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

[5BarVT]

On 21/12/2022 at 19:36, john dew said:

I would also like to thank all those followers of Granby who, throughout the year, have read, liked etc and commented on the thread. Thank you for your patience, insight and above all humour. Without you guys, my modelling life would undoubtedly be rather dull.

And thank you John for posting.  I like a Granby story.

Paul.

[OnTheBranchline]

Hi John,

 

Any more Granby stories?

[john dew]

17 hours ago, OnTheBranchline said:

Hi John,

 

Any more Granby stories?

 

Thanks for the nudge "Branchline"

 

My current projects are not that photogenic but it is time I dusted off the camera and took some photos. I shouldnt just wait for the Siphons ans Manor!

 

Best wishes

 

 

[longchap]

Hi John, good to know you're still enjoying Granby. Have you any Minks and Opens coming? I'm off to the UK next week and have a box of goodies from Hattons waiting for me.

 

Don't worry about photos, enjoy the railway.

 

Best,

 

Bill

[john dew]

19 hours ago, longchap said:

Hi John, good to know you're still enjoying Granby. Have you any Minks and Opens coming? I'm off to the UK next week and have a box of goodies from Hattons waiting for me.

 

Don't worry about photos, enjoy the railway.

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

Thanks Bill- I hope you have a great trip.

 

A mink and 4 plank are on the way. I will, of course, be weathering them but will be interesting to see how they blend in (or not) with the rest of Granby's quite elderly freight stock. They will probably replace some wagons in the branch pick up goods rake - this is seen outside the storage sidings more than most.

 

Best wishes

 

 

[john dew]

Granby Junction     May 1947



As I mentioned above I have little to report. My time in the train room has been focussed on developing a commutor routine with two 4 car sets of Hornby GWR Collet non-corridor stock. This involves three large prairies behaving themselves. When they do, I run a B Set and Autotrain as well - so thats 6 locos in play - quite spectacular when it works - less so when it doesnt! I think it will be a while before the oft promised video goes into production.

I continue to be plagued by the failure of polarity switches installed in 2009 - how I wish I had started with Tortoises - the switches are being steadily replaced with reliable and inexpensive Gaugemaster Universal relays and happily there are now very few of the originals remaining - but they are , of course, in crucial positions and almost inaccessible. You will see one such location shortly.

None of this is particularly photogenic, Trawling through the Box Brownie archives, I thought it might be more interesting if I took time out to shoot some photos of a few of Granby's freight trains.



This series follows the journey of a Class H through train returning Coal empties from Brymbo Steelworks to Bersham Colliery. (usual apology: much artistic licence applied to the geography of North Wales).

Here we see a 56xx 0-6-2T, out of Croes Newyd , crossing over the main running lines on to the branch line junction :



The train spotters are not too interested - 6698 and its stable mate 6694 are seen on this run most days.

 

These two Bachmann model were bought almost 25 years ago - super reliable and great haulage capability. 

 

You can see that the diagram is not entirely without revenue. The two leading wagons carry pit props and at the rear of the train is a Gunpowder Iron Mink - separated, as one would expect, from the Brake Van by two empty wagons to act as a barrier:
 

 

Having crossed over the main lines 6698 passes Castlegate Goods warehouses and descends Cynwyd Bank:



The 56xx class was designed especially for work in the South Wales coal fields.The 0-6-2 configuration being well suited for for loaded trains to be hauled bunker leading down from the pithead to the ports below. Here in North Wales the process is reversed because my mythical coal field is situated on the floor of the Vale of Clwyd !


Having descended the bank the empties train trundles through Cynwyd Station:



The train is over 5' long and I have struggled to capture its full length in one shot.

Here is 6698 crossing the Shropshire Union Canal :



while the rest of the train is still passing the Cynwyd cattle dock and McPeter's Dairy :

 

 

This shot unfortunately features a missing wall surface behind the goods shed! It had to be temporarily removed to access the wiring for the most recent failed polarity switch - definitely not a fun job and still in progress. Grrrr!

To finish on a more positive note here is the Box Brownie version of the canal crossing again circa May 1947 - The LMS Ivatt must have been brand spanking new!



Regards from Vancouver - where the snow still lingers.

[Neal Ball]

Lovely set of photos and story to match John.

 

Sunny greetings from the Costa Blanca, where the temperature is… you don’t want to know really!

 

To me the 56xx are a strange loco, I suppose it just comes down to me always having a bias towards the Thames valley. Give me a 61xx; Castle; 48xx or an 0-6-0Pt any day!

