Peterborough North

[great northern]

A lovely sight at Platform 6. 61558 has brought in the stock for the 1232 to Cambridge.

 

[thegreenhowards]

2 hours ago, great northern said:

A lovely sight at Platform 6. 61558 has brought in the stock for the 1232 to Cambridge.

 

A nice mixed rake.

[great northern]

Short changing you this morning, I'm afraid. There's been so little light recently that I've hardly taken any photos, and only just started shopping the few I have. Here is the one I have done, showing Mallard and the 1052 KX-Ripon and Bradford passing 60088 waiting to leave.

[great northern]

Another angle on Mallard and Book Law.

Mallard runs on through. I hope the nice lady in the spotted dress could get the name or number through the coach windows. I should think she's seen it before, anyway.

 

[31A]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

I hope the nice lady in the spotted dress could get the name or number through the coach windows. I should think she's seen it before, anyway.

 

Probably spotted the round thing on the side!

[great northern]

More of Mallard this morning.

I quite like this as a more linear view, and one can see almost half of the train. The next one is more problematic. There was a lattice post immediately to the right of the loco, which i felt was too obtrusive, and cropping it out makes the whole composition lopsided, in my eyes anyway. But having fiddled around with it for some time, I'll put it in anyway.

 

[Oldddudders]

Not lopsided, because the signalbox - i.e. a significant railway feature - balances the loco rather well. i also like the slightly telephoto effect (compressed perspective) on the leading coach. This pic is not a standard PN shot at all, and none the worse for that!

[Metropolitan H]

A very quick teak of the verticals gives this version. I think it adds to the greatness of your picture.

 

 

A shame that I have lost Mallard's front left buffer,but with the vertical vertical it is a superb image.

 

Regards

Chris H

[great northern]

Thank you gentlemen. Those two replies are very encouraging, and I shall carry on experimenting. I must say I was thinking of losing that buffer too, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

[great northern]

Back down to the South end now, to capture both Book Law and the B12 waiting to depart. Book Law will leave first, and one hopes the photographer will be safely back on the platform before it does. Actually, the prototype track layout would have allowed both to leave at the same time, but mine can't.

Book Law's departure was not recorded, but that of 61558 was.

 

[great northern]

The 1100 KX-Glasgow is next in, and has a Gateshead A4. That is what happened on the day of the survey on which I am presently relying, but as there was a six minute stop at PN, I suspect there was an engine change, which makes a Tyneside loco from KX unlikely. However, when Tim visists next Tuesday he will hopefully have with him some lineside logs from the south end of the main line made in August 1958, which the gentleman who compiled them has very generously allowed me to see. I should then be able to get a much better idea of loco rosters for my exact period. No doubt it will mean yet more alterations, but it will be well worth it.

When it departed, Silver King was photographed again, this time from on high.

 

[great northern]

There have been some developments on the storage side which may be of interest. At various times during the nine years since I started using cassettes, the distribution of trains between them and those living in the fiddle yard has changed several times. The last change was quite recent because the Saturday sequence made me realise that my rakes of end vestibule and all door seconds were going to be in almost continuous use, so it seemed sensible to put them in dedicated fiddle yard roads, rather than be constantly hauling four foot long cassettes about. So, into roads 2 and 4 they went. However, whilst that worked very well when a formation needed seven or eight cars, there were plenty of occasions when they needed to be spilt into smaller sections, and that proved to be a problem, as I either had to be changing points and hand shunting, or employng the great hand from the sky and bodily lifting them out and onto road 1.

 

Some of us remember time and motion studies, which probably still exist, but under a different name. I did one, and felt that this was taking longer than loading and unloading cassettes. However, I was also increasingly concerned about manoeuvering four foot cassettes, especially when they had to be turned end to end. I have never had an accident, but I started to feel that it might be only a matter of time before I did. The decision was to get a number of four foot ones cut in two. OK, that meant four cassettes for each eight car rake, but I felt that the benefits outweighed any disadvantages. So, over a few days, that was done. But now I needed more cassette space, and I wanted these often used cassettes on the top shelf for ease of access. Parts of the fiddle yard were looking rather empty too. And so, two eleven car rakes, housed in three cassettes each, would be moved back onto vacant fiddle yard roads, which in turn would free up more cassettes for chopping in two. So the Heart of Midlothian and the Glasgow, which had originally been in the fiddle yard, returned there. They will, like other rakes, run only twice in every sequence, but I've already found that it is far better that swinging three long cassettes about. The two car policy is also working very well, so all in all I'm rather pleased . That'll do for now, and give you time to assimilate this stuff, but later I will do another post using two recently featured trains to illustrate how it now works, and how long it takes to assemble and remove the stock.

