Dock Green

[chaz]

Well how about a Dean Goods then ? 

 

 

Now look. I will admit to liking one GWR locomotive having seen it running on the Bluebell Railway and hearing its excellent exhaust note as it pulled away at the head of the four coach set of Met' coaches - the Dukedog; but somewhat rare on the south end of the ECML I think. 

 

Dean Goods? Isn't the J6 a more modern and much more attractive machine.....?

 

As my father would have said, "GWR? Gresley Was Right!".

 

Enough of this banter, my next posting will have photos taken at the Peterborough show.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Sue and I went through the checklist this morning, particularly the tools, to make sure it's all ready to go in the van tomorrow. I often pillage the tools for use between shows - it would be a waste to keep a set which only gets used three or four times a year. I also moved quite a lot of stuff around in my workroom so we can get "the big stuff" into the van first. It's always a sort of limbo the day before - having got it all sorted I just want to be up and doing.

 

Chaz

[Deano747]

Sue and I went through the checklist this morning, particularly the tools, to make sure it's all ready to go in the van tomorrow. I often pillage the tools for use between shows - it would be a waste to keep a set which only gets used three or four times a year. I also moved quite a lot of stuff around in my workroom so we can get "the big stuff" into the van first. It's always a sort of limbo the day before - having got it all sorted I just want to be up and doing.

 

Chaz

 

I was hoping to see Dock Green in the flesh this weekend but sadly work commitments have prevented such! 

Hope it all goes successfully.

Where is your next planned outing Chaz?

 

Regards, Deano.

[westerner]

Good luck, will be there on Sunday.

[chaz]

I was hoping to see Dock Green in the flesh this weekend but sadly work commitments have prevented such! 

Hope it all goes successfully.

Where is your next planned outing Chaz?

 

Regards, Deano.

 

 

Thanks for that! Nothing in the diary as yet for future shows.

 

Good luck, will be there on Sunday.

 

Thanks!

 

Do please come and say hello!

 

Chaz

Edited December 7, 2018 by chaz

[sb67]

Hope all goes well tomorrow Chaz, hopefully I'll get to see Dock Green on Sunday.

Steve.

[Mick Bonwick]

It looks very much as if there will be something for me to look at tomorrow. A plan to visit Peterborough has reached fruition, so I hope there's a chair in front of Dock Green so that I can sit and watch in comfort . . . . . . . 

[sb67]

It looks very much as if there will be something for me to look at tomorrow. A plan to visit Peterborough has reached fruition, so I hope there's a chair in front of Dock Green so that I can sit and watch in comfort . . . . . . .

 

Can you put a reserved notice on the chair for Sunday when you leave please ;-)

Steve.

[Mick Bonwick]

Can you put a reserved notice on the chair for Sunday when you leave please ;-)

Steve.

 

Nope. I'll be there on Sunday as well! 

[leopardml2341]

I prefer the BRCW Type2; runs for cover......

  

You are entitled to your opinion, erroneous and misguided though it might be.... 

See you Sunday morning, Chaz.

 

Don't forget that Diesel

[Ray H]

Saw this layout at Peterborough today. Absolutely first rate. Its one if not the only one layout that has managed to keep my attention for several minutes. And I even managed to engage Chaz in conversation without the trains grinding to a halt.

 

All I need to do now is to work out how I can build something similar in the (smaller) space that I have available although I can guarantee it won't be up to the standard of this layout.

[westerner]

Chaz

It was good to meet and talk to you at Peterborough today, it's always nice to be able to put a face to a web name and avatar. As good as your photos of the layout are they barely do Dock Green justice, to me it was the layout of the show. It ran very well, and was totally believable ( I lived in the East End for 30 years) and there was a realistic consistency between the stock and the scenery, all beautifully weathered. The Brush type 2 was perfect.  I may use some of your tips on weathering on my next project, ,when Louville Lane is finished  will be a small O gauge layout, hence some of the quizzing.

[chaz]

Saw this layout at Peterborough today. Absolutely first rate. Its one if not the only one layout that has managed to keep my attention for several minutes. And I even managed to engage Chaz in conversation without the trains grinding to a halt.

 

All I need to do now is to work out how I can build something similar in the (smaller) space that I have available although I can guarantee it won't be up to the standard of this layout.

