Peterborough North

[trw1089]

A big thumbs up from Tony in Oz (I think that should be my new nickname on here...)

 

I'm interested in how minerals got mixed up with general freight stock, and how it is running as a class F freight.  Very interesting rake of wagons that!

 

The O2 is very nice too, wonder if Heljan will eventually follow suit. Have you received your weathered one back yet?  My Heljan jobbie has been weathered but the abomination of valve gear keeps falling apart on it.  Not sure where they came up with the valve gear design on the model, the expansion link pivots in a most unusual position and the motion bracket sticks out so far it would wipe out the spotters sitting at the end of the PN platforms!  Besides that, the way it is rivetted means you only have to glance at it and it comes apart.

 

Thanks for pic Gilbert and yes, get some Klear on that A4!

 

Cheers

Tony (in Oz!)

[micklner]

A big thumbs up from Tony in Oz (I think that should be my new nickname on here...)

 

I'm interested in how minerals got mixed up with general freight stock, and how it is running as a class F freight.  Very interesting rake of wagons that!

 

The O2 is very nice too, wonder if Heljan will eventually follow suit. Have you received your weathered one back yet?  My Heljan jobbie has been weathered but the abomination of valve gear keeps falling apart on it.  Not sure where they came up with the valve gear design on the model, the expansion link pivots in a most unusual position and the motion bracket sticks out so far it would wipe out the spotters sitting at the end of the PN platforms!  Besides that, the way it is rivetted means you only have to glance at it and it comes apart.

 

Thanks for pic Gilbert and yes, get some Klear on that A4!

 

Cheers

Tony (in Oz!)

 

Have a look on the Wright Writes thread there are some recent pictures there of Valve gear  repairs done on a Heljan O2. Cant see me buying one not impressed with what I have seen of them !!

[great northern]

A big thumbs up from Tony in Oz (I think that should be my new nickname on here...)

 

I'm interested in how minerals got mixed up with general freight stock, and how it is running as a class F freight.  Very interesting rake of wagons that!

 

The O2 is very nice too, wonder if Heljan will eventually follow suit. Have you received your weathered one back yet?  My Heljan jobbie has been weathered but the abomination of valve gear keeps falling apart on it.  Not sure where they came up with the valve gear design on the model, the expansion link pivots in a most unusual position and the motion bracket sticks out so far it would wipe out the spotters sitting at the end of the PN platforms!  Besides that, the way it is rivetted means you only have to glance at it and it comes apart.

 

Thanks for pic Gilbert and yes, get some Klear on that A4!

 

Cheers

Tony (in Oz!)

 Glad you like that Tony, your username is a bit anonymous! All of my goods trains are formed as advised by Andy Rush, and drew on his vast knowledge of working in Control at March, and other places. He impressed on me that everything was done to make the job as easy as possible for and by those who had to do it, so if the time taken to fully pipe up a train would be longer than the time that would be saved in transit, they wouldn't bother doing it. That was just one example from many things he told me.

 

I sent him, at his request, a list of all the goods trains I had found on the WTT, and he very kindly sent back a list of what should be in them, which I have relied on ever since, and which I reckon are as close as I'm ever going to get. So yes, that Hitchin formation does look strange, but that's apparently what was in it, and is backed up by some of the eclectic formations I've seen behind WDs in prototype photos. Andy said this could have run as either Class F or H, the loco I picked just happened to have these lamps fitted.

 

The Heljan 02 has proved to be a problem. I've already detailed the difficulty I had when it first arrived, and that Grahame Wareham on behalf of Heljan dealt with that extremely quickly and well. Unfortunately though I can't get the loco to run with a decoder fitted for any length of time. With the original Lenz silver it would run a few feet, then stop, so I took it to Jeremy at Digitrains, who says he has had previous problems of that nature with Heljan locos. On his advice we fitted a basic ESU decoder which he had found to be the best option. I brought it back, and ran the loco in properly for an hour, no problem, but a couple of days later when I called it up, nothing, and when put on the programming track I got the dreaded "cannot read CV" Tim says he can sort it by replacing the Heljan wiring, so it is waiting for that. I know one should not have to do this, but I want a working loco.

