Longdrem & The Pinkhill Branch

[60027Merlin]

 

 

Woooowwww....

 

Impressive Loco collection, are thay all numbered differently...?

 

Love all you photos, keep them coming.

 

Jamie

 

 

All are numbered using the HMRS Methfix range as I feel that they are the right size and shade. The nameplates etc. are a mixture of Fox and CGW plates.

[micklner]

 

 

David

 

Here are some close up shots, even one with a torch light aimed at the loco! Hopefully they will be clear.

 

I removed the top fold-over piece of the frame etch so that I could fit the etch a wee bit lower to enable minimal clearance between the lower edge of the frames and the bogie wheel rim. It's just down to personal preference as I prefer to have less daylight in that area if possible as it gives the front end of a loco a heavier and to me more realistic look.

 

 

I also now have some of the Brassmaster etches for the A3 and 4 , have you changed the Bogie Wheels to allow room for the etch or can I still use the Hornby versions ?

[60027Merlin]

 

I also now have some of the Brassmaster etches for the A3 and 4 , have you changed the Bogie Wheels to allow room for the etch or can I still use the Hornby versions ?

 

Sorry for the delay in replying as I only usually get the lap-top out a few times each week! I always change the bogie wheels as a matter of course on the Hornby pacifics as their bogie wheels are not so hot, not matching the standards of the rest of the loco. I use Markits wheels which I have found, as always, to be excellent not only in looks but also for running.

 

From memory I think that there will be sufficient clearance if you use the Hornby wheels, if there is not, remove the top fold over piece of the frame etch. This will allow you to move it up slightly to a sufficient clearance to suit your purpose. Do not use quick acting super glue as it will not give you time to manouvre the etch into the right spacing to suit! Hope that this will be of assistance to you.

[micklner]

Yes thanks a great help

[60027Merlin]

One morning back in the Spring I took a few shots of Pinkhill before going out into the garden for a digging session and now with the gardening season winding down more free time becomes available for some photo taking in between the many modelling jobs on the “work to do” list. Just for a change I thought that it would be an idea to add to these Spring photos and feature Pinkhill station and goods yard only, with not even a shot on the branch line.

 

Rather than just one shot of a particular loco and train I have put each train into a little group of shots to hopefully give a flavour of the shunting and other loco movements which take place during running sessions on the branch. I hope that this will not be too boring as I have attempted to cover the same train from different angles for variety. This proved rather difficult to keep a semblance of reality as a backscene is not practical for the branch station basebord. I tried to keep the floor, other parts of the layout, work tables etc. out of the camera view. Not successfully in all shots, however imagination is a great thing.

 

During these running sessions usually a variety of Haymarket’s finest would be gliding along the up and down main lines plus CDs with the Stones or the Who etc. belting it out in the background however all was quiet to aid the concentration. So here is a rare occurrence on the layout – a pacific free zone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[60027Merlin]

Unfortunately most of the photos have disappeared in the transfer across, it seems to have worked for only the last few. I'll try again with the rest once I have a cuppa.

[60027Merlin]

[60027Merlin]

Success! First lot transfers through the universe.

[60027Merlin]

[60027Merlin]

[60027Merlin]

 

Hopefully that's the full set of photos now all across. Thank you Andy Y for your help.

[Guest Tom F]

Love them all!

 

I think my favourites have to be seeing the humble J class 0-6-0 on doing it's small passenger service...lovely, would that be the J37?

 

Keep the pics coming....wouldn't say no to some more Pacific action either

[60027Merlin]

Tom

 

Yes it is a J37 which were strong engines and often used for passenger work when the occasion arose. They had bags of power.

 

More pacifics will feature in the next instalment, perhaps too many, and am planning to take more photos soon. By way of a preview attached is one photo of a handful I took yesterday in between some weathering work on a couple of locos.

 

[great northern]

More very evocative stuff. I particularly admire the way you put people in believable places and postures. So often I tihnk the figures are what destroys any illusion of reality, but certainly not on your layout, which oozes charm and character. Thanks again.

