Grantham - the Streamliner years

[jwealleans]

39 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Where is the operator's armchair as seen in the first photo of the erected layout?

 
It travels in its own box, carried by two uniformed flunkies.

[LNER4479]

So today we were graced by a visitor all the way from the land of Oz. That's a heck of a way to come to operate a model railway.

 

Mr Andrew Emmett, better known on here as 'Woodcock29, gamely agreed to take the controls at South box to help us out. He might even been getting the hang of it by the end(!)

 

 

[Chuffer Davies]

10 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Graeme, I am a bit concerned about  the photo of the loaded car. Where is the operator's armchair as seen in the first photo of the erected layout?

 

 

That’ll be what he sits on when driving.

[Dragonboy]

10 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Graeme, I am a bit concerned about  the photo of the loaded car. Where is the operator's armchair as seen in the first photo of the erected layout?

 

 

Didn’t Mr Bean drive his car from his armchair on the roof ……………..

[gr.king]

12 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Graeme, I am a bit concerned about  the photo of the loaded car. Where is the operator's armchair as seen in the first photo of the erected layout?

11 hours ago, jwealleans said:

It travels in its own box, carried by two uniformed flunkies.

1 hour ago, Chuffer Davies said:

That’ll be what he sits on when driving.

Interesting theories, but nobody has considered the possibility that it is deflated...

[gr.king]

11 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

So today we were graced by a visitor all the way from the land of Oz. That's a heck of a way to come to operate a model railway.

 

Mr Andrew Emmett, better known on here as 'Woodcock29, gamely agreed to take the controls at South box to help us out. He might even been getting the hang of it by the end(!)

He's concealing the panic rather well. Unless of course at that moment he did not have two different people shouting at him to throw / restore different switches, a third demanding a clear running line, and all of the shunting stock merrily derailing at the same time...

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, gr.king said:

He's concealing the panic rather well. Unless of course at that moment he did not have two different people shouting at him to throw / restore different switches, a third demanding a clear running line, and all of the shunting stock merrily derailing at the same time...

Phew. Perhaps it's as well for me that the last Newcastle show was cancelled then.

[RobAllen]

I visited yesterday and enjoyed watching Grantham. Incredibly well done layout. Thanks for everyone's efforts in building, transporting and operating it for our enjoyment.

I took a video & a few photos.
 

Video definitely isn't my medium, but all my photos of the A4s were blurry!
 

The A3 was waiting its next turn and so much easier to photograph.

 

Operators hard at work.
 

I very much appreciated the schedule cards informing us what was going on. I saw this at a few layouts and found it very engaging.

 

 

 

[LNER4479]

OK - so that was the Bristol show. Not a simple show for us as the logistics were probably the most complex of any show we've done to date. But I think we gave a reasonable account of ourselves in the circumstances.

 

If you happened to be leaning on the barriers this morning at around 11am, you'd have seen us at our best as we achieved a sub two hours cycle round the full schedule ... and then lunchtime cover arrangements kicked in!

 

Somewhat spontaneously, within the last hour of winding down, we ran the following train which, if I'm allowed to say, did look rather splendid:

 

 

There'll be more to follow over the next few days, I have no doubt ... but, so far as tonight goes - that's all folks 🙂

[Barry O]

Proper engine!

Baz

[PaulRhB]

Always worth stopping at Grantham to watch the trains go by 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RapidoCorbs]

Many thanks to Team Grantham for letting us pose some samples on the layout at the weekend. Here are some pics:

[jwealleans]

Well, thank you to the Rapido guys for keeping the thread moving while we all apparently went off for a long lie down in (separate) dark rooms.   Two three day shows in fairly rapid succession felt like quite hard work, although I have to say I was impressed with the Bristol show. not having been before.  

 

We had quite a leisurely setup compared to the usual pre-show scramble and it was spread over two days, so it all felt much more relaxed than it has on many other occasions.   We had time for a spot of indulgence:

 

 

I had planned to run this during the last hour of the show when we pack up, but having no ballast in it at all it couldn't move any trains, so we sent it out on test.   I'm very much hoping to have it completed for Newcastle in November.

 

Friday morning, then, back into the swing of it...

