Midland Railway Company

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, Northroader said:

In the vernacular of the time, the nattily dressed gent is a “D299 masher”

 

Well, I had to look that up. I trust it is the Victorian British English sense you have in mind, rather than the US sense. I'd be seriously concerned if he is loitering with the intent of making unwanted advances on passing open wagons.

[Northroader]

[Compound2632]

This plan might also be helpful [embedded link to MRSC Item 88-2012-134-33]. I can't help feeling that there's nothing new in over-thinking and bureaucratising a task!

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

Well, if it's on the proposed side of the line the Station Master can post any business letters without crossing the line.  If it's in the alternative position, he can post his private mail without having to cross over ... we'd better consult higher authority.

[technohand]

I thought that they had coal stacks quite early on, probably pre Johnson era. I suppose it was to buy coal in the summer when demand was low so cheaper to obtain or to build a reserve for the winter when supply could be interupted due to poor weather or strikes at the mines.

White washing was for security and probably only used where theft was a problem.

Tony

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, technohand said:

White washing was for security and probably only used where theft was a problem.

 

Ah, so would that explain the Kentish Town whitewashed stack, then?

[lezz01]

Or the shed foreman was an ex-provost sergeant.

Regards Lez.

[ian@stenochs]

The late Bob Smillie, who started work as a cleaner in the 40’s at Ayr, told me that the coal stacks were a good source of overtime.  Even after he became a fireman he would supplement his pay with a couple hours unloading wagons and building the stack.  I don’t recall him saying anything about whitewash and my perusal of pictures of the shed show just black coal.  However Ayr was situated in the centre of a triangle of lines, with only one road in,  so access would be quite restricted.

[Portchullin Tatty]

On 01/11/2021 at 08:28, queensquare said:

Ive always understood that coal stacks were a combination of buying it cheaply during the summer months and as an insurance against unrest in the coal mines - the latter was a constant factor through the 19th and most of the 20th century, not just in the 1920s.

 

 

This is my understanding too; particularly the economics of buying coal when it was cheap.

 

Coal was a very significant cost of running the railway when the labour cost was cheap prior to labour inflation (which is really a post WWII thing, albeit I know that this comment is relative to the starting point).

There was an article in the Highland Railway Society Journal that concluded that purchasing efforts of a single director who had good connections with the coal industry added 1% to the dividends of the entire railway company for the years that he had a seat on the board.  At the time, dividends on the HR were 5-6%; so 1% of this was in effect adding 20% to the profitability of the company - that is a pretty significant sum to the shareholders.

 

The Highland were extensive users of the coal stack which may well be associated with this policy although it may also have had a lot to do with security of supply given that the lines were at the extremity of the country.  Basically, just what we do with natural gas today.  Oh hang on, correction - the exact opposite of what we do with natural gas!!

Edited November 4, 2021 by Portchullin Tatty
lost text for some reason

[Portchullin Tatty]

On 01/11/2021 at 21:26, Dave Hunt said:

Thanks for all the input Gentlemen. Based on what has been posted I think that I'll go for unpainted stacks with 'dry stone walls' around them. Blocks of balsa painted matt black with pieces of coal stuck on would seem to be a good starting point for modelling them.

 

Dave

 

Beware Dave, to get the stacks to look sensible takes a lot of time to get the coal "stacked" 

 

These are my efforts on a stack a great deal smaller than those that Jerry has provided photographs for.  I would think there was 6-8 hours of work in just doing the walls.  It was also necessary to do this in stints to let the glue harden (I used PVA).  You could only do a couple of courses each time before there was a tendency for the wall to collapse under the weight of the courses above.

 

Working coal buckets anyone..........

 

https://highlandmiscellany.com/2020/05/25/fuel-for-thought/

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Portchullin Tatty

[Dave Hunt]

Thanks for that Mark.

 

Give your Dad my regards when next you speak to him.

 

Dave

[Michael Hodgson]

3 hours ago, Portchullin Tatty said:

The Highland were extensive users of the coal stack which may well be associated with this policy although it may also have had a lot to do with security of supply given that the lines were at the extremity of the country.  Basically, just what we do with natural gas today.  Oh hang on, correction - the exact opposite of what we do with natural gas!!

