Mortimore's Yard - '70s trip freight workings

[HillsideDepot]

Nice model Adrian, can you convince them to turn out one of their Enviro200s in NBC green???

 

Thanks. Now that First have a bus in Badgerline livery (after years of denying "our" existence) I suppose anything is possible.

[HillsideDepot]

And so a new year begins, not that time seems to move on at Mortimore’s Yard.

 

I have been slowly working on the brake van fleet, as mentioned in the last post, and now have a few repaints nearly done. I’ve noticed that quite a few bauxite liveried vans had grey ends, so I’ve done one like that. This seems bit of an odd mix, I can only assume that they were repainted in the later standard bauxite, but the grey ends helped identify them as un-piped (but that’s only my guess, based on Paul Bartlett’s photo). I’ve also done an Air-Piped version with the yellow panels, which is unlikely to have found its way to Mortimore’s Yard in the ‘70s, but it’s good to have a variety. The ex-MR van also has had a partial coat of bauxite.

 

Project brake van continues

 

But I got distracted. While searching out some of the brake van photos I’d saved off the web as inspirations I came across a few older signs and logos which I’d previously saved and I spent an afternoon working on these. Something which has long been missing from outside the baker’s shop has been a litter bin, the sort of thing shop keepers used to look after, but which were provided various firms to advertise their wares. One which I remember is R White’s Lemonade, which had a three-sided design on short legs. A suitable image was found on the web, and edited in Photoshop before being pasted and resized in Word.

 

 

Of course one thing leads to another, and an A-board for an ice cream company soon appeared too. I’ve only printed out some samples so far and simply folded up the paper, but I think I’m heading in the right direction. There are a few more items on the sheet of signs which I’ll work on in the coming weeks and which should appear in time.

 

With the temptation of a Lyon’s Maid just across the road, we must remember to “Follow the Green Cross Code!”

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[rob D2]

Nice additions.

It's the little features that really set a time and place

[HillsideDepot]

Pilot locos: the 350s

 

Regular followers (are there any??) may have noticed that I am anything but focused with my modelling, the layout extension hasn’t progressed at all this year, and “project brake van” has, somewhat appropriately, come to a halt.

 

So what’s this about Pilot locos? Well, when I was at the recent “small layout” show in Cardiff, Lord & Butler had a second hand Hornby R2418/08402 for sale for a good price, and I couldn’t resist and a reallocation to Westonmouth was arranged. But that meant I had two 08402s in the fleet, and whilst I’d run that and 08528 happily for several years it has long been my attention to renumber them to make them more appropriate to my area.

 

Armed with a list of the different types of 08 found among these pages I inspected each model and established which number range each was part of. That was the easy bit, now to decide on individual identities. Fortunately the book BR Motive Power Depots Western Region has a Bath Road allocation list for January 1973 while Rail Centres Bristol has a similar list for July 1980 so at least I had a starting point.

 

I was surprised to see that Hornby’s 08402 had been a Bath Road resident; although the model’s low double arrows look distinctly non-Western Region and don’t appear in the photo’s I’ve found. A quick Google found a photo of 08402 at Taunton in 1974 which is pretty much bang-on the time I model, and the same website produced a photo of the other side of it at Taunton numbered 3517. That was one of my 08402’s sorted then.

 

 

 

 

Moving on a subject for Hornby’s R2590/08528 model was searched out. Either 08643 or 08668 seemed a likely candidate, so the web was searched again and a couple of photos of 08668, coincidentally also at Taunton, appeared. One thing which attracted me to ‘668 was the position on the Overhead Wires warning flashes, mounted on the front of the exhauster boxes, below the step they carry with only one flash high up on the sides of the roof panels, back by the four grilles.

