Wright writes.....

[The Fatadder]

I can't quite see from the photo, but is that a High Level 3-stage gearbox? If so, you need to glue or solder the final part, where the driving axle goes, to the main body of the gearbox, once you have the motor in the correct position in the body. This will prevent the action you describe. 

 

John

Thanks John

 

That will teach me for not reading the instructions! While I would prefer to solder I don’t really want to dismantle the chassis again, so will slap on some epoxy once the children are asleep

 

Coupled with cobbling up a makeshift motor mount from plasticard, hopefully should resolve the issues and let me move on to running in the chassis

[Chamby]

Leicester Central, interesting project and by the look of it time period as well, but wHere are the bay platforms?

. For now, the north and south bays have been joined as through platforms. It can handle 4x eight coach trains in this format... plus the loops which were used as goods loops for the windcutters etc, as well as carriage storage.

 

At the moment I have to share my layout room with the missus, who paints. Therefore there is no space for a conventional fiddle yard, so the through platforms work best for now. But a garage conversion is on the cards, in which case an additional section will be dropped in the middle of the current station, forming the two bays and the characteristically long outside platforms. Handling 12 coach formations will then be possible.

 

The era is pitched loosely around the two years of transition to maximise the livery options available. A mix of Apple green, with LNER or BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering, plus the arrival of the very first A3’s to Leicester shed followed by the arrival of that lovely blue livery. The Master Cutler, South Yorkshireman... would have loved to have seen it for real!

 

Phil

[Headstock]

. For now, the north and south bays have been joined as through platforms. It can handle 4x eight coach trains in this format... plus the loops which were used as goods loops for the windcutters etc, as well as carriage storage.

 

At the moment I have to share my layout room with the missus, who paints. Therefore there is no space for a conventional fiddle yard, so the through platforms work best for now. But a garage conversion is on the cards, in which case an additional section will be dropped in the middle of the current station, forming the two bays and the characteristically long outside platforms. Handling 12 coach formations will then be possible.

 

The era is pitched loosely around the two years of transition to maximise the livery options available. A mix of Apple green, with LNER or BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering, plus the arrival of the very first A3’s to Leicester shed followed by the arrival of that lovely blue livery. The Master Cutler, South Yorkshireman... would have loved to have seen it for real!

 

Phil

 

Thanks for the Reply Phil,

 

it sounds like you have a well thought out plan. The operation around Leicester Central station was quite fascinating due to the amount of locomotive changes on through workings and the addition of carriages as strengtheners to southbound workings. The carriage sidings nearest your base board edge contained an interesting collection of pre grouping designs from all corners of the LNER for this traffic. In addition NPC's would be added to and removed from ordinary passenger trains. The bay platforms would play a large roll in this traffic as well as catering for the ordinary passenger trains that terminated at Leicester. These services actually outnumbered the express trains by two to one.

 

With regard to the A3's, here is an image of one of my blue 'uns about two hundred yards south of Leicester Central station with the 3.50pm Manchester Marylebone express circa 1949. Please keep us updated, I shall very much look forwards to seeing more of your layout as work progresses.

 

Photo courtesy of Derek Shore.

[JeremyC]

Hi Tony

 

Hopefully this will be the last question I will need to ask before I have my first 4-6-0 chassis running properly.

 

Today I added the pickups to the model and ran it under power on my new test track for the first time. It runs ok in one direction, but in the other direction the motor rotated on its gearbox before stalling (I believe because the gearbox hits an obstruction)

When the body is fitted this is even worse as it causes the rear drive shaft to foul against the back head casting (as well as the gearbox issue)

 

I assume I need to fix the motor into position, but what is the generally accepted method for achieving this?

 

 

Thanks

 

Rich

I use one of two methods. If there is a frame stay at the rear of the motor I tie the motor down using a brass wire bridle over the motor and hooked under the stay [or through holes drilled in it]. My alternative is to fix a wire stay between the gearbox and the frame. One end of this is soldered and the other end is bent 90 degrees and hooked through a hole. By leaving one end 'free' the gearbox can self-align. Which end is soldered and which is hooked depends on the particular application [usually the gearbox end is soldered]. Personally I would never glue a motor down if I can avoid it [probably because as a former ships engineer anything that can't be easily removed for maintenance is an anathema :-)] 

Edited January 7, 2018 by JeremyC

[Jamiel]

Hi Tony

 

Hopefully this will be the last question I will need to ask before I have my first 4-6-0 chassis running properly.

