LNER4479

Turning now to the 'coffee pot' itself The structure is formed up round a rather ingenious former, with the top piece having sacrificial tabs to help align other pieces before being filed flat. The distinctive sides required the curves to be formed - one gentle, the other more pronounced - before locating on the afore-mentioned tabs then filing flush. It was made easier by the fact that the main bulk of these parts were half etch so as to provide the ridge on the top. Just a case of finding a suitable bar to bend it round, taking it steady and continuing to offer it up to the former until the desired shape was achieved. The completed assembly. Now attached to the rest of the body structure. I decide to install the wire at the front whilst I could still get at the inside; it gets bent to shape to fit in the hole in the smokebox below the chimney. A little further on, with most of the body details now fitted, showing the tank to be more integral to the overall appearance. Next time - making it all go.

Oh cripes - just caught up with the news, although I had gathered he wasn't well. Can only echo the thoughts of others in ranking Allan as one of the true giants of the modelling world and certainly an inspiration to this modeller over the last 40 odd years. One of those whose brilliance shone out of every page of an article depicting his latest creation. It was a delight to be able to exchange pleasantries through his involvement in this wonderful forum of ours in recent years. RIP Allan

Picked up my copy this morning and would just like to say, as the chief architect of the Shap layout, what a superb job Chris and the team at Model Rail have done in presenting the layout. Particular thanks to Richard Foster who accompanied Chris Nervard for the 'shoot' to get the story. I think he has done a splendid job of turning my rambling responses to his patient questions into an engaging article to accompany Chris's fantastic photos. I am (naturally) delighted at the result, which portrays not only my efforts but those of the Shap team that so readily contributed. Thanks guys!

Well, it is indeed 'out'. Picked up a copy this morning and thoroughly enjoyed the read and the presentation. I can say that because, in this case, it wasn't me wot wrote it! Richard Foster came along with Chris Nervard on the shoot and, despite me leaping about all over the place, he patiently asked his questions and recorded the answers on a variety of aspects of the layout and its background and has turned this into the article that accompanies the photos. I think he has done a splendid job of this and am delighted at the result, which portrays not only my efforts but those of the Shap team that so readily contributed. Definitely worth buying a copy if the layout floats yer boat.

Loving all the pictures Tony. The milk train is one that doesn't (yet?) feature in the Grantham schedule. However, there are two interesting things of note. The LNER was one of the first of the 'Big Four' to switch over from handling milk in churns to conveying it en masse in specialist tank wagons in the mid-1930s. The very first tankers were 4-wheelers; however, they rode badly at speed, resulting in the milk being half way towards butter on arrival, hence the relatively rapid progression to the much more familiar 6-wheelers. The other interesting fact about the LNER milk service was its origination point - Ingestre. Where?! One of the furthest-most points of the GNR empire was Stafford, reached via a railway line that branched off the Derby-Crewe line beyond Uttoxeter - the North Staffs Railway afforded the GNR running powers in order to reach it. Hopelessly uneconomic, it closed to passenger traffic in 1939; however, its one saving grace was that it ran through the middle of the Staffordshire milk farming area and the GNR was thus able to steal a march on the more logical providers of such traffic. United Dairies established a creamery at Ingestre and Weston railway station and it was from here that the milk traffic ran - possibly combined with traffic from other areas? Once it had picked up east coast metals at Grantham then it would be a fair gallop no doubt to the capital, the transit time before that not being particularly quick, one imagines? The destination was a distribution point at Finchley, I believe. It was for this reason that the ex-GNR Stafford line remained open until 1951 (rails not finally lifted until 1959). Is that unique - a line staying open purely for milk traffic?

1) Only 15, I'm afraid - the coaching stock superintendent didn't bring enough TKs with him ... 2) Minor pedantry - the 6-wheel CL is a Bill Bedford etch. As always, some 'different' pix from your lens

