling on the track. Luckily I have a Kadee coupling height gauge, so I should soon see where the trouble lies!   

 

Tomorrow I aim to show last weekends NGR photos, and maybe I will have an update on the above coupling trials. I will also try to take some photos of my temporary goods sheds as I promised I would do so in a discussion of goods sheds in Nick's Cholsey and Moulsford site.

 

Cheers to you all for now,

Paul

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A kadee coupler gauge is very useful.  I’ve largely done locos thus far and I’ve already discovered that even where the NEM socket is in the right place some are too loose vertically and give coupler droop.  I have some plastic are strip (1/8” I think) of different thicknesses to slide into the mount under the coupler to raise it up to the right height.

Paul.

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9 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

A kadee coupler gauge is very useful.  I’ve largely done locos thus far and I’ve already discovered that even where the NEM socket is in the right place some are too loose vertically and give coupler droop.  I have some plastic are strip (1/8” I think) of different thicknesses to slide into the mount under the coupler to raise it up to the right height.

Paul.


Or it might simply be that you need to change the NEM pocket and replace with a Kadee coupling with a joggle up or down to get the right height.

 

There is no such thing as a standard NEM pocket height, which doesn’t help st all.

 

Good luck.

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I shall leave the Kadee matters on one side for the moment, with thanks for everyone's input, except to say that I have just bought some track, Kadees, Wagons etc. into the house so I can do some work on them in spare moments.

I also took the promised pics of the temporary sheds, and then got carried away taking shots of some of my other temporary buildings:-

 

So here are the temporary buildings, starting with the temporary two road inwards goods shed. Its origins, which I explained in my last post, are fairly clear:-

 

915782166_PaulBradenhamTempbuildings10-21-1.jpg.3e3b3a72d02ff2bbab4d3665fdce75d2.jpg

 

Apart from breaking up the expanse of virgin plywood, it will be useful to decide the final position and length of the proper shed. I will need to look carefully at the pics of the High Wycombe prototype that Nick and others have sent me to decide whether my shed needs to be wider than this temporary building in order to allow the goods platforms sufficient width.

 

Next we have the Temporary outwards shed:-

 

205895565_PaulBradenhamTempbuildings10-21-2.jpg.714bae9dbebf39c887f8e8c98eac3c46.jpg

 

This is far too imposing a building for this purpose, but again it fills a spot and helps with locating the final building although this will have a longer platform.

 

Moving away from goods handling we have a temporary signal box!

 

1911679751_PaulBradenhamTempbuildings10-21-3.jpg.53d21eb58ae7c1a693ef7f7017857df4.jpg

 

The only relations this building has to a signal box is the large amount of glass in the upper windows. It is, I think, a rail connected workshop and was one of my "it will come in handy somewhere " purchases many moons ago! For a Fiver, it wasn't bad. Again, it helps decide the size and location of the final box, but I think that will be somewhat smaller.

 

Lastly, we come to my apology for a station building:-

 

 1078219818_PaulBradenhamTempbuildings10-21-5.jpg.c35b7675f8627e67f4e8e15d03ab8b00.jpgThe Hornby building was originally on my younger son's layout, and the bookstall was rescued at some time in the past for a pound from a railway club exhibition odds and sods box!

 

The Hornby item, together with a number of other surplus items will go back to its original owner if he does decide to make the talked about little layout for his daughter who quite likes trains!

However, the bookstall might be refurbished and appear on Bradenham's up platform.

 

The buildings you can see in the background of this photo, are also temporary, as the area they occupy will eventually be either the turning circle in front of the station or storage from the siding you may be able to see between the buildings, which will be the coal siding.

I think the former is more likely, with the coal on the far side of the siding. 

However if you look back to photo 2 which is of the outwards goods shed, you will see in the bottom left corner a little of the siding referred to above. I have to allow sufficient room for the road trucks to manoeuvre to the unloading platform and coal lorries to get to the coal siding! It when you consider things like this you start to realise why goods yards needed so much space.

 

So that is all for now, tomorrow I will have another go at catching up on the NGR photos.

Take care

Paul 

  

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Finally, I can get to the update on the NGR!

The last few days have not had any particular problems, just a load of little decisions that have kept me away from making models and making Postings here!

