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Friden - Cromford & High Peak


Middlepeak
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Gordon,

 

The "bit of kit" is owned by one of our local group - 'Fen End Pit' on this forum. Anyone with a laser cutter should be able to do this for you. Not much power is required, as you only need a mark on the surface.

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

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3 hours ago, Middlepeak said:

Dave,

Good to hear from you. It seems a long time since Middlepeak and Charmouth stood side by side in that cold exhibition hall in Utrecht! I've really enjoyed your recent writings in NG&IR. Keep them coming!

Regards,

Geraint

 

It IS a long time!  I think that was the only occasion I've operated wearing woolly hat & ski-jacket, and most likely gloves as well.   And on top of that I was suffering with a nasty cold!

Thanks for your comment on my NG&I stuff, there's still some more to come.  It started off as one article as a quick update, but rather snowballed...

All the best, Dave.

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  • 1 month later...

I mentioned in the last post that work was in hand on a new bit of motive power. Well, it's finished and I feel a little bit awkward revealing it in a thread about modelling real locations, because it never existed. However, it comes firmly in the "couldn't resist it" category, so here goes.

 

The brickworks at Friden was, and still is, operated by the Derbyshire Silica Firebrick Company. The surrounding clay and silica pits were linked to the works by a system of narrow gauge tramways, unusual in that they made the transition straight from horse-drawn to diesel traction. Nor did they own any standard gauge locos, but my little indulgence assumes that they had one to shunt wagons around the loading bay of the works.

 

Like many, I fell for the charms of the Hornby Peckett W4 even before it hit the shops. I nurtured dreams of converting it to P4, but for many months avoided the inevitable. The announcement of Gordon Ashton's innovative etched chassis seemed to make things more achievable, but somehow I was reluctant to throw away what appeared to be an excellent slow running mechanism, and in any case the Hornby model had captured the profile of the unique 11-spoke wheels very well and trade sources could not offer a suitable P4 alternative.

 

To the rescue came an article in Scalefour News from Bernie Baker, who had converted both the W4 and the later B6 to P4 by removing the tyres and replacing them with P4 versions from Alan Gibson. So I carefully dismantled the loco and determined that other aspects of the conversion would be straightforward. With two colleagues in our regular Friday night group purchasing their own Pecketts, we all resolved to pursue the same methods and three sets of the appropriate tyres were ordered from Ultrascale, which arrived three weeks later. The wheels then passed to my good friend Alex Duckworth, who skimmed the centres down at the rims and on the back, leaving the large axle centre bush to maintain a suitable grip on the axle. The wheels were then reassembled with Loctite and then remounted on the original axles. These have splined ends to improve grip, which also aided quartering. On the Hornby wheels, the axles fit in blind holes, so small plasticard packing pieces were superglued to the ends of the axles to help locate the wheels at the correct back to back.

 

As is usual with small tank locos that have outside valve gear, the clearance between the back of the crosshead and the front crankpin is critical – in this case zero! The cylinder unit was therefore separated from the chassis and cut along the centreline of the chassis, allowing the cylinders to be spaced out by 1mm either side. The motion bracket also received similar treatment.

 

Finally, the cosmetic bits. New frames were cut from 20thou black plasticard, spaced out from the cast chassis to increase the dimension over frames from 12mm to 16mm. Brake gear and pull rods were made up from a mix of the original Hornby and etched items from the spares box. New safety valves and whistle were turned up from brass, the Hornby transfers removed with Mek-Pak and replaced with Fox lettering, weathering with the airbrush and a crew added from Alan Buttler’s excellent Modelu range.

 

Thanks are due to Alex for turning the wheels, to Ultrascale for a speedy response to my order for tyres, to Philip Hall for converting me to the idea of cosmetic plasticard frames some time ago, and of course to Bernie Baker for the inspiration from the original article.

 

Now the Peckett needs some brick wagons to shunt!

 

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After the diversion into Peckett-land, it's back to the prototype now, and a few thoughts about how the layout will be operated and what sort of stock I will need.

