Churminster & Stowe Magna, Southern Railway

[Tony Teague]

Time for the summary of what was achieved in 2023; in a year dominated for me by health issues this was less than intended but looking back it was probably a bit more than I had imagined. So far as this thread is concerned I started to illustrate the coaching stock fleet that is available of Churminster & Stowe Magna and at this point I have managed to cover 24 of the approx 45 rakes available, so my intention will be to complete this run through in 2024.

 

 

Whilst we are on coaching & NPCS rakes, three additions were made in 2023 all of which were included in the above review, these were the 3-car and 4-car ex-LSWR cross-country sets Nos. 235 & 134 respectively, from EFE Rail / Kernow; I added 3rd class designations which were missing from the doors of the brake coaches on the 3 car set. Also new to stock was Bachmann Bulleid set no.790.

 

 

At the same time @Iain.d very kindly took pity on the stalled build of a Roxey 6-wheeler for my breakdown train, and not only corrected my errors but completed it and another Roxey kit of an ex-LBSCR 54' coach, also intended for the same train! Both now look exquisite but are awaiting final painting & lettering by me.

 

 

On the wagon front there were new GWR & SR additions from the Rapido range as I attempt to reduce my P.O. stock in favour of 'big four' branded wagons; the standard of the latest RTR wagons is so high that it calls into question why you might attempt to do as well from a kit, however, I enjoy this and did manage to build a pair of ex-SECR 12T bolster wagons from a Cambrian kit, whilst at the close of the year a GWR 'Bloater' is almost complete but awaiting delivery of paint supplies.

 

 

I'll leave equipment, scenery & infrastucture for a separate post, but finally in this one, to locomotives, where I took delivery right back in January of two Bulleid pacifics from Chris Phillips (who has since retired); he built these from PDK kits with the addition of detailing parts from RT Models / Albert Goodall:

 

 

Also delivered was a new D1 loco from Dapol / Rails of Sheffield, and at the same time, I managed to 'finish' my work on No.3458 'Ironside'; this is not a great model but one that I am unlikely to replace. It had however filled a place from my 'missing locos' list, as did a further beautifully built delivery from Mike Edge in the shape of No.1031, an ex-SECR F1, built partly from a Jidenco kit, and part scratch-built:

 

(pictured here on Little Bytham, image courtesy of Tony Wright)

 

Later, I received a 1st 3D test-print of the body for an ex-LBSCR I1x loco, and whilst this represent progress on another of my 'missing locos' I am now awaiting an updated print as there were a small number of dimensional and other issues which showed up in the test; nevertheless this one should be removable from the list in 2024.

 

So as at the end of 2023 the 'missing loco' list looks like this (The number in brackets represents the total number of each class originally built):
 
LB&SCR Billinton E5X  (4) - As per my several previous observations, I have no excuse for this model still being incomplete as the 3D printed body and SEF E5 chassis have each been in stock

                                               for more than four years! I just need to extract the digit and finish it.

LB&SCR Marsh C3        (8) - Arun Sharma's 'kit of parts' for the loco and related B2X tender, are both with the intended builder & continue to await a slot in his work queue.

LB&SCR Marsh D3X     (1) - the solution proposed is via a 3D printed body, and use of the chassis from a Chivers D3 kit (in stock), however, design work on the body

                                                has yet to start so this one is not going to be a quick win.

LB&SCR Billinton B4X (12) - A commission for this to be built from existing etches has been agreed, and so this one awaits its turn on the builder's list.

SECR Wainwright B1   (16) - I have been waiting on SER Kits who have had designs and drawings in hand for a 7mm kit for several years; they had indicated their willingness to scale these down

                                                    to produce 4mm etches but there has been no recent progress. As a result I have now agreed a commission for this to be scratch built in due course
LSWR Drummond S11 (10) - I have held a set of L12 body parts (S11 = L12 with smaller wheels or T9 with large boiler & smaller wheels) produced by Arun Sharma for some time, however,

                                                  PDK have since produced a complete kit and, having acquired one, this is now with a builder and awaiting a slot in his build queue

SR Maunsell I1X         (18)  -  A 3D resin test-print of the body received and now awaiting delivery of an updated version; most chassis components in stock

 

So my updated summary for the remaining 7 now is as follows:

   'kit / components now available for building' = 3: C3, E5X, S11

   'firm solution / within forseeable future' = 3: B4X, B1, I1X

   'some issues remain to be solved' = 1: D3X

 

I will cover the remaining topics in a further post as well as looking forward at 2024

 

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

[AdeMoore]

Great stuff Tony love the missing loco list.

