Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

The Christchurch Test has been won and lost. Tight and tense before lunch but in the second session the winners held their nerve better than the losers to prevail before tea, with four sessions to spare (no danger of a winning or losing draw today).

[St Enodoc]

B743492 was the lucky winner to remain pristine. Overall, it had the least worst finish of all the four wagons, so the remaining three will have their more obvious imperfections concealed under the weathering.

 

Here it is, ready to go and join its 10 unfitted cousins in the long china-clay train.

 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

The Christchurch Test has been won and lost. Tight and tense before lunch but in the second session the winners held their nerve better than the losers to prevail before tea, with four sessions to spare (no danger of a winning or losing draw today).

Do you know what sort of cake they had at tea?

 

As for this wining draw or losing draw malarkey, I don't think my Uncle John was playing for a draw. Not bad bowling from Chelsea's center half. And knowing John as he walked off he would be wondering what sort of cake was there.

 

Dad's other brother Charlie wasn't one for playing for a draw either.

 

Both were also quite good when it came to walloping the ball with the plank of wood.

 

Charlie liked cake as well.

[ianathompson]

On 10/03/2024 at 07:23, Barry O said:

Different Leagues use different definitions.

 

One glance at any league site on play cricket reveals this.

In the Central Yorkshire League (CYL) we used to play 46 overs per side and the points were

5-0 outright win

4-1 winning/losing draw

3-3 tie

 

You got 1 point if you batted through the 46 overs without being bowled out but the other side got your score or more .

The tie was not correctly a tie as the side battting second did not have to be bowled out (I.e. it was just level scores).

 

The CYL was folded into the Bradford League a couple of years ago.

Where did the odd figure of 46 overs come from I always wondered as a child?

Apparently in depth analysis of drawn games played under time rules in the fifties revealed that 92 overs was the average duration of a game.

It was altered to 50 overs during the seventies.

 

The best ssytem I played under was the now gone West Riding League which played 

6-0

5-1

4-2

3-3

 

The 4-2 draw kept the game alive because if the side batting second scored 80% of your total they took another point off you PROVIDING that they batted all the overs out.

This league played a wierd 42 overs (don't ask) with a bizarre scoreboard system!

I never understood why 8 wickets did not get you a 4-2 if you had not been bowled out, but there you go!

 

Whatever you played I do not favour the bonus points system now in vogue, particularly in Norfolk.

Teams with small grounds always get an advantage.

 

When the CYL proposed this the teams with "big" grounds, such as Batley, where I played, told the League that they woudl reduce their playing area to match some of the postage stamps built into steep hillsides!

Staincliffe was so small that they would not allow sixes for many years.

I once hit "six" off my gloves in an age group game played on the edge of the square!

 

Sorry for thread drift.

I could go on but this is supposed to be about model railways!

 

Ian T

[figworthy]

21 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Unfortunately I'm the only one left who eats it, so I set myself a target of finishing it by Lady Day, 25th March. I'm doing well this year, only about 6 servings left. 

 

I should be careful make comments like that, you may well have to fight off marauding bears and hippopatami.

 

Adrian

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, ianathompson said:

 

One glance at any league site on play cricket reveals this.

In the Central Yorkshire League (CYL) we used to play 46 overs per side and the points were

5-0 outright win

4-1 winning/losing draw

3-3 tie

 

You got 1 point if you batted through the 46 overs without being bowled out but the other side got your score or more .

The tie was not correctly a tie as the side battting second did not have to be bowled out (I.e. it was just level scores).

 

The CYL was folded into the Bradford League a couple of years ago.

Where did the odd figure of 46 overs come from I always wondered as a child?

Apparently in depth analysis of drawn games played under time rules in the fifties revealed that 92 overs was the average duration of a game.

It was altered to 50 overs during the seventies.

 

The best ssytem I played under was the now gone West Riding League which played 

6-0

5-1

4-2

3-3

 

The 4-2 draw kept the game alive because if the side batting second scored 80% of your total they took another point off you PROVIDING that they batted all the overs out.

This league played a wierd 42 overs (don't ask) with a bizarre scoreboard system!

I never understood why 8 wickets did not get you a 4-2 if you had not been bowled out, but there you go!

 

Whatever you played I do not favour the bonus points system now in vogue, particularly in Norfolk.

Teams with small grounds always get an advantage.

 

When the CYL proposed this the teams with "big" grounds, such as Batley, where I played, told the League that they woudl reduce their playing area to match some of the postage stamps built into steep hillsides!

Staincliffe was so small that they would not allow sixes for many years.

I once hit "six" off my gloves in an age group game played on the edge of the square!