 

Today I added the pickups to the model and ran it under power on my new test track for the first time. It runs ok in one direction, but in the other direction the motor rotated on its gearbox before stalling (I believe because the gearbox hits an obstruction)

When the body is fitted this is even worse as it causes the rear drive shaft to foul against the back head casting (as well as the gearbox issue)

 

I assume I need to fix the motor into position, but what is the generally accepted method for achieving this?

 

 

Thanks

 

Rich

 

I too am building my first brass loco a 4-6-0. I have a fraction of the experience of the modellers here when it comes to brass kits, but a simple question. Does you gearbox/motor mount have two small holes for tiny screws to go into two holes at the end of the motor? I have used a Comet gearbox and and a Mahima motor and it attaches with very small screws in that way.

 

I will hand back to those with far more experience, but though it worth asking as I know when doing my first model I missed odd little bits that more experienced modellers might take as a given.

 

Lovely to see that this thread is inspiring and teaching others to take the same plunge.

 

Jamie

[petrovich]

Thanks for the Reply Phil,

 

it sounds like you have a well thought out plan. The operation around Leicester Central station was quite fascinating due to the amount of locomotive changes on through workings and the addition of carriages as strengtheners to southbound workings. The carriage sidings nearest your base board edge contained an interesting collection of pre grouping designs from all corners of the LNER for this traffic. In addition NPC's would be added to and removed from ordinary passenger trains. The bay platforms would play a large roll in this traffic as well as catering for the ordinary passenger trains that terminated at Leicester. These services actually outnumbered the express trains by two to one.

 

With regard to the A3's, here is an image of one of my blue 'uns about two hundred yards south of Leicester Central station with the 3.50pm Manchester Marylebone express circa 1949. Please keep us updated, I shall very much look forwards to seeing more of your layout as work progresses.

 

Photo courtesy of Derek Shore.

That is one very good image, I keep coming back to it which suggests, to my small brain, that this is how a model railway should look, similar in many ways to Tony's work.

 

Regards

 

Peter

[petrovich]

In my short time on this  thread, I have noticed that alongside modelling the topic of spelling and punctuation occasionally rears its head.

 

 .... in the spirit of open discussion I thought that this might interest/amuse ..... shown to me by my 14 year old daughter at dinner tonight. Perhaps people have seen it and it is old news, but it amused me and raised a wry smile.

 

IMG_2323.JPG

Read it straight through first time    Not sure that does not say a lot about how my brain works.

 

Regards 

 

Peter

[rowanj]

]. Personally I would never glue a motor down if I can avoid it [probably because as a former ships engineer anything that can't be easily removed for maintenance is an anathema :-)] 

motor-fixing.jpg

 

Jeremy -just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting glueing the motor into the frames. A clever thing about SEVERAL High Level gearboxes is that they are designed in 2 parts with the lower part swivelling through almost 180 degrees, giving a great degree of choice of angle of the motor and choice of driving axle. However you do need to ultimately fix the 2 parts together, otherwise you get the effect described.. The instructions suggest glue because some of the gears are plastic. I think a smear of epoxy is best, given superglues' tendency to go where it shouldn't. .

 

I use DC and find that stiffish wire for the return to the live chassis is normally sufficient to keep these gearboxes ibn place. I do, incidentally, have a B16/3 with the characteristics Rob has found. It runs fine in both directions, but there is a second where the motor moves forward or backward before the loco moves - a bit like the effect of opening the regulator. I quite like it, and will keep it as long as it works.

 

John

 

Edited to correct impression that ALL High Level Gearboxes have"swivel" feature.

Edited January 7, 2018 by rowanj

[ecgtheow]

 

OK Barry, I have to come clean.  This is my home layout, currently in its very early stages of development.  Definitely breaking your baseboard edge and straight line rules!

