Peterborough North

[great northern]

I say chaps, I'm quite excited really. I know its not good for me at my age, but just see what you think of my latest effort. Still just a crude mock up, but I really think this is getting there. Or am I deluding myself? Here's the full view.

 

 

Not quite long enough, but I think I may have a solution to that. Below is what happens if you crop it more, as it is now.

 

 

 

OK, it needs more work, and it bears little relation to the real thing, but how can it, when I've put in a sharp curve where none should be? Having said that, does it look fairly reasonable as it is?

[great northern]

Nothing in colour has turned up yet, but this one, reproduced courtesy of Peterboroughimages.co.uk is rather interesting.

 

 

 

Those carriage sidings do look surprisingly close, and at least the start of the conveyor to the power station is visible. Perhaps my curve isn't quite as severe as I thought it was.

[jazzer]

37 minutes ago, great northern said:

I say chaps, I'm quite excited really. I know its not good for me at my age, but just see what you think of my latest effort. Still just a crude mock up, but I really think this is getting there. Or am I deluding myself? Here's the full view.

 

 

Not quite long enough, but I think I may have a solution to that. Below is what happens if you crop it more, as it is now.

 

 

 

OK, it needs more work, and it bears little relation to the real thing, but how can it, when I've put in a sharp curve where none should be? Having said that, does it look fairly reasonable as it is?

I think the backscene fulfils it’s purpose really well.

 

The question is what really do you want it to do? I would say it’s to be there not to be noticed. In other words it’s to unobtrusively fill an empty space that would otherwise stand out like a sore thumb, but without particularly standing out itself. In the pictures posted above I honestly didn’t notice the backscene until you mentioned it but I am pretty sure I would have noticed the space it covers if it wasn’t there. By all means work to improve but don’t let it detract from the main scenes ( the locos). It looks good to me.

 

Did anyone actually ever travel on that Colchester- Glasgow ? It had taken over fours for “Framilingham” to get as far as Peterborough, and would take another 7hours+ to get to Edinburgh, and taking the best part of 13 hours for the whole journey with no sleeping accommodation and no buffet car ! 

Edited July 31, 2019 by jazzer

[31A]

52 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Gilbert

 

Your backscene idea, I have been thinking about it.  Would a colour photo where most the colour has faded be better. Except on very clear days stuff in the distance always seems to be a lighter colour.

 

 

I bet someone has already suggested this but I have missed the post......sorry if you have.

 

I have read of people achieving that effect by over spraying the backscene lightly & from a distance with grey paint from an aerosol.  I must admit I haven't tried it myself - I think a lot of practice first might be advisable!

 

[Mallard60022]

17 minutes ago, jazzer said:

I think the backscene fulfils it’s purpose really well.

 

The question is what really do you want it to do? I would say it’s to be there not to be noticed. In other words it’s to unobtrusively fill an empty space that would otherwise stand out like a sore thumb, but without particularly standing out itself. In the pictures posted above I honestly didn’t notice the backscene until you mentioned it but I am pretty sure I would have noticed the space it covers if it wasn’t there. By all means work to improve but don’t let it detract from the main scenes ( the locos). It looks good to me.

 

Did anyone actually ever travel on that Colchester- Glasgow ? It had taken over fours for “Framilingham” to get as far as Peterborough, and would take another 7hours+ to get to Edinburgh, and taking the best part of 13 hours for the whole journey with no sleeping accommodation and no buffet car ! 

Wasn't it mainly there for squaddies to get back up north? They wouldn't have cared in those days. Brighter ones may have decided to change to an express?

P

[Mallard60022]

13 minutes ago, 31A said:

 

I have read of people achieving that effect by over spraying the backscene lightly & from a distance with grey paint from an aerosol.  I must admit I haven't tried it myself - I think a lot of practice first might be advisable!

 

There are some very clever people, one being the Great Leader AY, that can conjure with pictures and create such a miracle. There are also commercial outfits that will create such a scene for you with digital magic.

P

[jukebox]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

Nothing in colour has turned up yet, but this one, reproduced courtesy of Peterboroughimages.co.uk is rather interesting.

 

 

 

Those carriage sidings do look surprisingly close, and at least the start of the conveyor to the power station is visible. Perhaps my curve isn't quite as severe as I thought it was.

