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

[Hroth]

7 minutes ago, Northroader said:

When you’re in a hole, Sem, stop digging.

 

I'd just hand the poor devil a bigger shovel, and watch the fun unfold! 

 

Muahahahaaaa!!!!!

[Annie]

1 hour ago, sem34090 said:

In my defence I didn't notice the subtleties of the fashion, taking it initially to be a mid-late 20th century photograph.

Well I think I could still carry a style of outfit like that one off quite well.  I've always been tall and thin, though my hair is now grey instead of brown.  I did have some mild steampunk dress up gear at one time which was elegant without being over the top, but there's no point in me indulging in posh retro clothing anymore since I don't go anywhere now and I spend so much time asleep.

 

Elegance, - there's so little of it around these days, - sigh.

 

[Hroth]

Is that the bridge of one of those Wolfenbach airships? 

[Annie]

As requested some screenshots of the substituted Midland coach on the PLL suburban service.  It's a corridor composite so plainly it must've been shunted out of somewhere in a hurry when a LMS steelside first in the set rake failed.  This is the only set on the suburban service which has a brake 3rd and three firsts so it must be a posh service for business folk.  Being a pre-group enthusiast I don't exactly have spare LMS coaches hanging around so I had to find something among my Midland coaches.  I don't have a great selection of Midland coaches since they usually run as attached coaches on my various pre-grouping layouts so the best I could do was the corridor composite. 

Ken Green is the coach's maker and he makes beautiful pre-grouping coaches.  His Midland series are older models now, but can certainly hold their own when compared to later models by other makers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it has lighting too.  Much more warm and friendly looking on a wet night than the LMS coaches it's coupled to.

 

Another failure I don't know how to fix yet is the LMS Black Five model made for the PLL layout.  Not exactly having LMS engines to spare I had to find a substitute and this very old Claughton model was all I had in my digital trainset box.  There are a lot of trains under AI control on the layout and if one, - or part of one is missing, - a session/driving task scenario won't work.  So fitting a substitute into the scenario is absolutely essential.  They really must have been stuck for an engine though when the regular Black Five failed to drag out this old Claughton to take the train. 

 

 

And to answer whether or not it is possible to dial the layout back to NSR times, - the answer is not really.  There are ex-NSR engine models available, but they are all in LMS unlined black.  And as for coaches there isn't anything available at all.  Master re-skinner Rob Dee did texture one of the ex-NSR engines into NSR livery for his own use, but I'm nowhere near good enough to do something like that.

 

 

 

[Annie]

31 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Is that the bridge of one of those Wolfenbach airships? 

Ah, another 'Girl Genius' fan.  Plainly a man of good taste and education.

 

The airship artwork is by a Russian artist who has done a massive series of illustrations of an alternative steampunk Victorian era.  That particular picture is a personal favourite of mine.

[Northroader]

Ps many happy page hundred returns.

[Annie]

Gosh, 100 pages!  Some way to go yet before I can rival the Castle Aching thread though.

 

Perhaps I need to post more pre-Raph pictures or spark off some controversial arguements discussions.  Only problem is being afflicted with a sleepy brain I lack the cutting wit and depth of memory for a good controversial discussion.

 

So perhaps I should stick to trains since I (mostly) know about those.

 

[Annie]

This is Darlington Works's promotional video on their ex-NSR engines.  Even if I can't retexture these models and make proper engines of them I could carefully edit them into working trains that are presently in charge of Fowler and Stanier LMS engines.  I shouldn't be bending history too much by doing that since the ex-NSR engines just didn't disappear overnight after the Grouping.

 

 

[Annie]

As nice as it was having the lovely old Midland composite running in PLL I found a pair of LMS period 1 non corridor firsts; - diagrams D1702 and D1761, - to replace the pair of faulty LMS period II non corridor firsts that had the mesh errors that I doubt that I can fix.  I like the idea of there being some period 1 coaches in the rakes of period II coaches, but I must try to restrain myself and not overegg the pudding.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

As nice as it was having the lovely old Midland composite running in PLL I found a pair of LMS period 1 non corridor firsts; - diagrams D1702 and D1761, - to replace the pair of faulty LMS period II non corridor firsts that had the mesh errors that I doubt that I can fix.  I like the idea of there being some period 1 coaches in the rakes of period II coaches, but I must try to restrain myself and not overegg the pudding.

 

That corridor composite is very nice - though I do prefer the red of the LMS carriages - but the Period 1 non-corridors will be even more the thing.

 

Have you noticed there's a lot of Knotty on RMWeb at the moment?

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Have you noticed there's a lot of Knotty on RMWeb at the moment?

No I haven't, but then I do tend to live under a rock a bit and not explore other topics all that much.

I shall have to go and have a look.

[Annie]

I do own an ex-NSR class 'B' got up rather magnificently in LMS red, but they were one NSR class that disappeared very early and it would be well out of date if I ran it on PLL.

 

[RedGemAlchemist]

9 hours ago, Annie said:

 

Aah, Peter Barnfield. A significant inspiration for my own work. You have excellent taste as always Annie. 

 

And I also read Girl Genius sometimes. Funny stuff. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by RedGemAlchemist
Realised my phone autocorrected "Barnfield" to "Bamfield" for some reason. Oops

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Aah, Peter Bamfield. A significant inspiration for my own work. You have excellent taste as always Annie. 