 

IMG_1908.JPG

 

Two foot wide baseboards, eight lines (including loops) and two island platforms... with very little scenic space.  With the limited space I have available, after much deliberation I decided what the hell and went for it.  Much of my railway experience has been on platforms at mainline stations, and I wanted to recreate that feeling where the outside world is... the outside world.  So operation became the priority, but with modelling skills undertaken to a high standard within the station confines.  

 

The boundaries of the layout will be defined by brick arches on the facings of the baseboards and their parapet will provide edging to the baseboard tops.  The inspiration for this is Leicester Central, the track plan and station itself draw much from that location, within the constraints of the space I have.

 

I felt it better to compromise as little of the station area as possible at this stage.  In this case, running parallel to the board edges maximises this.  It is my hope that in time, I will have a larger, dedicated room to work with and then will be able to develop the street scenes at a lower level around the current boards.  In the meantime, building the station environment itself to the standards that I aspire to, will be modelling challenge enough for now!

 

Phil

 

Here's layout plan with few if any straight lines except in the yard. After starting 3 complex layouts which were never anywhere near finished because every time we moved home the dimensions of the space available differed, I settled on a model of Thetford Bridge because it seems to offer good operational opportunities, but one could also just watch through trains go by & it is all on a curve which is tightened considerably in the model (see outline plan showing the "mainline" & position of points to facilitate baseboard construction). It can also be built to scale in the 5.3 m by 4.4 m room housing it. It will also be 1.5 m above the floor, so the the tightness the curve should be less obvious as it is viewed more or less at eye level. The "mainline"  isn't a semi-circle but 2 90 degree complex curves with easements at either end to allow the use of "mein Gleis" flexible 2.18 m radius points at the crossover in the station & a 4.36 m radius Y-point where the single line becomes double.Another potential advantage is that one can stand more or less at the mid point of the curves & view everything at about the same distance facilitating making scenery with forced perspective which should not look odd.

The storage yard uses Peco code 83 curved 5'/3' radius points to give loops as long as possible. Most of the baseboards are built & track laying has started. I hope it all works out as planned.

 

William

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buhar]

I too am building my first brass loco a 4-6-0. I have a fraction of the experience of the modellers here when it comes to brass kits, but a simple question. Does you gearbox/motor mount have two small holes for tiny screws to go into two holes at the end of the motor? I have used a Comet gearbox and and a Mahima motor and it attaches with very small screws in that way.

 

Unfortunately, not all motors have screw holes for mounting the gearbox and, even if present, it is possible that the gearbox you choose may not have holes in alignment with your motor.  Another reason why Mr Mashima retiring is a big loss.

[glo41f]

Thank you for the picture of the lovely blue A3. They really looked good in that livery. Sadly I never saw one for real but it really suits them on all the models that I have seen. It is a pity that the colour scheme was dropped by BR very early on. I am not so sure on the more purple blue that was used on the A4s though. (Could a blue loco be seen running through LB one day?)

 

I have always thought that Leicester had a marvellous operation as far as the GC was concerned and would loved to have seen it. I spent ages once looking at the layout and trying to see how it could be adapted for a model. There is huge potential there which even includes GW locos getting in on the act. Colin Walkers excellent photos show the activity there very well.

 

I wonder if we would be spending vast amounts on HS2 if the GC still survived? It was surely the most "sinned against" railway in the UK having been one of the most forward looking. Sad that so little remains now.

 

Martin Long

[ecgtheow]

Thetford Bridge plan.pdfThetford bridge layout %22mainline%22.pdf

 

OK Barry, I have to come clean.  This is my home layout, currently in its very early stages of development.  Definitely breaking your baseboard edge and straight line rules!

 

IMG_1908.JPG

 

Two foot wide baseboards, eight lines (including loops) and two island platforms... with very little scenic space.  With the limited space I have available, after much deliberation I decided what the hell and went for it.  Much of my railway experience has been on platforms at mainline stations, and I wanted to recreate that feeling where the outside world is... the outside world.  So operation became the priority, but with modelling skills undertaken to a high standard within the station confines.  

