Lower Thames Yard

[Nick Gough]

Be careful out there Paul!

 

I understand from a former work colleague, who now resides in the Duchy, that it's pretty much standing room only there at the moment.

[5BarVT]

49 minutes ago, Tallpaul69 said:

our family holiday in Cornwall

Enjoy.

Paul.

[Tallpaul69]

Good Afternoon fellow modellers,

Today I have managed an hour or so in the railway Room including as threatened a few days ago getting out my Stanier 8F to have its code reset and for a run on Bradenham. I t ran well, but I still prefer the G2!

I also indulged in a little play fun by setting two goods trains running round the up main simultaneously. They were not long trains, each some 8 wagons including a brake. I greatly enjoyed adjusting the throttles on them so that they kept evenly spaced around the layout. One was hauled by my 4F and the other by my 94xx tank.

The tricky part was getting them into separate loops in the fiddle yard at the end. The first time I failed miserably with resetting the points, partly because I had 4 to reset, and I ended up with one long train with the 94xx in the middle, but at least nothing derailed! 

 

However, once I had separated the two trains and got them with a sensible distance between them again, the next attempt worked well as having reset two of the points beforehand, I only had two to set. 

 

I said the other day about having a dozen locomotives scattered around the layout. Although ex GWR types and WR diesels predominate, there is a cosmopolitan air with ex LMS and ex LNER types represented. The only SR representative is a Class 33 diesel although I do have a Schools waiting in the wings. It is waiting for me to work out how to connect the minute electrical plug and socket between the loco and tender. So far my fingers have proven too large and clumsy to get it to connect!

 

Tomorrow I need to pack up the layout for our holiday, which at a minimum is really just a matter of disconnecting the electrics at the wall sockets rather than the normal switching off process. If I have time, I might pack the 1960s locos and rolling stock away, with the aim of running things as a later period after the holiday. 

 

Cheers for now,

Paul 

[Nick Gough]

Remember, it's not playing.

 

It's all important testing - "that I must get done today dear!"

[ChrisN]

 

Paul,

What an interesting ride, not least of which is that this thread is a social history of the last year.  So many happy memories!  

 

As you may remember on my list of layouts to be made is one of somewhere between High Wycombe and Maidenhead, and even though I will be looking at 1895 at the latest, the complications of the Maidenhead end are very interesting and far more advanced than the Cambrian at that time which on the Coast Line was really and elongated branch.  (It is fourth on the list so at about 20 years at least to build each layout, the second one maybe not as long, I shall be at least 105 before I start.)  Stil very interesting and I shall follow closely.

[Tallpaul69]

Good Afternoon everyone,

Our week in Cornwall has been and gone, and its back to sunny Bedfordshire.

Porthtowan, is a small village on the north west coast between Perranporth and Portreath. It has no railway interest at all, not even , as far as I can tell, any abortive ,railway mania schemes! There may have been the odd short horse drawn tramway in connection with the copper mines.

The nearest I got to the railway was a view of Truro station from a passing bus and waiting for a bus opposite Redruth station in the drizzle! 

So tomorrow I hope to get my first post holiday session in the railway room.

 

Best regards

Paul 

[Nick Gough]

Hope you had a good time and managed to avoid the worst of the crowds?

[Tallpaul69]

22 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

Hope you had a good time and managed to avoid the worst of the crowds?

Thanks Nick,

Yes, we had a good time. Thankfully the busiest place we visited was Perranporth, but it was quite reasonable until early afternoon, although Truro was quite busy all day. 

 

Picking up on ChrisN's post, I am afraid I don't have the skills for the late 18 hundreds modelling, but am full of admiration of those who do.

Yes, Maidenhead to High Wycombe is an interesting line, and deciding to model High Wycombe to Princes Risborough, rather than the original Maidenhead, High Wycombe Junction, means that I can still portray some of the interesting trains that used the line, and either in reality, or by reasonable extension, can extend towards Princes Risborough.

So the early morning Reading to Princes Risborough parcels will appear, as will the Aylesbury to Paddington via Maidenhead suburbans, offering a contrast to the trains to Marylebone with their Gresley and Thompson coaches. 

Reasonable extensions are the Marlow to High Wycombe Autos , in my world terminating at Bradenham, and the High Wycombe south to north Shunter trips which will also extend to Bradenham.