 

 

Gilbert,

 

The flatter angle of this photo seems to more closely mirror your photographic viewpoint - so in my opinion anyway, works a bit better as a backdrop.

 

I took the liberty of grafting it in to one of your shots above to demonstrate:

 

 

 

Because it's a backscene, it doesn't need to be pin-sharp, but a higher resolution or larger print would do the trick....

 

Regards

 

Scott

[60027Merlin]

2 hours ago, great northern said:

I say chaps, I'm quite excited really. I know its not good for me at my age, but just see what you think of my latest effort. Still just a crude mock up, but I really think this is getting there. Or am I deluding myself? Here's the full view.

 

 

Not quite long enough, but I think I may have a solution to that. Below is what happens if you crop it more, as it is now.

 

 

 

OK, it needs more work, and it bears little relation to the real thing, but how can it, when I've put in a sharp curve where none should be? Having said that, does it look fairly reasonable as it is?

 

Gilbert

 

The backscene in the second photo is the best yet.

 

It is not sharp, which is preferable giving a sense of great depth and will concentrate the viewer towards the subject of the train(s) which of course is/are in sharp focus.

 

As you know, I am not familiar with the station surrounding area, being a bit too far south for me, however the distance conveyed in the photo really blends in with the station environs and finishes of that part of the layout in a natural fashion.

 

Eric

[great northern]

3 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Wasn't it mainly there for squaddies to get back up north? They wouldn't have cared in those days. Brighter ones may have decided to change to an express?

P

Yo Phil, where ya been?  I think it was a forces overnight train, as you say. Would the squaddies have travel passes though, and if so, would they be limited to this train?

[Clive Mortimore]

7 minutes ago, great northern said:

Yo Phil, where ya been?  I think it was a forces overnight train, as you say. Would the squaddies have travel passes though, and if so, would they be limited to this train?

There has been discussion on this train before and I think the conclusion was the train was for BFPO letters rather than soldiers. I know from being posted in Colchester most of the Scots and Geordies would go via London, more trains, faster journey time, buffet coach and more women to try and chat up. They would often be issued with a travel warrant that specified via Ipswich and Peterborough but would pay the difference to go via London. 

 

A lot of the lads would ask me about which underground line they needed, well being a southerner I must have known. Luckily I did. When I first joined up I was the youngest in the platoon so was the butt of many of the jokes, and felt the others didn't have too much respect for me. On our first leave we traveled to Waterloo from Wokingham, most of the blokes were then going on to catch trains from Euston, St Pancras  or Kings Cross. Very few had ever been to London let alone navigated the underground, I was their hero for about 10 minutes as I got them all safely to the station they needed.

[jazzer]

1 hour ago, Clive Mortimore said:

There has been discussion on this train before and I think the conclusion was the train was for BFPO letters rather than soldiers. I know from being posted in Colchester most of the Scots and Geordies would go via London, more trains, faster journey time, buffet coach and more women to try and chat up. They would often be issued with a travel warrant that specified via Ipswich and Peterborough but would pay the difference to go via London. 

 

A lot of the lads would ask me about which underground line they needed, well being a southerner I must have known. Luckily I did. When I first joined up I was the youngest in the platoon so was the butt of many of the jokes, and felt the others didn't have too much respect for me. On our first leave we traveled to Waterloo from Wokingham, most of the blokes were then going on to catch trains from Euston, St Pancras  or Kings Cross. Very few had ever been to London let alone navigated the underground, I was their hero for about 10 minutes as I got them all safely to the station they needed.

Thanks for that clarification. I have often wondered whether it would be connected with the barracks but I didn’t think there would be enough traffic to justify a daily service but the BFPO letters makes it more likely .

Interesting that you mentioned Geordies because there was a morning Colchester- Newcastle train, equally lethargic but at least with a buffet car !

[Clive Mortimore]

5 minutes ago, jazzer said:

Thanks for that clarification. I have often wondered whether it would be connected with the barracks but I didn’t think there would be enough traffic to justify a daily service but the BFPO letters makes it more likely .

Interesting that you mentioned Geordies because there was a morning Colchester- Newcastle train, equally lethargic but at least with a buffet car !