 

 

Thanks for those very positive comments Ray. I will have some comments to make about Peterborough  and some photos to post soon. Don't be put off by a lack of space - it will limit your scope but needn't stop you from creating something worthwhile.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Chaz

It was good to meet and talk to you at Peterborough today, it's always nice to be able to put a face to a web name and avatar. As good as your photos of the layout are they barely do Dock Green justice, to me it was the layout of the show. It ran very well, and was totally believable ( I lived in the East End for 30 years) and there was a realistic consistency between the stock and the scenery, all beautifully weathered. The Brush type 2 was perfect.  I may use some of your tips on weathering on my next project, ,when Louville Lane is finished  will be a small O gauge layout, hence some of the quizzing.

 

Thanks for that - I do think there is an element of "Marmite" about Dock Green. There are some like yourself who like it a lot, others walk passed with barely a glance - it takes all sorts.

 

Chaz

Edited December 11, 2018 by chaz

[leopardml2341]

Better with diesels

[sb67]

I enjoyed seeing Dock Green again Chaz, I'm definitely a "Marmite" fan. I love the brush type 2 and the J6 looks great as well, it seemed to run well when I watched it, I hope the class 26 wasn't too put out! Thanks for the weathering tips, that's one of the many reasons I like Dock Green, I think the stock looks fantastic, very grubby but not overdone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll look forward to seeing the layout again sometime.

Steve.

[chaz]

I enjoyed seeing Dock Green again Chaz, I'm definitely a "Marmite" fan. I love the brush type 2 and the J6 looks great as well, it seemed to run well when I watched it, I hope the class 26 wasn't too put out! Thanks for the weathering tips, that's one of the many reasons I like Dock Green, I think the stock looks fantastic, very grubby but not overdone.

 

a.JPG

 

b.JPG

 

c.JPG

 

 

 

 

I'll look forward to seeing the layout again sometime.

Steve.

 

 

Good pictures Steve. I enjoyed the weekend, Sunday far more than Saturday for several reasons. I will post some of my own snaps shortly. I doubt that you will see much of the BRCW Type 2 (D5330) on Dock Green's metals again. I might well sell it on as the Brush and BR/Sulzer Type 2s and the EE Type 1 are more than enough to provide some relief from the kettles.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I was forced to change our company for the van hire as our usual had hired out all of their Transits to the Royal Mail. This resulted in us getting a smaller van - no problem we got it all in - just!

 

 

Now - some snaps of the layout...

 

 

The J6 ran perfectly in "stealth mode", smooth and steady. So good was it that on Sunday I ran it all day as yard pilot - it glided round the yard with it's extra tender pickups making it ultra-reliable. It's extra length proved not to be a problem so there was no need for any shunts to take two bites. You will forgive me if quite a few of the photos I post include 64253...

 

 

 

One of my favourite "posing points" is the canal bridge.

 

 

On Saturday the N7 (on running-in turn) was the yard pilot for some of the day. Another favourite of mine - doesn't the BR lined black look well on this machine?

 

More photos later.

 

Chaz

Edited December 11, 2018 by chaz

[Ray H]

Chaz

 

I was reading through the latter part of this thread last week, in particular the "cards" you use for your sequence. They include loco and wagon details and details of overall movements but none of the "cards" you showed indicated whether the operator is left to their own devices when it comes to positioning or retrieving wagons - perhaps other than those to/from the estate/warehouse - or whether the "cards" indicate how the consist is broken down and where the various segments are to be shunted to or taken from.

 

Could you advise please?

[The Bigbee Line]

Chaz

 

I was reading through the latter part of this thread last week, in particular the "cards" you use for your sequence. They include loco and wagon details and details of overall movements but none of the "cards" you showed indicated whether the operator is left to their own devices when it comes to positioning or retrieving wagons - perhaps other than those to/from the estate/warehouse - or whether the "cards" indicate how the consist is broken down and where the various segments are to be shunted to or taken from.

 

Could you advise please?

Ray

 

I was on the other side of the fence over the weekend assisting with operations at Peterborough.  I'd never used a card system before, so was a little unsure how I would perform.

 

I'm pleased to report that they were a great guide, considering they had to orchestrate 3 loco's with their associated, sometimes quite complex, shunt moves.  What I really liked was the colour coding for each loco i.e. Train engine, Yard Pilot and Estate Loco.  I enjoyed being Yard Pilot as I could shunt in my own time and then tie in with a exchange with one of the other loco's.

 

So I'm a convert to a card system, well done Chaz...

[chaz]

Chaz

 

I was reading through the latter part of this thread last week, in particular the "cards" you use for your sequence. They include loco and wagon details and details of overall movements but none of the "cards" you showed indicated whether the operator is left to their own devices when it comes to positioning or retrieving wagons - perhaps other than those to/from the estate/warehouse - or whether the "cards" indicate how the consist is broken down and where the various segments are to be shunted to or taken from.

