Henley-on-Thames - GWR in the 1930's

[Coach bogie]

Thanks Mike & Mike....

 

Stationmaster Mike - any suggestions where I would find details of extra trains for the regattas? - A few years ago I spent the day at Kew and got details of excursion trains, the archives seemed light on Regatta traffic. Not that there is any hurry - It will be at least the Autumn (maybe next Spring) before I'm ready for anything like a services ala ANTB...

 

Coach - Mike - Guess I need to get up to York soon then... Presumably his work is available at Search engine?

 

Thanks again guys,

 

Just ask for the photo album/binders. There are about 20 of them. Some absolute gems. The best images ever of streamline Coronations in the Lake district I have ever come across. Cannot understand why NRM did not use them with their streamline exhibition a few years back. The GWR collection is outstanding. Some friends and I have gone through it all several times when we have an odd day, though we have never managed to go through all the books in one session. Sadly there is much of the early images missing. This is only known because there are Earley shots in other private collections not covered by York. In addition Earley was a bit of a perfectionist and had a habit of wiping the glass negatives and recoating if he wasn't happy with the quality. Some of his earliest shots were of the Great Bear and he discarded them!!!!!!!!! A couple of privately owned contact sheets being the only record.

 

Mike Wiltshire

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks Mike & Mike....

 

Stationmaster Mike - any suggestions where I would find details of extra trains for the regattas? - A few years ago I spent the day at Kew and got details of excursion trains, the archives seemed light on Regatta traffic. Not that there is any hurry - It will be at least the Autumn (maybe next Spring) before I'm ready for anything like a services ala ANTB...

 

Coach - Mike - Guess I need to get up to York soon then... Presumably his work is available at Search engine?

 

Thanks again guys,

I know that Kew has got a copy of one Regatta notice (I think 1911) as Paul got hold of a photocopy when he was doing the book - alas I don't know the file number.  York probably haven't got much idea of what they have got if their knowledge of their photo collection is any guide so I would think that Kew would be your better bet.

[Neal Ball]

Sorry it's a bit slow with Henley the last couple of weekends.....

 

Last weekend we were in Spain for a friends birthday, which was great. This weekend, see's the Conservatory being built, which will almost see all the jobs done. Just need to lay the patio, then its all there and Henley will steam ahead :-) 

 

I guess its Rail Replacement until then :-)

[Neal Ball]

Can't believe its been two months since the last update.

 

The Conservatory is almost finished and has won a Wickes competition in the meantime! - The garden is coming on and hopefully will see seeds being planted this weekend. (Some are a bit late)

 

But in the meantime, on occasions the model railway room has looked like a bomb has hit it, but is now tidied.

 

It has benefitted from a new floor (18mm off-cuts from the Conservatory floor) cover the main walking area. All the railway boards are now done and fixed in place. I still need to fit the hinges for the top section departing Henley where it comes round the curve and in front of the access door, on both levels the section will lift up. The top one is ready to go in, the bottom one needs to be made.

 

Plus I have made the incline on the back wall..... and so far had the new Hornby Hall running up it with a few carriages, plus one of my Hornby Castles. I've not been able to find the Bachmann Halls to compare them with the Hornby one. The criteria in my mind is for 6 carriage trains... so will be installing DCC Concepts Powerbase, as 6 Bachmann carriages is a struggle for the locos. A quick test has shewn a huge difference in haulage capacity.

 

Photos to follow.

 

The fiddle yard area will be ala ANTB open to view and as part of the scenic area. The idea was that 2 sidings would be under the main station board, which with 2 in the open, plus 2 carriage sidings at the station was going to be sufficient.... Common sense has prevailed and I have decided against any hidden sidings. I now need to make the siding area on the lower level wider to get more track in.

 

Track laying will resume this weekend and probably see the incline being laid from the station.

 

I've managed to work in a signature section - and this is my canal scene in a very similar style to the old Wharncliffe layout, with a viaduct and the Bachmann / Pendon pub. I did name the pub "The Wharncliffe Arms" so it might need a new name. Of course I could scratch build the River Thames bridge, but the space I have is quite small and I don't think I could do it justice. So something freelance might have to do. At that point, its a section of track on the lower level, with a false wall in front of the incline.

 

I will add photos over the weekend.....