 

In the last NGR posting I showed the passing loop at Leedon Crossing. Now I can show this being used for its intended purpose:-

 

298890915_NGR03-10-1.jpg.65c0f959eeb19c7b1460f8d97714058e.jpg

 

All is quiet as we look across the path over the middle of Leedon Crossing in the direction of Eggington Village, but do I hear a whistle in the distance?

 

This is where the whistle might have come from as Doll crosses the road at full speed, allowed by the clear view of the road in both directions, unlike many of the road crossings on the line where there is no clear view of approaching traffic:-

 

998541995_NGR10-10-1.jpg.c5bb4f7190e5c71d54b4c2804ccaf17e.jpg

 

This is the crossing of Appenine Way at the opposite end of the "Planets" estate from the Leedon Crossing.

 

Here she is again bursting out of the "tunnel" of vegetation at the north end of Leedon Crossing:-

 

367024220_NGR03-10-2.jpg.42ce37b38db3e99a134a795b2e789134.jpg

 

Doll is well suited to bunker first working with her open rear of her cab, but a large roof against the rain!

 

So here the train is waiting in Leedon crossing loop:-

 

673668376_NGR03-10-4.jpg.38a38bd934fb221b7a65815381b741a8.jpg

 

The train is standing on the "straight " curves that I showed in my last set of NGR shots.

 

Ahh, this is what they are waiting for:-

 

1427150710_NGR03-10-5.jpg.537f6b66308fe1a2195e724f2adfe765.jpg

 

Unfortunately, in autumn, economies are made by using one steam loco and one diesel loco:-

 

564757247_NGR03-10-6.jpg.6b7d4c8ab7d3e3b0d5bddb177778e7e1.jpg

 

So now, both trains move off, don't worry, I am not as close to the rails as it appears!

 

So here is Doll, making an attack on the bank up towards Pages Park Terminus. Next dates on the railway calendar?- 

 

HALF TERM!

 

I hope you liked this set of photos, hopefully I will have more soon when other locos are in action.

Cheers for now,

Paul

 

 

 

 

NGR 03-10-7.jpg

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Hi Folks,

I hope everyone is fit and well and busy with their modelling?

At Bradenham, work on track painting, Kadee magnet placement, and ballasting, are progressing slowly!

With a lot of things going on, particularly in the garden, as autumn approaches, modelling time has been at a premium.

 

Today, we cracked our third (and hopefully last for a while), water related problem. What we thought would be a quick job, to fix a dripping tap, ended up a full tap replacement. This was because spares for the Franke brand tap installed when our kitchen was refurbished four years ago, prove not to be easy to obtain. Their area distributer quoting 4-6 weeks for the spare needed!

 

The replacement is a British made tap, so hopefully will be easier to fix in the future.

 

I don't currently have any new model photos to show this week, and with a big family get together over this coming weekend, it will probably be next week before i get to take any. 

So what I have today is a selection of NGR photos taken over the last weekend:-

As there was no different locos in use to those I have shown recently, I thought I would show some interesting parts of the trackwork.

Firstly we have one of the longest straight runs on the line, which allows fast running down hill, and some dramatic sounds from the loco s working up the hill.

 

NGR-17-10-3.jpg.eb3557c756cc781f0c7d3f4a89f6330c.jpg

 

Secondly, we have a view from the other end of the incline looking down the hill:-

 

NGR-17-10-4.jpg.4d6686934b228962d2cf8cfedb4328fb.jpg

 

In stark contrast, after crossing a road, there is the tight, right hand curve through 100 degrees with check rails around the Vandyke, or Cooperative curve:-

 

NGR-17-10-7.jpg.2e88010cc92a71197b9629d65a2dafce.jpg

 

Finally, we have a view from the other end of the curve as the line tracks back to run closely parallel to the Vandyke Road that the line has just crossed at right angles!

 

NGR-17-10-8.jpg.813805b22eb9efe30c8a5fb004fba842.jpg

 

Behind me in the last photo, access to Vandyke road is restricted because work is under way to build a bridge by which a new eastern bypass to Leighton Buzzard, will cross the NGR and Vandyke road.

If what has been promised is delivered, by the end of the year there will be a first for the NGR, as the railway will pass under the new bypass by means of a tunnel rather than a bridge. I will report further on this as things develop.