 

Sorry for thread drift.

I could go on but this is supposed to be about model railways!

 

Ian T

Thanks Ian. Clear as mud.

 

Anyway, to paraphrase the great Trinidadian writer and philosopher C L R James, "What do they know of model railways who only model railways know?".

Edited March 11 by St Enodoc
correction

[Andy R]

20 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

The Christchurch Test has been won and lost. Tight and tense before lunch but in the second session the winners held their nerve better than the losers to prevail before tea, with four sessions to spare (no danger of a winning or losing draw today).

Sad but true… Black Caps often can’t deliver a killer punch and proved that again yesterday. As a kiwi, it’s very frustrating. But once again the Aussie’s showed us how to win under pressure. I respect that. Cummins is a decent bloke and good leader. 

[St Enodoc]

15 minutes ago, Andy R said:

Sad but true… Black Caps often can’t deliver a killer punch and proved that again yesterday. As a kiwi, it’s very frustrating. But once again the Aussie’s showed us how to win under pressure. I respect that. Cummins is a decent bloke and good leader. 

Yes. Too many mistakes at key moments throughout the game, notably dropped catches. Somehow NZ need to get that monkey off their back (a bit like us and the Bledisloe...). Still, it was nice to see two good Test matches at two proper cricket grounds (as distinct from mega-stadia) and neither spoiled by rain, amazingly!

[St Enodoc]

Job done. Light, medium and heavy weathering, using Humbrol 34 matt white. I dip the brush into the paint and then into a small pot of clean thinners, after which I just slosh it all on and wipe it off almost immediately with toilet tissue (the Ian Futers method). By varying the amounts of paint and of thinners I can change the depth of weathering. To get a heavy effect I repeat the whole process before the first coat dries.

 

 

 

I suppose I could have weathered the couplings too but that would have risked jamming the whole lot up solid.

 

Our old friend W C Wolseley had had a tip-off, so he chased the complete long clay train, behind 4247, on a trial run to Polperran (St Dennis Junction) and back.

 

Weaving across from the Down Main to the branch platform at Porthmellyn Road

 

At Polperran - you can just see that there's about an inch clearance between the brake van wheels and the Barry slip switches with the loco hard against the Hornby-Dublo stop blocks.

 

On the 1 in 100 climb from Treloggan Junction to St Enodoc 4247, with an adhesive weight of 15 oz, had no difficulty (but if the wagons were loaded?????).

 

On the Up Main after leaving Porthmellyn Road.

 

On Nancegwithey Viaduct, about to enter Tremewan Tunnel.

 

The trial run was successful in all respects, so the full length train will indeed enter service at Saturday's running session.

 

In other news, my Rails/Heljan Metrovick gas turbine 18100 arrived today and it looks very fine. I'll run it in on dc tonight or tomorrow, then fit its chip so that I can show it off on Saturday.

 

 

[5BarVT]

I see your 4’ road numbers in the FY.  Do they act as clearance markers too?

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, 5BarVT said:

I see your 4’ road numbers in the FY.  Do they act as clearance markers too?

Paul.

Yes, just as they do at Paddington and Penzance. If you can see the whole of the marker then you are clear inside.

[Halvarras]

On 07/03/2024 at 08:03, Dunsignalling said:

 

There are three others in the series, one on pre-nationalisation wagons, one on Private Owners, and one on BR Departmental stock.

 

I acquired mint copies of all five at a show back in the nineties for possibly the best tenner I ever spent.

 

John

 

I bought these as they were released - at a time when virtually nothing else was published on BR rolling stock they were absolutely invaluable, inspired a few projects such as converting an Airfix cattle wagon kit into the panelled-in general traffic version and a scratchbuilt all-steel Lowfit wagon on another very old cattle wagon kit chassis survivor from my yoof*, and ensured I numbered these and a collection of other kit-built wagons correctly. When Airfix and Mainline launched their OO ranges it was clear from some of the selected running numbers that they found these books invaluable too!

The other essential softback book collection was Brian Haresnape's 'BR Fleet Survey' series, the first of which I recall finding at the October 1981 Barrow Hill Open Day. Both of these sources became well-read and well-thumbed. The latter was only supplanted 20 years later by the 'Modern Locomotives Illustrated' series (of which I collected anything 'First Generation'), yet I still refer to the earlier books from time to time.

 

*I also scratchbuilt a Holman's compressor trailer as a load for it, remembering these regularly heading through Truro in the up 6B59 afternoon freight service, having been loaded at Camborne (I suppose this train at least did stop there Wednesdays....) and I still have that, now mounted on a different wagon.

