LNER4479

Mrs4479 sez she can recommend a good optician... Here we are all set up ready to go at Nottingham. See you over the weekend if you're coming

OK, so not quite such a surprise as originally hoped - but here's the final part of the German trilogy nonetheless. Gleiss (platform!) 24 at Leipzig station does indeed contain a display of historic rolling stock (although we had no idea it was there so just stumbled upon it - which just added to the excitement). Now then, normally it would be kettles such as this which would command my attention - but on this occasion, it was the next train in the line that I was drawn to. From what I can make out, this is a production example of the legendary 'Flying Hamburger'! This is of course of direct relevance - and thus of great interest - to the story behind the 1930's LNER streamliners that we aim to portray on the layout. Gresley himself visited Germany to sample the original 1934 prototype as part of his considerations for the new high speed services on the LNER - and concluded that he could do altogether better with steam power(!) The train on display was one of a series built in 1935 to provide high speed services from Berlin - apparently, they lasted into service into the 1960s-1970s. I couldn't quite make out the mechanical configuration but it appeared to be a bogie at each outer end but only a single powered axle at the other (inner) end of each car - which would explain the noisy and uncomfortable ride that Gresley experienced. At the other end of the line up were a couple of electric locos - but the 'Flying Hamburger' was the star exhibit for me (I think I need a lie down). Finally, on the way back, we achieved another ambition - rather than passing it by (again!), we made a point of stopping off and sampling the 'Dingle Dangle Railway' (as irreverently referred to by Mrs LNER4479!) This really is a most remarkable travel experience (I hesitate to call it a 'railway'!), mostly spent suspended over a fast-flowing river. Having looked forward to it for so long, Mrs 4479 wasn't quite so sure once aboard, as it really did dangle - and sway - as it swung round the curves! But we soon got used to it! At the far (west) end of the run, it leaves the river and takes to the street. Quite an experience to overtake the road vehicles from above! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Wuppertal's iconic Schwebebahn. And now - off to Nottingham!

Shh! You're spoiling tonight's third and final episode... (Gleiss 24 to be exact)

Hi Tom, Glad you enjoyed your recent trip to Grantham. The wall at the south end of the main up platform would once have been part of the Goods shed, as you suspect. The other side is now open air following demolition of the main trainshed part of the goods shed; the offices at the north end still survive. (really need a picture to explain it properly!) Just whizzed through the place myself en route to the office! 'Robert'

German trip Part 2. Tearing ourselves away - reluctantly - from the magic Harz mountains, we took the train in a generally eastward direction. Not too far actually - just one change, at Halle. I amused Mrs4479 by engaging in building spotting from the train. This goods shed has obviously seen better times but retains a certain elegance nonetheless! This was more serviceable - still quite a lot of semi-roundhouses in Germany, quite a favoured depot arrangement it seems But we were simply blown away by the station at the end of our journey. This is Leipzig hbf. Nice enough looking from the outside (and nice trams!) but it's real splendour lies inside. This is the main concourse and the photo doesn't really do it justice. There are 24 platforms here - and just look at the size of those arches. According to Wikipedia (which must be right!) it lays claim to being the largest covered station concourse in the world! But here's the most remarkable thing. This is the same concourse after .. er ... the last unpleasantness. It's all been rebuilt since. And was apparently re-commissioned on the 50th anniversary of its first opening. And it was 100 years old last year. Quite remarkable. Anyhow - onwards and upwards. Part of the reason for basing ourselves at Leipzig was to take a trip out into the Saxony countryside. Here we are, changing trains at an altogether more functional station at Chemnitz Further out to the outermost tentacles of the German railway system, at Cranzahl (note the semaphore signals). Why? Steam! (of course) This is the interchange for the Fichtelbergbahn, a 750mm gauge line that takes the traveller 17km further on towards the Czech border. The line - unsurprisingly - is predominantly uphill. The central section, twisting its way up through a forest, certainly had our loco earning its keep. Approaching journey's end, the line crosses this signature bridge. And yes, those are ski slopes on the mountainside beyond. And the Czech Republic is on the other side. We have arrived at Oberweisenthal, Germany's highest town and a ski resort (albeit with a rather short season!) Quite novel, arriving at your ski holiday behind steam! Final instalment tomorrow!

The bit of the roof you can see is an appendage to the main overall roof. Although the Wiki entry below doesn't give dates, the first picture on the top right of the page shows clearly how it has been added on at some point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ln_Hauptbahnhof

Nice pic in the header / banner thingy on this site!

