Havenhouse - the reboot

[JCL]

Thanks Westerhamstation I just read your interests. My dad always says, everyday he wakes up is a good day.

[Iain C Robinson]

Just been looking at your pics of the station building and how it has been worked over by the march of "progress". There are still enough signs of the original structure to see that it will make a super model, though! I have been following the blog "quietly", just been very busy, for which I'm not complaining!

all the best,

Iain

[Bedders]

I've been a fairly steathy blog reader as well.  I've as much interest in this for the fairly close real life location as the high quality of the modelling   The only gripe I have is that I'm unlikely to see the finished work in the flesh, bloody Atlantic ocean

[JCL]

It's honestly not a problem,I go through periods of only having time to click he like button as well.

 

I'll see if I can dig out an old photo of the station building. It was fairly plain compared to stations further down the line, probably because it was built to a budget locally by the Wainfleet and Firsby Railway Company. Like all good ideas, it was originally agreed in a pub, in this case The Angel, which was a five minute walk away. The line was to stretch from Firsby, which already had a station on the line to Spilsby, to Wainfleet where it terminated. It was to be a few more years before the Skegness Extension was constructed.

[JCL]

Here you go, this is from an old postcard, and it shows the station before the line was doubled and then sent out to Skegness. What looks like a second line is actually just a siding. The station building changed very little over the years. The only difference I can find is that the front of the valancing was taken off for some reason.

 

[JCL]

Finally, two photographs taken over 120 years apart. No prizes for guessing which is newest

 

 

The signal box and goods shed were both knocked down with the doubling of the line. The new one, made of brick, is the one that I put together with help from a lot of friends in a different thread, and the replacement goods shed is the corrugated one mentioned a while back on this one. You can easily see where the canopy had been before it was taken away.

 

Right, back to fencing (rain stopped gazebo mending)

[JCL]

I think it's official, I'm in too deep and need rescuing. In the post yesterday I received the "Eastern Region passenger services 17th June to 8th September 1963". AND I found it interesting! I thought it'd give me an idea of the frequency of trains around the (loose) period I'm modelling. It also includes loads of other information such as the various named trains, etc. I know for a lot of people it wasn't that long ago, but being published 5 years before I was born, it almost feels like another country.

 

Two titbits for you:

 

First class passengers can carry up to 150lb, and second class passengers 100lb of luggage for free.

If you are on a train that doesn't have a restaurant carriage or refreshment cars, you can buy a packed meal at your departing station. For 2s. 6d., you can enjoy a sausage roll, cheese sandwich, Kup Cake, and fruit. If you want to push the boat out, for 3s. 6d. there's pork pie, ham sandwich, tomato, packet of biscuits and a slice of Gala fruit pie.

 

For parties of 16 or more you can buy tea for 12s. 0d. or coffee for 20s. 0d. a gallon. Hopefully the carriages had toilets!

[artizen]

That's hilarious! Coffee by the gallon. Real gallons too... not the small US version. Mind you, in 1963, on apprentice wages, that's about a month of savings.

[westerhamstation]

I think it's official, I'm in too deep and need rescuing. In the post yesterday I received the "Eastern Region passenger services 17th June to 8th September 1963". AND I found it interesting! I thought it'd give me an idea of the frequency of trains around the (loose) period I'm modelling. It also includes loads of other information such as the various named trains, etc. I know for a lot of people it wasn't that long ago, but being published 5 years before I was born, it almost feels like another country.

 

Two titbits for you:

 

First class passengers can carry up to 150lb, and second class passengers 100lb of luggage for free.

If you are on a train that doesn't have a restaurant carriage or refreshment cars, you can buy a packed meal at your departing station. For 2s. 6d., you can enjoy a sausage roll, cheese sandwich, Kup Cake, and fruit. If you want to push the boat out, for 3s. 6d. there's pork pie, ham sandwich, tomato, packet of biscuits and a slice of Gala fruit pie.

 

For parties of 16 or more you can buy tea for 12s. 0d. or coffee for 20s. 0d. a gallon. Hopefully the carriages had toilets!

Put me down for 2 packed lunches at 3s.6d each please . postal order in post

[JCL]

Well, I have to stay up and wait for a computer program to finish it's processing, so I decided to add a decoder to a Hornby tender drive B17. The B17 is well outside it's normal area, and I've no proof that they made it to Skegness, but I have one in a drawer that I bought a long time ago, and I don't want to be churlish!

