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Wright writes.....


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33 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

 

 

I like the curves you've got going there. I wouldn't apologise as I think the mess is a honest reflection of what layouts look like under construction - certainly mine do.

 

Al

Thanks Al,

 

I’ve got a minimum radius of 2’ but on the scenic section it’s a little bit wider than that and there’s certainly no dead straight track. To me, straight track with tight curves at each end shouts ‘train set’.

 

Jamie

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Not so much lockdown as I am travelling into London as part of a London Ambulance taskforce for two days a week.  It can be quiet in the early afternoon, so as well as RMWeb (obviously read only), I'm drafting articles for the journal of the South Western Circle.  My physique requires three long walks a week but otherwise I'm working on Blindheim, my layout for the Guildex Small Layouts Competition, now postponed to September 2021.  Presently scratchbuilding the goods shed and kit bashing the station building.

 

Bill

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On 03/07/2020 at 20:53, Clem said:

Evening Andrew. I've seen a photo of a K3 on a fish at Lowestoft. It had set out from the main fish despatch sidings on the docks and was backing into another smaller set of sidings to add a few further fish vans on the back, behind the brake van. You could very well be right about the maximum 4 vans. I can't recall the brake van being more than a very small number of vans in front of the back of the train on the GC. I'll have a look around to see if I can find the K3 photo..... I may be gone some time.....

 

Afternoon Clem,

 

sorry I missed your post. I know that a batch of five Fish vans were dropped of at Leicester. They were sent forwards to Marylebone on the tail end of the 10.35 pm express from Manchester, along with a BZ with bakery items.

 

There was quite a complicated engine diagram, the locomotive off the first Fish train of the evening, would come off at Leicester, with the Marylebone bound vans. The loco would then work south with the second fish trains of the evening. The fist Fish train, now lacking a locomotive, proceeded south with the Locomotive off the Northbound Bournemouth York Newcastle express, this was usually an ex GWR Hall. The ex GWR locomotive would alternatively work six weeks on the Fish and then six weeks on the 5.22pm Leicester Woodford ord. The Doncaster based locomotive, usually a B1, that came off the second Fish train, would work trains back to Doncaster via Sheffield. In the later period, when the Fish trains were combined, I've been told that a batch of Fish vans were dropped off from the tail at Woodford, these vans being bound for Marylebone. This may be the train as modeled, I am unsure. Being off the late period and not a train that I have personally modeled, I have not investigated it too deeply.

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35 minutes ago, Headstock said:

I know that a batch of five Fish vans were dropped of at Leicester. They were sent forwards to Marylebone on the tail end of the 10.35 pm express from Manchester, along with a BZ with bakery items.

 

There was quite a complicated engine diagram, the locomotive off the first Fish train of the evening, would come off at Leicester, with the Marylebone bound vans. The loco would then work south with the second fish trains of the evening. The fist Fish train, now lacking a locomotive, proceeded south with the Locomotive off the Northbound Bournemouth York Newcastle express, this was usually an ex GWR Hall. The ex GWR locomotive would alternatively work six weeks on the Fish and then six weeks on the 5.22pm Leicester Woodford ord. 

Hi Andrew, 

Very interesting information on the workings.

A couple of points/questions. Attaching the fish vans to the 10-30pm Manchester-Marylebone - presumably that would restist the maximum speed of the express from then on? I can't remember max speed of fitted vans off hand.

Second, I've seen several pictures of the fish south of Leicester with a GW 4-6-0 on it, so that didn't come as a surprise. In your period of modelling (1948-50? ), do you know if the fish trains were timed similar to later? First the Hull, then about 40mims later the Grimsby?

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Lockdown

 

I was the only employee (as opposed to director) to NOT be furloughed, been manic from March to now.

 

Got all the others back now, they get rattty when I asked about their holidays.

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1 hour ago, Clem said:

Hi Andrew, 

Very interesting information on the workings.

A couple of points/questions. Attaching the fish vans to the 10-30pm Manchester-Marylebone - presumably that would restist the maximum speed of the express from then on? I can't remember max speed of fitted vans off hand.