 

Some photos from the holiday, and more on Bradenham, later in the week, although I think it will be next weekend before I really get stuck into the many jobs on my to do list!

Cheers to All,

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Hi there all you watchers,

I have had good news in the shape of an email from Stephen Freeman telling me that he expects to have the construction of my signals completed by this coming weekend. There is still work for him to do after that to complete the electrics and do testing etc. However, this means that I ought to start to finalise the positions of the holes through the baseboards. 

 

I have also received in the post a batch of Dapol  JHA hoppers from Hattons. I had a bit of a nightmare over these when I got emails from Hattons telling me that they were about to send out the items I had ordered (long, long ago......), but they were going to send them twice, under two different order numbers!

To their credit, once I contacted them, they soon sorted it out.

 

To round off todays report, as I have not any new model shots to show, (I have yet to unpack the JHAs) , I thought I would show you some shots from Cornwall:-

 

Firstly, here is a view of the kitchen/dinning room/sitting room of our rental property, which looked quite busy when all 9 of us were there! Unusual layout, in that due to the hillside location the bedrooms were downstairs! There was a nice snug off to the right behind the pillar.

 

 

Next, a view down the valley, which was quite steep, to the village beach. I understand that there was a horse(or donkey/mule?) hauled tramway up the slope past the cottages in the foreground linking copper mines (at the top) with smelters in the valley.

 

 

Lastly, and with a railway link, in that the building ruins are of an engine house (but pump engine!). The ruins are on the edge of a steep valley, and the trees are part way down the slope, the camping site being on the other side of the valley.

 

 

More proper railway matter next time!

Cheers All,

Paul,

 

 

 

[Nick Gough]

There's nothing that shouts Cornwall as much as the ruins of an engine house!

 

Looks like a nice property in a pleasant location.

[Tallpaul69]

Afternoon All,

I thought I would find it easy to get started modelling after a two week break, but that is not the case.

Partly, I think, it is a case of not being sure where to start!

With the delivery of the signals not too far away, deciding the final positions for them would seem an obvious place to start, with positions for coupling magnets and making a start on ballasting after that.

 

Another part of the problem is being distracted by there being two family birthdays this week with activities to do with them, and so, in the end , not that much time for modelling.

 

Anyway, I have unpacked the Dapol  JHAs and taken one out of the box to photograph, as below:-

 

 

I chose an outer because I wanted to see what sort of job they had made of the taillamps. It looks ok to me, although you cannot see the tip of the lamp iron sticking up behind the lamp body, but perhaps i am being a bit picky? 

 

 

Tomorrow, I hope to get it on live track  and see what the lamp looks like lit. I hope it will not be too bright! There is wiring to allow the fitting of a chip to control the lamp. This seems an unnecessary expense to me, unless the lamp shows too bright, when I might think again.

Apologies for the corner of the printer and associated wiring intruding into the photos. I didn't notice this until I was uploading them  and by then I had packed the JHA away.

 

This morning I took a walk over to Pages Park as this weekend is the annual Narrow Gauge Railway Transport Rally. Had it been November, it would have been quite warm, but for late August, it was decidedly chilly. I will post a few pics next time. 

 

So, that is all my news for the moment, I will update you all further, later in the week.

Best regards

Paul  

[Tallpaul69]

Well, here we are at Friday, with another week slipped by!

 

Having now a sort of plan for work on Bradenham next week, making a start on ballasting, and preparing for installing the signals, I thought I ought to give Wycombe End some attention first, having largely ignored it since Bradenham arrived! 

 

Thankfully, everything worked ok, so I shunted the six modern locos on the layout around, getting used again to the feel of the layout. I also tried the Outer JHA I had unpacked, and was pleased that the tail lamp worked fine, and was not too bright. So I don't think I will be installing DCC chips in the Outers. 

 

Finally, I promise to post some pics from last weekend's Transport Rally at the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway, and here they are:-

We couldn't show a NGR show without a train!

 

I thought it appropriate ,being in Bedfordshire, to show shots of locally produced Bedford vehicles:-

So firstly, we have a coach built horsebox on an O type chassis, but unfortunately my pic chopped off the shapely roof of the box, Doh!

