Grantham - the Streamliner years

[LNER4479]

I've just had to google 'Bayko' - must have been a bit before my time? Mind you, I cheered up when I saw the word 'Meccano' 

[2750Papyrus]

11 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

I've just had to google 'Bayko' - must have been a bit before my time? Mind you, I cheered up when I saw the word 'Meccano' 

You youngsters!

 

My sister had a set.  It was quite good fun making various buildings but didn't actually do anything when you had finished.  I think my Mum preferred it though, she got fed up with extracting Meccano nuts and bolts from the Hoover.

[lofty.ian]

I had a Bayko building set when I was young.  The plastic brick blocks went many decades ago but the metal vertical rods which you inserted into the plastic base unit still exist.  They are a useful stock of various lengths of rod which I resort to from time to time.  In fact I retrieved 4 to use only last week.

[drmditch]

I remember Bayko. The name , presumably, came from the bakelite which was used for the thick bases and the sliding wall sections

 

As I remember some of the problems were:-

The thickness of the base making it difficult to utilise with OO track (the old original Series 4 (?) Triang track.

(It would have been fine with Hornby tinplate - but ours mysteriously vanished.)

Any bent rods would result in lateral pressures in the base - which being quite brittle could then fracture, especially on the edges and corners.

 

There was also a brick system with (I presume) ceramic bricks which could be assembled with water soluble paste. If I remember correctly flour-and-water paste could be used as a substitute.

[DaveF]

4 hours ago, drmditch said:

 

 

There was also a brick system with (I presume) ceramic bricks which could be assembled with water soluble paste. If I remember correctly flour-and-water paste could be used as a substitute.

 

 

I think this may have been called something like "Brickplayer".

 

I had a set when I was a child, I can't remember exactly how old I was.

 

The bricks had a slightly rough surface and looked and felt quite realistic to me as a child.  

 

David

Edited November 3, 2021 by DaveF
spelling

[Michael Edge]

Yes, that was Brickplayer, the bricks were laid with flour and water paste - I had both that and Bayko in my childhood, as well as Meccano and Hornby Dublo trains.

[lezz01]

Meccano and Lego are the greatest two toys ever invented as far as I'm concerned.

Regards Lez.

[LNER4479]

51 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

Meccano and Lego are is the greatest two toys ever invented, with Lego trailing it some distance behind...

 

There, I've just amended that for you ...

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

Yes, that was Brickplayer, the bricks were laid with flour and water paste - I had both that and Bayko in my childhood, as well as Meccano and Hornby Dublo trains.

Three out of four for me - ours was a Tri-ang Railways home (although my cousins had HD 3-rail and in fact one of them still has it all, boxed up in Adelaide).

[Woodcock29]

I also had Bayko. I still remember playing with it. I never had Meccano. I think Dad was more interested in buying Hornby Dublo. I gave the Bayko away for a church fete when we were cleaning out my parents home 16 or so years ago. I wonder if they were able to sell it or it went to the dump?

[lezz01]

3 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

There, I've just amended that for you ...

I think you miss the point. They can both be whatever you want them to be, they are both only limited by the imagination of the user. The play value is immense and neither of them are only for children many adults still play with Lego as my grand children will tell you. I'm always "helping" them build stuff....

What can I say little boys never grow up they just get more expensive toys!

Regards Lez.   

[drmditch]

10 hours ago, lezz01 said:

I think you miss the point. They can both be whatever you want them to be, they are both only limited by the imagination of the user. The play value is immense and neither of them are only for children many adults still play with Lego as my grand children will tell you. I'm always "helping" them build stuff....

What can I say little boys never grow up they just get more expensive toys!

Regards Lez.   

 

Not just imagination, but also learning the technical skills and engineering design factors, especially with Meccano.

[figworthy]

19 hours ago, lezz01 said:

I think you miss the point. They can both be whatever you want them to be, they are both only limited by the imagination of the user. The play value is immense and neither of them are only for children many adults still play with Lego as my grand children will tell you. I'm always "helping" them build stuff....

What can I say little boys never grow up they just get more expensive toys!

Regards Lez.   

 

I've known Lego to be used for designing kitchens, and for temporary stand in buildings on a model railway (let's see how this works before we start cutting plasticard).  On the other hand, Dad used to have a Meccano "thing" for making his own solenoid point motors.