 

Adding the decoder was pretty simple. Just take the spade connectors off the motor, and solder the red and black wires to them before soldering the grey and orange wires to the tabs the spade connectors were attached to. Make sure everything is isolated, and test on the programming track. The only difficult bit is finding room inside the shell for the decoder itself! A Digitrax DH123 *just* fits, but it took some positioning to make it so.

 

I've only another hour to go before the program finishes (I hope). I've a Bachmann V2 split chassis loco on my worktop, but that one is going to need a bit more concentration than the last one, so I think that it can wait until later in the week, along with a J39 that was chipped but seems to have ground to a halt.

 

In the meantime I have some 2' high backboard made of hardboard painted white. It took four coats but looks ok at the moment. I'm going to assume 10/10ths cloud cover for now, the blue will have to wait!

 

Only forty minutes to go...

[LNER4479]

Ey up mi duck

 

A watched kettle never boils; a monitored computer programme never terminates

 

I can supply details of Skegness (passenger) services for 1955, 1946 and 1938 if required (and 1987, if you really want to bore yourself to tears!)

[JCL]

Owdo, Still up - 24 hours so far and counting. That would be marvelous thank-you - 1955 for preference if possible. I'm wondering how I might get info about freight. I know that my uncle used to have to be done loading by 3pm, but I've no idea if there was just one goods train per day or one every so many days per week...

 

That said, I've got that B17, so I'm not going to claim to be super accurate!

[Theakerr]

Based on what we used to see on summer Day Tripper specials into Cleethorpes, I can almost bet that at one time or another a B17 would have ended up through Wainfleet

[JCL]

That's good enough for me. Oliver Cromwell turned up in Skegness a couple of years ago on a steam special, so I know that, technically, the was a possibility. I think that seeing this on the news was one of the things that started me off modelling again after years of doing other things.

[JCL]

I thought I'd put up a couple of photos as it's been a while, and it'll show just how far I still have to go!

 

It was a dull day today with no colour in the sky. The first white board has gone up at the back, and another is resting on the chest freezer in the garage waiting for paint. They are going to be positioned temporarily in the background until I get around to putting together a sunny September morning.

 

So, guess the class!

 

...

 

That's right, it's a J39 having just undergone a major stripdown so that I can add a Digitrax decoder. As you can see, the decoder is in the tender with the wires going between the two. I'll be cutting off the spare wires before I put the "lid" back on. If I can find some thin black wire I'll try using that for the connection as they'll be easier to hide.The engine is working well, consider it's just been taken out of the box and used for the first time since I emigrated in 2009, but does have a tendency to stick slightly on the insulfrog points. I may end up trying to collect off the tender wheels. To ensure that I'm really not very cool at all, it's worth saying that I have a banjo in the back room that needs it's strings replacing. I've read somewhere that these are pretty useful for turning into wipers. Anyway, I'm happy with it at the moment. Now it's tested I'll be replacing the body and tender and making use of it again. I've another two split chassis engines to do; a V2 and a V1. The J39 wasn't as difficult at I thought it might be given the information on the internet, but that's probably because I had an easy location for the decoder. I think I'll be following the Trains4U steps for the V1 installation.

 

 

Next up is Everton, which is my father-in-law's football team. This loco has another Digitrax decoder (DH123) in the tender. Looking at the photo, unfortunately the shell of the tender isn't sitting very well. I think I might be replacing the decoder with a smaller HO/N (DN123) scale one. I like the look of these engines, but it can be very temperamental on the Peco points. It shorts half the time when running over them (is it the depths of the tires?). I've read about using a triangular file on the V of the point and infilling with clear nail varnish, so I'll be giving that a go to see if I can remedy the problem. The only other loco that does this is an old Hornby A4, but it's wheels are so wobbly and out of wack it's been relegated to the shelf at the back. I can see that if I start buying nail varnish, and the recommended eye shadow in browns fr weathering purposes I'll get a reputation around town!

 

Eventually there will be bushes and an allotment in the foreground (I've always wanted an allotment, and this seems to be a way of getting one without the ongoing work). I've found a site that recommends painting dried peas to be used as cabbages, and there's all sorts of other tricks knocking about, so I'll be looking forward to doing this part of the layout.

 

 

The final photo is the class 25 taking a summer trip to Skegness passing the signal box. H&S aren't going to be impressed - where are the gates? In the background you can just see the church. This is a print out of the full size plans that I taped together a while ago to check clearances. The church looks imposing, but it's far too big for it's space, so I think that there's going to be some "judicious pruning" needed before a proper model is made.

 

The pavement is a strip of mat card with black 400 grit sandpaper on it. The whole lot was painted grey, and cracks were introduced into the tarmac surface.There's a fair bit of tidying up to do in the foreground now that the platforms are down permanently, such as the tarmac surface of the car park needing to be glued down and the edges covered appropriately.