Been following this for a number of years your dedication is admirable to shrinking it to almost within shouting distance!

Great when they land with you from your builders or your own fair hands.

[Tony Teague]

To conclude my review of 2023, here is what happened in the areas of equipment & scenery.

 

In terms of Equipment, I mentioned in reviewing 2022 that the control panel had been largely completed but still needed work behind it on signal interlocking, and this finally got underway during 2023. The panel was designed so as to allow the entire layout to be controlled from one position by one person - me! - so it is pretty much bespoke. The DCC Concepts levers at the front are really route setting devices rather than simple point or signal levers and so the logic behind each one is reasonably complex.

 

 

After much thought and considerable planning we (I along with Giles Walburn) decided to use an Arduino coupled to a bank of relays to implement the logic behind each lever and this is where we had got to at the end of 2023. The principle is that once any lever is pulled, the system checks for conflicting routes already set, and then ensures in turn that each point or crossover on that route is set correctly before pulling off the signal. The circuit boards will be mounted down behind the panel when completed but are sitting on top for ease of access whilst work is underway; these boards will control everything around Churminster, whilst a duplicate arrangement will control Stowe Magna in due course.

 

 

Crossing the divide between equipment & scenery, all 25 Heathcote uncoupers had their 'ramps' replaced with 3D printed ones during the year, greatly improving their look as well as their reliability.

 

Turning to scenery, we were finally able to re-install all but one of the backscenes that had been painted for me by Mike Gascoigne, after considerable progress was made with the landscape between Churminster & the RAF station at Charmy Bottom (backscene is to the left!); Steve Povey provided much help with this work.

 

 

Aside from obscuring the fiddle yards that sit behind them, these backscene boards bring depth to the scenery and make this area of the layout start to feel more complete...........

 

 

 

.............however, they have also rendered as essential, the CCTV that gives the operator various views of the fiddle yards beyond!

 

 

The station building requisitioned by the Minister for War at RAF Charmy Bottom is now all but complete, and it is the scenic area to the rear of this which still needs attention and is preventing the re-installation of the final backscene board.

 

 

Finally during 2023 the terraced housing in front of the low relief building of Stowe Manufacturing was refreshed and reinstalled, leaving the way clear for other works in front of these, including the installation of semaphore signals on the approach to Stow Magna station.

 

 

Turning to the priorities for 2024, I will be brief since it would be far too easy to lay out a large plan and then fail to deliver it!

 

So the highest ranked items are:

 

1. Complete the signal interlocking work at Churminster before moving on to install signals and related control systems at Charmy Bottom and Stowe Magna

2. Finish the scenic work behind Charmy Bottom station, install the starter signals and then replace the missing backscene

3. Finish painting & detailing the breakdown train and bring it into service

4. Complete the build of the E5X loco that has been sitting here for over 2 years!

5. Run some trains!!

 

There are others, of course, too numerous to mention!

 

Happy New Year to all!

 

Tony

 

 

[Tony Teague]

Slow progress on scenic matters in a place where these need to be done in order to facilitate other (electrical) work, but meanwhile...........a new delivery into stock:

 

 

It's the new Kernow / EFE-Rail Bulleid / Raworth Southern Railway 'booster' loco no.CC1; here it is straight out of the box and looking very lovely!

 

I'm not sure why they have produced 2 x CC1's in different SR liveries and 2 x CC2's in BR liveries; I would have liked one each of CC1 and CC2 and I'm not sure that they are sufficiently identical that I could just re-number one of the CC1's, but I am sure someone will tell me!

 

CC3 (which has a very different front end) is too late for my era and so of no use to me, but what is also slightly irritating is that I aready have a model of CC1 constructed (by persons unknown) from the now defunct Genesis kit.

