The White Rabbit

Actually, I think this is a fairly accurate graphic representation of the level of emotion that article's caused...

Crocodile sauce - has a real bite to it. (Coat, hat, sneak out the back way...) I once saw a sign in a restaurant window "[The restaurant] is closed this week due to inadequate staff".

Re the second, I thought it was [uS] General John Sedgwick about Confederate sharpshooters, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." (Spotsylvania, 1864). Yes, I'm up for that Allan.

I've just had an idea for the next scenic challenge - model cobwebs...

Or perhaps he’s getting on with other aspects of his life? We have been rather spoilt, with Allan (and others) spending a lot of time showing us their models. It’s been seriously inspirational and very informative reading his posts, I’ve always enjoyed them even if I’ve not replied or commented. I don’t know about other members, but there have been a lot of times I don’t have anything sensible to say. They are great models but after a while you run out of comments. How many ways are there of saying, “fantastic, superb, I really like that”? Perhaps now is a good time to move a vote of thanks to Allan for all his time and trouble he’s spent, not just on producing these models but photographing them and typing out commentary. I know others (not least a certain Mr. R) have made this thread what it is, but to me Allan’s been the lead player. It’s my favourite thread on RMWeb. I hope we’re not at the end of it but if we are, thanks for all your contributions, it’s been great.

From the violent to the peaceful? This was one of the most dramatic sunsets I've seen, after a clear, sunny January day. A sunny but sub-zero start to Valentine's Day 2010 produced some impressive exhausts at the Worth Valley. After the frost melted, the air was still cold and calm enough for volcanic departures. A fine start to a NYMR Gala day turned to (unforecasted) heavy rain and low cloud in the afternoon, but I did get some atmospheric frames.

Is everyone so gobsmacked by Allan's American modelling they're stunned into silence? Well, from steak to burgers. Two pictures of my latest instalment (there's more in October's Modeller ... ). Not scratchbuilding but simple kitbashing and an attempt to show folks you can achieve acceptable results without needing impossible levels of cash, time or talent. Good enough to be inspirational but not so good it scares newcomers to the hobby. This diorama's a good advert for Metcalfes but they do good kits and with a bit of imagination you can make them look even better. I'll be at Shipley next weekend, demonstrating/displaying with the diorama below (the August Modeller) - if you are there, do say hello, though if you hang around for long, I'll probably try and sell you something!

I've experimented with Allan's patent colouring method on corrugated Slaters sheets, it didn't produce holes but did make the sheet want to curl up. It's quite possible I was applying the woodstain inexpertly/too heavy-handedly but I'd suggest you be prepared to weight your sheets down. (No problem in my experience with the thicker Wills sheets).

Looking at Martin Bairstow's Railways round Whitby Volume 1, page 16 has a picture of an autocar on the Beck Hole shuttle - but it's a steam autocar (an autotrain) - the NER used the term for more than our type of vehicle. I didn't buy a copy of Mr B's OPC History but will see if I can look at one later this week. The autocars spent four years based at Scarborough and we know they spent a lot of time on Scarborough - Filey services and worked out to Ganton on a regular basis. Even if it turns out that the petrol-electrics did not run on the pre-preservation NYMR and/or the coast line, there should be very few eyebrows raised if you showed them doing so in model form. It's much less of a stretch of the imagination than some modellers ask of us. If anyone quibbles, tell them Mr. Phillips is navigating/driving and he confused his left with his right...

Thanks. If anyone would like to give us a hand, you'll be welcome. We do have someone who commutes from the NE about once every three weeks, it's a long journey for him but we appreciate the help. It is a small team, so one or two extra people could make a big difference. Robin Lidster is the author of a book recently published by Amberley about the Forge Valley Line and kindly sent us a copy of an old postcard showing the autocar on a FV service, to add to our [small] collection of contemporary photos. As far as we know, the autocars ran on the FV line, westwards towards Malton and southwards to Filey. We have not yet found evidence of them running north on the coast line, though I don't know if that's an absence of evidence or evidence of absence... I know the LNER used the line as a testing ground for Sentinels and other railcars, but I don't know whether that was established practice in the early 1900s (in which case it's quite possible) or something that was introduced later, after the autocars moved to Selby. (If anyone would like to take on the role of researcher, we may be able to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge). This is a 'photofit' of your suspicions... Thanks to Robin Taylor for scratchbuilding the [7mm scale] model of the autocar and posing it on the Keighley Club's 'Runswick Bay' layout for me.

