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Wright writes.....


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18 minutes ago, jrg1 said:

I thought that South Willingham on the same line would be an interesting subject for a "Plank" layout.

 

I did build a layout based on East Barkwith but made it into a terminus and added a goods shed plus an extra siding. The location became the terminus of a fictional GNR branch to Mansfield.

 

I find that if I wanted to model such a station as close to the real thing as possible, it limits the types of locos and trains that can be run realistically. So I pinch track layouts and buildings and create fictional lines so nobody can tell me " That never ran there at that date".

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4 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I did build a layout based on East Barkwith but made it into a terminus and added a goods shed plus an extra siding. The location became the terminus of a fictional GNR branch to Mansfield.

 

I find that if I wanted to model such a station as close to the real thing as possible, it limits the types of locos and trains that can be run realistically. So I pinch track layouts and buildings and create fictional lines so nobody can tell me " That never ran there at that date".

You could pinch bits of Lincolnshire stations, and then run an LMS Garratt pulling Consett ore hoppers and banked by a class 15 hydraulic-and explain that you pinched bits of Lincolnshire trains, with L&Y signalling

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18 hours ago, Dylan Sanderson said:

...The reason it'll be these measurements, is because I'll be building them on Scale Model Scenery Baseboards that fit perfectly into 77L storage boxes when not in use (this is essential, I only have room for 3x 77L storage boxes)....

 

...Is it physically possible to build a 'realistic' model railway that's just 221mm wide? On first thoughts, I thought something similar to the layout 'Hartburn' might be feasible, but on second thoughts I'm not too sure due to my limited depth.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm really struggling to think of something at the moment!

 

Many thanks in advance everyone.

 

A couple of thoughts, Dylan. 

 

With a very narrow layout, you have to consider how to realistically model depth when you don’t have a lot.  So something that hems in the railway, like a forest edge, cliff or retaining wall will help visually.  Another trick, possible because of the 77 litre box’s height, would be to build the layout with a proscenium arch, thus restricting the viewing angle and making its narrowness less obvious.

 

Alternatively, again thinking within the box, you can take advantage of the fact that a 77 litre Really Useful Box is taller than it is wide.  So by storing the layout on its back within the box, your baseboard width could be the same as the internal height, thus increasing the viable layout depth to 34cm, though that would necessitate a lower backscene.

 

However if your primary goal is to demonstrate your company’s existing baseboard product, rather than maximise the possibilities within the internal dimensions of the 77 litre box, my apologies. 

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3 hours ago, jrg1 said:

You could pinch bits of Lincolnshire stations, and then run an LMS Garratt pulling Consett ore hoppers and banked by a class 15 hydraulic-and explain that you pinched bits of Lincolnshire trains, with L&Y signalling

 

I have seen those sorts of layouts, often club ones, at shows and if people enjoy the "anything goes" layout them that is fine. It doesn't do anybody any harm.

 

It isn't really my sort of thing though.

 

When I say fictional, I mean fictional but believable. So an appropriate track layout (not necessarily GNR but based on prototype practice), a GNR set of infrastructure, GNR locos and stock, just pulled together from various real places to create a scene that the GNR might have built.

 

That was how Mansfield GN was made.

 

There was nothing on the layout which was out of period or which couldn't have run on the line if it had really existed, even down to appropriate private owner wagons for the local collieries.

 

I have built several layouts by that method and I really enjoy the creative side of inventing a scene that could really have existed.

 

Using Withcall as an example, if I built a scale model of the station, the service would consist of one branch train shuttling back and forth and probably a daily goods. The station building was very basic and not very attractive and the scenic setting was devoid of natural scenic breaks. So I would take the track layout, add a better station building from another station on the line, perhaps use a road bridge from further up the line as a scenic break and say that it was a never built line somewhere in that area to justify using a much greater range of locos and stock.

 

I don't say that everybody should build layouts that way but it works for me.

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What Tony describes is very much how we operate Asenby.   There's a passenger service - if we have the extended version with the junction, there are two passenger trains - but in the main it's a small tank and six or seven wagons, then a pleasant 20 minutes or half an hour shunting while the fiddle yard man catches up on his sleep.    It's both relaxing and absorbing at the same time - especially if he's so soundly asleep that you can send back a train which is one wagon too long for the yard without him noticing.  That's always a result.

