Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a rapidly cooling Charente, though we have a spectacular starlit sky that will get even better when the village strret lights go out in a couple of hours.  I have done quite a bit in the last fortnight but not what I was planning to do as yet again a trip to the UK had to be cancelled at short notice after our granddaughter  got Covid. She's getting over it now but the Slaters spares and Merg kits that are over there will have to wait until February.  

 

In the meantime I have assembled the MERG DCC command station but haven't  yet plucked up the courage to power it up and test it.  What I have been doing over the last few days is working on the Fiddle Yard control panel. When we came over I started fitting a new lid with all the switches and LED's in it. This is better laid out and I'm fitting LED's that show the positions of all the points. I got the switches fitted 2 years or more ago but then lost mojo.  Over the last few days I've persevered and now have all the LED's fitted and working on 3 of the 4 quadrants of the yard. Just 5 more sets to go on the UP yard exit.  I've then got to reinstall all the  red/yellow LED pairs for the signalling system.  I've also now got a labelling machine and some neat labels are appearing in different places.  I see the stars as I walk back from the shed to the house.

 

Jamie

[SteamAle]

Jamie

MRJ dropped through the letterbox this morning and your article about the OLE, for LGE, is in it. Not had time to read it yet but will, eventually.

Philip

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, SteamAle said:

Jamie

MRJ dropped through the letterbox this morning and your article about the OLE, for LGE, is in it. Not had time to read it yet but will, eventually.

Philip

Thanks very much for letting me know Phillip. I was aware that it was due to be publushed soon but hadn't got a date. I will wait with fesr and trembling to see how it looks in print. 

 

Jamie

[Mike Storey]

22 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks very much for letting me know Phillip. I was aware that it was due to be publushed soon but hadn't got a date. I will wait with fesr and trembling to see how it looks in print. 

 

Jamie

 

That is a pretty specialised subject Jamie! Will be interested to find out how you became interested in it!

 

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Mike Storey said:

 

That is a pretty specialised subject Jamie! Will be interested to find out how you became interested in it!

 

I saw the electrics as a kid, 6 or 7 and since the have always liked electrics, as well as steam.  I had built my Long Preston layout and when that was falling apart needed a layout in the North West of England that I could run the stock on. I first looked at Clapham, North Yorks, though it had always been in the West Riding. That didn't work as an exhibition layout as there was a viaduct off the eastern end of the platform that would have needed a very deep and unwieldy baseboard. The back scene of Inglebourough would have been lovely though.  I then started looking at Green Ayre having read one of Donald Binns' books about the 'little' North Western.  The very compact loco shed appealed to me and of course the electrics.  Then it was a matter of research. By chance a treasure trove of the original engineering drawings for the OLE came into my possession so then I had to make it look right. Jim Smith Wright gave me a lot of advice and the rest as they say is history.  As I tell in the article, it had to be designed like the real thing.

 

Jamie

Edited January 22, 2022 by jamie92208

[lofty.ian]

Hi Jamie,

Just received my MRJ and read your article on overhead equipment.  It was an enjoyable read. 

Having extended my layout that is based in the area, I must get going and build some more portals using the drawings you sent me  before.  Currently the overhead stops where the running lines go onto the new baseboards. 

The design of the portals, especially the wooden pole ones, certainly fixes the location of the model.

Ian

[jamie92208]

53 minutes ago, lofty.ian said:

Hi Jamie,

Just received my MRJ and read your article on overhead equipment.  It was an enjoyable read. 

Having extended my layout that is based in the area, I must get going and build some more portals using the drawings you sent me  before.  Currently the overhead stops where the running lines go onto the new baseboards. 

The design of the portals, especially the wooden pole ones, certainly fixes the location of the model.

Ian

Thanks for the comments Ian.  I still haven't seen the article but will do so soon hopefully.  The portals do need to be matched exactly to the layout just like the real thing.

 

Jamie

[Mike Storey]

On 22/01/2022 at 22:48, jamie92208 said:

I saw the electrics as a kid, 6 or 7 and since the have always liked electrics, as well as steam.  I had built my Long Preston layout and when that was falling apart needed a layout in the North West of England that I could run the stock on. I first looked at Clapham, North Yorks, though it had always been in the West Riding. That didn't work as an exhibition layout as there was a viaduct off the eastern end of the platform that would have needed a very deep and unwieldy baseboard. The back scene of Inglebourough would have been lovely though.  I then started looking at Green Ayre having read one of Donald Binns' books about the 'little' North Western.  The very compact loco shed appealed to me and of course the electrics.  Then it was a matter of research. By chance a treasure trove of the original engineering drawings for the OLE came into my possession so then I had to make it look right. Jim Smith Wright gave me a lot of advice and the rest as they say is history.  As I tell in the article, it had to be designed like the real thing.