 

 

I'm afraid I have a complete mental block about where those coal wagons start and always end up with them in the wrong road.

 

 

But hey, who cares?   Tom's not here so we'll put out an extra few dozen wagons to shunt with.

 

 

Steve keeps coming back, despite the rest of us.   I'm not sure about that mixed train he seems to be making up there, though.

 

 

I'm not sure what happened when Roy pressed that.....

 

 

Once the show opened, as you can tell, we were flat out the whole afternoon and evening....

 

Both the blue pointy ones seem to be out and running, though, so we were obviously entertaining the masses.     Afterwards we retired to a nearby establishment.

 

 

Would you buy a used A4 from any of these men?

 

Edited May 9 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Saturday morning rolled around and having had no better offers, it was back to the show.    I like to record a general view of the layout for posterity and by the time I got set up to do this one, the Rapido boys were there with their goodies.

 

 

 

No-one can resist a Single, although the one I already have will remain single, I'm afraid.   A chance for everyone else who missed them last time around to catch one.   Mine has been a faultless performer at every show we've done and there can't be many weathered ones about.  I only know of one other who's been daft enough to do it.

 

 

Graham mentioned our visitor from Down Under, who brought with him this based-on-a-Ks J3.   Readers of the Little Bytham thread will already have seen it performing there.   I'd spotted the replacement Stirling tender (from LRM) but I didn't look underneath where it has the Mainly Trains J52 frames.  

 

 

 

It mainly (exclusively?) worked the Ambergate trip and performed beautifully all the time we had it.

 

 

I started to do my usual survey of what was out the front, but was interrupted fairly quickly.  I did see this trio of Atlantics in the shed.   We had a bit of a game with the Atlantics: there are 8 GN ones in all (not counting the brass one) of which 7 are C1s and one a C2.   One C1 (3251, in the background here) is reserved for the Leicester set as it has tension lock couplings.   One (4432) is a heavy hauler and works turn and turn about with the Pacifics, so should not really ever come on shed.   Of the remaining 6, 4401 failed on Saturday and is still awaiting works, but there should still have been 5 in traffic.   By Saturday afternoon we had not a one round the back and were really scratching around for suitable locos.  By mid-morning Sunday I think we had all of them again, yet that was a further one and a half times round the sequence.   It's a bit odd and just as well I acquired all those K3s during lockdown.

 

 

Just a little left, the north end pilot caught in mid-move when we stopped on Friday evening.   Graham and I, with others, have the sad task of disposing of Caroline Middleditch's railway collection so it's nice to see a small reminder of what a good modeller she could be.

 

Chris H posted another selection of views from Saturday on Flickr, so if there's no objection I'll add a few of those here:

 

 

The shed looks fairly empty here, nothing moving up or down and nothing on the main lines.    4217 is largely a static exhibit these days, being used for track testing in the main.   I think the J6 is 3622, a NuCast one I acquired last year.  I'm guessing the A4 is 4466 Herring Gull just on the length of the nameplate (Gadwall would be the other contender).  It looks like a Tom Foster weathering job so it has to be one of those two.

 

 

Chris has then turned left to look at the shed throat and the queue of engines waiting to depart.   The A4 is Osprey, one of the two allocated to Grantham.   I think that one is a detailed Bachmann model.   6229 will probably be going to pick up the down (loaded) High D y k e working you can see in the previous picture and 4114 will probably be going on another trip to Ambergate.

 

 

Moving down towards the Great North Road bridge, it looks as though the incoming empty Ambergate wagons are being dealt with.   Below the shunter there's been a mishap and a job for the scenery team at Newcastle.   Some movement on the main line, though: K3 4005 has the up Aberdeen perishables passing the stabled Leicester set.   I didn't recall that 4005 had worked this train as well. it usually alternates on the Scotch Goods with 4771.    4005 is from an SEF kit with the GN cab and was painted by Larry Goddard.

 

 

I've skipped a little way here: we're back at the shed throat and 2548 Galtee More has just come off a Leeds train and is coming on shed.   Atlantic 3275 has also appeared, most likely off the quad set which can be seen in Platform 5.  