 

 

I will have to locate it and pose the two together for comparison, but suffice to say the new EFE model looks really sharp and up to modern standards, whilst the Genesis model looks rather dated.

 

Whilst on here, I can show a further train formation which has emerged from the darkness of the fiddle yards; this is not strictly 'coaching stock' but rather NPCS - a short inter-regional LMS parcels train:

 

 

As one might expect i is hauled by a black five, no.5026 which is a bog standard Hornby model:

 

 

This is followed by 50' BG parcels van no.30965 which is a Mainline model:

 

 

then comes CCT no.35487 which I built some time ago from a Parkside Dundas kit:

 

 

finally, bringing up the rear are two 42' GUV's, both by Lima and (very) unprototypically carrying the same running number of 37762!

 

 

One of these MUST get changed, although when it flashes past, who is to know??

 

 

This rake still has Kadee couplings at buffer beam height, which I dabbled with for a while, but the reason the rake is short is that other suitable LMS stock just kept uncoupling itself during running - so the vehicles concerned are now confined to the 'naughty' drawer awaiting fresh couplings which will be applied to the whole rake in due course.

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Good progress today with Giles' help, but not things you can easily picture - "Cop my electronic interlocking" - doesn't really sound right; also slow but steady activity on scenery, but here to fill the gap is yet another coaching set.

 

This time it's the turn of ex-LSWR gate stock Set No.374:

 

 

This is one of the Kernow / DJ Models sets released back in 2018; it had many faults - not least the over-deep step boards which compensate for over-narrow bogies.

 

 

The 2-coach set comprises the composite driving brake above, plus the trailer third  as below

 

 

These are pulled in this shot by Hornby ex-LSWR M7 no.51

 

 

All are in weathered Maunsell lined olive livery

 

 

and are posed between two tunnels that open out onto the viaduct on either side of the River Charmy.

 

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

I'm really pleased to be able to report that during a 2 day possession earlier this week the electronic interlocking of the points, signals and route setting for the area controlled by Churminster South signal box was finally completed!

A replacement bus service was provided for travellers during the possession.

 

 

The results of this work are significant operationally, but difficult to illustrate; briefly, what it means to the operator is that when a route is selected by pulling a lever on the main panel, one hears a series of clicks as the required points or crossovers are fired in sequence, the corresponding panel lights are changed to show the selected route, and then once all of these are set, the appropriate semaphore signal is cleared.

Returning the lever reverses the sequence commencing with the signal reverting to danger, followed by the same points regaining their mainline or straight-through positions. This is their default position whilst all signals are also set to danger.

The way that the track power feeds are connected also means that when a point is set against a particular route, the approaching track will be electrically dead, making a SPAD quite difficult to achieve!

 

 

The program which is bespoke, runs on an Arduino which fires a bank of relays and whilst the code allows two parallel routes, such as the up line through platform 3 plus the down line through platform 2, to be set at the same time, it also prevents the setting of any conflicting routes. Once a route is selected, pulling a lever for a conflicting route will be ignored by the system and no changes will be made. I am grateful to Giles Walburn for completing this installation.

 

 

Steve Hewitt's beautiful up approach signal remains to be fitted once scenic work close to where it is to be sited is completed , however, all wiring and related programming work is already finished and this has been tested with the signal unit, pre-installation.

In an effort to better illustrate all of this in operation, I am working on some video but it may be some time before I manage to produce something satisfactory!

 

 

Advantage was taken during the posession, to work on the previously undeveloped land formation above the Churminster cutting and beneath the narrow gauge quarry line; this is now ready and waiting for the application of plaster bandage and scenic material.

This will in turn be followed by completion of the undecorated narrow strip along the full length of the front of the baseboard, however the last remaing but very obvious gap, between the narrow gauge line and the road above may take a little longer. As can be seen from the images this sits above some cabling and so will require the formation of an access 'portal'!

 

 

Only once all scenic work is completed will distant signals be installed at either end of the cutting; these are complete, having been built some time ago by Steve Hewitt but they are delicate and I am keen to avoid their being damaged during construction work.

 

Tony

 

[GilesW]

On 19/01/2024 at 23:36, Tony Teague said:

I'm really pleased to be able to report that during a 2 day possession earlier this week the electronic interlocking of the points, signals and route setting for the area controlled by Churminster South signal box was finally completed!