[great northern]

I'm still trying to make sense of what I have in the image bank, so we are flitting between stuff I took last Sunday, and the requests I dealt with on Wednesday. However, it seems logical to continue with the train we have just been discussing, so here is the 02 about to add to the soot under the roof.

and emerging from the other end having done so.

shorter exposure equals more light under roof, but less sharpness.

[great northern]

Not a request, this one, just star 34A A3 Tracery with an evening Newcastle express. Not the best angle for viewing the double chimney, I think.

[Market65]

Oh dear, the top of the telegraph pole looks as if it has been hit or caught in some way. Is it not possible to remove them when the layout is not being operated to try and keep such things to a minimum. They are such an integral part of the layout.

 

With warmest regards,

 

Rob.

[great northern]

Oh dear, the top of the telegraph pole looks as if it has been hit or caught in some way. Is it not possible to remove them when the layout is not being operated to try and keep such things to a minimum. They are such an integral part of the layout.

 

With warmest regards,

 

Rob.

Here is the chief suspect.

Damn things get everywhere.

[Mallard60022]

On another thread there is a discussion about Bawtry and on following a link I found this in the same collection

http://www.rail-online.co.uk/p349897961/hd3d7e9c#h51a5ac4

 

Apologies for showing a link to a picture of such a disgusting heap of ****

One or two details in the shot though.

Philth.

[Theakerr]

Re the decoder issues, might be appropriate to either hardwire a decoder, i know back to the stone age, or put in a new female pin board that has been directly wired in to avoid any software that might be on the Heljan board.  Apparently some people have done this with the Hornby P2 TTS equipped model.

[great northern]

On another thread there is a discussion about Bawtry and on following a link I found this in the same collection

http://www.rail-online.co.uk/p349897961/hd3d7e9c#h51a5ac4

 

Apologies for showing a link to a picture of such a disgusting heap of ****

One or two details in the shot though.

Philth.

Indeed there are, thanks Phil. Leaving from Platform 6 rather than the bay, too. I really need one of these actually.

[great northern]

Re the decoder issues, might be appropriate to either hardwire a decoder, i know back to the stone age, or put in a new female pin board that has been directly wired in to avoid any software that might be on the Heljan board.  Apparently some people have done this with the Hornby P2 TTS equipped model.

Thanks Jim. I do believe a new board is what Tim has in mind, but I shall have to wait and see.

[great northern]

A slight cheat coming up, as I can never resist an opportunity to be idle. Grafarman( David) asked for an A4 with an eclectic mix of stock. Well as it happens 60021 had just that behind it when it passed through earlier, and I did photograph it.

 

I do so much like Gresley coaches, especially those two "super firsts".

 

I have partly fulfilled the rest of the request too, and that will follow shortly. If there are any other requests, please let me know, as the end of the sequence, when I have to shuffle things about any way, is a very good time to deal with them without causing disruption and headaches later.

[Market65]

I have a class 114, a converted class 117, Lima. It could be better!  But you are right, they were pretty common at Peterborough North, and a Lima conversion might be the best way. Although I think DC Kits made a kit a few years ago, but I am not sure if it is still available.

 

Best regards,

 

Rob.

[Clive Mortimore]

Someone say 114, could always have a go at converting a Hornby 110.

[St Enodoc]

Here is the chief suspect.

iStock_000006330745Small_pigeon-rock.jpg

Damn things get everywhere.

Lucky it wasn't a duck.

A slight cheat coming up, as I can never resist an opportunity to be idle. Grafarman( David) asked for an A4 with an eclectic mix of stock. Well as it happens 60021 had just that behind it when it passed through earlier, and I did photograph it.

ECS 1.jpg

ECS 2.jpg

ECS 3.jpg

ECS 4.jpg

ECS 5.jpg

 

I do so much like Gresley coaches, especially those two "super firsts".

 

I have partly fulfilled the rest of the request too, and that will follow shortly. If there are any other requests, please let me know, as the end of the sequence, when I have to shuffle things about any way, is a very good time to deal with them without causing disruption and headaches later.

Model railways - the answer to life, the universe and everything.

[Grafarman]

A slight cheat coming up, as I can never resist an opportunity to be idle. Grafarman( David) asked for an A4 with an eclectic mix of stock. Well as it happens 60021 had just that behind it when it passed through earlier, and I did photograph it.

