Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

More holiday snaps in lieu of layout progress.

 

The easiest way to get to the castle in Salzburg is to use the Festungsbahn, a classic balanced funicular albeit now electrically-powered rather than water balanced.

 

There are no moving parts on the track at all. The outer wheels on each car are double-flanged and the inner ones are flangeless with wide treads. Each car stays on the same side of the mid-way loop with the haulage cable aligned accordingly.

 

There is another funicular serving the castle, the Reisszug, which is mainly used for goods. It is reported to be the oldest railway in the world, having been built originally at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.

 

This isn't really a railway but if you have sharp eyes you can see one in the background - the Schafbergbahn, which climbs from the lake side at St Wolfgang and is a steam-powered Abt rack line. Unfortunately it was only running at weekends during Advent so we didn't get the chance to ride it. The cable car climbs the Zwoelferhorn on the other side of Wolfgangsee, the lake itself being hidden in the fog below.

 

Quite an eerie experience descending into the fog, which had persisted all day in the valleys.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
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[nerron]

More holiday snaps...

 

Dame Edna would be chuffed. But where is Madge Allsop?

[St Enodoc]

More holiday snaps...

 

Dame Edna would be chuffed. But where is Madge Allsop?

Perhaps she eloped with Sir Les?

[nerron]

Perhaps she eloped with Sir Les?

I don't think she is quite Sir Les' type..if you get my drift!

[St Enodoc]

I don't think she is quite Sir Les' type..if you get my drift!

Probably not, and vice versa too I think.

[St Enodoc]

A great day at the SCG on Tuesday - the first ever hundred before lunch on the first day on Australian soil and only the fifth ever, complemented by another classic opener's innings as well.

 

Today's big news - Hornby Collett coaches in Maroon! I will have to see how many more unbuilt BSL/Phoenix/Westdale/Comet kits they can replace. It won't be all of them though, as I don't want to lose entirely the characteristic heterogeneous formations of WR passenger trains.

 

Layout work might (should) resume today on the Penzance Down end pointwork but in the meantime some more photos from Europe.

 

 

Two generations of ICE at Munich Hbf. The older ICE1 formed ICE704, which took us to Nuremberg but arrived just too late for our onward connection resulting in an hour's wait for the next one - an older push-pull regional set that was very full as by then it was the afternoon rush hour...

 

This little Coradia LINT DMU runs a shuttle service on the Rothenburg ob der Tauber branch. As the Lonely Planet book says, you can travel by rail from Rothenburg to anywhere, as long as it's Steinach.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Today's big news - Hornby Collett coaches in Maroon! I will have to see how many more unbuilt BSL/Phoenix/Westdale/Comet kits they can replace. It won't be all of them though, as I don't want to lose entirely the characteristic heterogeneous formations of WR passenger trains.

Looks as though 5 SKs will do the trick.

[St Enodoc]

I built two points today while listening to the cricket. I didn't need the jigs for these or the next one as I still have a small number of pre-made vees and a smaller number of pre-machined switch blades to use up first. For some reason I have three odd Type B blades of the same hand left over, so the first use of the jigs will be to make up the opposite blades to give me three pairs.

 

The German National Railway Museum in Nuremberg is a must-see if you are in that part of the world.

 

This is the Bavarian King Ludwig II's saloon. It would make a challenging modelling project.

 

The Adler was the first train to run in Germany, between Nuremberg and Fuerth in 1835. The museum has two Adler replicas, of which this is one. I couldn't work out whether they are both working or one static, but they certainly run a re-creation of the 1835 first train from time to time.

 

The model area is excellent. It includes large-scale display models as well as the more usual sizes. This display shows models of an 01 loco in 1/10, 1/20, 1, 0, H0, N, Z and 1/700 scales.

 

The H0 layout is showing its age a little (it was built originally in the 1960s) but is interesting as it doesn't run automatically like so many of its kind. Instead, every hour a fellow wearing a DB uniform comes along and operates it for about 15 minutes using a replica of a DB signal box entry-exit control panel. What he does for the other three-quarters of an hour I have no idea.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
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[Barry O]

"What he does for the other three-quarters of an hour I have no idea."

 

Eat Brattie and Pomme Frites mit chip sauce nicht wahr??...

 

 hat, coat,   bye!

[St Enodoc]

On 06/01/2017 at 05:23, Barry O said:

"What he does for the other three-quarters of an hour I have no idea."

 

Eat Brattie and Pomme Frites mit chip sauce nicht wahr??...

 

 hat, coat,   bye!

Well, he certainly had the right shape for that. Perhaps he washed them down with some of this:

 

Prost!

