Grantham - the Streamliner years

[LNER4479]

Slightly belated, sort of show report:

 

All passed off according to plan. Usual story of layout (generally) behaving itself; most bloopers due to human factors (myself included). Overall, a pretty good reception from those gathered round, 2 or 3 deep at times, especially on the Saturday until about 3pm. Layout safely home and unpacked by 10pm Sun night.

 

'Sir' Tony of Bytham undertook a comprehensive photographic session, spread over last hour Saturday and pre-show on Sunday and I also took some myself - all aimed at the layout  to be featured in a two part article in BRM, starting with the June issue. So there is a degree of embargo on any of those pictures. Instead, what follows below is a catch up on the various ongoing projects that I reported on prior to the show.

 

The north end signalling improvements were completed. Here, you can see one of the new ground signals, controlling the reversal into platform 3 (loco change move). Also a few details around the box included water barrel catching the rain water and the new point rodding appearing to emerge from the floor of the locking room. Also apparent (I think) is the coat of weathering, including the signals.

 

Here's the other half of the point rodding, heading away to the pointwork in the distance.

 

The new 'New' shed building was completed (just 2am last Thursday to be exact). 'Sir' has a much better picture from a similar viewpoint so I think I'm fairly safe posting this.

 

One job that I was dreading doing was backscene painting. We've had a skyline painted for some years now (courtesy of Tony) but nothing beneath it, so it reverts to sky blue nearer the ground in places. Worst section was this, beyond the Up goods yard. In the end, what you see here is a combination of a bit low relief (Paul) and some fairy crude, crummy painting by me (not my strong point) but as least there's something there now and it is some distance from the viewer in normal circumstances.

 

And so, bringing it all together, here's the whole thing from the usual viewpoint during the Sun morning photo session.

 

One of our operators took some video and has put together this piece, as an alternative to the more usual trains shots, so that should give you some idea (including the 'warts n all' moments!)

 

Thanks once again to all fellow conspirators for their ceaseless help and good humour. I like to think that a good time was had by all.

 

A bit of a rest now until the autumn (Fareham)

Edited February 15, 2022 by LNER4479

[jwealleans]

As has been commented, there wasn't a great deal of time or opportunity for photographs, so I have only a few to offer here.

 

I like to bring something new to a show and here it was an LRM J5 which I finished over Christmas.

 

 

It had had some test running but the layout had not been up since it was in a condition to be tested.  As usual, I ran it on the coal empties first as that's a train which I 'manage', so I know at once if there's a problem.  Pleased to say it went very well and will now be fitted with a Kadee and put into general service.

 

A loco which had been tested and had run at Leeds but not photographed was this K3, Bachmann on a Tony Wright chassis and which came to me unfinished.

 

 

This was it being tested as long ago as August 2019

 

 

and also doing duty on the mineral empties, which might well be it's regular job going forward.

 

Roy Mears has also been working on a couple of locos and this one especially appealed to me:

 

 

The last Gresley K1s were still in traffic in 1937, so this is entirely appropriate.  It's made using a NuCast K2 kit as the basis, with resin parts supplied by King's of Grimsby and a degree of scratchbuilding.

 

As we had them to hand, a comparison was in order:

 

 

The K1, of course, was rapidly developed into the larger K2...

 

 

... and both were then overtaken by the K3, which the LNER built into the mid 1930s.

 

Finally a guest appearance on Sunday afternoon: this P1 was on the LNER Society stand all weekend and is the property of Mark Shipman, the Society Events Officer.  He brought it down for a run round and it performed every bit as well as it looked.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by jwealleans
Taking a P.

[LNER4479]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

Finally a guest appearance on Sunday afternoon: this P2 was on the LNER Society stand all weekend and is the property of Mark Shipman, the Society Events Officer.  He brought it down for a run round and it performed every bit as well as it looked.

 

 

Got ideas above its station too as it was really only a P1 ...

[Les1952]

1 hour ago, LNER4479 said:

Got ideas above its station too as it was really only a P1 ...

 

I think it knows it is a P1, it has been told enough times (including throughout at least two shows by me every time anyone visited the LNER Soc stand and asked - it didn't take long to learn Mark's goods engines speil to the point I could repeat it verbatim......)

 

Les

 

[woodenhead]

3 hours ago, jwealleans said:

Finally a guest appearance on Sunday afternoon: this P2 was on the LNER Society stand all weekend and is the property of Mark Shipman, the Society Events Officer.  He brought it down for a run round and it performed every bit as well as it looked.