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2 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

What Tony describes is very much how we operate Asenby.   There's a passenger service - if we have the extended version with the junction, there are two passenger trains - but in the main it's a small tank and six or seven wagons, then a pleasant 20 minutes or half an hour shunting while the fiddle yard man catches up on his sleep.    It's both relaxing and absorbing at the same time - especially if he's so soundly asleep that you can send back a train which is one wagon too long for the yard without him noticing.  That's always a result.

 

A simple layout, well designed and operated, can be very rewarding. I find myself being genuinely drawn in to a sort of "zone", almost detached from the real world around me when I am watching or operating a layout like that when it is working well.

 

When you have a layout like that and you get people who stay to watch it for far longer than you would expect, you realise that they "get it" too.

 

I once had a fellow operator, after his first show with one of my layouts, say at the end that he never expected such a simple layout to by so enjoyable to operate for two full days.

 

Much comes down to the attitude and aptitude of the operators. If you put in the effort to do it well, you get the rewards of personal satisfaction.

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2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

A simple layout, well designed and operated, can be very rewarding. I find myself being genuinely drawn in to a sort of "zone", almost detached from the real world around me when I am watching or operating a layout like that when it is working well.

 

When you have a layout like that and you get people who stay to watch it for far longer than you would expect, you realise that they "get it" too.

 

I once had a fellow operator, after his first show with one of my layouts, say at the end that he never expected such a simple layout to by so enjoyable to operate for two full days.

 

Much comes down to the attitude and aptitude of the operators. If you put in the effort to do it well, you get the rewards of personal satisfaction.

At the risk of reopening an old talking point, Tony, I'd say that what you've described only works if you "operate" the layout rather than just "run" it.

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40 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

At the risk of reopening an old talking point, Tony, I'd say that what you've described only works if you "operate" the layout rather than just "run" it.

 

You are spot on. I have seen similar layouts, especially with a through station and a fiddle yard at each end where the operation was as dull as dishwater, with trains just going from one fiddle yard to the other and back all day long. I have seen others where the "shunting" consists of shuffling the same few wagons from one siding to another and back again.

 

When I see a layout that runs well and is being operated in an interesting and realistic fashion, then it really grabs my attention.

 

It is one of the things I really like about Buckingham. A passenger train can run from Buckingham to Grandborough and terminate there. It has two horse boxes on the front which are shunted from a loading dock just before departure, indicating that they are full rather than empty. At Grandborough, they are immediately detached and shunted to a loading dock to be emptied and the carriages are run round and shunted to another platform to allow them to return to Buckingham. After a suitable interval, the horse boxes, now empty, are attached to the rear of the train before it departs. At Buckingham, they are removed from the train and placed in a loading dock ready for the next sales from Buckingham market.

 

That is just an example of one of the many trains which do things other than just run from one end to the other.

 

To many people, those who do not really "get" the operational side of things, that is a real faff and too much bother. If the horse boxes end up back in the same loading dock that they started from, why bother moving them at all? To me, it is great fun! 

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1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

If the horse boxes end up back in the same loading dock that they started from, why bother moving them at all? To me, it is great fun! 

Its happened once at Bewdley (to those in the know the legendary Ozzie shunt)  Everything moved on every siding and ..... everything ended up where it started, so what was needed had to be done again, Lol. 

 

Its nice to see shunting sometimes as long as its not with sound on, as I've watched some that start a move or run round and chuff until the moment the loco stops. Where as when doing such shunts you might only give one or two breaths and then roll before braking to stop. This might be unfair as the sounds might have improved, but it seems like a lifetime since going to an exhibition. 

 

Apologies if this has gone off topic.

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33 minutes ago, Blandford1969 said:

Its happened once at Bewdley (to those in the know the legendary Ozzie shunt)  Everything moved on every siding and ..... everything ended up where it started, so what was needed had to be done again, Lol. 

 

Its nice to see shunting sometimes as long as its not with sound on, as I've watched some that start a move or run round and chuff until the moment the loco stops. Where as when doing such shunts you might only give one or two breaths and then roll before braking to stop. This might be unfair as the sounds might have improved, but it seems like a lifetime since going to an exhibition. 

 

Apologies if this has gone off topic.

 

The sequence/timetable on Buckingham does just that. After around 100 moves, performed over maybe three or four operating sessions, every train ends up back where it started and it becomes 6am again!

 

The only exceptions are that different locos may start on different rains as they rotate and the wagons, which are shunted via a colour code which varies over a 3 day cycle.

