Peterborough North

[CUTLER2579]

Just as well you thought of him really - young? 59, so no. Tall - 5' 10' so not really. Supple - do me a favour.....

 

Maybe a professional wallpaper hanger could advise?

 

 

Do you mean Young Tim as being 59 ?        And  Tall - 5' 10' ?        

 

Surely Not.

[great northern]

How about a vertical ladder against each wall? Needs minimum space. Then a builder's plank (or 2) sitting on the rungs, with a block on the underside to kep the ladders upright.

 

Stewart

Another problem there Stewart. On the window side of the room the bookcases project out over the fifteen inch gap I left to be able to get along the side of the layout, so there is nowhere a ladder can go.

[great northern]

OK, here are the fruits of my labours.

Please bear in mind that I was wobbling about at full stretch on top of a ladder when I was doing this. I took it to see what problems in regard to photoshopping have been solved, and what others have replaced them. I find that always happens. A few comments. Top left, the apparently unreachable naked bookshelves. Behind the poles and the apex of the roof there is a piece of card. It is in fact white -snow white is the description - but it comes out grey when photographed. Finally, look between the hotel chimneys, and you will see that I haven't quite extended the card down far enough. The similarity of grey shades will still cause problems. it is still an improvement though.

 

Then I took this to see what, if anything, I have achieved looking towards the bridge.

Still quite a bit of fiddly work needed, but it does come out crisper, and with more definition.

[New Haven Neil]

Do you mean Young Tim as being 59 ?        And  Tall - 5' 10' ?        

 

Surely Not.

 

No - Me!

[New Haven Neil]

Is it just me, Gilbert........

 

If you can't reach the bookshelf to affix white paper - how do you get the books down?

 

Yes, that was what I meant about the professional wallpaper hanger - they do miracles in restricted places.

[great northern]

Is it just me, Gilbert........

 

If you can't reach the bookshelf to affix white paper - how do you get the books down?

 

Yes, that was what I meant about the professional wallpaper hanger - they do miracles in restricted places.

 You've hit a sore spot there Neil. I do like reading books more than once, but I won't be getting at most of them any time soon. This never occurred to me when I was planning the layout, of course.

[great northern]

Hi Gilbert, et all,

 

Just recently found this topic, and now engaged on working my way through 700+ pages of history. Only got another 500 or so to go!

 

Thanks for your reply to my PM Gilbert - the Garden hobby room plans progress slowly (measurements taken today for the site plan), but one day (maybe soon?) I hope to have my own layout coming into being (Council planners willing!)

 

I have had some personal struggles recently (and still ongoing), but am finding that reading through the history of this fantastic model has encouraged me to take up the hobby again, made me laugh (out loud sometimes!), made me sad with the losses of people I have never known - and wondering what the pages I have yet to read hold in store.

 

I am more of a GE line modeller, based around my home town of Colchester, but have been tempted by the offerings of Hornby and Bachmann for the ECML Pacifics, which currently number 6 of 4 classes. One decision to make at some point - to get rid of my older B17's for the newer offerings, although by chance, all my older models were shedded at Colchester!

 

Alan

 Every now and again, someone with remarkable staying power comes along! Welcome Alan, and it is very good to read that in some way this thread has helped you back into the hobby. You will encounter plenty of changes as you plough through the pages, if your resolve lasts that long!

 

I was always very envious of Colchester as a boy, as you had so many of the Footballers with the glamorous names, while the only one we had further North was Doncaster Rovers. A GE based model still tempts me now and again, but it will never happen now.

[great northern]

One more shot of the Elizabethan in the gloom.

Do those look like puffs of smoke? Not really.

 

The Elizabethan is followed by a train from Grimsby, which on Fridays only is extended through to London. we will examine it in more detail tomorrow.

it is passing Wolf of Badenoch, which is taking another Friday relief as far as Grantham.

 

Finally, a reminder of where we are.

That would make a good header photo for an article.

[great northern]

A nice morning, dry and even quite warm, but golf course closed owing to flooding. Shopping now, and then more time with the railway. Here is a portrait of the clean Immingham B1 waiting to make its way to London. We shall analyse the formation of the train after I have been to get my avocados. And some other stuff as well.

[trw1089]

I’ve been a bit remiss in posting of late, just quietly admiring the many beautiful shots. Given my current efforts at constructing a rather large station building, I keep looking at Peter Leyland's work in complete awe. Even when enlarged they are beautiful and show off his fantastic handiwork perfectly.

 

Last night I was watching a video on a US layout where the owner said that operation was everything and buildings were nice to have but not as important as good running rollingstock. To be honest, PN is the whole deal for me, beautiful rollingstock, running through a magnificent backdrop of structures that give you a complete sense of both place and atmosphere. You know you are in the steam era in Peterborough, everything comes together and just says so.