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Looks as though 5 SKs will do the trick.

Now on order.

[St Enodoc]

I got another three points made today, plus the vees and blades for a further three.

 

First impressions of the filing jigs are slightly mixed.

 

The vee jig is excellent and very easy to use, although I don't quite understand why the rail head or foot sits proud of the surface of the jig. Perhaps this is to make sure that it is gripped by the screw and washers, but this could be achieved by a packing strip. Notwithstanding, filing both rails for a vee only took about five minutes.

 

The blade jig will take a little getting used to. I followed the suggested method of filing the back of the blade first, but found that this left the end of the blade too thin to protrude enough from the jig to file much of the head on the front. I had to take the rail out of the jig and finish filing the front using Stubby's Jumbo to hold it. Next time I will try filing the front of the blade first, although I'm a bit worried that the blade might twist in the jig when it is turned over to file the back.

 

Anyway, after a couple of false starts getting the blades either the wrong way round, upside down or both, I managed to finish three full sets of each ready to build three more A5 points for Penzance and Paddington Down ends.

 

After all that, back to Germany.

 

This little Krauss-Maffei shunter is running on the Frankfurt Hafenbahn (Harbour Railway). This still carries a small amount of freight to and from the docks on the River Main, although it is better known nowadays for occasional heritage steam passenger trains.

 

Just after I took this, there was an interesting confrontation with a road truck that was parked across the track while it was being unloaded. After about five minutes the loco conceded defeat and scuttled back whence it had come.

 

An Adtranz class 101 electric on a DB IC service at Frankfurt Hbf...

 

... where this Bombardier/Siemens/DWA class 425 EMU was on a regional service.

 

We changed trains at Karlsruhe, where this Bombardier Flexity tram-train was standing in the next platform. These have dual-voltage power supply and run both on the DB main line and on the street-running sections of the S-Bahn. Just after I took this our ICE3 arrived to whisk us to Paris in just 2.5 hours - top speed 318 km/h.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Michael Edge]

I file the taper on the back of the blade first, just holding it flat on the bench (actually a piece of scrap plywood clamped to the bench) and only filing towards the sharp end. Then turn it over and file the head, this time from the sharp end. It's best with a very sharp file, I keep one just for this job and don't use it on anything else. One side is easier than the other depending on whether you are right or left handed.

[St Enodoc]

I file the taper on the back of the blade first, just holding it flat on the bench (actually a piece of scrap plywood clamped to the bench) and only filing towards the sharp end. Then turn it over and file the head, this time from the sharp end. It's best with a very sharp file, I keep one just for this job and don't use it on anything else. One side is easier than the other depending on whether you are right or left handed.

Thanks Mike. That's pretty well how I did it before I got the jigs, except that I filed the front first and then put the foot in a groove when I turned it over. I think the jig will be fine once I get more used to it (I've got plenty of opportunity for that with over 70 points still to build).

 

I agree with your comment on handedness. I'd give my right hand to be ambidextrous.

[Barry O]

Those German designed locos look like badly streamlined bricks...as they used to say about engineered items .. if it doesn't look good it can't be good....

 

Baz

[St Enodoc]

Those German designed locos look like badly streamlined bricks...as they used to say about engineered items .. if it doesn't look good it can't be good....

 

Baz

One could say the same about your tanks...

[Barry O]

Challenger 2 is a thing of great beauty.. them thar Leo 2s have box like tendencies.shot trap city..and as for the M1s the Oz guys have now.. look like big gas guzzlers.. oh! 9 gallons to crank the tank...

[St Enodoc]

Challenger 2 is a thing of great beauty...

...in the eye of the beholder.

[St Enodoc]

I finished the last three points for this stage of the project yesterday while listening to the final day's play from the SCG.

 

So, now that normal service on the layout is about to be resumed, here are the last few photos from our European trip.

 

It was good to see some classic French locos at the Gare du Nord. This dual-voltage class BB22200 is about 35 years old and shares the same bodyshell design, with the characteristic "broken nose" profile, as the earlier 1500 V dc BB7200 and 25 kV ac BB15000 classes (22200 = 7200 + 15000!).

 

Here is the tail end of the Siemens class 374 that would take us through the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras, giving me my first run on HS1 - my only previous journeys through the tunnel having been from and to Waterloo back in the 1990s. Clearly some bird had met a sudden end on an earlier run. The 374 is very similar in layout and finish to the ICE3.

 

The original Alstom class 373s are looking rather tired now. Indeed, on one car on this train the bodyshell skin had corroded to the extent that there was a hole about 100 mm long at cantrail level. Not a good look.