[great northern]

Still up in the air, and still featuring SilVer King.

 

Still not getting the colour balance right.

[davidw]

1 hour ago, great northern said:

Still up in the air, and still featuring SilVer King.

 

Still not getting the colour balance right.

Other than a few days after works visits were Gateshead locos ever cleaned?

[landscapes]

Hi Gilbert

 

I don’t know if it’s my computer as I have had problems accessing certain items on RMWeb but I cannot get access to your latest page No1426, I can get all pages up to 1425.

 

I thought I would let you know just in case it is a problem and your not aware of it.

 

Regards

 

David

[great northern]

Still up in the air, where we get a last look at Silver King....

and then the W1 runs through with its normal morning York and Hull working.

 

 

[great northern]

12 hours ago, davidw said:

Other than a few days after works visits were Gateshead locos ever cleaned?

I think it is probably best not to over generalise. The perception now is that they weren't cleaned, and personal recollection plus photographs tend to back that up. It may be that, like New England, local industry paid better, and they couldn't get the staff, or that those in charge took the view that mechanical efficiency should be prioritised over external looks. A combination of the two seems likely.

 

I have read that when 52A got more through workings to London in the late 50s, cleaning standards improved. Top Shed showed what could be done, of course, but that may have been because London got the first influx of foreign workers. Did the cleanliness of the KX engines engender more of a general spirit of pride among the workforce in general? It may have done. My experience is that when our golf course was in really good nick, the greens staff seemed happier too.

[great northern]

And so to how the new arrangements work in practice. The cassette spur is located very close to where they are kept, and most of the loose stock is within reach, either in spurs or in drawers under the baseboard. Some loco storage units require a short walk, but that is good for me, isn't it?

 

First example is the 1052 Ripon. That requires:-  BSK4 loose stock 4x SK7 from two cassettes, CK TSO* BCK* CK* TSO* all loose stock, 2xSK8 from cassette and BSO* from loose. 13 cars to assemble and eleven separate actions, including putting the loco on the front. That is one of the longest trains I run, and it took me three minutes to assemble it ready for the off.

 

Then we have the 0810 Newcastle. That requires BSK4 CK BSK4* FK* loose, FO RK SO (triplet) from cassette, 2x SK* from cassette, 2xTSO* from cassette. and BSK 4 from loose.  12 cars, and again took three minutes to assemble.

 

Would that be practicable for an exhibition layout? Maybe not. As far as I'm concerned, three minutes out of my life is not a severe penalty to bear when it allows me to put together the correct formations in the correct order. Actually, it slows the pace of things, and is surprisingly relaxing, and that really is a good result in all respects.

[great northern]

13 hours ago, landscapes said:

Hi Gilbert

 

I don’t know if it’s my computer as I have had problems accessing certain items on RMWeb but I cannot get access to your latest page No1426, I can get all pages up to 1425.

 

I thought I would let you know just in case it is a problem and your not aware of it.

 

Regards

 

David

No problem here David, as I have the page and your post.

[davidw]

9 hours ago, great northern said:

I think it is probably best not to over generalise. The perception now is that they weren't cleaned, and personal recollection plus photographs tend to back that up. It may be that, like New England, local industry paid better, and they couldn't get the staff, or that those in charge took the view that mechanical efficiency should be prioritised over external looks. A combination of the two seems likely.

 

I have read that when 52A got more through workings to London in the late 50s, cleaning standards improved. Top Shed showed what could be done, of course, but that may have been because London got the first influx of foreign workers. Did the cleanliness of the KX engines engender more of a general spirit of pride among the workforce in general? It may have done. My experience is that when our golf course was in really good nick, the greens staff seemed happier too.

