Banbury in N scale - A great time at the Abingdon in March 2024

[PaulRhB]

I went to the station for the first time in years as restrictions eased and how it’s changed in places!

 

 

[roundhouse]

Oh yes it's quite different and sad in many ways with carriage sidings gone along with the boxes but at least the mpd is now back in use in a different way.

Nice photos of the freight.

[bgman]

20 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Oh yes it's quite different and sad in many ways

 

Much nicer when it looked like this, much more atmos !

 

 

Nevertheless you have given me some happy memories from the days I spent gricing there !

 

G

 

 

 

[roundhouse]

Those GWR roofs were very nice but they soon were beyond saving.

 

Look forward to seeing you again soon at a show near you.

[LongRail]

On 31/05/2021 at 16:34, bgman said:

 

Much nicer when it looked like this, much more atmos !

 

 

Nevertheless you have given me some happy memories from the days I spent gricing there !

 

G

 

Believe that station was not on the same position as the current station 

 

 

[bgman]

24 minutes ago, LongRail said:

Believe that station was not on the same position as the current station 

 

As near as damn in the same position.

 

When I lived and worked in Banbury one of my ex colleagues was drafted in from Wales to act as a consultant on the modernisation and told me about the new build so I am fairly well informed.

Edited June 1, 2021 by bgman

[roundhouse]

As its been some months since I last posted on here I thought that it was time for an update.

 

A few weeks ago we had a very very heavy and prolonged downpour. I dont recall anything quite like it in the  26 + years that we have lived here. My other half happened to go into the garage and could hear water dripping so I soon investigated. Water was coming from the pitched tiled roof through the felt and plasterboard and onto some of the layouts below. A quick shuffle of various unboxed and boxed up boards and water was getting onto one board of Banbury. Luckily the water was dripping onto the fiddleyard end rather than the scenery. The board was moved into the living room where it sat to dry out for a few days. It all dried out fine with no damage to the scenic side or the chipboard in the fiddleyard. I do need to test a stationary decoder mounted in the fiddleyard as it might have had some water ingress but I am fairly certain that it is Ok. Two of the other layouts also got a bit of water on them but they also appear to be fine. The roof has been inspected and the only thing that comes to mind is that the moss growing on the tiles caused the rainwater to pool behind it and back up under the tiles and all flashing is fine and gutters / downpipes were clear of any build up. The moss has since been cleared so fingers crossed that I have cured the problem but the layouts have been covered with polythene just incase.

 

So the layout survives for future shows. However, all but one that it was booked to attend since the pandemic have been cancelled with possibly one for next year although after talking with the exhibition manager, he may not require it for 2022.

 

At least the layout will be set up in the spring on the shed patio once the weather improves for our regular operating crew to have a play and let the rolling stock have a run although it was all serviced earlier in the year.

 

 

[roundhouse]

I see that the Network Rail office block at Banbury had part of its roof blow off today. It was on BBC News just now.

 

I will need to inspect the one on the layout to make sure it is all Ok along with the rest of the layout as it looks like it will be out at a show soon instead of another layout that I was taking. More on this once its confirmed.

 

Luckily for us the only damage was the roof on the water tower on the garden railway but it just required picking up and putting back in place. Unfortunately for next door they had two ridge tiles slide off their roof and through a glass panel over their kitchen. They are out there in the rain at present trying to do a temporary infill. My service have been offered.

Edited February 18, 2022 by roundhouse

[GWRPhil]

On 18/02/2022 at 18:27, roundhouse said:

I see that the Network Rail office block at Banbury had part of its roof blow off today. It was on BBC News just now.

 

I will need to inspect the one on the layout to make sure it is all Ok along with the rest of the layout as it looks like it will be out at a show soon instead of another layout that I was taking. More on this once its confirmed.

 

Luckily for us the only damage was the roof on the water tower on the garden railway but it just required picking up and putting back in place. Unfortunately for next door they had two ridge tiles slide off their roof and through a glass panel over their kitchen. They are out there in the rain at present trying to do a temporary infill. My service have been offered.

I’ve seen a picture of that today. It was all over the nearest track to the building 

[GWRPhil]

Courtesy of Banbury guardian

 

[GWRPhil]

Courtesy of the telegraph

 

 

 

[roundhouse]

It was cleared in time for some friends to board a railtour from platform 1 at Banbury the following morning. The tour was 135 minutes late arriving due to storm damage so they couldn't have a break in  Lincoln for beer.

 

I have been asked if I will be removing the roof off the model but its staying firmly in place as it was in 2011🙂

Edited May 2, 2022 by roundhouse

[GWRPhil]

Looking forward to hearing the exhibition news. 

[roundhouse]

An update to confirm that Banbury will now be at the Bristol show end of April instead of Dobris.

 

So, between now and then the layout will have a test run to make sure all is working fine. I know that the fiddleyard is Ok as it was used with Santa Barbara last September at the Liverpool show.

 

Looking forward to its first show in quite a few years.