 

 

Next we have an S type wagon with boxes of export bound CKD (Completely Knocked Down) Bedford products.

 

 

Finally, we have an older pre war van on a strengthened saloon car chassis.

 

 

Hope they bring back memories for those of you of a certain age (like me!).

 

Best regards

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tallpaul69]

Talking about Wycombe End in my last post reminded me that I haven't posted any pictures from there in a while.

 

Anyway, you can see from the shots below that running in a time frame around the Millenium, the engineers have moved in!

Not quite sure what they are up to, but I will keep my eye on things and report any developments. Apologies for the modern timeframe, but I decided on a change from my usual 1960s!

 

So to start with, here in a quiet moment the Whickham Trolley is caught alongside the MPV. Sort of a little and large situation?

 

 

 

Both these models are sound fitted, although I have not run them simultaneously, probably the MPV will drown the Trolley?

 

Moving to our right we see that there is a Tamper unit parked behind the MPV trailer, and a 8 wheel flatbed lorry drawn up alongside the MPV. The Tamper is DCC fitted, but not sound.

 

 

When I returned a little later a couple of ballast wagons had appeared in the siding in front of the MPV.

 

 

Why one is full and the other empty, I have yet to fathom a story for. In truth, they just happened to be the two ballasts i had to hand, and I thought also you might like the graffiti on the left hand one. I can't claim any hand in its production, it's just how I purchased them!

 

There are several possible stories behind the engineers activity, such as the installation of the long awaited platform at Wycombe End or the bridge for the link between Wycombe End and Bradenham. The weakness in both these stories is that I have yet to complete the design of both these items, never mind their construction or installation! There is also the matter of the goods shed to cover the siding where the engineers stock is sitting plus the one behind it, but not only has this still to have its design completed (started), but also, it would be silly to park the stock where the building is to take place?

 

Any ideas on this story are welcome, lets see if you can come up with something plausible before I do??

 

Take care all, enjoy your modelling.

Regards

Paul 

 

 

 

[Tallpaul69]

Good Afternoon fellow modellers.

After several instances of stock running off the end of sidings, usually the least accessible ones, I decided I needed to fit Bradenham with Buffer stops.

As a temporary measure until I decide how several of the sidings will terminate long term, I have bought a couple of batches of standard Hornby clip on efforts. Longer term, the bay, for instance may have stop blocks built into the end loading face, and some may have illuminated efforts. 

 

I am currently fiddling around (technical term!) with magnets and electromagnets for the Kadee couplings. I have some proper Kadee magnets and a variety of other cheaper ones. I haven't yet got any electromagnets, I am looking around at what is available.

 

Yesterday, we had a pleasant trip to Hitchin which has a good collectors market on a Friday. Picked up for £5 a copy of "the Final Link", which was one of the few books on the GW & GC that  I was missing. I also found one buffer stop, and a copy of Memories of Luton, which I was pleased about as it filled a gap in my books on south Bedfordshire. I also found some pictures in it of someone I knew. This was a chap called Tom Sheaf, who ran our local independent diary when I was a child and who I used to chat to about his electric milk floats if I was up when he delivered the milk! 

So I think Bradenham is going to gain a milkman called Tom, in his memory.

 

No railway related photos today, but I am pleased to show my eldest grand daughter, Hollie, about to start her first match for Luton Town Ladies this morning.

They drew 2-2 and Hollie got player of the match!

 

 

They are doing better than the Professional men who at this moment, this afternoon, are loosing 2-0 away at Blackburn.

 

I will post some photos of Wycombe End during this week, plus maybe one of Bradenham, if I manage to get something done towards the rail painting and ballasting, or perhaps install a few buffer stop. Otherwise it is currently just track on boring bare baseboards!

 

Best regards for now,

Paul

 

 

[Tallpaul69]

Hello everyone from a (yet again!) wet and soggy South Beds.

I intended yesterday to take the promised photos of Wycombe end, but running trains got in the way, now today, it looks like I will be confined to the house.

I made a good start yesterday by removing some of the accumulated clutter from Bradenham. I then decided it was time to get some more wagons out of their boxes. This done, I decided to try something I had attempted unsuccessfully in an earlier session, which was to run two trains on the up circuit of Bradenham. 