 

But before all of that - I have started doing "Park Run" - so I'm off for a 5km run at 9 o'clock - its only my 2nd week, so wish me luck :-)

Edited April 18, 2015 by Neal Ball

[Neal Ball]

Not much progress over the last couple of weeks, but I thought I would post a few Sunday afternoon photos....

 

Having done the Garden centre this morning as well as Specsavers and Chichester for the shops, we managed to whizz into the Engine Shed in Ford, where I picked up a DCC Concepts 6 pin decoder with "stay alive" function. (DCD-ZN6D)

 

Worked straight from the box, which is what you expect these days from a company like DCC concepts, (happy customer, not related) - although the instructions say remove the suppression, I have left it on....

Edited September 3, 2015 by Neal Ball

[Neal Ball]

The Bachmann 64xx seen straight from the box, on the incline at the back of the model railway room:

 

 

The lower level will be for the fiddle yard, which will be a scenic section:

 

 

 

As well as the loco and the new decoder, the plates for the DCC concepts Powerbase have been loosely laid under the track. The track on this part of the layout is only laid as a temporary measure, ready to connect up to the rest of the layout, with only a feed at the top of the incline.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

Having run the 64xx on 10 then 15 wagons, I decided to change the loco...... to the new Hornby Hall 4-6-0

 

The 64xx slipped after 15, so it was time to try something bigger....

 

The Hall didn't even manage to get the 10 wagons up, never mind the 15.... It also only managed to take 4 Bachmann Collett carriages.. when the layout minimum is to be 6:

 

 

 

I therefore decided to try the Powerbase magnets, using the fret that makes the magnet sit closer to the track. It was hard to decide what sort of space I needed, so initially I tried 5mm, then also tried a 6mm bracket, which made a marginal difference. I think it needs more work... but because the magnets are so strong its not easy to fix into place. I have a couple of pieces of card under the magnet to keep it away from the loco and get closer to the track, whilst inside the bracket. In doing so, though, I managed to break a hand rail knob, to the left of the smokebox door. Obviously these are not turned parts, or it was broken to start with and I didn't see it...

 

 

Needless to say my heavy Bachmann 9F 2-10-0 romped up the incline with some 20 wagons, together with a 5 carriages HST unit which didn't even notice the incline was there....

 

The trick is clearly adding more weight, fixing the magnets properly and having assigned limits to what they can pull up the incline. More updates soon.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

Having spent yesterday gardening, today was for the model railway.

 

Which saw loads of cork laid and track starting to be laid.... It's now round the corner and over the flap across the door. Tomorrow will see it go down the slope...

 

In the meantime, a few trains were run to check the gauge.... Photo to follow....

[Donw]

Hi Neal interesting project. As I grew up in Caversahm I used to cycle out to Shiplake, Henly, Marlow, Wallingford etc. No pictures I didn't have a camera worthy of the name.  I worked for a while at The Telephone exchange there. For some reason the engineer in charge a rowing man found in necessary to keep going to the PBX he had set up at the rgeatta leaving me (an apprentice) in charge of the exchange. Then and now the Regatta is/was a major event for a small town.

Don

[Neal Ball]

Thanks for the comments Don

[Neal Ball]

Photos from last night.

 

Having laid some cork, then some track, I just had to test to see it was all working... plus check that the curves are not going to cause an issue, which they didn't. Although the curve at the back just before going down to the lower level are sharper... track to be laid there later today.

 

 

 

 

 

I used some Airfix Centenary carriages to check the tracks were not too close, together with a Bachmann 64xx and Hall class loco.

 

I had previously used some Mark 3 carriages just to make 100% sure - I didn't photograph as they are a bit outside the scope of my 1930's model railway :-)

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

After a gap of a few weeks, I've spent the day in the railway room today. The track is now laid across the lifting flap in front of the door and now extends a good way down the incline. (Both up and down lines)

 

The complication is that I decided to split the circuits at the flap, so this has both circuits on, the incline will be electrically separate to the station area. (The yard will also be separate). This has meant the BUS wire has to go round the frame of the door and continue under the board and down the incline.

 

As previously discussed, the down line will have the benefit of the DCC Concepts Powerbase system and this was laid under the track as it went down.

