Parsons Vale Carriage sidings - 00 BR Blue layout now Sold

[ess1uk]

looks great

[saxokid]

Very nice BR blue modelling here...

[37114]

I have done a few more bits on the scenic of late, with the exception of the ground cover in a couple of the rear houses and the areas near the yard lamp, all ground is covered now. A couple of recent additions is fencing at the front of the layout with a lamp by the entrance gate:

 

Also new are the ETH control boxes, I have yet to add the cabling under the walkway, this is based on the installation at Malago Vale,

As can be seen in the above shot, the barrow crossings have gone in but have yet to be weathered

 

 

A general shot of the layout from end to end.

[rob D2]

I wonder where IC rakes we’re stacked in the swallow era ? When did this shut ?

[Fat Controller]

4 hours ago, rob D2 said:

I wonder where IC rakes we’re stacked in the swallow era ? When did this shut ?

The Malago Vale sidings were taken out of use in August 1988; the ones further west went out of use.in 1971.

Dates from 'Track Layout Diagrams of the Great Western Railway and BR (WR) Section 19A' by R A Cooke.

[37114]

On 24/04/2019 at 15:15, rob D2 said:

I wonder where IC rakes we’re stacked in the swallow era ? When did this shut ?

Hi  Rob, when you say IC rakes,  the HSTs were stored at St Phillips Marsh, the Weymouth and Portsmouth trains had gone over to Sprinters. Towards the end it was only really Parcel stock.

[rob D2]

Ah ok,

i didn’t know if any cross country stuff originated from Bristol, I guess it was all N - Penzance , Paignton cross country stuffanyway.

 

off topic, but when did Barton hill take over as the base for parcels stuff ? Didn’t seem to feature in the blue days 

[37114]

21 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

Ah ok,

i didn’t know if any cross country stuff originated from Bristol, I guess it was all N - Penzance , Paignton cross country stuffanyway.

 

off topic, but when did Barton hill take over as the base for parcels stuff ? Didn’t seem to feature in the blue days 

It was doing Parcels by the mid 90s so logically it could have coincided with the closure of Malago Vale 

[Wayne 37901]

3 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Ah ok,

i didn’t know if any cross country stuff originated from Bristol, I guess it was all N - Penzance , Paignton cross country stuffanyway.

 

off topic, but when did Barton hill take over as the base for parcels stuff ? Didn’t seem to feature in the blue days 

 

Barton Hill assumed responsibility for all postal traffic towards the end of July 1995, I think some work was also done at SPM.

 

Off Topic but July was also the month of the last booked double headed Silver Bullet.

 

Cheers

[37114]

Limited Progress of late due to busy times at work and lots of outdoor leisure activity in spare time but PVCS has another exhibition booking,  one of my favourite shows, Cheltenham in April 2021. 

[37114]

Minor milestone tonight as after some concerted effort over the weekend the point motors are now all live and have been tested. I have used the stud/electric pencil method I used on Pallet Lane as previously it worked well with the seep point motors which I am using again on this layout. I haven't fully wired up the frog feeds yet but to test it one of the mainline locos was used so 37029 had it's first run in nearly 2 years. I found a couple of dead sections due to 2 dry joints but other than that it all ran to plan. All being well I will set the layout up properly on Wednesday night with the fiddle yard as well so Alan can start working out the operating sequence and get some testing hours under the belt.  Over the next few weeks I hope to finish the "1st fix" scenery so I can crack on with the detailing.

 

 

[Andrew P]

Good to see some progress again Rob, it's coming on really well.

[37114]

4 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Good to see some progress again Rob, it's coming on really well.

Thanks Andy, I am really looking forward to getting stuck into some of the detail bits, plan is to have the layout exhibitable by January at the latest.

[andy stroud]

That looks good. I like the weathering on the wooden planks of the buidings and I do think the 37 looks good. I had been reluctant to have a split headcode 37 on my layout which is Western Region but I am reconsidering now!

Edited August 12, 2019 by andy stroud

[The Johnster]

Period of this layout seems to be mid 70s, and split headcode 37s were fairly common on some parts of the WR having worked through from off-region, mostly with freight trains.  The most usual route was the   ex-Midland to Gloucester, and then onward either towards Bristol or in the South Wales direction because no relieving loco was available at Gloucester.  Some even made it past Severn Tunnel Jc to Cardiff and even Margam.  They'd have been a bit less frequent on passenger workings to Bristol which is presumably the rationale for this one turning up at Parson's Vale carriage sidings, but it's by no means impossible.  

 

I imagine some must have got through to Didcot via Banbury as well.

[37114]

4 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Period of this layout seems to be mid 70s, and split headcode 37s were fairly common on some parts of the WR having worked through from off-region, mostly with freight trains.  The most usual route was the   ex-Midland to Gloucester, and then onward either towards Bristol or in the South Wales direction because no relieving loco was available at Gloucester.  Some even made it past Severn Tunnel Jc to Cardiff and even Margam.  They'd have been a bit less frequent on passenger workings to Bristol which is presumably the rationale for this one turning up at Parson's Vale carriage sidings, but it's by no means impossible.  

 

I imagine some must have got through to Didcot via Banbury as well.