This went very well while admitted there were only six wagons to each train, but the sound produced by the two locos, my J15 and my 64xx was really good. Coupled with my 94xx on 4 coaches on the down track, and the atmosphere was great! However, I need to adjust the sound level on the 94xx as the other two tended to drown it out.

 

I have been really pleased with the J15. I bought it on the excuse that in the late 50s one based at Aylesbury was used to run the Watlington branch freight from Princes Risborough and that it might occasionally have escaped on a run through Bradenham to High Wycombe!

These two running at the same time on the same tracks certainly gave lie to the theory that all small sound fitted locos sound the same!

I kept expecting something to go wrong, couplings to part, or the electrics to give up, but nothing did.

Now I am keen to try adding an additional train to the down side, but I think I will start with something easy, maybe an AEC railcar in addition to the 94xx passenger train.  

I will also do my best to take the promised photos tomorrow.

 

Cheers for now,

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Here, as promised, is an update on Wycombe End, complete with photos, and also a few other updates:-

 

At Wycombe End the Engineers still seem to be amassing equipment, for what , there is no word!

Also, a strange, seemingly brand new, wagon has appeared at the repairers shop.

 

So here is a view of the yard, sent in by a worker in the upper floor of the adjacent offices:-

 

 

Although the shades of yellow clash, a powerful diesel fork lift truck can just be made out in front of the Tamper machine. Beside it, is one of those non descript white vans, so loved by delivery drivers and some members of the engineers fraternity who seem to lack the courage to display their names!

Our watcher's eye was evidently caught by the wagon in the foreground of his photo because in the next shot he was able to move along the offices and show us a better view of the wagon from one end. It looks very new, so perhaps it had to be dropped off at the workshop with a tight bearing?

 

 

I will see if I can get any information from the workshop management, although they tend not to be very forthcoming to enthusiasts!

 

In other news, we had a pleasant trip to Aylesbury today. I was able to liberate from the Oxfam Bookshop there, which always has a good selection of maps and railway books, a 1960s OS 1:25000 Map of High Wycombe, which also includes the site of Bradenham station. It is a mystery why nothing of the station shows on it? I must update the powers that be in the OS in Southampton. 

I have more recent maps of the area to the same scale, but it was good to get this one.

 

Also, yesterday my batch of buffer stops arrived, so tomorrow I will see about installing some.

One matter I am thinking about, is the treatment of the edge of the cork underlay of the track on Bradenham, as It seems to me that the edge might show brown below the ballast when I install it? Particularly when viewing the railway from baseboard level, as I do like doing.

I will have to do a test piece. It might be that the point at which the ballast meets the baseboard is outside of the edge of the cork, in which case it will not show?

Once I have done a test piece I will post photos of it for everyone to comment on whether the cork shows or not.

 

It also seems that the Dapol 00 large prairies might not be too far away, so I had better be careful what I spend otherwise, with two sound fitted versions of them to pay for.

 

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is making progress with their models, but do keep some jobs up your sleeves, just in case we get locked up (or is it down?) over the winter.

Best regards

Paul 

[Nick Gough]

How are you getting on with 'The Final Link'?

 

I particularly like the construction era photos and those of the local area from the same period.

 

The authors also produced a number of similar books covering Metroland and the Metropolitan Railway. 

 

Dennis Edwards worked with my father and, since we lived in the area between the two railways, we acquired most of the titles when first published.

[ChrisN]

2 hours ago, Tallpaul69 said:

Here, as promised, is an update on Wycombe End, complete with photos, and also a few other updates:-

 

At Wycombe End the Engineers still seem to be amassing equipment, for what , there is no word!

Also, a strange, seemingly brand new, wagon has appeared at the repairers shop.

 

So here is a view of the yard, sent in by a worker in the upper floor of the adjacent offices:-

 

 

Although the shades of yellow clash, a powerful diesel fork lift truck can just be made out in front of the Tamper machine. Beside it, is one of those non descript white vans, so loved by delivery drivers and some members of the engineers fraternity who seem to lack the courage to display their names!

Our watcher's eye was evidently caught by the wagon in the foreground of his photo because in the next shot he was able to move along the offices and show us a better view of the wagon from one end. It looks very new, so perhaps it had to be dropped off at the workshop with a tight bearing?

