Birmingham Bull Ring

[MrWolf]

Thank you, I've been trying to find out where I got the article from about creating one of the brake vans.

[brumtb]

Another old model rescued for further use.

Great Western outside framed brake van classified AA16 many years after it was actually built.

 

[MrWolf]

I really should finish putting mine together!

[Schooner]

I like those very much, and that's a fine example. I came to the same compromise with the handrails it seems. I now feel validated, thank you!

[brumtb]

I couldn't resist Rapido's Great Western Dia. O21 4-plank open wagon.

Here it is in Bull Ring yard, lightly weathered with a load of empty barrels destined for Flowers Brewery at Stratford on Avon.

[Mikkel]

On 13/04/2023 at 19:22, brumtb said:

destined for Flowers Brewery at Stratford on Avon.

 

Due to arrive here shortly, then:

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrsa619.htm

 

The site has more photos of the brewery if you search it.

 

 

[brumtb]

31 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

 

Due to arrive here shortly, then:

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrsa619.htm

 

The site has more photos of the brewery if you search it.

 

 

Yes, Mikkel thanks, I'm very fond of the old Flowers site which I remember from the early 1960s when I passed it everyday by train on my way to school.  

It has to be part of my overall layout theme, even if it is off scene!

Tony

[Northroader]

Some went south, others headed north.... (later known as Banks’s)

Edited April 22, 2023 by Northroader

[brumtb]

4 hours ago, Northroader said:

Some went south, others headed north.... (later known as Banks’s)

Then there was this one, the long established Leamington Brewery bought by Lucas, Blackwell and Arkwright in 1885 and . subsequently acquired by Ansells (in 1928).  Unfortunately not rail connected but the buildings still exist as apartments.

 

Tony

[brumtb]

Following earlier conversation on @Edwardians Castle Aching about industrial railways in the Birmingham area this loco body has arrived from Shapeways via  Enwins Models  .  It is made to fit the Smokey Joe chassis which unfortunately means it is 1cm too long so some work (quite a lot actually) is going to be needed to get anywhere near a reasonable representation of the real Cadburys Avonsides. Then there is the chassis, I’m certainly not up to building an 0-4-0 with Walschaerts valve gear so will have to look at what can be done with available rtr chassis. It’s going to be a long job!

 

Tony

[Neal Ball]

Good luck with that then Tony.

 

What's the quality of the print like? I hear variable reports about Shapeways 3D printed items.

[Compound2632]

12 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

What's the quality of the print like? I hear variable reports about Shapeways 3D printed items.

 

From what I see and hear, they have failed to keep up with the quality being achieved by some of our cottage industry suppliers. It's an area where the technology is evolving quickly.

[brumtb]

2 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Good luck with that then Tony.

 

What's the quality of the print like? I hear variable reports about Shapeways 3D printed items.

Thanks Neal, its not as bad as some (e.g. the 517) but still needs a fair bit of smoothing and probably a number of brass boiler fittings.

Tony

[ChrisN]

44 minutes ago, brumtb said:

Thanks Neal, its not as bad as some (e.g. the 517) but still needs a fair bit of smoothing and probably a number of brass boiler fittings.

Tony

 

Tony,

Hope this build goes well.

 

It is an interesting web site, I had not come across them before.

 

[brumtb]

5 hours ago, ChrisN said:

 

Tony,

Hope this build goes well.

 

It is an interesting web site, I had not come across them before.

 

Thanks Chris, did you see the Cambrian loco?

Tony

[MrWolf]

Would a Fleischman BR98 0-4-0 make a better candidate for a chassis?

[ChrisN]

2 hours ago, brumtb said:

Thanks Chris, did you see the Cambrian loco?

Tony

 

Tony,

Yes I did thank you, but it is after my preiod.

[brumtb]

Modelling has been slow over the summer months (too much to do outside) but a "ticking over" project has been the Midland Railway's Digbeth East Signal Box.  This started as a damaged Hornby Skaledale model found cheap on ebay which I've repaired and repainted and added some extra detail. Now i have to excavate the scenery and install it on the layout. 

Thanks for looking

Tony

[brumtb]

Lucknow to Novelty

Out of the box Bachmann’s LNWR Improved Precedent, Lucknow is in an earlier condition than my 1918 to grouping modelling period. 

The first change was to exchange the tender body with one from the NRM model of Hardwick. I subsequently discovered that the tender body is available separately through the Bachmann Spares website!

However, Lucknow was withdrawn in 1919 and I would have preferred a loco that ran throughout my period. I’d hoped 247 Developments promised range of names and number plates would have appeared by now but in their absence I decided to look for an alternative.  Whilst reading various books on LNWR locomotives I discovered that 1682 Novelty was shedded at Rugby in 1920 which is near enough to Birmingham to justify its appearance on my layout.  So, I obtained nameplates from the Bachmann LMS liveried model and custom numberplates from the Light Railway Stores. Buffers were something of an issue as early LMS photos of Novelty show the later Bowen Cooke buffers but I’ve not been able to discover when they were fitted. Some were fitted in LNWR days but many more by the LMS. However, Novelty received LMS red livery very soon after the grouping presumably after a general overhaul so until I know otherwise I’m happy to presume the new buffers were fitted by the LMS in the early grouping days.

