Grantham - the Streamliner years

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Looks like a great museum, the exhibit about the resistance looks interesting, I'm not sure a museum here would get away with that...............................................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes I am awaiting to be proven wrong

[LNER4479]

OK, so back to the modelling...

 

Two new additions were on display at Ormesby on Monday evening. First of all Jonathan's newly out-shopped DJH Atlantic (No.3276) and rather splendid it looked too. Just awaiting final couple of details (eg front coupling). I'm hoping this will be a 'regular' on the layout over the next few years. And to her left, the new (but 'doomed'!) 'gallows' style somersault signal, now 'planted' but awaiting connecting up to the panel. A very pleasant ex-GNR combination.

 

Here is the slightly more dramatic view, showing juxtaposition of old and new (signals), with the drainage troughing run also showing up quite nicely. I'm sure Tony will have fun playing around with camera angles when this scene is fully complete.

 

And if that was not enough, then can you spot a further new development in this picture? Not too difficult! Credit for this arboreal creation in the making goes to Craig (Thompson), who was modest enough to be crouched below the baseboard holding the base of the tree steady for the 1 second exposure time. This is based on pictures of the real Peascliffe tunnel, which shows a very large tree (a beech?) with a very distinctive low down bifurcation point (the room fell silent for a few seconds when Craig described this feature before the inevitable 'male humour' kicked in!). It looks a little stark at the moment but will be surrounded by a veritable copse of smaller trees (as per prototype) so it should all be much more homogeneous once complete.

 

Meanwhile, the scenery groundwork has now spilt over to the front (public) side of the railway with construction of the rest of the embankment and the stream coming through. The brown area to its left will be a suggestion of allotments, which were quite a feature of this location (indeed, there are still some to this day) and a nice way to effect transition from town to countryside. In true LNER parsimonious fashion, Paul is sweeping up every last retrievable bit of excess scatter for further use!

 

In't that great? At least four people's contribution to just this one piece of the layout. That's what the hobby (and RMWeb) is all about.

Edited February 11, 2015 by LNER4479

[Mallard60022]

Cracking stuff.

P

[PGC]

OK, so back to the modelling...

 

IMG_3294.JPG

Two new additions were on display at Ormesby on Monday evening. First of all Jonathan's newly out-shopped DJH Atlantic (No.3276) and rather splendid it looked too. Just awaiting final couple of details (eg front coupling). I'm hoping this will be a 'regular' on the layout over the next few years. And to her left, the new (but 'doomed'!) 'gallows' style somersault signal, now 'planted' but awaiting connecting up to the panel. A very pleasant ex-GNR combination.

 

IMG_3293.JPG

Here is the slightly more dramatic view, showing juxtaposition of old and new (signals), with the drainage troughing run also showing up quite nicely. I'm sure Tony will have fun playing around with camera angles when this scene is fully complete.

 

IMG_3295.JPG

And if that was not enough, then can you spot a further new development in this picture? Not too difficult! Credit for this arboreal creation in the making goes to Craig (Thompson), who was modest enough to be crouched below the baseboard holding the base of the tree steady for the 1 second exposure time. This is based on pictures of the real Peascliffe tunnel, which shows a very large tree (a beech?) with a very distinctive low down bifurcation point (the room fell silent for a few seconds when Craig described this feature before the inevitable 'male humour' kicked in!). It looks a little stark at the moment but will be surrounded by a veritable copse of smaller trees (as per prototype) so it should all be much more homogeneous once complete.

 

IMG_3297.JPG

Meanwhile, the scenery groundwork has now spilt over to the front (public) side of the railway with construction of the rest of the embankment and the stream coming through. The brown area to its left will be a suggestion of allotments, which were quite a feature of this location (indeed, there are still some to this day) and a nice way to effect transition from town to countryside. In true LNER parsimonious fashion, Paul is sweeping up every last retrievable bit of excess scatter for further use!

 

In't that great? At least four people's contribution to just this one piece of the layout. That's what the hobby (and RMWeb) is all about.

