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

[Neal Ball]

A bit of track cleaning today!

 

Its just an excuse to get a few locos out and run round - more photos later today, but for now: Caerphilly Castle and Adderley Hall. Both straight from the box, they both need lamps on the front; crew and some real coal. The track cleaner is the Dapol one.

 

[Neal Ball]

Just had lunch, but realise that this afternoons Buffet will have to be self service!

 

If I am working on the railway, usually at 3pm as Johnnie Walker starts on the radio, Robbie brings me out a pint of Beer and peanuts and we always comment that the Buffet carriage is now open! He is away today, so will have to be self service - means I will have to down tools and find the Kitchen carriage.

 

From another age. The photo below is (courtesy of the NRM) an image from one of the GWR Buffet carriages from the late 1930's.

 

 

http://www.ssplprints.com/image/98781/drinking-in-a-great-western-railway-buffet-bar-september-1938

Edited September 20, 2023 by Neal Ball
typo

[Neal Ball]

A few weeks ago I decided to start making the scenery for the front of the running lines. 

 

In best Blue Peter tradition - its bits of polystyrene covered with papier-mache, all glued together and left to dry. For the Papier-Mache, I used tissue that was packing for various bits over the last year. This was the white area at the front of a couple of photos. First it was painted with dark green acrylic paint.

 

 

While it was still wet, I sprinkled it with flock material - this area is going to be dense undergrowth rather than trees. The ground is therefore quite rough, so was not suitable for the grass mat. I decided against trees as basically they will be in the way! 

 

 

3pm - the Buffet carriage opened! The flock was applied by hand, then to mix the colours and change the consistency, I used the static grass applicator, but without turning it on. the colours going through, were brown, spring meadow and a dark green. A course mix was then added by hand - with more hairspray. Whilst doing this, I also did some ballasting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

After which it was time "to play trains".

 

Shewn here is the 64xx on a goods working - apart from 1 vehicle, this train is made up of kit built wagons.

 

 

Shewing the completed scenery section:

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by Neal Ball

[Neal Ball]

Hall class 4-6-0 arrived with a mixed brown vehicle / passenger rated train and the loco once released went straight onto the turntable.

 

I had already sent the track cleaner up there, so knew it was going to keep its electrical connectivity, but the turntable is still not operational to go round, so it was a case of standing on the toolbox and turn it round!

 

(Hornby Railroad Adderley Hall No. 4901) It might be a basic loco, but it has a certain appeal - and meant that this afternoon, the only loco not running with a 1920's livery was the 64xx on the goods turn. (It will be painted.... soon!)

 

 

Adderley Hall seen at the head of its passenger rated / brown vehicle train. The two milk tankers at the front are from Dapol / Buffers limited editions. The Torrington one (front), ran much better without its middle wheels. Included in the rake are two kit built horse boxes.

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by Neal Ball

[Neal Ball]

Finally this weekend, as I doubt I will have much time in the railway room this week, it just remains for me to wish everyone the complements of the season.

 

This time last year we had 6771 views of Henley on Thames - today this figure stands at 14,851 for which I thank you. have a great Christmas and I am sure I will be posting before New Year, but if not enjoy NYE.

 

Thanks, Neal.

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by Neal Ball

[Richard Mawer]

Neal,

 

This is really coming on. I love it.

 

Incidentally, what option do you use with the track cleaner? Hoover setting, abrasive pad or the soft one with a cleaning fluid?

 

And you normally have a pint and some peanuts delivered! Sheer luxury!!!

 

Rich

[Neal Ball]

Neal,

 

This is really coming on. I love it.

 

Incidentally, what option do you use with the track cleaner? Hoover setting, abrasive pad or the soft one with a cleaning fluid?

 

And you normally have a pint and some peanuts delivered! Sheer luxury!!!

 

Rich

 

 

Thanks Rich,

 

in combination with a track rubber, i use the softer disk and cleaning fluid. Having lost one of the pick-up plungers that point up from the bogie, i am going to change the pick-up arrangement. I am going to add some weight to the bogies and then wire it through to a wagon to collect power. Yesterday, it kept splitting a particular point, Ive always thought it was very wobbly on track and i think extra weight will help. Plus i need to make a modification to the floor of the engine shed as at the moment it will not cross the threshold, i need to add a small ramp to get the dick over the edge. I'll add all of this to the long list of jobs to do :-)

[Neal Ball]

Today I thought I would tackle a few jobs on the new Hornby King loco.

 

1. Accessory bag details - brake rods etc.

2. Crew.

3. GWR oil lamps.

 

I already had a couple of crew in stock which I will use. For some reason the white metal driver, doesn't seem to be matched with a white metal fireman. Anyway Sid Noble (driver) and Bert Topsom* are awaiting their turn on the footplate. These are Old Oak Crew and it looks as if Bert has a problem with his hand... I need to touch up the paint before they are fixed inside!

 

*Bert's grandson (Norman Topsom) later followed in the family tradition of working on the railway and retired during November 2015 as the station master at Twyford. (http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?id=41557)

 

 

I have then fixed the details in the accessory bag.

