Castle Aching

[Nearholmer]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

Not my experience on South Western Railway when wedged between two fellow-passengers of the girth depicted.

When I was a young whippet commuting to engineering training and/or college, on cold winter days I used to look out for seats between large, matronly ladies, wedge myself in and have a nice cosy snooze. Much better than a seat next to the door/window, which always had a knife-sharp draught up one trouser leg, plus condensation soaking into one shoulder of the jacket.

[Compound2632]

20 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Much better than a seat next to the door/window, which always had a knife-sharp draught up one trouser leg, plus condensation soaking into one shoulder of the jacket.

 

I remember those 4-VEPs with affection too. Somehow the Reading line in the late 90s lacked matronly ladies at 7:30 am, besides which I was a married man by then.

Edited November 17, 2023 by Compound2632

[Nearholmer]

Ours were DEMUs rather than VEPs; generally the same, but with an engine sound like an old tug boat that somehow aided snoozing. Best trick if the train was more than one ‘set’ was to ride in a vacant guards van, because that had a big panel radiator connected to the engine cooling circuit, and a really comfortable swivelling seat a bit like a barbers chair. On odd occasions on the way home that did get the better of me though, resulting in rides to places that I didn’t really want to go to.

 

 

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

Couplings - could there be some compromise of autocouplers on things like the ends of branch line rakes and brake vans, with 3-links on the semi-permanently coupled/easily accessed (ie in BM's goods yard) stock?

Some friends use three-link couplings within sets of say three or four wagons with auto couplings at the ends of each set.

[cornamuse]

As early as 2028? Bit hasty, surely? 

[cornamuse]

Also, I’d go with no gradients, out in the open storage, screened with trees and slopes. I think small stock benefits from minimal gradients. 

[TrevorP1]

4 hours ago, Northroader said:

“Happiness is not the arrival, it is the journey itself”.

 

“The joy of going somewhere that’s still so far away”.
 

Chris Rea, from ‘Gone Fishing’.

 

(Not that I’ve been fishing since I was about 12! 🙂).

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, TrevorP1 said:

“The joy of going somewhere that’s still so far away”.
 

Chris Rea, from ‘Gone Fishing’.

 

Yes, that about sums up Twickenham to Reading, when you've got as far as Ascot.

[Schooner]

...or Paddington to Penzance, when you get to Plymouth and realise there's still half your journey time ahead...

[Compound2632]

9 hours ago, Schooner said:

...or Paddington to Penzance, when you get to Plymouth and realise there's still half your journey time ahead...

 

No, that's no comparison. The Cornish scenery is better than that of Berkshire.

 

Cecil Torr recounts his frustration in a dream, of being told that the Penzance dining car didn't go through to Brindisi [Small Talk at Wreyland].

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I think the train slows right down to allow one to enjoy the last bit, although once sealed in a modern cylinderzug that isn’t as easy as it was: it’s definitely a bit of railway best experienced with the window down and head out.

[Schooner]

How else to get the best of the liquid sunshine...Cornish mizzle... horizontal sleet?!

 

Sorry, last thought re a hidden CA connection/siding:

 

Anyone for a Peckett-served Lavender Biscuit?

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Schooner

[Schooner]

Thanks to recent developments in the Woe is Me for I've no 850 thread meant I've just had a quick gander at Worcester...and its cattle market, and tha's cattle dock.

75' long platform serving 4 x what I suspect are small outbound pens, 1 x large sorting pen (leading to three further large pens) and 1 x road-wagon loading dock.

 

3 minutes ago, Fair Oak Junction said:

Bit more detailed shots of the cattle pens, cattle market, and engine shed/water tower

 

Note to self to check BM against this.

EDIT:

 

Slightly reworked cattle dock, showing at 350mm (scale 87'6" / 2 x Ratio 502 Cattle Dock / about 3 x 1:76 Routemasters / 4 x 00  cattle wagons) useful length. If it needs something more than a cosmetic trap to protect the branch platform then there's room to simply plop a double slip in place with no other changes, returning the little stub if desired.

Also seen above is a tweaked goods yard layout that smooths some curves and - counter to my expectations - makes the yard look more spacious. Season to taste.

 

Nice little post-concert wind-down. Walton 1 not the best lullaby ever written. Mind you, looking forward to counting sheep rather than that many barlines going hurtling past.

 

Oh, the odd thing in the aisle is to represent 120deg arc, just thought I'd have a little look at how the likely viewable scenes are working out:

Edited November 26, 2023 by Schooner
With thanks to Fair Oak Jnc for the BFA pic

[Fair Oak Junction]

There is some more info here http://www.miac.org.uk/butts.html including about the cattle traffic.

[Schooner]

Well, that is interesting. Thank you @Fair Oak Junction

 

"   The initial intention had been for the line to continue south beyond the cathedral to terminate in the Diglis area where it was intended to interchange goods with the canal, but this part of the line was never built due to opposition from the church authorities.

 

   With the original intention for traffic on the line being thwarted there can have been very little goods traffic to justify its existence. It has been suggested that, on race days, horses were loaded and unloaded but this would, at best, have been infrequent. The GWR Service Timetable (No.14)(dated February 1912) states that in respect of the 5.40pm Mondays only Worcester to Hockley (Cattle Train) "Engine to come out of the Locomotive Shed at 3.45pm, run to the Butt's (sic) Branch to fetch cattle, and to make up a load at Worcester with other traffic when not fully loaded with Cattle for stations where timed to stop". This train made stops at Kidderminster and Stourbridge before arriving at Hockley. This traffic would appear to be the main source of revenue on the branch."

