Gresley Junction

[Sandhole]

On 23/03/2021 at 11:45, thegreenhowards said:

Today I’m featuring a new addition to the Gresley Jn fleet, WD 2-8-0, 90559.

 

 

This train is running 20 minutes late this evening awaiting loco. This is because I had to finish weathering it before it could run - I allow some unweathered locos, but a WD without a layer of grot is effectively naked!

 

It is the 2125 Finsbury Park - New England class H coal empties.I have reduced the load slightly as this loco is not fully run in yet but it seemed to handle it with no trouble,

 

 

 

Here is the video.

 

 

 

 

 

I salute you Sir. 
Do I detect some old Triang Hornby NCB minerals that have been expertly repainted?
If I do, I bow down to you. They look AWESOME.
In AWE,
Chris.

[thegreenhowards]

53 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

I salute you Sir. 
Do I detect some old Triang Hornby NCB minerals that have been expertly repainted?
If I do, I bow down to you. They look AWESOME.
In AWE,
Chris.

Thank you. They are old Triang Hornby 21T minerals. I think they were in a maroon livery with 'Cory' on the side and one may have been in a blue livery. I painted them many years ago so I forget the exact details.

[Tony Teague]

3 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

We know of several people who've had the Oxford jab and felt quite grotty for a day or two, if indeed that's what you had. Pains in the arms and around the upper body also seem to happen but will pass.

 

I had the Oxford one, my wife the Pfizer, and both OK, although I did have a bit of neck pain for a day or two. However that might have been unrelated and due to sitting at the computer for several hours scanning old pictures! We're both really pleased to have had them, now around a month ago.

 

John.

 

My GP's casual observation was that some but not all people tended to suffer side effects either from the 1st AZ jab, or from the 2nd Pfizer jab, but not both.

Of course the side effects of not having the jab can be somewhat more severe.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Tony Teague

[Sandhole]

5 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thank you. They are old Triang Hornby 21T minerals. I think they were in a maroon livery with 'Cory' on the side and one may have been in a blue livery. I painted them many years ago so I forget the exact details.

I have some black NCB ones.
You have given me ideas. I'm running Triang Hornby 16t minerals with underframe mods already.
I'm a firm believer in running old stock.

 

[thegreenhowards]

28 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

I have some black NCB ones.
You have given me ideas. I'm running Triang Hornby 16t minerals with underframe mods already.
I'm a firm believer in running old stock.

 

I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble with the Triang Hornby 16T minerals as they are too short which means that sorting out the underframe is like polishing the proverbial t..d. I still have a few but I’m gradually weeding them out.  I believe the longer 21T wagons are the correct length so a better basis for mods.

[Sandhole]

14 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble with the Triang Hornby 16T minerals as they are too short which means that sorting out the underframe is like polishing the proverbial t..d. I still have a few but I’m gradually weeding them out.  I believe the longer 21T wagons are the correct length so a better basis for mods.

You are quite right.
I was battling lack of funds, so I used them. I cut off the tie rod on the bottom of the underframe. They were the first wagons I had a go at weathering. Including the rude graffiti I'd seen on a wagon at Agecroft power station.
They date from the early 70s and are a piece of my model railway history.
Funnily enough, in a full 16T wagon train, made up of Airfix, Parkside, Cambrian and Bachmann, they don't really stand out.
Honestly, Rule One applies and I love 'em.
Love the layout and the videos.
Regards,
Chris.

[thegreenhowards]

1 minute ago, Sandhole said:

You are quite right.
I was battling lack of funds, so I used them. I cut off the tie rod on the bottom of the underframe. They were the first wagons I had a go at weathering. Including the rude graffiti I'd seen on a wagon at Agecroft power station.
They date from the early 70s and are a piece of my model railway history.
Funnily enough, in a full 16T wagon train, made up of Airfix, Parkside, Cambrian and Bachmann, they don't really stand out.
Honestly, Rule One applies and I love 'em.
Love the layout and the videos.
Regards,
Chris.

I agree that in the middle of a long train they are quite acceptable - that’s why I still use them. They are a very cost effective way of building up a decent length coal train and I’d rather have a 50 wagons rake of Hornby 16Ts than a 10 wagon rake of posh ones.

[Sandhole]

Just now, thegreenhowards said:

I agree that in the middle of a long train they are quite acceptable - that’s why I still use them. They are a very cost effective way of building up a decent length coal train and I’d rather have a 50 wagons rake of Hornby 16Ts than a 10 wagon rake of posh ones.

