Mortimore's Yard - '70s trip freight workings

[rob D2]

Bagging plant ? Always wondered what those things were !

[Fat Controller]

1 hour ago, HillsideDepot said:

Thanks. The hopper for the bagging plant is made from the ends of an ancient Hornby 21t hopper body, glued together and mounted on some Plastruct angle legs. It needs more detail at the bottom of the hopper, but as its usually hidden by a 16t mineral wagon its not at the top of my "to do" list.

I believe it was Alnmouth station that boasted two 21t hopper bodies on RSJs as the 'bagging plant'; they lasted until after the ECML electrification was completed.

 

[HillsideDepot]

'Twas on a Monday morning, the gas man came to call... according to Flanders and Swan, but there was no such activity down at Mortimore's Yard, and just as well given the way the story develops in the song!

 

No, at Mortimore's Yard the week starts gently as neither 6B80, the bricks from Calvert nor 4V10, the shiny new air braked vans which come overnight from Glasgow, run. So it is 9B09 which first polishes the rails on a Monday morning, the empty Vanfits heading for Fry's chocolate factory. This train usually leaves a brake van at Mortimore's Yard for use on the local trips. Keeping the brake at South Depot which manned for longer hours helps prevent the van being torched, the fate of many such vehicles it seems, reading threads on RMWeb. But as I'm starting an operating sequence with whatever stock happens to be on the layout, 9B09 ran without a brake van today as there was already one in the sidings.

 

 9B09 stops at the signal box to set down the single line token. 

 

Uncoupled from its Vanfits the loco runs into the head shunts, before running round.

 

Coupled on to the other end of the train, and photographed from a signal post, 9B09 waits to head back out of Mortimore's Yard and take the Somerdale Branch to Fry's.  

[HillsideDepot]

The class 25 that took the empty vans to Fry's has now returned light engine to Mortimore's Yard. Its next working is supposed to be empty wood pulp wagons from Marsh Pond, but this flow is currently suspended (or, more truthfully, I still haven't got any Timber P wagons) so instead the crew scuttle off back to the South Yard and the card school which usually forms in the cabin there. 

 

As I'm trying to combine a tidy up of the various wagons which have ended up in the sidings over the past few months and run the timetable some workings are a little out of course, but rather that than "hand-of-God" shunting. With this in mind, the resident 08 Pilot is burbling away at the head of a train of grain hoppers, including one of the last remaining wooden examples. This Trip will take the hoppers to the RHM mills at Redcliffe Back and free up a siding at Mortimore's Yard. The hoppers will be unloaded over the next few days and head back to March in twos and threes more typical of traffic levels to RHM. 

 

The Pilot will also shunt the sidings at New Cut Goods, from where advice has been received that there is an empty Plate wagon ready for removal.

[HillsideDepot]

With the grain hoppers out of the yard and delivered to RHM there is some space to shunt the rest of the muddle.

 

The 2 VIX ferry vans are due out on Tuesday's 8B31, presumably timed for their ferry booking, so they can be put out of the way at the far end of No. 3 Road for now. It's probably unlikely that loaded wagons would be left at yard like Mortimore's which isn't manned round the clock, and empty wagons would be worked away for reloading fairly quickly too, but I didn't want to clear the sidings straight away so holding them for a day is a compromise.

 

The two vans in No.1 and the STV with pilings need to be delivered, so are formed into a trip train.

 

 

The single MSV needs to be worked to Holms Sand and Gravel on the Hotwells branch. This trip is worked by the 03 and the wagon can stay in No.1 for now. The 2 GPVs are working out on todays 8B91, so they too can stay on No.1. The Grampus doesn't seem to have a working, but is understood to need attention from the local Carriage & Wagon gang, so that too will stay where it is for now.  

[HillsideDepot]

The driver of the Pilot engine and the yard shunter have not long returned to the 'cabin' for a brew when the signalman calls to confirm that they will remain in the yard, within signal protection, as he has a train arriving on the main. 

 

Drawing slowly over the pointwork D1022 Western Sentinel (known as 'two little ducks' to many enthusiasts) arrives with 8T80 from Queensland Road Yard. This arrival tends to bring traffic from the north, which includes Welsh traffic which approaches Westonmouth from the north, even though the origins are to the west.

