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

[Neal Ball]

19 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

I could do with 200 painted Chinese passengers to fill my two Bulleid 5 sets and the Bulleid twin, plus a similar number of Irish carriages... can you point me in the right direction? 

 

Mr Waverley West has the best passengers I've seen. 

These are the ones I’ve bought https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-Painted-Model-Train-Seated-Figures-People-Passengers-1-50-HO-OO-Diorama-NEW/392868243508?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D024dfe83f25046d4bf09d12826922faf%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D10%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D392832987084%26itm%3D392868243508%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Abc021724-02e2-11eb-86f5-fa40414076b4|parentrq%3Add9c46431740aa4852fa7a01fff36218|iid%3A1

 

They are sold in packs of 50 (painted) and buying 4 packs gives a discounted price of £4.76 each. The downside of ordering direct from China is that delivery is stated as 25th October to 8th December.

 

Im expecting to have to tone down some of the colours when they arrive - the alternative is to buy a box of Preiser unpainted and spend ages painting everything.

 

We will see what they are like when they arrive. Hopefully they will be ok and it’s then a simple case of filling my carriages....... I will then consider adding led lighting again.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Neal Ball
edit: Typo's

[Neal Ball]

This morning has been occupied with the signal box. I've used 2 x Ratio signal box interior kits:

 

 

The idea was that it was going to be lit by a Kytes light pendant type light. I tried different variations of lighting level, which I wasn't really happy with. It then felt as if it was running too hot.

 

Plan B: 2 x Yellow LED and I'm very pleased with the result:

 

 

All I need to do now is finish off the static grass around it, add a cover over the rods etc.

 

Then of course a signalman. 

 

The Modelu catalogue arrived this week and I have been browsing through the various people and there is a very suitable signalman which hopefully I can add to the order I have with them.

 

In the meantime:

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

The next project to finish off is the Foden steam lorry - which I am not very happy with the way it has gone together.

 

The various parts don't fit together very well and have ended up with gaps etc. But given the illustration on the box, also shows gaps, maybe thats the way it is! Have Oxford ever done a steam lorry? I wonder if they would like to!!

 

Anyway, I will carry on with it and see what can be done.

 

Then there is also the two horse-drawn wagons to finish off..... Dart castings and also Langley, both lovely kits.

 

Passengers and Crew.... need to get the locos out and then start on carriages (the latter will wait for a bit I suspect.) Sitting under the layout this morning I opened a drawer from one of the many units..... and found about 50 odd passengers - unpainted! - Its a bit like the Forth bridge this game at times :-) 

[Neal Ball]

I have also had another project arrive this week!

 

More sound!

 

Courtesy of Hattons, I now have one of the Gaugemaster / Railtec sound DCC decoders (usual riders apply). I opted for the rural sounds as there seemed to be more individual sounds that I would use. This is the Gaugemaster GM784.

 

They do a decoder for Urban sounds; station (steam or diesel) and Lineside.

 

Each unit has the same DCC address, so if you are going to use more than 1 unit, you will need to change the default accessory address. The range is here: https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/index.php/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?sku=gm78

 

 

Its great to have some background noise on the layout.

[Neal Ball]

This afternoon Ive been doing a bit of filming - just in case you didn't know - I love my sounds - even more so that I have the background country sounds.

 

Note: It is possible to select each sound separately, but I haven't done that in this video.

 

Hope you enjoy my "vintage" video:

 

 

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

This morning has been occupied with the signal box. I've used 2 x Ratio signal box interior kits:

 

 

The idea was that it was going to be lit by a Kytes light pendant type light. I tried different variations of lighting level, which I wasn't really happy with. It then felt as if it was running too hot.

 

Plan B: 2 x Yellow LED and I'm very pleased with the result:

 

 

All I need to do now is finish off the static grass around it, add a cover over the rods etc.

 

Then of course a signalman. 

 

The Modelu catalogue arrived this week and I have been browsing through the various people and there is a very suitable signalman which hopefully I can add to the order I have with them.

 

In the meantime:

 

 

 

 

Very nice Neal but...

 

...signal boxes generally weren't lit up like that at night as the bobby wouldn't be able to see out of the windows. A small lamp to light up the diagram and another over the train register would be more typical.

[Neal Ball]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Very nice Neal but...

 

...signal boxes generally weren't lit up like that at night as the bobby wouldn't be able to see out of the windows. A small lamp to light up the diagram and another over the train register would be more typical.

Yes I realise, but having added the relevant bits and pieces, I want to be able to see them!