 

Could you advise please?

 

 

The cards tell the operators which cassettes to use to make up trains. This to to ensure that we cycle through the stock so different wagons run in each train. The cards also say how to split up an arrival - "three wagons to goods No. 2" etc. 

They specify where wagons should be taken from to make up a departing train and which cassettes to put the train into when it is broken down. 

This level of detail means that when you are told to collect four wagons from the warehouse siding there are four there.

 

Operators do make mistakes from time to time and we sometimes read a card and the situation doesn't match it. "Shunt four wagons to..." but that siding is already full. Should the position be really at odds with the sequence then the agreed ploy is to turn back to the first card, which sets the start position, and then shunt the yard until it matches that. The sequence can then be restarted.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

More pictures from Peterborough.

 

 

Two of the vans that I finished weathering last week, lurking behind the warehouse fence. They are JLTRT resin bodies (sides, ends and roof all in one piece`) with white metal details added and are surprisingly heavy. Their axle boxes "float" in the W-irons like those of Parkside kits.

 

 

The same wagons from another angle.

 

 

"Susan" my brass-kit Peckett is standing on the transfer siding about to take the loaded oil tankers down the grade to the industrial estate. 

 

 

61027 is one of the two named B1s that were Hitchin engines. Not sure how Ferme Park would have got their hands on it as the Hitchin B1s usually worked passenger turns but they have snaffled it for a trip working to Dock Green.

 

 

Two ex_GNR locos form a backdrop to a view over a factory back fence. Neither of these machines were to last much longer - steam was gone from the London end of the ECML by the end of 1962.

 

More photos later.

 

Chaz

 

 

[Ray H]

The cards tell the operators which cassettes to use to make up trains. This to to ensure that we cycle through the stock so different wagons run in each train. The cards also say how to split up an arrival - "three wagons to goods No. 2" etc. 

They specify where wagons should be taken from to make up a departing train and which cassettes to put the train into when it is broken down. 

This level of detail means that when you are told to collect four wagons from the warehouse siding there are four there.

 

Operators do make mistakes from time to time and we sometimes read a card and the situation doesn't match it. "Shunt four wagons to..." but that siding is already full. Should the position be really at odds with the sequence then the agreed ploy is to turn back to the first card, which sets the start position, and then shunt the yard until it matches that. The sequence can then be restarted.

 

Chaz

 

Many thanks for that. do you have a process (or a simple understanding between operators) for rotating stock on the various sidings? For example, do you always add to the open end and always take away from the "Stops" end?

[chaz]

Many thanks for that. do you have a process (or a simple understanding between operators) for rotating stock on the various sidings? For example, do you always add to the open end and always take away from the "Stops" end?

 

 

The card will usually say something like "With the yard pilot take 4 wagons from Goods No.1 and add them to the brake van on the reception line". If there are more than four then it is up to the operator to choose. The front four would be fine, however if the other operator is doing cassette work (there are always two operators on at any one time)  then a choice can be made that involves a bit of shunting so that there is something moving while they are busy. Very few visitors will stand and watch the layout for so long that a wagon that doesn't move for a while would be obvious (even if that would be considered unrealistic - which is debatable!).

 

When making up a train to run into the yard the choice of locomotive is left to the operator.

 

Chaz

Edited December 12, 2018 by chaz

[chaz]

Another five pictures, all of which include the J6.

 

 

A view from above, which gives a glimpse of that lovely motion between the frames. 

 

 

The J6 hasn't moved but this shot is from a different angle. The N7 stands under the starter signal, once its train has been assembled it will reverse and couple up. 

 

 

64253 propels the loaded coal wagons across the yard to the transfer siding. It was a great hit with the team as it glided around the yard. Once I had cleaned its wheels it did the whole of Sunday as yard pilot without any fuss, never stalling or failing to start. Terrific model! (built and painted by Heather K - all I did was the weathering).

 

 

A busy moment in the yard. The BR/Sulzer type 2 ticks over on the exit track, the J6 tows a brake van back to the headshunt and the Hudswell Clarke "Christine" is glimpsed waiting on the industrial lines to access stock left for it on the transfer siding.

 

 

The J6 propels that brake van (an ex-LNER "Green Arrow" van) from the headshunt back to the reception line ready for the next departure.

 

Chaz 

Edited December 12, 2018 by chaz