Further to Tony's post above, here is the information for that Leeds train, together with a few other bits n pieces from the last 24 hours First of all, a drone-like view of mine (not possible in 1938!) shows the train in a wider perspective. This is train 324 (down), which departed King's Cross at 10.15am in summer 1937 and 10.10am in summer 1938, following in the wake of the Flying Scotsman and 'Junior Scotsman' and destined for Leeds ... and other destinations in the Ridings, as will become clear. This is the front of the train and dates it as 1937 as the first vehicle behind the loco is the avant garde cinema coach, a typical publicity-driven feature of the LNER in this era. This vehicles is not shown in the 1938 formation, hence 1937. Despite it being completely enclosed as built, Roy Mears assures us all that it comes complete with projector and raked seats, cinema style! Behind this vehicle, we then have a classic three coach through portion, formed up as Brake Third - All Third (corridor) - Brake Composite. Such formation provides a proportionally small amount of first class accommodation and is otherwise a complete train - it is destined for Harrogate but is shown to reverse at Leeds (Central), which must mean that the main formation behind it was shunted out of the way first at Leeds before continuing its journey; either that, or it was detached at Wakefield and went ahead of the main train. The diagram book does not say. Here is the main 'core' formation of the train and is of course made up of the famous - and unique - ex-GNR Quintuplet dining set. The first class end is marshalled at the buffer stop end from King's Cross - note the one less window; larger bays of the first diner compared to the third diner. The final third of the train is equally as interesting (well, I think so!). Immediate behind the Quint is another 3-coach through portion, this time for Bradford. It is not the same as the Harrogate portion however, as this is formed up as Brake First - All Third (corridor) - Brake Third, ie a greater proportion of first class accommodation. Note how the Brake First is marshalled next to the dining set, giving the least distance necessary for the toffs of Bradford to walk through for their (early) lunch. This is all indicative of Bradford being regarded as a more important destination to the LNER than Harrogate (not quite the same story today, perhaps?!), a legacy of the wealth from the woollen trade. This portion would have been detached at Wakefield and the brake van immediately behind is also for Bradford, making a four coach train for onward transit. By comparison, the last two coaches in the train are a comparatively mundane two coach portion for Hull (detached at Doncaster); both are brakes however - Compo and All Third so, again, a smattering of first class seating available. We don't have the space to run such a large train on Grantham so it was a delight to put this together this morning. The formation is 100% as per the 1937 diagram book for a mid-week (Tues-Thurs) service in terms of type of vehicle, although I can't guarantee that every last vehicle is the correct diagram number. Other than the cinema coach, this is all Jonathan's work. Great also to see Grantham's 'pet' A1 No.4479 'Robert the Devil' equal to the task. A few other pix of mine, although it's scarcely worth bothering, seeing as how the master lensman will be able to capture much better images. These are really so as I can capture the replacement signals in position. Here, the 'drone' has hovered over the station pointing south. No trains (apart from the solitary horse box) but what a lovely, homogeneous railway scene. Looking the other way as the northbound Silver Jubilee hoves into view. This is based on a photo Tony has and I think he might try getting a better version of it himself over the next week or so. Down at the platform ends, we see a full-fitted express goods rattling down the bank. Very much the preserve of the K3s trains like this in the 1930's - the V2s were only just starting to appear in squadron numbers as the war broke out. And finally, to prove that we just didn't plonk all this in front of the camera, here are two mediocre video clips, nevertheless showing this goods train and the Leeds express in motion.

Note to self - try and remember to look out horses n carts...

Flying Scotsman set usually loads to 10 or 11 as it doesn't stop at the station. All others tend to be 8 or 9. We'll need to bring every last teak that'll turn a wheel with us to make rakes up to 15. Jonathan's in charge of the 50 wagon goods consists.

The practice weekend is also necessary for the simple time taken to put the stock on the track, connect up three links and to decide on full coaching stock formations (we assume that 8-9 coach formations won't 'cut it' on Little Bytham!) - that in itself usually takes several hours of set up at a show as it is. Looking forward to it immensely

Next instalment. At this point, the chassis etch arrived. Despite the instructions saying to complete the body first, I was keen to at least assemble the basic chassis and see how it fitted to the body. The main thing to note here is that, despite this being a fine, intricate kit, probably more suited to the EM/P4 end of the scale, in this case, the loco is intended for a OO layout with two foot radius curves and using Code 100 track! Consequently, as can be seen, Markits wheels have been used, a suitable type being found in the 'Industrial' area of the catalogue - IND 14/10 (Barclay 14mm (3' 6") 10 spoke). The prototypes had 3' 7" so the difference is barely noticeable and being slightly smaller, helps with any clearance issues given a deeper flange than a more scale wheel. Note the simple compensation bar on the front axle, allowing a small amount of rocking movement. With only four wheels to pick up from, the loco needs every help to ensure good current pick up. A hole is provided in the rear of the cylinder former. The bar is soldered in, resting on the top of the axle, before the axle holes are enlarged (very carefully, in the vertical direction only. Slidebar assembly and cylinder block ready to be attached. The former is quite fragile at this point. This shows how the two parts are fitted together. They interlock together and then are positioned on the frames. A piece of brass tube is then fitted for the whole thing to be soldered up solid around. A very neat piece of design. The rest of the related cylinder parts ready for assembly. All assembled and running smoothly.(I could tip the track back and forward and the chassis would roll accordingly). The only thing permanently fixed at this point were the front coupling rod pins, as these need to be filed back to get the clearance for the piston rod crosshead. The rest needs to come apart again when it comes to installing the motor. And the obligatory 'progress so far' photo. This was quite encouraging, as everything seemed to be fitting well and nice n square. Next time - the 'coffee pot' itself.