 

 

 

 

One could forgive a Man of Malachite or one of Gods own Wonderful mis identifying a locomotive of another railway even one of such a large wheelbase, but a member of the operating team of Grantham no less not recognising one of Gresley's great beasts.

 

I hope you have been assigned as homework the necessary edition of Yeadon's to reaquaint yourself with the P classes - all two of them.

 

[jwealleans]

It's the second one.   Ergo, it's P2.

 

Funnily enough Mark Allatt was at the layout on Saturday mentioning that he'd seen a really nice P2 model on the Society stand, but when I asked about it on Sunday they said this was the only 2-8-2 they'd had on there all weekend.

[Barry O]

6 hours ago, woodenhead said:

One could forgive a Man of Malachite or one of Gods own Wonderful mis identifying a locomotive of another railway even one of such a large wheelbase, but a member of the operating team of Grantham no less not recognising one of Gresley's great beasts.

 

I hope you have been assigned as homework the necessary edition of Yeadon's to reaquaint yourself with the P classes - all two of them.

 

It's black.. its got too many wheels.. its got LNER on the side.. of course in the North Eastern Railways "P"'s only had 6 driving wheels.....

 

 

Baz

[Worsdell forever]

10 minutes ago, Barry O said:

It's black.. its got too many wheels.. its got LNER on the side.. of course in the North Eastern Railways "P"'s only had 6 driving wheels.....

 

 

Baz

 

Exactly, this is a P1.

 

http://www.railcentre.co.uk/RailHistory/NER/Objects/data1/images/27_class_p1.jpg

[Dragonboy]

I think the bolting horse in the video is wasted pulling a cart. I think it would be better suited to the 3.15 at Newmarket. 
 

Brian

Edited February 16, 2022 by Dragonboy
Productive tox

[Michael Hodgson]

28 minutes ago, Dragonboy said:

I think the bolting horse in the video is wasted pulling a cart. I think it would be better suited to the 3.15 at Newmarket. 
 

Brian

If the layout was at Doncaster surely that should be the St Leger?

[cheesysmith]

 

Here is the photo of the RTC at the top of the picture. 

[jwealleans]

Craig won't thank you for that picture....

[LNER4479]

Knowing how you all some of you quite like a travelogue now and then, here's a report from my first euro trip as a Great Rail Journey's Tour Manager. The destination won't come as any great surprise to long time readers of this thread.

 

All Great (European) Rail Journeys begin at St Pancras, GRJ's 'meet n greet' office is right behind me. We set off on 19th Feb, the day after storm Eunice had done her worst. The weather was to have quite an impact on the smooth running of the tour ...

 

At the end of Day 1, we'd made it as far as the Rhine, all going to plan thus far. Miraculously, all 19 of my passengers made it to St Pancras for the 9am departure time, despite the travel disruption the day before.

 

And Sunday afternoon arrival in a rather damp, overcast - but ever magical - Wernigerode, our base for the next for days in the Harz mountains.

 

However, down at the running sheds, it was quite apparent that all was not normal. Investigations soon revealed that the railway had closed down completely for five days to let the storm do its worst (storms blowing in from the Atlantic don't just stop at the North Sea - they continue on into northern Europe ...). This was Day 4 of the five days. No one had thought to forward on this rather vital piece of information - and our trip up the Brocken was booked for the morrow!

 

Meanwhile, at the hotel there seemed to be a slight communication issue. We did have two methodist ministers in the party?

 

So - I thereby declared 'Day 1' to henceforth be our free day and set out to rearrange the Brocken trip to be 'Day 3' (a straight swap). This rebooking was achieved with minimum of fuss so I therefore had the afternoon free. What should I do with no trains running?

 

Why, go to the Luftfahrtmuseum, of course!

 

I knew it was there from previous visits but hadn't actually checked it out before. Basically, a warehouse full of hairyplanes but good enough to while away an hour or so.

 

Main concentration is of post-war jets. How many can you spot?

 

'Day 2' actually went according to plan(!) A visit and guided tour round the nearby UNESCO town of Goslar

 

Free time in the afternoon meant a trip to the Rammelsberg silver mine, also UNESCO heritage listed.

 

Back at the sheds, more promising signs. The railway had actually extended its shut down by one more day but was now preparing to partially re-open on the following day. Would we get our trip up the Brocken?

 

Meanwhile, an item of model railway interest...

