The Reely Grate Manufacturing Company

[81A Oldoak]

I think I shall have a go at making some copper-clad track with Code 100 FB rail for industrial use. It looks very effective here. I need a three-way tandem, but the one I have built from C&L parts with BH rail looks a little heavy and too-well-engineered for the industrial setting I have in mind. 

[Mike]

Today I have rebuilt the traverser as it was sticking but now its smooth Oh!and played trains:

Just noticed the heavy shunt to the LMS van.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Mike

[Mike]

Not for the purist so look away now, here is a re-worked Bachmann Tank wagon, re-wheeled, no walkway or ladders.

 

Vintage Dinky Toy (1/43rd) Bedford. Modified Cab with seats, steering wheel, dash board and gear lever, chassis, rear bumper etc. needs glazing and mirrors.

 

[Mike]

Just a gratuitous photo, an overview of the yard.

[81A Oldoak]

Just a gratuitous photo, an overview of the yard.

all quiet.jpg

This is a cracking good layout.

[Andrew Young]

Agreed, really looks the part and in such a small space.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[switcher 1]

This is a cracking good layout.

Ideal for a certain manufacturer's products.......sort of layout I'll probably end up with.

Edited July 10, 2013 by fatmac

[Mike]

Been playing trains again, well testing (He-He)plus a shot of the fiddle yard/traverser/head shunt. It all works perfectly, just waiting for the magnets to arrive and then I can play at shunting and working out a sequence:

Edited July 17, 2013 by Mike

[65243]

Looking reely grate, Mike. I've enjoyed watching this layout develop.

[Mike]

Today has been about, well the back of an envelope day, not quite a eureka moment but an idea that has taken hold.

Sitting Reely Grate in Windmill End/ Bumble Hole (yes there is a place known as the Bumble Hole) I thought why not add a small diorama on the other side of the traverser to include the canal arm, engine house and road bridge so that I can indulge my other interest in Black Country canals. I had said NO MORE LAYOUTS, I lied.

 

 

[DLT]

I thought why not add a small diorama on the other side of the traverser to include the canal arm, engine house and road bridge so that I can indulge my other interest in Black Country canals. 

Great idea, I love a good canal model, it will really add to the atmosphere.

Cheers, Dave.

[Mike]

At long last the magnets have arrived from the Far East (price in £'s not shown as outside UK). Boy are they strong so I have made simple holders for them to fit below baseboard as follows:

 and just to show  a coupler hook raised, you will see I'm using small Hornby couplings modified for magnetic uncoupling, simples.

[PatB]

At long last the magnets have arrived from the Far East (price in £'s not shown as outside UK). Boy are they strong so I have made simple holders for them to fit below baseboard as follows:

magnet holder1.jpg

 and just to show  a coupler hook raised, you will see I'm using small Hornby couplings modified for magnetic uncoupling, simples.

magnet4.jpg

 

Interesting.  I've often wondered about using 00 tension locks as a cheap, simple autocoupler in 0 where they're less obtrusive.  How do you make them lift using the magnets?  Is there a steel lever arm extending back under the wagon?

[Mike]

Hi, you can see the nickel silver arm which is soldered to the coupling hook and fitted with a soft iron wire dropper which is attracted to the magnet. Nothing sophisticated but it works allowing hands free shunting.

[PatB]

Thanks for that.  I could see the extra dropper in the toad pic but couldn't work out how it lifted the hook.  All is now clear .

[81A Oldoak]

The coupling solution is very neat. I do like the appearance of 3-link and screw couplers in 0 gauge, but automatic coupling and uncoupling is very attractive for smaller layouts designed for shunting operations.  I may try to develop Mike's idea so that the tension-lock coupler can be made easily removable for photographs. On the locos, I may just fit a wire loop that is also removable.  I modified some tension-locks for magentic operation in 4mm scale by the simple expedient of crimping a standard staple to bottom of the hook. They work well and there is a good range of small, unobtrusive yet powerful magnets available. Whatever happens, there is surely a PhD and modest fortune awaiting the person who can develop and patent an automatic coupling system that is easy to fit and maintain, operates well and is discreet in appearance. It's on rare occasions like this that one envies the Americans' universal use of the easily replicable buck-eyes on the real thing.

[Mike]

Hi Chris, the couplings are in NEM pockets so they can be removed. I'm working on a cosmetic plug arrangement which has a 3 link coupling fitted for when the Hornby coupling is removed. The locos have a wire bar set behind the buffer heads. I'll post a photo asap.