 

 

 

What about the second 08402? To be honest I’d rather like another model with the exhausters both sides, but they seem thin on the ground so one of Bath Road’s high numbered 08s will have to wait. Looking at the allocation lists 08483 seemed a possible loco. It had a buck-eye coupler fitted for HST shunting later on, and it still retains that modification, but for the pre-HST era I model it looked a likely subject. As part of GWR’s fleet now “Dusty” is something of a celebrity now, so the web is dominated with recent pictures of it, while anything pre-buckeye has so far eluded me. I think I'll probably keep this one fairly clean and presentable although dulled down a bit from its present condition.

 

 

Finally, a while ago I came across a photo of a scruffy, faded, rather brown looking, green liveried 08 at Cardiff and decided I really ought to have one. So Hornby’s R2147/[D]3256 was soon re-allocated from Rails of Sheffield with the intention of messing up the rather attractive green paintwork. Roger Harris’ excellent Allocation History of BR Diesels & Electrics yielded the information that D3256 had been a Bristol loco from new until October 1956, before it crossed the Channel to work out the rest of its days as a Canton loco. Perfect, if Bath Road had really been supplying locos to Westonmouth as well as its actual commitments, it might not have been able to spare 3256 for transfer to Cardiff. Well, I was convinced! A quick bit of web searching produced a couple of photos of the loco still in green but renumbered as 08187, a condition which it remained in until overhaul at Derby in summer 1975. “Green with TOPS numbers” is a variation I quite like, so this is the ideal chance to add another of the type to my fleet.

 

 

 

“Why so many 08s?” I hear you ask. Well, based on some loco diagrams I have for the Bristol area in the 1970’s the Pilot locos would often shunt a yard for a while, then take out a trip working, or move on to a nearby yard to shunt that during the course of the day. Replicating that principle an 03 does the initial shunt of Mortimore’s Yard as No.1 Pilot before becoming the trip engine for the Hotwells Branch which these days mainly means servings Holmes Sand & Gravel. To replace the 03 at Mortimore’s Yard two 08s arrive coupled together at 09:15 to become No.2 & No.3 Pilots, an unusual move which replicates the way 0B07 used to couple to 9B81 between Ashton Junction and Wapping Wharf and is too good not to include at Mortimore’s Yard. No.3 Pilot moves on to Basin Yard from where it serves Western Fuels exchange sidings and locations on the Redcliffe branch as required until late afternoon but No.2 Pilot remains at Mortimore’s Yard covering shunting there and trip workings as required to Westinghouse at Pew Hill and taking coal across to Mortimore’s private siding. In the afternoon the 03 working No.1 Pilot serves either the Blue Circle terminal or Bird’s scrap yard, or if no traffic is available it will return to Hillside Stabling Point. No.2 Pilot finishes its work in the Docks at 18:00 before returning to Mortimore’s Yard to finish off work there, releasing No.3 Pilot back to South Depot where it works overnight. Maybe 3 class 08s on the fleet strength aren’t enough....

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[Rivercider]

Hi Adrian,

 

good work with the pilots there.

 

To continue the Taunton theme I think this photo shows 08483 also shunting at Taunton, probably early 1980s,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127699427@N02/16932420249/in/photolist-rNg5Ca-xNCTVA-sdyhGJ-sDzARi-aobYSE-cK8Q4A-qoJQcb-agP3zi-kwHRij-7YVNRs-BAJsay-9WTdGV-787i8z-gMM6R-oca5T5-8Nj5kF-bzBadG-wNhtfW-5L9wJZ-xxSxB-91Fds6-9QZmWx-8rXehy-boSCTr-qQDeas-pTxfPP-df3GQp-qQu9LY-bVzzHf-rvmXjo-bV3U5S-auSr2M-auS91X-4oLB9x-auS8GZ-ipynES-auS9EV-4sm4Ba-aAUUNT-auUQsL-bVzzCQ-eQwc98-rtLx4m

 

(In 1975 Taunton still had three class 08 duties on weekdays including the Bridgwater tripper)

 

 

cheers

[HillsideDepot]

Thanks Kevin. Yes, that looks like 08483. Hmm, fairly weathered in the early '80s, maybe the model needs some attention from the brushes for early - mid '70s condition. 