So, here she is passing through the layout.

 

Tony

[ChrisN]

2 hours ago, brumtb said:

Lucknow to Novelty

Out of the box Bachmann’s LNWR Improved Precedent, Lucknow is in an earlier condition than my 1918 to grouping modelling period. 

The first change was to exchange the tender body with one from the NRM model of Hardwick. I subsequently discovered that the tender body is available separately through the Bachmann Spares website!

However, Lucknow was withdrawn in 1919 and I would have preferred a loco that ran throughout my period. I’d hoped 247 Developments promised range of names and number plates would have appeared by now but in their absence I decided to look for an alternative.  Whilst reading various books on LNWR locomotives I discovered that 1682 Novelty was shedded at Rugby in 1920 which is near enough to Birmingham to justify its appearance on my layout.  So, I obtained nameplates from the Bachmann LMS liveried model and custom numberplates from the Light Railway Stores. Buffers were something of an issue as early LMS photos of Novelty show the later Bowen Cooke buffers but I’ve not been able to discover when they were fitted. Some were fitted in LNWR days but many more by the LMS. However, Novelty received LMS red livery very soon after the grouping presumably after a general overhaul so until I know otherwise I’m happy to presume the new buffers were fitted by the LMS in the early grouping days.

So, here she is passing through the layout.

 

Tony

 

Tony,

What a lovely loco.  It is nice to be able to get something for your period RTR.

[Edwardian]

Excellent. Can you get the burnished fluted coupling rods as spares also? 

 

The flush black ones are a bit 1880s

 

 

[brumtb]

16 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Excellent. Can you get the burnished fluted coupling rods as spares also? 

 

The flush black ones are a bit 1880s

 

 

Thanks @Edwardian for the suggestion, i see what you mean.

Yes, the fluted coupling rods are available so I'll be taking that on board

Tony

[brumtb]

On 24/09/2023 at 16:28, Edwardian said:

Excellent. Can you get the burnished fluted coupling rods as spares also? 

 

The flush black ones are a bit 1880s

 

 

Here is Novelty now further "modernised" with fluted coupling rods, a single whistle and the carriage warming relief valve in the front corner of the cab roof. (plate 216, An Illustrated History of LNWR Engines by Edward Talbot).

 

Tony

[brumtb]

I've just seen this which looks very interesting. I don't really need another but think I'll try one!

 

4mm 00 GWR/BR 10/12ton Goods Brake Van Dia. AA 16 Toad kit. (smallbrookstudio.uk)

Tony

Edited October 17, 2023 by brumtb
grammar

[brumtb]

When Rapido announced they were producing this “Not Quite Mink” back in March time, as a long term resident of Harbury I just had to have one.

The Greaves family was associated with the south Warwickshire cement industry from at least the 1840s and probably earlier.  Blue Lias clay was known as a valuable constituent, originally for lime production and subsequently for cement . The Warwickshire Blue Lias deposits extend from around  Stratford Upon Avon in the west to around Rugby in the east and Harbury is situated midway between the two in company with many other small producers in villages such as Ufton, Stockton, Long Itchington and Southam.  Originally the quarries and works were sited by the growing canal network but with the coming of the railways new sites were opened to use the new form of transport. This was the case with Harbury.  The GWR main line from Paddington to Birmingham and beyond was opened in 1852 and Greaves are said to have commenced operations in Harbury in 1855. Greaves Siding was situated just the south of Harbury cutting which at the time of its construction was the deepest in the UK, all cut by hand through the Blue Lias deposits which right up to the present day has caused many landslips owing to its unstable nature. The cement works became one of the larger ones in the area with its own internal 3ft gauge rail system but it closed completely in the early 1990s by then part of Blue Circle Industries Ltd. All trace of the works has disappeared but the quarries remain as a coarse fishing complex but remembered also for a complete fossilised Ichthyosaurus now in the Natural History Museum.

Finished cement was shipped out by the company’s own standard gauge covered goods wagons such as the one produced by Rapido although liveries and types of wagon varied over the years, The Rapido wagon appears to be based on iron bodied wagon number 242 which can be seen in a photograph on the Warwickshire Railways website taken at Leamington on the 26th May 1925 Leamington (Avenue) Station - Locomotives: Close up showing Great Western Railway rolling stock passing behind the GWR station on 26th May 1925 (warwickshirerailways.com)

The Greaves wagon with a hand lettered Ratio Iron Mink acquired some time ago for Nelsons of Stockton, another of the Warwickshire cement producers.

For an in depth look at the south Warwickshire Lime and Cement industry (admittedly a rather niche interest)  there is a useful book: Warwickshire Lime and Cement Works Railways by Sydney A Leleux published by Oakwood Press, the result of 55 years research by the author!!

Thanks for looking 

Tony