jwealleans

Written In The Water - Gin Wigmore

Indiana Wants Me - R Dean Taylor

Morning Tony, I thought you might like a look at this, which I acquired last week on Ebay. I'm just a sucker for a C1, I suppose. I thought it looked good enough to be worth finishing off and having it in my hands confirmed that impression. I have no idea how old it is or who made it, though I don't think it's recent. I take my hat off to those who can scratchbuild to this standard. It ran surprisingly well, though it'll need a modern mechanism fitting. I wondered whether the mech might give an idea as to it's age? I've never seen one like this before and I'd have suggested it was homebrewed except that it has Romford and a number stamped into the brass frame.

Morning Nick, I was reading this at the weekend as I had a (mainly) LRM J21 in my hand. I bought it from Tony Wright last year. It was old enough to be the George Norton kit (I think that's where this originated?) but built with no sideplay and with the motor built into the frames, so I bought new frames from John and started again. On the tender, I found there was room to put copperclad pads at the outside top of the frames and have pickups resting on the top of the wheels. I prefer this as it keeps them right out of the way when you're cleaning wheels and means they can't get bent or tangled in trackwork. You can see them here. If you need a better picture when you go back to the tenders just let me know.

I usually watch Dan's kits when they come up just to marvel at the stupid money they fetch. I did once try telling people they could get them much cheaper from John, from the GCRS or from Dan himself, but in the end I gave up.

Walk Don't Run - The Surfrajettes

Better Sit Down Boy - Confidence Man

I Gotta Find Me Somebody - The Vel-vets

Love Over And Over - Kate and Anna McGarrigle

Sorry to jump back a post, but this... ... leading carriage is either NER or one of the LNER built ones immediately after Grouping for the GE Area.

The embedded link should take you straight to them on Peter's website.

I've been working on Grantham stock after York and before Bristol. There were the usual issues with things breaking or needing attention, though not as many as usual. There has been some thought devoted to managing the way locomotives are allocated to trains on the layout. There's a feeling we were below par at York and while some of the running problems we had on Saturday were down to the layout and were resolved or at least improved until permanent repairs were possible, some were down to less experienced operators sending out inappropriate locomotives. Those of us who've been with the layout from the start have got used to seeing certain engines on certain trains and use them again almost without thinking about it. New operators don't have that exposure and can't tell just by looking how good a performer a loco might be or what it's best used for. That most especially applies to engines which go onto and come off shed. Graham has therefore devised a system of testing and classifying engines for mainline/non-stop use only and then for stopping trains and on/off shed. We spent last Sunday with part of the layout erected and a test through the more taxing parts of the dead frog pointwork in place which the two crates of engines I'd taken up there were put through. Hopefully the end result will bear fruit at Bristol. Immediate effect is the addition of tender pickups to a couple of engines: 17 is a Bachmann K3 which was part of Tom Foster's stud for Leaman Road. When Tom changed modelling direction, he sold it to me. Tony Wright had built a new mechanism for it and fitted a brass cab from SEF. The original tender had been retained. I finished it off and it's worked mineral trains on Grantham ever since. Although it will never go onto shed, having only screw link couplings, it does need to work it's way through some long ladders of points and crossovers and (whisper it in case Sir hears) was slightly hesitant in places. Bachmann tenders are dead easy to fit pickups to, the biggest nuisance is often cleaning paint off the back of the wheels. I use copperclad sleepers as a base as they're readily available and a convenient shape for what's needed. I've mentioned the the plugs before; they're from Peter's Spares and work very well imo. The O1 worked very well over the York weekend, but it was slated to have extra pickups fitted and you can't ever have too many, really. Kit built tenders can be a bit more of a challenge if pickups haven't been designed in when they were built, but this one wasn't a problem. I spent part of yesterday working through my crate of Hornby pacifics and a couple of those had to have the tenders dismantled and the pickups cleaned and tweaked. It's funny how they conspire to lose contact even though they're way up in the frames and you'd have thought away from anything which might bend or distort them. Finally a genuine fault. C1 3275, a performer on the layout since Day 1, was reported as being 'unhappy' in reverse. Testing here proved this to be true so onto the bench it came. 3275 came to me as 3249, one of a pair of EM gauge K's kits, really nicely built by someone a long time ago. Of the pair this was the better in that the K's motor still worked, but it had to be converted to OO and as part of that I reworked it such that the cylinders were part of the frames rather then the body - as designed you had to thread the crossheads back into place every time the body went back on. It was also repainted to a more accurate shade of green. On examination today, one of the small sleeper lengths used to mount the pickups had detached from the underside of the chassis. You can see it below, it's the upper one. It's now been epoxied back into place. You can also see here the brass extension I added to the K's chassis to carry the stretcher for the cylinders.