[HillsideDepot]

Pilot locos: the 204s

 

Having looked at the 08s it's only fair to look at the 03s. As Bath Road only had 2 class 03s in later years it was obvious to model both of them. So here is 03121 returning from Pooles Quay with sand hoppers.

 

 

And here is 03382, down by the signal box. No doubt the driver is helping eat the signalman's biscuits and drink his tea.

 

 

Pleasantries exchanged with the "bobby" 03382 now waits further work back in the yard.

 

 

Whilst digging through some old documents, this simplifier of the local pilot workings came to light.

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[cheesysmith]

For the 08 exhauster boxes, have you tried RT models? They do a resin replacement of the revised boxes, so you could replace the original box then transpose it to the other side to make on with 2 exhausters and no extra compressor box (a version that Hornby have so far not made).

[Kiwi_Ed]

You can never have enough shunters, Adrian!

[HillsideDepot]

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the end of diesel hydraulic traction on British Rail, as it was February 26th 1977 when D1013 Western Ranger and D1023 Western Fusilier left Paddington at 09:10 with 1Z52 to Swansea, Plymouth and ultimately back to London. 

As they drew to a halt at Paddington at 23:41 was it merely the end of the hydraulic years, or was it actually the end of the Great Western Railway?

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And to think, I was about to show you a photo of class 50 number 402 which unexpectedly appeared at M Yd yesterday afternoon...

[HillsideDepot]

Having paused momentarily yesterday to remember the last day of the Westerns on BR, we're back to the 1970s today and here are a couple of photos of Thursday afternoon's unexpected visitor.

 

 

Class 50s are still relatively unusual on the Western as only a few have so far been reallocated from the Midland following completion of electrification to Glasgow, so the sight of 402 on a humble trip working was unusual to say the least. But the driver soon explained its appearance on the working (and presumably the appearance of its bodywork!); it seems that they are none too reliable and this one had been under repair at Bath Road and needed a local turn to prove its health, or otherwise.

 

 

The mid afternoon Trip is a good bet for a Western normally, so while the appearance of a class 50 has novelty value, its usurping of a Western on the diagram is cause for concern for the future. Here number 402 takes a few empty vans destined for Royal Edward Yard. This trip varies considerably day to day. It's too late for inbound traffic, but ideal for moving extra traffic which couldn't be accommodated on the various morning trips, while its too early for loading/unloading to have been completed at many of the local sidings, but useful for shuffling spare vehicles onwards to where they are next needed. It has no particular purpose as it tours the local yards, but at the same time is very useful at "sweeping up".

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[HillsideDepot]

A friend visited recently, someone who is a railway modeller, and who has even operated Mortimore's Yard at exhibitions, yet as he passed the railway room door he said "I really like that, the way the railway runs behind the houses". It made me look at it the scene again, as it's the view from the door I see it several times a day as I pass, and I perhaps take it for granted. But looking again, he had a point, and I think it achieves the effect I had in mind when I planned the layout.

 

 

A class 08 pilot draws a mixed set of wagons into the headshunt, probably unnoticed by the residents of Langley Road below the embankment.

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[HillsideDepot]

A sunny early morning on Langley Road.

 

 

A blackbird sings, high up on a TV aerial, while the traffic has yet to get going. It looks like the milkman has yet to call too, but if its Cyril who had his premises two door down from my grand parents house, and would park his grey Bedford HA pick-up for hours at the side of a busy main road through town, who delivers here, he won't be about until lunch time! Ernie might have driven the fastest milk cart in the west, Cyril probably the slowest...  

(and yes, I had to check the weather vane in the Scout hut grounds to make sure I had the lighting correct, as I remember setting that up with some thought as to how I wanted the layout orientated)

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[rob D2]

Ooooh,

Plenty of atmosphere .

