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Friden - Cromford & High Peak


Middlepeak
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The sleeper gang has been active in the last couple of days, starting with the point for the west end of the loop. Ballast depth on the High Peak was often variable, so I always go for a double thickness plywood sleeper to give scope for that variation. I'm beginning to curse the consequences of laser cut sleepers, as the burnt edges need a lot of cleaning up and it gets to be a messy job. That's the price of technological advances, I suppose.

 

20211124_170856.jpg.a7bb92f26af8e371a3c081e062fdcc40.jpg

 

I've also been giving some more thought to the portrayal of the factory, which should be a maze of different rooflines and chimneys stretching back into the distance.

 

Given that this is the corner board, which is a good two feet from front to back and will usually be viewed from a relatively fixed point on the inside of the curve, I'm wondering whether some kind of diminishing scale construction in perspective might be appropriate. What do people think?

 

I can see further perusal of Paul Bambrick's excellent tome on such things is in prospect .......

 

G

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Wouldn't burnt edges disappear under sleeper grime paint, Geraint?

 

The 2d houses stuck on my backscene look about scale 3.5mm and certainly help with distant views. I guess going from 4mm to 3.5mm to 3.0mm would force the perspective, but I've never tried it with 3d buildings.

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2 hours ago, Middlepeak said:

The sleeper gang has been active in the last couple of days, starting with the point for the west end of the loop. Ballast depth on the High Peak was often variable, so I always go for a double thickness plywood sleeper to give scope for that variation. I'm beginning to curse the consequences of laser cut sleepers, as the burnt edges need a lot of cleaning up and it gets to be a messy job. That's the price of technological advances, I suppose.

 

20211124_170856.jpg.a7bb92f26af8e371a3c081e062fdcc40.jpg

 

I've also been giving some more thought to the portrayal of the factory, which should be a maze of different rooflines and chimneys stretching back into the distance.

 

Given that this is the corner board, which is a good two feet from front to back and will usually be viewed from a relatively fixed point on the inside of the curve, I'm wondering whether some kind of diminishing scale construction in perspective might be appropriate. What do people think?

 

I can see further perusal of Paul Bambrick's excellent tome on such things is in prospect .......

 

G

I think given your viewing point is fixed and that Friden’s brickworks was quite expansive it would be worth trialing some perspective modelling. At the very least it would be an interesting exercise!

 

Jay

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another loco that will make the occasional appearance at Friden is Buxton's Super D 49406, which was a regular on the Buxton - Uttoxeter goods. I'm planning to use it to pull the engineer's saloon, so it's had a bit more of a spit and a polish from the cleaners at Buxton shed.

 

20211217_171034.jpg.6bfa5514aecbca711555b1d663ca18dc.jpg

 

It's a rewheeled Bachmann model with Bill Bedford rods and cosmetic black plasticard frames attached to the original chassis block. It's been on a running in turn on my good friend Brian Page's Oxenbridge layout and all that is required now is the addition of a Buxton shed plate.

 

In the mean time, track construction continues .....

 

G

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6 hours ago, Middlepeak said:

Another loco that will make the occasional appearance at Friden is Buxton's Super D 49406, which was a regular on the Buxton - Uttoxeter goods. I'm planning to use it to pull the engineer's saloon, so it's had a bit more of a spit and a polish from the cleaners at Buxton shed.

 

20211217_171034.jpg.6bfa5514aecbca711555b1d663ca18dc.jpg

 

It's a rewheeled Bachmann model with Bill Bedford rods and cosmetic black plasticard frames attached to the original chassis block. It's been on a running in turn on my good friend Brian Page's Oxenbridge layout and all that is required now is the addition of a Buxton shed plate.

 

In the mean time, track construction continues .....

 

G

I have a real soft spot for the Super D. This is a lovely model Geraint! Did they ever find their way to Friden? I always assumed Parsley Hay was as close as they got to the C&HPR. 
 