 

In any case, towards the end of my running session yesterday afternoon, the LED started to flash..... I must gave a dry joint somewhere. Nothing else have moved or changed, so it can’t be that..... I might increase the resistance which will give more of a lower glow.

[Neal Ball]

Good evening, sunny greetings from the Costa Blanca..... where its raining! Doesn't happen very often, but when it does.... We have had the first part of a storm come in, so much so, we had to dismantle the gazebo in the back garden, it was threatening to blow away! The next bit is due around 9pm tonight.

 

When it stops I need to go and check my new garden bar.

 

It's currently very black over the Med.... sunny greetings indeed!

 

Back in the real world of the GWR in the 1930's - I popped down to Henley on Thames earlier as I wanted to check the turntable.

 

Last night before leaving the railway room, I had some epoxy 5 minute glue out... 2 x Castle locos (Windsor and Tregena) now have crew. However the main reason for getting that glue out was that I wanted to glue the Peco turntable adapter to the table spigot. (On the advice of Peco).

 

I left the turntable with the 64xx Pannier on, to apply as much weight, without having to push the collar up too high and find it then gets stuck to the underside!

 

In order to test it, I decided to let Castle class no 4073 Cearphilly Castle stretch its legs and this is the result:

 

 

What you don't see is that in taking the loco off the table..... it took 3 attempts. In the time from ducking under the baseboards, having lined up the exit road.... the table had a little creep and was now mis-aligned, resulting  in the bogie wheels coming off the rails.

 

3rd time lucky.

 

In more ways than one! 

 

I still think the operation of the table is too jerky..... plus when I start to operate a timetable,. I cant be ducking underneath and going back every time the table has moved....

 

At the end of the day, the Peco offering is just cheap and cheerful. The addition of the motor is again the same... (not so) cheap and cheerful.

 

Having failed to get the MERG system to work, (electronics and fixing to the table); I'm now inclined to go for the Greenwood table as suggested by Phil aka: @Harlequin although @Stephen Freemandidn't find it straight forward: 

 

Which was more to do with Greenwood being a bit uncooperative.

 

This saga is TBC!

Have a good evening.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Good evening, sunny greetings from the Costa Blanca..... where its raining! Doesn't happen very often, but when it does.... We have had the first part of a storm come in, so much so, we had to dismantle the gazebo in the back garden, it was threatening to blow away! The next bit is due around 9pm tonight.

 

When it stops I need to go and check my new garden bar.

 

It's currently very black over the Med.... sunny greetings indeed!

 

Back in the real world of the GWR in the 1930's - I popped down to Henley on Thames earlier as I wanted to check the turntable.

 

Last night before leaving the railway room, I had some epoxy 5 minute glue out... 2 x Castle locos (Windsor and Tregena) now have crew. However the main reason for getting that glue out was that I wanted to glue the Peco turntable adapter to the table spigot. (On the advice of Peco).

 

I left the turntable with the 64xx Pannier on, to apply as much weight, without having to push the collar up too high and find it then gets stuck to the underside!

 

In order to test it, I decided to let Castle class no 4073 Cearphilly Castle stretch its legs and this is the result:

 

 

What you don't see is that in taking the loco off the table..... it took 3 attempts. In the time from ducking under the baseboards, having lined up the exit road.... the table had a little creep and was now mis-aligned, resulting  in the bogie wheels coming off the rails.

 

3rd time lucky.

 

In more ways than one! 

 

I still think the operation of the table is too jerky..... plus when I start to operate a timetable,. I cant be ducking underneath and going back every time the table has moved....

 

At the end of the day, the Peco offering is just cheap and cheerful. The addition of the motor is again the same... (not so) cheap and cheerful.

 

Having failed to get the MERG system to work, (electronics and fixing to the table); I'm now inclined to go for the Greenwood table as suggested by Phil aka: @Harlequin although @Stephen Freemandidn't find it straight forward: 

 

Which was more to do with Greenwood being a bit uncooperative.

 

This saga is TBC!

Have a good evening.

I reckon it is too jerky, Neal. I also think it's going too fast. The two things could be connected and might be a function of driving through the spindle rather than from the edge. Not knowing the mechanics of the Peco set up I can't really offer any advice on how to fix it but the jerkiness suggests that something is binding somewhere. I've also no idea how to get the speed down while still having enough power to turn the loaded table. Sorry that's not more helpful!