I also like the way the railway runs behind - the railway is adapted to the scenery not the other way round.

 

Great stuff !

[Fat Controller]

A friend visited recently, someone who is a railway modeller, and who has even operated Mortimore's Yard at exhibitions, yet as he passed the railway room door he said "I really like that, the way the railway runs behind the houses". It made me look at it the scene again, as it's the view from the door I see it several times a day as I pass, and I perhaps take it for granted. But looking again, he had a point, and I think it achieves the effect I had in mind when I planned the layout.

 

20160304_07.JPG

 

A class 08 pilot draws a mixed set of wagons into the headshunt, probably unnoticed by the residents of Langley Road below the embankment.

I like the 'box as well; reminds me of the ones at the western end of the Landore triangle, and at Castle Cary. 

[5BarVT]

I like the 'box as well; reminds me of the ones at the western end of the Landore triangle, and at Castle Cary.

 

And Lansdown Jn (Cheltenham).

 

Paul.

[Ben04uk]

How do you represent the Inwards house bricks in 12t Tubes service that you have referred to? Are the bricks loose or pallatised? 

 

How are the bricks unloaded? Manually or by some sort of mechanical hand?

[Ben04uk]

No.1 Pilot today is green "celebrity" 03382. This turn has to be a 203h.p. loco (TOPS codes still aren't universal amongst staff; old habits die hard) as there is a severe restriction on axle weights over a bridge on the Hotwells Branch.

 

No.1 Pilot heads to Basin Yard with empties.JPG

 

Once the Pilot has shuffled some wagons in the yard it will set off along the Hotwells Branch with the daily trip, This serves Herber Denty's timber yard at Baltic Wharf, Holms Sand & Gravel Ltd at Pooles Wharf and Charles Hill & Sons Ltd shipyard right at the end of the remaining line. But neither Denty's or Hill's see much traffic now, the branch surviving to serve Holms'.

Adrian do you know the make and model of this little trailer in the picture?

[bescotbeast]

A lovely thread and your back story for the trip workings etc really add to the charm. What did make me smile, was the R Whites bin as well as the Lyons ice cream sign, the memories of being a kid in my shorts and sandals on a hot sunny day came flooding back..

 

Simon

[HillsideDepot]

Thank you all for your “likes” and comments, they are really appreciated.

 

To pick up on a few of the questions and points which have come up over the last day or so:

 

 

I like the 'box as well; reminds me of the ones at the western end of the Landore triangle, and at Castle Cary. 

 

And Lansdown Jn (Cheltenham).

Paul.

The ‘box is based on drawings of the one on the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line but despite hunting my shelves today I can’t track down the book it’s in. Although the ‘box is fairly accurate for scale, the deciding factor was the size of the etched windows from Churchward Models. Much as I like the more traditional GWR signal box designs, the ARP ‘box is something a bit different, and although a creation of circumstance, it does, perhaps, have a modernised look about it, although I suppose the Bath Road Depot ‘box which many of us would have sat opposite while spotting at Temple Meads is a better indication of where GWR signal box design was heading. So given Mortimore’s Yard’s location near the docks an ARP rebuild could be argued, so the opportunity was seized. The idea of a later era ‘box leads on to more modern signal, although it was only subsequently that I discovered the GWR didn’t generally go for raised shunting discs which I have fitted to several of mine and they are also a "modern" feature.

 

 

How do you represent the Inwards house bricks in 12t Tubes service that you have referred to? Are the bricks loose or pallatised? 

 

How are the bricks unloaded? Manually or by some sort of mechanical hand?

I’m using Ten Commandments lorry loads. They fit the Parkside 12t Pipes well, but are packed as 5 stacks by 2 with some space at either end, whereas this photo

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fray_bentos/269673987/sizes/l suggests that the spare space was put in the middle and filled with empty vertical pallets. I doubt that I can cut the castings so will probably just fill the space at the end and hope no one notices.

