GRANBY JUNCTION - Shunting Siphons for the Up Parcels with a Manor!

[brianusa]

Spent a while looking for muck and grime, John - couldn't see much!   As I remember, it was a bit grimy in your period of operation although it returned to normal with demobbed railwaymen quite speedily.  Then for a while most express locos at least were kept in pretty good shape.

   Brian.

[Neal Ball]

Ello, ello, ello, now then Sir! You can’t park here…. Different times indeed….

 

 

A lovely observed scene John thank you.

 

Sunny greetings from Spain…. Where it’s not sunny and due to rain tomorrow. Dirty rain, does that make sense to anyone? … (the rain is likely to have sand from the Sahara and will drop it over us!)

 

edit: April 2022 - I found this photo in going through my own images at Henley @john dew if there are any other photos I have added over the year that are missing - let me know!

Edited April 6, 2022 by Neal Ball
Added photo

[longchap]

14 hours ago, john dew said:

Hi Bill @longchap

 

Thanks for the nice comments. There is so much dust on the Austin 7 its hardly surprising it got a ticket. I guess that cameo is a bit of a cliche but I couldnt resist it!

 

Great to hear from you........hopefully everything is all sorted.......it sounded like a very persistent and unpleasant bug you had. I suspect, being poorly,  you were not able to read my post of Feb 9- there was a bit in there that was intended to cheer you up

 

 

 

Hello John,

 

I don’t know how I missed the tale of Wm Longman on his excursion to Granby, probably trainspotting if I know anything about the young lad’s adventures in his open topped MG. I am smiling with the glow of fellowship and humbled by your kind words and support, just the thing to bring some sparkle back to a chap!

 

Feeling much better now, though not finally sorted and I have an abdominal ultrasound in a few days to see what’s going on with my gall bladder. Fingers crossed.

 

Warm and sunny today and I may be tempted by some gentle gardening to make room for all the new growth. I’m persuaded not to spend time in the railway room yet, despite my claim that having fitted all the point motors, there’s little to do under the baseboards, but the bride is determined to keep me away from any restricted space contortionist activity until I’m fixed. I know she’s right, so have negotiated the construction of the platform which is straightforward enough and unhazardous to health. It also means I can place the Dapol signal on the layout.

 

Very best,

Edited February 25, 2022 by longchap

[john dew]

On 24/02/2022 at 12:27, brianusa said:

Spent a while looking for muck and grime, John - couldn't see much!   As I remember, it was a bit grimy in your period of operation although it returned to normal with demobbed railwaymen quite speedily.  Then for a while most express locos at least were kept in pretty good shape.

   Brian.

 

Hi Brian

 

Good to hear from you. Hope the hip is getting better.

 

Lots of grime around the canal and engine shed but your comment is a timely reminder that my buses hardly coincide with my recollection of the Ribble buses lining up on Skelhorne St outside Lime St.

 

I have to say my memory of Northern England, right up to the early sixties, was one of all pervading grime. The soot from the coal fires got everywhere. The impenetrable winter fogs were literally lethal.

 

I try and get my  work a day tanks, moguls and 0-6-0s as filty as I remember them at Crewe and Chester but I do try to leave the passenger expresses with a vestige of polish. I find it much more difficult to achieve that look- a case of less is more?  

 

Best wishes

[john dew]

On 24/02/2022 at 14:05, Neal Ball said:

Ello, ello, ello, now then Sir! You can’t park here…. Different times indeed….

 

 

A lovely observed scene John thank you.

 

Sunny greetings from Spain…. Where it’s not sunny and due to rain tomorrow. Dirty rain, does that make sense to anyone? … (the rain is likely to have sand from the Sahara and will drop it over us!)

 

Have a good weekend all.

 

Thanks Neal. Glad you like it. I was determined to get some policemen into the street scene. It was surprisingly difficult to get the correct uniforms for our period. Mikes Models all have shirts and ties- the constable on point duty came from them. I filed his chest smooth (painful) and painted on a collar- having done all that I positioned him so you cant see the front anyway. Conversely the Modelu bobbies are too victorian- leather belts and external truncheons- more filing.

 

I keep reading about your coach building with awe and envy. I am afraid that I can no longer believe your forecast of the imminent release of GWR PBVs  and at some stage will have to make an attempt with Comet sides- I have plenty of donors.

 

Best wishes

 

 

[BWsTrains]

Hi John,

 

I'd never heard of GWR PBVs before this note so had to look them up. Struck me as suited to well before your period or did they hang around a long time? Where would they fit in the Granby Ops?

 

Colin

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, john dew said:

 

Hi Brian

 

Good to hear from you. Hope the hip is getting better.

 

Lots of grime around the canal and engine shed but your comment is a timely reminder that my buses hardly coincide with my recollection of the Ribble buses lining up on Skelhorne St outside Lime St.