The trailer/autocoach is to be dual braked. I'm not sure that the controls in the coach will be compatible with a push-pull fitted steam engine, but at the very least, it should be able to work as an ordinary loco hauled carriage. There'll be the opportunity for some photo charters, perhaps with the G5? Both the autocar and autocoach are likely to visit other lines. I believe only one formal request for a visit/loan has so far been received, but I suspect the NYMR, Wensleydale, Beamish, Kirby Stephen East, Middleton and the Great Central are all places you are likely to see us. Several people (including GWS members) have mentioned the possibility of holding a railcar gala and/or putting the autocar alongside the GWR Railmotor. I think it's probably when rather than if. But I anticipate - let's get it finished first!

An introduction: Many of you will have heard of this project. Several members of the forum have encouraged me to talk about it on here, so as there’s the interest and I have some time spare today, I thought I would… As I’m summarising 112 years and setting the scene for readers who are not so familiar with the story of the autocar, this first post is a bit lengthy. If anyone is interested to want to know more, I have a thread about the progress to date on the LNER Forum at http://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2659 and at first http://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2201&hilit=autocar The LNER Encyclopedia’s entry for the autocars is at http://www.lner.info/locos/IC/ner_petrolelectric.shtml The story really began at the start of last century. It was a world dominated by steam power, on land and sea. Only birds and balloons ventured into the sky, though in America, two brothers were amusing people with their ideas about powered flight. The contemporary doctrine was that railways were operated using steam engines. During the 19th century, various inventors and free-thinkers had tinkered with the concept of railcars (usually steam-powered) but had not got beyond the stage of fairground novelties. This changed in 1902, with Dugald Drummond of the LSWR. He built a bogie vehicle with a small, vertically boilered steam engine at one end and a passenger saloon taking up the rest of the space. It was loaned to the GWR in 1903 for trials and the GWR were impressed enough to build their own steam railcars. To summarise a long story, these were very successful and led to the widespread introduction of railcars in Britain in the early years of the twentieth century. In the north east of England, electric trams had just been introduced to Tyneside and were causing a transport revolution. Previously trams were horse drawn, which limited their speed and capacity. People flocked to these new, cheap, comfortable and speedy trams and the number of journeys made increased manyfold. The NER saw their passenger numbers for local services collapse and built what became the Tyne and Wear Metro in response. (The full story of the Metro is at http://www.lner.info/locos/Electric/ner_tyneside.shtml ). This introduction of electric trams also led to engineers thinking about other uses for electric motors. Electric motors have a high mechanical efficiency and are capable of delivering power quickly, useful for quick acceleration. The NER was one of the more forward thinking railway companies and receptive to fresh ideas and technology. The public’s liking for the new trams and the way these services had generated new business had concentrated minds at the NER and they investigated alternative methods of providing urban rail transport. A ‘Eureka’ moment occurred with the idea that if an electrically powered vehicle could take it’s own generator with it, there would be no need to spend time and trouble laying third rails or overhead cable. Therefore, if a petrol engine could run a generator, this would power electric traction motors and the vehicle could travel anywhere on the rail network without needing any special infrastructure. Two experimental railcars were therefore built at York between 1902 and 1903, with the stock for the Metro. The railcars were numbered 3170 and 3171. They were 53.5 feet long and weighed around 35 tons. As you can see from the photos, they had clerestory roofs, bow ends, large windows and matchboard sides. They were similar in appearance to trams and shared some of the technology. There were four compartments inside, the engine room with the principal driving position, a vestibule, the passenger saloon and a driving compartment. There was no guard’s compartment. The passenger saloon had 52 seats. These were reversible and upholstered in standard NER pattern. With curtains at the windows, radiators between the seats and electric lighting, the passenger accommodation was described as ‘cosy’ and was popular with the travelling public. They were officially called ‘autocars’ after the steam push/pull autotrain services already operated by the NER. Sometimes they were described as ‘self-propelled carriages’. The autocars had a petrol engine and a generator in their engine rooms, producing electricity