MarshLane

Really nice neat wiring Chris! Almost a shame its hidden away underneath! Can I ask, what have you used to secure the 'looms' to the baseboard? Rich

This is one of the things I really like about rmWeb - the help that people give and the open sharing of information. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been researching Doncaster Works test train formations, looking towards the new 'BIG' layout. Id just assumed that prior to the Mk2 set which came about in the mid-1990s, that it was all Mk1s, but I came across this photograph (Flickr link) of 37027 at York Yard North in March 1981, that made me do some more digging. Turns out that prior to 1983/1984 the train comprised of seven LMS BG vehicles dating from 1939! So I started a thread (click here if you want a look) on the LMS Coaches part of this site, to see if anyone could offer any more info, or suggest suitable kits. The LMS not being one of my area's knowledge. The response was brilliant, and thanks to a swap of information, I've now identified the coaches, their background and possible kit options from a couple of people including Sidelines and Ian Kirk Ain't it good to share! As a well known brand says ... 'Every little helps' Rich

Ooh your beating me with Class 20s! Cannot wait to see your progress with this - Shirebrook was one depot I never saw in real life but in recent years have seen endless pictures, so looking forward to following a long! Rich

Hi Jim, Oh the extension looks good! Is this to act as a fiddle yard, or to be extended further around the garden? Im assuming the latter given where the pointwork is at the bottom. I've ordered my 37 kit, so just waiting on it arriving now! Body first tho, so will be a little while before I get round to the bogies - need to have a chat with a few people about motors and gearboxes I think. The fact that I've got 9ft trains, and grades is pushing me towards ABC, but not sure if its worth the extra expense, given the comments about the alternatives. I agree with your comments about the incentive from other modellers on here, and I also find that the community spirit, friendship and encouragement from fellow modellers on rmWeb also spurs me on and gives me an incentive to make it happen. Its nice to share! I've got a set of Heljan Mk1s for some of the passenger workings on my new layout, but can see the potential for an Easybuild charter set (Intercity white roof perhaps - or maybe push the boat out with the colourful Pilkington K Set!) once the 37 is complete. Trouble is there's so much you want to achieve, and so little time to achieve it!! Really like Ayr Road tho - and look forward to seeing more of the extension. Rich

Hi Jez, Wow - that really does look superb and the quality of the build and scenery, given the small scale of N gauge is wonderful. You have far more patience than me! I love anything 1980s/1990s and steel works stuff especially ticks the boxes. Great to see - kept dipping into it at work today when I could! Looking forward to your progress. Rich

Hi Gareth, Just catching up on the Abbotswood Thread - do you mind if I ask what the new banking arrangements are at Bromsgrove - I thought there was that little freight up the Lickey now, that banking had basically been abandoned??? Phil, well done on the YouTube achievement - amazing to hit 1/2 million views! Mind you, its an amazing layout, so we shouldn't be surprised that people want to see it! Rich

Martin did a video about that ... just need to remember where it was! Rich

Sods law isn't it ... it must be the first evening in ages I've not looked at Beale Street before switching the iPad off and heading to bed Sorry mate. Never mind .... I'll keep me trap shut next time lol Still you might feel the urge to add another siding before midnight RIch

Thanks Jim, Yes I've been trying to assess which way to go. Having not experienced either before, which do you think is more on a part with the Heljan pulling power? Be interested to see how you get on with the Easybuild coaches - are they as their name suggests? Having now decided to go down the kit-building road (although I want to sort the 37/5 before I do anything else) my mind is wandering onto what other possibilities it opens up! Rich

Hi Marcus, Oooh id missed Kyle of LochWilliam ... thats tonights reading sorted . Your a bad influence, distracting me from modelling hehe! Rich

Hi Peter, Arghh! Wish id know before you ordered the point, I've a new Peco L/H and R/H O gauge here that I bought a few years ago and never used! Been meaning to put them on eBay but not got round to it, could done a good deal with you on that! Rich

Hi Robin, Your welcome. Ah course, within the old Longbridge plant. That example is allowing unlimited access into the headshunt, but controlling movements leaving the yard passing through the bridge. Quite amazing to think that all of Longbridge has gone - I was watching an old Telerail DVD on the West Midlands the other day, filmed about 1992-1993, which details the Longbridge operation quite substantially! The idea and background to the layout looks good, shall be keenly watching it develop! Rich