 

The metal plates are glued directly under the track and the track is glued onto the top of the plates, its all been weighted down and seems to be drying quite quickly:

 

 

 

 

 

The track is now down, with dropper wires hanging down, ready to connect to the BUS bar... more soon...

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

Today saw more work on the electrics, to the extent that it is now electrically complete from the incline, through to the buffer stops in both platforms. 

 

I have previously run trains, but there were gaps in the electrical feed.

 

 

This shows the Bus feed coming round, with attention to keeping loose cables to a minimum as the ply in the front of the photo will be the lower tracks under the station. The strip of LED lights is placed where the track will go and were only put there so I could see what I was doing! I got the idea of the cable fixers from Richard, owner of Everard Junction. Previously I had used the type of small cable fixers with nails attached. These just stick on and a cable tie is inserted through the fixing to hold the cables.

 

I'm using NCE EB1 Circuit Breakers and there will eventually be 4 of them. They were also being installed today. If you are new to DCC I would recommend a circuit breaker of some sort, they help with any short circuits, preventing damage to the loco decoder, plus as they only look after a district, the rest of the layout can still operate. (The Green and White cable is temporary, I didn't have enough Red/Black.)

 

 

Then it was time to try it all out: 

 

The honour of hauling the first train into Henley, from the bottom of the incline fell to GWR Castle class 4-6-0 No 5006 Tregena Castle, which is sound fitted with a Howes decoder. Apart from some dirty track, the loco ran faultlessly and even managed to get 5 carriages up the incline with no effort.

 

It is seen here in what will be Platform 1; (the departure platform) 

 

 

Thats my update for today, more soon.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Richard Mawer]

Looking good Neal.

 

Looks like we are similar points in our respective layouts' development.

 

I'll be watching with interest.

 

Rich

[Neal Ball]

Looking good Neal.

 

Looks like we are similar points in our respective layouts' development.

 

I'll be watching with interest.

 

Rich

Thanks Rich, progress has been slow.

 

I have been concentrating on the electrics, which I find particularly tedious. But on the plus side, has seen trains running from the station up/down the incline.

 

Plus all the cork is now laid on the lower level, the track has been laid out for the fiddle yard and now needs to be pinned down and wired up etc. This will be a new section so I need another TD1 circuit breaker.

 

A new loco has arrived at the railway, in the shape of the Hornby Caerphilly Castle which has now returned from Hornby having been repaired: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101794-dcc-decoder-shows-short-circuit/&do=findComment&comment=1977037I will post a photo later.

 

Plus of course the usual things associated with living here in the summer associated with the garden and going to the local pubs etc. 

 

Hopefully next weekend will see the lower level track being laid.

[Neal Ball]

A trio of Castles at Henley on Thames.

 

In Platform 2 we have the new Hornby Castle; 4073 Caerphilly Castle, which having been purchased from Howes had to go back to Hornby as it was shorting out when the DCC recorder went in. It is now running with an ESU / Howes sound decoder. The Castle in Platform 1 is Tregenna Castle which is also fitted with an ESU/Howes sound decoder. The next one over is Windsor Castle on the road from the loco yard.

 

It's just a quick photo, but shows to me that I need to get the lighting sorted out in order to take photos. I have placed cardboard against the windows to keep some of the light in. Eventually this area will be covered with hardboard and painted as a back scene, which will reduce the amount of glass down in that area.

 

 

Current state of the incline and fiddle yard:

 

 

The tracks on the right will form the incline up to the station at Henley on Thames, an increase in height of 5 inches. On the left, the tracks have bene laid out ready for the fiddle yard. There will be two tracks running through, with 3 fiddle yard tracks. It will never be enough, but added to the siding space at the station it will have to be sufficient.

 

Work in progress:

 

 

The flap on the far right is the lift out section in front of the door. The track in the front is the long headhunt from the goods yard, which takes something like 15 wagons. On the far side in front of the windows (to be boarded up) are the two carriage sidings, the closest one takes 5 carriages.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

This photo shows the extent of the railway, the buildings are not in their final positions.

 

There is an awful lot still to do!

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

In order to fit the sound decoder and speaker into the small tender behind Caerphilly Castle, I had to scoop out the area underneath the coal mound.

 

All the locos need their brake gear fitting together with a set of crew and possibly some DCC loco lamps, maybe even a flickering LED for the firebox. Bothe the ESU decoders would support this.