 

The well-known (if you're been before) railway themed hotel overlooking the station can be booked for an evening meal ... including your drinks being delivered by sound-fitted LGB train. What japes.

 

So, what happened next? (to be continued ...)

Edited April 7, 2022 by LNER4479

[31A]

Sounds like a bit of a baptism of fire for a first trip!

 

[gr.king]

16 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

 

 

The well-known (if you're been before) railway themed hotel overlooking the station can be booked for an evening meal ... including your drinks being delivered by sound-fitted LGB train. What japes.

 

So, what happened next? (to be continued ...)

I'm glad to see that somebody was drinking ein Dunkels, but I insist that all trains with which I have dealings are of definite, natural gender, especially if delivering my beer.

[The Stationmaster]

Some of us are old enough to remember when GRJ was Mac's Tours and ran continental holiday trips for holders of railway travel facilities.   I think the last thing they did back then was go to any railway sites

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Some of us are old enough to remember when GRJ was Mac's Tours and ran continental holiday trips for holders of railway travel facilities.   I think the last thing they did back then was go to any railway sites

The ScR M&EE Food & Drink Society used to spend about 2-3 hours at a depot or works to make it "legit". The rest of the time was pretty much as you describe.

[LNER4479]

On 08/03/2022 at 12:09, The Stationmaster said:

Some of us are old enough to remember when GRJ was Mac's Tours and ran continental holiday trips for holders of railway travel facilities.   I think the last thing they did back then was go to any railway sites

 

Like this you mean?

 

 

To be fair, Harz is a little bit of a specialist tour. Most tours in the programme use the train to get there rather than be the main attraction. I reckon this Harz one I did was one third enthusiasts and two-thirds general tourists

 

[LNER4479]

Meanwhile ...

 

'Day 2' (Goslar) of our four based in Wernigerode was considerably enlivened by the news that the railway was re-opening the next day ... but only partially and the trip up the Brocken would not be possible on 'Day 3' (having already been rearranged from 'Day 1'). A series of hasty phone calls that afternoon miraculously discovered that both the tour guide AND coach driver for 'Day 4' (Quedlinburg) were able to switch to 'Day 3' (ie the very next morning!). I therefore re-booked (again) the two train rides, as the Quedlinburg day also involved a train ride, on the Selketalbahn. So, with almost no notice at all ...

 

Never have I been so relieved to see a dampfzug! Dependable pre-war 2-6-2T No.6001 was operating an all steam, one train diagram for the day between Quedlinburg and Alexisbad - perfect for us, as that was the trip in the tour programme. But I had to switch it from afternoon to morning to make things work.

 

 

Despite the short notice, the railway managed to sort out the reservation labels. A nice touch.

 

Arrival at Alexisbad ...

 

... with our coach waiting effortlessly alongside (phew!)

 

And just look at the weather!! I didn't order that - fancy sitting outside with a bowl of ghoulash soup and a coffee in February?!

 

Having sent a quick 'thanks' e-mail to the railway, I was rewarded with this pic by return. From the live webcam at the top of the Brocken, the maintenance crews busy clearing the fresh fall of snow. The fact that the snow clearing train had got there meant that the rest of the route must be open. 'Day 4' might just be 'on' ...

 

I could therefore relax a little as the lovely Sabine wowed my passengers by her informative and enthusiastic two hour tour of this also UNESCO listed town.

 

And so, 'Day 4' (which was originally planned as Day 1!) dawned, with enticing steam activity at the station ... but, more importantly, the Brocken clearly in view (above the head of the gentleman on the right). It's within grasp.

 

As we climb up into the forest, the snow starts to appear, taking quite a few of my party by surprise. Unfortunately, marring the appearance somewhat, the 'forest' has actually been subjectd to much systematic felling. Many of the trees were old and diseased so it looks like a 'start again' exercise - you can see the younger saplings which will form the regenerated forest of the future but it will be some years before it's truly re-established.

 

Just starting the final spiral to the summit - and to complete the picture the sun makes a brief but welcome appearance. Sun, steam and snow - just like in the brochure!

 

Made it! Definitely one of my more epic trips to the summit.

(In case you think I'm overplaying this a bit, the Brocken mountain is covered in cloud / rain approx 300 days of the year. Clear conditions in winter is a rare thing - it had been totally obscured for at least two weeks prior to our visit)

 

Back down at the junction station (Drei Annen Hohne), our train terminated and is seen here departing back up towards the summit. Time for a bit more photography.