 

Good luck at getting that switching sorted out. It sounds like a nightmare.

 

Regards, Neal.

[The Stationmaster]

19 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Lovely set of photos and story to match John.

 

Sunny greetings from the Costa Blanca, where the temperature is… you don’t want to know really!

 

To me the 56xx are a strange loco, I suppose it just comes down to me always having a bias towards the Thames valley. Give me a 61xx; Castle; 48xx or an 0-6-0Pt any day!

 

Good luck at getting that switching sorted out. It sounds like a nightmare.

 

Regards, Neal.

Although odd though it might sound there were usually a handful of 56XX at various London Division, Thames Valley, sheds over the lifetime of the class.  But I doubt Reading's occasional (in BR times) one ever visited Henley as by then 2251s were seemingly the preferred power for the Henley freight trip.

[john dew]

21 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Lovely set of photos and story to match John.

 

Sunny greetings from the Costa Blanca, where the temperature is… you don’t want to know really!

 

To me the 56xx are a strange loco, I suppose it just comes down to me always having a bias towards the Thames valley. Give me a 61xx; Castle; 48xx or an 0-6-0Pt any day!

 

Good luck at getting that switching sorted out. It sounds like a nightmare.

 

Regards, Neal.

 

Hi Neal

 

Glad you liked the photos. It was, indeed, very civil of you not to mention temperatures! In 48 hours we had almost 3' of snow fall which is both unusual and unwelcome.  Daytime temperatures have now risen to 8 o but remain below freezing overnight nett result the snow is taking forever to clear - it seems to have been a long winter.

 

I agree the the 56xx is a strange looking loco, particularly chimney leading. I guess its a case of horses for courses, it is easy to see how at home they would be rattling down the Welsh valleys bunker leading.

 

I will try and find something more elegant for you next time!

 

Best wishes

 

 

[trw1089]

Lovely shots John, always great to see things moving on Granby!

[M.I.B]

Lovely to see some freight on Granby.  Thank you John.

 

Inspiring as always.

 

Regards,

[OnTheBranchline]

@john dewAre you affected much by the forest fire smoke where you are?

Edited June 9, 2023 by OnTheBranchline

[john dew]

On 08/06/2023 at 20:00, OnTheBranchline said:

@john dewAre you affected much by the forest fire smoke where you are?

 

We are beginning to get some smoke from Alberta but we have seen a lot worse - nowhere near as bad as Toronto.

 

We get smoke drifting down from the Interior to the coast most summers but it has started a lot earlier this year - not good news. Fortunately our record 32 days without rain ended on Thursday - amazing how swiftly we move from whining about the rain to complaining about the lack of it!

 

Apologies for lack of updates - too much time spent on the garden!

 

Best wishes

 

 

[longchap]

11 hours ago, john dew said:

Apologies for lack of updates - too much time spent on the garden!

 

I too am spending much (good heavens, predictive text just typed 'nudist' in lieu of 'much!) of the time outdoors John, modelling, as is normal here, taking a back seat until Autumn. This past week had me digging up the courtyard to locate a water service leak the day before clients arrived, then much work with brushcutter in the gardens, attending to the results of suddenly increased temperatures and a little rain.

 

Gardens gradually conning under control and we have a five piece band, friends and wine to enjoy in a couple of hours, so I'll be tinkering in the workshop till then 😎

Edited June 11, 2023 by longchap
Predictive text 'nudist' alert

[Neal Ball]

11 hours ago, john dew said:

Apologies for lack of updates - too much time spent on the garden!

 

Best wishes

 

 

 

Welcome back John, its always good to hear from you.

 

Do you have a Siphon and Manor on order? (I'm pretty sure the latter is a Yes, but not sure about the Siphon.)

 

At the moment I am not sure what service it will be on... However, I am bound to find a use for it... Expect lots of "Manor shots" in the near future....

 

3 minutes ago, longchap said:

 

I too am spending nudist of the time outdoors John, modelling, as is normal here, taking a back seat until Autumn. This past week had me digging up the courtyard to locate a water service leak the day before clients arrived, then much work with brushcutter in the gardens, attending to the results of suddenly increased temperatures and a little rain.

 

Gardens gradually conning under control and we have a five piece band, friends and wine to enjoy in a couple of hours, so I'll be tinkering in the workshop till then 😎

 

Ah! Now I'm not sure if thats a typo there Bill.... 😎

 

It's (finally) stopped raining here in Spain and I have been able to plant some more Lavender into the back garden and tidy up "The Queens Arms" our garden bar. The official opening will be next weekend - probably 2 weeks later than normal.