 

And I also read Girl Genius sometimes. Funny stuff. 

I would dearly love to do a layout based on Peter Barnfield's drawings, but I feel that wonderful air of whimsical decrepitude would be a difficult quality to properly capture in a digital model.

[RedGemAlchemist]

53 minutes ago, Annie said:

I would dearly love to do a layout based on Peter Barnfield's drawings, but I feel that wonderful air of whimsical decrepitude would be a difficult quality to properly capture in a digital model.

Indeed. And without his drawings to inspire me alongside Colonel Stephens, my own KLR would not be the way it is. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by RedGemAlchemist

[Northroader]

He tends to draw on two sources, Roland Emett and Heath Robinson. I’m a big fan of Emett, but not the other, so bits of Whimshire I really enjoy, other bits turn me off.

and in the meantime, something in Victoria Brown, rather than red.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Northroader

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 minute ago, Northroader said:

He tends to draw on two sources

Tended. Sadly he passed away in August last year. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by RedGemAlchemist

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

He tends to draw on two sources, Roland Emett and Heath Robinson. I’m a big fan of Emett, but not the other, so bits of Whimshire I really enjoy, other bits turn me off.

and in the meantime, something in Victoria Brown, rather than red.

Paul of Paulz Trainz did have a class 'B' in NSR livery, but he suffered a major meltdown on one of his hard drives a while ago and he doesn't have it anymore.

 

Possibly a wild idea, but I did wonder about taking PLL back in time.  The layout is set in 1938, but I might be able to go back a few years by changing the engines and rolling stock.  I would be making another wild assumption that the railway infrastructure would be mostly the same along with the surrounding townscape, but I guess I can cope with that.  I could change the P II and P III coaches for P 1 coaches and if I change out the engines for ex-NSR and ex-LNWR ones I might be able to do it.  The situation with LNWR engine models isn't great, but I might be able to just squeak it. I might have to accept the signals as they are as well since there's nothing that can replace the many specially created signals on PLL.

I only have LNWR and Midland coaches in pre-grouping liveries since there's no post grouping versions of these coaches available; - and as I mentioned before there's no NSR coaches available at all.  Sooooo it would have to be P 1 coaches unless I want to get into a major coach retexturing session which appeals as much as a poke in the eye at the moment.

 

This old Claughton model isn't the best in the world, but it now has the correct sound file so it sounds magnificent.  There is a later Claughton model by another maker, but I've mentioned his habit before of building an impossible shine into his model meshes and using brass numbers which just look wrong.  On his Claughton model the piston rods don't even line up with the outside cylinders properly, which along with the other faults I've mentioned put his model right out of the game.

So for the present time the old TS2004 model can do the honors and if I do take PLL back a few years it will most probably stay on.

 

 

[sem34090]

It does look strange seeing a Claughton on MK1 stock.

[Annie]

1 minute ago, sem34090 said:

It does look strange seeing a Claughton on MK1 stock.

Tut tut young man.  That is LMS Stanier P III stock not Mk 1's.  I don't own any Mk 1's.

 

But I do agree it is an odd sight to see a Claughton in such company.  The Black 5 made especially for this layout has a number of faults in TANE that I can't fix so I had to substitute the Claughton since I didn't have any other spare LMS engines in my digital trainset box.  With its new sound file it does sound wonderful though and it's certainly up to the task.

[sem34090]

24 minutes ago, Annie said:

Tut tut young man.  That is LMS Stanier P III stock not Mk 1's.  I don't own any Mk 1's.

I hate to say it... But....

This is a PIII Vehicle -

[Annie]

4 hours ago, sem34090 said:

I hate to say it... But....

This is a PIII Vehicle -

Then I must offer you a most sincere apology Sem.  I had downloaded the latest upgrade pack for PLL, but because I'm not at all used to 'modern' coaches I fell into the easy assumption that because the makers of PLL said they were P III coaches that they were.  Today these imposters shall die horribly and will be replaced by P1 corridor coaches.

The horror of it, - I was running Mk1 coaches.  I could have caught BR Blue disease from them.  

[Hroth]

32 minutes ago, Annie said:

The horror of it, - I was running Mk1 coaches.  I could have caught BR Blue disease from them.  

 

There there.....

 

You should be safe enough with Mk1 coaches built between 1951 and 1960, although they would have been run behind (deep breath) Green Diesels, they would also have been Steam Hauled. To be extra sure, choose the Blood'n'Custard livery for safety!

 

You'd only be veering into the Big Blue Meany territory if you had blue&grey stock...

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Hroth
a little bit of emphasis for steam!

[Annie]

8 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

There there.....

 

You should be safe enough with Mk1 coaches built between 1951 and 1960, although they would have been run behind (deep breath) Green Diesels, they would also have been steam hauled. To be extra sure, choose the Blood'n'Custard livery for safety!

 

You'd only be veering into the Big Blue Meany territory if you had blue&grey stock...

 

 

 

The strange thing is on doing some checking I found that there are properly correct LMS P III coaches available in Blood & Custard; - so why didn't the PLL team come to an arrangement with their maker and have them retextured into LMS livery.  

And you have now reassured me Mr Hroth that I have little to fear from those who worship the demon Beeching and all his works. 

[sem34090]

Apologies for raising the concern, but I thought it was for the best.