 

The loco off the afternoon Eisfelder-Wernigerode train is passed by the next train down from the Brocken.

 

And to complete the picture, here's the afternoon Wernigerode-Nordhausen train. Three steam-hauled trains in the station and four different steam haued trains seen within the space of half an hour. Just another day on the HarzerSchmalspurBahnen.

 

One final, minor scare on the journey home (had to rebook us on an alternative train from Hanover to Cologne) but otherwise back safely and on time.

 

Till the next time.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by LNER4479

[drmditch]

Wunderbar!

[Sandhole]

8 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

Meanwhile ...

 

'Day 2' (Goslar) of our four based in Wernigerode was considerably enlivened by the news that the railway was re-opening the next day ... but only partially and the trip up the Brocken would not be possible on 'Day 3' (having already been rearranged from 'Day 1'). A series of hasty phone calls that afternoon miraculously discovered that both the tour guide AND coach driver for 'Day 4' (Quedlinburg) were able to switch to 'Day 3' (ie the very next morning!). I therefore re-booked (again) the two train rides, as the Quedlinburg day also involved a train ride, on the Selketalbahn. So, with almost no notice at all ...

 

Never have I been so relieved to see a dampfzug! Dependable pre-war 2-6-2T No.6001 was operating an all steam, one train diagram for the day between Quedlinburg and Alexisbad - perfect for us, as that was the trip in the tour programme. But I had to switch it from afternoon to morning to make things work.

 

Despite the short notice, the railway managed to sort out the reservation labels. A nice touch.

 

Arrival at Alexisbad ...

 

... with our coach waiting effortlessly alongside (phew!)

 

 

And just look at the weather!! I didn't order that - fancy sitting outside with a bowl of ghoulash soup and a coffee in February?!

 

Having sent a quick 'thanks' e-mail to the railway, I was rewarded with this pic by return. From the live webcam at the top of the Brocken, the maintenance crews busy clearing the fresh fall of snow. The fact that the snow clearing train had got there meant that the rest of the route must be open. 'Day 4' might just be 'on' ...

 

 

I could therefore relax a little as the lovely Sabine wowed my passengers by her informative and enthusiastic two hour tour of this also UNESCO listed town.

 

 

And so, 'Day 4' (which was originally planned as Day 1!) dawned, with enticing steam activity at the station ... but, more importantly, the Brocken clearly in view (above the head of the gentleman on the right). It's within grasp.

 

As we climb up into the forest, the snow starts to appear, taking quite a few of my party by surprise. Unfortunately, marring the appearance somewhat, the 'forest' has actually been subjectd to much systematic felling. Many of the trees were old and diseased so it looks like a 'start again' exercise - you can see the younger saplings which will form the regenerated forest of the future but it will be some years before it's truly re-established.

 

Just starting the final spiral to the summit - and to complete the picture the sun makes a brief but welcome appearance. Sun, steam and snow - just like in the brochure!

 

Made it! Definitely one of my more epic trips to the summit.

(In case you think I'm overplaying this a bit, the Brocken mountain is covered in cloud / rain approx 300 days of the year. Clear conditions in winter is a rare thing - it had been totally obscured for at least two weeks prior to our visit)

 

Back down at the junction station (Drei Annen Hohne), our train terminated and is seen here departing back up towards the summit. Time for a bit more photography.

 

The loco off the afternoon Eisfelder-Wernigerode train is passed by the next train down from the Brocken.

 

 

And to complete the picture, here's the afternoon Wernigerode-Nordhausen train. Three steam-hauled trains in the station and four different steam haued trains seen within the space of half an hour. Just another day on the HarzerSchmalspurBahnen.

 

One final, minor scare on the journey home (had to rebook us on an alternative train from Hanover to Cologne) but otherwise back safely and on time.

 

Till the next time.

 

 

You , definitely earned your spurs on this trip.
Congratulations on a great job done.
Regards,
Chris.

[31A]

Well having successfully managed that tour, all the rest must be easier!

 

Looks like a great time was had by all despite the setbacks; can I come next time?!

 

[DaveF]

Those photos bring back memories of my trips to the Harz in 1991 and 1992.

 

My only trip to the top of the Brocken was in 1992, there were still a few Russian troops there then - some time after reunification!  That part of the line hadn't been reopened in 1991.

 

My trips though were in the summer and I had sunshine.

 

David

 

 

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

 

 

Did they really name that coach after you?

 

(I know, I know...)

[45568]

Who was this coach named after then?

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.