A replacement bus service was provided for travellers during the possession.

 

 

The results of this work are significant operationally, but difficult to illustrate; briefly, what it means to the operator is that when a route is selected by pulling a lever on the main panel, one hears a series of clicks as the required points or crossovers are fired in sequence, the corresponding panel lights are changed to show the selected route, and then once all of these are set, the appropriate semaphore signal is cleared.

Returning the lever reverses the sequence commencing with the signal reverting to danger, followed by the same points regaining their mainline or straight-through positions. This is their default position whilst all signals are also set to danger.

The way that the track power feeds are connected also means that when a point is set against a particular route, the approaching track will be electrically dead, making a SPAD quite difficult to achieve!

 

 

The program which is bespoke, runs on an Arduino which fires a bank of relays and whilst the code allows two parallel routes, such as the up line through platform 3 plus the down line through platform 2, to be set at the same time, it also prevents the setting of any conflicting routes. Once a route is selected, pulling a lever for a conflicting route will be ignored by the system and no changes will be made. I am grateful to Giles Walburn for completing this installation.

 

 

Steve Hewitt's beautiful up approach signal remains to be fitted once scenic work close to where it is to be sited is completed , however, all wiring and related programming work is already finished and this has been tested with the signal unit, pre-installation.

In an effort to better illustrate all of this in operation, I am working on some video but it may be some time before I manage to produce something satisfactory!

 

 

Advantage was taken during the posession, to work on the previously undeveloped land formation above the Churminster cutting and beneath the narrow gauge quarry line; this is now ready and waiting for the application of plaster bandage and scenic material.

This will in turn be followed by completion of the undecorated narrow strip along the full length of the front of the baseboard, however the last remaing but very obvious gap, between the narrow gauge line and the road above may take a little longer. As can be seen from the images this sits above some cabling and so will require the formation of an access 'portal'!

 

 

Only once all scenic work is completed will distant signals be installed at either end of the cutting; these are complete, having been built some time ago by Steve Hewitt but they are delicate and I am keen to avoid their being damaged during construction work.

 

Tony

 

 

Very glad we have sorted this system out, made the brain cell itch. On to Stowe Magna next and automating wind and water mills.

[Tony Teague]

Thanks Giles

Certainly made my single brain cell itch!

Good job that there is so little left to do...............................😁

Tony

[Tony Teague]

There have been a couple of alarmist stories in the popular press recently about the death of railway modelling as a hobby - following the news of the demise of both Hattons and the Earley Show - so I was pleased for my attention to be drawn this morning to a more balanced view:

https://thecritic.co.uk/death-of-the-model-railway/

Worth a read I feel.

Tony

[Fair Oak Junction]

Very much worth a read! A much better and more accurate view. Thanks for linking it 👍

[Tony Teague]

Today I decided that I would get plastered 😃

 

Or rather that I would plaster the land form along Churminster cutting that I had shaped a week or so ago:

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with the result, which makes a huge difference to the appearance of this section, as I had anticipated. This area took over 2 rolls of plaster bandage which was applied in two layers; I now need to order some more.

 

 

The gap to the right of the 2nd shot (& at the rear of the 1st) is where I have pulled out the removable area of the steep cutting face so that it didn't get stuck in place! It is removable because it has rather a lot of electrics behind it to which access may be required.

 

This transformation has made me feel that I must now get on with the remaining land formation, which is almost the last on the layout, so I plan to deal with the narrow strip to the front later this week if time permits, before moving on to the slightly more problematic strip down the middle.

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Brief, pictureless update.

I managed to complete the landform along narrow strip to the front baseboard edge today, but my camera failed to fire for some reason!

A small part of the area requires a 2nd layer of plaster bandage so I shall get that done and try again with the errant camera before painting the whole lot in brown undercoat.

There is also an even smaller strip between the track and the cliff face which needs attention and in 2 areas this is complicated by the pull-out sections of cliff face.

I shall try to get the fixed part completed but the entire pull-out sections may have to be re-built to make their removal easier in the event that access is required.

A further update will follow at some point in the coming week.