 

Best regards to you all,

Paul 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

And so to November!

I expected to do some modelling and take some layout photos last week, but the fates had other ideas!

We had planned a family get together over the weekend at the beginning of Half term, for my birthday, but this ended up being split over two weekends as my youngest son and his family couldn't come from Flintshire for the first weekend as his wife was poorly (NOT Covid related!). 

 

Anyway, they made it this last weekend and so I have for you a couple of shots of the last, length of the line, outward bound to Stonehenge, NGR train of the season. This was taken on our Sunday afternoon walk.

 

Firstly No 778 approaches the foot of the incline I pictured in my last posting:-

 

NGR-31-10-1.jpg.361d0f00afae80d028a422f049731788.jpg

 

Luckily, she got a good run at the bank as she had not had to stop for the road crossing  to the right of my photo.

 

Then we have a shot of her on the river crossing right at the foot of the bank, although the river is somewhat misleadingly called Clipstone Brook:-

 

NGR-31-10-2.jpg.6127695ecb1c414bf3ae2e2a1960a117.jpg

 

The railings in the foreground of the photo are for the road bridge over the river. The road runs parallel with the tracks all the way up the bank.

 

My last NGR photos of the year will be taken in early December when the Santa's Specials start to run, but they only run as far as the Leedon Crossing which I portrayed in some of my earlier NGR postings.

 

November the 5th now looms. This will be the first year that my eldest son and his family have had a dog, so I am hoping she does not get too upset by the fireworks, which like last year will be confined to garden displays. This is because the LB Rotary Club have again decided that Covid makes the town display, which we watched from our garden, but supported financially, too difficult operationally and not worthwhile financially. 

 

Meanwhile on with the Kadee couplings, rail painting and ballasting!

 

Take care, best regards

Paul 

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Thanks Nick, I am currently working out how I can get access to the site where the LBR will be diverted to tunnel under the new road, but it is not easy as a good mile of the current oad beside the line is closed for the works,  there being nothing except fields to require access to along that stretch, and the road is completely closed off at the LB end.

I am sure , eventually, I will find a way, but its going to involve a long walk or two, some of which will fail to get me where I want to be!

Cheers

Paul

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  • 2 weeks later...

It has been a busy week or so since I last posted anything!

So today, I have a few photos of action on Bradenham, which unfortunately show up the lack of progress on ballasting etc.

So, firstly, we have my Hornby J15 coasting round into Bradenham's up platform (site of!). My excuse for this loco is that I like its old fashioned appearance, and one did work, in c1957 while based at Aylesbury, into Princes Risborough, and then out to Chinnor wit  the cement works coal train:-

 

118153254_Paulbradenhamscenes-11-01.jpg.7a464cddd91550ef9b48918ec2d685c9.jpg

 

Next we have another up working, this time from Oxford of a 72xx 2-8-2. This seems to have had it's annual clean, so is a candidate for weathering this winter:-

 

1038299887_Paulbradenhamscenes-11-02.jpg.336592e1dd8cd5d68dd18dc19cd9fb42.jpg

 

Completing a trio of up workings we have a passenger, another working from Oxford, a hall in charge of some BR suburbans:-

 

381071294_Paulbradenhamscenes-11-03.jpg.db59d8c18d865176b70bd0fe04cd98c0.jpg

 

Scampering down to the other end of the station we see the Hall setting off towards High Wycombe:-

 

1158733075_Paulbradenhamscenes-11-08.jpg.a5941bc98c7595fb27f210f393ed5ca4.jpg

 

Finally, for this afternoon, we have a down passenger in the hands of a Collett 0-6-0, possibly substituted for something larger, that failed! My "off the cuff "Theory is that this Wolverhampton train appropriated the Collett off the down Old Oak to Banbury pick up freight, on which they were frequent performers:-

 

937211468_Paulbradenhamscenes-11-10.jpg.9953b881bf46579bcb3a03c7ee50b2e9.jpg

 

I must dig out my WTT to see how the timings might have worked, I know that the down pick up took all day to get from old Oak to Banbury! 

 

in the background to the last two shots are a collection of locos that have commandeered the inward goods shed roads.

