Lower Thames Yard

[Tallpaul69]

Good Afternoon Folks,

I am still fiddling around with my mock up for the elevated road across the front of the new board to join Bradenham to Wycombe End.  Currently I am concentrating on a mock up for the bridge across the tracks at Bradenham to the north of the station. Because it is on a curve, I think the eventual model will have to be a made to measure job. One of the difficulties is locating the Down Starter signal, and I think I will have to install this before I can finalise the bridge position, and thus its dimensions.

Meanwhile, after a quiet period since Christmas, my wallet has taken a big hit with the purchase of a set of 4 of the Bachmann Collectors club Network Rail JJA Autoballasters for my modern image running of the layout. I know the set should be 5 but in the interests of economy and bearing in mind space on the layout it will have to be 4!

Luckily, the recent Hornby and Bachmann announcements offered little to me apart from some bogie wagons from both.

I am also thinking hard on whether to continue with my original plan for one Dapol Manor and one from Accurascale. As Manors were not frequent visitors to the GW&GC, maybe two sound fitted ones is a little excessive?

The A5s seem to be wending their way to the UK, but I need to stir Rails up re the sound fitted version!

 

So, with the weather looking to improve again later this week, I am hopeful of some time in the railway in the near future.

 

Happy modelling everyone.

Cheers

Paul 

 

[Tallpaul69]

I thought recent developments worthy of a quick update:-

Firstly, a quick exchange of e mails with Rails got the information that the sound fitting of the A5 is sorted and they should be available soon after the shipment is delivered to Sheffield! So my wallet has taken another hit, (£125, but not immediately!). This seems, I know, a bit expensive, but as I have already paid my deposit on the loco, its not too bad.

Secondly, toying around with the problem of locating Bradenham Station road bridge, I have concluded that it would be better to position the bridge further round the curve away from the station. This will remove the problem of the signal locations (both down starter and up home, which would have been either side of the bridge), but also make it easier to use the down to up crossover, as locos using it will no longer be hidden from the operating position by the bridge, Instead, they will be in full view in front of the bridge. This does however push the elevated roadway from the front to the middle of the new board. This could have the benefit of making the farmyard that I was planning for the far side of the road able to be on the nearside, and therefore more accessible for modelling.

 

More anon,

Cheers

Paul  

[Tallpaul69]

I hope you are all progressing with your models?

The bridge I have been discussing in recent posts while having its advantages is starting to look a difficult model particularly as my first bridge model!

So to tap the expertise on RMWeb, I have opened a thread in the infrastructure section called "Modelling a "Skew" road bridge over a curved double track in 00."

Following a suggestion in response, I have been locating and won an auction for a book "Bridges for Railway Modellers".

Hopefully this will help.

Cheers for now,

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Good evening everyone,

So from having almost no information on modelling bridges, in some ways, having bought two books on the subject from the internet, and having just received the latest BRM with an article on bridges, I have too much!

This i am busy reading up on the subject and getting ready for my first mock up.

Meanwhile, an email from Hattons has reminded me that the new Hornby Standard 78xxx 2-6-0 is approaching fast and I need to decide which I am going to order. While I would like one in black and one in green, the fact that my '59 Loco Shed Book shows them mainly in the north and Scotland with only 9 in the WR, and those were in the west around Worcester and central Wales, suggests that even one on the GW&GC is pushing it!  I did examine a story line that substituted them for Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0s, but their distribution was hardly more appropriate. So it will have to be (another) rule 1 decision.

 

Happy Modelling,

Paul 

[Nick Gough]

A bridge too far, Paul?

[Tallpaul69]

Hi Everyone, I hope all of you in the UK are all keeping warm, I had hoped March would start warmer! Global Warming??!!??

On the modelling front, here, at last, are some views of the first mock up of the bridge across the mainline just to the north of Bradenham station.

 

 

 

Most of you will probably agree with Nicks assessment in a recent posting here that this might be "A bridge too far!

Its somewhat precarious position is due to the fact that the new board to fill the void between Bradenham and Wycombe End has yet to be built! its rickety construction is due to my adopting the use of empty medicine pill boxes held together with sticky pads.

The aim was to try out a bridge in this position without wasting good modelling materials if it proved a dud.