 

Now the fiddly bit starts! The GWR oil lamps to shew the train being an express. The lamps are from the stable of DCC Concepts and are initially painted black. After a coating of red paint, I tried them out on my testing board. The board is useful to test any new circuit and comes in very handy when messing around with LED's - I got the idea from Richard at Everad Junction - the idea being that it saves blowing up LED by doing it wrong!

 

 

The board is seen on the left with the two lamps on the right - they were fed through the circuit board when they were drying.

 

To start with I chose a 220k resister and was pretty happy with that, but then when the lamps were on the loco, they didn't quite look bright enough, so I changed it for a 100k. I realise they are supposed to represent oil lamps and would not have been particularly bright, but at least with the 100k there is a better representation of them being lit. 

 

 

Then the tricky bit will be to run the cables to the tender and connect up to the decoder. To be continued...

 

 

[5BarVT]

 

*Bert's grandson (Norman Topsom) later followed in the family tradition of working on the railway and retired during November 2015 as the station master at Twyford.

Bought my first pair of safety boots from Norman in 1975 when he was at (in charge I think) Red Star at Reading General.

Paul

[Richard Mawer]

 

 

To start with I chose a 220k resister and was pretty happy with that, but then when the lamps were on the loco, they didn't quite look bright enough, so I changed it for a 100k. I realise they are supposed to represent oil lamps and would not have been particularly bright, but at least with the 100k there is a better representation of them being lit. 

 

 

Impressive work Neal. I know you need to see them lit after all that work, but I bet in reality in the heyday of steam they were damned hard to spot. Two little oil lamps on an 80mph steamer.

[Neal Ball]

Impressive work Neal. I know you need to see them lit after all that work, but I bet in reality in the heyday of steam they were damned hard to spot. Two little oil lamps on an 80mph steamer.

I agree. Very different today when they seem to be used as headlights!

[Neal Ball]

Its been one of those days! Frustrating wasn't the word for it!

 

Note to self - for the next loco to be fitted with oil lamps - don't fit the brake gear before the lamps; make sure you have some nice connectors to go between the loco and the tender; drill the hole into the the bottom of the tender; don't wrap the wires in masking tape to keep the + separate from the -

 

 

I should have added that the Star (right) has a Springside lamp for comparison.

 

All tender locos at Henley displayed express head codes as they were generally used for Paddington bound trains. The only exception was light engine.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Neal Ball
typo

[The Fatadder]

Those lamps are brilliant,

My initial thought was that I wouldn't bother with lighting on steam given how hard they are to see on the prototype, however I'm now having second thoughts.

It to mention it opens up the possibility of running the layout in the dark for the night workings...

 

Certainly not a job for this year, but maybe once the layout is more complete...

[Neal Ball]

Some time ago, I saw an advert fro Olivias, where not only do the offer their own sound chips and fitting service, you can also get them to fit crew and lamps.

 

This from their website for the Hornby King:

 

Locomotive Prices:

£160 – Analogue.
£188 – Decoder Fitted.
£301 – ESU V4 Olivia’s Sound Fitted.

Additional Work Available- DCC Fitted Only.
£20 – Firebox Flicker (if not fitted with oil lamps)
£45 – ESU Stay Alive Fitted (ESU Decoder Req)
£  7 – Train Crew Fitted (Driver & Fireman.)
£  7 – Cab Light.
—–
£36 – Additional Fitting Services (this charge + your options of the below.)
£ 5 – Oil Lamps Each- Click Here For Different Lamp Codes.
£13 – Firebox Flicker (if fitted with oil lamps)
£30 – Seuthe Smoke Unit.

 

Given its taken me all afternoon, I dont think £46 is too bad a price to pay for them to fit the lamps. Olivias isn't normally a shop I would look at, if I am not getting it locally at Gaugemaster, I would head to Hattons, but I reckon they might be worth a try. Does anyone have any experience of their service etc.?

 

This is how the afternoon panned out!

 

 

A good start with a nice neat solder join onto the back of the DCC plug. I first took a photo of the DCC decoder and made sure that from underneath I used the same colour cables. So far so good.

 

Then I proceeded to solder in the 100k resistor, having made the legs a bit shorter, I then soldered them together. I generally use flux and possibly more solder than I need. A while ago, a young lad in a certain local model shop argued that I didn't need to use flux. I struggle to get any join without.

 

 

At this point I made my first mistake :-( in cutting the holes under the tender fall=plate for the wires to go out of the tender, means I can not get the top off and it put too much pressure on the tender wheels and they only wanted to run in a straight line!

 

Eventually realising that tape was not going to keep the cables in place / out of the way of the bogie, I resorted to small amounts to superglue - applied with a cocktail stick. Working on it was frustrating and I thought a bit of a mess, but in this shot it doesn't look too bad. The white and blue cable have been carried onto the underside of the loco and need replacing with a proper connector mounted lower down.

 

 

Having messed around with the loco for what seemed like ages, I needed to run a train and as the 9F was on the layout, he hauled a train of 14 kit built wagons around. Shewn here next to the King, still with its oil lamps on!

 

 

So would I fit more lamps to the locos... Yes! It definitely adds another dimension.