Leave started after finishing work, even with the army that is normally late afternoon so hanging about for the morning train was one less day at home and another evening of that awful southern beer. I can't see many hanging about for it.  

[great northern]

Quite a day. After doing the backscene I went back up and ran lots of trains, finished the sequence and took about 50 photos. Now I have lots of photoshopping to do. First to be done was the Talisman, running through behind Silver King. There are lots of shots of that, but only two of them this evening.

 

 

 

New lamps, but I still can't quite get them in the right place.

 

 

[great northern]

More Silver King today. seen head on from Platform 2.

 

 

 

Then we go off the beaten track. Up under the shadow of Spital Bridge there is a hut, and in close proximity, two buffer stops. Always they are seen in the far distance, if at all, but today, the spotlight falls on them.

 

 

 

 

[great northern]

More of Silver King still to come.

 

 

 

and another look at detail in close up.

 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

More of Silver King still to come.

 

 

 

and another look at detail in close up.

 

 

Surely the notice board should read, "The new timetables can be found in the fiction section of the local library".

[great northern]

3 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Surely the notice board should read, "The new timetables can be found in the fiction section of the local library".

That only applies to present day stuff, surely? Back in the day, all trains ran to time, the sun always shone, and no-one had even heard of Brexit.

[great northern]

Silver King's driver can now start cracking the regulator open, as he negotiates the second part of the dog's leg curves.

 

 

 

But back up by Spital Bridge, nothing stirs.

 

 

[great northern]

Silver King is now on its way under Crescent Bridge, seen from an angle which does not show the new backscene in quite such a good light.

 

 

After which it goes completely round the bend.

 

 

 

Then another look at that quiet corner up by t'other bridge. Well, it is quiet at this time of evening anyway.

 

 

[davidw]

8 minutes ago, great northern said:

Silver King is now on its way under Crescent Bridge, seen from an angle which does not show the new backscene in quite such a good light.

 

 

After which it goes completely round the bend.

 

 

 

Then another look at that quiet corner up by t'other bridge. Well, it is quiet at this time of evening anyway.

 

 

 

I really wish you wouldn't keep showing me pictues of A4s. I've way too many.....

[great northern]

No golf today, as 36 hole competitions no longer inspire me. I now need to reset everything in the railway room for the start of the new sequence, but as there is a temporary major upheaval to come next week, I may well decide to leave things as they are.

 

We have plenty of photos in store though, whatever I decide to do, or not, as the case may be. 60016 has finally moved out of camera range, and next to appear is yet another of our own A2s on parcels work. Dante's train is heading for York.

 

 

 

Then we have a view through a gateway.

 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

No golf today, as 36 hole competitions no longer inspire me. I now need to reset everything in the railway room for the start of the new sequence, but as there is a temporary major upheaval to come next week, I may well decide to leave things as they are.

 

We have plenty of photos in store though, whatever I decide to do, or not, as the case may be. 60016 has finally moved out of camera range, and next to appear is yet another of our own A2s on parcels work. Dante's train is heading for York.

 

 

 

Then we have a view through a gateway.

 

 

Hi Gilbert

 

I would have thought putting up the OLE so you can run a LNER A Zooooooomeerrrrrr would be a bit more than temporary.

[great northern]

3 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Gilbert

 

I would have thought putting up the OLE so you can run a LNER A Zooooooomeerrrrrr would be a bit more than temporary.

Nah, don't want them, nowhere near as good as an A4. Anyway, the seats are too hard, or so I'm told.

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

Nah, don't want them, nowhere near as good as an A4. Anyway, the seats are too hard, or so I'm told.

Hi Gilbert

 

Our roving reporter, Mr Duck, has a too delicate bottom to give a reasonable report on seat hardness. I understand he has tested out the lavatories extensively as well. I am sure he will appear soon and give us a full account of his A Zoooommeerrr trials and tribulations. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Clive Mortimore

[Mallard60022]

Oi, my arse is just old not the wrong design. It is the seats that are the wrong design; shite in the main with some that are OK, much like MPs and footballers (and professional golfers). I only travel on them so I can chat to the lovely ladies (Staff) and pretend I'm a proper passenger instead of a LNER stooge.

Ar$£