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

[Annie]

The layout's builder agrees that NCB sidings would be an unusual sight anywhere on the Southern Region, but Trainz has more resources for coal related industries than anything else so King Coal got the vote.

 

This is a view across the sidings with the wharf across the aisle visible in the background.  Those two blood & custard coaches might be a bit posh for a workman's train though.  The engines and rolling stock presently on the layout were placed there by the builder for testing purposes and might not be entirely appropriate for the early BR era.

 

 

In other news my copy of 'Railways of Sussex' arrived today and my first impression of it is a good one.  Plenty of interesting pictures, though the minor railways are done a bit quickly for my liking.  As a softcover book it's a little on the cheap and cheerful side, but still worth having on the bookshelf.

 

Edited March 13 by Annie
added a picture, wrote more words

[Northroader]

 

Annie, when they first tried digging the Channel Tunnel in Victorian times, they found a coal seam, so this led to the development of coal mines in East Kent, and so it is possible to find NCB sidings on the Southern, if only limited. From a rail fan / modeller point of view, this led to the East Kent Railway, a Colonel Stephen’s job. So to Wingham Canterbury Road, my kind of station.

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/wingham_canterbury_road/

 

 

 

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

 

Annie, when they first tried digging the Channel Tunnel in Victorian times, they found a coal seam, so this led to the development of coal mines in East Kent, and so it is possible to find NCB sidings on the Southern, if only limited. From a rail fan / modeller point of view, this led to the East Kent Railway, a Colonel Stephen’s job. So to Wingham Canterbury Road, my kind of station.

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/wingham_canterbury_road/

 

 

 

Of course, - Tilmanstone Colliery!  Somehow it slipped my mind that it was in Kent.  Thanks for jogging my memory into a functional condition again.

 

 

https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/COLONEL-STEPHENS-RAILWAY-EMPIRE/A-COLONEL-STEPHENS-RAILWAY-THE-EAST-KENT-LIGHT-

RAILWAY/i-dBjzbkv/A

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Coalfield

 

Edited March 13 by Annie
Added a link

[Tom Burnham]

Snowdown colliery was right next to the Faversham to Dover main line.  Tilmanstone and Betteshanger collieries were a bit off the main line - Tilmanstone was up the East Kent Railway as you say.

Edited March 13 by Tom Burnham
Autocorrect of Snowdown.

[Annie]

Midnight Broad Gauge Cheer Up Pictures: Photos courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society.  Two for the price of one.

 

 'Courier' circa 1878.

 

'Courier' circa 1880.

[magmouse]

It's still morning here in London, but the cheering effect is still powerful!

 

Thanks for posting -

 

Nick.

[MikeOxon]

46 minutes ago, Annie said:

Midnight Broad Gauge Cheer Up Pictures: Photos courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society.  Two for the price of one.

 

Good to have both sides of same engine

[Annie]

13 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

Good to have both sides of same engine

A rare thing to find with 19th century locomotives.  Often one side is all you get.

 

Afternoon Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  'Crimea' circa 1878.  Photo courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society.

 

[Annie]

Afternoon Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  'Fenton' in later life as the station pilot for Newton Abbot.  Notably equipped with double buffers so she could bunt those horrible coal cart gauge wagons around.  'Fenton' was one of the "Hawthorn" class, built by Stothert, Slaughter & Co of Bristol.  Later members of her class were built at Swindon.  Along with eight of her sisters she made it to the final days of the Broad Gauge.  😭

Edit: Possibly this photo was taken at the western end of Taunton station.

(Photo courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society)

Edited March 17 by Annie
More words needed.

[Annie]

Early Morning Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  Not a 'Hawthorn'.  Ex-B&ER No.2019.  One of 10 locomotives built 1870-1872.  Withdrawn 1889, though others of her sisters made it to the end of the Broad Gauge  😭

 

(Picture courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society)

Edited March 18 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

Afternoon Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  ex-B&ER No.2021 seen here at Chippenham in May 1892.  Looking a little rough about the edges, but still with bit of  a shine on her.  I think I may have posted this photo before, but since it's a favourite of mine and I like it you'll just have to put up with it.

I really like these B&ER engines and if I could afford it I would love to commision a digital model for Trainz.

 

(Picture courtesy of the Broad Gauge Society)

 

 

I haven't been doing anything with my projects lately.  My daughter had a fall and hit her head ending up with concussion and a cut on her forehead that needed stitches.  With the stress of it all I haven't ended up all that well myself.  My daughter is doing better now though and she had the stitches removed yesterday.  I don't think she's going to end up with much of a scar which is good.

Edited March 19 by Annie
To boldly go......