 

On the Friday before Christmas we took my six grandchildren on a Bluebell Railway Santa Special. Here is our coach, a Maunsell open third, at Horsted Keynes. The reflection in the window is of my old friend and former colleague, and stalwart Bluebell member, Roger Price who was the guard on our train.

 

Ex-SR Q class 30541 was the loco on our train, seen here after we arrived back at Sheffield Park. Before we left I managed to pick up some books from the shop as well as enjoying yet another pint of Harvey's with lunch in the Bessemer Arms.

 

A traditional Christmas with my daughters, sons-in-law, their families and the grandchildren rounded off the holiday before a slow (of course!) drive round the M25 to Heathrow. Two good flights back to Sydney saw us arrive to temperatures in the high 30s. It was good to be home!

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

On Monday I lifted some track between the Down end of Penzance loop 1 and the Up end of Paddington loop 1, ready to lay the points leading from Paddington loop1 to the Penzance loops.

 

On the right, I removed a short section of 2 mm cork and replaced it with 3 mm, as this point goes where some Peco track was before so I need the thicker trackbed now.

 

I also lifted some of the plain track on the left, as the new track is on a slightly different alignment due to the points extending beyond the previous tangent point for the curve. This means that instead of being a continuous 36 in radius curve, it now eases slightly at around the 45 degree mark then tightens up to 30 in radius at the Down end.

 

Today I laid the points and the realigned track.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the point on the left will be operated by a Maygib motor as there is not enough room to fit an H&M due to the L-girder being directly below this track.

 

On the other hand, I can use an H&M motor for the point on the right by extending the tiebar, which will allow the motor to be mounted clear of the L-girder.

 

At the moment the motors are not fitted, so I wedged these two points in position for the continuous run and fitted a frog jumper to each.

 

I also laid the five points and connecting track to start the Up end fan for Penzance loops 8 - 13. Again, some of these points have extended tiebars so that their motors will be clear of the baseboard framing.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Another warm day - although not as hot as yesterday - meant that the air-conditioned railway room was the place to be again.

 

I carried on where I left off yesterday, laying the SMP track for the Down end of Penzance loops 8 to 13.

 

The plain SMP track extends about two feet further than usual, as when I flipped the Paddington and Penzance loops I didn't bother changing the cork thickness in this area, so the step from 2 mm to 3 mm cork is where the original Penzance Down fan would have started.

 

It was a simple job to lay the Peco track joining the Up and Down fans. Each section is just over three yards long and once again I used the Proses jigs to help me to get the tracks parallel and spaced evenly.

 

 

Here is the finished result. After I took these photos, I soldered the droppers to the plain track in the loops so that I can set out some more trains without any risk of them being attacked by the soldering iron.

 

This photo shows the top of a Maygib point motor, The drive is offset so it is very close to one side, which means that by mounting the motor hard up against the flange of the L-girder the drive wire will come up centrally between loops 1 and 2.

 

For some reason, looking at the bottom of the motor reminds me of the crow in the the old Farrows Peas advert, from the black-and-white days of the early 1960s.

 

Fitting the point motors to these seven points is the next job, after which I will move to Paddington Down end and reconfigure the Tregissey Siding area to create the bypass between Paddington loop1 and the Up Main.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Andrew P]

Wow some major surgery there my friend, looks like still a lot more to do, but it always looks so neat and tidy.

 

All the best.

[St Enodoc]

Wow some major surgery there my friend, looks like still a lot more to do, but it always looks so neat and tidy.

 

All the best.

Thanks Andy. Yes, there is always plenty more to do, but completing these loops and the changes to Tregissey Siding will let us do some proper timetable running, albeit only using the main lines at this stage. That is certainly something I am looking forward to.

[St Enodoc]

Friday the thirteenth or no, I decided to fit the point motors today.

 

All went well except for 505 point, which sits right above the joint between the L-girders supporting Paddington and Penzance. I tried various ways of fitting the motor but there just wasn't enough room, so I removed the operating crank and made up a customised version with about six inches of drive wire.

 

This let me mount the motor under a clear piece of baseboard. After a bit of adjustment of the Z loop and using some screws to restrict the wire from whipping, everything was OK (I've just noticed from the photo that I forgot to fit the third and fourth screws to the motor).

 

I tested all the motors on DC without any problems so next time I can put my electrical head on to connect the new feeders and droppers, connect the motors and frogs to the decoders, program the decoders and program the Penzance Mini Panel for the Down end routes.

Edited July 21, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[nerron]

Looks like you have had a couple of productive days John. It is all developing very nicely. It is also good to see that the H&Ms are still able to do the job in this digital age-old and new technology in harmony!