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

[Annie]

Dean 4-4-0T No.35 at Gwinear Road.  An afternoon snap taken after No.35 arrived off the Helson branch.  (Actually that's a big fib because I posed the snap and No.35 hasn't been anywhere yet).  For carriage enthusiasts the train is made up of, - a E19 brake tri-comp, a U29 luggage tri-comp and a D3 Brake 3rd. 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Annie
More information added a picture or two

[Annie]

Afternoon GWR Cheer Up Picture just because.  Armstrong Goods No.1089 passing over the level crossing at Longrock.  For reasons best known to myself I really like this snap and if you've seen it before you'll just have to put up with it.  I'm not entirely keen on the uber tea urn Dean dome, but I still prefer an Armstrong Standard Goods over the Dean version.

 

[Annie]

I'm still around and mostly alright.  I've had a few bad days with LongCOVID symptoms, but I seem to be getting on top of it now.

 

[Annie]

A Barnum heading for (faux) Bunbury out of the mysterious west (aka my Norfolk layout's semi-hidden western loop sidings)

I was working on the western end of my Norfolk layout beyond Moxbury today and I'll have some more snaps to show you later on.

 

[Annie]

Early Afternoon Cheer Up Snapshot:

 

[Annie]

It must be all of two years ago now that I built up the return loop and fiddle yard sidings for Maglaw Junction in Trainz TS2012.   I can't really remember where i got the name 'Maglaw' from.  I was setting up the junction signals and when it came to positioning the signal box I needed a name to go on its nameboard and 'Maglaw' got snatched out of the air.  I thought to myself, 'I can always change it later, but I never did.

 

At first Maglaw town/village/hamlet was hidden away behind a bridge without a bus on it and it was just a couple of portal tracks.  Then things were shifted about a bit so a locomotive could run around its train and avoid entering a portal.  After that I decided that a return loop would be the thing to do so I laid one out and didn't like it very much so I dismantled it and did a lot of frowning at the empty baseboard.

 

Having had some success with the semi-hidden western return loop, which is scenically camouflaged to not look very much like a return loop and part of the countryside instead, I thought I'd do the same thing with Maglaw aka the North Eastern return loop and fiddle yard. 

 

I might have got a wee bit carried away though because believe it or not there really is a double track return loop and a fiddle yard somewhere amongst all this.  And having done all that I had to create Maglaw village and do some roads, - and it all sort of got away from me a bit.

Though as a bonus if you explore into the mysterious depths of the return loop you might just find the M&GNJR.

 

 

Having done the village I needed somewhere for the inhabitants to catch the train to either (faux) Bunbury or Moxbury so I put together Maglaw Bridge Halt.  I did think about calling it Maglaw Road Halt, but with the bridge being right there and blindingly obvious, - and the village only a very short walk away on the other side of the bridge I decided that Maglaw Bridge Halt was the better name.

 

 

If at this point you are thinking you've read something similar sometime earlier amongst my pages you would be right.  I took my Norfolk layout across from TS2012 to TRS22 and then when I caught COVID last August I completely forgot about Maglaw village and the hidden loop and fiddle sidings.  Did I ever get a pleasant surprise when I was wandering about on the layout and I discovered it again.  😀

 

 

So now that I'm feeling a bit better I'm working on sorting out the timetable schedules so that passenger trains can arrive from Maglaw and the M&GNJR, - and GWR passenger trains can arrive from the mysterious West.

 

 

Approaching (faux) Bunbury.

 

 

 

Things were a bit trickier with setting things up for Barnum No.3223 to be a regular visitor to Moxbury.  A Barnum really is just perfect for the passenger service to Moxbury, but with Moxbury having won awards for the worst sited turntable in the district  I'm going to have to do some advanced frowning to figure out how to solve that problem.  Up until now all passenger services returning to the west had tank engines in charge so a tender engine arriving from the west and wanting to go back again is causing a few problems for me.

The other problem was that I'd never run a western departure out of platform 3 at Moxbury, but a little experimentation showed the signalling would allow it without any changes being necessary.  If No.3223 was going to have to go turntable hunting though platform 4 would be the better choice since it's not a through platform.

 

Departing (faux) Bunbury.  For those interested the train consists of, a D3 brake 3rd, an E14 clerestory composite, a C4 clerestory 3rd and a 4w V15 passenger brake van.  I've since added an E27 clerestory composite.

 

 

Arrival at Platform 4 at Moxbury.

 

 

Running round and possibly going turntable hunting afterwards.