I'd love to see how you whitewash Natural Gas!

[Caley Jim]

17 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I'd love to see how you whitewash Natural Gas!

Very cold air?

 

Jim

[franciswilliamwebb]

56 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I'd love to see how you whitewash Natural Gas!

You’ll be needing a politician, I’d have thought?

[eldavo]

All this discussion of coal stacks is very interesting and somewhat timely for me as I'm working on the engine shed area of my layout and had planned to have at least one stack.  In addition I'd like to pose a problem to this learned company.

 

As with all layouts things are rather compressed and one area is causing me a problem.  Below is a shot of the rear of my coaling shed.

 

 

As can be seen the coal road exits the coal shed very close to the turntable pit.  I need a bufferstop.  I have some standard rail built jobbies and drawings of a sleeper built version.  Both of these are really too big for the site.  So, does anybody have references to photos or drawings of a small Midland Railway bufferstop?

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[Dave Hunt]

 

On 06/11/2021 at 14:54, eldavo said:

All this discussion of coal stacks is very interesting and somewhat timely for me as I'm working on the engine shed area of my layout and had planned to have at least one stack.  In addition I'd like to pose a problem to this learned company.

 

As with all layouts things are rather compressed and one area is causing me a problem.  Below is a shot of the rear of my coaling shed.

 

 

As can be seen the coal road exits the coal shed very close to the turntable pit.  I need a bufferstop.  I have some standard rail built jobbies and drawings of a sleeper built version.  Both of these are really too big for the site.  So, does anybody have references to photos or drawings of a small Midland Railway bufferstop?

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

Dave,

 

The only illustration I have been able to find of anything other than the usual rail built or infilled wooden Midland stop blocks is this one at Whitwell. I don't have any drawings or dimensions but from known dimensions such as gauge and buffer height you should be able to produce something if you so wish. Whether it would fit in the space you have available is another matter....

 

 

I hope that this is of some help.

 

Dave

[Caley Jim]

The CR put something very similar on spur tracks off turntables.  I don't have a prototype photo to hand, but this is how I modelled one, based on a photograph.

 

 

Jim

[eldavo]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

Dave,

 

The only illustration I have been able to find of anything other than the usual rail built or infilled wooden Midland stop blocks is this one at Whitwell. I don't have any drawings or dimensions but from known dimensions such as gauge and buffer height you should be able to produce something if you so wish. Whether it would fit in the space you have available is another matter....

 

 

I hope that this is of some help.

 

Dave

 

That's great Dave. Exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. Looks like a job for coffee stirrers.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[Caley Jim]

5 minutes ago, eldavo said:

 Looks like a job for coffee stirrers.

That's what mine was made from !  (Albeit cut down in thickness for 2mm)

 

Jim

[jamie92208]

The loco run round on Green Ayre had a very short headshunt. That finished against the wall supporting the station approach. They just attached  an old sleeper to the wall. Perhaps some little masonry construction would do if.

 

Jamie

[Compound2632]

Re. level crossing gates, which were being discussed recently, a question has arisen elsewhere: what colour did the Midland paint them?

 

 

[lezz01]

For some unknown reason I've always thought that the Midland painted their crossing gates a cream or buff colour with a Venetian red circle. I have no idea where that came from but I suspect it's from the colour of the signal posts, I also have no idea where I get the colour of the signal posts from either. Maybe from peoples layouts and Midland Style but it seems to have stuck in my mind for some reason or another.

Regards Lez.

[Tricky]

As it was me who posed the question of drawings for crossing gates, I was also wondering what colour they would have been painted. In some Edwardian era photos they look very grubby indeed. But as @Compound2632 says in the above thread, most likely white. So mine will be white, albeit a bit grubby with vermilion diamonds. I still find the lemon chrome posts and boxes the only unattractive aspect of Midland style! 

[Dave Hunt]

I agree with Compound's suggestion and reasoning that they would have been white.

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

I agree with Compound's suggestion and reasoning that they would have been white.

 

I rejoice in our Chairman's imprimatur.