Jay

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Jay,

 

I've no evidence that a Super D got to Friden, but I do have a photo of a Midland 4-4-0 on an engineer's saloon visit there. On the basis that Buxton would have turned out anything suitable and available for such a duty, and given that Super D's were regular performers on the Ashbourne line, I thought this would be a chance to justify it.

 

Besides, I needed to prove to myself that a straight wheel change conversion to P4 would work on a Bachmann 00 loco, and I like the prototype!

 

G

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Rule 1 says you can have one of Buxton’s Super Ds at Friden.

In reality one of Buxton’s 3Fs had the Buxton-Friden working as stated in the caption of a photo of a Super D shunting at Parsley Hay in Scenes from the Past 37 (Part 1), which states “The reason for the loco (always a Super D) having to carry out this duty at Parsley Hay was because of shortage of water capacity on the Midland 3F 0-6-0 which worked this Buxton - Friden turn; working all day on one tank of water by the time Parsley Hay was reached on the return journey just enough water was left to get the engine to Buxton depot.”


After the 3Fs were scrapped (around the same time as the Super Ds; late 50s/very early 60s), the Buxton - Friden working was in the hands of Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0s; there’s several photos in books and online of them working at locations between Parsley Hay and Friden as well as between Buxton and Parsley Hay.

Edited by Tortuga
Grammar and further information
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  • 1 month later...

Not much to report on the layout itself, apart from the arrival of the last few point motors from my good friend Brian Page. These use high geared 12 volt motors and are in effect an update of the ones that he designed for Brassmasters many years ago.  They are sturdy beasts and give an efficient slow motion to the point rails and will hopefully last a lifetime. All the better, because I don't like crawling under baseboards! I'll deal with fitting and wiring in a later post.

 

In the mean time, thoughts have returned to motive power. One of Middlepeak's most dependable locos was the North London Tank, originally a Mallard etched kit (remember them?) and built in the 1970s, with Sharman's wheels and a Portescap 1219. I decided that it needed more detail to the bodywork, and a close examination of the chassis revealed some wear and tear, which was hardly surprising considering the miles it had run at exhibitions over a 25 year period.

 

With another Mallard kit sitting in the cupboard, I decided that the best way forward was to design a new etched chassis for both locos, this time using a Mashima 1220 motor and High Level gearbox with CSB suspension. I quite enjoy this sort of design work on the CAD package and those wonderful people at PPD have now sent me the results - two gleaming etches that will hopefully provide everything I need to get the two locos (58856 and 58860) running again.

 

1056523164_Chassisetch3-2-22.jpg.246ec59ba46456938a8a19d969f32961.jpg

 

More updates after a serious session with the soldering iron, although this may have to wait until the planned relocation of my workshop comes to fruition.

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1 hour ago, Middlepeak said:

Not much to report on the layout itself, apart from the arrival of the last few point motors from my good friend Brian Page. These use high geared 12 volt motors and are in effect an update of the ones that he designed for Brassmasters many years ago.  They are sturdy beasts and give an efficient slow motion to the point rails and will hopefully last a lifetime. All the better, because I don't like crawling under baseboards! I'll deal with fitting and wiring in a later post.

 

In the mean time, thoughts have returned to motive power. One of Middlepeak's most dependable locos was the North London Tank, originally a Mallard etched kit (remember them?) and built in the 1970s, with Sharman's wheels and a Portescap 1219. I decided that it needed more detail to the bodywork, and a close examination of the chassis revealed some wear and tear, which was hardly surprising considering the miles it had run at exhibitions over a 25 year period.

 

With another Mallard kit sitting in the cupboard, I decided that the best way forward was to design a new etched chassis for both locos, this time using a Mashima 1220 motor and High Level gearbox with CSB suspension. I quite enjoy this sort of design work on the CAD package and those wonderful people at PPD have now sent me the results - two gleaming etches that will hopefully provide everything I need to get the two locos (58856 and 58860) running again.