 

Cheers

Tony

[FPH 603]

A nice morning, dry and even quite warm, but golf course closed owing to flooding. Shopping now, and then more time with the railway. Here is a portrait of the clean Immingham B1 waiting to make its way to London. We shall analyse the formation of the train after I have been to get my avocados. And some other stuff as well.

1079.JPG

There's something about this photo that I think makes it look pretty realistic, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

[great northern]

I’ve been a bit remiss in posting of late, just quietly admiring the many beautiful shots. Given my current efforts at constructing a rather large station building, I keep looking at Peter Leyland's work in complete awe. Even when enlarged they are beautiful and show off his fantastic handiwork perfectly.

 

Last night I was watching a video on a US layout where the owner said that operation was everything and buildings were nice to have but not as important as good running rollingstock. To be honest, PN is the whole deal for me, beautiful rollingstock, running through a magnificent backdrop of structures that give you a complete sense of both place and atmosphere. You know you are in the steam era in Peterborough, everything comes together and just says so.

 

Cheers

Tony

Peter's work is stunning Tony, but then he is a professional modelmaker. You've taken on a major project in your own time, and from what I've seen of it recently you are doing a great job.

 

 I do wish people would preface sweeping statements with the words " I think that".... or "In my opinion"..... We are all entitled to different views and different priorities, but have no right to try to impose them on others. I respect that gentleman in the US's views and his right to do what he likes best. It doesn't suit me though. If I had all the most beautiful and faultless running rolling stock it is possible to have, to me it would be pointless if the infrastructure of the place wasn't there for it to run through, and I would not enjoy it. In fact it would have been ripped up long before now. As you so kindly say Tony, it is the complete package that makes it what it is.

[great northern]

Let's have a look at the formation of that Grimsby-KX.

A lot of TSOs, two brakes, a BG and an FK. The book says all the TSOs should be MK1s, but I don't have that many in loose stock, and I bet more often than not there was a mixture more or less like this. It is the stock's next working which explains why an afternoon Grimsby train should be formed in this way, as that will be a morning KX- SKegness diagram. The only surprise to me is the FK, as I don't think Skeggy would be a likely holiday destination for those likely to occupy it. It's something different again though, and another I can now make up from loose stock.

 

At the other end of the station our man was presented with an opportunity he could not pass up.

A B17 and a Claud in the same shot. Now that the Grimsby has departed, the Claud is moving from the old shed yard to run through to the South, and thence into the bay to take two coaches down to East. That stock had been brought in by the N5, which can be seen behind the B1 in the previous image.

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

Thinking about your problems with your bookcase's, I can only think of one drastic solution....................remove the bookcase's, then store the books under the layout, then the whole wall could be painted a sky colour.

 

manna 

[great northern]

G'Day Folks

 

Thinking about your problems with your bookcase's, I can only think of one drastic solution....................remove the bookcase's, then store the books under the layout, then the whole wall could be painted a sky colour.

 

manna 

But, in order to remove the bookcases, we have to be able to reach the top of all of them, and if we could do that, there wouldn't be a problem anyway, as we could then cover them up completely.  There's another problem too. Those bookcases are heavy, as are the books en masse. The risk involved in having someone, however competent, stretching to remove heavy objects while below lie delicate buildings and stock is something I can't take. I could remove all the stock, though that would be a big task in itself, but a lot of the buildings are now bedded in, so could be damaged if we try to remove them. Assuming we could achieve all of that, there are still the baseboards and all the track in situ. A falling bookcase, or a falling person, could cause a lot of damage there too. It is just too risky.

[great northern]

Time for another summer relief train, this one being the 1.52 pm to Doncaster. It rolls in under Crescent Bridge behind recently double kylchapped A3 Diamond Jubilee.

But just before his view was obscured, our other man was able to record 62530, now attached to its stock, and ready for the short trip down to East.

 

and now for a job I never thought I would have to do again......staff appraisals at the golf club.

[cctransuk]

......staff appraisals ......

 

The bane of my life before, I retired !!  .... and a totally pointless exercise and waste of time, dreamt up by HR officers to justify their existence.

 

Any effective manager, at any level, will know if he has an under-performing member of staff on his / her team, and will have already taken measures to remedy the situation.

 

The annual (if you're lucky) ritual of formal staff appraisals is universally recognised as being valueless - but no-one has the bottle to say so !!

 

Ohhh - am I glad to be permanently out of all that nonsense !!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Oldddudders]

A properly structured appraisal system, with measurable objectives set, agreed and reviewed, can assist in sorting wheat from chaff, and may be linked to salary increments or bonus payments, thus rewarding achievers and hitting the poor-performers where it hurts. Whether that is relevant to employees of a golf club may be another matter.

[great northern]

A properly structured appraisal system, with measurable objectives set, agreed and reviewed, can assist in sorting wheat from chaff, and may be linked to salary increments or bonus payments, thus rewarding achievers and hitting the poor-performers where it hurts. Whether that is relevant to employees of a golf club may be another matter.