ABSOLUTELY.
I have trains of Airfix Presflos, ESSO tankers and various mods on the cattle wagon.
Cheap table top modelling. The most expensive thing being a good set of wheels and bearings. I could have gone down the Heljan and Bachmann route, but my Airfix trains are belt and braces. All to the same standard.
The only kits that beat me, were the 3H coke wagon kits. I couldn't get the underframes to work properly. Then Hornby produced theirs, I had some spare cash and Hattons were doing a deal.
I have some unmade kits and a box of bits, if anybody wants to make me an offer.
Back to mucking about with a K's Palbrick.
Regards,
Chris.

[thegreenhowards]

Back to proper length trains today with a New England to Ferme Park Class E. This has the note ‘bkd’ in my WTT but I can’t work out what that means - any suggestions?

 

It’s headed by Gresley Jn debutant, 60501. This is the new Hornby model and is pretty much straight out of the box - she will have a work over soon and may become 60502.

 

 

Here’s a video to show the full train.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by thegreenhowards

[Sandhole]

2 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

Back to proper length trains today with a New England to Ferme Park Class E. This has the note ‘bkd’ in my WTT but I can’t work out what that means - any suggestions?

 

It’s headed by Gresley Jn debutant, 60501. This is the new Hornby model and is pretty much straight out of the box - she will have a work over soon and may become 60502.

 

 

Here’s a video to show the full train.

 

 

These beasts were, supposedly, a superb fitted freight train loco.

[31A]

24 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

This has the note ‘bkd’ in my WTT but I can’t work out what that means - any suggestions?

 

Could be short for "Braked", i.e. fully fitted?

 

[thegreenhowards]

45 minutes ago, 31A said:

 

Could be short for "Braked", i.e. fully fitted?

 

Could be but wouldn’t it then have been a Class C? I wondered about ‘booked’ but I’m not sure exactly what that would mean.

[Sandhole]

1 hour ago, 31A said:

 

Could be short for "Braked", i.e. fully fitted?

 

In Lancs, we had a Maltese Cross. That had a fitted head of wagons with unfitted and fitted following behind. 
Your train looks very like that.

[great northern]

Definition of Class E I have is "Express freight, livestock,perishable or ballast train, partly fitted with NOT less than four vacuum braked vehicles connected by vacuum pipe to the engine, or express freight with a limited load of vehicles NOT fitted with continuous brake.Then I dug out one of the gems that Andy Rush sent me, which goes like this.

 

"It used to take a four man gang about 40 minutes to pipe and screw a 60 wagon train at Whitemoor. Then ten minutes to do a brake test and sort out "blows" On a normal unfitted train one shunter coupled the lot in 15 minutes, and part of that time was spent discussing football with the guard.

 

Simple maths tells you a fully fitted train had to take quite a bit less time over the journey in order to justify the extra preparation time, and that is why Class C and D trains were mostly of a long distance nature."

 

I also remember him saying in conversation that the men would avoid fitting trains if they possibly could, as it saved a lot of toil. My theory therefore is that the word is indeed "braked", and that was there to tell the men that Class E in this case meant exactly what it said, and that there would be trouble if the regulations were ignored. Of course, I may be completely wrong.

[thegreenhowards]

6 minutes ago, great northern said:

Definition of Class E I have is "Express freight, livestock,perishable or ballast train, partly fitted with NOT less than four vacuum braked vehicles connected by vacuum pipe to the engine, or express freight with a limited load of vehicles NOT fitted with continuous brake.Then I dug out one of the gems that Andy Rush sent me, which goes like this.

 

"It used to take a four man gang about 40 minutes to pipe and screw a 60 wagon train at Whitemoor. Then ten minutes to do a brake test and sort out "blows" On a normal unfitted train one shunter coupled the lot in 15 minutes, and part of that time was spent discussing football with the guard.

 

Simple maths tells you a fully fitted train had to take quite a bit less time over the journey in order to justify the extra preparation time, and that is why Class C and D trains were mostly of a long distance nature."

 

I also remember him saying in conversation that the men would avoid fitting trains if they possibly could, as it saved a lot of toil. My theory therefore is that the word is indeed "braked", and that was there to tell the men that Class E in this case meant exactly what it said, and that there would be trouble if the regulations were ignored. Of course, I may be completely wrong.

That  fits with my understanding of a class E and is what I’ve tried to reflect with a fitted head and a mix towards the back.

 

Your Andy Rush gems are illuminating  and suggest that it may indeed mean braked. 
 

Thanks

 

Andy

[John Tomlinson]

35 minutes ago, great northern said:

Definition of Class E I have is "Express freight, livestock,perishable or ballast train, partly fitted with NOT less than four vacuum braked vehicles connected by vacuum pipe to the engine, or express freight with a limited load of vehicles NOT fitted with continuous brake.Then I dug out one of the gems that Andy Rush sent me, which goes like this.