 

I have to say my memory of Northern England, right up to the early sixties, was one of all pervading grime. The soot from the coal fires got everywhere. The impenetrable winter fogs were literally lethal.

 

I try and get my  work a day tanks, moguls and 0-6-0s as filty as I remember them at Crewe and Chester but I do try to leave the passenger expresses with a vestige of polish. I find it much more difficult to achieve that look- a case of less is more?  

 

Best wishes

That’s such an evocative scene you are painting there John. The thing is, despite Carnaby St. the 50’s and 60’s were generally a grimy time…. Different times indeed, which is why we love Granby so much.

 

From what I understand the Carnaby st and Chelsea set were very different from the rest of England at that time….

 

58 minutes ago, john dew said:

 

Thanks Neal. Glad you like it. I was determined to get some policemen into the street scene. It was surprisingly difficult to get the correct uniforms for our period. Mikes Models all have shirts and ties- the constable on point duty came from them. I filed his chest smooth (painful) and painted on a collar- having done all that I positioned him so you cant see the front anyway. Conversely the Modelu bobbies are too victorian- leather belts and external truncheons- more filing.

 

I keep reading about your coach building with awe and envy. I am afraid that I can no longer believe your forecast of the imminent release of GWR PBVs  and at some stage will have to make an attempt with Comet sides- I have plenty of donors.

 

Best wishes

 

 

PBV’s I live in hope….

 

The annual Bachmann catalogue arrived today (I thought it had already arrived!) and I am distinctly underwhelmed…. Nothing GWR at all. Which of course we already know, but as it’s here in print form, that underlines it.

 

I am hoping that Accurascale pick up the gauntlet.

 

48 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

Hi John,

 

I'd never heard of GWR PBVs before this note so had to look them up. Struck me as suited to well before your period or did they hang around a long time? Where would they fit in the Granby Ops?

 

Colin

They were certainly around into the 60’s…. Certainly in my era of 30’s modelling……

 

We are talking about the K series full brakes….

 

Tbc.

[john dew]

On 26/02/2022 at 12:12, BWsTrains said:

Hi John,

 

I'd never heard of GWR PBVs before this note so had to look them up. Struck me as suited to well before your period or did they hang around a long time? Where would they fit in the Granby Ops?

 

Colin

Hi Colin

 

I need them for milk and parcels trains and the occasional South coas express from Liverpool and Manchester. Right now I use 2 Hawksworth vans in the fictional chocolate and cream livery plus a K40 that Mallard very kindly made for me using Comet sides on a surplus BSet coach. 

[BWsTrains]

Yet another corner of the marvelous world of GWR rolling stock that I'd been blissfully unaware of

 

Fortunately far too big and mainline to be of interest going forward but fascinating all the same. While exploring, I came across a great photo of the most interesting K14 PBV lined up with a couple of the old slatted early siphons so my meanderings on a hot afternoon were not totally a diversion!

 

Thanks John,

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by BWsTrains

[M.I.B]

On 26/02/2022 at 20:12, BWsTrains said:

Hi John,

 

I'd never heard of GWR PBVs before this note so had to look them up. Struck me as suited to well before your period or did they hang around a long time? Where would they fit in the Granby Ops?

 

Colin

 

Hang a PBV on the front or back of any express or medium fast train.

 

Run a full train of them - mixed types of course - full of papers, parcels, mail.   

 

Need one at the rear and often also in the middle of a milk tanker train.

 

Like John I too have Hawksworth full brakes in GWR livery, which never happened in reality - the passenger versions were in service but the brakes came just into BR days.

 

There are quite a few K diagrams which can still be made - either as a full brass kit, or by bonding Comet sides onto suitable RTR bodies.  Mailcoach K22s ( plastic) regularly turn up on eBay.  K40, K22, K36, K42, K 19, K15 K14 K25  K29  are all possible as either full kits or "sides onto RTR".    And if you are lucky there is the rare sighting of an O13 Milk Brake brass  kit on Ebay but  save your pocket money for these nowadays.

Edited March 2, 2022 by M.I.B

[Neal Ball]

7 hours ago, M.I.B said:

 

Hang a PBV on the front or back of any express or medium fast train.

 

Run a full train of them - mixed types of course - full of papers, parcels, mail.   

 

Need one at the rear and often also in the middle of a milk tanker train.

 

Like John I too have Hawksworth full brakes in GWR livery, which never happened in reality - the passenger versions were in service but the brakes came just into BR days.