[MikeOxon]

I'm pleased to read that your daughter has recovered well from her fall.  One of the (many) annoying facets of ageing is that the risks from falls become of increasing concern.  One can be knocked off balance rather too easily and the consequences can be more severe.

 

I agree that, although many B&ER engines are generally similar to GWR counterparts, they do still manage to maintain their own 'character'

[Annie]

14 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

I'm pleased to read that your daughter has recovered well from her fall.  One of the (many) annoying facets of ageing is that the risks from falls become of increasing concern.  One can be knocked off balance rather too easily and the consequences can be more severe.

Thanks Mike, my daughter is just about back to being her old self again, but it could have been a lot worse.  We don't bounce and shrug it off so easily as we get older and that's a concern for me with having type 1 narcolepsy.

 

21 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

I agree that, although many B&ER engines are generally similar to GWR counterparts, they do still manage to maintain their own 'character'

True enough even after rebuilding once they became GWR property the ex-B&ER engines still kept their own essential character.  I make no secret of the fact that out of all the Broad Gauge railways it's the B&ER that I like best.

[MikeOxon]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

I make no secret of the fact that out of all the Broad Gauge railways it's the B&ER that I like best.

 

Nothing to be afraid of 'coming out' over.  I recall being completely awe-struck the first time I saw a photo one of those original Pearson 9ft singles.  As with the Dinosaurs, which fascinate my grand-children so much, I can't help thinking "could such things really have existed?".  Perhaps I should pluck up courage and have a go at modelling one - the engine not a dinosaur 😀

[Annie]

7 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

I recall being completely awe-struck the first time I saw a photo one of those original Pearson 9ft singles. 

It was seeing a photo of one of the Pearson singles in a book in the school library when I was in my teens that was the spark that ignited my interest in the Broad Gauge.

 

8ft 10in Pearson 4-2-4T no. 2002 (previously no. 40) at Exeter in 1876. (Unknown Author, Public Domain image, Wikipedia)

[MikeOxon]

39 minutes ago, Annie said:

8ft 10in Pearson 4-2-4T no. 2002 (previously no. 40) at Exeter in 1876.

By then, a pale shadow of the original 9-foot engines, as built by Rothwell in 1853/4

 

 

Mike

[Annie]

7 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

By then, a pale shadow of the original 9-foot engines, as built by Rothwell in 1853/4

I really must agree on that point Mike.  They were absolutely incredible.

[Annie]

Evening GWR Cheer Up Picture;  Exeter depot 1905.  The alert among you will have already noticed the baulk road track on the RHS of this old photo.  It's believed that the photo was taken from the top of the water tower.

 

[Compound2632]

11 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

By then, a pale shadow of the original 9-foot engines, as built by Rothwell in 1853/4

 

But at least the later engines had a handrail for the walkway over the top of the driving wheel!

[Annie]

12 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

But at least the later engines had a handrail for the walkway over the top of the driving wheel!

Yes I noticed that.  Walking those footboards on the 9ft single would be an an alarming experience once it was under way.

[Compound2632]

32 minutes ago, Annie said:

Yes I noticed that.  Walking those footboards on the 9ft single would be an an alarming experience once it was under way.

 

i was thinking that; there appears to be nothing to hold onto at hand-height. i was coming to the conclusion the footboard was there to make it possible to reach up high enough to oil the bearing; apart from that it provided a step up to the cab at one end and the front footplating at the other. it's interesting, though, how few 19th century locomotives had steps near the leading end, given that the motion needed to be oiled - one scrambled up using the buffers, I suppose. On the Midland (and I think elsewhere), front steps were fitted from 1903 onwards. Whilst not a requirement introduced under the Board of Trade's powers under the Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900, it does look like self-improvement to preempt legal compulsion.

[MikeOxon]

no wimps in 1850

[Compound2632]

43 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

no wimps in 1850

 

No statutory compensation for industrial accidents, either!

[Annie]

Morning Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  Here's another single driver locomotive designed by Pearson and built by Rothwell & Co of Bolton in the 1850s.

The photo shows this pretty little 2-2-2 well tank as it was in October 1859.  She became GWR 2057 and was withdrawn in 1880.

And you've guessed it, - I would love to have a model of No.58 made for the Trainz simulator.

 

 

 

[Caley Jim]

6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

On the Midland (and I think elsewhere), front steps were fitted from 1903 onwards.

From the Connor era (post-1856) onwards CR locos had front steps.  On the 'Crewe type' 2-2-2s and 2-4-0s they were over the axlebox of the leading wheels, while on the 0-4-2s they were incorporated into the slidebar supports at the cylinder end.   Drummond designs weren't fitted with them at first, but they were added later in most cases.

 

Jim