[Mike]

Rather poor quality photos of 3 link plug to replace tension lock

[81A Oldoak]

Got it. Thanks.

[Mike]

Slightly better photo showing 3 link in place of tension lock.

[Barnaby]

Enjoying your laconic comments on model railways Mike intermixed with some superb modelling.

 

As a scouser, keep calm keep calm, not too sure about the layout name Reely Grate but behind that name is a REALLY GREAT little model railway.

 

Keep it up, got it tagged as one to watch.

 

Regards

[Mike]

Hi Barnaby, Black Country humour it's Reely Grate. However,not quite Darby 'O'Gill and the little people but, here are some of the Phoenix 0 gauge figures I have assembled. Now ready for a final clean then primer and painting.
 

 

[Mike]

I just thought I'd play trains although with a bad ear infection concentrating is a bit difficult.

[daifly]

Nothing wrong with your camera finger though! Great pics Mike.

 

Dave

[Mike]

Mike living in a world far from reality.

The Reely Grate Manufacturing Company Ltd. A History/or bed time story
In the area bounded by the loop of the Netherton Canal, sit both Windmill End, and Darby End. Between the two, at least in 1818, lay the supposedly pristine acres of Withymoor Mill Farm. Described as having rich arable land, complete with attractive Farmhouse and outbuildings, the whole 27 acres was put up for auction, the tenant being one David Walker. What he thought about the agents discription is anyones guess, but in reality, it was a somewhat short of truth. For a start, the canal ran through the property, complete with a coal wharfe and rail road. That was because Jacob Reely was the farms neighbour, although he did have to pay the land owners £20 a year rent to use them. To the north, lay the Collieries of Lord Dudley and Major St Paul, and to the west, the belching smoking stacks of the Attwood Families, furnaces. The big attraction though, was the fact that beneath the land lay an 11 yard thick seam of coal. How anyone could have the audacity to say it was rich arable land I can't imagine, having been polluted with many years of sooty deposits. It was said, that David Walkers few Cows gave grey milk, and the Chickens, being so near the furances, laid hard boiled eggs, and even the old cock had a cough. The buildings, after the sale, were soon gone, replaced by the Factory Buildings.
The Battle of Bumble Hole.
Now in times long by, there were at least 14 public houses in Bumble Hole. All of them well frequented by Boatmen, Ironworkers and Colliers, and one, well known in the district for arranging that rather cruel sport " Cock Fighting ". The pub in question was " The Bag O Nailsl " in Hammer lane, and it was the base for two men well known for breeding good fighting cocks, the brothers, Theophilus and Thomas Dunn. Yes, the offspring of the one and only Dudley Devil, the other Theophilus Dunn. The date in question, and the day of the " Battle " was 30th March, 1885, when a challenge from the supports of the sport from Darlaston, turned up to answer a challange made by another breeder, Joseph Manders. A large crowd from the old "Jaw Bone Works ", ( not the real name of course, more likely The Reely Grate ) where the Dunns worked, turned out and laid bets on their champion breeders bird, " The Red-un ". The men from Darlaston did the same, and the fight got under way. It didn't last long as Dunns bird soon despatched the grey cock from Darlaston, and in an angry exchange of views concerning a bit of cheating, all hell broke out. Men poured out of the pubs front and back doors, puching kicking and gouging, stopping all traffic in the road, and spreading as far as the Canal. Over 86 men were alleged to have been involved, although after the Rev. Enoch Griffiths called the police to break it up, only a handful could be identified. The two Dunns, David Hipkiss, Jack Greaves, and William Timmington, all from Netherton, William Edge, from Cradley Heath, and Joseph Manders from Darlaston, were the only ones charged over the battle. At the police Court, a few days later, Chief Superintendent Burton was almost hopping mad with rage, for the witnesses seemed a bit reluctant to repeat what they had said in their orginal statements. The preaher now said, that although he had seen both cocks pulled from bags, he wasn't sure now who had done it. He said he had seen Theophilus Dunn giving a man change, but couldn't swear it was for a bet. Jessie Ward, another upright witness, now said he couldn't be sure that either Edge, or another man called Yardley, actually handle the birds. No amount of questioning changed the witness'es, so the Magistrates, although convinced that Cock Fighting had taken place, were compelled, without evidence, to dismiss the case. Now if you think, at this stage of the story, that someone had been " got at ", ten out of ten for observation. The story goes, that before the Court appearence, the Rev Griffiths, the chief witness, had been pursuaded by the Dunns to visit them at the works. With a bit of help from his friends, they had then suspended the pious gentleman over the top of the furnace, and cut off one of his legs, then, threatening to cut off the other one, send him to his doom into the fire. For those who are still concentrating on the facts, it should become clear that the Rev Griffiths had a wooden leg, the original having been carelessly lost in a former life, as a miner. This act, which quickly spread around Bumle Hole, was enough to fade many memories of the cock fight. What is surprising, is that despite some broken limbs in the battle, no one was prosecuted for the fighting at the Bag O Nails. Perhaps Superintendent Burton knew when he was beaten, and simply threw in the towel. Close knit community in Netherton.