[Tortuga]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

Top job there. The light and medium weathered ones look just right for limestone traffic, so I hope you won’t mind me bookmarking this post for future reference?

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Top job there. The light and medium weathered ones look just right for limestone traffic, so I hope you won’t mind me bookmarking this post for future reference?

No problem at all. There are lots of ways to do weathering. I find this way quick and easy.

[St Enodoc]

18100 duly run-in on DC, 15 minutes each direction at half- and full speed. Chipping was simple. This loco was the easiest to remove the body of all my more recent locos - well done Rails/Heljan - and the ESU 59659 slotted straight in after removing the (rather tight...) blanking plug.

 

Programmed using DecoderPro as always , so after lunch I'll give it a run on the layout.

Edited March 13 by St Enodoc
Remove nonsensical sentence.

[St Enodoc]

The loco runs fine on the layout but...

 

I can't get any of the lights to work at all on DCC. They all worked on DC according to the Rails/Heljan instruction leaflet. I suspect that I might need to do something to map the functions in the decoder but I've never needed to do this with other makes of decoder and the ESU manual is, to me, incomprehensible.

 

Any suggestions please?

[Siberian Snooper]

Maybe, not much help, but reading the various reviews of the Kernow steam rail motor, several have had the same problem with that and the various fixes.

 

Seems to start around here.    https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/92927-kernow-gwr-steam-rail-motor/page/50/

 

HTH.

[St Enodoc]

50 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Maybe, not much help, but reading the various reviews of the Kernow steam rail motor, several have had the same problem with that and the various fixes.

 

Seems to start around here.    https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/92927-kernow-gwr-steam-rail-motor/page/50/

 

HTH.

Thanks. Still no luck though.

[The Fatadder]

The clay wagons are looking rather nice, Are they going to stay as empties or are you eventually fitting sheets on them? 

[5BarVT]

5 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

The loco runs fine on the layout but...

 

I can't get any of the lights to work at all on DCC. They all worked on DC according to the Rails/Heljan instruction leaflet. I suspect that I might need to do something to map the functions in the decoder but I've never needed to do this with other makes of decoder and the ESU manual is, to me, incomprehensible.

 

Any suggestions please?

Have you another (make) of decoder to try?  Would confirm its decoder not loco, though working on DC is reasonably conclusive.

Or, paracetamol, hot damp towel and the ESU manual . . .

Never used ESU, but some of my modelling colleagues swear by them.  Manual is indeed comprehensive (read incomprehensible).

Do you know which outputs drive which lamps (as a start to whether function mapping is the issue).

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

The clay wagons are looking rather nice, Are they going to stay as empties or are you eventually fitting sheets on them? 

Eventually (one fine day) I'll fit sheets. The trains run in both directions, so the sheets will have to be able to be removed and replaced regularly without damage. My friend @RudderC has done it in 0 gauge so I must find out from him exactly how.

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Have you another (make) of decoder to try?

No, that's the only 21-pin I have on hand. The decoder is fine as far as driving the loco is concerned - just the lighting functions aren't playing ball.

 

2 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Never used ESU, but some of my modelling colleagues swear by them.

I've used them a lot but mostly on steam locos where lights aren't relevant. I like them.

 

2 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Manual is indeed comprehensive (read incomprehensible).

Understatement!

 

2 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Do you know which outputs drive which lamps (as a start to whether function mapping is the issue).

I only have what's in the Rails/Heljan instruction leaflet, which is very brief. I've tried to map the functions using DecoderPro but failed. My impression is that ESU decoders are all DIY in this regard, rather than being pre-mapped from functions to outputs like some other makes I've used in the past - I might be totally wrong on this of course, which is why I need help from someone who understands ESU decoders and/or DecoderPro for lighting.

 

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter, as the loco itself runs very nicely. It's just that with my double-ended traction units (diesels and now GTs) I like to use the lights to help the drivers see which end is which.

Edited March 13 by St Enodoc
expanded

[ian]

Perhaps an email to Rails? It is almost certainly function mapping and they may already know the answer - or at least be able to offer some pointers.

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, ian said:

Perhaps an email to Rails? It is almost certainly function mapping and they may already know the answer - or at least be able to offer some pointers.

Yes, if I can't get it sorted in the next day or so that's the next step (they'll probably tell me I should have bought the loco with the decoder pre-fitted...).

[5BarVT]

Potentially try a topic in the DCC Help forum to see if anyone else has solved the problem, or can at least advise on output pins.

Paul.

Just seen that you have already asked on the 18100 topic.

Edited March 13 by 5BarVT
P.S.