railwayrod Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 I had a visit from my friend Tony who was accompanied by his daughter and son in law. It was impossible to stop myself taking a photo of Sharon (hope you don't mind Sharon) operating Ramchester with a great deal of interest and concentration. Here she is shunting a freight train into the goods shed. Very sorry about the photo quality as it was a snatched shot on my phone. Rod 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Howard is away this week"up north" on a tinsel and turkey break and I have been getting organized in officially picking up the reigns of Torbay Rambling Club as the newly elected Chairman.However today I entertained 4 members of the Torbay Model Railway Club based in the Shiphay are of the Bay. I managed to persuade them to take their eyes off the layout for a few seconds while I took their photo attached below. From left to right are; John, Hugh,Charlie and Mike. Ramchester experienced heavy traffic during their visit and here 4F waits to depart with a train of Mk1 coaches bound for the East Coast. Rod 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Daniels Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 20 hours ago, railwayrod said: Howard is away this week"up north" on a tinsel and turkey break and I have been getting organized in officially picking up the reigns of Torbay Rambling Club as the newly elected Chairman.However today I entertained 4 members of the Torbay Model Railway Club based in the Shiphay are of the Bay. I managed to persuade them to take their eyes off the layout for a few seconds while I took their photo attached below. From left to right are; John, Hugh,Charlie and Mike. Ramchester experienced heavy traffic during their visit and here 4F waits to depart with a train of Mk1 coaches bound for the East Coast. Rod On behalf of the Torbay model railway club many thanks for inviting all of us over yesterday, to see your fantastic layout. We all had a great time, and were amazed by some of the building, scenery construction, electrics, working signals and the many train formations. It was interesting discussing with you over tea, about your future plans and the things you still want to do. Once again many thanks Charlie 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Over the last few days I have more or less completed the goods shed crane and put it in place on the platform. Not a perfect model but it looks fine positioned on the platform inside the shed. Here are a couple of pictures which I hope you will like. The first picture is a view from the loading door where vehicles would pull up to load or deposit goods for onward transit. The next picture shows the inside the shed from the door where the wagons are shunted into. Note the area between the rails is dished as per the drawing in Jack Nelson's book The LNWR Portrayed. The crane still needs to be finally fitted in place as at present it is only wedged in position. Rod 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted December 1, 2019 Author Share Posted December 1, 2019 (edited) As Rod mentioned earlier I've been away for a few days. The only things of railway interest I photographed were this GWR warehouse at Liverpool and some Manchester trams Edited December 1, 2019 by HSB 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Nice pictures Howard. Are the trams in Liverpool or Manchester? Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 There are no trams in Liverpool, Rod. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) We had our usual Christmas meet in Platform 2 this afternoon for a get together and an operating session. I am pleased to say that operation went well, and a convivial and pleasant afternoon it was too. Jon, who used to be the proprietor of Torbay Model Supplies, looks into the signal box to admire the internal detail therein. John Farmer takes a turn at the controls. A busy scene at Ramchester as John F controls the departure of the Black 5. A bit later we sat and chatted with drinks. From left to right ; John Farmer, Brian Harrap, Howard Brooking, and Peter Martin. Still later Jon Drummond Smith shunts a freight train. Rod Edited December 11, 2019 by railwayrod 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Adrian Stevenson Posted December 11, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2019 Hi Rod, I always look forwards to seeing updates and news from Ramchester. Looks like you had a nice operating session. Cheers, Ade. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted December 11, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2019 Thank you Rod for hosting a fine afternoon's fun. The whole layout is looking superb and as for the loco sound..... 12 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 Here's a picture I took of the English Electric Type 1 (better known as a Class 20) bringing a parcels train into the station. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Today Howard and I had a session in Platform 2 - the last before Christmas. Howard continued to work on my BG van while I launched into my next little project. At Telford I had purchased a Skytrex kit for station hand carts so I thought it was time to make a start on them. This afternoon I cleaned off some of the flash but did not have time to finish the task as we were too busy talking and drinking tea!! The kit looks fairly simple to build and so far all seems well. May I take this opportunity to wish everyone who follows this thread a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2020. Rod 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 Well Christmas is about over for another year but the Christmas Day Special did run into Ramchester on time. This came about after extensive negotiations with the unions who agreed to supply appropriate staff to allow the train to use the main line. This year the stock involved came from Germany for a change and as you will see from the photos the stock had been thoroughly cleaned so the whole train sparkled - just right for a Christmas Day. Hope you enjoy the photos. The DB Class 64 leaves the tunnel on its way to Ramchester. The train approaches the signal. It negotiates the cross over to enter the loop.... ...and glides to a halt ready for Maggie to come and unload her present. Rod. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Not much progress to report this week although I have done a tiny bit of work on the station trolleys but not enough to make it worthwhile photographing at present. However today Howard and I were joined by our friend Peter Martin who popped in to show us his latest creation - a 6 wheel coach built from a Slater's kit. He has made a superb job of this as the photos show and although it is not quite finished I am sure you will all agree with my assessment of his model. He wants this coach to put behind his Manning Wardle or Peckett loco to form a "preserved train". Rod 13 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Howard and I have been looking at the possibility of altering some of the features of Ramchester to make room for other facilities. This could mean the addition of a loco shed or an extra carriage siding or whatever. For example the coal yard could go down to the station goods yard but this would mean doing away with the cattle dock. This would create a bit of space at the tunnel end to do something else which would mean perhaps widening the baseboard at this point. That would not be too difficult at the baseboard is built on the L girder principle which would simply involve inserting longer cross pieces across the L girders. These are just a few thoughts that have been tossed around this afternoon but nothing has been decided yet. In any case nothing will be done until the layout has made its debut in Railway Modeller in the next two or three months. Watch this space. Rod 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Rod An interesting thought. I can see how you could get a loco depot at the tunnel end. You could get a two road shed there although to be realistic you wouldn't be able to house a black 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 One thing I'd like to do is to move the siding for the tank wagons and put in separate facilities for the Class A and Class B wagons. When wagons are parked in the existing siding the ground signals behind them are hidden from the normal operating position! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gismorail Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 I like your thinking on adding a loco shed will watch with interest 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 On 08/01/2020 at 19:58, railwayrod said: Howard and I have been looking at the possibility of altering some of the features of Ramchester to make room for other facilities. This could mean the addition of a loco shed or an extra carriage siding or whatever. For example the coal yard could go down to the station goods yard but this would mean doing away with the cattle dock. This would create a bit of space at the tunnel end to do something else which would mean perhaps widening the baseboard at this point. That would not be too difficult at the baseboard is built on the L girder principle which would simply involve inserting longer cross pieces across the L girders. These are just a few thoughts that have been tossed around this afternoon but nothing has been decided yet. In any case nothing will be done until the layout has made its debut in Railway Modeller in the next two or three months. Watch this space. Rod Rod, Perhaps you could cut back by, say, three wagon lengths the siding that is parallel to the bay platform line, place the the cattle dock in the vacated space and model the end of the bay platform line as a dock. Regards, Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Thank you all for your suggestions which are much appreciated so please keep them coming. Howard and I will consider the matter very carefully before any decision is made as we do not want to dismantle anything without a firm plan in place. I like the spaciousness which the layout portrays and I do not want to cram extra facilities into the station if it means destroying this important aspect. Much thought is required - me thinks! Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 (edited) On 11/01/2020 at 16:02, 81A Oldoak said: Rod, Perhaps you could cut back by, say, three wagon lengths the siding that is parallel to the bay platform line, place the the cattle dock in the vacated space and model the end of the bay platform line as a dock. Regards, Chris That is our one and only carriage siding, Chris. It will be needed when Rod acquires more coaches! Edited January 15, 2020 by HSB 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 I don't normally like helicopter shots but I thought this view of the station I took today might be of interest. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted January 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 16, 2020 I think there's an expression for this. Don't fix what ain't broke! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 We aren't planning anything very drastic, just some minor tweaks at the coalyard end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Well it looks like it will happen! Earlier this week I had a visit from Steve Flint - editor of Railway Modeller - who came down from Beer to take a few pictures of the layout to supplement the ones I had previously left with him. It was very interesting to see how he worked with his still camera and later his movie camera, the later just like the a big movie with several "takes". He says that Ramchester will appear in the April edition of the magazine hopefully as Railway of the Month - fame at last!! Just to keep you going here are a few pictures taken on my phone the following day. Hope you enjoy them. Rod 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now