LNER4479

Damn! Must have missed that in my own rummage around. One set of brake gear the wrong way round? Unlike one of my latest wagon projects where I managed to get BOTH the wrong way round - doh!

Nope.

Looking forward to being part of the show with Shap ... even if it looks like we might be seriously upstaged on the WCML stakes on this occasion!

More running ... Goods train arrives, northbound from Dentonholme, as Royal Scot 46159 sets out with a WCML relief express. At Bog Junc. ... ... it meets the inbound Waverley express off the S&C route. Classic Shap Wells view. I've temporarily set out the backscenes here as they need a little bit of tidying up prior to GETS Milton Keynes show this coming weekend. See you there if you're coming along. Going to be a bit of a WCML-fest by all accounts. Nowt wrong in that.

Wasn't Budenberg by any chance was it? Sounds German; based in Manchester. I remember Fred Dibnah popping in there once (by traction engine, of course) on one of his programmes!

Thanks Mike. I've seen the plans in your files for this segment of the depot but don't think I've actually seen photographs of it. Once it became clear that I couldn't include Upperby AND Kingmoor on my scheme, I concentrated on Upperby, with the roundhouse being a key part, fitted into the corner as it is (but not quite the full building). One of the main features of the scheme will be the operation of locos on and off shed, following diagrammed workings, home locos, visiting locos, etc. I'm hoping that at least some aspects of the depot will be recognisable, even though - like yourself - there's considerable compression going and, at least in my case, quite a bit of distortion because of the corner plot. I thought the outside turntable was a 60ft example? That's what the captions in my reference works say!

On a slightly lighter note, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust was responsible for introducing a new word into the German language. When redesigning the rivetted dia. 118 boiler into an all-welded design (designated dia. 118a), the Germans were completely stumped by the perforated steam collector feature and had to design it from scratch, with full FEA etc. The drawings thus carried the legend 'Banjodom for UK'.

Subtly redesigned to keep within 13' 0" height (to maximise network compatibility). Inside the clothing is the same boiler as Tornado - they will be interchangeable. Smokebox on No.2007 is longer to accommodate. All hidden under cladding - visually it will look like No.2001 (in original condition)

Meanwhile ... I've laid the first lengths of the down goods lines, here demonstrated by a Black 5-hauled parcels train. Come on! Hurry up and get the rest of it laid ...

So - yes, we now have the start of the all-important Upperby roundhouse, as part of Upperby MPD, part of the Upperby complex. Why install this now, in isolation? Simply, that this is the most inaccessible corner of the complex, necessitating crawling about on the board itself. So, better to do it now rather than trampling over other freshly laid track. There was a conversation some way back up thread about a suitable turntable. In the end, there was only really one show in town and I duly acquired a Heljan HO 90ft 'table (cat no. 89121). That's approx 79ft in 4mm. Did I pay full price? No I didn't! I bided my time and eventually plumped for a 'pre-loved' example for half RRP. It claimed to have been hardly used and that appears to be the case (mercifully!). Some minor damage to one of the turntable rails (easily repaired); otherwise G.A.N., much still in original packaging. No going back now! As you might recall, I've already marked everything out on the trusted lining paper. So, all I had to do was to tape the Heljan template in the right place? Well, almost - there was just the little matter of adjusting the orientation to ensure that the 'no track' zone was not where I didn't want it to be (if that makes sense) With the pit in position, I had a fun session mapping out the possible track plan in the allotted space - previously, I had just left a suitable area. (For avoidance of doubt, although it'll be a full roundhouse, the stalls at the back are not full length - some only able to take a 0-6-0T 'Jinty'. That's just to balance out the space available. But at least half should be full length to host my beloved pacifics) The 'Carlisle in France' files, made available to me by one Mr Mike Edge, proved invaluable in this exercise and I think I'm tending towards a trackplan which, although much compressed, contains sufficient features as to be (potentially) recognisable.

More excitement at Upperby: I'll just leave this here for now ...

Ooh - lovely 😍 Think I'm right I'm saying that No.5 was the largest box (140 levers) in the Carlisle area. I suspect however that diagram is slightly too modern an era for me. Looks like some simplification / rationalisation compared to 1950s steam era. Thanks for sharing, notwithstanding.

So I've heard ... (What's the famous witticism - 10,000 rivets flying loosely in formation?)

