Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Annie]

Continuing on at Yarmouth Vauxhall with attempting to make a working goods yard from the pile of random trackwork the layout's original creator had laid down.  In some ways doing Yarmouth Vauxhall first will be good practice for me when I come to do the same thing at Norwich Thorpe.

 

From Yarmouth Vauxhall the line takes the Berney Arms-Reedham-Cantley-Buckenham Wherry lines route to Norwich Thorpe with the line via Lingwood disappearing into a portal and any train going that way being transported by inexplicable magic towards Norwich. 

 

1907 OS Map

 

All still very much WIP.  The station buildings and platforms are in a part dismantled state and still need attending to.

 

The amazing turntable giving access to the coal yard.  I think some further adjustment will be needed, but by the time I set this up I was fast running out of spoons and needed to sleep.

 

I haven't made a start on sorting this side of the yard yet.  I changed the engine shed for something closer to the actual size of the one at Yarmouth Vauxhall.

[Adam88]

A thread started by @Andy Kirkham will likely appeal to haunters of this one ... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/179855-yours-sincerely-c-hamilton-ellis/

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Adam88

[Annie]

11 hours ago, Adam88 said:

A thread started by @Andy Kirkham will likely appeal to haunters of this one ... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/179855-yours-sincerely-c-hamilton-ellis/

Thanks for that Adam, - all very interesting.

[Annie]

First look at the beta version of No.34.  I borrowed the TANE version of St. Ives on an older version of the Cornish Mainline.  At present it's still running on the '633' class's engine spec due to the proper engine spec still being in preparation, but even so No.34 was 'steaming for Britain' and had no difficulty with the St. Ives gradients.

My present job is to mount the engine's cab interior correctly and check that all the internal camera positions are working as they should as well as generally cast an eye over everything to see if there's anything out of place.

 

 

At Carbis Bay.

[Annie]

Latest spot of silly nonsense, - attempting to get a driveable bus functioning correctly.  That engine sound file seriously needs some attention.  And the hedge on that corner has since been cut back to clear the road.

 

 

[Edwardian]

Excellent, Bertie the 'Bus.

 

You can race Thomas now!

 

[MikeOxon]

12 hours ago, Annie said:

Latest spot of silly nonsense, - attempting to get a driveable bus functioning correctly.  That engine sound file seriously needs some attention.  And the hedge on that corner has since been cut back to clear the road.

 

 

What time period are we supposed to be?  Flashing indicators did not appear in Britain until mid to late 50s.

[Annie]

41 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Excellent, Bertie the 'Bus.

 

You can race Thomas now!

 

The layout I'm messing about on is a rather good representation of Knapford pre-1956, - so yes it's a TtTE layout which would almost be perfect for Thomas racing if it had a good long run somewhere as in the lovely illustration you provided.

I've always held to the Railway Series stories as those were the ones I read to my children when they were small.  I have a 'collected works' book on my bookshelf which has all of the Railway Series books carefully gathered together within its covers.  My view has always been that if events claimed by Thomas devotees aren't recorded in the Railway Series books then they are anathema and the scribblings of heretics.  Even so a simple seeming question such as what did Knapford look like is fraught with problems which would confound the wise as the station and its yard developed and changed over time.

 

However it does seem that what I've found is reasonably correct for an early version of Knapford.  That said though I have committed a despicable act in the eyes of Thomas devotes in that I have converted the layout to have more of a GER appearance.  The one thing Thomas devotees working in Trainz seem able to do it build is up wonderfully detailed towns and rural landscapes even if things on the railway side of things often stray into the decidedly strange.

I have 'borrowed' towns built by Thomas devotees before this and adapted them to my own layouts simply because they are far better than anything I could do and this is what I've done here with Knapford.  It has now become Mumble with the town and its railway hidden somewhere in a fold in the map of Norfolk. 

Apart from the railway alterations I have also updated all the trees and shrubs on the layout since the originals were from TS2009 and didn't look so good in TANE.

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

What time period are we supposed to be?  Flashing indicators did not appear in Britain until mid to late 50s.