 

 

Here can be seen a full length Mk3 coach that I was using to ensure clearance for stock on the curve. 1 think the bridge is ok. It might be a little high, but this was due to the limitations of what boxes I had available. I think once the infill for an elliptical arch is in position it will prove not to be as high as the bare bones look. The edges of the arch have to be clear of any coach roof. The actual structure can probably be slightly lower, as everything will be made to measure. I think the top of the arch will be at a level about half way up the top pill box on the left. 

This view also, to the left, shows the end of Wycombe End fiddle yard with a number of my more modern locos on view. Through the bridge can be seen some steamers on the stubs that will eventually be the link between the two layouts

 

 

The road surface on the bridge looks quite wide, but once the thickness of the parapets and width of the pavements are taken out, I think it will be ok. After All, it is meant to be an A road not a country lane!

 

More updates on the bridge in a while.

Best regards

Paul

[Nick Gough]

Nice bit of recycling Paul!

 

Have you considered a steel girder bridge? 

There were quite a lot of them on the GW&GCJR.

Might also be a bit easier to build if your having a skew bridge.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Nick Gough

[Tallpaul69]

16 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Nice bit of recycling Paul!

 

Have you considered a steel girder bridge? 

There were quite a lot of them on the GW&GCJR.

Might also be a bit easier to build if your having a skew bridge.

Thanks Nick,

The skew bridge is not a certainty yet. I am experimenting with different positions of the bridge and alignments for the accompanying road. The connection in the mock up between the piers and the deck is purely gravity, so it is easy enough to try different positions.

 

There are two problem with bringing the bridge closer to the station:-

Firstly there is  is one of position for the signals. The current skew bridge location allows the up home signal and the down starter to be visible to the operator. Certainly with the bridge close to the station the up home would be on the far side of the bridge.

 

Then there is the difficulty of correctly stopping a loco using the up to down crossover at a prototypical place beyond the point in the down line, because it would for some bridge locations be beyond the bridge and hidden by the bridge pier and embankment. 

 

I think it comes down to a choice between a brick elliptical arch bridge on the skew at the point my mock up is in the pictures I posted, or a choice between a steel girder bridge or a more modern concrete one nearer to the station.

 

So watch out for more photos of tests of bridge position with the mock up!

 

I have also taken today my first 2023 pics of steam on the LB narrow gauge railway. Not a patch on your recent pics from Didcot I am afraid, but I couldn't miss the chance of 4 locos in steam outside their shed in early March! I need to look at them and see if they need cropping before I publish them.

 

Best regards to everyone in their modelling endeavours,

Cheers for now,

Paul

 

   

[Nick Gough]

You could even put the bridge on a hill - like at High Wycombe:

[Tallpaul69]

That's true Nick, however there would have to be a few differences:-

a) The bridge would have to slope the other way as the main access to Bradenham station and yard is to the East of the line rather than to the West as per High Wycombe.

b) I don't need to bridge the same width (4 tracks) as High Wycombe, so with only 2 tracks to bridge it would probably not need the two support girder systems of the High Wycombe bridge. While High Wycombe has lost two tracks, there is no room for this to be the story at Bradenham,

However, with the road sloping towards the station the approach road might be easier to fit in. so it is worth considering.

So...... Watch this space!

 

Cheers

Paul    

[Tallpaul69]

Hi Folks!

Just a quick update to say that I have this afternoon had an email from Rails to say that my sound fitted A5 69820 has been despatched, so hopefully ,as a uk delivery point, I should see it this week!

 

Cheers

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Further update!

My A5 has arrived, but won't get looked at for a couple of days as we have a lot on. I want to unpack this one with care and plenty of time available given some of the comments on the dedicated A5 site!

Cheers all,

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Evening All,

I blinked twice, and here we are at the 2nd of April!

 

One thing and another has meant little modelling effort over the last two weeks. 

Still haven't tested the A5 properly, but between distractions I have been looking into the Hornby 7000 chips.

Sadly, it seems that the day of the sub £50 sound set up with TTS are no more, as an email from one of my suppliers where I had a wants item for TTS chips reminded me.

I don't think the 7000 is for me at the moment:-

Firstly, the range is of little interest to me, no GWR/BR(W) locos covered bar 37s and 50s. Only need more 37s fitted, my 50s are all done.

Secondly, no app for the iPhone, and being in the middle of an exclusively iPhone family, there is no way I can change my phone, and a second phone is an economic non starter! 

Lastly, the Legacy Dongle is not compatible with the NCE kit, and there is no way I am changing my control set up.