Radio silence maintained for a week or so - we've been away for a winter break. A three part travelogue follows (whilst the final frantic preparations for Nottingham are made). Despite being a rather crude montage, fellow European travellers should have no trouble recognising this well-known gateway from where our travels proper began. (We'd actually Eurostar'd after work the previous evening to Brussels). From here (Cologne, just in case you didn't know) we head east... ... to a firm favourite destination of ours - Wernigerode, just inside former eastern Germany. Renowned for its 'Hansel & Gretel' town centre, it's better known to us railway enthusiasts as the base from which to experience the peerless Harz Mountain Railway. The diesels are just for ECS workings, shunting, works trains etc - steam otherwise rules! Our train loco, 2-10-2T 7237, brews up before going off shed. Here we are at Schierke, pausing for breath on the legendary climb to the summit of the Brocken mountain. We've found some snow! From Schierke, it's an unbroken 30min slog up the 1-in-30 grade for the gutsy big tank loco. Designed for the route, you feel they'd just keep going all day. With a lighter, mid-week, winter load, 7237 was well within herself. Ahead, looming out of the misty skyline is the summit observatory. The final stage of the climb is a 360deg spiral to reach the summit - think Snaefell, with serious attitude. It was by now getting distinctly cold! Brocken summit station. I've seen it snowier than this but it never fails to impress. We're officially 747km from London! The curious flat-topped mountain affords views in all directions - on a clear day! On the way back down, we were subject to an unusual operational manoeuvre, nevertheless carried out several times during the day. We were shunted into the passing siding. If you look carefully just ahead of the locomotive, you can see the mainline continuing to fall away, which merely serves to emphasis the gradients involved. Being seasoned Harz travellers, we knew what to expect and had deliberately positioned ourselves in the rear coach, the balcony of which affords a grandstand view of the next train forging up the hill that we'd been sidelined to give way for. 7237 returning up the hill again. The uphill train safely past, we propel back out of the siding to continue our journey back down. Finally, for now, we alighted for an hour at the junction station at Drei Annen Hohne. This is where the line to the Brocken actually branches off from the 'mainline' south to Nordhausen (although the Brocken route sees the more intensive service). It's my favourite place on the network, set in an attractive wooded setting. Twice a day, three steam-hauled trains meet here so we timed our visit to see them. In fact, in the space of an hour we actually witnessed no less than FIVE separate steam-hauled trains - and the sun came out. What more could you wish for? To kick things off, our train loco - the unique pre-war 2-10-2T No.222, runs round its train... ...before heading back up the mountain again. I just wandered a hundred yards along the lineside from the station to get to this spot. No-one bothers you, you're responsible for your own elf n safety. No sooner had I returned to the station than a surprise additional train turned up! (hang around long enough and things like that tend to happen). It appeared to be empty stock, hauled by No.7247. Coming the other way is No.7245 with the afternoon train from Eisfelder. With the 'special' out of the way, No.7245 has left its train in Plat.3, as No.7237 (again!) arrives in from the Brocken. This service forms a through service to Nordhausen (to be headed by 7245; 7237 will transfer to the Eisfelder train and thus return us to Wernigerode). Finally, No.7239 arrives with a Wernigerode-Brocken train - and we have the three trains meet! Not too many places I can think of where you see this type of intensive steam activity. And it happens 364 days of the year; it may be tourist-orientated but this is no preserved railway! Tomorrow - onwards, further east!

As an alternative suggestion could you not turn the whole thing round 180deg so that you're squeezing past the fiddle yard rather than Camden. Or - as I suspect - do you want to be able to view Camden from both sides? If Great Northern Gilbert were here he'd be advocating the use of cassettes for your fiddle yard. Might be worth considering for smaller trains?

Time to get stuck into the stash of unmade kits?

I'm sorry - that's just too good merely to 'agree' with someone else's 'Wow!' So have another one. WOW!! Incredible modelling on an incredible scale.

Love the model of your model! Is there any reason why your workbench isn't to the left hand side of the staircase (ie the 'leg' of the 'T')? Otherwise, how do you propose to get access to the workbench as located? Is there room to squeeze past the side of Camden shed or are you going to have to do a double crawl under every time? If it were me I'd be exploring all sorts of complex routings in and out of the 'leg' with different levels and gradients ... but that's just me!

Aha - you've discovered the beautiful simplicity of fiddle yards - you can change things around and adjust (ie 'fiddle'!) easy-peasy. Unlike your main lines once everything's ballasted and scenicked. Glad to hear you're getting your head round it. Fly Ducky, fly!!

Nothing to do with the heater being on two bars, of course...

Another show approaching = time to build another station canopy. This time, it's actually more of a trainshed than a canopy, which covered Platform 4 bay as well as providing cover for the north end of Platform 3. Unlike the similar(-ish) one over the old Platform 1 bay that I made last year, the Platform 4 structure lasted until the end of steam so is probably somewhat better known by those who knew the station in its heyday. We start with the support brackets, soldered up on top of the usual drawing. Five to make, all should be more or less identical in dimensions. Next, the support cradle which will become part of the carrying case in due course. Now the longitudinal pieces can be added to build up the overall structure. Basic structure complete and looking reasonably straight and square. A spray coat of grey primer has been applied. A view from underneath shows the distinctive girder pieces - Plastrut shapes cut to size and glued to the underneath of the brass L girders. They're not therefore contributing anything to the strength of the canopy. Now with roof pieces added and tried out for size in its intended position on the station. A first coat of green paint has been applied which makes the girder pieces stand out quite nicely. This view shows its juxtaposition with the Platform 5 canopy. The new canopy (Platform 4) is of a different type of construction so I don't need any of Jason (JCL)'s delicate bits(!) Wonder why they were different? Finally, a view from a similar orientation as the prototype pic. This shows the canopy for Platform 3. There's more to do before the show - but it'll be radio silence now until Nottingham so if you want to see it in completed(-ish) form then you'll need to come to the show; or watch out for pics following the event!

Congrats on the BRM article Les

Thanks Terry - a while since you last posted I think? Quite a different project now, largely thanks to the magnificent RMWeb community

Predictive text strokes again!

Stand by for a PM...

All excess sucked up without mishap last night! The jar is now full again ... ready for another visit ... at your convenience ... no hurry ...

Anybody noticed that she's swapped support coaches? Makes for a lovely uniform B&C rake. Does this make me a coachie-nutter?

Otherwise known as Tintern Abbey...?(!)

Champagne Charlie I believe he was known as...

The very fella. It was actually his right hand man, a namesake of yours, who I liaised with most often.