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

[Compound2632]

From the National Collection, I gather. Let's hope the amazing Didcot carriage restoration team can do more for it than the NRM has - but at least NRM kept it dry.

 

Reading the DRC Facebook page, there's a lot of folk who don't recognise a luggage compartment when they see one - tosh about ladies' only half-compartment!

[Annie]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Reading the DRC Facebook page, there's a lot of folk who don't recognise a luggage compartment when they see one - tosh about ladies' only half-compartment!

Yes I saw that, -  poor souls who are sadly deficient in their education and don't know what a luggage composite is.  Must be BR Blue and/or modern error enthusiasts.

 

As for the NRM having kept it dry and under cover let's hope that's going to continue at Didcot.  There's altogether too many rare carriages composting on preservation society sidings with little hope of ever being restored.

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Annie said:

Yes I saw that, -  poor souls who are sadly deficient in their education and don't know what a luggage composite is.  Must be BR Blue and/or modern error enthusiasts.

 

They're GWR enthusiasts of the Castle-and-cream-tea sort. One can't complain (well, I did) if they help fill the DRC's coffers!

 

5 minutes ago, Annie said:

As for the NRM having kept it dry and under cover let's hope that's going to continue at Didcot.  There's altogether too many rare carriages composting on preservation society sidings with little hope of ever being restored.

 

The people at Didcot have an excellent track record when it comes to carriage restoration. Maybe @K14 can comment on where this carriage might stand in the queue?

 

I note that some of this diagram were converted to camping coaches, I'm guessing this was one, which might explain its survival, though it is said to have done time in departmental use. Unfortunately that would suggest the interior has been stripped of any original fittings.

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

I note that some of this diagram were converted to camping coaches, I'm guessing this was one, which might explain its survival, though it is said to have done time in departmental use. Unfortunately that would suggest the interior has been stripped of any original fittings.

Yes No.9962 converted to a camping coach in 1934.  Unfortunately the interior would be long gone now.

[Edwardian]

2 hours ago, Annie said:

Yes I saw that, -  poor souls who are sadly deficient in their education and don't know what a luggage composite is.  Must be BR Blue and/or modern error enthusiasts.

 

As for the NRM having kept it dry and under cover let's hope that's going to continue at Didcot.  There's altogether too many rare carriages composting on preservation society sidings with little hope of ever being restored.

 

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

They're GWR enthusiasts of the Castle-and-cream-tea sort. One can't complain (well, I did) if they help fill the DRC's coffers!

 

 

The people at Didcot have an excellent track record when it comes to carriage restoration. Maybe @K14 can comment on where this carriage might stand in the queue?

 

I note that some of this diagram were converted to camping coaches, I'm guessing this was one, which might explain its survival, though it is said to have done time in departmental use. Unfortunately that would suggest the interior has been stripped of any original fittings.

 

I was a great fan of the GWR as a lad. My books and models reflected that. I was a product of visiting the Devon preserved lines every year and, once, the Severn Valley.

 

The books I read told the story of the GWR, but it is only later in life that I realised they really mainly told the story of Swindon's Great Western.  There is Broad Gauge and then Swindon standard gauge.  Brunel-Gooch-Dean-Churchward. The latter leads into the familiar inter-war GWR, the WR and the preserved GWR, which all share the 'classic GW look'. That was the focus.

 

Didcot, and I love that place dearly, perpetuates this. There is all the wonderful BG stuff at the end of the site and a Great War design Loan Act steam shed full of Collett engines/engines of that Churchward-Collett appearance.  The Dean era does rather better in the carriage than the loco shed, but is still represented. This is not a criticism. Didcot is a (quite wonderful) preservation and museum site and it is based around what has survived. It does, however, whether by accident or design, conform to that more selective presentation of GWR history that I was familiar with from the books of my childhood. 

 

But what of that other GWR? Armstrong, Wolverhampton, the Northern Division (mostly SG from the first)?  It's rather dropped out of sight as part of the GW story. .  

 

Then there is the point Stephen makes; for many, most, the GWR starts with Churchward's Saint, though is probably even then loved mainly as a Grouping Railway and as the wayward WR (which, as all Swindon men knew, was the same thing, really). 

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

The people at Didcot have an excellent track record when it comes to carriage restoration. Maybe @K14 can comment on where this carriage might stand in the queue?

 

I wasn't meaning to harshly criticise Didcot as I know they've done some amazing work with their restorations.  I suppose I'm a bit sensitive about rare rolling stock left to rot as here in NZ the NZ Railways gifted several rare items of rolling stock from the 1910-1920s to a preservation society who left them to rot in a siding and then scrapped them when they fell apart making for a total loss of a significant part of our railway history.