 

So, as i see it, I get a 50ish% price lift for little benefit, I will just have to look at my priorities and only fit sound to a select few of my existing locos at 100%plus price lift, using the usual supplier suspects!

 

If Hornby find their GWR/BR(WR) next year, it might be different, but I am not holding my breath!

Cheers for now,

Paul   

[Tallpaul69]

Good Day All,

Well April has turned out to be a non month!

Things have regularly conspired to keep me from progress on the modelling front so news to report here has been thin!

 

However, having cleared away a number of situations on the domestic front, the family front, and local to us, that affected my time for modelling, let's hope May is a better scene. 

I plan over the weekend to post a review of where I am and where I am going in modelling. This will act as a recap for you the reader, and a to do list for me in the coming months.

Cheers for now,

Paul 

[Tallpaul69]

Hi everyone,

It may be May but the weather is still chilly!

My modelling to do list is worryingly long, even when I list the main areas of work rather than individual tasks.

So, here we go:-

1) Make , install track and electrics, and fix in place Link board between Bradenham and Wycombe End. (May)

2) Install and wire Bradenham shed trackwork. (June)

3) Install and wire signals. (July)

4) Install uncouplers. (for Kadees) (August, a short modelling month)

5) Paint rail sides. (September)

6) Ballast track. (September)

7) Paint particular areas of ballast. (September) 

Tasks 5) - 7) will only be done in the scenic areas of the layout (approx. 60% of the track) and only need doing on Bradenham and the link (1) above), although a few areas of Wycombe End will need task 7). I might also do 5) - 7) on half the layout, and then do them on the other half later. Especially if I get behind with tasks 1) - 4)! 

   

I think it unlikely that I will complete all 7 tasks above during the summer season! So all buildings and scenic work is going to be prepared indoors over the winter and installed next spring.

 

Wish me luck, and feel free to remind me about any tasks I may have missed. Needless to say that all the above will be interspersed with running sessions.

 

Cheers for now,

Paul

 

[Nick Gough]

Good luck Paul!

 

I think it's good to set targets as long as you keep in mind it's a hobby. It would be nice to meet the timescales but certainly not critical.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Tallpaul69 said:

My modelling to do list is worryingly long

I can help with that:

 

1. Finish layout.

[Tallpaul69]

17 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Good luck Paul!

 

I think it's good to set targets as long as you keep in mind it's a hobby. It would be nice to meet the timescales but certainly not critical.

Thanks Nick,

I do find though that if I don't have a framework to work to, things drift!

And while John is right the aim is to finish the layout, ticking things off a to do list can be a good motivator especially when you complete the jobs you don't find interesting or are not skilled at.

Also, it helps navigate round the inevitable hold ups:- already I have lost 3-5 days around the spring bank holiday as our younger son has announced they are coming to see us then - which I am pleased about, it will be great from a family point of view!

Cheers

Paul  

[1466]

You may be interested in a  novel "The Crossing Keeper's daughter " which is based around the Wycombe to Bourne End branch. Lots of details about the railway and working in a mechanical signal cabin . Loudwater and Wooburn Green feature. I've posted more in the Books section under Media.

Ken 

[Tallpaul69]

Good afternoon everyone,

I know it is over a month since I posted anything here. A number of reasons for this lapse, but rather than boring you with another catalogue of disasters, lets "accentuate the positive"! 

Looking at the details of what was necessary to complete the first task on the list that I posted on the 2nd of May which related to the building and installation of a small link board between Wycombe End and Bradenham I realised that there might be a better way to proceed, but that better way involves a larger new baseboard:-

The fiddle yard board of Wycombe End was only ever intended as a basic low cost stop gap. The points on it are manually operated, its layout could be improved, and it is really just a bare fiddle yard. So it would be better to replace it by a longer board that fits between Wycombe End and Bradenham built to the same standards as those layouts, and with a better layout. So things are starting to move beyond my capabilities.

 

I have therefore bitten the bullet and started to look for people who can built this new board and do a lot of the other tasks on my 2nd May list far better and quicker than I can, but of course at a greater cost. In addition, I can avoid a number of tasks that I don't find particularly interesting, and as Nick reminded me, "this is a hobby"!

Fortunately I have some funds available as Bradenham cost much less than my original concept "Lower Thames Yard" would have done, even allowing for the cost of Wycombe End.

 

Currently I am talking to one builder, and waiting for an initial response from another group of builders. 