The layout itself is intended to be pre-1956 Mike, but I'm taking it back to pre-war days.  The driveable Daimler bus is the only one i could find at short notice, but I'm sure if I hunted around I could find something older.  It is a nice piece of digital model making though with its working indicators and brake lights.

[Edwardian]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

 

The layout I'm messing about on is a rather good representation of Knapford pre-1956, - so yes it's a TtTE layout which would almost be perfect for Thomas racing if it had a good long run somewhere as in the lovely illustration you provided.

 

There is a scene, I think on the mainline, where Bertie is chasing Edward with some of his passengers, and the illustration IIRC looks down on the station from where the road climbs up over the tunnel. The start of your video instantly reminded me of this as it looked to me like the same place from the opposing viewpoint. 

 

1 hour ago, Annie said:

I've always held to the Railway Series stories as those were the ones I read to my children when they were small.  I have a 'collected works' book on my bookshelf which has all of the Railway Series books carefully gathered together within its covers.  My view has always been that if events claimed by Thomas devotees aren't recorded in the Railway Series books then they are anathema and the scribblings of heretics.  

 

Quite so.

 

And the invented unrailway-like stories and made up television engines simply do not exist in my mind. Like the so-called Tolkien adaptation, Amazon's Rings of Hubris and the Disney so-called Star Wars trilogy; I simply refuse to permit their existence. They no more than the rumours of heresy in the ranting mouths of the delusionally insane.  

 

 

1 hour ago, Annie said:

 

However it does seem that what I've found is reasonably correct for an early version of Knapford.  That said though I have committed a despicable act in the eyes of Thomas devotes in that I have converted the layout to have more of a GER appearance.  The one thing Thomas devotees working in Trainz seem able to do it build is up wonderfully detailed towns and rural landscapes even if things on the railway side of things often stray into the decidedly strange.

I have 'borrowed' towns built by Thomas devotees before this and adapted them to my own layouts simply because they are far better than anything I could do and this is what I've done here with Knapford.  It has now become Mumble with the town and its railway hidden somewhere in a fold in the map of Norfolk. 

Apart from the railway alterations I have also updated all the trees and shrubs on the layout since the originals were from TS2009 and didn't look so good in TANE.

 

 

 

The layout itself is intended to be pre-1956 Mike, but I'm taking it back to pre-war days.  The driveable Daimler bus is the only one i could find at short notice, but I'm sure if I hunted around I could find something older.  It is a nice piece of digital model making though with its working indicators and brake lights.

 

Beautiful

[Annie]

13 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Quite so.

 

And the invented unrailway-like stories and made up television engines simply do not exist in my mind. Like the so-called Tolkien adaptation, Amazon's Rings of Hubris and the Disney so-called Star Wars trilogy; I simply refuse to permit their existence. They no more than the rumours of heresy in the ranting mouths of the delusionally insane.  

 

I agree on all three counts James.  The desire of modern day media barons to take something good and then strangle the life out of it in order to make themselves yet more money simply proves to me how unprincipled they are and that all their taste is in their mouths.

 

29 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

There is a scene, I think on the mainline, where Bertie is chasing Edward with some of his passengers, and the illustration IIRC looks down on the station from where the road climbs up over the tunnel. The start of your video instantly reminded me of this as it looked to me like the same place from the opposing viewpoint. 

I've just re-read 'Bertie's Chase' in my 'Complete Collection' book and I see  what you mean.  I freely admit that I was smiling as I read the story and perhaps it's about time that I read some of the stories again.

 

33 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Beautiful

I've had a couple of bad days with not being well so it was a wonderful distraction for me to work on this lovely layout as a way to take my mind off things.  It's built on a standard sized Trainz 750 metre X 750 metre baseboard and it very much proves the point that there's no need to build huge 100 mile long Trainz layouts in order to have fun.

 

Thinking about buses I was reminded of the driveable traction engines and trailers that my friend Graham from the creator group made.  Tragically Graham died of COVID complications last year so it was a bittersweet moment when I took his models out of my digital trainset box.