 

Whether the load was actually on pallets, this picture of the empty train suggests they were http://bristol-rail.co.uk/w/images/3/37/A420_Lawrence_Hill5.jpg

 

as I assume those are the empty pallets going back. But I recall London Bricks being stacked in such a way that there were two holes in the pack for a fork lift, the whole thing held together by metal straps. That photo also shows the yard where they were unloaded, and I assume the yellow machine in the far distance fills that role.

 

However, London Brick Company lorries were usually fitted with Selfstak machines https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7472/15884499450_e213062580_z.jpg

 

of their own design and manufacture. I don’t know whether they could tranship bricks, or whether they just unloaded on site. Actually, looking again at the Lawrence Hill photo, the Leylands there don’t seem to have Selfstaks, although my memories of London Brick Company lorries, Volvos like the photo, in Chippenham are that they were fitted.

 

 

Adrian do you know the make and model of this little trailer in the picture?

I think that it is from Springside, kit DA106.

 

 

A lovely thread and your back story for the trip workings etc really add to the charm. What did make me smile, was the R Whites bin as well as the Lyons ice cream sign, the memories of being a kid in my shorts and sandals on a hot sunny day came flooding back..

 

Simon

Thanks Simon, there many, many childhood memories on Mortimore’s Yard, and I’m sure more will come as I remember different things, and as one researching one memory uncovers more lost personal history.

Some of the operational aspects of your layout have influenced Mortimore's Yard too, as I strive for realism (in something that never existed!), and I must mention, again, the very valuable operational documents and information RiverCider has shared with us on RMWeb.

 

And to all who have dropped by, and especially those who have freely given information, I raise a glass - R Whites lemonade, of course!

Edited March 28, 2016 by HillsideDepot

[HillsideDepot]

I took the opportunity today to take some photo's of the ARP signal box, as it has been mentioned recently.

 

First a general view, with the token exchange apparatus. These are the last wooden post examples on Western Region (or more accurately, I don't think anyone has done round post models!)

 

 

Looking in the Up direction

 

 

The view seen by drivers arriving at Mortimore's Yard (as they leave the fiddle yard!). And yes, there is a signalling irregularity on display here, and a shunting disc is lacking

 

 

I deliberately made the roof detachable, partly to fit the instrument shelf (still waiting!) and partly to allow access for repairs should anything come adrift. I tried to work out how the frame would be designed, and paint the levers accordingly. The eagle eyed will note that there is no staircase to the operating floor as I never envisaged showing this angle to the public! 

 

 

Finally, a Ten Commandments brick load in a 12t Pipe wagon. The load is straight out of the box, I still need to add the pallets as packing to prevent end-to-end movement of the load (as mentioned above).

 

 

Other than that I have been making stop blocks today. Not quite finished yet (it is Bank Holiday!!), but the layout will soon have something more appropriate than the standard Peco item, although they have served well.

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[HillsideDepot]

Stop!

 

It has to be said that I've never been happy with the Peco buffer stops, but they do the job. Fortunately Lanarkshire Model Supplies now make a whole range of company/area specific castings, so it's out with the Peco "buffer stop" and in with a selection of Great Western/Western Region "stop blocks".  
 

I've had the kits for a while, and took advantage of the bank holiday to assemble them. I know that the sleeper spacing is too tight, but I decided that although the stop block is now the correct style I'd use Peco spacing for the sleepers to match the existing track. It wouldn't be that difficult to relay the sidings with something more prototypical, but the sidings lead on to a 3-way and a double-slip, and well, if I'm going to go to that much effort it might as well be a whole new layout. So we're stuck with what we've got.