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be getting No.3223 over to the MPD at Moxbury.  While Moxbury station yard is long and narrow and fairly constrained for space there's no difficult track formations and it's all very well signalled.  I spent a long time building up Moxbury and the various traffic schedules I devised for it were fairly busy ones, - so the worst of bugs were sorted and dealt with long ago.

 

No.3223 on arrival at Moxbury's MPD.  This would be the first time a GWR engine was a visitor to Moxbury shed.  They've only just got used to red engines arriving off the M&GNJR.

 

 

And onto the turntable.

 

 

About to head back to platform 4.  With the arrival of the T26 'Intermediates' at Moxbury shed I'm going to have to revise some of the schedules to make proper use of them and navigating turntables will be a part of that.

 

[Edwardian]

On 22/07/2023 at 03:09, Annie said:

I'm still around and mostly alright.  I've had a few bad days with LongCOVID symptoms, but I seem to be getting on top of it now.

 

 

I am sorry to hear that and I hope you are better now. Judging from the gorgeousness I've missed over the past few days, you seem to be doing better.

 

Great to see the developments at Maglaw with the MGN and trains from the Mysterious West!

 

On 25/07/2023 at 01:55, Annie said:

Early Afternoon Cheer Up Snapshot:

 

 

That is a stunner. The West Norfolk should be envious.

 

The rather ramrod gentleman with the cane is, for some reason, giving me Dr Mopp vibes.

 

 

 

 

[nick_bastable]

 

 

Nick B

[Annie]

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

I am sorry to hear that and I hope you are better now. Judging from the gorgeousness I've missed over the past few days, you seem to be doing better.

Thanks james.  For around a week or so I was having problems with being fatigued and needing to sleep more.  Brainfog decided to put in a appearance as well.  I'd been getting back to writing again, but all of a sudden it was like a plug had been pulled and it all just drained out of me.  As I often do when I'm like this I went to my 'To-Read' book pile and disappeared for a while  only leaving the fruits of other writers' imaginations when I crashed out asleep.

 

Around the time I started to feel a little better Steve Flanders asked me to have a look at sorting out some issues he was having with GWR Dean 0-4-4T's Nos. 34 & 35.  Still being a bit foggy brained it took me a while, but it was a lot of fun running them both about on the St. Ives branch while working the bugs out.

 

After that I played videogames for a while to get my brain functioning again (Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV 'Oblivion" should anyone want to know), before deciding to revisit my much neglected Norfolk layout again. 

 

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Great to see the developments at Maglaw with the MGN and trains from the Mysterious West!

I still can't believe that I almost completely forgot about Maglaw after all the work I put into it, but that's what LongCOVID does to you I suppose.  Once I started looking at this rediscovered part of my layout and planning out some possible running sessions I could see that one of the pointwork formations needed some revision so I did that.  It involved putting in a single slip and while it took a couple of goes to get it done I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Along the way I decided to update the layout's older TS2012 trackwork to a better procedural Bullhead track model that has proper moveable point blades and frogs.  This can be done fairly simply using the simulator's bulk replacement tools, but I'll more than likely have to adjust things a bit here and there.  Overall though the conversion went well without any major issues.

The fiddle yard near Maglaw village is disguised with warehouse buildings and a large mill and I decided to give it basic loco servicing facilities and a turntable as well.  The turntable can cope with engines the size of a Barnum and a Y14 which is all that's needed for this section.

 

 

Having mentioned the Western Loop and the Mysterious West fairly often I don't think I've ever posted any pictures of it.

The long straight tracks in the first picture are portal tracks.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

That is a stunner. The West Norfolk should be envious.

 

The rather ramrod gentleman with the cane is, for some reason, giving me Dr Mopp vibes.

Ha ha, - at least the good people of Camberwick can get seen by a doctor.  Here it's a two week wait if you're lucky.

 

That picture came about because the very clever chap who makes engine specs for Steve Flanders wanted to make an engine spec for a Beyer-Peacock single and he asked me if I could provide him with a suitable screenshot so he could make a thumbnail image from it.  Of course No.5 in its original green paintwork was the only choice.  The Eastinglingwold's chairman naturally wanted to get in on the act and when the loco shed cat put in an appearance I simply had to take the snap before he wandered off again.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Annie
Um.........

[Tom Burnham]

On 26/07/2023 at 01:27, Annie said:

 

Departing (faux) Bunbury.  For those interested the train consists of, a D3 brake 3rd, an E14 clerestory composite, a C4 clerestory 3rd and a 4w V15 passenger brake van.  I've since added an E27 clerestory

 

 

 

 

It's good to hear that the company's enterprise in providing increased facilities for passengers to and from the west has been rewarded by an increase in traffic.  And traffic of a good class as well !