for two Westinghouse 55HP traction motors which were mounted on the bogie underneath. Various petrol engines were used during the autocars’ service. The first was a Napier 85HP vertical motor which was deemed unsatisfactory during the initial trials and replaced by a Wolseley 80HP 4cylinder horizontal model. In 1923, no. 3170 was given a third engine, a 225HP 6cylinder ex-WD engine believed to come from a First World War tank. This new engine gave 3170 more torque and enough power to haul an autocoach as a trailer, though it seems not to have affected the maximum speed. The fuel tank for the petrol engine was originally a 30 gallon type but this was replaced with a larger 70 gallon tank before the railcars entered service. The latter held enough fuel to operate a full day’s services. With the second, Wolseley, engines, the autocars’ top speed was a modest 36mph, though acceleration to this took only 30 seconds, with similarly rapid braking. The autocars had three brakes, the traditional screw handbrake, Westinghouse airbrakes and an electro-magnetic track brake. This last was similar to that used by contemporary trams. When the brake was applied, a magnet would clamp onto the surface of the rail, creating friction and causing a brake shoe to be applied to the wheel. The cumulative effect was to stop the autocar in a very short distance. These NER railcars were the first in the world to use this form of propulsion. The principle of using internal combustion engines to power electric traction motors would later be developed into the diesel electric technology used to power many of BR’s ‘diesel’ locos. They could be described as the 'grandfathers' of modern passenger trains. Both autocars suffered from teething troubles during testing, especially with their engines and this delayed their entry into service until August 1904. The original intention had been to use them both to provide a frequent (10 minute) service between Hartlepool and West Hartlepool stations, with a journey time of around five minutes. As things turned out, they were used for local services around Tyneside and Scarborough. In 1908 both autocars were partially rebuilt to create a luggage area in place of the original vestibule. Two pairs of seats were removed to create the space for this, reducing capacity to 48 seats. They were then transferred south to Selby to work the Selby – Cawood branch and spent most of the rest of their working lives there. No. 3170 did work elsewhere though. After its third engine (WD surplus from a WW1 tank) was installed in 1923, it was based at Starbeck shed near Harrogate, operating local services between York, Wetherby, Pateley Bridge and Ripon. Officially it was returned to Selby after the completion of the summer timetable, however, there is evidence to suggest that it did operate services elsewhere during the 1920s. It may have been used as a ‘relief’ or supplemental service on some LNER lines. The autocars took only ten minutes to enter service and in that respect, were ideal for dealing with unexpected surges of traffic. The autocars were not as successful as the Tyneside electrics, probably due to them suffering technical problems and being pioneers of alternative traction in a world dominated by steam. They do seem to have been popular with the travelling public and generated additional traffic, which sometimes caused problems with overcrowding. Ironically, in order to deal with the increased traffic, the NER usually replaced them with steam push/pull autotrains. The autocars were also regarded as being underpowered, despite their rapid acceleration. Possibly this was due to their low top speed. 3170’s more powerful third engine would have helped to redress any lack of power and the autocar’s new ability to haul an autocoach would have more than doubled its capacity. This DMS + DTS combination would also have been one of the first multiple units. The LNER was not uninterested in the concept, and Armstrong diesel-electric railcars were tested in the 1930s, but by then Sentinel steam railcars had been introduced. Although these were not as reliable or popular, they had more seats and fitted better into the contemporary infrastructure. The autocars’ somewhat varied service history suggests the NER and LNER were not quite sure what use to make of them. Preservation No. 3171 left service on the 31st May 1930 and was scrapped. No. 3170 was withdrawn on the 4th April 1931 but was transported to Kirkbymoorside near Pickering, where the body became a holiday home. The maintenance it received allowed it to survive for the next 70 years until a chance conversation brought it to the attention of Stephen Middleton. Stephen is the restorer of several vintage carriages and owner of Stately Trains, based on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. With the help of several friends, he rescued 3170’s body and moved it into storage to await restoration. A charitable trust was formed and took possession of 3170. There was a lot of thinking and planning before we could go forward and for several years there was little visible progress. Membership was