I am currently toying with the idea of fitting a two road engine shed and two coach sidings into the space between the inwards goods shed and the mainline. The original plan was that this area would be a small housing estate, but I am trying to convince myself that I should apply rule I and give Bradenham an engine facility to haul the morning commuter trains that in reality were provided by two double headed ECS from Neasden to High Wycombe!

 

What do folks think?

 

Cheers for now,

Paul 

 

   

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Interesting to see some of your trains in action on the layout Paul.

 

I've always thought it unusual that there were no engine sheds between Old Oak Common/Banbury and Neasden/Woodford Halse other than the small sub-shed at Aylesbury. Clearly these two lines, as latecomers to the railway scene, didn't generate sufficient traffic requirements, in their mid-sections, to justify any others.

 

I don't see though why you can't use the example at Aylesbury as your justification at at Bradenham. As well as local passenger engines the shed could house shunters for High Wycombe/ Princes Risborough and the Watlington branch loco.

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Other, problems a shed in the High Wycombe area would have eased include:-

 

1) Provision of the High Wycombe shunter, which did a "dead" run from Slough early each Monday morning, and "swapped" each day late afternoon with the engine of a goods that had come up from Taplow. I forget how the last loco got back on Saturday but I do know that the engine shunted 24hrs at High Wycombe and its yards, with several crews based at High Wycombe just for this purpose. 

 

2) The morning Parcels from Reading via Maidenhead to Princes Risborough had no balancing working, the vans getting back to  Maidenhead on several afternoon passenger workings. The loco from the morning run got back to Slough midmorning LE.

 

3) As well as the morning ECS run from Neasden, I mentioned in a previous post, there were early evening return ECS/LE runs.

 

So, it seems to me that a small shed for 4 or 5 locos at Bradenham would be reasonable, there being no room for one at High Wycombe!

My next move will be to draw up a plan on my layout plan and see what there is room for. I will post something here when I have played around with the possibilities for a while. A suitable prototype might be a two road single ended version of Slough Shed.

 

So please watch this space.

Best regards

Paul    

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Initial thoughts on the duties for Bradenham allocated locos are as follows:-

 

Shunter 1 :- Monday to Saturday:- Off shed 06.00 LE to High Wycombe, then shunting and trips to North Yard and Bradenham, as required. Spent engine returns to shed at 06.30 each morning Tuesday to Sunday.

 

Shunter 2:- Monday to Saturday:- Off shed  06.20, collect any wagons for Wycombe End and then trip to Wycombe End.  Monday to Friday:- Return to shed 19.00 , Saturday:- return to Shed 14.00. This duty has no real life equivalent, Wycombe End is pure fiction!

 

Shunter 3:- Monday to Saturday:- 05.30- 0900 Shunt at Bradenham, particularly 06.30 - 07.30 marshalling up suburban trains from sidings to up platform, then more shunting until departing for Princes Risborough at 09.00. Shunting at Princes Risborough 09.30-13.00, then return to Bradenham, change crew, then continue shunting until return to shed 21.30, or on standby if shunting completed earlier. Duties include stabling the returned suburban sets. 

In reality the Princes Risborough shunter was provided by Aylesbury Shed.

 

Tank engines 1,2 and 3:- work on Bradenham/High Wycombe/Princes Risborough/Aylesbury suburban trains. ( I need to work these out from the WTTS, replacing the double headers and ECS/LEs between Neasden and |High Wycombe. In 1958 there were 5 such tank duties plus additional duties between Marylebone and the GW & CG, but I have only room for three!

 

Freight 1:- ( in reality provided from Aylesbury Shed). Pick up loaded coal wagons from Bradenham yard after being dropped off by a freight from the GC line each morning. Move to  Chinnor Cement works on the Watlington branch and swap for empties. Take empties to Princes Risborough down sidings, then LE back to Bradenham shed.   

 

I am going to look further at the WTTs and see if there is opportunity for a second freight loco.

 

If there is insufficient room to house the above 7'8 engines then Shunters 2 and 3 might be combined, Wycombe end only getting a shunter in the afternoons!

 

Watch this space for further developments!