 

I spent quite a bit of time filing down the running rail on one set of castings to mount them on the end of a piece of Streamline so that stock can run right up to the block. I know that trains shouldn't make contact with the blocks, but space is tight on places on the layout and I was wanting to keep the existing siding lengths - although this particular one is for the end of the extended run-round headshunt. Having assembled it all I tried it for length with a Western and realised of course that the distance from the buffer head to the first wheel touching the rail is all but the length of the casting I'd so carefully filed away, and with all wheel pick-ups any loco which does get that close will still be able to power itself back off again. Doh! So the rest of the batch were assembled much more quickly, and as per instructions.

 

I am impressed with the castings, and they certainly match my memories of the stop blocks at Chippenham in the real Mortimore's coal yard - I spent quite a few hours staring at them between trains on the GWML in my early teens! There is a choice of rail or wood beams, so I opted for 1 wood, the rest rail, and one is the "long legged" variety, which is an older design, but still on the system in limited numbers (Bedwyn reversing siding for one). That will go on the yard headshunt as they tended to be used where a train might be moving faster, and as the headshunt there doubles as the trap point we don't want any excursions into Westinghouse's factory.

Finally, following this picture http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_03_2016/post-7146-0-53263300-1458838542.jpg of Blowers Green I decided that one of the spare wooden buffer beams could be used on a concrete stop block, so one was made up out of scraps of Wills 'concrete rendering' sheets. I did wonder about using it on No.3 road, but I'm going off that idea. However, at the back of my mind have a vague idea for a Box-File mini-layout, and it might just suit that idea.

So all I have to do now is paint and weather them, and install them on the layout. I think I'll put the siding ones on a slight gradient, as that is my memory of stop blocks. Was that deliberate to provide a bit of gravitational braking for the slightly too generous push, or was it more that the ballast in the siding got ground down over the years, and sank with the area at the stop block remaining as laid? Or is my memory wrong (could be!)?

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[br2975]

".............The ‘box is based on drawings of the one on the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line but despite hunting my shelves today I can’t track down the book it’s in............."

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Adrian,

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There are small scale plans in the OPC book "The Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway" and also there were plans of either Highclere or Burghclere in a mid-1980's edition of MRC.

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I believe the latter was an article by Chris Leigh of this parish.

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Brian R

[HillsideDepot]

Track lifting at Mortimore's Yard!

 

Don't worry, I've not decided to model the yard in the 1980's post closure, this is renewal work rather than material recovery.

 

A couple of quick snaps of the work. Firstly stripped bare:

 

 

Still a bit of work to do to avoid 'hump shunting' over the board join, but a quick test proves I'm on the right course.

 

 

I need to add some interior detail to the new yard office building though, the open door is deliberate, the vacant space behind isn't! Nothing fancy, unlike the great parcel office interior modelled on another thread on RMWeb, but a representation of the lobby beyond the main door, mess room to the left, kitchen to the right. Actually I'm looking forward to detailing up this area, a small, older car for the Supervisor, the Shunter's motorbike and the Number Taker's push bike, probably a simple bench to sit outside on a warm day, shunter's pole leaning against the wall next to the mess room door and few spare tail lamps. But taking care not to over do it. 

 

The chance was also taken to give the layout a go over with the vacuum cleaner whilst I had it out to clear up the ballast loosened at the end of the sidings. Suddenly the colours have returned to the horizontal surfaces, and if anything important did vanish up the tube unintentionally, I didn't hear it go, nor have I missed it yet (but there's still time!). 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle

[HillsideDepot]

I had to run an errand to the baker's shop on the corner of Langley Road this morning, and was greeted by the sight of a Hymek waiting to depart as I turned the corner to start the walk home. With white "sticky" numbers it can only be 7017.

It looks like someone has been collecting stray brake vans in No.3 road, hopefully they will be moved to a yard which is manned round the clock before the they attract the attentions of the local ne'er-do-wells.

 

Glancing across the road we see the headquarters of the local Scout Group.

 

 

All is quiet there this morning, but no doubt the place was full of fun and noise last night when the Scout Troop would have been meeting. 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by HillsideDepot
Photos re-instated after Dediserve debacle