 

There are quite a few K diagrams which can still be made - either as a full brass kit, or by bonding Comet sides onto suitable RTR bodies.  Mallard K22s ( plastic) regularly turn up on eBay.  K40, K22, K36, K42, K 19, K15 K14 K25  K29  are all possible as either full kits or "sides onto RTR".    And if you are lucky there is the rare sighting of an O13 Milk Brake brass  kit on Ebay but  save your pocket money for these nowadays.

I have a very nice, (although a bit on the basic side) K22 from Mailcoach which happily runs with my Siphons. 
 

There are a couple of K diagrams as Comet models which will make up into nice models.

[john dew]

After months of procrastination (something I am very good at) I am finally committed to the storage yard extension. Not the most exciting or indeed photogenic subject I am afraid but it has to be done. I will try and relieve the tedium with the occasional loco shot.

The existing yard was one of the first sections of Granby that I built :

 

Over the past 14 years Granby's rolling stock has grown rather a lot . I am now squeezing 18 trains of varying lengths into the 10 storage sidings. Operating has become increasingly cumbersome particularly as I now favour out and back routines rather than tail chasing

This screenshot of the RR&Co schematic for the storage yard will, perhaps, assist in defining some of the problems

 

To increase "out and back" opportunities,regular followers may recall that I have devoted a lot of time and effort to the Storage Turntable area- (bottom left in the schematic). Completed last summer the TT sidings can store at least  5 relief locos thus providing a rapid turn round for Up trains arriving in the bottom siding D5 "Barmouth" .. Unfortunately there are very limited storage opportunities for the "turned " train without pulling it out on to the Down Main and backing it into one of the other down sidings.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing- if I were starting again I would design it differently. As that is not possible the compromise solution is to create some additional sidings in the opposite corner to the TT. (bottom right in the schematic)

The space is currently occupied by some terraced houses and factory buildings:

 

Photo taken from the very first page of this thread so you can tell how long they have been there.

Next shot shows that the buildings are not very obvious because of the large Mill and general activity in the foreground




Weeks to build- hours to remove:
 

The Metcalfe buildings will not be binned- they will eventually be use to rejuvenate the window sill seen all too often behind Granby Station.

 

Replacing the back scene may be an issue but that is for the future. Right now I just want to make sure the cork is properly weighted down! ,

 

In case anyone is too concerned the wine is the last of a failed experiment in "make your own wine"

Best wishes from the construction site

Edited August 17, 2022 by john dew
Photos reinserted 17/8

[gwrrob]

Nice to see that Granby is going to feature in BRM next month John. I assume they're going to be your photos as I can't expect to see Andy travelling across the pond to do them.

[john dew]

37 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Nice to see that Granby is going to feature in BRM next month John. I assume they're going to be your photos as I can't expect to see Andy travelling across the pond to do them.

Thanks for the heads up Robin-  I hadnt realisedit that it would be so soon.

 

Yes - my photos I am afraid, but I got some useful coaching from Andy and hopefully he will be able to work his magic on them.

Edited March 17, 2022 by john dew
Added message!

[St Enodoc]

On 10/03/2022 at 04:11, john dew said:

In case anyone is too concerned the wine is the last of a failed experiment in "make your own wine"

Don't stand too close to them then...

[john dew]

Good to be back after the 10 day break. My thanks and sympathy to Andy for sorting everything out - it must have been incredibly stressful.

 

I see I have lost some photos from the front and from 2021. I think I will leave things as they are for a month or so before digging through my surprisingly well organised archives. I have reloaded my Avatar  - not entirely successfully but it will do as a temporary placeholder.

I left you all with this scene of desolation as I started the long awaited storage yard extension

At close of play today: 5 turnouts (#94-#98) are now fully functioning and connecting 3 new sidings to D5 the main Down storage siding :



So far I have added about 11' of storage space - A 5 and 4 carriage siding against the wall and a a second 4 car that curves around at the front, parallel to the main line.

There is now a pause as I await the arrival from Liverpool of two more points. Once they are installed, I hope to contrive one more 4 car siding and three 2/3 car sidings. I had hope to get a second 5 car siding but sadly it didnt work out.

It might might not sound like a great dividend for all this effort but I will be able to add at least two more medium length trains. More importantly it will remove a number of irritating operational log jams.

It has not been a ton of fun. "Close of play" was a somewhat ill-chosen metaphor. During the 15 year development  of Granby I have never found retro fits particularly enjoyable. This has been no exception.

Installing the point motor for turnout #95 was a nightmare. The many neat, precision modellers whose work I so admire might want to skip this section.



The only place for the motor was against the back scene wall. The wall has bowed, fortunately not enough to foul passing trains. The precisely cut aperture was achieved by this very elderly gentleman standing on a foot stool and leaning over a 4' wide baseboard.

Surface mounted motors are very finicky. The throw arm can bounce out of the turnout arm. To prevent this I inserted a brass rod into the turnout arm and capped it with a white plastic cylinder which just fitted inside the aperture in the motor arm.