 

By wiring up to the Blue (common) and White this means they come on with the 0 function, which is generally reserved for lighting on a loco. Needless to say they go out when the loco is in reverse.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

Happy New Year to all the followers of this thread.

 

Yesterday being New Years day was a lazy day! - I managed to paint three wagons at the Lounge table, but mainly watched a batch of DVD all day.

 

The vans are Mink A (x2) and Mink G, which will be complete with two Mink D all from Parkside Dundas. They just need weights, transfers and some dirt and they will be finished. 'photos to follow when they are a bit more presentable.

 

Today (lovely and sunny here in Bognor Regis) started with a 4 mile run, then taking the Christmas decorations down and a tidy up of the model railway room. Normal service will resume next weekend, when I hope to get loads more projects done.

 

I have had a bit of a find on eBay this weekend, with not only a London WTT coming up, but also a Regatta evening departures flyer. I'm possibly going to take a leaf from Richard Mawer at Buckingham West and set a complete timetable.... but it might be too ambitious for my limited operation. I can only imagine how many different coaching rakes I would need!

 

I have often wondered what specials ran to/from the universities and the flyer shews one - going to Radley - I'm surprised there were no direct Oxford or Cambridge services. In 1936 there were 3 teams from Cambridge; 1 from Oxford but also 1 from Switzerland, together with teams from Henley; Reading and London. Incidentally Stanley Baldwin was there on the last day. 

 

Have a good week.

[The Fatadder]

I have had a bit of a find on eBay this weekend, with not only a London WTT coming up, but also a Regatta evening departures flyer. I'm possibly going to take a leaf from Richard Mawer at Buckingham West and set a complete timetable.... but it might be too ambitious for my limited operation. I can only imagine how many different coaching rakes I would need!

Have a good week.

When you get into the details it's amazing how much you can compress the coach requirements, I worked out I would 'only' need 22 sets to model a full 24 hour period of the south Devon mainline. A lot less than I expected, possibly even a realistic goal over the next 10 years. However when you break it down further it can be compressed down to 3 or 4 sets in each direction, with a few extras and combined accordingly. I keep thinking about magnets in the roofs to attach the roof boards allowing easy changes....

 

Sounds like a couple of good finds there. I live in hope that one day I will find the coach working book for the Plymouth division c1946/1947......

[Neal Ball]

Thankfully I don't need roof boards, although mention of the direct Radley special got me thinking about a named Radley train.

 

Good luck with the carriage workings, someone must have a copy.

 

Thanks for the comments, Neal.

[Richard Mawer]

Thanks for the comments Neal. Rare for someone to be taking inspiration from me! It's normal the othe way round.

 

I do like those lamps. I thonk you have the brightness about bang on. I just need to work out to do it (and convincing sound) in DC. But there's plenty to do before then.

 

Keep up the progress.

[Neal Ball]

Thanks Rich

[The Stationmaster]

Bought my first pair of safety boots from Norman in 1975 when he was at (in charge I think) Red Star at Reading General.

Paul

 

I remember him when he first started as a Lad Porter (although he is older than me) his father was the PerWay Ganger at Henley and i went to infants and junior school with his brother.

[caradoc]

I remember him when he first started as a Lad Porter (although he is older than me) his father was the PerWay Ganger at Henley and i went to infants and junior school with his brother.

 

When I was CO2 Relief at Reading Booking Office (1980-84) I occasionally covered Twyford, sadly however I cannot recall the staff there at the time. My main memories are firstly burning out the Booking Office kettle there one day (pre-automatic cut outs); And another time, my colleague served an actor (IIRC Peter Ustinov, did he live locally?); She half-recognised him and asked if he was so-and-so who used to be famous. The look on his face was priceless but he took it in good spirit. It was a lovely place to work with a great chippie just outside the station, I still remember the potato fritters.

 

Great layout Neal and excellent stock. 

[Neal Ball]

Can you spare 5 minutes to cast your vote in our RTR Toplight Poll please. Thanks,

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/118689-gwr-toplights-poll/

[ChrisN]

Neal,

Finally caught up.  I seldom venture outside the Pre-grouping and Wales corners of RMWeb but I stumbled across your thread and had to follow.  Two reasons, set in the 30s so further back than most, and I know Henley station as it is now, which is just a shadow of its former self. I take the grandchildren to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley and when it is just the lad one of the things we do is catch a train from Henley to Twyford to watch a few more trains.

 

It has been an interesting journey watching how you have progressed, esome excellent modelling and it certainly looks the part.  If you go for a full timetable then the coaching stock could become interesting.  Would it be modern stock or would they drag in some old clerestories?  I doubt they would have to go for 6 wheelers but you could get an interesting mix.  (I will have a timetable but the Cambrian in 1895 is a bit more easy.  I will need about 22 coaches plus maybe up to a dozen through coaches.)  Would there have been through coaches for the Regatta, LNER stock from Cambridge?

[Nearholmer]

This will probably add nothing to your knowledge, but I thought you might be amused to see that railway modellers were interested inHenley 90 years ago.

 

(The photos are no more legible in the original!)