I only have to do one, but in order to do that I also need to talk to the people he manages. I'm doing it because my job description requires it, but it will be a pretty informal process. I already know most of what I need to know anyway.

[chaz]

I only have to do one, but in order to do that I also need to talk to the people he manages. I'm doing it because my job description requires it, but it will be a pretty informal process. I already know most of what I need to know anyway.

 

 

Quite so. If the person doing the appraisal knows his staff and handles them well the appraisal is an unnecessary formality - a hoop to jump through, a box to tick - and if he doesn't? The appraisal is unlikely to have much value. 

 

I used to have to do them when I was a teacher (Head of Department) and found them to be an interruption in the time given to more important jobs. 

 

Chaz

[FarrMan]

Only found this topic a week or so ago. What an impressive and realistic model! I remember Peterborough North more in the early 1960's, and I had difficulty at times telling whether your photos were of the model or real life photos taken at the time. I lived a couple of streets away to the West of the Station, but well remember the sounds coming from there as I lay in bed at night. My normal spotting position was on Spittal Bridge, west end, looking North in the morning as I stopped on my way to school, and looking South on my way home. I always knew that it was time to press on to school when the up Master Cutler passed! The photos of your model from Spittal Bridge are so realistic and accurate. I can just imagine being there again. Pity that you did not have room for the Midland lines as well, or the buildings on Midland Road at that side. The photo from River Lane also took me straight back, and it is just as I remember it at the old level crossing site. Crescent Bridge and the Hotel also look so realistic.

 

One memory that I have is of the train bringing Billy Smart's Circus to town. It must have been in the mid 1950's. The train was berthed at the loading dock at the extreme east side of the South end. I remember the animals (not lions or tigers of course!) being taken from the train to walk through the town centre to the site near the old swimming pool on the embankment, nearly opposite East Station. There was a big crowd there to watch.

 

Thank you again for taking me back down memory lane. Perhaps nostalgia IS what it used to be after all!

[New Haven Neil]

Ooooohhh the Claud again!  Going to have to get one.

 

 As an ex-HR Adviser - yes, John, I agree.  It's called management, and if the managers managed, there would be no need for them. /

[great northern]

Only found this topic a week or so ago. What an impressive and realistic model! I remember Peterborough North more in the early 1960's, and I had difficulty at times telling whether your photos were of the model or real life photos taken at the time. I lived a couple of streets away to the West of the Station, but well remember the sounds coming from there as I lay in bed at night. My normal spotting position was on Spittal Bridge, west end, looking North in the morning as I stopped on my way to school, and looking South on my way home. I always knew that it was time to press on to school when the up Master Cutler passed! The photos of your model from Spittal Bridge are so realistic and accurate. I can just imagine being there again. Pity that you did not have room for the Midland lines as well, or the buildings on Midland Road at that side. The photo from River Lane also took me straight back, and it is just as I remember it at the old level crossing site. Crescent Bridge and the Hotel also look so realistic.

 

One memory that I have is of the train bringing Billy Smart's Circus to town. It must have been in the mid 1950's. The train was berthed at the loading dock at the extreme east side of the South end. I remember the animals (not lions or tigers of course!) being taken from the train to walk through the town centre to the site near the old swimming pool on the embankment, nearly opposite East Station. There was a big crowd there to watch.

 

Thank you again for taking me back down memory lane. Perhaps nostalgia IS what it used to be after all!

It's really nice to hear from people who saw the real thing!  One thing that intrigues me from your memories is this. Were there any elephants? I could try to recreate that. Does anyone do a kit for an elephant van?

[great northern]

Ooooohhh the Claud again!  Going to have to get one.

 

 As an ex-HR Adviser - yes, John, I agree.  It's called management, and if the managers managed, there would be no need for them. /

 Yes, way off topic, but I can't resist mentioning one thing that has always rankled with me. I had five boxes, into one of which my "victim" had to be placed. These were my instructions.

 

No-one shall get box 1 grade unless they are considered to be a future head of the service.

 

No-one shall get box 2 grade unless they can show that they have done outstanding work which falls outside their job description. As everyone was working their ar&es off just to keep up with the daily demands, there was fat chance of that. I was also instructed to remember that box 2 triggered a pay rise.

 

Box 3 = average.

 

Box 4 was below average. We were told that could only be given once. The following year the victim either went up to box 3, or if performance was still substandard must be given the dreaded....

 

Box 5. All I need to say about that is that a Manager who gave one of those would automatically himself be marked down on his own appraisal. I wonder why that box never got filled in?

 

The effect of course was that both parties to the appraisal knew in advance which box was going to be ticked. This was great for staff morale....... not!

[great northern]

Time for more photos, but somehow we seem to have missed the elephants, if of course there were any.

 

Here is a study in Gresley front ends.

Sir Murrough is waiting to take over an incoming express, but not this one. It 's the next one, the 2.00pm Newcastle, brought in by a very shiny Lord Faringdon.