 

Jamie

 

That explains matters very well, and makes sense now - thanks. By "LGE", I thought you had written an article on the Lignes du Grand Est, in which I did not know you had an interest, and not LGA ... must have been a typo!

 

[jamie92208]

12 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

 

That explains matters very well, and makes sense now - thanks. By "LGE", I thought you had written an article on the Lignes du Grand Est, in which I did not know you had an interest, and not LGA ... must have been a typo!

 

Yes typoman strikes again.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good morning from what looks like a slightly brighter Charente.   Progress has continued with the rebuild of the Fiddle yard panel.   All 17 sets of LED's that show the lie of the points, have now been installed and work.  Another, where he point is operated from the main panel works as well. That shows the set of the points that give access to the cassette siding but the point is actually on the scenic section.   I've also got 5 of the pairs of yellow and red LED's that are part of the inter panel signalling system, to work.   The 6th was recalcitrant last night but will get attended to in de course.  Even the wiring under the lid is looking tidier and I have also updated the documentation. This means that 3 more pin charts, as I call them, have gone into the Book of Words.   That's the folder that allows for fault finding.   There is a table for every inter baseboard jumper that tells me what each wire does, it's colour, and it's origin and destination.   I've used to same for places where there are rows of terminal blocks.    The system does work.

 

On another note, my copy of MRJ is now en route to our daughters home so I'll see the article when I get there.  Hopefully there will also be some MERG kits and a pack of Slaters spares.  

 

Now off for  day out trainspotting.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a rather blusterey Charente.   I got some more shed time today and actually ran a loco.  Only on test. I finally got all the LED's working so decided to do some testing.  The only loco handy was made by my so called friend Tony Bond and appeared on Long Preston one Sunday at Warley.  When he died his daughter insisted on giving it to me.

It really is testing and you can see the MERG track tester behind it.   I started at the fiddle yard throat and so far have tested the link to the reversing neck and Up Yard 1 siding.  The loco stuttered on the point and the tester confirmed that there is low voltage on one of the point blades.  Another little job to sort.

Anyway the panel now looks a lot better.

All the point indicators are lit.  I'm also trying to clean marks of the plastic made by parcel tape.  I can't use solvent but slowly the marks are starting to come off.  I've also been playing with a labeller that makes much neater work than my execrable writing.

I've even started marking the points with their ID numbers.

 

Some progress.

 

Even the dead section on the exit worked.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

A bit more progress last night.  After a frustrating evening the day before I found which wire was disconnected in the panel and finally got Jamie the little green engine to run over all the tracks in Up yard West.  I then managed something even better and crossed it over to the Down line via the EMU and light engine reversing siding in the centre.   DYWest 1 and 2 were tested then I called a halt as a some soldering needs doing on a point there a bit of tack has sprung out of gauge.   However progress is being made and reliable running in one of the 4 quadrant of the yard has been achieved.  

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon from a sunny Charente.  I have returned from the UK, shaken and stirred by the potholes in the channel that combined with storm Dudley. I also collected various parcels of goodies that are railway related, namely spares for Slaters bogies and some MERG DCC kits.  Also several books.

 

However whilst there I got the sad news that one of my main co conspirators on Green Ayre had died.  John Patrick had worked with me on Long Preston and Green Ayre.  Sadly I won't be able to go to his funeral but I have been in touch with his family and was also asked to write an obituary for the Wakefield RMS newsletter.   This will be published in due course but as he was such a major contributor to Green Ayre I am going to apend the obit here.  He will be sadly missed.

 

Many of you will have known our long standing member John Patrick who died in February. A talented modeller and a talented surgeon, it was my privilege to have known him for the last 30 years.

John was born in Birkenhead in 1929 and spent his early life there. He later moved to South Manchester where he went to secondary school and was there throughout the war. At school he had a real interest in art and wanted to become an artist. However his father insisted that a career as an artist did not have good prospects and that he should study for a proper job. He therefore went to Manchester University to study medicine . He told me that most of his fellow students were older than him, having served in the armed services during the war. When he qualified he went to work at Ancoats hospital. Here two major events happened. The first was that he met Audrey who was a nurse there. They later married. The other event was that another artist was painting a picture of one of the clinics. He asked if John minded being featured and John agreed. Thus John appears as a white coated matchstick man in one of L S Lowry's paintings.

Initially John wanted to become an obstetrician but then transferred to orthopaedics. He worked at various hospitals including Chesterfield but then went to Wrightington near Warrington where he was one of the team that developed the first long lasting replacement hip joints. He was heavily involved in the engineering side of this including selecting materials and the metallurgical treatments needed. However it was the consultant, Mr Charnley who got the credit.