 

I agree about the sound but we have done that one to death more than once! I am quite happy letting my imagination fill in the sounds but sometimes I play a general "sound effect" at low level in the railway shed, especially if I am in there by myself.

 

Something like the ones available free on the BBC sounds archive.

 

https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/

 

Then put steam shunting into the search box.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:

Its nice to see shunting sometimes as long as its not with sound on, as I've watched some that start a move or run round and chuff until the moment the loco stops. Where as when doing such shunts you might only give one or two breaths and then roll before braking to stop. This might be unfair as the sounds might have improved, but it seems like a lifetime since going to an exhibition. 

 

Apologies if this has gone off topic.

 

Sound for steam is improving all the time but it still has a long way to go. It very much relies on how you drive the loco too mind. 

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1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:

Its happened once at Bewdley (to those in the know the legendary Ozzie shunt)  Everything moved on every siding and ..... everything ended up where it started, so what was needed had to be done again, Lol. 

 

Its nice to see shunting sometimes as long as its not with sound on, as I've watched some that start a move or run round and chuff until the moment the loco stops. Where as when doing such shunts you might only give one or two breaths and then roll before braking to stop. This might be unfair as the sounds might have improved, but it seems like a lifetime since going to an exhibition. 

 

Apologies if this has gone off topic.

It's not going off-topic at all. It's most-interesting.

 

Anyway, what is Wright writes' topic?

 

More a series of topics (which keep on going round in a rather cyclic movement - nothing new under the sun, I suppose).

 

The topic of operating a layout or just running it frequently crops up. I'm firmly in the latter camp, especially if the running is fast (though one can also 'operate' a layout where trains run really quickly).

 

As is well-known, I find shunting boring (I never paid any attention to it as a trainspotter, much-preferring watching, say, an A1 at full-pelt with a massive train - how many remember standing on the erstwhile fast platforms at Thirsk when one went through in this manner?). My friends who visited yesterday asked for a demonstration of shunting on LB, which I did. They were 'impressed' with the sweet running of the J6 I'd built which performed the task, and equally-impressed with the operation of the Sprat & Winkle couplings for separating wagons. I suppose, in a way, it's a harder task to build a loco which will operate at a crawl, without jerking or stuttering, but afterwards, as the 'Lizzie' swept by at full-speed, it showed what Little Bytham really is all about. 

 

I also don't like synthetic sound; I've yet to be convinced of its 'realism', and the real mechanical sound at speed of a heavy, kit-built, all-metal Pacific on an equally-heavy rake of kit-built carriages is more than satisfying to me.

 

Each to their own, of course. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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3 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

It's not going off-topic at all. It's most-interesting.

 

Anyway, what is Wright writes' topic?

 

More a series of topics (which keep on going round in a rather cyclic movement - nothing new under the sun, I suppose).

 

The topic of operating a layout or just running it frequently crops up. I'm firmly in the latter camp, especially if the running is fast (though one can also 'operate' a layout where trains run really quickly).

 

As is well-known, I find shunting boring (I never paid any attention to it as a trainspotter, much-preferring watching, say, an A1 at full-pelt with a massive train - how many remember standing on the erstwhile fast platforms at Thirsk when one went through in this manner?). My friends who visited yesterday asked for a demonstration of shunting on LB, which I did. They were 'impressed' with the sweet running of the J6 I'd built which performed the task, and equally-impressed with the operation of the Sprat & Winkle couplings for separating wagons. I suppose, in a way, it's a harder task to build a loco which will operate at a crawl, without jerking or stuttering, but afterwards, as the 'Lizzie' swept by at full-speed, it showed what Little Bytham really is all about. 

 

I also don't like synthetic sound; I've yet to be convinced of its 'realism', and the real mechanical sound at speed of a heavy, kit-built, all-metal Pacific on an equally-heavy rake of kit-built carriages is more than satisfying to me.

 

Each to their own, of course. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Like you, Tony, I have always been a ‘long trains in the landscape’ person, being run like they’re earning a living. 
 

Sound should definitely be in the background: on CF we have the dubbed sound effects of the Ladykillers out-takes playing by virtue of the video display which I think is sufficient.
 

I use pretty random ‘shunting’ in Mrs W’s yard as an excuse to speak to the public out the front. Our next ‘big thing’ will be to get the connecting ramp line joined up, so that might make it more interesting in that department.  A small section of the main KX yard will probably be shunted with a radio control battery loco: that should be fun!