 

The boundaries of the layout will be defined by brick arches on the facings of the baseboards and their parapet will provide edging to the baseboard tops.  The inspiration for this is Leicester Central, the track plan and station itself draw much from that location, within the constraints of the space I have.

 

I felt it better to compromise as little of the station area as possible at this stage.  In this case, running parallel to the board edges maximises this.  It is my hope that in time, I will have a larger, dedicated room to work with and then will be able to develop the street scenes at a lower level around the current boards.  In the meantime, building the station environment itself to the standards that I aspire to, will be modelling challenge enough for now!

 

Phil

 

Here's layout plan with few if any straight lines except in the yard. After starting 3 complex layouts which were never anywhere near finished because every time we moved home the dimensions of the space available differed, I settled on a model of Thetford Bridge because it seems to offer good operational opportunities, but one could also just watch through trains go by & it is all on a curve which is tightened considerably in the model (see outline plan showing the "mainline" & position of points to facilitate baseboard construction). It can also be built to scale in the 5.3 m by 4.4 m room housing it. It will also be 1.5 m above the floor, so the the tightness the curve should be less obvious as it is viewed more or less at eye level. The "mainline"  isn't a semi-circle but 2 90 degree complex curves with easements at either end to allow the use of "mein Gleis" flexible 2.18 m radius points at the crossover in the station & a 4.36 m radius Y-point where the single line becomes double.Another potential advantage is that one can stand more or less at the mid point of the curves & view everything at about the same distance facilitating making scenery with forced perspective which should not look odd.

The storage yard uses Peco code 83 curved 5'/3' radius points to give loops as long as possible. Most of the baseboards are built & track laying has started. I hope it all works out as planned.

 

William

 

 

 

Sorry but the pdf files don't seem to be attached. I will try again after investigating why not

[Tony Wright]

Hi Tony

 

Hopefully this will be the last question I will need to ask before I have my first 4-6-0 chassis running properly.

 

Today I added the pickups to the model and ran it under power on my new test track for the first time. It runs ok in one direction, but in the other direction the motor rotated on its gearbox before stalling (I believe because the gearbox hits an obstruction)

When the body is fitted this is even worse as it causes the rear drive shaft to foul against the back head casting (as well as the gearbox issue)

 

I assume I need to fix the motor into position, but what is the generally accepted method for achieving this?

 

 

Thanks

 

Rich

Rich,

 

In my experience, it's always better to anchor the motor/gearbox'. This prevents the drive clattering around inside the body. 

 

The following pictures show how I arrange it...................

 

 

This is the chassis for an A7, built for a friend. The wires are so thick on Portescaps that they effectively anchor the motor, anyway. 

 

 

Because this is DCC, the chassis was made electrically dead. There was still enough stiffness in the wires to anchor the motor. 

 

 

Another chassis I made electrically-dead (not because of DCC but because of tight clearances) was this B16. I used a High-Level gearbox and anchored it by solder using .45mm brass wire. The arrow highlights it.

 

 

Another DCC necessity was this 16XX, built for another friend. Because they were so short, both wires from the pick-ups anchored the motor. 

 

 

Because I don't use DCC (nor ever will), most chassis I build for myself are electrically-live. The arrows point to how I've employed the .45mm brass wire to both anchor the motor and provide the return feed from the motor on this Austerity chassis and J6 chassis.

 

 

Another view of the chassis for the J6.

 

 

The chassis for a B12 was configured in the same way, though the motor was not under-slung.

 

 

And similarly for an H16. 

 

 

 

Finally, two chassis for SE Finecast A4s. Though the drive positions are different (I always arrange the drives so that they go sweeter in forwards). This is a common phenomenon with motor/gearboxes where, almost invariably, they're sweeter/quieter in one direction than the other. This doesn't mean the the other way is awful, just not so quiet. I, thus, find out which way is better (there is no scientific explanation for this, well, none I know of), and install it accordingly. 