He progressed up the medical ladder and became a Senior Registrar at Leeds Infirmary. Whilst there he was advised to apply for a Consultants post at Pinderfields, where he became head of Orthopaedics in 1969 and worked there till his retirement in 2000. Audrey by then was a District night sister in Barnsley.

He had always been a keen model maker as well as an artist and joined the WRMS in the mid 70’s. Initially he worked with Geoff Tiffany, on a U S based layout where he painted the backscenes. He then became involved in the Wakefield Eastgate layout working with Eric Gresty, Tony Bond and Ray Clasper. This had involved into a recreation of Towyn on the Tallylyn Railway in 7mm narrow gauge. John built the loco shed making very realistic stonework from foamboard. To fit the available space the frontage was scaled at 7mm to the foot and the sides at 6mm. The layout was exhibited many times. It was all designed to fit into a Cortina estate.

At that time I had joined the club and was planning to build my O gauge layout of Long Preston. This was to have a narrow gauge section on it's frontage and John, along with Tony and Ray came to help me. John built the station building from a variety of materials. It was lovely and still exists on permanent display in Long Preston village hall. He also built some rolling stock including a Midland 2P from an Alan Gibson kit. The less said about the kit the better but John made it into a lovely model of 483 the first of the 2P rebuilds. He also spent a long time painting the extensive backscene. This was over 40 feet long and was done from a series of photographs. Because of the curves, the perspective was tricky but John worked to get it right, making a montage of photos and trying out different ideas. When we took the model to Long Preston village hall residents were able to recognise their own houses.

By this time John had retired from the NHS and was heavily involved in a second career of medico-legal work. His family had left home and he and Audrey travelled extensively. John usually took his sketchbook and paints with him. He did however do a lovely painting of Long Preston station and generously gave me a print of it. This hangs in our home in France.

He also built a small layout at home, Midland inspired but with very tight curves.

By the early 2000’s Long Preston was on the road and when it was at Warley John stayed nearby with his daughter but came to help at the show.

When Long Preston was retired John worked, with me, and many others on it's successor, Lancaster Green Ayre. In the initial planning his artistic eye was invaluable in planning a complicated backscene that draws the eye to certain points. His first major task was to build the station buildings. These are 6’ long on a curve and he designed them in 5 sections that came apart for transport By now in his 80’s he taught himself to produce resin castings from his own masters. He made intricate corbelling and chimney stacks. The latter were very strong and are used as handles to get the buildings out of their specially made storage boxes. These like his stock boxes were made from wine cartons. He was also building stock for the layout. This included more locomotives plus the Midland's royal coach and a Midland Pullman coach. These as always were meticulously researched. We even took the Royal coach model to Butterley where the real thing is preserved. He also built the goods shed for Green Ayre. Once again he worked hard on the backscene. This was even more complicated by geometry but after research trips to Lancaster, along with Tony Bond and myself he worked out what to do. On our trip back we had a very clear view of Ingleboro and the hill appeared on the final piece of backscene. Once again , locals recognised their homes when the layout was exhibited at Lancaster in 2016. He also made the goods shed and a brewery store.

Sadly by now his health was deteriorating but he did manage to get to see Green Ayre at Warley in 2014, with assistance from one of his sons. His health continued to decline, as did that of Audrey but he continued modelling, working on a Slaters Kirtley 0-6-0.

John will be sadly missed, obviously by his family but also by those of us who were fortunate enough to know him. A lovely man and a skilled surgeon and modeller.

 

John can be seen on the extreme left here.  Taken when we were setting up Long Preston at York, Easter 2009.  

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

I've just realised that the photo also shows yours truly planting a telegraph pole with assistance from another sorely missed friend, Tony Bond.  The telegraph wires ran the full length of the layout and lived on the board nearest the camera in transit.  Tony and I always set them out and put them away. No one ever noticed that I'd only strung 33 of the wire runs out of 40, or the two 6mm holes in the 6' on the end board where the pole storage plank was bolted down.

 

Jamie

Edited April 6, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a damp and dreary Charente, that is getting damper.   Since getting back from the UK I have spent most of my time building the MERG kit that I brought back with me.  This is for a booster unit for the DCC command station.   I happily admit that, though I like seeing the finished item, assembly of such things is at the edge of my comfort zone.  Fortunately the instruction are excellent.   Yesterday and several evening and afternoon soldering sessions I was ready to plug the unit in for initial testing before I fitted the Integrated circuits.   I plucked up courage for a few hours and finally did the deed.  Nothing went bang and the green LED illuminated.  The Voltage regulator didn't get hot so I checked all the requisite voltages across certain pin sockets.  All passed with no problems.   So far so good.   Another pause to pluck up courage then I inserted all the IC's.  These went in without any broken pins so I was very happy.  Here the finished result is on the left.