[Annie]

5 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

But what of that other GWR? Armstrong, Wolverhampton, the Northern Division (mostly SG from the first)?  It's rather dropped out of sight as part of the GW story.

All too true unfortunately.

[Regularity]

3 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Then there is the point Stephen makes; for many, most, the GWR starts with Churchward's Saint, though is probably even then loved mainly as a Grouping Railway and as the wayward WR (which, as all Swindon men knew, was the same thing, really). 

 

3 hours ago, Annie said:

All too true unfortunately.

As a child, I had a copy of the Hamlyn Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Railways, by Hamilton Ellis, no less.

One thing I remember from it was a quoted conversation with Sir William, when asked about the tradition of loco building/design going back to Dean. “Dean?” he barked. “It was Gooch, man, Gooch.”

Maybe for Swindon, maybe for the 4-6-0s, but the genesis of the smaller locos was Wolverhampton, not Swindon. Wolverhampton’s basic designs, updated new modernised with pannier tanks, formed the basis for the 1600 pannier tanks and the 4800/5800 tanks. The Armstrong goods led naturally to the Dean goods, thence the 2251 as a final development. The prairies led to the modules, but the prairies started off in Wolverhampton.

[Compound2632]

23 minutes ago, Regularity said:

the tradition of loco building/design going back to Dean. “Dean?” he barked. “It was Gooch, man, Gooch.”

Maybe for Swindon, maybe for the 4-6-0s, but the genesis of the smaller locos was Wolverhampton, not Swindon. Wolverhampton’s basic designs, updated new modernised with pannier tanks, formed the basis for the 1600 pannier tanks and the 4800/5800 tanks. The Armstrong goods led naturally to the Dean goods, thence the 2251 as a final development. The prairies led to the modules, but the prairies started off in Wolverhampton.

 

Well, one can justly say that the tradition of Great Western locomotive design goes straight back to Robert Stephenson, whose firm supplied the railway with its first effective engines and also its Locomotive Superintendents right down to 1897 in the persons of Daniel Gooch and Joseph and George Armstrong.

[Edwardian]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

 

 

Maybe for Swindon, maybe for the 4-6-0s, but the genesis of the smaller locos was Wolverhampton, not Swindon. Wolverhampton’s basic designs, updated new modernised with pannier tanks, formed the basis for the 1600 pannier tanks and the 4800/5800 tanks. The Armstrong goods led naturally to the Dean goods, thence the 2251 as a final development. The prairies led to the modules, but the prairies started off in Wolverhampton.

 

Agree, but not facts loudly advertised by the standard narrative of GWR history.

[Annie]

Something different.  For the past week or so I haven't been able to properly access my Trainz TRS22 version of the simulator due to a graphics card glitch which my daughter and I were able to solve this evening.  Normal transmission seems to be restored so I was able to have a look at what needs to be completed on the updated version of 'Cairnrigg to Balessie' that I was working on a while ago.

Couldn't resist having a play on the plateway at Rosstyre.  The engine spec and sound files are ones of my own devising.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Annie
More words needed.

[Edwardian]

Love it.

 

Love the plateway on stone blocks, too.

 

Very relaxing viewing.  Love the sound.

[RedGemAlchemist]

On 29/04/2022 at 12:09, rocor said:

a British Fail blue liveried, dismal hauling a train of nuclear flask on their local line? (this was the least cheerful peacetime railway related imagining that I could come with).

A line of steam engines being pulled to the breakers by a diesel.
 

On 03/05/2022 at 11:50, Edwardian said:

Welcome to the Dark Side .....

 

Funny you mentioned this, I recently got @Paleopotato09 to have a crack at one of these.

 

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Let's hope the amazing Didcot carriage restoration team can do more for it than the NRM has - but at least NRM kept it dry.

Knowing the quality of their work I suspect it will look spectacular once complete.

 

On 30/04/2022 at 19:59, Compound2632 said:

... but only on the mainest of main lines, like the monster pacifics of the next generation. The 0-6-0 goods engine remained the most typical locomotive from 1860 to 1960.

Indeed. Our little local line was run by J15s and J69s for most of its life.

[K14]

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

The people at Didcot have an excellent track record when it comes to carriage restoration. Maybe @K14 can comment on where this carriage might stand in the queue?

I'm not really involved these days - real life has got in the way - but I'd venture that there are no immediate (or even mid term) plans for it.

Possibly after 290 & 975 are finished, although I've heard it rumoured that a certain 70 footer might happen then.

It'd make sense to do (6)820 in tandem with long term back-of-the-shed resident (6)824, with 820 being restored as NG & 824 getting a BG chassis. That would plug two gaps - Centre Luggage and the 1892 Gauge Conversion.