Something of a modelling hiatus, but this week I've been working on Grantham stock after York and before Bristol. There were the usual issues with things breaking or needing attention, though not as many as usual. There has been some thought devoted to managing the way locomotives are allocated to trains on the layout. We were below par at York and while some of the running problems we had on Saturday were down to the layout and were resolved or at least improved until permanent repairs were possible, some were down to less experienced operators sending out inappropriate locomotives. Those of us who've been with the layout from the start have got used to seeing certain engines on certain trains and use them again almost without thinking about it. New operators don't have that exposure and can't tell just by looking how good a performer a loco might be or what it's best used for. That most especially applies to engines which go onto and come off shed. Graham has therefore devised a system of testing and classifying engines for mainline/non-stop use only and then for stopping trains and on/off shed. We spent last Sunday with part of the layout erected and a test through the more taxing parts of the dead frog pointwork in place which the two crates of engines I'd taken up there were put through. Hopefully the end result will bear fruit at Bristol. Immediate effect is the addition of tender pickups to a couple of engines: 17 is a Bachmann K3 which was part of Tom Foster's stud for Leaman Road. When Tom changed modelling direction, he sold it to me. Tony Wright had built a new mechanism for it and fitted a brass cab from SEF. The original tender had been retained. I finished it off and it's worked mineral trains on Grantham ever since. Although it will never go onto shed, having only screw link couplings, it does need to work it's way through some long ladders of points and crossovers and (whisper it in case Sir hears) was slightly hesitant in places. Bachmann tenders are dead easy to fit pickups to, the biggest nuisance is often cleaning paint off the back of the wheels. I use copperclad sleepers as a base as they're readily available and a convenient shape for what's needed. I've mentioned the the plugs before; they're from Peter's Spares and work very well imo. The O1 worked very well over the York weekend, but it was slated to have extra pickups fitted and you can't ever have too many, really. Kit built tenders can be a bit more of a challenge if pickups haven't been designed in when they were built, but this one wasn't a problem. I spent part of yesterday working through my crate of Hornby pacifics and a couple of those had to have the tenders dismantled and the pickups cleaned and tweaked. It's funny how they conspire to lose contact even though they're way up in the frames and you'd have thought away from anything which might bend or distort them. Finally a genuine fault. C1 3275, a performer on the layout since Day 1, was reported as being 'unhappy' in reverse. Testing here proved this to be true so onto the bench it came. 3275 came to me as 3249, one of a pair of EM gauge K's kits, really nicely built by someone a long time ago. Of the pair this was the better in that the K's motor still worked, but it had to be converted to OO and as part of that I reworked it such that the cylinders were part of the frames rather then the body - as designed you had to thread the crossheads back into place every time the body went back on. It was also repainted to a more accurate shade of green. On examination today, one of the small sleeper lengths used to mount the pickups had detached from the underside of the chassis. You can see it below, it's the upper one. It's now been epoxied back into place. You can also see here the brass extension I added to the K's chassis to carry the stretcher for the cylinders.

Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - The Jam

Keep The Customer Satisfied - Simon and Garfunkel

I saw this on FB. That wood effect is outstanding. What did you use?

The Golden Age - Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Your Greatest Shade Of Blue - The Adventures

Here's a challenge for Clive.... Good luck finding a corner of the layout to sneak that diorama into.

Well, you're not wrong. Can't get the Mrs to go for that blue rinse look.

Rikki Don't Lose That Number - Steely Dan

This Wheel's On Fire - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity

It was quite sudden and unexpected, although she had been ill for some time.