 

Today the majority of the traffic is from South Wales, with four wagons of steel products. Behind the loco are 2 Shocvans of tin plate from Trostre Works to New Cut Goods and eventual export. Then come two BEV bogie bolster wagons with steel rod from Britain Ferry, also destined for New Cut Goods, but to be used in local building projects. These two wagons seem to have fallen out with each other, and with the wagons adjoining them, such is huge distance between the buffers caused by Dapol's coupling positioning! Next is a VVV van of cattle cake from Whitemoor Yard to Redcliff Back for BOCM Silcock and finally a container on a flat from Gateshead Tyneside Central Freight Depot for Vanhee a haulier based just down the road from the Depot in Felling and also destined to New Cut. Finally, a brake van completes the train.

 

8T80 draws to a halt, ready for D1022 to be uncoupled. 

[HillsideDepot]

Peter Johnson 1961 - 2023

 

As many will know, Peter Johnson, creator of Canada Road and Canada Street passed away a few days ago, aged just 61.

 

It was Peter's Canada Road layout which inspired me to build Mortimore's Yard, using much the same track plan, albeit in a very different scenic setting. And while Peter moved on to EM and to Canada Street, his work, especially his wagon fleet, continued to inspire my lesser attempts. 

 

Rest in Peace, Peter, and thank you.

 

[Jon Gwinnett]

What sad news. Peter’s layouts always inspired, and I throughly enjoyed his articles. 

[stfgroxb]

13 hours ago, Jon Gwinnett said:

What sad news. Peter’s layouts always inspired, and I throughly enjoyed his articles. 

Have just seen this truly sad news. Canada Street was always one of my favourite layouts, and even better seen ‘in the flesh’ than in magazine articles and on EM70s.  Far too young.

[bristolian]

On 31/08/2021 at 16:31, HillsideDepot said:

Rather than simply working out a way to produce a document that looks like a TOPS report I wanted something a little bit interesting.

 

But first, what is a TOPS report like? What does it include? Fortunately, there are a few examples on-line, via Flickr and there are two British Transport Films productions which include shots of various reports. From 1974 comes "What's TOPS" which is on one of the British Film Institute DVDs while "Using TOPS" (1978) is available to view on BFI Player 

 

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-using-tops-1978-online

 

What comes apparent is that there are several different reports, and that things seem to have changed over time. And, whilst I could work out what some columns of figures were telling me, I couldn't decipher some of the others. Given this incomplete knowledge I decided that rather than try to replicate any one report I'd instead construct something that would look like a TOPS report but which would have the data I want when running Mortimore's Yard.

 

The 1974 BTF film describes the file structure of TOPS

 

And I opted to construct something similar. Rather than using Microsoft Word as on the Seaboard Central Rail Road I opted for Microsoft Excel as I didn't want to type everything from scratch each time, but can copy and paste various data fields.

 

Just like TOPS I have a Wagon File (OK, it's a tab within the spreadsheet)

 

 

A Locomotive File  

 

A Location File based on a STANOX list found on line- albeit not as old as I'd like, so with lots of closed places missing - with my own locations added (and colour coded by Region to help finding places)

 

Rather than a Wagon Distribution File I have a Traffic Origin and Destination file. This includes the actual loaded flows and the return empties (which may not go back to where the loads originate from)  

 

 

And finally my Train File where I construct the actual report by copying and pasting formulas (to preserve the cell formatting elements)

 

 

There are some elements within the Train File which are calculated off other cells, such as the train length and counting the loaded and empty wagons. Each train has its own template within the spreadsheet tab, which I can then populate with the necessary details. My idea is that I will populate several days' worth of train lists, print them out and then work through them over a number of operating sessions.

 

I'm sure that there are better ways of doing what I have here, and no doubt someone will be able to automatically generate the traffic rather than manually deciding "two of this, one of that, and three of the other", while some think the whole think is already over engineered when I could scribble things on scraps of paper but, for me, it adds something to running the layout.

