West Kirby Town: narrow gauge is coming to town.

[Dmudriver]

In my last post (over 2 weeks ago!!) I mentioned the clean vans.  Well, I've now dirtied them up a bit.  Here's how they look:

 

 

I've not really done much weathering before so I'm not that good at it but what I did with this was to paint diluted frame dirt all over them and wipe it off the sides and ends with some kitchen roll: the underframe I just left.  It's taken the shine off them and made them a bit grubby, so I'm quite happy with them.  If anything, the contrast between cleanish and dirty is a bit more in real life: I think the camera has compensated for the relatively low level of light in the shed.

 

So here they are, coupled to a 37, ready for a special trip to Moreton:

 

 

Just need a tail lamp on the hook of the last vehicle and they're good to go once the driver gets the road.

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Hroth]

They look a lot better with the shine taken off, perhaps you could have made one (the L/H one?) look a bit more mucky, more dirt along bracing, rivets and hinges etc? 

[Fat Controller]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

They look a lot better with the shine taken off, perhaps you could have made one (the L/H one?) look a bit more mucky, more dirt along bracing, rivets and hinges etc? 

Some 'Parcels Mail' and 'Trader's Labels' would look good on these.

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/3_manufacturer/hollar-models/page/2/

[Dmudriver]

On 20/02/2022 at 12:06, Hroth said:

They look a lot better with the shine taken off, perhaps you could have made one (the L/H one?) look a bit more mucky, more dirt along bracing, rivets and hinges etc? 

 

You mean like this, Hroth?  I haven't done anything to them, just photographed them outside the shed in natural light!

 

 

 

I've mentioned before how free-running they are.  I came into the house to transfer this pic onto my PC and when I got outside again, the wind had blown them a fair way down the track - and the layout's quite sheltered!!

 

 

Rod

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Dmudriver said:

I've mentioned before how free-running they are.  I came into the house to transfer this pic onto my PC and when I got outside again, the wind had blown them a fair way down the track

 

You should have had them spragged, they might have collided with another train.....

 

In natural light they look as I thought they should, for some reason the effects didn't show up as well in the indoor photos.  Possibly due to exposure compensation by the camera.

 

[Dmudriver]

18 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

You should have had them spragged

 

"Spragged" is not a term I've come across before!!!  Where does it come from/

 

I assume it means "chocked".

 

 

Rod

[Regularity]

I think it’s different, Rod: I take it as meaning putting something in the spokes/holes to rest against the axle guards, to stop the wheels from rotating.

[Middlepeak]

Rod, 

 

As Regularity says, sprags were shaped wooden pegs which could be inserted between the spokes of a wagon wheel as an extra brake, as seen on this photo from my Cromford & High Peak Railway collection.

 

 

Geraint

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

On 31/01/2022 at 08:19, pwr said:

Started to watch but got fed uop with the constant use of the F Word - its not necessary in good drama.

 

Perhaps not, but it was probably felt necessary to capture the authentic vernacular of the characters in this drama.  

 

We all have  our own sticking points; whenever two lead characters kiss, or folk get busy in the bedroom I tune out.

 

I thought it was rather good, and Martin Freeman continues to astonish - becoming a hugely accomplished actor, in my view.  I'll forgive him  Frodo Brakes, or D1ldo Bobbins, or whatever that nonsense was.  He probably needed the money.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters

[Hroth]

Re: sprags.

 

Yes, lengths of wood that were put between the spokes to stop the wheels rotating and the van/wagon moving unintentionally.  Less easy to dislodge than a chock, which might fall off a railhead.  There's mention of them in Red For Danger, regarding unattended vans that were sucked/blown out of a siding into the path of an oncoming train.

 

I've not really thought about it before, but the holes in the disk wheels of the vans were probably to allow sprags to be inserted.

 

[Dmudriver]

Well, well!  It just goes to show you're never too old to learn! 

 

As I said, I'd never heard the word "spragged" before and never knew anything about the device or the practice.  All I knew about - and have used on occasions - was chocks.  

 

I assume the sprag was pushed in so the thickest part in the centre was between the spokes?  If it wasn't a tight fit, how did it stay in?