For those whose patience hasn't been exhausted yet, Chris' photos from Day 3 at York, by which time we'd probably just about got the hang of it all again. These must have been taken over a fairly extended stay in front of the layout as they cover several moves. Hopefully I can remember what's supposed to be going on and you'll be able to follow. One of the less expected stars of the show from an operating point of view was 3465, a NuCast O2/2 converted into an O1. A fortuitous find at Pontefract Show in January, it had nothing more than a clean and service and was brought along on trial rather than with any real expectation. It performed pretty well faultlessly over the dead frogs for a loco with no tender pickups (yet) and I suspect has leapt straight into the permanent roster. It did see service on the down mineral empties, which is the usual working for locos I want to try out, but here is taking the Iron Ore empties back to High D y k e. In Platform 4, J5 3027 awaiting departure to Lincoln and Boston with a short train of older Howlden stock. 3027 is a London Road Models kit and one I very much enjoyed building. On Platform 5 an arrival from Derby and Nottingham. J39 1273 has just detached and will proceed to depot for turning and servicing. This and the other Bachmann J39 we have never cease to amaze me - they still have their original split chassis mechanisms with no additional pickups and work reliably show after show. They are thoroughly cleaned between shows and every so often I strip them right down and clean the axles and keeps. I suspect that's probably why they still work so well, despite both being bought second hand. Looking further right, towards London, an A3 waiting to relieve an Up express. Beyond it the end of a goods for Peterborough, which I think means we're fairly well through the sequence here. I can pick out C1 3251 in the old shed and bottom right is one of the High D y k e O4s, 6229 or 6246, having turned and getting ready to leave the shed and resume its journey north. I included this picture not only for Graham's signals and North Box and part of Paul's townscape behind, but for the partial shot of the other Eric Fry loco we had on loan, the 'neverwazza' P10 2-8-2 tank engine. It's identical to a V1/3 above the running plate but with very different frames and motion. I believe this loco was built by the late David Steinle. We didn't run it but had it on show for the duration. It made an interesting contrast with the usual north end pilot, a J54 built for us by the late Caroline Middleditch. Almost the same scene, but 1273 has now reversed out onto the viaduct and then returned down the shed road. This was a Lincoln loco in the 1930s and I worked from a picture showing it well bulled up on shed. It has yet to have the detailing which these Bachmann models benefit from and I do have to point out that after 10 years I still have not completed the 3500 gallon GS tender which it should tow. Appalling lack of effort. Down at the south end we can now see that the relieving engine is a local resident, Robert the Devil. Tom Foster weathered this engine and made his usual outstanding job of it. To the bottom of the picture, C12 4529 is south end pilot and across the bottom can be seen the loaded wagons from High D y k e, bound for Scunthorpe. Back on the shed, but the new shed building, C1 4432 (DJH), A1 2550 Blink Bonny, a Grantham resident and beyond them K3 227 from York, identifiable by the Hulburd water treatment/heating gear it carried until about 1940. This is a Bachmann model with an SEF tender. 4432 was a lockdown ebay buy with a very tatty paint job: it turned out to have a big Portescap and now repainted and packed with lead it will pull anything a Pacific will manage. I have had up to 16 kit built carriages behind it, but that was probably just showing off. Panning left to the old shed, 1273 is now almost turned and ready to return whence it came. The incoming O4 on the High D y k e service can be seen. There were no turning facilities on the branch, so engines went up chimney first and then returned tender first as far as Grantham, where they stopped and turned. In this case it looks as though whatever unidentifiable O4 this is will be relieved. An equally unidentifiable J6 (one of my NuCast ones) is just backing down to the coaling stage. In the background 3465 is turning onto the Up relief road, so the up and down High D y k e workings are visible together. The engine will run just past the Great North Road bridge at the south end and then stop to water. 1273 has turned and is now backing down to coal and water. A wider view of the new shed, with C2 3254 (DJH, by Tony Wright) in evidence. I was looking for this loco at the weekend as it managed to shuttle in and out of north fiddle without ever crossing my eyeline in the three days. Behind it another J6, not one of mine so I can't identify it. The A4 waiting to move back up the shed is Commonwealth of Australia, one of the two Coronation A4s we had for the weekend. At the rear, where we started, the Up High D y k e which looks to be making its water stop.

Live For Today - Lords Of The New Church