The command station is on the right and is awaiting preliminary testing that I couldn't do until I brought the power pack over from the UK.  That will be on todays list of jobs.   Once tested and satisfactory then it's time to use the command station to provide an output signal for testing the booster unit.

 

I've also been thinking about where to install these. My current thoughts are that I'll build a small and well ventilated control panel with a fairly long output lead.  Thus will be designed to fit on either the inside or outside of the layout.  This would then allow visitors to be able to shunt the coal yard form outside, without having to crawl through into the central operating area.   I did this on a friends layout at Wakefield and the concept works.  It just means that the box needs to have attachments on both sides.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Another successful afternoon saw me do the prelininary testing on the command module then fit the IC's and power it up. Alltestscpassed and the various LED's did what they were supposed to do.  Even the buzzer sounded during the short circuit test.  So far so good.  Now I need to tackle thevterrorscof surface mount components.  I have a starter kit that has a gasxlamp twinkler in it.  I'll try that then that might spur me on to do the platform lamps.  

 

Jamie

[Mike Storey]

I did not realise you had gone all DCC!!!

 

BTW, who was it who came to visit you when we originally set up the last boards of Lancaster GA, chez toi? 

 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

I did not realise you had gone all DCC!!!

 

BTW, who was it who came to visit you when we originally set up the last boards of Lancaster GA, chez toi? 

 

Only DCC for the coal yard with a captive 1F 0-6-0T as the shunter.

 

As to my helper, was that in January 2018 when it arrived on the lorry.

 

Jamie

[The Stationmaster]

Got my auction catalogue for next week in the post today and thouhght of you Jamie when I saw listed a postcard section is card showing the first tram from Leeds to Rodley - 05.30 0n 9 July 1905. estimate £25-35.

[jamie92208]

1 minute ago, The Stationmaster said:

Got my auction catalogue for next week in the post today and thouhght of you Jamie when I saw listed a postcard section is card showing the first tram from Leeds to Rodley - 05.30 0n 9 July 1905. estimate £25-35.

Sadly the guy who would have bid on it died last year.  He did do a couple of books usi g old postcards of Leeds Transport though.  I helped with some of yhe capti9ns, particularly  railways and wzterways p,us a couple of aviation ones.

 

Jamie

[daifly]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 some of yhe capti9ns, particularly  railways and wzterways p,us ...

I hope he had a good editor!

[Mike Storey]

22 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Only DCC for the coal yard with a captive 1F 0-6-0T as the shunter.

 

As to my helper, was that in January 2018 when it arrived on the lorry.

 

Jamie

 

Yes, I believe it was around that time. There was certainly a lorry involved, and lots of grunting, as we tried to get the boards over the nasty last few yards to the shed!

 

 

[jamie92208]

49 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

 

Yes, I believe it was around that time. There was certainly a lorry involved, and lots of grunting, as we tried to get the boards over the nasty last few yards to the shed!

 

 

Yes it was my former colleague Mel Burris.  Sadly he died later that year. Much missed.  

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good morning  from a somewhat warmer than a few days ago, place in the Charente.  I've managed to get some work done over the past few days.  I spent an afternoon tidying up the front of the layout.  All the boards in Row A are racked up except for A6.  This is the one that controls the coal yard and where the power supply to the whole coal yard comes in.   There is also a double slip on it.   The floor was then swept and I put a mat down and sat cross legged for some time looking at the wiring underneath the board.  It took me a while but I have now figured out how I wired it back in 2013 or thereabouts.     Once I'd done that I spent a while hunting through my electrical spares boxes looking for various items.

 

Then it was out with the paper and work out how to modify the wiring to accept DCC and to try and make it foolproof.   That done for the past two evening's I've been making up a 4' long 15 way lead that will feed the small control panel for the coal yard.  This will have to be double sided so that it can be hung either inside or outside the layout.   Brackets are being procured from Screwfix for me to pick up next time we come to the UK. Thankyou @simontaylor484.   During these two evenings I've been serenaded by a barn owl that seems to have returned to the woodshed to set up camp for the summer.  They screech but it will be lovely to see the magnificent birds coming and going in the summer when they hunt to feed chicks.   Along with the black redstarts which are also around there is quite a lot of life.

 

Next job is to make the small control panel.

 

Jamie

 

For some reason an 'Error 503' message delected the above last night but it's still there this morning.

[Erichill16]

Bit late but I remember John Patrick well from our days together in the late 80’s as members of the South Yorkshire group of  the 009 society. Certainly a gentleman and often got interrupted during a meeting to give his advice on a medical matter and clearly remember him wielding a Swan Morton.

After leaving the group I lost contact with him but I remember seeing out and about on the exhibition circuit.

Robert