Tony

Edited February 6 by Tony Teague

[Tony Teague]

So here is the picture missing from yesterday's update:

 

 

This clearly shows the narrow strip that remains between the track and the steep cutting face to the left; I aim to work on this very shortly but as I mentioned, I feel that this will involve a complete re-build of the two removable sections to ensure that they can be easily removable.

 

Spurred on by this progress I started today on the wider gap between the barrow gauge track and the road above:

 

 

The flat platform to the left is where a building will stand; this will be removable and sits conveniently above a significant wiring connection point and a circuit board which again might require access. Scenically I now feel that this whole area is really coming together.

 

Last week my good friend Martin and I had what might normally be termed a "running session", but given that most of the trains in the upper and lower fiddle yards had not moved for many months, it was more like an exercise in identifying where everything was and logging faults that in most cases had arisen out of dis-use!

 

What it did allow was for me to locate a couple of the coaching sets that had not previously be pictured on this thread, so here is Set No.447:

 

 

The set hauled by Schools class No,924 'Hailebury' and is all Hornby RTR Maunsell stock; it was marketed by them in 2015 as the "1940 return from Dunkirk" set - but it looks incredibly clean for wartime conditions:

 

 

4 compartment brake 3rd no.4061 leads, followed by:

 

 

trailer composite no.5149, with

 

 

4 compartment brake 3rd no.4059 bringing up the rear.

 

 

Hornby Van C no.699 completes the formation.

 

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Further progress has been made on the plastering front, which I shall cover tomorrow, however, I have a question and hope that someone might be able to assist.

 

At the back of the layout, and the front of the fiddle yard, I have a cassette system which was covered briefly about half way down p.22 of this thread:

The cassettes are formed from a wooden strip with aluminium angle on either side, and these act as rails for trains stored on the cassettes; when installed for running, the cassettes are held in place and connected electrically by a brass strip to either side, and unfortunately, despite really very little usage one of these brass strips has snapped off.

 

This is a closer view of the arrangement, withe the cassette stretching to the left and the two brass strips curving out to the top & bottom of the image:

 

 

So my question is, how have other people located and connected their cassettes and should I be using something more flexible or springy than brass?

 

All suggestions appreciated!

 

Tony

Edited February 11 by Tony Teague

[SR71]

I would suggest phosphor bronze. In my experience it doesn't work harden as rapidly as brass which gets upset about being bent/re-bent.

[Denbridge]

Small crocodile clips serve the dual function of locating and providing electrical contact.

[Tony Teague]

48 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

Small crocodile clips serve the dual function of locating and providing electrical contact.

In fact a further option has ust been suggested to me off-line, via the use of audio jack plugs which would be attached to each cassette - all very interesting!

[Tony Teague]

A little more scenic progress:

 

 

I shaped the landform using card strips, and have made providion for a driveway descending from the road above to the building that will be on the hillside.

At the bottom of this picture you can see the small problem that is preventing me going beyond this point for the moment:

 

 

The soldered tagstrip is correctly placed under what will be the removable platform on which the building sits, but the choc-block connector below it is wrongly positioed and will be beneath a fixed part of the hillside - so all that is required is to stretch the two wires from the choc blck and solder them to spare tasg on the tag strip = > next job!

 

 

Ignoring that for the time being I finished the card formers and got the first layer of plaster bandage in place; there are a couple of small areas to fill in, plus a 2nd layer required but already things are looking different:

 

 

The platform for the building will have retaining walls to the front & rear. Here is what remains to be done once those wires have been moved:

 

 

Not far to the overbridge!

 

Tony

 

[Tony Teague]

I don't know about you but I'm a bit bored with images of white plaster bandages, so I have a couple of rather different ones today!

 

First, the breakdown train; followers of the thread may recall that @Iain.d very kindly built two kits for me into vehicles for this train, and I then did extensive research into the potential 50 shades of gray that these, together with a third vehicle (from Hattons Genesis), might be paintedi.

Although I then managed to undercoat all three vehicles, the weather has since been either too wet or too cold (or both!) for me to apply the final colour. I am pleased to say, however, that a milder, drier couple of days recently has allowed me to get these vehicles sprayed in what is Tamiya German Gray - in my view the closest I could get to the Bachmann steam breakdown crane that I did not want to re-paint:

 

 

The Hattons vehicle on the right is perhaps a shade darker than the two kit-built examples to the left, largely because it started lif in black livery - but I am sure that unltimately a bit of weathering will mean that no-one will be able to see the difference.