[Annie]

20 minutes ago, Tom Burnham said:

It's good to hear that the company's enterprise in providing increased facilities for passengers to and from the west has been rewarded by an increase in traffic.  And traffic of a good class as well !

Moxbury is a popular destination.  The town itself is very nice, but I should really pop another roll of film in my film in my Box Brownie and show you what the bay itself is like.  It's a real gem.  Bunbury is popular too as it's right next to a huge network of lakes, - or Broads as the local folk call them.  I keep meaning to build up the boatyards and jetties behind the town, but I haven't got around to it yet.

[Annie]

Moxbury Bay.  Not really visible from anywhere along the railway line, but at least I know it's there.

 

[Annie]

I should have posted this sparrowcam snap of Moxbury as well last night.  But never mind here it is now.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

I spent this afternoon playing trains undertaking important schedule testing and here are some snaps.

 

'Sharpie ' No.066 in charge of the passenger service to Great Marsh (and back again).

 

 

At Nodding Keep Halt.

 

 

At Barrow Hills.

 

 

'Zanzibar' looking a little shabby on a 'main stations' semi-fast passenger service.  When the new Beyer-Peacock engine spec is done I'll be giving the B-P singles a good tidy up and working out a new schedule for them.  They always were the Affiliated (Imaginary) Railway Companies engines to work trains to and from the W.N.R. and even though the GER is now in charge  I intend to keep the Beyer-Peacock singles on this run.  Perhaps the fact that a certain influential director of the W.N.R. likes to see them still at work will prove to be enough to extend their lives for a few more years.

 

 

 

[Annie]

'Jubilee' partly tidied up and heading for Moxbury.  The third vehicle in the train is a LNWR Picnic Saloon.

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

More 'Jubilee'.  I was trying out GER ultramarine on 'Jubilee' instead of the lighter Affiliated (Imaginary) Railway Companies blue.  It certainly looks very nice, but I haven't quite made up my mind about it yet.

 

 

[Annie]

'Zanzibar' now tidied up a bit at the Moxbury coal stage.  I've also updated it's steam and smoke animations.  I decided to leave it in its original blue and not paint it in ultramarine.  'Jubilee' can keep its new paintwork and I won't be changing it back.

 

[Annie]

With not being so well I hadn't got around to reading the latest GER Society Journal.  Well this morning over breakfast I finally did and what a disappointment.  An article on Stratford turned out to be for the BR Blue  era, - pages after blinking pages of it.  Just because the GER painted their engines ultramarine blue does not mean that Blue error dismals should have a place in the society journal.  Elsewhere there was another misbegotten article where a modern error DMU improved its looks by running over a set of buffers and into a wall. 

The only two articles that stopped my copy of the journal from becoming a tacky copy of diesel kissers anonymous were an excellent article on building an exquisite model of Hadleigh station in 'O' Gauge and an article on Fulbourne station circa 1921.  It's times like this that I seriously doubt why I'm a paid up member of the GER Society.

 

In better news I joined the Gauge O Guild this morning.  I know I haven't been doing anything much with my layout project due to not being well, but with having had a  long time fondness for 'O' Gauge it was high time I joined up.  And in case you are wondering I ticked the 'clockwork', 'tinplate' and 'coarse scale' tick boxes when I filled out my application.  I also ticked 'narrow gauge' and 'pre-grouping' as well just to make a proper job of it.

 

 

 

[Schooner]

GOG membership should present with a host of cheer-up options, but just in case have a spot of urban broad (ish) gauge

 

Wonder which of them is on the wrong side of the tracks?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Schooner

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Schooner said:

GOG membership should present with a host of cheer-up options, but just in case have a spot of urban broad (ish) gauge

Thanks Schooner I'm hoping it will inspire further creativity as well.   Now there's a fascinating old photograph, -  I wonder where that was taken.

[Schooner]

I can't immediately lay my hands on the source, but it was captioned/commented along the lines of 'Somewhereorother Gridiron, where the Widened Lines dive under the Met and Circle'. That might be enough for you to track it down, but I'll hunt myself when I get a mo and report back if it's not already noted :)

[Annie]

Early Afternoon Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  Rover class 'Balaklava'.  The photo was taken by William M Spriggs, The gentleman in the suit is Mr Tunsall, the Locomotive Foreman at Newton Abbot.  

 

[Annie]

Amazing!  Finally someone has made a Manning-Wardle 'K' for Trainz.  This is 'Sharpthorn' which is preserved on static display at the Bluebell Railway.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Annie
More information

[Annie]

7 minutes ago, Annie said:

 

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Annie
Um.........