 

Tim

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3 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

A question, if I may, please?

 

I didn't know that the MRJ once produced an etched fret for the valve gear on LMS 4-6-0s. My question is, how many might a single modeller buy? I have about a dozen here to try and sell!

 

Be aware that the etch is steel - I have quite number of them myself.

 

I think that the etch was produced as an aftermarket item for the Brassmasters Black 5.

 

The use of the etch is covered in the MRJ issue that featured the BM Black 5, I seem to recall.

 

John Isherwood.

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On 17/07/2021 at 20:20, Tony Wright said:

Just in for photography/review are these LSWR brake vans from Kernow......................

 

1951076735_KernowLSWRroadvans01.jpg.4b940c65450ba305f976a9de2aee28cf.jpg

 

I have to say they look jolly good. 

 

Hi Tony, 

 

I am glad that you like them...

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1 hour ago, CF MRC said:

Like you, Tony, I have always been a ‘long trains in the landscape’ person, being run like they’re earning a living. 
 

Sound should definitely be in the background: on CF we have the dubbed sound effects of the Ladykillers out-takes playing by virtue of the video display which I think is sufficient.
 

I use pretty random ‘shunting’ in Mrs W’s yard as an excuse to speak to the public out the front. Our next ‘big thing’ will be to get the connecting ramp line joined up, so that might make it more interesting in that department.  A small section of the main KX yard will probably be shunted with a radio control battery loco: that should be fun!

 

Tim

Thanks Tim,

 

And thanks for sending me the booklet on CF. Very, very good.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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2 hours ago, LNERandBR said:

 

Sound for steam is improving all the time but it still has a long way to go. It very much relies on how you drive the loco too mind. 

That's true, however most I have seen drive like they would drive a car, which I understand is pretty much like modern traction. You see it on driving schools where participants are surprised how much 'rolling' is done. 

 

Certainly the noise generated by a long model train has without sound just allows the imagination to fill in the sounds. 

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

A question, if I may, please?

 

I didn't know that the MRJ once produced an etched fret for the valve gear on LMS 4-6-0s. My question is, how many might a single modeller buy? I have about a dozen here to try and sell!

Pop a couple on the (rather large) pile for tomorrow, Tony - they sound interesting!

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A little help from all you knowledgeable chaps on this topic, sorry about the poor picture taken as a screenshot from a video - can anyone identify the two Gresley coaches shown? At first I thought, due to the apparent closeness of the coupling, that they were an articulated pair, but as (I think) you can see footboards on the bogies that this is not the case. Help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Chas

 

Screenshot.png.da0b84a1395fb11279c085a34206c750.png

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21 minutes ago, ScRSG said:

A little help from all you knowledgeable chaps on this topic, sorry about the poor picture taken as a screenshot from a video - can anyone identify the two Gresley coaches shown? At first I thought, due to the apparent closeness of the coupling, that they were an articulated pair, but as (I think) you can see footboards on the bogies that this is not the case. Help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Chas

 

Screenshot.png.da0b84a1395fb11279c085a34206c750.png

 

Compartment door  stock, CK (3 1/2 - 4) BTK (5).

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3 hours ago, Graham_Muz said:

 

Hi Tony, 

 

I am glad that you like them...

Reading the standard works by Bixley, Blackburn, Chorley, King, Newton and Larkin, they would appear to be very accurate, Graham.

 

Did you assist Kernow with the models' development? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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23 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

All-door stock as well, Andrew?

 

We're seeing the corridor side? 

 

Your assessment is spot on.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Compartment door as opposed to an end door in a vestibule carriage. Both carriages are showing the corridor side and both are on angle iron underframes, hence the arrangement of compartments in the composite. The 2 1/2 - 4 compartment arrangement was not represented by a diagram with angle iron trussing.

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10 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Be aware that the etch is steel - I have quite number of them myself.

 

I think that the etch was produced as an aftermarket item for the Brassmasters Black 5.

 

The use of the etch is covered in the MRJ issue that featured the BM Black 5, I seem to recall.

 

John Isherwood.

 

The valve gear etch was done by Rod Neep and MRJ and was in conjunction with the article on building the DJH Black five that was in MRJ 25. The article on the Brassmasters Black 5 was much later and was by Guy Williams IIRC.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

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