Edited May 2, 2022 by roundhouse

[GWRPhil]

1 hour ago, roundhouse said:

An update to confirm that Banbury will now be at he Bristol show end of April instead of Dobris.

 

So, between now and then the layout will have a test run to make sure all is working fine. I know that the fiddleyard is Ok as it was used with Santa Barbara las September at the Liverpool show.

 

Looking forward to its first show in quite a few years.

Hi Ian

 

hope you are well. really good to see Banbury is going to be out again.

 

I have sent you a PM

 

Phil

[roundhouse]

As its now just over a week away from the layouts first show since 2019, I have set up Banbury on the shed patio. I spent the morning checking wiring and turnouts. All was fine apart from just two broken rails in the fiddleyard that were easily fixed.

 

The two touch screen PC's all set up and working.

 

Just one ground signal required replacing and luckily I had a suitable spare. They easily gtt knocked off and this one had been missing for some time. Let's hope it lasts.

 

I decided to give my Revolution class 92 a good run along with my Arnold Brighton Belle. This has been used a couple of times before with a dummy loco on the front.

 

The main stock was serviced last year but I will have another check over it next week.

 

Really looking forward to the three day Bristol show as it will be good to have our operating crew back together.

Edited April 21, 2022 by roundhouse

[westerhamstation]

Hi Ian, i hope that the show goes well for you. All the best Adrian.

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, westerhamstation said:

Hi Ian, i hope that the show goes well for you. All the best Adrian.

Adrian

Thanks. I certainly hope so. Bristol was the first ever show that I visited back in the late 60's / early 70's when Mum took me to the venue that was in the city back then. Thats what go me hooked.

Edited April 21, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

Today I have been checking over a good part of the loco fleet and Chiltern units. Most are fine but a few locos had erratic motors. A couple will require new decoders but others had their motor removed and checked on a simple cradle that I made up using teo panel pins as connectors to the DC controller that also allow the motor to be slotted in with thr motor terminals springing against the panel pins. Some motors were reluctant to turn but after a bit of coaxing, they ran freeing them up and now back in the respective locos.

 

I then went through all the previously removed motors. Many are now running smoothly again but some were sparking so those ones have now been binned.

The real test will be how such affected locos perform this weekend at Bristol show.

 

[PaulRhB]

12 hours ago, roundhouse said:

then went through all the previously removed motors. Many are now running smoothly again but some were sparking so those ones have now been binned.

I’ve had a similar issue with a Hornby motor not run for ages. Almost totally seized but freed up with a bit of hand cranking. Almost felt gritty until the oil worked in. 
 

See you at Bristol as I’ll be lurking on another layout tomorrow :) 

[roundhouse]

3 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

I’ve had a similar issue with a Hornby motor not run for ages. Almost totally seized but freed up with a bit of hand cranking. Almost felt gritty until the oil worked in. 
 

See you at Bristol as I’ll be lurking on another layout tomorrow :) 

Yes I had a few especially the Hornby bubblecar motors. The factory applied grease had gone solid so had to take the assembly apart to clean it out. However the Farish motor is a sealed unit so cant see whats going on in them but they are known to fail but I think it might sometimes be dirt build up off the brushes and taking them out so give them a good spin on DC (to avoid blowing the decoder) appears toot free them up. We shall see over time. See you tomorrow.

 

Today I am now working my way through the fleet of class 67's and mk3  push pull coach sets. A number of he class 67's are getting the detail pack added to the fronts where I have removed the coupler and fixed the lower part of the buffer beams so that the pipes etc can be added. Some have already been done some years ago but surprised that I sill had some to do.

[roundhouse]

We had a good journey yesterday morning along the M25 and M4 to Bristol, the only hold up was roadworks on the A38 towards Thornbury but glad we weren't travelling in the other direction. It wasn't so bad for us when we left the venue in the evening but one ot watch out for.

 

Layout was set up and ready for the mid day opening. However despite all the checking a few days beforehand and cleaning of locos Wednesday and Thursday and testing them, we had a point solenoid fail and a number of locos not wanting to run.

The solenoid is in the fiddleyard so we cold still run the layout. I have fitted 9 pin D plugs to the solenoid wiring so they are easy to remove. I also have a spare mounted in the fiddleyard so this was unscrewed for the first time in 13 years (the fiddleyard is also used on Santa Barbara) and swapped over but the spare had a broken wire. Its also a non sprung variant and it wouldnt hold over the Peco sprung turnout due to the microswitch against the tie bar that provides the feedback to the track plan.

 Luckily the defective sprung solenoid was soon repaired and back in place. I will have to obtain a sprung version of the solenoid for use as a spare.

 

The troublesome locos were soon working fine again and the layout settled down nicely. Looking forward ot day 2 of the show and its great to have plenty of space behind the layout in the bright and airy hall.

[KeithHC]

To avoid the roadworks either go up the a38 to junction 14 of the M5. Or cur across to Yate and Chipping Sudbury and join the M4. Good to see the layout today.

 

[GWRPhil]

Here’s a few pictures from the show today

 

 

[GWRPhil]