 

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Unfortunately that would suggest the interior has been stripped of any original fittings.

 

There will be plenty of clues for those that can be bothered to look - partition locations & thickness, upholstery depth, luggage rack support positions, picture rails, ceiling panelling, steam heat radiators & piping to name but some.

Didcot's (6)824 has some rather neat let-ins in the roof where it was converted from oil to gas lighting, and the remains of the luggage compartment has areas of graining/scumbling. Underneath, the longitudinals (stringers/bottomsides) feature two sets of large bolt holes, the second of which dates from the gauge conversion.

 

Pete S.

[Edwardian]

5 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

 

Funny you mentioned this, I recently got @Paleopotato09 to have a crack at one of these.

 

 

 

Please tell me more!

[Annie]

Thanks James.  It will manage about five miles an hour without shaking itself to pieces, but it's nice to just let it toddle along at 1-2 miles an hour just so I can listen to that sound.

The locomotive is an adapted model of 'Catch-Me-Who-Can' made by Steve Flanders with one of his generic plateway tenders coupled on the front to disguise it a little.  The wagons are Steve's work as well.   Steve has made a number of other early locomotives as well as early rolling stock to go with them which are very tempting.

The stone block plateway track is made by an Eastern European Trainz enthusiast who has also made a number of other early track types which were a very lucky find.

[MikeOxon]

3 hours ago, Annie said:

The locomotive is an adapted model of 'Catch-Me-Who-Can'

Now that does look like a 3D printing challenge!

[Annie]

A couple of snaps from yesterday.

 

A close up snap of the plateway loco.

 

A Bouch 4-4-0 waiting for signals before descending the steep gradient to Cairnrigg.  Trains have to stop here to pin down brakes.

The two Bouch 4-4-0s I have on 'Cairnrigg to Balessie' are really a wee bit too elderly for my chosen time period, but I don't care because I like them.

[rocor]

13 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

Now that does look like a 3D printing challenge!

 

I failed a similar challenge, 3D printing a kit of parts to construct a static 1:32 scale model of Blenkinsops rack locomotive. The problem was that items such as the connecting rods were too fragile when printed even at that scale. One day I may have another crack at it by constructing the more delicate items out of brass. 

[Annie]

I finally went and had a look at my moribund Cornwall 1880s project and discovered that it hadn't fallen apart too badly during the change over to TRS22 from TS2019.  Most of the trackwork still seems to be functional and my quartet of E.B. Wilson Broad Gauge 0-6-0WT's were working just as well as they always have. 

 

[Annie]

Seeing James's post on the Freelance Railways thread about 'Aerolite' set me thinking and I remembered that almost three years ago now I downloaded this delightful model.  I can't remember where I got it from now and I'm not sure if the website exists anymore, but I'm very glad that I carefully archived this model of 'Aerolite' away.

I thought 'Aerolite' wouldn't get into too much trouble with a motor train coach, though usually a 'BTP' or 'G5' does the honours on this run with a 6 wheel 3rd or two as strengtheners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oscillation]

Recognised her right away!

 

I believe she’s from here?

https://tomixnscale89.wixsite.com/railroad-workshops/alternate-proposed-engines

[Annie]

Thanks for that.  As I mentioned it's a good while ago that I downloaded the model so I wasn't sure if the website would still be in operation.

[Regularity]

On 19/04/2022 at 13:56, Compound2632 said:

The Amberdale layout has to be appreciated on its own terms, I think, as a tour de force in the spirit of the Madder Valley; from that perspective it is clearly giving a great deal of pleasure to its builder and many others, myself included.

Now that my copy of the book has arrived, I must say that in respect of it being a “modern Madder Valley”, it is amazing, even given one or two of the locos appearing a bit odd to me. I love the conversion of a Kirtley outside framed 0-6-0 into a 4-4-0: to me, that works better than say, the Adams radial where a new cab, or maybe some side tanks, might have been more convincing. To be honest, I also felt a few of the models were a bit “modern” (the observation car, for example) and that was more of an issue for me than anything else.

 

It is extremely lovely, very whimsical, and judged on its own terms, entirely wonderful.

[Annie]

One of the younger generation of content creators for Trainz has just released a GWR 'Star'.  He's also done No.40 the prototype Atlantic in two livery options as well as detail variations for pre-war, pre-1928, post-1928, outside steam pipes, superheating and BR.  I'm not entirely sure if he's got the shade of green right though.

I'm not sure how I'm going to make use of a 'Star' as yet, but a quick run up and down the sidings at Longrock have shown that it's one very sweet running engine.