 

 

A few moments later, Galtee More has vanished, most likely out of shot to the left in order to get onto the turntable.    4494 has not yet moved, but behind it 4114 has, as predicted, picked up the Ambergate trip and is getting ready to depart.   Above the brake van, the Atlantic which was in the south end loco spur has crossed over and is backing down onto the quad set to take it Up towards Peterborough.   In front of 3276 is another C1 which we haven't seen much, 3272.   This one is ex-Hitchin, scratchbuilt at King's Cross Models and after some fettling has turned into a reliable performer.  It's had a replacement motor and gearbox from High Level (one of the big coreless ones) and been festooned with pickups.  I just need to sort out the loco/tender coupling and it'll be done.

 

 

Let's finish with this lovely shot Rob Allen kindly posted back up the thread of 2752 Spion Kop in the Down loco spur.    This is one of mine, based on a Hornby NRM 4472, weathered in the Tom Foster manner and a bit of a favourite.  Am I the only one who thinks that the NRM A3s are generally better performers than the normal range ones?

Edited May 9 by jwealleans

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, jwealleans said:

Would you buy a used A4 from any of these men?

Nope - especially not the bloke front left...

[Tony Wright]

11 hours ago, jwealleans said:

Saturday morning rolled around and having had no better offers, it was back to the show.    I like to record a general view of the layout for posterity and by the time I got set up to do this one, the Rapido boys were there with their goodies.

 

 

 

No-one can resist a Single, although the one I already have will remain single, I'm afraid.   A chance for everyone else who missed them last time around to catch one.   Mine has been a faultless performer at every show we've done and there can't be many weathered ones about.  I only know of one other who's been daft enough to do it.

 

 

Graham mentioned our visitor from Down Under, who brought with him this based-on-a-Ks J3.   Readers of the Little Bytham thread will already have seen it performing there.   I'd spotted the replacement Stirling tender (from LRM) but I didn't look underneath where it has the Mainly Trains J52 frames.  

 

 

 

It mainly (exclusively?) worked the Ambergate trip and performed beautifully all the time we had it.

 

 

I started to do my usual survey of what was out the front, but was interrupted fairly quickly.  I did see this trio of Atlantics in the shed.   We had a bit of a game with the Atlantics: there are 8 GN ones in all (not counting the brass one) of which 7 are C1s and one a C2.   One C1 (3251, in the background here) is reserved for the Leicester set as it has tension lock couplings.   One (4432) is a heavy hauler and works turn and turn about with the Pacifics, so should not really ever come on shed.   Of the remaining 6, 4401 failed on Saturday and is still awaiting works, but there should still have been 5 in traffic.   By Saturday afternoon we had not a one round the back and were really scratching around for suitable locos.  By mid-morning Sunday I think we had all of them again, yet that was a further one and a half times round the sequence.   It's a bit odd and just as well I acquired all those K3s during lockdown.

 

 

Just a little left, the north end pilot caught in mid-move when we stopped on Friday evening.   Graham and I, with others, have the sad task of disposing of Caroline Middleditch's railway collection so it's nice to see a small reminder of what a good modeller she could be.

 

Chris H posted another selection of views from Saturday on Flickr, so if there's no objection I'll add a few of those here:

 

 

The shed looks fairly empty here, nothing moving up or down and nothing on the main lines.    4217 is largely a static exhibit these days, being used for track testing in the main.   I think the J6 is 3622, a NuCast one I acquired last year.  I'm guessing the A4 is 4466 Herring Gull just on the length of the nameplate (Gadwall would be the other contender).  It looks like a Tom Foster weathering job so it has to be one of those two.

 

 

Chris has then turned left to look at the shed throat and the queue of engines waiting to depart.   The A4 is Osprey, one of the two allocated to Grantham.   I think that one is a detailed Bachmann model.   6229 will probably be going to pick up the down (loaded) High D y k e working you can see in the previous picture and 4114 will probably be going on another trip to Ambergate.