 

The better weather won't stop work on H-o-T but at times it does make it uncomfortable - it gets very humid in this part of the Costa Blanca. 

 

Onwards and upwards - there's a Green Apple Martini to be drunk 😎

[longchap]

43 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Ah! Now I'm not sure if thats a typo there Bill.... 😎

Definitely not a typo, but predictive text (and let this be a warning to Humanity, if A.I. is permitted to establish a hold on us) doing its own thing despite the logic in the algorithm. See my earlier edit above.

 

In many ways, I'm happy not to be able to witness the world fifty years from now. For one, I imagine steam model railway engines would be long forgotten. Hmm, but then again, steam locos may be in regular daily use by then, in habitable parts of the planet.

 

[Neal Ball]

Just now, longchap said:

Definitely not a typo, but predictive text (and let this be a warning to Humanity, if A.I. is permitted to establish a hold on us) doing its own thing despite the logic in the algorithm. See my earlier edit above.

 

In many ways, I'm happy not to be able to witness the world fifty years from now. For one, I imagine steam model railway engines would be long forgotten. Hmm, but then again, steam locos may be in regular daily use by then, in habitable parts of the planet.

 

Much vs Nudist…. Love it 😊 

 

Of course in this part of the Costa Blanca, both go hand in hand so to speak 🤣🤣

 

(it being a lot warmer than Northern France and Vancouver)….. anyway back to 1940’s Granby 😎

[longchap]

1 minute ago, Neal Ball said:

Much vs Nudist…. Love it 😊 

 

Of course in this part of the Costa Blanca, both go hand in hand so to speak 🤣🤣

 

(it being a lot warmer than Northern France and Vancouver)….. anyway back to 1940’s Granby 😎

 

Reminds me of happy sunny days on Porto Santo.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

36 minutes ago, longchap said:

 

Reminds me of happy sunny days on Porto Santo.

 

 

Different times 😎

 

We are listening to Gary Davies from last night and the appreciation of George Micheal Faith album.

[longchap]

2 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Different times 😎

 

We are listening to Gary Davies from last night and the appreciation of George Micheal Faith album.

With you there for George's sublime music. You just got to have Faith.

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Different times 😎

 

We are listening to Gary Davies from last night and the appreciation of George Micheal Faith album.

 

6 hours ago, longchap said:

With you there for George's sublime music. You just got to have Faith.

It must be an age thing. When I read that, I immediately thought of Adam Faith...

[john dew]

Even I have heard of Adam  Faith - and then there was Cliff Richard who I once saw live at the Kilburn Empire (?) - they were handing out free tickets

[banburysaint]

On 12/06/2023 at 02:10, john dew said:

Even I have heard of Adam  Faith - and then there was Cliff Richard who I once saw live at the Kilburn Empire (?) - they were handing out free tickets

http://kilburnwesthampstead.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-kilburn-state-cinema.html?m=1 this page has a poster for Cliff's appearance at the Empire. 

 

Apologies for thread drift. 

[john dew]

2 hours ago, banburysaint said:

http://kilburnwesthampstead.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-kilburn-state-cinema.html?m=1 this page has a poster for Cliff's appearance at the Empire. 

 

Apologies for thread drift. 

 

No worries this thread has always drifted about!😃

 

Actually I am delighted you sent the link - it brought all manner of memories flooding back. My first posting with Littlewoods was to their store in Kilburn High Road, almost opposite the cinema - I spent over a year there and saw a lot of shows at the Empire State - Count Basie, Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong and MJQ - had to buy tickets for all those guys - Cliff's show was the only freebie.

 

 

 

[john dew]

On 11/06/2023 at 04:36, Neal Ball said:

 

Welcome back John, its always good to hear from you.

 

Do you have a Siphon and Manor on order? (I'm pretty sure the latter is a Yes, but not sure about the Siphon.)

 

At the moment I am not sure what service it will be on... However, I am bound to find a use for it... Expect lots of "Manor shots" in the near future....

 

 

 

Hi Neal

 

My apologies for not answering - I got diverted into Show business and Ancient History!

 

Yes the Siphons are on their way from Liverpool - racking up the Air Miles. When they do arrive they are destined to star in the regular Parcels routine that I have been tinkering with for almost a decade. Currently this train is scheduled with a Grange but that may well change to a Manor fairly soon 😃.

 

Best wishes