 

I hope all of this helps. 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Tony Wright

[Tony Wright]

Thanks for the Reply Phil,

 

it sounds like you have a well thought out plan. The operation around Leicester Central station was quite fascinating due to the amount of locomotive changes on through workings and the addition of carriages as strengtheners to southbound workings. The carriage sidings nearest your base board edge contained an interesting collection of pre grouping designs from all corners of the LNER for this traffic. In addition NPC's would be added to and removed from ordinary passenger trains. The bay platforms would play a large roll in this traffic as well as catering for the ordinary passenger trains that terminated at Leicester. These services actually outnumbered the express trains by two to one.

 

With regard to the A3's, here is an image of one of my blue 'uns about two hundred yards south of Leicester Central station with the 3.50pm Manchester Marylebone express circa 1949. Please keep us updated, I shall very much look forwards to seeing more of your layout as work progresses.

 

Photo courtesy of Derek Shore.

Wonderful picture.....

 

And, good to see telegraph poles the correct distance apart.

[Killybegs]

 A clever thing about High Level gearboxes is that they are designed in 2 parts with the lower part swivelling through almost 180 degrees, giving a great degree of choice of angle of the motor and choice of driving axle. However you do need to ultimately fix the 2 parts together, otherwise you get the effect described.. The instructions suggest glue because some of the gears are plastic. I think a smear of epoxy is best, given superglues' tendency to go where it shouldn't. .

 

 

Not all their gearboxes are pivoted. 

[Tony Wright]

Unfortunately, not all motors have screw holes for mounting the gearbox and, even if present, it is possible that the gearbox you choose may not have holes in alignment with your motor.  Another reason why Mr Mashima retiring is a big loss.

Alan,

 

I agree that the loss of Mashima is a disappointment.

 

However, a Canon motor and Comet gearbox combination provides an excellent (if not better, because it's easier to fit the motor) replacement. I've now used three, in an O2/1, a 9F and a Pacific and they're beautifully smooth, powerful and quiet. 

 

I should point out the usual disclaimer; though I'm friends with Andrew of Comet/Wizard/MSE, I have no connection with his products; only as a very satisfied user of them. 

[The Fatadder]

 

 

Thank you again, it helps massively. It’s incredibly useful to see so many different variations on the theme. It is now very clear what I need to do, hopefully it will result in a fully working loco soon

[Tony Wright]

Thank you for the picture of the lovely blue A3. They really looked good in that livery. Sadly I never saw one for real but it really suits them on all the models that I have seen. It is a pity that the colour scheme was dropped by BR very early on. I am not so sure on the more purple blue that was used on the A4s though. (Could a blue loco be seen running through LB one day?)

 

I have always thought that Leicester had a marvellous operation as far as the GC was concerned and would loved to have seen it. I spent ages once looking at the layout and trying to see how it could be adapted for a model. There is huge potential there which even includes GW locos getting in on the act. Colin Walkers excellent photos show the activity there very well.

 

I wonder if we would be spending vast amounts on HS2 if the GC still survived? It was surely the most "sinned against" railway in the UK having been one of the most forward looking. Sad that so little remains now.

 

Martin Long

Martin,

 

In answer to your question about a blue loco running through LB. 

 

Will these do for now?

 

 

This shot dates from about four/five years ago and shows a modified/weathered Hornby A4, the work of my dear frend Tom Foster. 

 

 

 

 

And from more recent times (last autumn). I built this SE Finecast A4 for service on Shap (Ian Rathbone painted it), but it was run-in on Little Bytham. A Hornby A4 wouldn't have been able to take the load required up Shap. 

 

Next August, there'll be quite a few more...................................

[Chamby]

Thanks for the Reply Phil,

 

it sounds like you have a well thought out plan. The operation around Leicester Central station was quite fascinating due to the amount of locomotive changes on through workings and the addition of carriages as strengtheners to southbound workings. The carriage sidings nearest your base board edge contained an interesting collection of pre grouping designs from all corners of the LNER for this traffic. In addition NPC's would be added to and removed from ordinary passenger trains. The bay platforms would play a large roll in this traffic as well as catering for the ordinary passenger trains that terminated at Leicester. These services actually outnumbered the express trains by two to one.