grown and various grants were applied for. We have been successful enough to win four of these, a big one from the Heritage Lottery Fund, one from PRISM and two from the Ken Hoole Trust. The latter three would have been enough to restore the autocar to an unpowered coach but the HLF grant meant we could replace the mechanical bits and pieces necessary for the autocar to move under it’s own power. The restoration is based on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway in Yorkshire, with some work carried out at Loughborough and elsewhere. No. 3170 will also receive its fourth engine. A suitable heritage engine could not be found, so the Trust decided to use a newly built unit from Cummins of around 225HP. This will be both more efficient and more easily maintained. The autocar will be rebuilt in its post 1908 configuration, with the larger vestibule. We are also restoring NER autocoach no. 3453, which the NER coach group at the NYMR generously donated to the Trust. When fitted with the appropriate control equipment, this will allow the Trust to operate a truly unique 110 year old two car DEMU. Together with the GWS's railmotor and trailer, these Edwardian multiple units will be rail transport's 'missing links' between steam engines and BR's DMUs of the 1950s. There’s been a lot of work, for a quick overview, I’ll let these pictures tell the story. Currently, the autocar has gone as far as it can with restoration of the body, we're waiting for the chassis and mechanical bits to come back from Loughborough so we can lift the body onto the chassis, then continue work on it. The chassis (etc.) is at Loughborough and waiting to go into the GC shed to have the powerunit, brakes and controls fitted. Once this has been done, time for testing! If this autumn you see a strange looking chassis zooming about, being driven by some bloke in a leather coat, goggles and gauntlets, it's the autocar chassis. (Please send me a picture!) When everything's OK, it comes back to Embsay, we down tools on the trailer autocoach and switch to the autocar. Meanwhile, we have been cracking on with the autocoach and there's a real chance it will actually be finished before the autocar. Not quite how we planned it, but, best laid plans and all that... Models HO and N Gauge scratchbuilt models were constructed in the early 1960s by Peter Middleton, Stephen’s father. The N Gauge model featured in Railway Modeller back in the September 1964 issue, together with some of his other models of steam engines. A 7mm model was also scratchbuilt some years ago by Robin Taylor, a member of the Keighley MRC. This usually runs on one of the club layouts during the club’s Open Days and sometimes at other exhibitions. There’s a 7mm scale kit of the autocar, a nickel silver kit in 7mm scale produced by NER Days (previously known as Medley Models). Following a conversation with Allan Doherty, Worsley Works now produces a 4mm etched brass scratch-aid kit of the autocar (and if you ask nicely, he can run off 2mm and 3mm versions). How you can help: We currently have over 110 members in this country and abroad. Membership is open to all, both armchair supporters and those wishing to take an active role in the project. We need motivated volunteers who know what they are doing, preferably with their own tools, to work on practical restoration tasks to ensure we’re finished on time and to a reasonable standard. We also have ‘vacancies’ for various ‘back-room’ tasks, such as fund-raising and research. Financial donations are always welcome. Unfortunately, because of certain engineering issues which we did not know about when we were forming our original budget (like the condition of our chassis and the amount of work required on it) we are likely to run over by around 10% or £50,000. We have therefore re-opened our fund-raising. The Trust has been registered on E-Bay as a charity – if you sell items, you may donate a percentage of the sale price to the Trust – we are known as “NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust” - http://www.ebay.co.uk/egw/ebay-for-charity/charity-profile/?NP_ID=68471 . We are also registered on Sponsume.com, a crowdfunding web-site - https://www.sponsume.com/project/1903-electric-autocar-trust – and there are various incentives/rewards on offer. We also have a selection of autocar branded goods for sale, from fridge magnets & travelling mirrors to sweatshirts & fleeces and these can be purchased by writing in or e-mailing us - http://www.electricautocar.co.uk/contact-us.html *** Well, if you’re still with me, thanks for reading through all of that. It feels like a long story but we have been fortunate in being able to make progress relatively quickly. We owe a lot to several key people and to the Heritage Lottery Fund for making this project possible. When these two vehicles are running on heritage lines in a year or two's time, enthusiasts and interested passengers alike will owe them a big debt of thanks. I’ll try and keep this thread updated with news. If you'd like a quiet word ‘off-thread’, do feel free to PM me or contact us via our web-site.