--
The Reely Grate Manufacturing Company Limited was formed in 1883 by Jacob Reely and Hezekiah Allbones who was also a director of The Wombourn Gas, Coal and Coke Company. The company started by producing gas mantles and traditional black leaded grates before introducing their Empire range of Gas Cookers and Kitchen Ranges (named after the Old Empire Music Hall building which became part of the factory). The Company continued to flourish and during the First and Second World wars manufactured the world famous Reely Grate Fulminator. During the 1950’s the company developed the Reely Grate self-cleaning Cooker which was years ahead of its time. The Company has stayed in family ownership, the current joint Managing Directors being Frank Reely and Audrey Allbones direct descendants of the founding fathers. However……..The Reely Grate Manufacturing Company is a 0 gauge micro layout depicting a small yard serving the manufacturing company. It occupies a space of less than a square metre and demonstrates that you don’t need acres of room to enjoy 0 gauge. The layout name came about from a joke between friends and an advertisement was put together showing a gas cooker The Reely Grate.
The location of the factory and yard is Hammer Lane Windmill End near to the Bag o’ Nails Pub in an area known as the BUMBLE HOLE.
The Model:
The period in which the model is set is the late 1940’s early 1950’s.
The size was decided by taking on Carl Arendt's challenge of a working layout in 4 sq. ft. however that was in H0 and I have built it in 0, in an area of 0.75 sq. metres. The main focus of the layout is the buildings which are an attempt to create a unique Black Country feel.
Construction:
The baseboard is 1.5 metresx0.5 metres constructed of good quality pine framing and a plywood top.The track work has been made from Peco (00) code 100 flat bottom rail and copper-clad sleepers to give an industrial feel. The inlaid track has been constructed by soldering some of the rail on its side into the web of the running rail a sort of tram track arrangement. The traverser which is part of the main board runs on drawer runners, the middle track can line-up to each of the outer tracks which allows wagons to be run-round. The buildings are The Factory Complex, the Bag o’ Nails pub and a row of terraced houses all constructed from 2mm plywood skinned with plain or embossed plastic card. The Pub although freelance apparently bears a striking resemblance to one of the same name in Bristol and there’s me thinking it was unique. The Pub is the only full depth building on the front of the layout the terrace houses are fronts and roofs only as they conceal the traverser. The Terraced houses are based on those that stood in Birmingham Street Stourbridge until demolished to make way for the ring road. Pam & Bob Ruff live at N04, Sam & Myra Buffey at N06 and Adelaide Martin & her brotherJohn Brown at N08. Bob works in the office as a Costing Clerk, Sam is a mould maker (Shift - hence the closed curtains) and John is a Driver, all work at Reely Grate. The Landlord of the Bag O Nails is Joseph Buffey and his wife Maggie, Joe is the elder brother of Sam at N06. The houses don’t have door knobs as they had latches, hence the saying, latch-key kid. Creating this little community is just attempt in making the scene believable. Why a pub? Well there was a tradition of foundry workers having a beer ration to replace the fluid lost whist working in a hot environment, so Joe would have had a steady income from Reely Grate. The head shunt is concealed by the display board which has the name and details of the layout including some larger versions of the signs outside the pub and on the goods inwards building.

The reason the Bag O Nails has a flat roof was a result of a stray incendiary bomb which missed the factory but, set fire to the pub roof. However, due to the prompt action of the Reely fire crew the pub was saved although several of them had sore heads the morning after the fire courtesy of a grateful landlord. The community suffered its only casualty of the war when Adelaide’s’ husband was killed during the landings on Sword beach.

Operation
Basically it involves just shunting a few wagons about using a waybill card system an operation which can take more than just a few minutes. Although simple it gives a lot of pleasure to operator and viewer alike. Uncoupling is achieved using strategically placed permanent magnets set in the ballast, all the stock have modified 00 Hornby couplings, simple, effective and easy to operate.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Mike