The turnout motors are from Rails of Sheffield - thank you @checkrail for the recommendation :



So far I am very impressed with them. Although they are still quite finicky to align they do not insist on being absolutely at right angles like the Peco version. I get the sense they are more powerful. I have installed 5 now and they have never hesitated to throw a point - not always the case with Peco. Added bonus they are a little slimmer in outline which sure helped meto fit them in.

 DCC only requires two wires - so the electrical installation was quite straightforward:





 

 

 

 

 

On the right - Feed Back decoder #80 connected to four occupancy detector - to cover the 7 new sidings and a loco spur.

To the left of #66 (an existing Feed Back decoder) are Turnout decoders for #94-#96. These are also from Rails of Sheffield. Made by DCC Concepts they are quite a nifty device - throwing the turnout on command from either the DCC throttle or RR&Co. They switch frog polarity and have connections, which I dont use, for manual switches and LEDs 

Enough technical stuff.

To finish here are a couple of pictures .

I took this shot of a Collett Suburban 3rd/Brake for my Avatar - I hoped to highlight the "Granby" branding but that turned out to be a bit ambitious. Nevertheless I rather like the full view:



Normally in a fixed rake of 4. One of the beneficiaries of the new 4 car storage sidings.

Finally a trailer for next month's BRM which will feature the article on Granby Junction.

I sent loads of photos to Andy and Debbie to choose from. Obviously not all could be used - but it seemed a shame to waste them -  so here is one of my favourite scenes :



Dean Goods shunting the yard at Cynwyd


Regards from a very windy Vancouver.

[banburysaint]

Great to see further progress. Your search for additional storage inspired me to look at my own layout and think a bit laterally, so I am now mid way through building a suitable fiddle yard. I feel the pain on surface mounted motors I am currently working on the peco versions! 

[Neal Ball]

Welcome back John, (sunny) greetings from Spain, where we have also had ferocious winds and more rain than you could shake a stick at.

 

You have my sympathies about retro fitting - I know what you mean, it never works out quite as you had intended. Stick with it, I am sure it will be fine.

 

However, these surface mounted point motors look very good. I also saw them at Stoke Courtney courtesy of John aka @checkrail and they might work well in the fiddle yard at H-o-T.

 

Good to see the update John, looking forward to seeing the layout "in print" or at least on the screen!

 

Have a good evening (Spanish time, I guess thats coming up to morning for you!)

 

Regards, Neal.

[Neal Ball]

Ps: where did you get the Granby Transfers for the carriage? Railtec? @john dew

 

Thanks, Neal.

[john dew]

4 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Welcome back John, (sunny) greetings from Spain, where we have also had ferocious winds and more rain than you could shake a stick at.

 

You have my sympathies about retro fitting - I know what you mean, it never works out quite as you had intended. Stick with it, I am sure it will be fine.

 

However, these surface mounted point motors look very good. I also saw them at Stoke Courtney courtesy of John aka @checkrail and they might work well in the fiddle yard at H-o-T.

 

Good to see the update John, looking forward to seeing the layout "in print" or at least on the screen!

 

Have a good evening (Spanish time, I guess thats coming up to morning for you!)

 

Regards, Neal.

 

Thanks for the good wishes Neal - much appreciated.

 

I am very impressed with the Rails motors - they will be my surface mount going forward, although hopefully I won't need too many!

 

Best wishes

 

John

[john dew]

4 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Ps: where did you get the Granby Transfers for the carriage? Railtec? @john dew

 

Thanks, Neal.

 

Correct - Railtec. They were a custom (bespoke to you?) variant on the Toad Branding option. They are a bit large compared with the existing Hornby branding but then Granby Division was always a bit differrent!

 

Best

[BWsTrains]

10 minutes ago, john dew said:

 

Correct - Railtec. They were a custom (bespoke to you?) variant on the Toad Branding option. They are a bit large compared with the existing Hornby branding but then Granby Division was always a bit different!

 

Best

 

John,

 

I see your Granby example is cited as a possible variant!

 

I'll get some for my new pair of the Collett Third Brakes on Upper Hembury. How do you determine your Division Number, I've seen them quoted but can't find a source. I'd need Exeter or Taunton as I imagine they'd be most likely or possibly Tiverton Jct. Any thoughts?

 

Colin

[richard.h]

Hi John

Just read your article in the latest BRM issue, very well done with lots of information and all your own photos too.

 

Congratulations

Richard H

[5BarVT]

Hi John,

Lovely article in BRM.  I hadn’t realised that you were a ‘late starter’ in model railways: 30 years later it doesn’t show.
I’ll be back here with supplementary questions about your RR&Co programming soon.

Paul.

[Neal Ball]

Excellent article thank you John