If that's the case, that could remove a major problem. I couldn't see how any extra infrastructure would be financially acceptable (as you confirm) but was struggling to see the line could be operated without it. Anyway, away from ifs, buts and maybes - some pictures of the area I didn't have time to add last night. Bere Ferrers - there's a small heritage site here - http://www.tamarbelle.co.uk/ to the rhs and behind this shot. If you walk down into the village, you can get views down the River Tavy and (very!) long distance shots of the Tavy Bridge. And five frames of Calstock.

How about goatskin? There could be one going shortly when t'boss sees what Myrtle's about to do to his tomatoes.

Just to set the scene for people who don't know the area: http://www.tracklogs.co.uk/shop/tldigimap/miniscale/ecf608prlg.jpg I was wondering about how the line might be operated. At the moment, it's simple, one unit (a 150 whenever I've been there) trundles up and down all day about every two hours. With a Y shaped line, I speculated whether it would be a case of run Plymouth to Tavistock as the 'main' line and operate Bere Alston to Gunnislake as a branch (as CK suggests 'they' are planning) or whether there'd be an hourly service Plymouth - BA and then trains alternate between going up to Gunnislake and Tavistock (with obvious disadvantages for Tavistock passengers). Trains have 20 minutes timetabled for BA to Gunnislake and 18 coming back (downhill), so allowing 10 minutes or so at each end, an hourly service would be entirely feasible. I did wonder whether FGW would look at using a 153 (I've never seen a 150 more than 20% full, although admittedly that's not been at rush hour times) but Calstock station is on a bit of a curve... GCSE geometry shows that there'd be more of a gap between door and platform edge with a 153 than a 150. Whether that gap would be dangerously wide I don't know - CK or another engineer may be able to say. Then I started doing more maths and came to the conclusion (before I read CK's post the other day) that the extension to Tavistock could require three units to work the line. Looking at the timetable - http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/May14/timetables/Table%20139.pdf - I saw that it takes 24/25 minutes Plymouth to BA or vice versa. So you could operate an hourly service Plymouth to BA no problem, though the 5/6 minute turn around at each end is rather tight. As Tavistock is further (and I wasn't sure how much time to schedule in for BA to Tavistock), I ended up with the situation that to operate an hourly service, you'd need two units and a passing place (possibly at BA, working on the grounds it would have signalling anyway and possibly an existing loop, depending what the revised track layout was. Though then you need to remember the Gunnislake shuttle and leave platform space/time for it...) Of course that assumes you want to operate an hourly service. But if you used a unit to act as the Gunnislake shuttle on an hourly schedule, you could end up with the situation where Tavistock, with a larger population, has a poorer service than Gunnislake. And if most of the journeys are to/from Plymouth, half the shuttles would be busy and half deserted. Would that be acceptable? I wouldn't like to have to stand up and announce that to the press and local people. If the line is to be extended to Tavistock, there's obviously a business case for the capital investment and some consideration for increased operating costs, so I could see how using two units wouldn't distress FGW, but having to use three? From their point of view, the obvious solution would be to run a regular service every (say) 80 or 90 minutes. But that takes away the advantage of a clockface timetable. Would that be a deal-breaker? I'm just tying myself in knots, so I think I'd like to hear from someone who knows more than I do about timetabling trains in the real world or even specific plans for the extension (if the details are not confidential).

Now you've got me worried. I've an article in that issue too - I hope I'm not going to be the subject of a petition too...

Where did you get the figures from? Or, how did you make them? I know you said about the Dad's Army ones, but I've never seen HO/OO figures of TV characters - there's several I rather fancy having!

Steady on chaps, all these quotes from the Goon Show is affecting Alan's writing. I thought Monty Python or The Masterson Inheritance... possibly in "The Mastersons do something completely Different"?

See "Peanuts"? (Or my trousers just after I've changed them...) I can't help with pyscho-analysis, but I also model the 'unwholesome' aspects of rural life. I did make reference to modelling "an unsavoury mix of substances" underneath a cattle-creep in an article for RM several years ago, which got past the editor without being censored! For my scenery business I also produce 4mm compost heaps and a scatter called "Horse Manure"... Both JB and Steve Flint have published my ramblings. If I may be excused a personal comment, two other contributors have commented to me about JB's 'blue pencil' and having articles rejected, so I shouldn't take it personally.

Speaking of sky... This is from last winter, when we'd done a day's volunteering, lost the light and were heading into the car-park, to be met by this dramatic sky. (Again, no editing or Photoshop trickery).

I think many of us would be interested, even if we could match the quality, the time it would take us would be prohibitive... Could you do us a list? I can remember some models from the thread but it would be handy to have a list, ideally with an indication where they are in this thread so we can look at the photos. If they fit in to our respective layouts, I doubt there'd be much argument over contributing to your biscuit fund. I have put some feelers out amongst the 7mm people I know but so far, no takers...

Called a magic wand?

Oh no we're not!

It put me in mind of an ice cream cornet, but I couldn't see how they could be worn ...

We're redoing the back garden and so there's lots of bare and turned soil everywhere. The resident blackbird and his mate have been gorging themselves silly for the last few days on worms, grubs etc. They have at least two fledglings (who have also been indulging), so maybe the adults need feeding up a bit after bringing up their brood. We've also seen a thrush as well as the usual sparrows, woodpigeons and doves. The latter have been flying off with some of the fine roots we've been unearthing, though not enough to avoid having to bribe the binmen to take the rest away. I've seen very few starlings this year, a few years ago there were dozens.