 

1056523164_Chassisetch3-2-22.jpg.246ec59ba46456938a8a19d969f32961.jpg

 

More updates after a serious session with the soldering iron, although this may have to wait until the planned relocation of my workshop comes to fruition.

As I said to you the other week, I’m really interested in seeing your NLR tank come together. 
Which High Level gearbox did you opt for?

 Jay

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On 10/08/2021 at 23:48, Middlepeak said:

I spent today getting stoned in the company of a couple of good friends.

 

Before you ask, there were no illicit substances involved, just a bottle of PVA and a pack of Woodland Scenics Medium Grey Talus.

 

The aim was to male a trial section of dry stone wall, which involved preparing a core of balsa wood, shaped to give the appropriate batter to the wall and then sticking the stones on, one at a time.

 

I found the process quite soporific, but at 4 hours for a 3 inch length, it's a bit time consuming, especially when you consider that Friden will need around 25 feet of the stuff!

 

20210810_195124.jpg.64343e80e3c07585a664a20c19862bd1.jpg

 

20210810_195141.jpg.20762d6bafa9d543dc096aceea3d50c9.jpg

 

The other problems are that the stones look too rounded to me, compared with dry stone walling in the White Peak, and the Talus doesn't give you the right shape of capstone for the wall.

 

I'll await the judgement of my Derbyshire colleagues, but I must admit that I'm quite taken with the subtle variations in colour that you get with this stuff.

 

Back to track laying while the votes are counted!!!

 

G

 

A bit late to comment, but I've used das clay as the core with sieved cat litter (large lumps and small lumps removed) in a similar manner to described here - 10cm lengths at a time, using tweezers to place the individual stones in a generally lateral orientation. Then larger cat litter pieces added as the top stones. It took about an hour per 10cm length. Then a black wash to tone it down. Cat litter is possibly a better fit to the stone profile you are looking for?

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  • 2 months later...

An opportunity for a tiny bit of research yesterday as I spotted this in the yard at Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway.

 

20220416_135741116.jpg.29bbb66fb296edccd9d38f26101e0217.jpg

 

20220416_135758635.jpg.0ebfceb82898f89552725b6c58d9243c.jpg

 

One of these (12006) was trialled on the High Peak in the 1950s, but the trial was obviously unsuccessful.

 

G

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1 hour ago, Middlepeak said:

An opportunity for a tiny bit of research yesterday as I spotted this in the yard at Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway.

 

20220416_135741116.jpg.29bbb66fb296edccd9d38f26101e0217.jpg

 

20220416_135758635.jpg.0ebfceb82898f89552725b6c58d9243c.jpg

 

One of these (12006) was trialled on the High Peak in the 1950s, but the trial was obviously unsuccessful.

 

G

Ay up G!

correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t 12006 an LMS jackshaft 060 diesel? I think the pre/post TOPs numbering may be a source of confusion here. 
 

Jay

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According to John Evans’s book, D3778 was trialed with 16 wagons on the northern section 2nd August 1966.

From some brief Wikipedia “research” (lacking in depth or verification from another source), D3778 is one of the 350hp shunters designated Class 08 under TOPS. I believe (from Wikipedia), that 12082 is one of the 350hp shunters, later designated Class 11, which was built at Derby by BR to an LMS design.

There’s a photo of a 350hp shunter at Parsley Hay in April 1959 having “just returned from Friden” in Scenes from the Past: 32 Buxton to Ashbourne by JM Bentley & GK Fox, but I’m sure I remember from a similar discussion on [page 490 of] The Sheep Chronicles that this is probably the LMS jackshaft drive shunter (of BR Class 3/7) 12006.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Just a brief note to explain the lack of posts on this thread at the moment.

 

For the past 10 years or so, my focus has been quite far away from Derbyshire, modelling the private railways of Denmark in P87. Whilst the layout (Obbekaer) has been finished for some time, there are still some items of rolling stock to be built, and with a couple of exhibition invites received for September and the following February, I've decided that my priorities should be to finish those.