This is superb - it's given me impetus to try this in Train Simulator. I haven't (as yet) figured out how to create the various files I need, but I'll have a bash :).

[Rivercider]

2 hours ago, bristolian said:

This is superb - it's given me impetus to try this in Train Simulator. I haven't (as yet) figured out how to create the various files I need, but I'll have a bash :).

I have a small handful of old TOPS printouts from my days in the Bristol Area Freight Centre. I can also remember several of the TOPS printouts, so might be able to interpret some of the information if a scan of a printout is posted.

 

On a similar subject, being able to produce a realistic traffic flow for a particular yard or location is somewhere between a science and an art.

 

cheers 

[bristolian]

2 hours ago, Rivercider said:

I have a small handful of old TOPS printouts from my days in the Bristol Area Freight Centre. I can also remember several of the TOPS printouts, so might be able to interpret some of the information if a scan of a printout is posted.

 

On a similar subject, being able to produce a realistic traffic flow for a particular yard or location is somewhere between a science and an art.

 

cheers 

Hello Kevin, I hope you're keeping well. I'm just working my way slowly through what the various figures in the columns mean. I've deciphered the Vehicle Number (easy!), Type, Length, Weight, Brake Force, and whether loaded or not (that won't particularly matter in my case).
I'm entering in a list of the various wagon sightings that I still have (after losing my notebooks many years ago), and adding their relevant details as per the above.
Once I've done that, I need to figure out how to provide a a way of adding a randomly-generated list of wagons into a Train List, and have that file calculate the weight, length and brake force...

Very Best Wishes, Bob.

[rob D2]

3 hours ago, Rivercider said:

I have a small handful of old TOPS printouts from my days in the Bristol Area Freight Centre. I can also remember several of the TOPS printouts, so might be able to interpret some of the information if a scan of a printout is posted.

 

On a similar subject, being able to produce a realistic traffic flow for a particular yard or location is somewhere between a science and an art.

 

cheers 

Be easy these days … “ runs as required “

[Rivercider]

1 hour ago, bristolian said:

Hello Kevin, I hope you're keeping well. I'm just working my way slowly through what the various figures in the columns mean. I've deciphered the Vehicle Number (easy!), Type, Length, Weight, Brake Force, and whether loaded or not (that won't particularly matter in my case).
I'm entering in a list of the various wagon sightings that I still have (after losing my notebooks many years ago), and adding their relevant details as per the above.
Once I've done that, I need to figure out how to provide a a way of adding a randomly-generated list of wagons into a Train List, and have that file calculate the weight, length and brake force...

Very Best Wishes, Bob.

Some of the other codes that appeared on TOPS train consists included the three character shunting tag (eg 760 for Severn Tunnel Junction), the two character axle box type (I think 72 or 73 were either oil box or roller bearing, not sure which). An A9 or J6 wagon enquiry would also give things like date due ppm (planned preventive maintenance), or the date of last repair, the type of last 6 repairs done. Also the 4 character wagon pool allocated to (if any),  and also the last wagon release code and by which TOPS office the release code was carried out. There was also detail for the actual weight of contents, heaviest lift (if applicable), and number of wagon sheets (though I never remember this used in our area),

 

cheers 

[bristolian]

10 hours ago, Rivercider said:

Some of the other codes that appeared on TOPS train consists included the three character shunting tag (eg 760 for Severn Tunnel Junction), the two character axle box type (I think 72 or 73 were either oil box or roller bearing, not sure which). An A9 or J6 wagon enquiry would also give things like date due ppm (planned preventive maintenance), or the date of last repair, the type of last 6 repairs done. Also the 4 character wagon pool allocated to (if any),  and also the last wagon release code and by which TOPS office the release code was carried out. There was also detail for the actual weight of contents, heaviest lift (if applicable), and number of wagon sheets (though I never remember this used in our area),

 

cheers 

Hello Kevin,

I've decided to limit the data that I require in Train Simulator to the wagon numbers, types and brake types, allowing for both fitted and unfitted consists.
This will enable me to carry out plenty of shunting at Lawrence Hill, for example :). Any further information that you can provide, though, will no doubt be greatly appreciated by all of us!.

 

Very Best Wishes, Bob.