w124bob

Here is the first of several of my Peak fleet, a backdate and renumber. New headcodes made up using the plastic tray from Bachmann wagons and Precision Label headcode digits, then new lenses cut and trimmed to squares. I also disable the headcode/tail lighting as Bachmann have deleted the on/off facility, just bent the 3 connectors up.

I posted some poor quality pictures of my weathering efforts, so to make amends here are a few better ones. Tool/mess vans are based on real vehicles, although the Gresley coach was actually in use by the S&T. The ex Thompson BG is accurate but I can't find the image source at the moment, a third vehicle is on the bench, an ex blue spot fish van(Parkside kit). Please check out the entire Flickr album, 20 images in total.

Invest in one of these , RCTS stock book. BR did renumber it's coaches in the early 80's but an Ian Allan combined volume or a later RCTS is worth getting. There's also a useful section listing all departmental vehicles as well, giving their pre-conversion number in the RCTS volumes. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l2632&_nkw=rcts+books&_sacat=417

I seem to recall that Mark Hopwood was the area manager at Chester back in the early days of First Northwestern. I remember him chairing an a meeting with ASLEF company council meeting, hadn't realised he must have been quite new to the railway back then. I cant remember exactly when this was but it was very soon after the First group buy out of the WR ex BR management run franchise. Those with long memories may remember that they had bid for and won the NW franchise. After about 18 months they sold out to First Group "some say" that was the plan all along. I always assumed that Mark and his counter part at Piccadilly at the time came from a bus background.

A better picture of this loco appears in Vol3 of Sixties Diesel & Electric Remembered from Strathwood. But yes that's the only one I've found.

I have found just one image (in print) of D5677 with a SYE but carrying a double arrow. Now I know many dozens of class 31's received full yellow ends and variations on the double arrow theme but how many retained the SYE for anytime? I did see a caption somewhere in print which referred to 15 similar loco's can the RMweb collective help?

Picture of 40010 minus most of the roof panels but with the engine in situ, 3rd image down.

A couple of days work to renumber and weather, 5283 retained the original exhaust port and made a change from the 76** series in the same livery. Rest of the album here https://www.flickr.com/photos/28630680@N06/albums/72157719971939322

The palbrick barrier wagon conversions were used where a freightliner set might have been split, one end of the palbrick had a simple bar coupling to match the inner end of the freightliner sets. The wagons were airpiped but otherwise unfitted some were even painted in blue(hint hint KR), it would be a worth while addition to include a bar style NEM coupling to match the inner ends of the Bachmann FGA! Here is the relevant page from Paul Bartlett's excellent site. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/palbrick note the coil conversion as well.

The 2mm Association publish a booklet on point rodding which includes some details, it's only £7 and well worth it regardless of your chosen scale. Here is the link 7th one down http://www.2mm.org.uk/products/nms/index.html

I take no credit for the layout, that's all down members and former members of Manchester Model Railway Society.

Looks as if the hand brake should work does the 15 wagon pack come with a free brake stick! A superb bit of detailing there.

A recent Ebay purchase reworked to correct and add detail. Scafell Pike was a fairly early release from Bachmann which needs a bit doing to get it looking better, two omissions are a lack of engine exhaust port and the missing nose seam. As well as adding those items additional work included removing the boiler filler hatch blanking plugs, plating over the boiler safety valve recess and removing the inner sand boxes. This is work that any green D1 to D8 will need if using Scafell as a starting point, D1 had an economy green repaint including the beading on the body side grills. Lots of Tcut removed the white stripe whilst the beading was just painted/weather over, weathering is brush work using a base of mixed acrylics plus powders. Then a Dulcote varnish which I then left to harden off. This was then fine tuned with oils to get that faded look, then another coating of Dulcote. All inspired by a picture off D1 sitting at Toton circa 1972. The green backed name plate came from Fox, date panel from Rail-tec and the tiny plaque on the cab door from the box we all have of left overs from somewhere. It represents a plaque for fitters on minor loco mods or none standard spec, these were fixed to the drivers door. A perfect match for my order of Accurascale MDV/MDO minerals! Click on the picture for the full Flickr album. There's an album for 5031 as well.