Second, I've seen several pictures of the fish south of Leicester with a GW 4-6-0 on it, so that didn't come as a surprise. In your period of modelling (1948-50? ), do you know if the fish trains were timed similar to later? First the Hull, then about 40mims later the Grimsby?

 

Afternoon Clem,

 

victory over this weeks disgusting weather. Propelled by a savage tailwind, I manage to just cut all the lawns before a heavy rain storm battered my location. Yipee!

 

I think that you may be slightly overestimating the speed of the typical express in the steam era. That aside, the 10.35pm was was not a typical passenger service that would be familiar later. Before the widespread adoption of parcels trains in the sixties, most bogie van trains ran under express passenger lights that  would include a limited passenger service. That was the case with the 10.35pm, known to Railway men as 'The Mail'.

 

On departing Leicester, the train conveyed three passenger carriages, seven full brakes, one BZ and five fish vans. The NPC's were picked up and dropped off on route, often these were connecting services so timings had to be bang on. The passenger carriages allowed for a late night through service between Liverpool and the capital. In the days when Britain was a great maritime nation, these sorts of services were very popular with sailors, amongst others, who were moving between ports in our major cities.

 

Re the Fish trains, I don't have the working timetable handy at the mo. However, the timing between the two trains doesn't sound outlandishly different.

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Tony,

Regarding Halfords (Grantham) , I went about a month ago and providing you know what you want , they will get it for you . They wouldn't let you in but had a table and card scanner in the doorway . They are maybe open anyway now .I got some white primer for a lattice post junction signal I am making  up from brass frets . Rather fiddly , takes me ages , especially these days . But as you know , once even separate parts are done , such things are very satisfying . As for lockdown projects , I've had to replace a Portescap in my Proscale A3 with a Hi level gearbox with Mashima motor . also replace one of my trusty H&M Walkabout controllers (which went balmy and would sometimes go to full power out of the blue). So I got a Gaugemaster panel mount with simulation which is very good , but not up to the old Walkabout for the auto acceleration in my opinion .

         I continue to enjoy reading Wright Writes every day . Takes some time as well sometimes  ! We never fail to learn new tricks do we .

 

Regards , Roy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, ROY@34F said:

Tony,

Regarding Halfords (Grantham) , I went about a month ago and providing you know what you want , they will get it for you . They wouldn't let you in but had a table and card scanner in the doorway . They are maybe open anyway now .I got some white primer for a lattice post junction signal I am making  up from brass frets . Rather fiddly , takes me ages , especially these days . But as you know , once even separate parts are done , such things are very satisfying . As for lockdown projects , I've had to replace a Portescap in my Proscale A3 with a Hi level gearbox with Mashima motor . also replace one of my trusty H&M Walkabout controllers (which went balmy and would sometimes go to full power out of the blue). So I got a Gaugemaster panel mount with simulation which is very good , but not up to the old Walkabout for the auto acceleration in my opinion .

         I continue to enjoy reading Wright Writes every day . Takes some time as well sometimes  ! We never fail to learn new tricks do we .

 

Regards , Roy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had similar problems with a number of H & M Walkabouts. A friend who knows more about this sort of thing than I do worked out that it was a transistor that had blown and as it was a type that was readily available, a repair should be a quick job. Sadly, he passed away a while ago, so I can't ask him the details now but if you know anybody who understands such things, you may be able to have a repair done.

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56 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

We had similar problems with a number of H & M Walkabouts. A friend who knows more about this sort of thing than I do worked out that it was a transistor that had blown and as it was a type that was readily available, a repair should be a quick job. Sadly, he passed away a while ago, so I can't ask him the details now but if you know anybody who understands such things, you may be able to have a repair done. 

Thanks Tony . I did message one or two on here whom I knew had used the H&M walkabouts , and I read quite a lot of posts about them on various websites , and the general opinion was the slider control thingy being most likely the trouble with no hope of repair . However I will continue to hope someone may one day offer to have a go at it . 

 

Regards , Roy.