[Neal Ball]

2 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I reckon it is too jerky, Neal. I also think it's going too fast. The two things could be connected and might be a function of driving through the spindle rather than from the edge. Not knowing the mechanics of the Peco set up I can't really offer any advice on how to fix it but the jerkiness suggests that something is binding somewhere. I've also no idea how to get the speed down while still having enough power to turn the loaded table. Sorry that's not more helpful!

 

Yes i agree on both points.

The motor / gearbox is a sealed unit and I don't know if that is where the jerkiness is starting. Now with the spindle permanently attached to the turntable, I cant remove that to test it....

Edited October 3, 2020 by Neal Ball

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Personally I wouldn't have glued the spindle, it does no different a job than a secure screwed/bolted mechanical connection with no looseness in it, and as you have found, you are now backed into a corner, perhaps Peco fancied selling you another one.

Definitely mechanical jerkiness due to binding/lack of lubrication somewhere IMHO, are the carrying wheels free to move?

Personally, I would have built the turntable to be a free turning unit solely on it's carrying wheels, even to the extent of replacing them with metal items, like you would a coach or wagon, then sorted out the propulsion method, less resistance equals less work for the drive system to do and theoretically, smoother operation. Also building it in it's well as a free standing unit and then dropping it into the hole in the baseboard when it's working properly makes life a bit simpler.

 

Mike.

[KNP]

Could you adapt it for manual operation via gears and a handle?

[Neal Ball]

Thanks Mike and Kevin.

 

Going manual is certainly an option yes.

 

clearly without the motor attached, I think it runs better and doesn’t catch. There was an issue when I tried the Merg system and that saw the removal of the brick paper walls.

 

A short while ago I took the wheels out and made sure they were free running.

 

I just wonder if during the move here, the deck has twisted by as much as 1 or 2mm and that is causing the issue.

 

A replacement seems inevitable at the moment......

 

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Neal, have you looked at this:

 

https://www.locomotech.com/

 

 

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

Neal, have you looked at this:

 

https://www.locomotech.com/

 

 

 

No I hadn't seen that before thank you. Better bet than a complete new table....

 

Thanks very much.

[bgman]

8 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

Neal, have you looked at this:

 

https://www.locomotech.com/

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

 

No I hadn't seen that before thank you. Better bet than a complete new table....

 

Thanks very much.

 

Built one several years ago and I would certainly recommend it, heavy motor which does the job easily and can be operated at very slow speed. Gets my vote and if working in 4mm again I would certainly choose this. I purchased the heavyweight motor together with the indexing system and operated it via a simple dcc chip.

 

G

[Neal Ball]

Hornby Spanner!

 

My spanner has arrived today from Hornby, I’ve already checked the 61xx and they are fine. I’m merrily going to check all my locos now.... sometimes it’s the small things that give do much pleasure!

 

Great  service from Hornby, thank you.

 

But first it’s almost time for lunch :-)

 

 

[Neal Ball]

The Working Timetable:

 

It has to be the ideal scenario to have a true working timetable. Mine is based on the GWR WTT for 1936.... accepting that there are a few limitations, in terms of on-screen storage roads.... off stage shouldn't be too much of an issue.

 

I wrote it all out quite a while ago and have never really tried it out. I was spurred on by @Richard Mawershowing his fast clock for Buckingham West. I've always thought I needed  a fast clock to operate the timetable.

 

This morning:

It was essential that each rake of stock had an identifier to show which was which:

• 4 x Main line rakes.
• 3 x Branch line rakes.
• 1 x autotrain
• 1 x Diesel railcar.
• In total I used 11 locos!

It took all morning to get the rakes unboxed and labeled: I tried to vary each rake, rather than rely on rakes that are uniform to each one.

 

Then of course, everything had to be in the right place, which saw Castle class 4-6-0 no 4073 Caerphilly Castle used as a shunter, moving stock from the fiddle yard to the station.

 

This afternoon:

The first WTT train ran at 3:26pm this afternoon, when the daily 06:39 goods arrived from Reading.

 

The 06:39 was hauled by 72xx 2-8-2T no 7233..... after 2 other goods locos failed (Dean goods and Collet goods) - neither wanted to run today....

 

 

The load this morning was very light. The loco then spent the morning shunting the coal yard.

 

I worked through every specified movement until the 12:12 departure (at 7:13pm.)

 

In that time the  goods train arrived; shunted and later departed (at 11:45); together with 11 passenger arrivals and 11 passenger departures.

 

 

In leaving the railway this lunchtime / aka tonight! the platforms were empty; Mill Road sidings 1 and 2 were full; there were 4 locos on shed and loads of stock in the fiddle yard and locos galore in the upper yard!