 

It may well be that the best way forward will be for Bradenham to be dismantled and taken away to be worked on which would be an opportunity to cure some of the faults in my initial design. I would have Wycombe End with its current fiddle yard to use in the meanwhile and it would allow me to better organise the storage space under Bradenham.

 

So, watch this space, and I will try to give you a weekly update on developments.

 

Happy Modelling,

Best regards

Paul   

 

[Tallpaul69]

Greetings one and All,

 

After much button clicking and web site reading I have got to communicate with four potential services providers who may be able to give me what I need.

I have had replies from two of them and we are in the process of exchanging questions and information and fixing up dates for them to come to see the layouts.

These visits are unlikely to happen until early July, which is not a problem as I need to give the Railway Room a sort out and free up some access under the baseboards.  

 

Today has been a busy one in our area as it is the annual Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Truck Convoy.

This charity parade of trucks mainly modern, but with a sprinkling of older vehicles, starts at the Hertfordshire Show Ground just on the southern side of the M1 from Dunstable, runs up the A5 through the centre of Dunstable and on up the A5 to Hockliffe, where it turns left for the run into Leighton Buzzard. This road passes just a couple of hundred yards from our house, and with the trucks horns blaring continuously, the period from 11.00 to 12.00 is pretty noisy! 

My wife was going to a church flower show in Linslade today until she realised that the buses would be disrupted at the time she would want to come back, as the roads are closed for an hour or more while the trucks pass, so she decided to stay at home.

 

It is great that we are getting some decent weather at last, hope everyone on the UK dodges the Thundery downpours we are promised today/tomorrow!

Best regards

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Good evening folks!

While I am in the process of sorting out potential providers for the next stage of the layout, I have also been occupied with a few other tasks.

Firstly, I have sketched up several ideas for the track layout on the board to replace Wycombe End fiddle yard and form the bridge to Bradenham boards. I have two settled on doing more work on two options.

One will provide a link to both up and down Bradenham tracks so that trains can start in Wycombe End, progress to Bradenham, make a number of circuits there and then return to Wycombe end with the train reversed.

The other will provide a number of storage loops in front of Wycombe End connected to the double junctions at each end of Bradenham. 

 

Both improve the operating potential of the layout, in different ways, my jury is out on which is best! Watch this space.....

 

In other current activities, my future wallet has taken a pounding with pre orders for the Class 180 5 car DMU and the Dapol sound and smoke fitted class 59. 

 

So watch this space!!

Cheers for now,

Paul 

[Tallpaul69]

Good evening one and all,

I thought i ought to give you an update on what is happening in my railway room.

On the surface, you might observe little seems to be happening but, all being well things should move forward next week on my plans to get some help in the development of Bradenham and Wycombe End.

I will be getting visits from a couple of layout builders to discuss options and allow them to give me some cost estimates on the next stages.

Meanwhile I have been having a bit of a spring clean in the railway room. 

I hope you are all managing to do some modelling, the current uk weather being the complete opposite to the chilly and wet beginning of June! 

Cheers All,

Paul

[Tallpaul69]

Afternoon All,

I had a visit from the first of the layout builders yesterday.

He seemed to think that what I wanted done made sense and has gone away to come up with some suggestions and costs. 

Hopefully the second guy will be able to get here during the next week or so.

 

I have also bagged a weathered Bachmann class 37 Tre Pol and Pen 37671 with DCC sound, and two speakers, plus buffer detail fitted which will enable my non weathered and non DCC version to be sold. I had been contemplating Kernow's version of 37671 which is the latest Bachmann 37 version, but when this one came up at half the price, I decided to give it a go! 

 

Happy Modelling,

Paul 

 

 

[Tallpaul69]

Good Evening everyone,

We won the Cricket, shame about the first two tests, winning the remaining two seems a bit of an ask!

 

Getting back to the modelling:-

Tre Pol and Pen has arrived, but I am not unpacking and giving her a trial until I have a bit more free time in the middle of this week. 

 

Having an idea now from this week's discussions how many trains i will be able to hold on the combined layouts I have started a 1962ish train list.

Luckily there needs to be several single car or coach trains so that helps increase the number of trains that can be stored!

I have also been thinking about a name for the combined layouts as "Bradenham and Wycombe End" seems a bit of a mouthful?

 

So far, only ideas are "Bradenham" or "Deepest Buckinghamshire", not really sold on either??

 

Any thoughts welcome!

Cheers for now,

Paul