Absolutely superb Peter - nice shots, and the surroundings, I agree with Gwiwer, a few of those in black and white could be realistic - especially the back view of the 40 with the chap walking down the ballast! Can you give a rating of 11 out of 10 Rich

Looks good Marcus, nice detailing. Rich

Jon, Marcus & Peter, Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. I am very pleased with 47636 tho Peter, really would like a ScotRail push-pull example, but its at the back of queue and way out of area ... however, if my long-term goal works out on Arksey, and the Doncaster Works test train gets recreated and a whole host of locomotives could appear!!!! General Update A quick comment on Jinty's thread made me realise I hadn't mentioned the latest arrival, which appeared last week. Again, apologies for the cr*p in the background, as you can tell, I've started stockpiling ballast for the new layout! This one, which is out of period for what I'm doing with Arksey is going to stay as it is for a while, to allow some 1970s-era vacuum-braked photos to be done on the new layout when its up and running, but the long-term plan is that the head code will be plated over, the numbers updated to 47222 and the 'Appleby Frodingham' nameplates, that I already have, will be attached. The weathering on this is so nice however, I am a little loathe to spoil it! This is the fifth 47 acquired, and given I'm a '37' fan through and through, I never thought Sulzer Type 4s would out number English Electric Type 3s on my layout!! Thanks to Chris Stafford (NorthEastern) on here, its a lovely model, and already fitted with DCC Sound, so its acquisition and reallocation to Marsh Lane was a bit of a no-brainer! Also arriving with it on the trip working from the North North East was... Which are both now stored, pending operation on Arksey. I was quite amazed at how heavy these Cargowagons are, but lovely models. Two down, only another five to go for the train! While, its not quite the right style of vehicle, the aim is to recreate the old Ripple Lane to Immingham paper train that used to run. I keep mentioning the new Arksey layout, my 'BIG' project, and a couple of people have asked why I haven't started a separate thread - pure reason being I don't want it to stagnate, I want it to show progress, so I'm holding off until the loft is totally cleared, the floor boarding sorted and track starts to go down, then (in the words of Andy 'not another layout plan' Peters) I shall reveal all! God thats frightening isn't it! Seriously, its getting closer - another couple of days work and the loft will be sorted. Long term plan is the Arksey thread will be pure layout based, and this will become more of a workbench/general update thread - and the base for Marsh Lane Depot when I finally find somewhere to put the boards! Rich

I thought that was my task Andy he says having just added his fifth! I think that 60 needs a Construction liveried centre-headcode 37 tho Jinty just to keep it company hehe! Rich

Hi Jim, I started reading your thread thinking, oh thats opportune! We're going to be building our JLTRT 37s together (well almost!) then I realised I was 12-months behind the flow! The layout looks wonderful tho, I've been having a wander around your Flickr pages, nice shots. Now bookmarked and following! I've been thinking about ABC Gears for my 37, seen as the new layout will have grades and lengthy trains - was there any particular reason you went down the Slaters route for gearboxes? Im looking forward to getting started .. well I think am . Still a bit nervous, having not tackled anything that large before, and not wanting to mess up a £400 plus investment! Rich

Aww I'll bring you some hankies and tissues on Sunday Brian Thanks Andy Rich

Very nice Ian, I haven't mastered roofs yet but the slates on that box look great.Hope your proud of that - you should be! Rich

Hi Fabrice, Superb little layout - congratulations on the track work, and that wiring is almost as good as the track!!! Well done, watching with interest. Rich

Hi Robin, Yes you've grasped what I was meaning totally there! On that three arm shunt, the top arm would control access to Sidings 1/2 (the crossover being hand worked by ground staff I'm presuming), the middle arm into the arrival siding, and the bottom arm in the departure/exchange siding - again the point into the latter and the crossover to the Mersey Docks system being handworked. Im thinking that there should be a ground signal located as shown on my attachment. This would be one of two varieties. It could be a double disc ground signal with the top giving access to the exchange siding, and the bottom giving access to the two MDR sidings, OR it could be an unusual single black ground signal with a yellow bar (like this one) - this has a special meaning, in that movements can pass it at danger for the purpose of shunting into the two MDR sidings, but all movements MUST obey it for shunting into the exchange siding. I think the latter would probably be more suitable, as it means that the BR signaller only has control over movements into the exchange siding. In recent years, I only know of two of these remaining on the network one in the sidings at Barnetby, the other at Edale - but the Barnetby one has now gone, with the re-signalling. Interestingly I saw it on ebay a few weeks back!!! Rich