One of the trailers was a passenger carriage so I thought I'd give it a try.  Unfortunately the traction engines will only work with the steam controls so I can't use them to provide a local passenger service using an AI schedule, but then I like to drive using the steam controls so I guess I'll cope.  The traction engines need a careful hand on the controls though as they'll suddenly race away if given too much steam.

The Daimler buses will do for now despite being a slight anachronism.  They are set up to have the choice of a dozen different bus company liveries and it's not possible to specify which one should be selected when running the passenger schedule.  So that means that the travelling public at Mumble town are going to be spoilt for choice until I can figure something out.

 

 

 

 

 

[Edwardian]

There was a rather CofE soundtrack to that, surely fitting as Trevor the Traction Engine represented one saved by the Fat Clergyman, the Rev. Teddy Boston, who, as a child, I did meet. 

 

[Annie]

30 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

There was a rather CofE soundtrack to that, surely fitting as Trevor the Traction Engine represented one saved by the Fat Clergyman, the Rev. Teddy Boston, who, as a child, I did meet

The church seen in the background of one of the pictures has a organ music sound file that gets played in rotation.  One of the traction engine trailers that I have is setup to carry a load of fairly sizeable logs so perhaps I'll have to place it somewhere about the layout coupled up to the shiney black traction engine in my collection to give a nod towards Trevor the Traction Engine.

[Adam88]

23 hours ago, Annie said:

Latest spot of silly nonsense, - attempting to get a driveable bus functioning correctly.  That engine sound file seriously needs some attention.  And the hedge on that corner has since been cut back to clear the road.

 

 

 

Phew, I was worried it might stop as it crossed the bridge.

 

[Hroth]

Really, it should be a Bedford OB, adorned in the Pearce&Crump Blue and Cream livery. Ideal for racing a 14xx around the place....

 

[Edwardian]

27 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Really, it should be a Bedford OB, adorned in the Pearce&Crump Blue and Cream livery. Ideal for racing a 14xx around the place....

 

 

Well, if we're talking Evil 'Buses ....

 

[Annie]

Some snaps I took while messing around at Mumble Junction.  The quality of RWS models has improved greatly since Trainz TS2009 when I first discovered the Sudrian models that were being produced back then.  Unfortunately the same can't be said for anything inspired by the CGI era as most of it is brightly coloured ill proportioned rubbish that has little to do with the Isle of Sodor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hroth]

On 20/06/2023 at 08:45, Edwardian said:

 

Well, if we're talking Evil 'Buses ....

 

 

That's an intrinsically EVIL bus with nothing good to be said for it. The Bedford OB was an innocent youngster who fell amongst Bad Men and crashed by them into a Black Maria....

 

[Annie]

This small layout is set up with portal tracks at the end of the branchline track as well as at the eastern and western end of the mainline.  That's more or less alright should anyone want to setup a basic AI schedule to run everything, - only I would like to make it a little more workable by adding return loop sidings so that the layout becomes more interesting to operate.  I've done that before on some of my other layouts and my Norfolk layout in particular has had portals largely replaced by the use of return loop sidings.

[Edwardian]

33 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

That's an intrinsically EVIL bus with nothing good to be said for it. The Bedford OB was an innocent youngster who fell amongst Bad Men and crashed by them into a Black Maria....

 

 

Bulgy was, unusually for the Reverend, a character beyond redemption, unless that was to be achieved only after years of purgatorial hen keeping. .

 

I must, however, have missed the Titfield sequel that charts the OB's redemption arc, Beyond the Thunderbolt.

[figworthy]

8 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Bulgy was, unusually for the Reverend, a character beyond redemption, unless that was to be achieved only after years of purgatorial hen keeping. .

 

I must, however, have missed the Titfield sequel that charts the OB's redemption arc, Beyond the Thunderbolt.

 

You need to look for "Thunderbolt's Last Run".

 

Adrian

[figworthy]

16 hours ago, Annie said:

 

 

The Figworthy Quarry Company lives !