 

Adrian

[lezz01]

I have a few small boxes of Meccano bit's and bobs I guard like a zealot. I snatch it when it's cheap on ebay. I have quite a nice little hoard going now, sometimes only a bit of Meccano will do the job at short notice, at least as a temporarily fix or for a prototype just too prove that the concept will work before you replace it with something more elegant. It's worth it's weight in gold if you ask me....I wish I had more nuts and bolts but hey.   

Regards Lez.

[Michael Edge]

The Meccano is still in boxes in the loft but the last time any of it came out was 11 years ago to build this.

This was a mock up to help in designing the finished bridge for Herculaneum Dock.

 

[31A]

My collection of Meccano has been around the block a few times, but now it makes my Peco turntable go round (with one or two additions):

 

 

[gr.king]

I especially like the Meccano jam jar lid, the Meccano microswitch and the Meccano custom aluminium plate.

[Worsdell forever]

1 hour ago, 31A said:

... (with one or two additions):

 

 

51 minutes ago, gr.king said:

I especially like the Meccano jam jar lid, the Meccano microswitch and the Meccano custom aluminium plate.

 

I'm ass assuming those are the additions.

[31A]

1 hour ago, gr.king said:

I especially like the Meccano jam jar lid, the Meccano microswitch and the Meccano custom aluminium plate.

 

19 minutes ago, Worsdell forever said:

 

 

I'm ass assuming those are the additions.

 

Those bits, plus the motor from an old tape recorder and the choc block electrical connector!

 

[LNER4479]

I've seen the thing in operation. The marmalade jar lid is a work of genius!

[gr.king]

2 hours ago, Worsdell forever said:

 

 

I'm ass assuming those are the additions.

 

I wouldn't say you were an ass.

[Worsdell forever]

34 minutes ago, gr.king said:

 

I wouldn't say you were an ass.

 

I've no idea how it did that! didn't edit it as Steve - 31A had already quoted it. 

[LNER4479]

Well, if we're all done with Meccano (for now ... you're never truly finished with Meccano) and ... what was it ... Bayko? ... time to move on.

 

The yard at the front of the layout, in the shadow of Harlaxton Road Bridge, has been a bit sparse for ... er ... quite a long time, one of those 'round tuit' jobs. But no more.

 

No 'work in progress' shots with this one, straight to the ta-daa photos:

 

From a similar viewpoint, it now looks a little bit more complete and busy. (the tape measure on the trackbed is an unintended additional feature)

 

According to the 1906 map, this was a 'Steam Plough Works'. Now that's FAR too good an idea to ignore, even though, in all likelihood - it was probably being used for something else entirely - or maybe even (semi) derelict in the 1930s? (it was of course the scene of the infamous crash of the same (1906) year, some of the debris ending up scattered around the yard and the embankment side beyond. But I think that would be stretching credibility a bit too far)

 

Now, I have absolutely no idea what a 'steam plough works' looked like, how it operated, what equipment, material it might have so I have simply used my imagination and a few bits to hand. In essence, we have a complete (repaired?) engine undergoing testing / handover to a finicky owner, with another undergoing repair, with its parts scattered around the yard. The complete one is Oxford, basically 'out of the box', but with the lurid green(-ish) wheel treads painted a more discrete dark grey-brown colour. The dismantled one is a Keil Kraft kit.

 

'Now then, I 'ope you've fixed that governer leak, guv'nor.'

'Crank it up a bit lad, let's try it one more time'

 

Meanwhile, Alf the chargehand, having stripped the injin down decides on the most appropriate repair technique - 'It it with an 'ammer (whilst the customer isn't looking).

 

If you look VERY closely, you might JUST be able to make out that there's a front tubeplate revealed by the open smokebox door.

 

From that last (full) picture, it still looks a bit bare so perhaps there's some room to stuff the arch full of further parts, packing crates and general detritus?

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by LNER4479

[The Stationmaster]

Maybe a bit like? -

 

https://tractors.fandom.com/wiki/Oxford_Steam_Plough_Co.

[drmditch]

3 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

 

 

 

 

Is that a Worsdell-Von Borries compound?

(As being used .....here..... )

 

I don't know whether any such were used as ploughing (and depending on date 'anti-Uboat') engines?