 

Indeed, while unusual to see a split box 37 in Bristol, it certainly wasn't unheard of. I prefer the split box variants so there is some element of "rule 1" applying but I have seen photos of the 37s that appear on the layout (37029 & 032) in Bristol and in the case of 37032 there is a photo of it at Malago Vale albeit later on in its career.

[37114]

6 hours ago, andy stroud said:

That looks good. I like the weathering on the wooden planks of the buidings and I do think the 37 looks good. I had been reluctant to have a split headcode 37 on my layout which is Western Region but I am reconsidering now!

Thanks Andy. You know a split box 37 makes sense!

[Mulgabill]

11 hours ago, 37114 said:

Minor milestone tonight as after some concerted effort over the weekend the point motors are now all live and have been tested. I have used the stud/electric pencil method I used on Pallet Lane as previously it worked well with the seep point motors which I am using again on this layout. I haven't fully wired up the frog feeds yet but to test it one of the mainline locos was used so 37029 had it's first run in nearly 2 years. I found a couple of dead sections due to 2 dry joints but other than that it all ran to plan. All being well I will set the layout up properly on Wednesday night with the fiddle yard as well so Alan can start working out the operating sequence and get some testing hours under the belt.  Over the next few weeks I hope to finish the "1st fix" scenery so I can crack on with the detailing.

 

 

 

Hi Rob

Good to see some more progress, and the railway side of the fence is great. Especially the 37.

 

However in Pic 1, and to my eyes, the spade being used looks rather Germanic/European. A good

old British version would surely be shorter, and have a handle. Makes me suspect a Noch or Faller figure

rather than simply a gardener.

 

Just an observation, but if it jars with me it must with others, as I don't tend to see detail.

 

All the best

 

TONY

[37114]

3 hours ago, Mulgabill said:

 

Hi Rob

Good to see some more progress, and the railway side of the fence is great. Especially the 37.

 

However in Pic 1, and to my eyes, the spade being used looks rather Germanic/European. A good

old British version would surely be shorter, and have a handle. Makes me suspect a Noch or Faller figure

rather than simply a gardener.

 

Just an observation, but if it jars with me it must with others, as I don't tend to see detail.

 

All the best

 

TONY

Good point Tony, I hadn't spotted it myself but will have a go at shortening the handle, changing the head shape, etc. You are correct the figure is a Noch figure, he was left over from the building site set which had too many people to be realistic for my small house extension scene 

[37114]

Dave and Alan were round earlier in the week for our semi regular beer and modelling evenings. With the "functional" testing out of the way (i.e. it worked as it should do) I took the  opportunity to set the layout up so Alan could practise operating it and start doing some operational testing. Unfortunately the testing threw up a bit of an issue; certain moves cause buffer locking when propelling through the double slip.

The test loco we had been using was a class 47 which isn't the smallest of locos and we had been using a mix of MK1 CCT, an ex SR PMV and some Mk1 BG's. The CCT was the biggest problem with it's long overhang outside of the wheelbase, whereas the PMV and BG's had less swing but still weren't perfect

 

In designing the layout I had never envisaged that I would be facing this problem so with a spare half day holiday and an empty house I decided to investigate further. At this stage I have ruled out reverting to another type of coupling, or modifying the stock (e.g with bars between the buffers) as too costly/too much faff so have focusses on an operational solution.

 

The first step was to test the stock with a class 08 which will in reality do most of the shunting on the layout and didn't cause any problems. I experimented with some of the other locos with varying success but suffice to say it is probably a problem I will work round operationally, avoiding propelling from road 1 (the track nearest the houses) into road 2. Also certain locos (namely the class 47's and Hymek) will not be used to propel from the headshunt of road 2 into road 3.

 

Any way here are a few photos of the test session. I put the water tower in place to see how difficult it was to couple up on the dead end road.

 

 

 

After a while I fixed the lighting towers in place as the scenery at the back is mostly done bar the final detailing and I want to get the ground finished.

 

 

 

 

[Signaller69]

The layout looks fantastic from all angles Rob, which I think is often a difficult trick to pull off; I especially like the the last 2 "ground level" photos. Also the way the part-relief house backs blend with those on the backscene "across the road"; the wall colouring makes them gel really well together. 

 

Martyn.

[The Johnster]

The floodlight towers make a big difference, with the implication that we are looking at a busy 24/7 sort of operation here.  As has been said, the blending on model to backdrop is absolutely convincing as well.  Kudos, Rob!

[Andrew P]

This just oozes atmosphere, and I'm loving the up shots, really effective Rob.

 

Keep the pics coming.

[37114]

7 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

The layout looks fantastic from all angles Rob, which I think is often a difficult trick to pull off; I especially like the the last 2 "ground level" photos. Also the way the part-relief house backs blend with those on the backscene "across the road"; the wall colouring makes them gel really well together. 

 

Martyn.

Thanks Martyn, I am glad I made the effort with the baseboard to create the embankment. The Airfix kit is a great match for the houses over the road.

[37114]

5 hours ago, The Johnster said:

The floodlight towers make a big difference, with the implication that we are looking at a busy 24/7 sort of operation here.  As has been said, the blending on model to backdrop is absolutely convincing as well.  Kudos, Rob!

Thanks,  it is amazing the difference the floodlights make to the overall impression of the layout, plan is to have them working which should give the opportunity for some night time photos.