 

I suppose that once the foliage is finished, the inevitable male humour will talk about the low down bifurcation point sticking through the undergrowth etc.....

 

Excellent modelling - can't wait to see the layout when it pokes it's head in to the real world.

 

Phil

[LNERGE]

How about this train and it's headboard?.. A bit late i know but interesting..

 

http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Liverpool%20Street&objid=1995-7233_LIVST_TF_253

[jwealleans]

If you can get past their indexing, there are quite a few of that train in the collection.

[LNER4479]

eg this one?

 

Plenty of scope for 'specials' leaving Ruston & Hornsby in our era.

Edited February 11, 2015 by LNER4479

[Mallard60022]

That's a good looking A3 with DC, AWS, small dome - can't decide what tender it has.

P

[New Haven Neil]

I'm thinking GN, but zooming in only shows a blur!

[manna]

G'day Gents

 

After a bit of research over on LNER Encyclopedia, we came to the conclusion that the most likely loco, was 'Doncaster' fresh after overhaul.

 

manna 

[ROY@34F]

The A3 on the Hotpoint train in 1961.......I reckon it's 60065 Knight of Thistle ,a Grantham engine with GN coal rail tender and round dome . '48 Doncaster , as has been suggested , had a round dome .

I seem to think it was the only engine we had at the time with a round dome .

 

Regards , Roy

[61070]

I bought a print of this photo from the Science Museum a while ago to try to ID the loco.  Here's a crop from it.

 

According to the BR Database Donovan was released from Doncaster works on 25th April 1961 following a general overhaul.

 

There's a disagreement on the date between two departments of the Science Museum.  The date given on the Science & Society webpage is 29 June 1961, but on the NRM website linked to above it's 17th May 1961.

Edited February 12, 2015 by 61070

[LNER4479]

Thanks John - I think we have our loco.

 

There is another (rather nice) pic of this train on the back of the Cossey book (did the official photographer scamper down the trackside, once he'd taken his snaps in the goods yard, to await departure one wonders?). Again, no details given of which loco it is! But this pic at least confirms GN tender. Everything in RCTS 2A seems to 'fit' it being 60047 Donovan in 1961

Edited February 13, 2015 by LNER4479

[ROY@34F]

The A3 on the Hotpoint train in 1961.......I reckon it's 60065 Knight of Thistle ,a Grantham engine with GN coal rail tender and round dome . '48 Doncaster , as has been suggested , had a round dome .

I seem to think it was the only engine we had at the time with a round dome .

 

Regards , Roy

 

It must be old age !! I got the above post right round my neck . I meant to say '48 "Doncaster" had a "streamlined" dome , and the photo in post 1874 ,  and in 1880 looks to have a "round" dome , which someone suggested .  does it ? ?  In which case I think the engine is 60065 "Knight of Thistle" as it was the only Grantham engine with a round dome . And 60047 certainly had a streamlined dome , as Graham is suggesting in post 1880 .

Now IF it is'nt a round dome....well take your pick .

 

Sorry to labour the point gentlemen .

 

Roy.

[Tony Wright]

Thanks John - I think we have our loco.

 

IMG_3308.JPG

There is another (rather nice) pic of this train on the back of the Cossey book (did the official photographer scamper down the trackside, once he'd taken his snaps in the goods yard, to await departure one wonders?). Again, no details given of which loco it is! But this pic at least confirms GN tender. Everything in RCTS 2A seems to 'fit' it being 60047 Donovan in 1961

I think you're right, and that it's got a streamlined dome (thanks to all for not calling it a 'banjo' - they were only fitted to the boilers of the last-built A3s, and all had gone by the war). Though the perspective is tight, it appears the dome is not on the second ring of the boiler, but behind it. The round domes were always astride the second boiler ring, whether they be Gresley or Thompson in origin. The streamlined domes were astride the third boiler ring (those A3s with A4 boilers having them a twitch further forward).

 

I hope this helps. 

[micklner]

Looks like the "tail" of a streamlined dome to me too.