Thanks Gilbert. I've just managed to win a Guillemot off eBay. The valve gear was broken (now fixed), cab doors missing (now replaced) and horrid representation of coal dug out (now replaced). It was going to be either - 60003, or 60008. I've got 60006 and 60026, but wondered if I could justify a relatively clean Gateshead loco. Since asking I've  come across a photo of Guillemot comparatively clean at what looks like the head of the Talisman in John Ryan's Gresley A4 book. All I need now is the FO twin set! Any excuse....

Edited November 11, 2022 by davidw

[mullie]

Gilbert, I assume the photos over the last few weeks have been edited on your new monitor? To me, they have a different colour balance to them that I prefer. I like to pop your photos out of the page on my trusty MacBook which is a great way to look at them.

 

Thought I would ask as I don't recall anyone else mentioning it? Your thread is still a daily view for me, thank you for your continued efforts.

 

Martyn

[great northern]

40 minutes ago, mullie said:

Gilbert, I assume the photos over the last few weeks have been edited on your new monitor? To me, they have a different colour balance to them that I prefer. I like to pop your photos out of the page on my trusty MacBook which is a great way to look at them.

 

Thought I would ask as I don't recall anyone else mentioning it? Your thread is still a daily view for me, thank you for your continued efforts.

 

Martyn

Yes they have Martyn. Of course I don't know what they used to look like to everyone else, because of my ancient monitor!  I'm struggling to cope both with the new one, and with the LED lighting, so at present i'm not getting quite what I want. These things are very subjective though, aren't they?

[great northern]

The W1 again tonight, 13 behind the tender, and of course at 20mph.

 

Colour seems a bit dull to me on the second one, but if I give either temperature or saturation just a little more, it makes things too garish.

[Clive Mortimore]

On 10/11/2022 at 16:36, great northern said:

There have been some developments on the storage side which may be of interest. At various times during the nine years since I started using cassettes, the distribution of trains between them and those living in the fiddle yard has changed several times. The last change was quite recent because the Saturday sequence made me realise that my rakes of end vestibule and all door seconds were going to be in almost continuous use, so it seemed sensible to put them in dedicated fiddle yard roads, rather than be constantly hauling four foot long cassettes about. So, into roads 2 and 4 they went. However, whilst that worked very well when a formation needed seven or eight cars, there were plenty of occasions when they needed to be spilt into smaller sections, and that proved to be a problem, as I either had to be changing points and hand shunting, or employng the great hand from the sky and bodily lifting them out and onto road 1.

 

Some of us remember time and motion studies, which probably still exist, but under a different name. I did one, and felt that this was taking longer than loading and unloading cassettes. However, I was also increasingly concerned about manoeuvering four foot cassettes, especially when they had to be turned end to end. I have never had an accident, but I started to feel that it might be only a matter of time before I did. The decision was to get a number of four foot ones cut in two. OK, that meant four cassettes for each eight car rake, but I felt that the benefits outweighed any disadvantages. So, over a few days, that was done. But now I needed more cassette space, and I wanted these often used cassettes on the top shelf for ease of access. Parts of the fiddle yard were looking rather empty too. And so, two eleven car rakes, housed in three cassettes each, would be moved back onto vacant fiddle yard roads, which in turn would free up more cassettes for chopping in two. So the Heart of Midlothian and the Glasgow, which had originally been in the fiddle yard, returned there. They will, like other rakes, run only twice in every sequence, but I've already found that it is far better that swinging three long cassettes about. The two car policy is also working very well, so all in all I'm rather pleased . That'll do for now, and give you time to assimilate this stuff, but later I will do another post using two recently featured trains to illustrate how it now works, and how long it takes to assemble and remove the stock.

A full report will be posted on Gilbert's new method of arranging his coaches as there will a visitation next week to Peterborough North by a small gang of us.

[rowanj]

Re Gateshead and lack of cleaning, there are a couple of other potential factors. The preponderance of relatively local Sheds meant promotion to the foot plate was a pretty quick process. Also, Gateshead doesn't seem to have allocated its top link drivers to a particular loco in the same way Kings X and Haymarket did.,so driver loyalty didn't happen to the same extent. Add this to competition for staff in the NCB and shipyards, and you get a situation where such cleaners as Gateshead had didn't stay cleaners very long.