 

 

Moving down towards the Great North Road bridge, it looks as though the incoming empty Ambergate wagons are being dealt with.   Below the shunter there's been a mishap and a job for the scenery team at Newcastle.   Some movement on the main line, though: K3 4005 has the up Aberdeen perishables passing the stabled Leicester set.   I didn't recall that 4005 had worked this train as well. it usually alternates on the Scotch Goods with 4771.    4005 is from an SEF kit with the GN cab and was painted by Larry Goddard.

 

 

I've skipped a little way here: we're back at the shed throat and 2548 Galtee More has just come off a Leeds train and is coming on shed.   Atlantic 3275 has also appeared, most likely off the quad set which can be seen in Platform 5.  

 

 

A few moments later, Galtee More has vanished, most likely out of shot to the left in order to get onto the turntable.    4494 has not yet moved, but behind it 4114 has, as predicted, picked up the Ambergate trip and is getting ready to depart.   Above the brake van, the Atlantic which was in the south end loco spur has crossed over and is backing down onto the quad set to take it Up towards Peterborough.   In front of 3276 is another C1 which we haven't seen much, 3272.   This one is ex-Hitchin, scratchbuilt at King's Cross Models and after some fettling has turned into a reliable performer.  It's had a replacement motor and gearbox from High Level (one of the big coreless ones) and been festooned with pickups.  I just need to sort out the loco/tender coupling and it'll be done.

 

 

Let's finish with this lovely shot Rob Allen kindly posted back up the thread of 2752 Spion Kop in the Down loco spur.    This is one of mine, based on a Hornby NRM 4472, weathered in the Tom Foster manner and a bit of a favourite.  Am I the only one who thinks that the NRM A3s are generally better performers than the normal range ones?

Good morning Jonathan,

 

Impressive stuff!

 

Andrew tells me that the tender of the V2 I built derailed a couple of times entering the scenic section heading north. Did anyone investigate?

 

It must have run dozens of times before without failure, so I wonder what's altered.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[jwealleans]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Andrew tells me that the tender of the V2 I built derailed a couple of times entering the scenic section heading north. Did anyone investigate?

 

Morning Tony,

 

I don't think the guarantee is being invoked yet.  It derailed in two places on the curve from the fiddle yard into the Great North Road bridge.   The first was an obvious track fault which was fixed.  The second was under the platform where the road vehicles turn and we didn't have time to unscrew that and test before the end of the show.   It'll be investigated at Newcastle.

 

 

 

[LNER4479]

Dodgy track Tony - blame the Civil Engineer (as any good rolling stock engineer always does)

 

(there's a new isolating joiner on the curve there, never an ideal situation, but part of recent electrical mods to reduce unintended section link ups. Did some temporary repairs at the show but needs proper fettling before the next show)

[jwealleans]

On to the Sunday at Bristol and this morning I did get to make a tour of the layout and pick out a few things where they'd been left at whatever move we'd stopped at the evening before.   This has turned into a bit of an engine gallery, but people seem to like that sort of thing so I shall plough on regardless.

 

 

I started with one of the unsung stalwarts of the layout, 3416.   This is a Cotswold kit, I believe, which I bought from Neil Ripley getting on for 20 years ago.   It's been on the layout from the start and plods round with (usually) the coal empties for show after show, almost always eluding the camera.   It happened to be poised to make an entrance here, so I took th echance to capture it.

 

 

Awaiting the road in Platform 5, Graham's D2 3050 from a London Road Models kit.  The train (also by Graham) is the articulated quint set which is a collection of bits from Dan Pinnock, Bill Bedford and Frank Davies.

 

 

At the rear, having just detached from the same set (must be a quick turnaround), J11 6049.   This is a Bachmann example which sees more use now we no longer have Graeme's kit built one to call on.   It's a reliable performer although it has suffered. like a lot of Bachmann locos, from oil or grease seeping through the bodyshell and into the weathering.   On shed we can see part of K3 227 with the unique Hulburd water treatment gear.

 

 

Across the main lines from 6049, C2 3254 in the southbound loco spur.  DJH by Tony Wright and it performs every bit as well as his reputation demands it should.  This is another long time mainstay of the layout.

 

 

This one would be much better photoshopped, but I have neither the software nor the inclination.   3465 on its now usual High D y k e empties working awaiting the road at the north end.   This also gives a view of the allotments Tom and Paul created, which are well worth a look.  The mix of hoppers in the empty train is a deliberate contrast with the uniform appearance of the loaded rake.