 

Edited June 11, 2013 by JCL

[JCL]

BTW, anyone looking to add skies to photos could do worse than look on this website: http://www.photos-public-domain.com/2012/04/27/cloudy-overcast-sky/

[Pilgrim in France]

That's good enough for me. Oliver Cromwell turned up in Skegness a couple of years ago on a steam special, so I know that, technically, the was a possibility. I think that seeing this on the news was one of the things that started me off modelling again after years of doing other things.

 

If you are looking to justify a "Brit" then 70005 went through to Skegness on 18/1/62. However the ban on V2s on the East Lincs line had long since been re-introduced so I am fairly certain that you could not justify one of them - other than the fact that it is your layout and you can do what you like!

[JCL]

Cheers Pilgrim, that's good to know. I had guessed that V2's were out, but, well, I bought it a number of years ago before I'd decided on the layout. I know Tangmere came over a couple of years ago, were there many other unusual locos along this line?

[LNER4479]

That would be marvelous thank-you - 1955 for preference if possible. I'm wondering how I might get info about freight. I know that my uncle used to have to be done loading by 3pm, but I've no idea if there was just one goods train per day or one every so many days per week...

 

1955 timetable duly enclosed mi duck.

 

If it were me, I'd run the Saturday service! Endless opportunities for 'funny' locos, although I suspect a lot would be humble freight engines pressed into weekend service. I don't know about you but I sometimes find the interpretation of these old timetables a little 'challenging' as they show all the connecting times from all over the place and they're not always easy to differentiate from stops for the direct train

 

Latest pics looking good!

 

PS - just checked out latest posting from Dave F's wonderful thread on UK Prototype Discussions. I think #794 might be of some interest to you. K1 and J39 on summer Saturday Skegness trains - that's the sort of motive power you're after methinks!

Skegness timetable 1955.pdf

Edited June 11, 2013 by LNER4479

[JCL]

Thanks for that! It was great seeing some different photos. I'm pleased I got the J39 going, and it appears to have been on a freight, so now I have two engines suitable for that - J39 and the 4MT that is in one of my books about the Skegness line. And thanks for the timetable as well. I have to agree, I'm going to have to take a course in reading timetables to work it all out. At least there is GMT now though, I read that initially each timetable worked to local time, and local time was different in different districts, so you had to also use a conversion chart to work out when trains would arrive and depart. With my numeracy I'd have missed every train going!

[Pilgrim in France]

Unusual? Well the Midland used to send Black 5s and more rarely Crabs, but how about Jubilee 45635 on a special from Bury in July 63? I know that Jubilees had set off from the East Midlands previously but not sure if they were changed en-route.

[JCL]

Hi David, that's perfect!

 

The layout will be set primarily in the 1960s, but there was so little change that I could probably use the same model to cover a couple of decades by just changing the cars and adverts. The big change was the closure of the goods yard in the mid-60's and the removal of the footbridge, and hen the whole thing being unmanned from '69. The great thing about your pages is that it confirms my uncle's memory. He was pretty sure that he had to have finished loading as the train left at 3pm, and that's exactly what it says in your post! It's interesting also that there was just one train a day via Wainfleet, and that in '62 Havenhouse (between Wainfleet and Skegness) still must have had its siding.

 

Thanks also Pilgrim, I've seen a photo of a black 5 in Skegness, but didn't know about the Crabs and Jubilees. I've come to the conclusion that if you want to run a wide variety of engines on a layout with some sort of prototypical accuracy, then modelling a length of line that hosts excursions, especially one that also had trains composed of hand-me-downs is the way to do it!

[RANGERS]

Black fives were common in Skeg' as were 4Fs. There's a photo of a Jubilee on the GNR Friargate line heading a Birmingham - Skegness train in East Midland Branch Line Album. It's possible it didn't run through but may well have done. There's several pics around of Crabs heading for Skegness/ Mablethorpe, one of them was taken at Boston so that one almost certainly made it there.

[Theakerr]

JCL,

Just heard from my Son that Fernie has been issued with a flood watch/warning and that people are out sand bagging the elk river.  Trust you and Wainfleet are OK.  Pictures from Calgary are incredible.

[jrg1]

Black fives were common in Skeg' as were 4Fs. There's a photo of a Jubilee on the GNR Friargate line heading a Birmingham - Skegness train in East Midland Branch Line Album. It's possible it didn't run through but may well have done. There's several pics around of Crabs heading for Skegness/ Mablethorpe, one of them was taken at Boston so that one almost certainly made it there.