 

Friden is basically an interchange yard between the High Peak and the main line railway, with the added benefit of the brickworks as a source of traffic. Therefore the base requirement is a loco and train from the Parsley Hay / Buxton end and a High Peak loco and train from the Middleton end.

 

However, I can justify two specific time periods, namely the 1950s and 1960s, over which there were subtle changes to the motive power used.

 

For the 1950s, the High Peak engine will be a North London Tank. I have one of these from Middlepeak, which is currently undergoing an overdue upgrade to a Mallard kit which was my first etched kit construction back in the late 1970s. I also have a second kit, the later Blacksmith version, which will follow in due course. Additional etched details have been produced for both. For the same era, the Buxton engine was usually a Midland 3F 0-6-0, which is a Bachmann model that will be upgraded with a Brassmasters Easichas kit.

 

For the 1960s, the High Peak engine will be a J94, again as upgrades of models previously used on Middlepeak. 68012 is the Brassmasters kit and 68030 is an Airfix body on a Perseverance chassis. For the main line, the main motive power will be an Ivatt 2 2-6-0, this time a Nu-Cast kit which I purchased and started for our group's Pampisford layout in the 1980s! Plans here are for a Comet loco chassis, Lanarkshire Models tender chassis and tender mounted motor with drive through to the centre drivers via a High Level gearbox.

 

Then of course we have the railtours to depict! For the High Peak end of the operation, the trains will be pulled by the NLT or J94 with an appropriate mix of brake vans and opens. For the main line, I can use either the 3F or a Fowler 2-6-4T (Hornby body on scratchbuilt chassis, to be constructed). There was also one occasion when the main line train was formed of a 6-car DMU! A bit long for my fiddle yard, but a 3-car would fit nicely.

 

Finally there are various special movements to consider, based on photographic evidence. In the mid-1950s Kitson 0-4-0ST 47000 returned from repair at Crewe works via Buxton, Friden and Middleton Incline to resume its duties at Sheep Pasture Top. This is an old favourite from Middlepeak - a much improved Jidenco kit with Sharman wheels and a Portescap motor. There were various District Engineer visits, which could justify an Engineer's saloon with something like a Super D (again Bachmann with replacement Gibson wheels, now complete), with the party transferring to the Wickham Trolley that was normally stabled at Longcliffe. Finally, thoughts of diesel traction during this period resulted in trials of an LMS diesel shunter in the 50s and an 08 in the 60s.

 

Plenty to go at, as you can see. Most of these are sitting in the 'to do' cupboard, so it really is time to get on with it!

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

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Hi Middlepeak,

 

Didn't the final LNWR 2-4-0t  chopper tank also make it into the early 50s?

I'm not sure which section it worked though, it would add a bit more variety.

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51 minutes ago, Argos said:

Hi Middlepeak,

 

Didn't the final LNWR 2-4-0t  chopper tank also make it into the early 50s?

I'm not sure which section it worked though, it would add a bit more variety.


I’m sure Choppers we’re used primarily on the Middleton bottom - Sheep Pasture and Cromford-High Peak Junction sections. 
The C&HPR between Middleton Top and Friden we’re dominated by NLR tanks and J94’s apart from the exceptions Geraint has mentioned. 

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Geraint I have a couple of questions- have you built the Blacksmith NLR kit yet?  I’ve just purchased a 3D printed NLR tank body and wondered how easily it would drop into a Blacksmith’s chassis. 
You mentioned etched detailing for the NLR locos - who produces these?

I’m assuming you have some tenders for water traffic from Middlepeak - have you used kits For these? Again I wondered how obtainable they are. 
cheers!

Jay

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Argos,

 

As Jay has pointed out, the surviving Chopper (58092) worked exclusively on the Sheep Pasture Top to Middleton Bottom section until its withdrawal in 1952. I suspect it was deemed to be not powerful enough to handle increased loadings up Hopton Incline. The NLTs were much better in that regard.