 

 

Rod

[Hroth]

I think they were purely temporary measures to immobilise vehicles whilst shunting rather than putting the handbrakes on and then having to release them again. Also easy to spot the spragged vehicles at a glance, rather than checking handbrake positions.

 

As you say, the thickest part would be wedged between the spokes, there's not much angular rotation needed before the wood would be up against part of the underframe and held in place.

 

The ones in the photo above seem new and unused, only the top left one seems to have some "chewing" around it's circumference.

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Hroth
more thorts

[5BarVT]

I remember reading about it very early on in my career.  I can’t remember where, but possibly the rule book as that’s the only operating publication I would have had.  Back in those days it still had a section on shunting I think.

Paul.

[5BarVT]

Section J of the ‘72 Rule Book was shunting.  Nothing on sprags or scotches by 1987 - a reflection of the times!  I can’t find my ‘72 version but it is in the ‘52 Rule Book clause 116 and is to do with shunting on inclines.

Paul.

[Dmudriver]

I've decided to fit Dingham coupligs to the 2 vans to match the rest of the parcels stock .  I had a couple ready made, destined for a kit-built van that I've yet to spray blue, so I fitted them to one van.  Unlike most of the rest of the stock so fitted, I've not glued these in, rather they're surrounded by tightly packed Blutac!!  It's worked on the Mark 1 coaches and these are also very solid (I've tried to pull them out by hand and it's not at all easy!!)  Here's how they look.

 

 

 

I've tested them with the 08 shunter and the GUV and they work perfectly.  I've definitely learned since last time I used them!!

 

The questions now arise as to how to fit them to the 37 (the 50 and 25 are fitted with them) and also whether, and if so how, to fit them to the DMUs as those are now being used with tail traffic and also do multi-up.

 

I'm currently making up some more sets of Dinghams so I'll take some pics to show how I've fitted them when I do the next van.

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Next van is done.  Here's how I did it (sorry some of the pics are a bit blurred but hope you get the idea).  First, this is a Dapol coupling after removal from the vehicle:

 

 

The bolt at the end is actually tiny and very easy to lose - how do I know .......?     The coupling fits through a slot in the buffer beam and is held in place by a screwed-on cover:

 

 

Once removed, this is how it's left:

 

 

The shank of the Dingham coupling hook needs shortening slightly to fit in straight and not foul the screw housing.  I then part fill that space with Blutack (proper spelling this time!), insert the Dingham hook through the (slightly enlarged) slot in the buffer beam and pack more Blutack very tightly round it:

 

 

The hook in the above pic needs pushing further in slightly - until the small "bulge" is hard against the coupling slot.  Having tidied up the Blutack round the edges of the space, the cover is pressed back on and screwed down again:

 

 

Different end, but same procedure!!  And that is it.  They really are well wedged in and take some effort to pull out.  With my train lengths - 4 free running bogie vehicles  and a couple of vans, they don't pull out.  If there was a problem, my first remedy would be to add a couple of pieces of thin rod into the coupling shank at right angles then pack again with Blutack - to create a bit more resistance.  The advantage is that the original couplings can be replaced quite easily should ever the need arise.

 

An interesting thing I only found out when fitting these is that the buffers are different lengths on the 2 vans: on the Palvan they are 12.5mm, whereas on the other van they are 10.5mm.  It's only significant because for the shorter ones you cut off the "bulge" I referred to above to get the correct operating length  for the coupling.

 

So that's it!  I found out I'd done the same on the outer ends of the 3 vehicle coupled rake of bogie vans - and on the Mark 1 coaches: that was ages ago and they are still working properly.

 

Now to work out how to do it on the 37 and the DMUs!!  That'll be a bit more tricky!!

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

Edited February 28, 2022 by Dmudriver

[Hroth]

The thing with blutack is that it goes quite hard after exposure to the air, so if it retains the couplings now, it'll only retain them better as time passes...

[Graham108]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

The thing with blutack is that it goes quite hard after exposure to the air

No it doesn't  - it remains pliable and thus can be re-used

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Graham108 said:

No it doesn't  - it remains pliable and thus can be re-used

 

Over short periods of time, yes. After a few months, it will become noticeably "stiffer", less pliable.  I didn't mean to say that it went rock solid very quickly.