ECS 1.jpg

ECS 2.jpg

ECS 3.jpg

ECS 4.jpg

ECS 5.jpg

 

I do so much like Gresley coaches, especially those two "super firsts".

 

I have partly fulfilled the rest of the request too, and that will follow shortly. If there are any other requests, please let me know, as the end of the sequence, when I have to shuffle things about any way, is a very good time to deal with them without causing disruption and headaches later.

 

Beautiful, thanks GB; quick question - do you run formations like this just once through the station as per the timetable, or do you sometimes let it do a few circuits just to get that 'watching the trains go by' feeling? (that's what I'd do...!)

 

 

David

[Oldddudders]

Not a request, this one, just star 34A A3 Tracery with an evening Newcastle express. Not the best angle for viewing the double chimney, I think.

 

 

Always nice when your shot is of a loco I actually saw. One of 22 A3s 'copped' in my ABC.

[great northern]

Beautiful, thanks GB; quick question - do you run formations like this just once through the station as per the timetable, or do you sometimes let it do a few circuits just to get that 'watching the trains go by' feeling? (that's what I'd do...!)

 

 

David

 Occasionally I just let things roll around and around, but mainly I stick to the sequence, as it takes me far too long to get through it, even when I manage not to get distracted by photography. Yes, I can take as long as I like, I know that, but the problem is that things don't get to move for weeks or even months if I take that attitude, and it is hardly surprising if locomotives don't perform as well as I would like them to if they have been standing idle for too long. There is also the fact that a lot of expensive stock doing nothing much at all is not really a good use of resources, nor money well spent.

 

In a strange way too, the fact that this is a layout based on a prototype does influence me. The old layout up in the loft wasn't really, and so I was quite happy to watch trains run round and round up there, but this just feels different somehow.

[great northern]

This morning's offering is a close up of Tracery.

This one could legitimately be taken from what would be a place of safety.

[Sam*45110*SVR]

 

I have partly fulfilled the rest of the request too, and that will follow shortly. If there are any other requests, please let me know, as the end of the sequence, when I have to shuffle things about any way, is a very good time to deal with them without causing disruption and headaches later.

 

 

Hi Gilbert

 

If I'm not too late, my request (if it isn't blasphemy  ) is for a midland interloper (that isn't an Ivatt class 4), hauling more of your wonderful "everyday" stock through PN.

 

I went through Peterborough on a HST just before Christmas having never visited or seen a picture of the new station before. I was quite shocked at how much had changed because I've seen so many pictures of your model of PN in 1958 ! 

 

Thanks, Sam

[rockershovel]

... straying slightly, but hopefully not too far from the subject of maroon coaches.... I had a deeply unsatisfactory period in the mid/late 80s, commuting from Peterborough to London on ECML, immediately prior to electrification. The non-HST trains were a decrepit mixture of elderly, diesel hauled carriage stock and for some reason I always think of them as being maroon.

 

Whether this is so, I don't really know for sure. Anyone shed any light on this?

 

HSTs were always blue and grey, until they started being various shades of blue with assorted crests. I don't really recall the colours of the first electric sets, they weren't the "soft drink can" liveries you see now, but I was so jaundiced by then (and the first electric sets were truly, deeply awful) I had completely stopped paying attention to such things.

[Market65]

I don't recall any maroon hauled coaching stock on BR in ordinary service in the late '80's. It could be your memory playing tricks!

 

Best regards,

 

Rob.

[great northern]

Still working through requests, I've got as far as an EE type 4 with an eclectic mix of stock.

The sequence actually called for a Doncaster- Nene sidings ECS at this point, so I rostered D209. Why it would appear on such an insignificant working, and why the second man couldn't put the discs in the right place, I do not know.

[Flood]

I had completely stopped paying attention to such things.

Obviously.

 

Maroon was phased out by 1974 and the mid/late 80s had HSTs in predominantly Executive or Swallow livery.

[Grafarman]

Still working through requests, I've got as far as an EE type 4 with an eclectic mix of stock.

D209.jpg

The sequence actually called for a Doncaster- Nene sidings ECS at this point, so I rostered D209. Why it would appear on such an insignificant working, and why the second man couldn't put the discs in the right place, I do not know.

 

Feeling totally spoiled now; lovely shot...