 

Sorry chaps, back to Norfolk

[Edwardian]

I have sinned. 

 

You will recall that OO Works released a LSWR 330 Class in 2020 and, despite not really having a place for it, I could not resist.

 

 

Now this was a Beyer Peacock design, and, later, OO Works produced a version as supplied to Ireland (though in OO, of course). As a Beyer design, there was no reason why the WNR could not have ordered one. 

 

I was tempted. The WNR's first port of call was usually Sharp Strewart, but went to Beyers as its back-up option on a number of occasions. On the whole, though, having splashed on the OO Works J15 specifically for the WNR, I felt at the time I could not run to the expense of another loco from that stable. The 2020 OO Works release sold for £279. Ouch. I wasn't going to fund two! 

 

Well, an apparently scratch-built version appeared on the Bay of Fleas recently. Actually it appears to have a bog-standard Triang 0-6-0 chassis. The descriptions states "tested and runs in both directions although sluggish", so this could be a case of needing a bit of a clean and oil or it could be another of my ill-advised Bay of Fleas ventures. We shall see.  At the very least, I might be able to swop in another old RTR chassis.  The main point is that it cost just £36, so I thought is worth seeing if, at that price, the WNR could, after all, add one to its roster. 

 

There are no doubt significant discrepancies from the prototype, not least due to the use of the RTR chassis, but for the WNR, should discrepancies, like a variance in the wheel diameter of wheel base,   can be accommodated. Clearly what we see here will prove to be just what the WNR ordered from Beyer in the 1870s. 

 

 

 

 

[Northroader]

Sounds good to me, a nice little loco. Wasn’t there some talk a while back for some North Devon based line being done?

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I have sinned.

 

That'll be three Manning Wardles and a Hudswell Clarke. 

[Schooner]

33 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

three Manning Wardles

Yes please! Where?!

 

35 minutes ago, Northroader said:

some North Devon based

Possibly guilty - it took some discussion for my first foray into the Senior Scale to settle there (Fremmington-inspired)

 

47 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

the WNR could, after all, add one to its roster. 

Huzzah!

[Compound2632]

38 minutes ago, Schooner said:

Yes please! Where?!

 

That was supposed to be his penance but perhaps I chose unwisely; it should be not only proportionate to the sin but also appropriate to the sinner. On that basis three Gresley Pacifics and a Hush Hush would be too harsh. I've not looked up what St Alphonsus Liguori has to say on such a case.

[Edwardian]

7 hours ago, Northroader said:

Sounds good to me, a nice little loco. Wasn’t there some talk a while back for some North Devon based line being done?

 

Yes, Barnstaple Town.

 

I have been slowly researching and, where possible, acquiring stock for a layout to show the interchange between the SW's Ilfracombe branch and the Lynton & Barnstaple.

 

The official roster for the SW would be a brace of T1s, supplemented by their smaller cousin, an O2, and a Jubilee. All Adams types in Drummond livery. There would also be an Adams Steamroller and a Beattie/Beyer Ilfracombe Goods (unrebuilt), both in Holly green.

 

That's really as much as one needs, or, rather, can justify.

 

However, I do have a Dapol B4, which runs very sweetly indeed, and the aforementioned 330, so Barnstaple Town would allow them to make guest appearances in a sympathetically SW setting.   

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Edwardian
spelling

[Edwardian]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

That'll be three Manning Wardles and a Hudswell Clarke. 

 

Would two Manning Wardles and two Hawthorn Leslies work?

 

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Edwardian said:

Would two Manning Wardles and two Hawthorn Leslies work?

 

Yes, I believe so. The intention is there.

[Edwardian]

PS, I realise that Sir Berkeley has run in plain dark green, but I am rather hoping that Rapido adopt the lined livery.

 

Not only is this gorgeous, but close enought to WNR livery to pass as such. 

 

[Edwardian]

So, problem...

 

I recently purchased a loco for CA. It was not well packaged by the vendor. A heavy, white metal kit, it was too loose in the box with no packing between the tender and the loco. It evidently bounced around in transit and had a good go at disassembling itself.

 

As a result, there are numerous repair jobs. These include the tender brake stand, a new tender draw bar, replacing the fillet at the rear of the loco footpate and the cabside grab rails, and rebuilding the valance and springs to one side of the loco. 

 

Now, none of this greatly bothers me, I could do without it, but it's manageable. Economically, I suspect the project is still worthwhile as the vendor refunded four fifths of the purchase price.

 

There is a further issue reflected in this substantial refund, however, and this is the one that bothers me. If I can overcome it I should, with a bit of effort, end up with a perfectly viable, indeed good value, loco, if not ... well, at least I've reduced the money wasted.

 

The issue is that the white metal pony truck bracket has snapped. It does not look like it can be removed and replaced without wrecking the model; to remove the pivoting end of the pony truck, I would have to disassemble the frames. Anyway, I have nothing to replace it with, of course.

 

The only thing I can think to do is apply superglue to the join then sandwich it between two new outer layers, something like brass shim. 

 

All advice on this one gratefully received.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Edwardian