 

That's not quite all, however, as the model of Friden is designed to be a home layout that will be open to visiting operators from time to time. I therefore decided that it needed proper accommodation to make it an attractive proposition for myself and my visitors. Building work is therefore on the cards over the coming months, and the first stage in that process is to relocate my workshop to the smallest bedroom in the house, keeping the paraphernalia of modelling away from playing trains.

 

I'll keep up the periodic posts on this thread when something interesting occurs. The truth is that I'm itching to make more progress on the layout, but sadly the builders must come first!

 

In the mean time, here's a few pictures to remind you of the subject.

 

FRN013.jpg.2d926dd4a82a172d37563ee179a61256.jpg

Source - Les Nixon   68006 ready to leave with water tanks for Middleton, 1966

 

FRN024.jpg.950a1b15169ceac75589a7e1005b9e86.jpg

Source - Les Nixon   Ivatt 2-6-0 46465 shunts the Buxton goods, 22 July 1966

 

FRN60.jpg.9a93f4e8d1229dbea36a200c100cb95a.jpg

Source - Anon   J94s about to leave with railtour for Middleton, 4 March 1967

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  • 5 months later...

A little bit of activity at Friden over the weekend, prompted by a number of things.

 

Firstly a last minute trip up to Derbyshire to view what's left of the real thing, which always helps.

 

Secondly a great day spent with @barrowroad to visit his wonderful creation, with running rights granted to my little Peckett, which I'm pleased to say didn't disgrace itself.

 

Finally, the recognition that it was time to dismantle the boards and put them into storage pending the big refit of the train room, which I hope will take place next Spring. So out came the track building kit and I managed to finish the turnout that gives access to the works. An awkward one this, as Templot has created a left hand turnout with a shallow right hand curve in it, all across a baseboard joint. Awkward, but by no means impossible!

 

20221107_100517446.jpg.dbedd40063aaf2013b2cf2bb9878c153.jpg

 

With this completed, I can now focus on the trackwork on the next board, without needing to have its neighbour coupled up to it.

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A view looking the other way this time, with more work done on the 'main line' and the start of the siding into the works.

 

20221114_164255383.jpg.6cc9b9053e1ed2a9ef94201d7a6a45a4.jpg

 

I say siding, but it was in fact a loop, which presumably allowed empties to go in at one end and fulls to come out at the other.

 

My problem here is that the works buildings have had to be severely reduced in length and are also arranged around the outside of a curve instead of being straight. Before I go any further with the works siding, I'm going to revisit the design of the next baseboard to see if I can lengthen the building but still include the exit road.

 

Track is the usual plywood sleepers and bullhead rail held in C&L chairs. Whereas these are excellent products, easy to use and satisfying to look at, their one down side is their light brown colour - an almost perfect camouflage against the Cork base and the workshop carpet!!

 

G

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15 minutes ago, Middlepeak said:

A view looking the other way this time, with more work done on the 'main line' and the start of the siding into the works.

 

20221114_164255383.jpg.6cc9b9053e1ed2a9ef94201d7a6a45a4.jpg

 

I say siding, but it was in fact a loop, which presumably allowed empties to go in at one end and fulls to come out at the other.

 

My problem here is that the works buildings have had to be severely reduced in length and are also arranged around the outside of a curve instead of being straight. Before I go any further with the works siding, I'm going to revisit the design of the next baseboard to see if I can lengthen the building but still include the exit road.

 

Track is the usual plywood sleepers and bullhead rail held in C&L chairs. Whereas these are excellent products, easy to use and satisfying to look at, their one down side is their light brown colour - an almost perfect camouflage against the Cork base and the workshop carpet!!

 

G

Really like the sweeping lines of the trackwork G. Hand built track is something I need to look at on the next layout…whenever that will be!  
 

Jay

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