 

 

I will see if I can get any information from the workshop management, although they tend not to be very forthcoming to enthusiasts!

 

In other news, we had a pleasant trip to Aylesbury today. I was able to liberate from the Oxfam Bookshop there, which always has a good selection of maps and railway books, a 1960s OS 1:25000 Map of High Wycombe, which also includes the site of Bradenham station. It is a mystery why nothing of the station shows on it? I must update the powers that be in the OS in Southampton. 

I have more recent maps of the area to the same scale, but it was good to get this one.

 

Also, yesterday my batch of buffer stops arrived, so tomorrow I will see about installing some.

One matter I am thinking about, is the treatment of the edge of the cork underlay of the track on Bradenham, as It seems to me that the edge might show brown below the ballast when I install it? Particularly when viewing the railway from baseboard level, as I do like doing.

I will have to do a test piece. It might be that the point at which the ballast meets the baseboard is outside of the edge of the cork, in which case it will not show?

Once I have done a test piece I will post photos of it for everyone to comment on whether the cork shows or not.

 

It also seems that the Dapol 00 large prairies might not be too far away, so I had better be careful what I spend otherwise, with two sound fitted versions of them to pay for.

 

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is making progress with their models, but do keep some jobs up your sleeves, just in case we get locked up (or is it down?) over the winter.

Best regards

Paul 

 

Paul,

Nice pictures, plenty going on.

 

I am told, as I have not ballasted yet, but have seen it on other layouts, that once ballasted the cork acts as the 'shoulder' of the ballast and so disappears and adds to the effect.

[Tallpaul69]

On 16/09/2021 at 17:51, Nick Gough said:

How are you getting on with 'The Final Link'?

 

I particularly like the construction era photos and those of the local area from the same period.

 

The authors also produced a number of similar books covering Metroland and the Metropolitan Railway. 

 

Dennis Edwards worked with my father and, since we lived in the area between the two railways, we acquired most of the titles when first published.

Yes, "The Final Link" is a good read. There is a photo of Saunderton village, which, while the people ore in too early a dress for the early 60's the building detail is useful.  

[Tallpaul69]

On 16/09/2021 at 19:28, ChrisN said:

 

Paul,

Nice pictures, plenty going on.

 

I am told, as I have not ballasted yet, but have seen it on other layouts, that once ballasted the cork acts as the 'shoulder' of the ballast and so disappears and adds to the effect.

Thanks Chris,

Yes, I do my best to come up with realistic stories to support my photos.

I find having Wycombe End as a complete(ish!) layout is a good way for me to  be able to post something  of interest, as the Bradenham side of things will only progress slowly from the current bare baseboards and track. 

 

However, I am afraid my story making has a long way to go to compete with the likes of KVP! 

 

I think I will need to have a thin skim of ballast over the edge of the cork as viewing the track from baseboard level may show up the different colour.

Take care All,

[Tallpaul69]

On 18/09/2021 at 17:03, Tallpaul69 said:

Thanks Chris,

Yes, I do my best to come up with realistic stories to support my photos.

I find having Wycombe End as a complete(ish!) layout is a good way for me to  be able to post something  of interest, as the Bradenham side of things will only progress slowly from the current bare baseboards and track. 

 

However, I am afraid my story making has a long way to go to compete with the likes of KVP! 

 

I think I will need to have a thin skim of ballast over the edge of the cork as viewing the track from baseboard level may show up the different colour.

Take care All,

Firstly, apologies for accidentally changing KNP's middle initial in my last post!

 

Catching up on events in the real world on the LBNGR and in my model world on Wycombe End , I have a few photos for you:-

 

Last Sunday at Pages Park-  Firstly Doll being prepared to pull the 10.30 train to Stonehenge:-

 

 

Oiling up in progress!

 

Then moving on to the visiting circus:-

 

 

and a closeup:-

 

and the ticket office:-

 

 

then off to Wycombe end:-

 

The ballast wagons turned out to be nothing to do with the Engineers work, but in need of the wagon repairers skills!

 

 

 

The engineers have done their work, or departed for a work site:-

 

 

Finally Mallard has (at last!) ended her stay in the repair shop, and doesn't she look grand?

 

 

I think that is  about all for now.