 

Jay,

 

The Blacksmith chassis is a little basic and needs a lot of work to bring it up to current expectations. Better bet is probably the Branchlines chassis, designed originally to fit the GEM kit. All depends on your 3D printed body really. If it's been designed to fit a particular chassis, that may make fitting a scale chassis more difficult.

 

The etched parts I referred to were done for me by PPD from my own artwork. Various bits included smokebox wrapper and front, cylinders and cab interior detail.

 

One last thing - my original NLT used the correct Sharman wheels, which are no longer available. I'm currently trying to source the best possible alternatives, but there might have to be some compromise in terms of number of spokes or crankpin position.

 

As for water tenders, the best options for Webb and McConnell types are kits from London Road Models.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Geraint

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1 hour ago, Middlepeak said:

Argos,

 

As Jay has pointed out, the surviving Chopper (58092) worked exclusively on the Sheep Pasture Top to Middleton Bottom section until its withdrawal in 1952. I suspect it was deemed to be not powerful enough to handle increased loadings up Hopton Incline. The NLTs were much better in that regard.

 

Jay,

 

The Blacksmith chassis is a little basic and needs a lot of work to bring it up to current expectations. Better bet is probably the Branchlines chassis, designed originally to fit the GEM kit. All depends on your 3D printed body really. If it's been designed to fit a particular chassis, that may make fitting a scale chassis more difficult.

 

The etched parts I referred to were done for me by PPD from my own artwork. Various bits included smokebox wrapper and front, cylinders and cab interior detail.

 

One last thing - my original NLT used the correct Sharman wheels, which are no longer available. I'm currently trying to source the best possible alternatives, but there might have to be some compromise in terms of number of spokes or crankpin position.

 

As for water tenders, the best options for Webb and McConnell types are kits from London Road Models.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Geraint


Very helpful - thanks Geraint!

Jay

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On 19/07/2020 at 21:22, Middlepeak said:

As for water tenders, the best options for Webb and McConnell types are kits from London Road Models.

 

Some of those were still in use in 1964 but the coal holes had been altered to increase water capacity so you can't use a straight LRM tender without modification. These two were at Longcliffe on 27 June 1964.

 

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In the 1960s I believe some Johnson and Fowler tenders crept in as well. 

 

Also seen on 27 June 1964 was this little crane which I deduce is at Friden (according to the picture taking order, it's somewhere between Parsley Hay and Newhaven LC so there's not many options). I was travelling on the RCTS railtour from Sheffield.

 

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After the Peckett diversion, it's back to construction of the layout itself.

 

I've decided to start at the Middleton end, which in many ways is the simplest baseboard, and the smallest, so it fits nicely on the workbench. This section, which is only about 750mm long, serves two purposes, firstly as the headshunt for the eastern end of the yard, but also as the fiddle yard for High Peak trains originating at Middleton.

 

With space being limited and no obvious scenic break to disguise the hidden section, I decided to take a lead from Geoff Forster's excellent Llangunllo layout and try a scenic fiddle yard. However, in this case I will need to change trains here during an operating session, to the fiddle yard needs to be some form of cassette.

 

Given that the track elsewhere on the layout is laid onto a 10mm thickness of notice board cork, I chose to make the cassette from a 5mm layer of acrylic sheet, pre-cut by the supplier to the required 560mm x 66mm, and to strengthen this with 10x10mm aluminium angle along the long edges. On top of the acrylic goes a 3mm layer of cork sheet and the straight section of plain track is laid on top of that. A second section of angle is screwed to the baseboard behind the cassette to help locate it, and the idea is to create some form of thumbscrew adjustment to the front of the baseboard to trap the removable section, as well as providing a power supply via the two aluminium angles. 

 

So far so good, and I'll cover the start of track construction in the next post.

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

 

 

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So, onto the more demanding part - track construction. 

 

It's been nearly 15 years since I last made any P4 track, but thankfully things have not changed significantly in terms of product availability during that time. The basic components are therefore Code 75 bullhead rail, (having used phosphor bronze rail on Middlepeak, I was happy with its performance, but not its appearance, so I've gone back to nickel silver this time), sleepers are plywood and chairs are from C&L / Exactoscale.