[Mallard60022]

Streamlined it is; I can just see a 'tail' in the photo taken from lineside. Anyway Roy worked with them so he should know and TW knows what he's on about. I just love the fact that we all learn so much from other's depth of knowledge.

Slight change of direction. Would this train possibly appear on LB? It is a bit late ('61) and sadly too late for Grantham (except in circa 1960 mode....go on 4479, you know you want to). 

Also, was this a 'one off' to Australia to help support the £10 migrants when they arrived and needed to wash all their cold weather clothes that they no longer needed?

P

[61070]

Here's a wider crop of the loco (...on 'The Twin-Tub Express'?), with dome included.  Looks like, in Grantham tradition, there's enough coal aboard to reach the equator at least.

[ROY@34F]

Thanks Phil. for your kind comments , and your so (W)right , T.W. certainly knows all about these things , and I was foxed at first with the dome , but thanks to John (61070) , another very knowledgeable gentleman , with his blowup picture it is beyond doubt '47 Donovan .

 

Roy.

[g0ibi]

I call that place 'the valley', used to spend all day there in the Summers of 59-62! Played 'wars' in the woods watched a lot of loco's and 'flattened' pennies on the tracks!!

Happy days before electrification and high wire fences!!

 

Ron

 

PS Ordered that book as well!!

Edited February 14, 2015 by g0ibi

[LNER4479]

Bit more work to report - well, a modification actually...

 

This is at the south end of the down relief platform ('Plat 5' then; 'Plat 4' now). In true Coachmann tradition, I've ripped some track up (you can see the imprint of the previous long radius Y point in the cork!) and an additional crossover is going in. The reference to 'Coach' is very apt as the single slip pictured is actually the one he...er...erroneously ordered(!) We did a deal and now it's to become the 11th such item (yes, really!) on the layout.

 

But of course it wouldn't be a Grantham point without a bit of hacking about(!) It needs a bit of tweaking to match the geometry where it's going in

 

After the usual application of spray paintwork, here the track gang are hard at work.

 

Done! Looks quite nice, dunnit? This additional crossover serves two purposes. Firstly, it converts the siding alongside to a run round loop for trains in Plat.5. Although some Nottingham services arrive here and then subsequently depart with a loco at the other end, in other cases they don't so the ability to get the arriving loco detached and away to shed will be useful (with the stock then able to be propelled into one of the carriage sidings).

 

Secondly - and more spectacularly - it extends Yard Box's trailing ladder to an impressive seven consecutive points, four of them (single) slips.

 

Which allows us to do things like this! This shows a train having arrived and terminated in Plat.2, being propelled across the ladder into the new loop (which was effectively a form of reception / headshunt for the carriage sidings). This was, apparently, quite a common manoeuvre. It does of course completely block the East Coast Mainline whilst being performed(!) so we might have to go a little easy on including it in the schedule in the interest of keeping trains running.

 

Anyway - the real reason for knocking this job off the 'to do' list was so that ballasting could continue along Plat.5 so here is that operation in full swing, only a couple of hours after completion of tracklaying.

 

And in other news (and probably far more interesting as well!), here is a rather nice pic from the Monday evening gang:

 

Can't claim any credit for this. Apparently they'll gonna be planting vegetables next Monday... (honest!)

Edited February 18, 2015 by LNER4479

[gr.king]

Loco on scene at same time as glue. Brave man!

[Barry O]

In preparation for a trip to Grantham tomorrow thermal gear readied, fingerless gloves readied, hat, scarf and several jumpers ..ready.

 

And some LM BR locos may be visiting.....

Baz

[PGC]

Oh come on, Barry, the temperature's going to be above freezing. Are you man or Northern wuss?    

 

Phil

[LNER4479]

'Nesh', Mrs4479 would say...

 

Plenty of board-to-board connectors, 6-core wire, solder (etc) and - if you're really quick - point motors waiting for you.

 

Are these more 'broad gauge' LM locos or ones we can actually run on the layout?