Meanwhile, trains are still running! The Royal Scot on the Perth express heads through Bog Junction on the way back to Central. Well, fancy that - a Royal Scot moment. Hornby renumbered 46159 awaits departure as the 46107 (to become 46136) approaches. We haven't had a Central arrival shot recently, so here we go. More soon.

Thanks for further comments, folks. All the shunting goes on at nearby Carlisle No.12 (Upperby Junction), much as you describe. No.13 box is all about getting the goods trains on and off the West Coast mainline - out of harm's way! From here, they access the through goods lines - aka the Carlisle avoiding lines. If the train isn't terminating at Upperby then it carries on through Bog Junc. into Dentonholme yard where it can be shunted in a similar manner. All safely out of the way of those pesky passenger trains. Yes, Clive - I've done similar things in the past to create trap (protection) points. But I think I've decided what I'm going to do here on this occasion. Yard pilots stabled at the far end of a shunting spur down at the extremity of a yard? Hmm ... not at any depots I've ever worked at! The 'Jocko' was always parked outside the messroom where the kettle was on. The Yard Supervisor's office was next door, ready to issue instructions for the next bit of shunting as required.

Indeed you weren't ... Looks like I might be ploughing a lonely furrow continuing with the (very) occasional build of a civil airliner or three? I always did prefer hairy planes you can / could actually fly in rather than ones designed to kill people.

Thanks for comments guys ... but it appears that I'm not explaining myself very well (it was quite late last night!), so let me try again. I know I need a trap point (or trap arrangement) - that's not the question. The question is, do I arrange it like this: or like this: Visually, I prefer the latter; however, it appears that on the prototype it was a simple (single blade) trap point, which would derail an errant vehicle as opposed to sending it towards a stop block. Additionally, on the prototype, the shunting spur (called the 'Third Line') ended sooner than I've shown but I want to maximise its length (as ever, things are much compressed on a model compared to the real thing ... despite my apparently luxurious 16 feet). I feel this is one of those situations where the practical needs of a model railway clash with absolute prototypicality. The location pictured is relatively inaccessible and not within reach of the operating position. Consequently if I have a simple trap point, and it does its job (operator error), then I have a derailment to attend to in an awkward place. Conversely, if I have a spur leading to a buffer stop then the loco simply hits the buffer stop and the operator (hopefully!) realises their error. We have a similar arrangement on Grantham: Happily, in this case it is per prototype. If the operator forgets to throw lever 22 (the crossover from the down relief - opposite the hut on the right) - it does happen! - then the loco heads into the spur and is stopped. In fact, it never reaches the buffer stop as these rails are never cleaned - it's just a blank, emergency spur, so the rails would never be shiny. In an exhibition environment, that's far more preferable than having a derailment close to the public edge of the layout. Although I'm not in an exhibition environment in the chapel, I feel that this arrangement would better suit the layout than a derailing trap point. I've already got one of those on the down (arrival) side - there's no choice in its case - and I suspect it's going to cause enough trouble as it is. I've also realised that the link to the SRS file doesn't work directly. If you navigate your way around the website, the link I was attempting to post brings you to here: So, as I was trying to show, what I have laid out is pretty accurate, in terms of being able to replicate the signalled moves. John - hopefully you can now see the trailing crossover, on the mainlines to the south of the junction. It would perform no useful function on my layout. I suspect it was just the standard emergency crossover to facilitate wrong line running in abnormal circumstances. It could, however, also have been used as an alternative way of getting a loco off shed (coming along the 'Third line' from top left). That would account for the additional shunt signal on the up goods bracket signal. That then brings a train out onto the up main, inside the stacked ground signals, and hence a set back along the down main towards Carlisle. This could have been used to get round any congestion at Carlisle No.12, where the main crossovers there would be a busy location, potentially blocked by shunting moves, etc. But, as I say, can't see the need for it in model form. That ship has sailed anyway, as the WCML tracks are already laid for keeps. A final observation for now. Although the above plan is low-res, you can at least see that the trap point under discussion (No.10) does NOT work in correspondance with the main point (No.11); they were obviously seperate levers, with the necessary protection provided by the interlocking (11 reversed first presumably?). The trap point had a EFPL on it - I wonder if that was why? On the arrival (down) side, the trap point does work in correspondance (lever No.12) but there is a seperate FPL (No.13), as one would expect on a mainline. Interesting.