Cheers

Paul 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good afternoon one and all,

Modelling has very much taken a back seat over the last week or so! Nudged into action by Christmas lists from the family, which for once have been given promptly rather than the usual sequence of reminders, we have been busy with sourcing the items and also sorting out the who will we where, and when of the Christmas fortnight. 

 

Most presents are now delivered to us ready for packing, so we are taking a few days breather before starting on the menus and cards.

This allows me to do a bit of modelling and also continue the planning of Bradenham Shed. Currently I am looking at what locos might have visited the shed as opposed to those resident there.

In my 1954 Freight WTT there was a morning return trip from  Woodford Halse to Princes Risborough and an evening return trip from Woodford to High Wycombe. I am going to extend the morning trip to terminate at Bradenham and return the evening trip's loco from High Wycombe to Bradenham shed and start the return trip from Bradenham. Locos for these runs might be an LNER 2-8-0 and a LNER 0-6-0. 

So here is a pic of a recent purchase for the 2-8-0:-

 

895524778_PaulBradenhamLocos-1.jpg.8f85f739951d451736f1018fb235229b.jpg

 

I have a J11 for the 0-6-0, but that is currently packed away.

 

Some other freights locos might have visited the shed for attention. There was a daily Banbury to Old Oak freight which took all day for the one way trip, so I am suggesting they might have paused at Bradenham to exchange crews. These were often Collett 0-6-0 tender workings but for variety I am substituting a Standard 2-6-0 for one of them. There were also the daily Slough to Hinksey and reverse direction freights that in reality swapped crews at Princes Risborough, which activity I will move to Bradenham. These will be GW Large prairie workings, and will stay so as soon when my two Dapols arrive I will have a fair number of these - 6 to be precise!

 

I aim soon to do a first plan of the shed track which I will share here for comment.

 

Meanwhile, stay safe everyone, I hope no one has an African connection, this Botswana strain of Covid sounds really nasty!

Best regards

Paul 

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You have my sympathies over lack of modelling time Paul, particularly since I have been in a similar position recently myself.

 

I do like to read your 'what if' train working scenarios, adapted to suit the presence of Bradenham station.

Edited by Nick Gough
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Thanks Nick,

In my last post I dangled in front of readers a chance to reply to my comment on my GWR Prairie tanks:-

 

So as no-one queried what my six Large Prairies would do, I thought I should give some details.

As I said, two are used on the Oxford- Slough Freights. Another is used on the morning Reading to Princes Risborough via Maidenhead Parcels. However, this train might get a GWR 0-6-2 tank for variety, and this loco might sometimes substitute for one of the large prairies on the Oxford to Slough Freights.

Another of the Large Prairies is allocated to the Aylesbury to Paddington via Maidenhead suburbans, returning on the Paddington to Aylesbury returns.

The last two of the Large Prairies are allocated to other Paddington to High Wycombe via Maidenhead suburbans. These will visit Bradenham LE to coal etc. after arriving at High Wycombe. This allows them to have a presence on the layout without additional coaches!

Another loco to be worked in is a small prairie. They are one of my favourite locos, so one has to be fitted in, although I will have a hard job deciding which of my three Bachmann versions to keep, having already sold my three Lima versions. These were not often seen in the area but did occasionally venture in the High Wycombe direction from Maidenhead. So I plan to let one visit LE from the High Wycombe direction.     

 

So, next time, I hope to detail more about the through long distance passenger and parcels trains on Bradenham. This is one of the most difficult aspects of the operation, as I need to represent a lot of trains, which in reality only passed once in each direction per day, by just a few! 

 

Stay safe, and enjoy your modelling,

Best regards

Paul 

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Good afternoon everyone on another cold, damp and generally miserable day!

Last post, I promised you some details about the long distance trains on Bradenham.

The long distance passenger and parcels trains on Bradenham will develop as the layout develops. So as the layout currently stands there is only room for one up and one down WR long distance passenger trains. This is because at the current stage I want to concentrate on the more complex local trains, so they will use most of the siding space. There will not be any long distance freight trains.

 

The next stage of the layout's development will see Bradenham linked to Wycombe End, with Wycombe End being used as train sidings rather than as a part of the operating layout although of course it has full scenic treatment for 2/3s of its length.