 

There is still a lot to be done before this train is finished; the first issue is the lack of decals, which I first ordered and paid for from Modelmaster about 18 months ago, but as BRM regulars will know, whoever owns Modelmaster is not fulfilling orders, despite having recently posted about new products on his webpage. Regretably he does not respond to mails but will still take new orders.....

 

 

(Please excuse the large water bottle in the image above!).

 

As a result I am seeking decals elsewhere, and whilst the Hattons van is glazed, the two kit built items are not (although Iain d. has supplied the glazing), so this will be dealt with after the decals and a varnish have been completed.

 

 

Overall I think this is going to be a very handsome train that will add  a lot to the railway ambiance.

 

And then to something completely different:

 

 

The plastering got finished and out came the base brown colour - a pleasing shade of mid-excrement which I picked up in a HomeBase sale many years ago - I wonder why it was in the sale? - despite stirring for what seemed like hours this paint had badly separated and will certainly need a second coat, however I am pleased to have all of that white plaster covered!

 

The errant choc-block has also been removed and the two wires soldered to the tag board, so there will be little excuse for not pushing on....

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Having been away for a few days, not much has happened with the train set, but I thought I might post these images taken recently of the "twighlight zone" that is the railway's main fiddle yard.

 

 

What caused me to take them (with my phone) was that a particular train lost it's coupling and despite considerable effort it could simply not be found; so we determined by reference to Sod's Law, that it must be in one of the more inaccessible parts of the layout. The trains were cleared from the road that the train had been stored on, plus those ether side, and then I took these pictures with the aid of an LED light.

 

 

The first image shows the throat at the northbound end of the storage sidings, whilst the second was taken in the opposite direction; the wiring above relates to the top fiddle yard which sits over this one - handily making access even more impossible!

 

Needless to say the missing coupling has still not been found and will probbaly cause a further derailment at some future date!

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

A short session today enabled me to get a 2nd coat of paint onto the recently formed hillside - so it now sports a darker shade of excrement 😷 (apologies for the camera shake!):

 

 

The land now urgently needs grass & landscaping, whilst the track is crying out for ballasting...................

 

I also made a little progress on the retaining walls for the site of the building that will be set into the hillside:

 

 

I shall need to fill the missing landform gap to the left before I can complete this site and prepare it for building:

 

 

Tony

 

 

[Tony Teague]

Reached a significant milestone today in that the landform along the cutting is now complete!

 

 

After building the shape from card strips, two layers of plaster bandage were applied:

 

 

Here's the view in the opposite direction (with the bridge next to the quarry building removed):

 

 

Finally the awful brown undercoat was applied:

 

 

Plenty of scenic work required to hide the brown stuff!

 

 

The sharp eyed will also have spotted that both the up and down lines have had a ballast drop - a visit from the tamper is awaited (plus PVA etc followed by rail and ballast painting):

 

 

The narrow gauge lines are the only ones now remaining unballasted on the whole layout - Hurrah!

 

However, aside from the need to tidy this latest ballast drop, glue it down, paint it etc, there is also a small amount of work to do further along the cutting where those two removable sections need rebuilding & refitting.

 

But I feel the need for a pause and to run some trains.........

 

Tony

[Tony Teague]

Following a 2 day visit by my good friend Giles Walburn I am pleased to report that all of the remaining exquisite semaphore signals built fro me by Steve Hewitt more than 2 years ago, have finally been installed; it is an understatement to say that these really bring the layout to life.

 

 

Down departures from Churminster were alreay dealt with through 3 bracket and one ground signal, but up arrivals are now covered by this 4-arm bracket signal (please excuse the junk beyond!).

 

 

As the approach to this signal is substantially obscured by an over-bridge, it is precedded by a foxed distant:

 

 

In the opposite, down direction trains enter the area controlled by the next box along the line and this is controlled by a further distant signal, sited just before the tunnel mouth.