I have the following incomplete records for the 1948-1965 timespan:-

LNER Class C1, D2, D11, B17, B1, V2, K1, K2, K3, L1, J39, J11

LMS Class 5, Crab, 4F 0-6-0, Ivatt Class 4 possibly Jubilee 45635 6-7-1963

BR Standard-Britannia, 9F

 

 

30/07/1960 AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY TRAFFIC Saturday 30/7/60 (Steam Railway 113, Steam World 134)         Skegness Arrivals             (* Additional Arrivals)         61144/43157   Leicester (Belgrave Road)   0840hrs M959*             61894/61889   Skegness        0932hrs               61826     Shirebrook     0938hrs               61870     Basford North     0948hrs               61142     Leicester (Belgrave Road)   1000hrs M961*             61767     Nottingham Victoria     1003hrs               61339     Leeds       1010hrs               61852     Derby Friargate     1033hrs               61107/61348   Chesterfield Central     1051hrs               DMU     Lincoln       1100hrs               61391     Kings Cross     1109hrs Butlin's Special-Second Class only       61967     Sheffield       1119hrs               61285     Leicester (Belgrave Road)   1125hrs               61177     Nottingham Victoria     1148hrs               61310     Sheffield       1200hrs               DMU     Grantham       1206hrs               61899     Bradford       1217hrs               61214     Manchester Central     1228hrs               61384     Enfield Chase     1234hrs               61393     Leeds       1240hrs               61837     Sheffield Midland     1246hrs               61313     Leicester (Belgrave Road)   1300hrs M963*             61947     Kidsgrove       1310hrs W582*             61888     Manchester London Road   1313hrs               61042     Kings Norton     1322hrs               DMU     Lincoln       1339hrs               61247     Derby Friargate     1355hrs               Also recorded:                           61374     0845hrs Grimsby-Kings Cross                   61379 Mayflower    0920hrs Cleethorpes-Kings Cross                 61190     At c0930hrs Little Steeping northbound light engine               63819     At c1020hrs Little Steeping on northbound freight                61235     1058hrs Peterborough-Grimsby                                                 Mablethorpe Arrivals         (* Additional Arrivals)               61088     Leicester (Belgrave Road)   0910hrs M960*             61163     Basford North     1018hrs               61251 Oliver Bury   Nottingham Victoria     1032hrs               61036     Doncaster       1100hrs               61141     Nottingham Victoria     1147hrs               61092     Leicester (Belgrave Road)   1231hrs               61000 Springbok   Derby Friargate     1244hrs               612**     Manchester Central     1313hrs               Locomotive substituted for 61728 (Hot box) at Lincoln                                                   Skegness Departures (* Additional Departures)                     43080     Kings Cross      0905hrs               43157     Coventry       0912hrs M980*             61926     Manchester Central     0927hrs               61144     Kings Cross     0934hrs Butlin's Special-Second Class only       DMU     Grantham       1012hrs               61894     York       1055hrs               61826     Shirebrook     1102hrs               61339     Leeds       1114hrs               61870     Nottingham Victoria     1124hrs               61889     Sheffield Victoria     1133hrs               61348     Manchester Central     1147hrs               61142     Derby Friargate     1155hrs M981*             61058     Sheffield Victoria     1203hrs               61391     Kings Cross     1215hrs Butlin's Special-Second Class only       61767     Derby Friargate     1228hrs               43091     Peterborough     1235hrs               DMU     Grantham       1252hrs               61285     Nottingham Victoria     1320hrs               61852#     Leicester Belgrave Road   1332hrs               61107#     Chesterfield Central     1347hrs               61899#     Bradford       1359hrs               61177#     Basford North     1412hrs               61042#     Kings Norton     1420hrs               61393#     Leeds       1430hrs               61967#     Sheffield Victoria     1452hrs               61247 Lord Burghley# Derby Friargate     1504hrs               61837#     Sheffield Midland     1520hrs                                             Mablethorpe Departures   (* Additional Departures)                 61209     Nottingham     0950hrs M982*             61258     Sheffield Victoria     1010hrs 561*             61088     Derby Friargate     1115hrs M983*             61163     Basford North     1150hrs               61036 Ralph Assheton Doncaster       1220hrs               61251 Oliver Bury   Nottingham Victoria     1233hrs               61141#     Nottingham Victoria     1335hrs               61092#     Leicester Belgrave Road   1352hrs               61000 Springbok#   Derby Friargate     1425hrs               61202#     Manchester Central     1510hrs                                             # Assumed to have worked their booked trains All times are scheduled arrivals/departures