Moral of that tale - always attempt maiden flight of a model aeroplane in an open field, full of long, wavy grass😉

Thanks for continued interest being shown. My early evening session tonight resulted in this: Don't get too excited - it's not laid (yet!); just left like this overnight for me to 'muse' over. I often find that helps, tempting though it is to rush into the next step. This is the track controlled by Carlisle No.13 signal box, the southernmost box to carry the 'Carlisle' name. It's significant in my scheme as it's the point at which (heading towards Carlisle) representative becomes actual. So I'm keen that it replicates the real thing, so far as is possible. Compare with the actual signalbox diagram and you'll see that it's a pretty close match https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/lmsr/M895.gif The only piece of pointwork I'm not showing - apart from the trailing crossover, which I don't intend to replicate - is the trap point on the Up Goods (departure) line, just before the double junction. You can see that the equivalent one is there on the Down Goods (arrival). I think the missing point was another simple trap point (I can't find a prototype picture to 'nail' it for certain); however, a proper point leading into a short, blind spur seems quite attractive to me? I would end the goods headshunt road a little shorter if I were to do that. In terms of authenticity, the signalbox itself is going to end up on the wrong side of the line as it is, so perhaps I've already licensed myself a slight deviation from prototype? Thoughts?

With all trimmed to shape, out with the paint. There we go. Looking a little bit like a post-apocalyptic track lifted yard but of course we know better. The location of the roundhouse turntable is readily obvious (only cut to rough shape at this stage). The full extent. It's no less than 16 feet from the junction points (bottom right) to the wall in the district. That's a lorra, lorra cork. Let the tracklaying commence!

Latest construction update. Rarely can a piece of cork have caused so much excitement. With the WCML running lines laid, we can now lay the cork for the other lines in the Upperby area. This bit was quite fiddly, as perhaps you can see. In addition to the shape, I also had to solder then insulate the wires for the frog switching. The perils of laying track on a bridge. For the rest ... aw, what the heck; might as well cut it from a single piece. This is approx 10ft long(!) A bit floppy as first positioned (steady!) The 'take my weight' nature of the main Upperby board coming into use to check it's all aligned. Beginning to be tamed. Part 2 to follow...

Same here! Although they were 25p by the time I cycled round the corner to the 'Handyman Stores' shop in the High Street. One day it'd be a Spitfire; next time it was a WWI tank; then it was a figure of Henry VIII (remember them?!) ... it didn't matter: I was making something! With newspaper spread over the kitchen table, for two hours or so, I was lost in my own world ... I didn't read an on-line tutorial about how to make one (OK - such a thing would be printed in a magazine!), I just learnt by my own mistakes (including what happens if you spill glue all over your work part way through). If I've had any influence on my modelling then I would highlight first of all my Dad(!) We're the 'Dad & lad' (model) railway enthusiasts and I duly imbibed his modelling as a youngster. A fellow modelling friend of Dad's was 'in' to scratchbuilding and I became fascinated by that - a sort of de facto mentor/mentee situation. Otherwise, I found certain books and magazine articles inspiring, or at least containing the odd 'nugget', in terms of (say) materials used, techniques, etc ... but overall, for myself, I would say 90% taught myself; 10% learnt from other sources. Or am I being too arrogant? Maybe I've subconsciously absorbed more than I'm giving credit for? I would certainly cite David Jenkinson as a prime modelling muse.

Tracklaying is also continuing at Dentonholme. The tracklaying gang spotted an opportunity with the yard relatively empty. Possession given up (for now). We now have the full eight track width. From left-to-right: East (southbound) yard (lines 1 & 2); through lines (3 & 4); west (northbound) yard reception line (5); sorting / transfer sidings (lines 6-8). Meanwhile, trains are still running (!) We haven't featured the S&C route for a while ... Here's one of my favourite trains: Newfoundland heads the Waverley ... across Dandry Mire viaduct and into Garsdale. Where it meets that local stopping that departed Central some while back. You know - that one with the horsebox at the front. Stay tuned ...

Ah, at last - a sensible post. You can rely on Clive. Enough of this frivolity; there's a layout to build. As planned, the rail head has advanced by a further yard. Watchya mean, you can't tell? Importantly, this means that there's now a meaningful amount of track laid such as I can lay the cork on the far side to set out the goods lines. In the meantime, couldn't resist positioning a train thus: caught on the Upperby curve. This threatens to become a favourite viewpoint of trains getting into their stride, leaving Carlisle southbound - as captured by many photographers back in the day. The hustle and bustle of Upperby yard and depot in the background should be an enticing backdrop.

Thanks Scott. If you feel so moved, the full process is described below: (Approx two-thirds of the way down page 96)