 

To be continued....

[Neal Ball]

Yesterday was full of traffic activity at Henley on Thames. Working to the Henley WTT, notes were made as I went along. This is page 1:

 

 

Castle class loco 4-6-0 no 4073 Caerphilly Castle seen with the 10am departure to London Paddington. This loco had arrived from Reading, running light, so did not need turning:

 

 

Just over an hour later at 11:12 Hall class loco 4-6-0 no 4901 Adderley Hall arrived with the ex-London Paddington through service:

 

 

Then at 11:45 no 7233 departs for Reading with the morning goods service, having sent several hours shunting the yard and making up its train:

 

 

It was a good, varied running session. 

 

It was unusual to have so many locos out at the same time. I was very pleased that 7233 shunted the yard with no problem (doesn't happen very often - shunting that is!) and was also good to see all the Panniers out and being used.

 

I need more Panniers... I have said before that I am hoping that Bachmann might produce a new version without top-feed. Or should I start trawling through eBay? You can bet that the moment I do, one will be announced.

 

It's a bank holiday here in Spain today, so activity has been confined to our sunny terrace. This afternoon should see some trains run. 

[Neal Ball]

Finally a photo merge image (4 photos taken on the tripod with different focus points) of the GWR heavy freight loco no 7233.

 

Next time, I need to increase the number of photos and focus points.

 

[Mikkel]

You are clearly on a roll Neal ! (no pun intended). I like that WTT. So a full sequence is about 4 hours, if I understand correctly? 

[Neal Ball]

2 hours ago, Mikkel said:

You are clearly on a roll Neal ! (no pun intended). I like that WTT. So a full sequence is about 4 hours, if I understand correctly? 

If only! I reckon a full sequence is about 12 hours or so....

 

I didn’t carry on today, got held up with failed locos and some blown chips 

 

TBC.

[ChrisN]

29 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

If only! I reckon a full sequence is about 12 hours or so....

 

I didn’t carry on today, got held up with failed locos and some blown chips 

 

TBC.

 

Neal,

I assume that is because it is quite a full timetable, and when  you are shunting the yard are you not able to operate  second loco to bring a train in?  I think it is worth it though, as it adds to the fun, although you may want to take several days over one day, and at other times you may not want to do it at all.  It is certainly better than one DMU every 50 minutes or so, which is what the timetable is now.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by ChrisN

[Neal Ball]

7 hours ago, ChrisN said:

 

Neal,

I assume that is because it is quite a full timetable, and when  you are shunting the yard are you not able to operate  second loco to bring a train in?  I think it is worth it though, as it adds to the fun, although you may want to take several days over one day, and at other times you may not want to do it at all.  It is certainly better than one DMU every 50 minutes or so, which is what the timetable is now.

 

 

Thanks Chris,

 

I was shunting the yard, as well as having trains arriving and departing - all at the same time!

 

Its a pretty full on schedule.... and that’s the normal schedule, never mind the extras for the Regatta!

 

Yesterday I got caught up with loco repairs, but everything is ready to resume where I left off.

 

Another advantage of the schedule, is that it gets stock out of their boxes which haven’t been used for ages!

 

Im having a DIY day today, so unlikely to get back to Henley, but part 2 of the operation will start in the next day or so.

 

Thanks again, Neal.

[Neal Ball]

Re: Exhibitions

 

Ive just watched the video updates from Hornby and Dapol, presented as part of the Great electric train show.

 

I have not been to the exhibition itself, preferring either Ali Pali or Warley, together with Tonbridge. Whilst clearly we don’t miss the great unwashed.... you know the one, that needs to have a ruck sack on his back...... I miss that sense of anticipation or just connection by seeing someone on stand x that might give you an insight into a yet to be announced project. Or indeed a couple of years ago when Hornby had lots of announcements at Warley. 
 

The ability to speak direct to Chris Nevard and Peter Marriott at Warley in 2019 about static grass was good, as was the ability to speak to Simon Kohler at the GDSF in 2019 about the 61xx. Asking Simon recently on email for a Collett full brake or restaurant carriage isn’t the same as doing it in person.....

 

Or of course at the moment going to the Dapol stand to see the new 43xx, which in the update, they say will arrive mid-November (just in time for Warley).

 

But when things calm down, will we want to go to a big exhibition hall....... food for thought about where the hobby will turn next.

 

Its also interesting to see manufacturers and retailers take on product development staff at this time...... let’s hope that does not lead to further duplication and division....

 

Food for thought.