 

 

All three of those shown have been fully installed and the programme that runs them tested, however, the two distants have then been removed for safety, because there is a significant amount of scenic work to be done very close to them - and they are fragile!

 

Up at Charmy Bottom, the twin starter signals have also been installed; the line in and out of this station is automatically controlled via a shuttle module which will also work the signals and I am waiting on a couple of electronic components that are needed to complete this work.

 

 

On the Stowe Magna side of the layout, the two main lines are already colour-light signalled - this having been installed when the line was third-rail electrified in the arly 1930's, however, the up & down cross-London lines remain semaphore signalled (or until now, not signalled at all!).

 

These lines will be controlled via 7 further semaphore arms and a single ground signal, all of which are now in place but so far non-operational; pictures at this stage may look a little strange since the signal arms may be pointing at rakish angles prior to their being connected to their respective servos and servo controllers.

 

 

This is the down approach signal to Stowe Magna station with arms covering the main line through platform 5, the terminating bay platform no.7, and the yard; you may just be able to make out a ground shunt signal beyond and to the right.

 

 

Three further sempahores cover the up departures from platform 6, the bay plaform 7 and the yard.

As with Churminster, departure from the Stowe Magna area into that controlled by the next signal box is controlled by a distant signal beyond the loco yard.

 

I will post further pictures as the installation and the scenery around it gets completed, hopefully including some video coverage.

 

Tony

 

[Tony Teague]

Almost two weeks back I said that I must run some trains, and so that is what I finally got around to today - and most enjoyable it was!

 

I will admit that there was a further incentive in that I had always wanted to have a banana train, and yesterday the postie brought me some of the excellent new Accurascale banana vans..........

 

 

When these were announced a few months back I confess that I must have gone bananas, because I bought a whole bunch of them!

 

 

They are hauled here by Bachmann N class no.1860 whilst the leading van is ABS kit-built van No.50641 - the only van in the train (aside from the brake) that has been weathered so far:

 

 

Although I had managed to buy a second, already built, one of these on E-bay (which needs a complete re-paint & is not shown), it was the realisation that should these kits ever appear again it would not be soon, which persuaded me that buying the new RTR models was going to be the only way to achieve what I wanted.

 

 

The vans come in packs of three, and I'm sure they will be reviewed elsewhere, but aside from having the best packaging that I have ever seen on a trio of vans, the models are very finely detailed and finished, whilst each one has some minor difference from the others.

 

 

Two different diagrams are catered for, that on the right being d.1478 (as is the ABS van), whilst that on the left represents d.1479.

 

 

Having placed my order, Rapido then announced a GWR banana van to d. Y4, and as I like a bit of variety..........

 

 

This also went well with a pair of Oxford Rail LNER, ex-GER vans that I had acquired a couple of years back after learning that the originals had been loaned to the Southern Railway to help them cope with their increased banana traffic between 1933 and 1937.

 

 

My only dilemma now is whether the train is long enough............

 

I have a couple of unbuilt Peco Parkside kits in stock for the GWR Y4 van, plus the pre-built ABS one that needs re-working, but I'm wondering, can one ever have enough banana vans?

 

Tony

 

 

Edited March 14 by Tony Teague

[Tony Teague]

During yesterday's runing session I also manage to extract a previously un-photographed coaching set from its hiding place:

 

 

Set No.210 is made up of ex-LSWR 56' corridor stock; it should be a 5 coach set but it seems that one brake end has gone missing!

 

 

The set is hauled here by bog-standard Hornby WC No.21C123 'Blackmore Vale' (excepting that like all of my RTR WC/BB locos it is stuffed full of lead!)

 

 

The leading coach should be brake composite No.6537, but as this has gone AWOL, corridor 3rd to d.21 has moved up; what is odd is that I have an older picture of this set and even then it only has 4 cars despite the missing coach having been recorded by me as arriving here in 2013 and allocated to this set - perhaps it will show up one day!

 

 

Another 3rd, No.680 follows

 

 

Then comes panelled 1st No,7163 to d.475

 

 

Finally brake comp no.6525 brings up the rear.

 

The whole set is from Adrian Rowlands (Northstar) and was painted by Larry Goddard.

 

Tony

Edited March 15 by Tony Teague