Hi JInty, Yes 60010 does seem to have had an adverse reaction to dirt that saw it heading for the washer each time! I've been through my shots this afternoon, and nothing ... worst I could find was this one on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/71092681@N07/11760308034 Rich

Thinking about it, there may also have been ground signals at the departure end of the arrival road, and just after the departure end of the crossover of the top two sidings, as there would need to be a way of preventing movements if a departure was signalled. Rich

Hi Robin Ok, well two thoughts then. Depending on the period your modelling, if your working on one engine in steam for the BR side, you could get away with no signals at all. If there's only one loco allowed on the branch, none are needed. If there are two, I would suggest a home signal after the BR line comes onto the board, before the first point. Logically that would need to be one of two options either a shunt signal (like this) with three arms, or ground signal with multiple discs (which give the three routes available from that point, assuming the crossover points at 78/60 on the left hand side of your plan are hand worked, or a bracket along the lines of this example. You need to bear in mind the function of the signals. Home signals (such as the middle two in the second example) give the driver permission to proceed and tell him the line is clear to the next signal, stopboard or buffer stops. But in the real world, if there was a wagon or loco already on that siding, that statement wouldn't be true, in which case the home signal could not be cleared. A shunt or calling on signal (i.e. first example) says, that the driver has permission to proceed, but that the route may not be clear to the next signal, stop board or buffer stops and as such the driver should proceed with caution and be prepared to stop. I think that the former would be the better option, but I don't know how the LNWR would have signalled such moves. In terms of departures, you'd probably have a home signal somewhere around the end of the red line to control departures. Again, a home signal says that the driver is clear to proceed to the next signal - which would work for departing trains, as the signalman would have obtained the single line token to be able to release the home signal. But for shunt moves that wouldn't be necessary as the train wouldn't be continuing through the section, so a ground signal would likely also be placed at the same point, just in front of the home signal. SO the home controls departures, the ground controls shunts. As for the docks system, most industrial lines didn't really use signalling but again I'm not up on MDR history. There would have been signs up saying 'Mersey Docks Railway locomotives not to pass this point', i.e. a limit of their operation on the BR lines, and equally the MDR lines would have had a 'British Railways locomotives not to pass this point', I would have thought. Like I said earlier, I enjoy signalling, but I'm not an expert, so others may have other thoughts or ideas, but thats how id look at it, unless further history/comment from others was forthcoming. Hope that helps. Understanding signalling is not just about where they go, its what the different types mean and the authority they give. Rich

Hi Jon, Do you mean this kind of shot . Sorry about the 58 Brian - its the only other long loco I have on the layout at the moment! Apologies for the background - pictures from the future Arksey will hopefully be much better, with sky instead of wallpaper! I was going to try a head-on shot for you too, but my tripod isn't the best, and despite, having the legs out, when the centre column was removed from the vertical and replaced horizontal at 90degrees to allow the camera to be positioned further across than the legs, it tipped up! Had I thought a little harder and positioned the first focus point on the track, then the bottom left would have been in focus. As it is, this is 44 separate images merged together. It occurred to me that you might like to look at this full size, rather than limited to 1000px, so there is a link here, BUT DO BE AWARE .. its taken on a Nikon D800 which is a 36MP SLR, so the file size is 21MB and the full width of the picture is 7,320 pixels ... so if you do look, make sure you click to zoom in! If you don't want to download the big file, but want to see the level of detail that is shown, this is a 1000px by 667px crop from the full size image Again, for those interested the first, 22nd and 44th frames are also available if you want to take look and see how the focusing worked originally. No hope at all of getting anything like a broad focus, even on a high 'F' stop. The links are first file, 22nd File and 44th File. Jon, just remember that Helicon Remote only works with Canon or Nikon DSLRs - you can take all the images individually, by moving the focus yourself and taking another picture, then importing what you have taken into Helicon Focus, which will work with RAW, TIF or JPG from any camera, but I can't guarantee how good the results are! Im assuming your layout is a group build? Im more than happy to have a wander over for the afternoon one day and do some pics, show you how it works and let you have a go if you/the group want? This is one of the reasons I like O gauge - the feeling of presence even from a static loco far exceeds the smaller scales (each to their own of course) but it makes doing layout photography so much easier! Rich