 

I mentioned before that the Templot plan is laser etched onto the surface of the cork, which makes positioning of the sleepers and track construction much easier. Trackwork on the High Peak was never in pristine condition. Ballast was usually ash or cinders, laid at variable depth, so again I have decided to use full depth sleepers to allow that variation to be modelled. Each length of rail is soldered to at least 2 rivets in the sleepers, with the other positions using the chairs fastened to the sleeper with Butanone solvent.

 

Scalefour Society jigs are used to file the crossing and this is made up as a separate assembly on a thin piece of PCB sheet, which raises the rail to the same height as is required by the chairs. This assembly is then stuck down to the sleepers with epoxy glue.

 

The turnout operating unit (TOU) under the baseboard is made up from various sections of brass tube and strip, with two lengths of 1.6mm diameter tube going up through the board to a level just under the surface of the cork. Lengths of 0.8mm brass rod are then bent to a right angle at one end and then fed down from the top into these tubes, before the point blades are soldered to them. I have always soldered up my own tiebars, using brass strip with a small piece of double sided pcb in the middle providing electrical isolation. This time I tried something more robust, using 1mm x 0.5mm U section, and this appears to have worked fine, so I will be using that for all the pointwork on this layout.

 

Wiring and point motor installation will follow, to be covered next time. Then I can run a train up and down, if only for about 700mm!

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

 

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  • 4 months later...

I felt I had to prove that the last 5 months have not been entirely idle, so here's a quick update on progress.

 

Boards 1 and 2, covering the east end of the yard have now been joined and are sitting temporarily on the old Middlepeak legs to allow better access for track building. With the exception of two sets of point blades, all of this track has now been built and various tests with the Peckett and the battery controller show that everything is OK.

 

Stretcher bars and a few cosmetic chairs around the rivets will then be added before an initial coat of paint across board 2. The photo below shows the view from the Middleton end of the layout.

 

I've now taken delivery of the first batch of under board gubbins from my good friend Brian Page. Firstly the turnout operating units, which follow a design we first came up with many years ago, using K&S brass tube. Brian has now produced an etched nickel silver version, which will need the tubes soldering on that run up through the baseboard surface, with the wires attached to the point blades.

 

Secondly we have a new version of the point motor. This uses a small enclosed motor and gearbox to drive a rotating cam, with a piston arrangement to provide an adjustable final throw. These work off a 12vdc supply, with a variable resistor to provide variation in throw speed. This design has proved very reliable for points and signals up to now, but the improved motor unit should increase the reliability still further. The less time fiddling under baseboards the better!

 

It's been a very strange year for us all, but here's to a much better 2021! Happy Christmas All!!

 

Geraint

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Hi Jonathan,

 

Here's a photo of one of the Mark 1 units, upside down to show the detail. The two tubes are soldered to a suitably gapped piece of paxolin, which in turn is fixed to the sliding carriage. The tubes go up through the baseboard and underlay and a length of brass wire runs through the tube, soldered to the blade at the top end. The length of wire gives a degree of flex to the blades, which is helpful. The wires can be soldered to the tubes at the bottom end, which helps to keep the blades at the correct height relative to the stock rails.

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

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  • 1 month later...

A quick update, now that the track work for the east end if the yard is largely finished. Just (!) around 60 cosmetic chairs to add over the track rivets, then it can be sprayed before TOUs are fitted and the board turned over for wiring and installation of point motors and uncoupling magnets.

 

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No hurry!

 

Geraint

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  • 3 weeks later...

A query for all you wagon lovers out there!

 

I seem to recall a photo somewhere of a J94 pulling a string of Mermaid wagons on the High Peak, but now I can't find it.

 

Mermaids first saw the light of day in 1960, so it would be a later period photo, with a J94 as the motive power. I have plenty of photos of Gannets being used to take stone out of the Prestwich Intake Quarry, but Mermaids are something different, and I just happen to have a kit for one in the "cupboard of shame".

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Geraint

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