D5031 is now in service, seen here passing Dewsbury Midland. White stripe came off very easily and simply renumber and data panel courtesy of Railtec .

How about this for a nice little bit of inspiration

Unlikely that filing cabinets and workshop tables ever received any paint once installed, so just go with dark green. It was the colour of most filing cabinets I remember, radiators and walls well nicotine yellow would be my choice. Storage trays would be most likely be chipped so plenty of polished steal showing, base colour of faded blue or red oxide. Don't forget a couple of lockers for overalls etc, again usually dark green. A bench with some old carriage seat bases, this might be worth a watch, some messroom and office footage near the end. My old depot at the time!

Having held the big advert in front of the layout, you hold another one up inviting viewers to pay to unblock the view.

Soap

It's worth noting that the fitting/yard staff may have worked a simple three shift system but drivers&2nd men didn't. At Newton Heath prior to the transfer of train crew to Manchester Victoria it was a 24/7 depot, the shed link had more drivers book on between 6pm and midnight than on the day shift for obvious reasons. The quiet shift was the afternoon shift. I might add that the shed link drivers rarely actually worked more than about 5 hours with the exception of the 2 10pm men who took it turns to stay until 6am for the first of the day shift men, it was roughly a 2 hour gap per driver booking on but with 4 hour gaps during the day. Shed drivers had there own cabin which they shared with the shunters and traction arranger/clerk and a blackboard with all the shed roads marked on. I seem to remember that cleaning staff (when under BR) only worked two shifts, an 8am shift and a 10pm shift. The day shift would do routine cleaning as units came on shed in the morning period, but for the afternoon there were units booked for a heavy clean inside and out (not a cat lick through the wash) lots of buckets and a good external scrub down. I always assumed that there was simply to much movement to do it on nights.

My 24035 arrived this morning, a couple of very quick observations. Bachmann have not painted the various detail bits below the underframe as per 24137. I also note that all the buffer beam detail is now in the bag for the buyer to attach, both of my 24/1 variants had some details preinstalled. Non of this is any anyway a bad thing, my 035 runs very well and is a near match for all my other Bachmann current issue class 24's, making double heading easier to programme on DCC. My intention is to do a chassis swap with 24137, yes the lighting circuit boards for the discs/headcode will need swapping over as well. This will allow me to create a 25/0, my second. The fuel tank is correct for the final 10 of the 25/0's. I have already done on example, 5170.

Having ordered 24035, this prompted me to start on my green D5038. The first thing I do is look for an alternative ID, so trawling photo sites and books narrowed it down to D5031 in economy green and SYE. The stripe and numbers came off very easily, a blunt wood kebab skewer did the trick without leaving a single mark. Next I need to tackle the exhaust, fill/blank out the circular one and drill out an opening and file to a letterbox shape plus add the edging, tomorrows job. I have no clear picture of the exhaust but this one looks to show a letterbox exhaust. D5031 will join D5096/099(SLW plus24081), D5149 in green with SYE, 5170 in blue, waitng in the wings is another 24137 to do 5146.

Blue 24035 and Experiment have appeared on Ebay

Sorry, but the photo owner specifically quotes copyright so I thought it wiser to just post a link .

From a Flickr picture with a very long link https://tinyurl.com/5yct8vhs 20037 with one medfit and an odd load near Toton, no date. I looked hard for the vac pipe, so may even be running loose coupled. This has to be modelled on an exhibition layout.

Yes, the trip working from Ellistown exchange sidings (top end in staff speak) to Mantle Lane , Coalville, was about half a mile on falling gradient for the loaded train. No brakevan required, working covered by a local instruction in the sectional appendix. Incidentally with empty MGR's for "top end" the foreman would simply come out of the office and tap the top of his head, we knew where we were going.