 

With regard to the A3's, here is an image of one of my blue 'uns about two hundred yards south of Leicester Central station with the 3.50pm Manchester Marylebone express circa 1949. Please keep us updated, I shall very much look forwards to seeing more of your layout as work progresses.

 

Photo courtesy of Derek Shore.

Oh that’s very nice. A blue A3 is very much on my wish list from Hornby this year - fingers crossed! Renaming and relettering apple green A3’s to the early Leicester shedded specimens is on my New Year’s ‘to do’ list.

 

Yes the train movements are a large part of the attraction of this location for me, with the cross country services. The York to Swindon, Port to Ports and Newcastle to Bournemouth services with Collett, Hawksworth and Maunsell stock arriving from foreign regions and swopping over to LNER motive power at Leicester. Happy days!

[Headstock]

Thank you for the picture of the lovely blue A3. They really looked good in that livery. Sadly I never saw one for real but it really suits them on all the models that I have seen. It is a pity that the colour scheme was dropped by BR very early on. I am not so sure on the more purple blue that was used on the A4s though. (Could a blue loco be seen running through LB one day?)

 

I have always thought that Leicester had a marvellous operation as far as the GC was concerned and would loved to have seen it. I spent ages once looking at the layout and trying to see how it could be adapted for a model. There is huge potential there which even includes GW locos getting in on the act. Colin Walkers excellent photos show the activity there very well.

 

I wonder if we would be spending vast amounts on HS2 if the GC still survived? It was surely the most "sinned against" railway in the UK having been one of the most forward looking. Sad that so little remains now.

 

Martin Long

 

Evening Martin,

 

I also have a liking for the BR blue livery, though the combination with Crimson and cream perhaps looked a little garish, better to have left teak carriages teak.

 

Leicester central station has huge potential, I have mentioned before that it was the amount of canopy space that stopped us modelling it. However, the amount of shunting and light engine movements required may have limited the trains actual trying to use the mainlines..All this activity would be concentrated at the two ends of the layout with little going on in the middle and with much of the operation under the canopies. It would have required quite a bit of the station approaches to be modelled, to do it all would probably have doubled the size of the layout as it is now. Perhaps modelling just the southern approaches would be a solution.

 

With regards to the destruction of the GC, a catastrophic act. Despite attempts to sabotage the services from 1958 onwards, the line was still making money up until the day it closed.

[rowanj]

Not all their gearboxes are pivoted. 

 

I've corrected the post - so sorry.

[APOLLO]

With regards to "long straights and gentle curves" I could model neither on my O gauge North American layout. The Rock Island - my chosen line to model was a "Granger" (Prairie) railroad, most lines were (fairly) straight and level across the Prairies - no good at all for a 22' x 12' garage. So I had to invent. The Rock did get to Colorado Springs, on the edge of the Rockies, so my line is an imaginary extension from here into the Rockies via the long abandoned Colorado Midland railroad. 

 

Sharp bends and fierce gradients, tunnels and trestles a plenty, along with some (Bachman) Narrow gauge for interest. My trains are long (20 cars) and need two diesels which scream and slip over the road. The few old steam locos are now relegated to pushers (bankers) on the longer loaded mineral "drags" The couplings actually groan, metal wheel flanges squeal but the trains (nearly) always get over the road. I've had the odd coupling split apart, though derailments are few (but usually spectacular !!). I use Peco track thus the yard / station layouts were determined by the Peco point geometry. I really enjoy operating this layout - every train is a challenge !!

 

Most construction is finished, but lots of detail / stock repainting / weathering etc still to do, and I must get stuck into the old "craftsman" kits I've had for donkeys years.

 

 

 

 

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

[Lecorbusier]

With regards to "long straights and gentle curves" I could model neither on my O gauge North American layout. The Rock Island - my chosen line to model was a "Granger" (Prairie) railroad, most lines were (fairly) straight and level across the Prairies - no good at all for a 22' x 12' garage. So I had to invent. The Rock did get to Colorado Springs, on the edge of the Rockies, so my line is an imaginary extension from here into the Rockies via the long abandoned Colorado Midland railroad. 