 

"It used to take a four man gang about 40 minutes to pipe and screw a 60 wagon train at Whitemoor. Then ten minutes to do a brake test and sort out "blows" On a normal unfitted train one shunter coupled the lot in 15 minutes, and part of that time was spent discussing football with the guard.

 

Simple maths tells you a fully fitted train had to take quite a bit less time over the journey in order to justify the extra preparation time, and that is why Class C and D trains were mostly of a long distance nature."

 

I also remember him saying in conversation that the men would avoid fitting trains if they possibly could, as it saved a lot of toil. My theory therefore is that the word is indeed "braked", and that was there to tell the men that Class E in this case meant exactly what it said, and that there would be trouble if the regulations were ignored. Of course, I may be completely wrong.

Fascinating. So given to and fro from the particular job, we're talking four man hours to assemble the train. Plus some more when it reached its destination. Plus some more again for intermediate sorting if applicable.

 

Not surprising then that once we had a half decent road network with upgraded "A" roads and Motorways, that Railfreight, other than block working, collapsed.

 

John.

[TheSignalEngineer]

3 hours ago, Sandhole said:

The only kits that beat me, were the 3H coke wagon kits. I couldn't get the underframes to work properly

It took me about 35 years to get mine running freely. I built two in 1981 and later bought another s/h. I had weathered and made loads so wanted to keep them. Eventually I set pinpoint bearings to the correct distance for free running and added new wheels. Three unbuilt kits were replaced by Hornby ones. 

[thegreenhowards]

1 hour ago, John Tomlinson said:

Fascinating. So given to and fro from the particular job, we're talking four man hours to assemble the train. Plus some more when it reached its destination. Plus some more again for intermediate sorting if applicable.

 

Not surprising then that once we had a half decent road network with upgraded "A" roads and Motorways, that Railfreight, other than block working, collapsed.

 

John.

What they needed was a nice easy tension lock coupling!

[thegreenhowards]

Today its a KX-Colwick class D headed by 61905.

 

 

 

I’ve tried a slightly different angle for the video looking under the station roof. I’m not sure it works but at least it’s different.

 

 

[Sandhole]

Just now, thegreenhowards said:

Today its a KX-Colwick class D headed by 61905.

 

 

 

I’ve tried a slightly different angle for the video looking under the station roof. I’m not sure it works but at least it’s different.

 

 

I assume the guy driving that platform luggage trolley has been summoned to the Station Master's office.
I'm sorry, it had to be posted.
Love the angle you've used for this video.
Regards,
Chris.

[thegreenhowards]

3 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

I assume the guy driving that platform luggage trolley has been summoned to the Station Master's office.
I'm sorry, it had to be posted.
Love the angle you've used for this video.
Regards,
Chris.

Indeed - it was probably me or the leg of my mini tripod! But that luggage is a bit of a mess. I think it was painted about 40 years ago and clearly needs revisiting.

[Sandhole]

Just now, thegreenhowards said:

Indeed - it was probably me or the leg of my mini tripod! But that luggage is a bit of a mess. I think it was painted about 40 years ago and clearly needs revisiting.

I feel a bit sorry for the K3 crew.
That lady will start to 'rock and roll' once she gets up to speed beyond Gresley Junction.

[thegreenhowards]

Today we feature a well known ECS from Deleval sidings, Newcastle to Holloway headed today by top shed V2, 60814.

 

 

This is one of my best V2s, Nucast with a brass chassis and a quiet Portescap - smooth and powerful. The latter is just as well as this train could be quite long (according to stuff I’ve read) and tonight it loads to 15 bogies.

 

I hope the video shows that this V2 is a master of this long train.

 

[Sandhole]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

Today we feature a well known ECS from Deleval sidings, Newcastle to Holloway headed today by top shed V2, 60814.

 

 

This is one of my best V2s, Nucast with a brass chassis and a quiet Portescap - smooth and powerful. The latter is just as well as this train could be quite long (according to stuff I’ve read) and tonight it loads to 15 bogies.

 

I hope the video shows that this V2 is a master of this long train.

 

Is that a Tourist Pair at the head of this train?
Lovely video, as usual.
Chris.

[thegreenhowards]

7 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

Is that a Tourist Pair at the head of this train?
Lovely video, as usual.
Chris.

Yes, a tourist pair (Mailcoach), a Kirk BTO and then a D.307 steel twin which is similar to the tourist twin (Isinglass).

 

Thanks for the comment on the video. I’m never sure whether they’re worth the effort but I think they’re the only way to show the whole formation which, for me, is a large part of running through my sequence.