 

Adrian

[Annie]

Quietly now you might wake him up.  It's becoming more difficult to find the classic Railway Series models for Trainz and it was quite a hunt to find James.  A creator who goes by the name of wildnorwester seems to be keeping the flag flying for these older models.  When I found this James model there were a number of variations with it which followed the changes and alterations recorded in the books and interestingly there was also a version in L&YR livery. 

 

 

I chose a later version with sandboxes, but I might come back and have a look at the L&Y model again.  Some of the other RWS engines are available in pre-grouping liveries with Edward being available in Furness livery, Toby available in LNER and GER livery and Thomas in at least two LB&SC liveries.  Percy is available in various 'what-if' liveries and you would have already seen the GWR green variant on the layout.

I know I seem to have gone back to my second childhood, but with not being well at the moment I needed a small sized cheer up project to keep my spirits up.

 

I've been able to put the basic loops in at each end of the main line, but the branchline is going to need a bit more figuring out.  The eastern loop was fairly easy to hide since there was a tunnel through a hill for it to hide behind, but the western end needed a few more trees planting here and there to mask the loop's presence.  I'm planning on adding an extra loop siding as well as some extra cassette sidings to hold rolling stock and set piece trains, but to begin with I'll keep it fairly simple.

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Annie
More information

[Hroth]

When Hornby had the "Thomas" franchise, and before prices became silly expensive, I made a small collection of the core locos* and occasionally get them out to run as if they are "real" engines, so you're not alone!  Unlike Thomas and Percy, who appeared in sets and are still reasonably common, engines like James are rarer and are pricy.  For coaches, I intensely dislike the Hornby attempt at Annie and Claribel, and use their generic pre-grouping 4 wheelers in GNR livery as replacements. Bogie coaches are represented using the otherwise toylike Hornby Thompsons which look a bit more like the book illustrations!

 

Errr..  What were you saying about regression???  🤪

 

* Apart from Gordon.  Like Churchward, I've no real use for a Pacific. Edward and Henry are adequate for passenger services and James is a fine mixed traffic loco!

 

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

When Hornby had the "Thomas" franchise, and before prices became silly expensive, I made a small collection of the core locos* and occasionally get them out to run as if they are "real" engines, so you're not alone!  Unlike Thomas and Percy, who appeared in sets and are still reasonably common, engines like James are rarer and are pricy.  For coaches, I intensely dislike the Hornby attempt at Annie and Claribel, and use their generic pre-grouping 4 wheelers in GNR livery as replacements. Bogie coaches are represented using the otherwise toylike Hornby Thompsons which look a bit more like the book illustrations!

 

Errr..  What were you saying about regression???  🤪

 

* Apart from Gordon.  Like Churchward, I've no real use for a Pacific. Edward and Henry are adequate for passenger services and James is a fine mixed traffic loco!

 

The whole point of it is to have fun and gathering together these older RWS engines for Trainz has definitely been a fun exercise and a pleasant distraction.  I think I might have found good models for both Gordon and Henry which wasn't that easy.  I'm not really sure what to do with a Pacific either, but I suppose I can have Gordon rush through the station non-stop with an express once a day and leave it at that.  From what I've seen Henry might be available in his early form as well as in a rebuilt state.  Could be worth thinking about since I've already got Edward in an original ex-Furness condition.

I very much wanted James for his mixed traffic abilities so I'm glad I've got that sorted now.

 

From memory one of the RWS books illustrated Annie and Clarabelle as being bogie coaches and I did manage to find a pair of very nice bogie coaches by Cameron Scott with their names accurately rendered on their sides.  I'm of a mind to keep them as most of the 4 wheel Annie & Clarabelle coaches available are based on the early TV series coaches and aren't all that much to write home about.

Cameron Scott is best known for his lovely pre-grouping locomotives and goods wagons, but he did also make a fairly sizeable collection of Sodor Railways rolling stock models as well.  The red quarry company wagons, the milk van, the brown suburban coaches and the Fred Pelhay coal wagon in the pictures I posted are his work.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

* Apart from Gordon.  Like Churchward, I've no real use for a Pacific. 

 

As the Fat Controller says, "I never did like these big engines - always going wrong."