Michael Edge

That's how Alan describes it but it's clearly not what was going on in the photo. The accident report makes interesting reading:

BRER_WentworthJunction1971.pdf

In this case the 30 wagon MGR train was drawn out on to the down main which was permissive block from Kendall Green but as I pointed out earlier there were no signals for this move (no backing disc by the signal box). The driver of the down train was held at least partly to blame, reading between the lines the suspicion was that he was going a lot faster than he said he was but the interesting bit is that he thought the train off the pit was on the up line - perhaps that's where it usually was? Wentworth Junction was a rather remote place and I'm sure rules were bent/ignored fairly regularly.

You’re going to need to find out about black sections for that…..

45 minutes ago, John76 said:

Maybe they only propelled out onto the Down Main if there was traffic due on the up main or as in the case of the collision they had some empties for the colliery?

The empties arrived first and were swapped for the fulls. They couldn't be propelled on to the main, the locos were all at the wrong end.

35 minutes ago, Bri.dolan said:

Yes it’s heading up the bank with wombwell main junction and aldham estate in the distance 

I’ll see if I can find some that have relevance to mikes thread 

I don’t want to drag it off the topic of wentworth junction 

 

Regards 

 

Brian 

Don't worry about relevance, I'm happy to see any stuff about this line. 

Closure date for Strafford crossing box is very useful but what I would really like is a photo of it.

If they were being objective and fair why didn't the interviewer ask him about the motorway noise? It just sounded to me like another attempt to rubbish the idea of building anything new in this country - especially a railway.

Have a look at the track plan, you can’t get to the down main from the branch, at least not with a signalled move. This was the normal operation, we do it on the model if the pit trip loads to more than 14 wagons or if the Garratt is the banker.

Yes.....

The photo is definitely before the crash, the two bankers are hauling the train on to the up main, the train engines waiting on the down main. There would also have been a diesel involved to run to and from the pit, wires only went far enough along the branch for the electrics to hook on.

No date but it's earlier anyway, locos have small yellow panels and probably still green. 

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

The M6 & M42 are often at a standstill around there. That would probably make them a little quieter than the M6 toll, which is also nearby. You do not have to be a local to know any of that either. So you have the slow traffic pumping out pollution & the fast traffic creating noise...but a new railway which will be blended back into the countryside is too much?

I question the sanity of any society which would treat her complaint seriously without considering the above.

The BBC are good at this, I remember when there was a big fuss about constructing CTRL (HS1), Radio 4 sent a reporter to interview a protestor near Maidstone. He said the noise from the railway was going to be unbearable but the interview was done in his garden and they had to shout to each other to be heard above the noise from the M2....

8 minutes ago, Bri.dolan said:

A then and now comparison at wentworth junction

Went for a walk up there last Sunday and thought I’d get a now comparison shot 

the then shot is one of my late uncles 

 

regards 

 

Brian 

Do you have date for that photo? The loop signal is still the elevated disc but I have one with two miniature arms. I would like to know when it was changed and why.

I did point this out and recent ones are conventional. The early ones were much more difficult to interlock with the points, you can break a circuit in multiple places ( to prevent the signal clearing) but it’s much more complicated to make it multiple places.

Yes but the LEDs won’t be visible - more importantly breaking the circuit returns the signal to danger, the early ones for Carlisle were the other way round (and a real pita).

Work started on making the signals operate.

WJ up home removed from the layout and set up on a bit of wood, the signals just peg into the baseboard with another hole for the operating wire. The servo controller is the Dingo Simplex board, cheap and simple, it doesn't do fancy stuff like bounce but I can live without that. Set up here with the switch open, signal at danger and a green light on the board.

Switch closed and the arm goes to clear with a red light on the board, setting is done with the push button switch at the left of the LED and the pot at the right.

Underneath the servo is mounted on a short length of aluminium angle with four screws, the brass tube is the bottom of the signal post and the .4mm brass operating wire just goes into one of the holes in the servo arm. The other end of this arm will work a microswitch to set the colour light distant.

All this was very quick and easy (excellent service from Dingo as well), each signal will only need one on/off switch, where there are alternative routes these will be set by the point motors so the correct one comes off for the route set. Home and starter signals will also be wired through the link switches so they will only come off if the links are on - the fiddle yard driver can therefore drive trains according to the signals and if both home and starter are off will be able to drive all the way round.

Far too cold in the shed to contemplate working out there this week so this remains a bench job for now.

The next but one will be yours Mike, first all etched one will be for me.

I have two NER A2 4-6-2s to build for Geoff Linsdell, unfortunately I've mislaid all his contact information since he gave them to me at York last year. If there's anyone on here who knows him can they help? This should have been my next job after finishing the 72xx.

The J17 doesn't have a knuckle joint, leading and trailing rods are overlapped on the middle crankpin.

It hasn’t been on the website, mainly because they sell out as soon as we get them. Currently out of stock but more on order.

Very nice, nothing wrong with those rivets.

3 hours ago, Daddyman said:

There's much more control with a twisting motion, which is why l gave up punching/dropping. With a twisting motion you can stop and check - usually about 10-12 turns is enough, but you'll need to work out the pressure. I use the same pressure as l would with a 1mm drill in a hand chuck - i.e. quite a lot. 

What do you rest the etch on?

Rest the etch on a piece of aluminium angle in the vice, hold the needle (stylus) with forceps and drop a hammer on it. If you drop it from the same height each time you will get consistent sized rivets. I often do this when my riveting tools won't work satisfactorily for one reasom or another.

Don't forget the Wentworth Junction thread as well! I do like to keep busy.

9Fs weren't very common on the WCML at Wigan in your period, nearly all freights were 8F or 5MT/5XP powered.

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening the oldest man in creation,

 

I've just received an email informing me of the closure. 

 

I find it hard to believe. 

 

It must be over 60 years ago that I first walked down Smithdown Road to number 180. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

It’s at least 65 years since I first found Norman’s amazing shop in Smithdown Road - about 8 miles or so by bike from home.