 

 

Another look at the delightfully archaic (and slightly anachronistic) J54 in its usual berth.

 

 

I then walked round the back to the north end loco park.   This always attracts a lot of attention when spectators are able to get close to it.   These are also the kind of unsung, seldom admired, workaday engines which I prefer.    D2 4327 at the bottom is a whitemetal example, either M&L or NuCast.   We tried this on the High D y k e empties, after a discussion over dinner about a couple of photographs we've seen of D2s on that working.   It wasn't a success but that was largely due to the loco itself: it's an experiment we intend to repeat.    Next to it, J15 7515 is Hornby, one of two Grantham had in the 1930s.   In the absence of the antipodean visitor this is the default loco for the Ambergate trip. (See correction in the next post).

 

Beyond that, 4040 is a London Road Models J4, built with the Stirling cab.  I took that from a Dick Hardy photo of himself on the footplate at Grantham in 1940.   3527, a 521 series J6, is also London Road.  I can't identify the whitemetal J6 beyond it (Roy Mears, I believe), but as we fade out of focus, J21 1806 was at Grantham for two or three years in the 1930s before moving on.  Beyond that is my J3, 4151 and another J6.  

 

 

I must have gone inside the layout after that as this is taken over the backscene looking down on the Ruston Hornsby yard.   The Dapol Sentinel shunter has also been on the layout from the start and other than a dodgy couple of shows when an accumulation of crud inside the axle ends affected performance, it's been another which has given unobtrusively solid performance.    The wagon is on loan from Barry Oliver and is an NER Traction Engine wagon.   I'd like one myself but I have never been able to identify the kit nor have I seen another anywhere.

 

 

Edited May 11 by jwealleans

[LNER4479]

2 hours ago, jwealleans said:

D2 4327 at the bottom is a whitemetal example, either MSL or NuCast.   We tried this on the High D y k e empties, after a discussion over dinner about a couple of photographs we've seen of D2s on that working.   It wasn't a success but that was largely due to the loco itself: it's an experiment we intend to repeat.

Thanks for the photos and descriptions JW. But a case of mistaken identity here. 4327 is 'Sir's LRM kit build, now owned by Mark Allatt. You are hereby sentenced to 40 lashes.

The loco we tried on the iron ore was my 4317 (close, but no cigar). That is a M&L w/m kit which - most realistically, I thought(?!) - I rebuilt from a D4 into a D3. It's in your photo, looking at you (indignantly)

We also have 4329 on the roster, just to add to the 'D' confusion 🤪

Edited May 10 by LNER4479

[jwealleans]

Well, thank you for putting that straight.   Regular readers will know that I don't often get that far north when operating and a lot of those engines never come past my bit.

 

I should say that we'd be very pleased to see other people's photographs from any show.  It's nice and also of interest to see the layout as it's viewed rather than from our side of the backscene.

 

 

[Fishplate]

59 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

 

I should say that we'd be very pleased to see other people's photographs from any show.  It's nice and also of interest to see the layout as it's viewed rather than from our side of the backscene.

 

Hi Jonathan @jwealleans, happy to oblige. The layout at York on 31st March '24.

 

 

Hopefully my penchant for empty track, rather than trains/locomotives, will give others the opportunity to satisfy the trainspotters anticipation of what's next? 

 

Which exhibition in Newcastle is it you are at? Is there a poster/link you or Graham @LNER4479 can share?

 

John

[LNER4479]

Hi John

 

Try this:

 

https://www.newcastlemodelrailway.org.uk/exhibition

 

Note that the layout list says 2023 but that is this year's list, as far as I'm aware. Due to last minute cancellation of the 2023 show, everything has rolled forward to 2024.

 

[Fishplate]

Thank you Graham.

 

Been to that one before and remember the 23 exhibition being cancelled as the school lost some cladding in the high winds a few days before the exhibition and so was closed on safety grounds. Look forward to seeing you there. 

 

ps Nice canteen as well 👍😁

[jwealleans]

Yes, I can vouch for the canteen.