[Regularity]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

I didn't mean to say that it went rock solid very quickly.

Just a sign of getting older …

[Dmudriver]

It's been a retty nice day today (though it got colder about 3.30!) so I thought I'd run a few parcels moves - just to check it works as planned.  The first movement was the arrival of the ex-RailAir Express Parcels unit, towing a GUV and 2 vans:

  

 

Looking the other way the 08 can be seen, waiting in rear of signal 34 to drop onto the vans:

 

 

And there he is, coupling up to them and waiting for signal 17 to clear to draw them out .....

 

 

... but only after the arrival of a Class 50-hauled parcels train, seen here passing the Down Outer Home signal:

 

 

and arriving in Siding 1:

 

 

The 08 is then released from platform 1 with the GUV and the 2 vans and propels to the rear of the 3 BGs and couples to those before drawing them away and shunting the 6 vehicles into no. 2 siding:

 

 

Safely parked up, the 08 uncouples and draws forward towards signal 21 (out of pic to the right), awaiting its next duty:

 

 

It all went OK apart from the coupling loop on the GUV needing a bit of adjustment but it has shown me that permanent magnets are not ideal for this operation - shuting the GUV and 2 vans onto the rear of the 3 BGs uncoupled all 3 of them when I didn't want to uncouple any!!  (and also going into no.2 siding)  I'll now have to research electromagnets to replace them.  They were fine for the original operations but these operations are a bit different.

 

I did enjoy that short session, though - bring on the better weather!!

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

 

EDIT   I've now found that the Guild do them - at £4.50 each which doesn't seem a bad price.  Looks like I'll just need 5:  I'll keep the permanent ones at the platform ends.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Dmudriver

[muddys-blues]

Hello Rod, lovely stuff, that parcels traffic has added another dimension to your operations.

 

I am loving the 116 parcels set 

 

Best regards as always

Craig 

[Hroth]

Can't remember if I've posted this here before but I thought a photo of West Kirby from the early 80s, with a damp, cold, wintery feel to the 6 car train of 503s, doors open, letting in the draught while waiting to depart for Liverpool would cheer you all up.

 

 

Seeing as the original pic got lost when the Dingleberries server expired, its lucky I still have it to hand...  🙂

Source: Mine, all mine...

 

Warms the cockles of yer 'eart. eh?

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by Hroth

[MarshLane]

On 01/03/2022 at 20:47, Dmudriver said:

It all went OK apart from the coupling loop on the GUV needing a bit of adjustment but it has shown me that permanent magnets are not ideal for this operation - shuting the GUV and 2 vans onto the rear of the 3 BGs uncoupled all 3 of them when I didn't want to uncouple any!!  (and also going into no.2 siding)  I'll now have to research electromagnets to replace them.  They were fine for the original operations but these operations are a bit different.

 

I did enjoy that short session, though - bring on the better weather!!

 

EDIT   I've now found that the Guild do them - at £4.50 each which doesn't seem a bad price.  Looks like I'll just need 5:  I'll keep the permanent ones at the platform ends.

 

HI Rod,

Another options for your - although depending on the number you want it may be more expensive, is to use a permanent magnet attached to a servo arm beneath the base board.  With an electromagnet you need to be careful not to leave power attached too long or it will burn the coil out, but with a servo, it works like your signals.  So you activate the servo, which moves 45 degrees and brings the magnet parallel to the track, you can leave it in that position as long as you want, when you have finished, return the servo to normal and it flips the magnet back 45 degrees again so it doesn't uncouple.    

 

Depending on the strength of the magnet it also means that the servo idea can be implemented under the baseboard without needing to disturb the track - I believe (although I'll stand corrected) that the electro-magnets will need a pole/steel rod poking through the baseboard, at least level with the top of the board to get the magnet strength to a level where it will uncouple.  Others will know better than me tho.

 

Just a thought for you ... the shunt movements etc, seem to have provided some great interest for you ... and us!!

Rich

[billy_anorak59]

One of those "saw this and thought of this thread" photos - might be useful for reference some time.

The extensive ticket collection facillities at WK...

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by billy_anorak59