 

Sharp bends and fierce gradients, tunnels and trestles a plenty, along with some (Bachman) Narrow gauge for interest. My trains are long (20 cars) and need two diesels which scream and slip over the road. The few old steam locos are now relegated to pushers (bankers) on the longer loaded mineral "drags" The couplings actually groan, metal wheel flanges squeal but the trains (nearly) always get over the road. I've had the odd coupling split apart, though derailments are few (but usually spectacular !!). I use Peco track thus the yard / station layouts were determined by the Peco point geometry. I really enjoy operating this layout - every train is a challenge !!

 

Most construction is finished, but lots of detail / stock repainting / weathering etc still to do, and I must get stuck into the old "craftsman" kits I've had for donkeys years.

 

DSCF1120.JPG

 

DSCF1125.JPG

 

DSCF1124.JPG

 

DSCF1134.JPG

 

Brit15

That looks serious fun to play trains with  .... excellent 

[Headstock]

Oh that’s very nice. A blue A3 is very much on my wish list from Hornby this year - fingers crossed! Renaming and relettering apple green A3’s to the early Leicester shedded specimens is on my New Year’s ‘to do’ list.

 

Yes the train movements are a large part of the attraction of this location for me, with the cross country services. The York to Swindon, Port to Ports and Newcastle to Bournemouth services with Collett, Hawksworth and Maunsell stock arriving from foreign regions and swopping over to LNER motive power at Leicester. Happy days!

 

Phil,

 

it very much depends on the year you are modelling and if you are thinking about a normal daytime weekday service or an excursion (pardon the pun) into summer Saturdays workings. During the week and in daylight  there where about seven Restaurant car express trains in each direction, the two named trains, three on the Manchester turns, one Southern region and one Western region working. The latter two alternated with Eastern region stock, so that if the Eastern region sets worked to Bournemouth/Swansea, the Southern/Western region sets would work to York on alternate days. From memory GWR locomotives only regularly started working the Bournemouth up to Leicester in 1953. They would return south on the 5.22 pm ordinary passenger train from Leicester to Woodford or the first of the fish trains that departed Leicester around about 6.00 pm. The A3's began working the Swansea train in 1949 from Sheffield to the south. Prior to this it seems to have been in the hands of Sheffield and even Gorton B1's alongside Woodfords V2'S and B17's. The Woodford locomotives shared the workings with the A3's but the Northern B1's became less common, I think at this time a crew change rather than a loco change occurred at Leicester.

 

GWR locomotives where more common on the overnights. For example, in 1950 Swindon Castle class locomotives worked the Swindon York service as far as Leicester and returned on the York Swindon,  again there was alternating ER and WR carriages on the service in a similar manner to the Swansea and Bournemouth expresses. Hawksworh carriages where very rare, I believe that they never where allocated as sets. The Swansea, The Swindon, the other overnight Bristol and the Sunday only Swindon train all used Collett sunshine stock, with the brakes on the overnights and the Sundays only being mostly 57' bow enders. I have only seen one Hawksworth carriage in your time period at the head of the Swansea train, probably a stand in for the normal Sunshine brake third. The Southern stock on the Bournemouth service was all Maunsell stock up until the end of 1951, though the Maunsell catering was retained after that date

 

The Summer Saturdays is a whole different kettle of Fish and deserves more time than I have at present.  However, it would be common to see as many as ten or more SR excursion sets around the Leicester Nottingham area bringing in assorted motive power such as Granges, Halls, even King Arthur's and at least on one occasion an S15.

[Tony Wright]

 

My dabbling in architectural modelling is now complete. 

 

These are the three cottages at the south end of Station Road on LB. All three still survive, though they've been altered quite a bit in the last 60 years, particularly with regard to the windows and removal of two chimney stacks on each one. The furthest one has also been enlarged.  

 

Because of site restrictions, they're only half-relief, though strategically-placed shrubs and trees disguises this a little. 

 

An article on how I built these will be in the April issue of BRM. 

 

Now, back to what I much-prefer - soldering!