 

Gilbert

[G46208]

Hello, I have been following your postings for a while now which is bringing back so vivid memories of my early days creeping into Haymarket shed on a Sunday morning , starting late 1959 and all the locos you have photographed are so realistic to that era . My mate and I would cycle from Larbert and stop off at Darly Road then along to Haymarket down to St.Margarets and Leith Central before slogging home. It was a fantastic time and worth all the effort, but to see your photos is absolutly brill , I think the set with Glen Lyon are really good, in fact they are a great reminder to all the guys of my age group of what steam was , keep up the good work . I would hope to have some postings in the near future of a layout I will be refurbishing ,

 

Cheers

[60027Merlin]

Hello, I have been following your postings for a while now which is bringing back so vivid memories of my early days creeping into Haymarket shed on a Sunday morning , starting late 1959 and all the locos you have photographed are so realistic to that era . My mate and I would cycle from Larbert and stop off at Darly Road then along to Haymarket down to St.Margarets and Leith Central before slogging home. It was a fantastic time and worth all the effort, but to see your photos is absolutly brill , I think the set with Glen Lyon are really good, in fact they are a great reminder to all the guys of my age group of what steam was , keep up the good work . I would hope to have some postings in the near future of a layout I will be refurbishing ,

 

Cheers

 

That was a long cycle trip! Well worth it though as these days will never be repeated and appreciate that you liked the photos. The last time I saw Glen Lyon was on the Haymarket dead-line in early 1962 after it had been withdrawn from Hawick in late 1961. The Director, Malcolm Graeme, was for quite a while on the same dead-line before it ended up at the Caley station where it was used for heating purposes. Hopefully your work on the layout will soon be complete and appearing in these pages.

[Andrew F]

Hello Merlin.

 

What a wonderful collection of photgraphs you've got here and a big thanks from me for putting them down. The detail and attention to historic every day life is a delight for me as I often read the Oakwood Press books about this area and long for more pictures;.....how well the gardens were kept and the pride of the railway the local people had....you know!

Ah, you do the past a good service:)

 

Andy

[60027Merlin]

Once again it’s St. Andrew's Day and another small ceremony is held at Haymarket MPD in 1957 to mark the occasion. 60161 was the chosen steed this time for the official photo with the guest inspection team in attendance.

 

[MinZaPint]

I've just found this thread and must thank you for a superb set of pics, wandering through them I have been extemely impressed with your modeling skills.

[60027Merlin]

I had finished a full set of photos to go on a week or so ago at the time of the server problems. With things settling down on the site today I thought that a trial run of a handful would be wise as I was finding the usual way of transferring them a bit slow and did not fancy getting into a shambles in the pictures file if things went wrong owing to my limited knowledge of computer workings. Hopefully these five will get across. If not there is always another day, patience is a great thing!

 

A Happy New Year

 

[A1X]

loving the A1 take it most of the locos are kit built ?

[great northern]

I still get excited when I see these locos! Call Boy - St Johnstoun - Honeyway - plenty of us down South "died waiting" for those. Great shots as usual. May I ask how you did the point rodding? I keep on thinking about it, then hurriedly think of something else. Can it be done relatively simply?

[67A]

Cracking layout bringing back memories of Hogmany in years gone by. I missed 64B as a steam shed but was lucky enough to remember 64A still struggling on, I also remember being almost mowed down by D9003 Meld as I was on the crossing as it blasted out of the tunnel, the red and green warning lights had failed!!! What a way to go though.

 

Keep up the good work, like Great Northern, I will be tackling point rodding soon and I am planning to use Evergreen or Slaters strip but not sure on what to use for the carrier brackets and cranks so any advice would indeed be welcome.

 

Happy new year

Mike

[60027Merlin]

James/BRCWType2

 

The A2.1, A2.3 and the A2 are kits whilst the A4 and A3 are Hornby.

 

Gilbert, Mike

 

For the point rodding I used the Model Signal Engineering Dummy point rodding stools pack no. LS 005 plus point rodding crank pack LS006/1 and for the rodding, Slaters microstrip .030 x .030. It fairly tries the patience when putting it in place but perseverance wins over!

 

I did not realise that these photos got transferred as after clicking the reply sign the screen stayed the same for 20 minutes and I thought that it had not worked. In the circumstances I'll not put any more on just now, as there are quite a number, and as I noted, I don't fancy getting into a mess as I'm hopeless at computing. Great to see the progress "down south" at Peterborough nothing to beat the ECML - now there's a totally unbiased comment!

Edited January 5, 2012 by 60027Merlin

[60027Merlin]

loving the A1 take it most of the locos are kit built ?

 

I forgot the A1 James. It's Bachmann although a couple of the others in the 64B no. 2 link are DJH.

 

In addition to the usual things added to the ready to run locos Saint Johnstoun has been given the burnished treatment at the front end in keeping with its turnout when it was Willie Bain's engine. Whilst the other Haymarket A1s received the same cleaning regime Willie put that extra bit of "polish" into it. In the recent Haymarket books by Harry Knox the photo of 60162 says it all.