Finitched! And with a few days to spare. Mind you, I still have stock to service, etc so probably just as well. Plan is to swap over with the two upper quadrant equivalents this weekend so as they're all ready and bedded in for the main event. Hopefully further reports after the weekend. A few compromises / cheats along the way as this was meant as a quick build due to the temporary nature of their installation - but hopefully they will still look the part and add to the pre-war ambience.

Sounds like a date! (In about 10 years time - ha!) You'll have one of at least eight different control positions to choose from when it all comes to fruition

And, now for something on a slightly different tack... Eh? Where's the railway! Well, no-one would have been quite daft enough to build a railway here. This is High Cup Nick, one of the Pennine Way's most dramatic viewpoints, located way up in the High Pennines. But, there is a connection here. You'll have to trust me but we are looking almost directly down the barrel towards Shap Fell, away on the far distant skyline. In the mid-distance is the river Eden, with Appleby nestling in its valley. Just out of sight to the left is the distinctive outline of Wild Boar Fell. Yes, close by is Settle & Carlisle country, where the Midland Railway was - famously - daft enough to build a railway. Another part of the Carlisle master plan features a section of the Midland Railway's mountain masterpiece and, although it's been done to death, I have no qualms to present to you my version of Garsdale. As you can see, the basic baseboard structures have already been assembled; this was the result of some work I did about 12 years ago but has been mothballed since. But it is now time for it to emerge, chrysalis-like from its slumbers. Much careful measurement and marking out was the order of the day, checking and re-checking that I had got both location and height correct. And now the first bits of structure start to grow outwards from the datum points. The idea here is that the boards will sit on a permanent structure, whilst having their own legs folded away - this has also been designed as a portable exhibition layout. More structure building up, getting more solid with each part added. First two (out of four) boards supported. And now the full structure, supporting the full scene. This end has actually got as far as some mod-roc'ing. Those familiar with the location will recognise the road underbridge and the approach road up to the station. From the north end, this gives an idea of the reverse sweep through the site, with the trackbed of the Hawes branch and the 'ole for the 50ft turntable prominent. The best description I've ever read of this section of the route is 'riding the backbone of England' (a reference to my beloved Pennines). A drop of rain falling at Garsdale Head can potentially go three different ways - to the Humber, Solway Firth or the Lune estuary. We're now into serious brownie point territory here. Certain members of the household tend to like things all neat n organised. And inside the doors? Why, stock storage of course! As you can see, some stock goes back 30 years but it will all have some sort of role to play in the years to come. Gonna take a lot of stock to fill this layout

To make neat wiring runs from lever frame to points n siggernals Alexander Graham

Who cares? It tasted as good as Frosties Bo Hemian

Mmmmm! Corn beef quiche lorraine with Lyonnaise potatoes

'One wire should be a blue-ish grey ... and the other one should be a grey-ish blue' [bob Newhart, defusing a bomb]

Ditto. Just found this thread and spent an enjoyable half hour going through and 'liking'. Can't add anything useful or informative at the moment, only to say that views of the internals of (mainly) long lost mechanical signalboxes are great and only usually the province of a privileged few so thanks for sharing.

It's fine, really. Just don't mention the C0cks, that's all...

I knew .. I just KNEW ... it was a mistake including that button / knob in the picture There's me, slaving away at my artickleyations and all you lot are interested in is the red knob! I dunno... For info, when depressed (ha!), it connects the fiddle yard to the inner mainline so as fiddle yard operator can bring a northbound train out into position ready for it to appear on stage round the front. A similar knob allows southbound trains to be similarly positioned and also dragged back into the yard once the front of house operators have finished with 'em.

Copious instructions supplied with the kit, although I wouldn't regard it as a suitable kit for a beginner. I like to do most of my soldering from the inside where possible. The footplate is two pieces soldered together, with alignment pins in each of the four corners. The only tricky bit in what I've shown so far was the cab overlays where a large amount of heat is required to get the solder to flow over such a large area. For this I used my pencil gas torch - but very judiciously, with a large, water loaded brush to hand!

Or...

Does that therefore make you Captain Sensible? At least some of the time? Keep talking the happy talk

Welcome to the G-Train Locomotive Works! Previously, I've featured any stock building on my layout threads; however, now that I'm doing commissions which don't bear any relation to the layout(s) then it seems to make more sense to join the happy throng in this area of the site. My first assignment has been the High Level models kit for the GER Cl.209, better known as the LNER Y5 'Coffee Pot'. This is what turned up at the start of the year (the chassis etch followed later). Footplate etch and overlay. Splasher tops and smokebox in progress Cab former ready to attach Cab overlays fitted Fit of the parts so far has been very good. Clearly a lot of thought gone into the kit. Next time - the chassis work commences.