 

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3 hours ago, MJI said:

Lockdown

 

I was the only employee (as opposed to director) to NOT be furloughed, been manic from March to now.

 

Got all the others back now, they get rattty when I asked about their holidays.

 

Can relate. Whilst I've done *some* modelling I've been the entire IT department for the company since March - there's usually 3 of us. So it was utter madness at the beginning when suddenly everyone needs to work from home (unsurprisingly not all home internet connections are usable for home working and apparently some people think I can fix that?!).

 

About 75% of staff were initially furloughed, now it's about 40% and I get one colleague back from tomorrow hooray! I've had a total of two days off this year so planning on taking a few days soon as I am thoroughly knackered!

 

The plus side of working all the time is of course I've had full income (although where I would normally book quite a bit of overtime I've not done so) so whilst it may have been hard I am fully aware I am one of the lucky ones.

 

Oh - and I had a lot of respect for teachers before, but having tried to home-school our daughter for "the duration" as well, I'm almost at Worship level!

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2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

We had similar problems with a number of H & M Walkabouts. A friend who knows more about this sort of thing than I do worked out that it was a transistor that had blown and as it was a type that was readily available, a repair should be a quick job. Sadly, he passed away a while ago, so I can't ask him the details now but if you know anybody who understands such things, you may be able to have a repair done.

 

Do remember that Gaugemaster have (had?) a lifetime guarantee on their controllers.

 

Sorry, misread you were using H&M walkabouts!!!

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I don't know how many have seen the virtual exhibition staged by BRM over this weekend, but I think it's been rather good (even with my contribution). 

I've followed quite a bit of it. I thought the interviews and demo bits were interesting and I enjoyed your piece even though much of it was ‘revision’ for those us us who follow this thread. However, I was rather disappointed with the layout pieces as they mainly seemed to be rehashes of videos from past editions of BRM.

 

I was expecting to tune in and see the layouts being operated live - maybe that was rather naive!
 

Andy

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16 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

However, I was rather disappointed with the layout pieces as they mainly seemed to be rehashes of videos from past editions of BRM.

 

I was expecting to tune in and see the layouts being operated live - maybe that was rather naive!

 

Andy,

 

I completely agree with you regarding this comment, I was hoping to see live (or at least new footage) of these wonderful layouts. However, I can fully understand the extra work that would have probably had to go into achieving that and I am grateful to all those who contributed in any capacity. Many thanks to all.

 

One thing I've been toying with is to place video cameras in strategic locations on Hadley Wood so that live feeds of operating sessions would be possible.

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1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

I've followed quite a bit of it. I thought the interviews and demo bits were interesting and I enjoyed your piece even though much of it was ‘revision’ for those us us who follow this thread. However, I was rather disappointed with the layout pieces as they mainly seemed to be rehashes of videos from past editions of BRM.

 

I was expecting to tune in and see the layouts being operated live - maybe that was rather naive!
 

Andy

 

I think we have to be realistic.  Most layout owners are not able to capture professional quality recording of their layouts themselves.  So to get "new" footage would have required the pros to descend on the owner, who might well have needed to call in a team of operators, probably breaking all sorts of distancing rules and potentially spreading the C 19 virus.

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2 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

Can relate. Whilst I've done *some* modelling I've been the entire IT department for the company since March - there's usually 3 of us. So it was utter madness at the beginning when suddenly everyone needs to work from home (unsurprisingly not all home internet connections are usable for home working and apparently some people think I can fix that?!).

 

About 75% of staff were initially furloughed, now it's about 40% and I get one colleague back from tomorrow hooray! I've had a total of two days off this year so planning on taking a few days soon as I am thoroughly knackered!

 

The plus side of working all the time is of course I've had full income (although where I would normally book quite a bit of overtime I've not done so) so whilst it may have been hard I am fully aware I am one of the lucky ones.

 

Oh - and I had a lot of respect for teachers before, but having tried to home-school our daughter for "the duration" as well, I'm almost at Worship level!