At this stage the local trains will use Wycombe End allowing more long distance passenger trains to use the fiddle yard loops. So I will be able to run 3 up and 3 down long distance trains, although one down train will have to start from Wycombe End, and then return as an up train. The three trains could be one Wolverhampton set, one Birkenhead set and one Sheffield - Marylebone set. In addition it may be possible to have one parcels set, working out and back to Wycombe End.

 

The third stage of the layout will have the tracks joining Bradenham to Wycombe End revamped to allow a set of loops acting as a second fiddle yard between the already installed double junction to the south of Bradenham and the similar double junction, again already installed to the north of Bradenham.

 

This probably sounds confusing, so I will in the near future put up some sketches to illustrate the above.

 

The additional loops will hopefully hold two or three trains each and will be shared between additional long distance passenger/parcels trains and long distance freight trains. I hope also to be able to fit in three specialist trains, namely the Cambrian Coast Express, the Dorrington-Marylebone Milk, and the Wolverhampton- Paddington Pullman diesel set (but a 6 car not the prototypical Western 8 car!).

 

I will follow up with more details of the trains as well as sketch plans soon.

Best regards

Paul   

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Hi All,

Not got near to plans yet, so I thought as an interim report I would talk about the two express passenger trains for the current set up of Bradenham:-

The down express will be a 5 coach chocolate and cream mk1 set, hauled by a castle. periodically, this will reverse and swap with the up express which will be a maroon WR set probably comprising two Collets, a mk1 RU and two Hawksworths.

 

Two of the four short stub sidings that form the start of the double junctions north and south of Bradenham will hold another King and Castle for when the trains reverse. Fixing paths from the sidings to the loops for these new locos and returning the used locos to the sidings will be a bit tricky!

A variation on this running will be for one of the expresses to limp slowly into Bradenham with a loco problem. Then whatever is in the yard will replace said loco. Now Bradenham is not going to be a tender loco shed, in general. However, a comment on another thread reminded me that the Collett 0-6-0 tender locos, as used on the Banbury to Old Oak freights, were known as "Baby Castles". So maybe one of those which has paused to drop off/pick up wagons in Bradenham Yard could be appropriated.

To increase the fun, it ought to be the one running in the opposite direction to the express, so that it departs tender first! 

Then later maybe a 2-6-0 arrives LE to retrieve the hapless express loco!

 

Then to make things more tricky for me, as the operator, the other express could also have a problem and be left with a tank engine out of the Yard!

Who said operating with just two expresses couldn't be interesting?

 

Enjoy your modelling, and stop watching the Covid numbers rise, it will make you ill!!

 

Best regards

Paul

 

 

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Afternoon everyone,

Discussing the way a faulty engine on an express might have been +dealt with by Bradenham shed, lead to a review of what might be allocated there, and also what visiting locos might be found on the shed. 

The first decision was that Bradenham would not have an allocation of its own, but would be a sub shed. I decided that the allocation would mimic that of Aylesbury and be shared between GWR locos and LNER ones. So it seems logical that Slough should provide the GWR ones and Neasden, the LNER ( or LMS) ones.

 

So what do we need?

1) three GWR shunters (one for High Wycombe, one for Wycombe End and one for Bradenham and Princes Risborough).

2) Three LNER/LMS large tanks for the Marylebone suburbans.

3) A small freight loco for the local freights. This could be a J15, an Ivatt 2-6-2, or a small GWR Prairie.

4) A medium sized loco for covering any of the above while normal locos were unavailable, and as a standby loco. A 76xxx standard looks a good bet, as it could easily work tender first with its tender cab.

 

Visiting locos could include:-

A variety of medium sized LNER/LMS locos on the two terminating freights from Woodford Halse. At times J11s, J39s, and LMS 3Fs or 4Fs were allocated there. Black 5s and B1s were likely for larger loads.

 

Oxford and Slough 61xxs and Old Oak/Banbury Collett 0-6-0s passed through and shunted the yard. Banbury, Marlow and Aylesbury Auto sets also passed through or could be substituted by GWR/BR Railcars.

 

Stretching things a bit, the loco off the oil trains inward bound to Thame might have visited, although in reality these locos went forward to Oxford from/to Thame.

 

Any thoughts on/alternatives to the above welcome,

Best regards

Paul

 

 

 

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