[Worsdell forever]

A trio of Castles at henley on Thames.

 

In Platform 2 we have the new Hornby Castle; 4073 Caerphilly Castle, which having been purchased from Howes had to go back to Hornby as it was shorting out when the DCC recorder went in. It is now running with an ESU / Howes sound decoder. The Castle in Platform 1 is Tregenna Castle which is also fitted with an ESU/Howes sound decoder. The next one over is Windsor Castle on the road from the loco yard.

 

The occasional Hornby loco has the loco/tender plug wired wrong in such a way that it's not a problem on DC but shorts on DCC.

[Neal Ball]

The occasional Hornby loco has the loco/tender plug wired wrong in such a way that it's not a problem on DC but shorts on DCC.

 

Must have been the case - although the soldering left a lot to be desired, they made a right mess of it. Anyway, its working now.

 

Lovely locos, although Caerphilly has a few fiddly parts....

[Neal Ball]

Great progress this weekend...

 

The majority of the track is now down on the lower level, with about 2ft missing in the outer circuit (up side). The fiddle yard sidings need laying, although part of the first one is down.

 

Importantly it's all electrically sound.... To the point that I ran a couple of trains. Starting off with the Heljan Class 52 Western with the Dapol track cleaner, although it needed the track rubber as well.

 

Then I got out one of my Castles, which ran on the down line and up to the upper level and into platform 2.

 

After so long I'm very pleased with the progress today... Although it was gone 8pm by the time I got rid of a short circuit.

 

In editing my pages following a loss of photos - I couldn't find the original image - therefore I'm posting a photo of the Rapido B set carriages instead 😎

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

I've spent the afternoon in the railway room, having first of all tidied up and cleared all the wiring detritus and bits and pieces after spending the last few weeks getting it all into working order. There is still a lot to do, wiring the points would help, but this afternoon was "playing trains".

 

The first photo shews the 17:05 departure from Henley on Thames pick-up goods to Twyford:

 

 

Busy scene at the exit from the yard and opposite platform 1 where 57xx 0-6-0PT No 5775 is ready to depart with the local service to Twyford 

 

 

Clearly I have a lot of work to do, as well as building the railway, all of the Bachmann locos need back-dating to GWR roundel, or earlier with the company name on the tank sides.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

This loco also needs to be back-dated into the GWR roundel - clearly I will have to live with the fact that its got a top feed - any chance of an earlier version Bachmann?

 

 

There has been a lot of talk recently about the Railroad Hornby Hall. This is 4901 4-6-0 No 4901 Adderley Hall seen approaching what will be Mill Lane Bridge. The end of the carriage sidings is seen in the background.

 

 

This is the LED's shown in an earlier post. They are now fixed to give light onto the work bench (lower) as well as the lower running tracks. The LED strip was bought on a recent trip to Spain from one of their Chinese markets. I need to get some more when we are next over to light the rest of the lower level track area.

 

 

Locos ready to depart from Platforms 1 & 2

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Neal Ball]

This will be the new viaduct / river / pub scene that will be replicated from the old model railway.

 

The viaduct section (printed from Scalescenes) will be re-built into position, straddling a canal running through the middle arch. To the left will be the pub and on the right a road coming up and leading to a bridge over the line.

 

 

 

The tracks leading to the upper level at this point, will be hidden behind a backscene, with a tunnel entrance roundly where the loco is standing.

 

the photo is a merge of 3 photos from photoshop.

 

2023 Note: I am not sure this is the correct photo for here - I am replacing all the lost photos from one of the RMWeb crashes.

 

I therefore add a photo of Imberhorne Viaduct at the Bluebell Railway taken in 2012.

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Neal Ball
Sept 2023 photos updated

[Mikkel]

Hi Neal, I've just been catching up. What a lot of progress, already the stock is looking good on there. I have sympathy regarding the necessary back-dating, but on the other hand it will be refreshing to see a layout set fully in the roundel period - there aren't many like that now that I think about it.

 

You mentioned boarding up part of the windows. I can see the point of a backscene, but it's interesting: looking at the photos I thought the natural light and backdrop actually adds a pleasing backscene in itself? Just a thought.

 

Edited to clarify.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Mikkel