As a teacher, thank you. However having to home school my own from year groups I normally have no contact with, I was happy when they were given time back at school, if only part time. 
Richard

 

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1 hour ago, Atso said:

 

Andy,

 

I completely agree with you regarding this comment, I was hoping to see live (or at least new footage) of these wonderful layouts. However, I can fully understand the extra work that would have probably had to go into achieving that and I am grateful to all those who contributed in any capacity. Many thanks to all.

 

One thing I've been toying with is to place video cameras in strategic locations on Hadley Wood so that live feeds of operating sessions would be possible.

Live videos would be a step too far for me on a regular basis. I’d have to remember not to swear when something goes wrong! But as a one off I think it would be good. 
 

I do however accept all Andy’s points about the difficulties of doing it to a professional level during lockdown. 
 

 

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5 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

We had similar problems with a number of H & M Walkabouts. A friend who knows more about this sort of thing than I do worked out that it was a transistor that had blown and as it was a type that was readily available, a repair should be a quick job. Sadly, he passed away a while ago, so I can't ask him the details now but if you know anybody who understands such things, you may be able to have a repair done.

 

I, too, have investigated this problem.

 

Physical examination of the slider track, plus online information from someone who had reverse-engineered the Walkabout, and at one time undertook repairs, confirmed that the problem in question is caused by wear of the carbon track of the variable resistor slider. This is part of the main circuit board and is thus irrepairable - more's the pity, as I have several duff ones!

 

John Isherwood.

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1 hour ago, cctransuk said:

 

I, too, have investigated this problem.

 

Physical examination of the slider track, plus online information from someone who had reverse-engineered the Walkabout, and at one time undertook repairs, confirmed that the problem in question is caused by wear of the carbon track of the variable resistor slider. This is part of the main circuit board and is thus irrepairable - more's the pity, as I have several duff ones!

 

John Isherwood.

 

There were two possible causes then. My friend had several fail, out of the dozens he had and replacing a transistor cured them. 

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2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Live videos would be a step too far for me on a regular basis. I’d have to remember not to swear when something goes wrong! But as a one off I think it would be good. 
 

I do however accept all Andy’s points about the difficulties of doing it to a professional level during lockdown. 
 

 

 

 

I'd imagine a live feed of Brighton Junction might be quite...er, entertaining on that count!

 

Jesse might also be able to cross promote it as a foreign-language course....

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Some more lockdown modelling of a different kind. I've been meaning to learn 3D modelling for printing off for a while and finally got round to it. The initial test subject is this LMS Sand Wagon, made in Tinkercad. Mainly chosen because its one of the more simple wagons in the diagram book! Buffers, axleboxes, w-irons and brake-gear will be added from available etches and castings. It's a little rough around the edges, but i'm pleased with the initial result. Although the real test will be how it 3D prints. Whilst Tinkercad is incredibly easy to use (i've never done any 3D modelling before and picked it up quickly), it does have its limitations. So now it's on to learning the frankly baffling Fusion 360, which should pay off in the long term.

 

The small holes in the solebar and headstock are for the insertion of brass wire to represent a number of strange hooks these wagons seem to have, along with the usual towing eye on each solebar. The hooks look more substantial than the usual cleats you find on opens and given the nature of the traffic, i'd assume they are for holding down some sort of heavy-duty tarp or cover to keep the sand from leaking out. Alas, since only a hundred were ever built, i have no pictures of them in traffic.

 

Regards

Daniel

LMS SAND WAGON.png

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8 hours ago, richard i said:

As a teacher, thank you. However having to home school my own from year groups I normally have no contact with, I was happy when they were given time back at school, if only part time. 
Richard

 

Good morning Richard,

 

Though there was no pandemic when our two were at school, occasionally I'd pick Mo up from her school. I know your trio are older now than those Mo taught, but it was a frightful experience for me. 

 

Having spent my day (prior to giving up the profession) teaching 11-18 year olds, to be confronted by swarms of tiny humans, with their sticky fingers, running noses and their having absolutely no sense of 'social distancing'  was rather taxing. How folk taught 'little ones', I have no idea.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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