 

Happy Modelling,

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[Tallpaul69]

Good Afternoon one and all;

 

Just a quick note today as we are busy with preparations for our eldest son and his family visiting tomorrow!

 

This has included a tidy up of Bradenham, checking that I have some trains ready to run round, as the family haven't seen the layout running.

Also checked Wycombe End out with the idea of impressing with trains running on one and static emitting interesting sounds on the other. First time I have attempted using both layouts at the same time for an audience, although it is something I have enjoyed several times on my own. 

I will let you know how it goes, and maybe I will take some pics on Monday before Bradenham descends into its usual mess.

 

Keep smiling, soon be Christmas!

Cheers

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Well, the weekend was a great success, the family being suitably impressed by the layouts and the loco sounds.

My 12 year old grandson even gave me some food for thought:-

While i had tidied up, there were still a number of locos standing on their wheels not on a track in the centre of the layout.  So pointing at a group of them Lewis asked: "Grandad, why  don't you add some more sidings for those engines to stand on?" I explained that in real life a small station like Bradenham would not have had an engine shed, as mainly trains passed through or stopped with only some of the goods trains stopping to shunt.

 

However, I had been thinking about some sort of loco facility, bearing in mind that in real life there were a couple of double headed double coach set ECS trains from Neasden to High Wycombe to provide the morning trains into Marylebone. This always seemed to me wasteful of resources. 

 

So watch this space!

 

I had intended to post some pics from the layouts and the NGR, but today got delayed by a leak through our ceiling. 

Fortunately, as it was wet outside, our usual builder/handyman was unable to proceed with his outside work, so was able to come out quickly and fix it!

 

So as we are out tomorrow, it will probably be Wednesday before pics are posted!

Keep on modelling

Best regards

Paul

 

 

[Tallpaul69]

On 27/09/2021 at 16:16, Tallpaul69 said:

So as we are out tomorrow, it will probably be Wednesday before pics are posted!

Wrong again!!

Tuesday's trip had to be delayed until Wednesday:-

We had a panic call at 07.00 on Tuesday from Geoff, our eldest son, saying that Lewis, our grandson, had a bad reaction to his Covid Jab on Monday, so was off school, but Geoff, who now works from home, had a site meeting to go to, could we come over? Thankfully by Thursday, Lewis was back to school.

 

So now we were at Thursday, catching up on the jobs we should have done on Wednesday; and thinking perhaps I'll get to take and post photos Friday?

No such luck!

Friday morning we put the (new in the spring) boiler on, but no heating came through. Managed to get Ian our heating engineer over late morning.  A valve, not replaced when the boiler was changed, had gone. By the time it got changed and Ian left it was early afternoon- too tired for photos.

The only thing that went ok this week was my decision not to go to MK for "The Great Electric Show". Today it has hammered down with rain since 10.00. So had I gone, I might have been exposed to Covid, and also got soaked. The downside is that the work on the layouts planned to replace the show visit had to be abandoned to avoid soakings getting to the railway room.

 

However, here as something positive to show you, are some of last weekends NGR shots:-

 

For the first time, Rather than the busy NGR Base at Pages park, I decided to feature Leedon Crossing, which is only 5 minutes walk from our house, and the only passing place on the line! Leedon was a hamlet on the edge of Leighton Buzzard, now surrounded by houses.

 

Here, I am standing on a footpath across the NGR passing loop. The footpath is the remains of the ancient Leighton Buzzard to Hockliffe road which was replaced some 240 years ago by the Aylesbury to Hockliffe turnpike which you can see crossing the NGR in the background of my photo. 

 

Looking in the opposite direction you can see the other end of the passing loop, complete with some typically dodgy NGR track laying (or how to lay a reverse curve using only straight track!).

 

Here we have a typical NGR train (this loco is named "Doll". The curves on this side are a little better?

 

And here we have the train disappearing in the direction of Stonehenge Works (so called because the bricks made there in the works opened in 1935, were said to strong enough to last as long as the stones of Stonehenge!), at the moment the outer terminal of the line. (an extension is under construction) .

 

Well, that's all for now folks, hopefully next week I will have some modelling news for you.

Best regards

Paul 

[Nick Gough]

Like the photos Paul - interesting views of the track.