Ozexpatriate

Neal, thanks for running this poll. It is a good one. It's interesting to see what people collectively think. I'm with you on the subject of lamps! I'd love to see them and as much as side markers would be nice, I'd settle for a red lamp case on the uncovered end.

They released several with a Collett tender - one (Tintagel Castle) in an early Collett GWR livery. This came and went some time ago.

It's my understanding that 1, and 2, were used, though I had the impression that the coach was slipped before the train reached the station. The portion for Weymouth was slipped on the main diversion past Westbury. See Chris' comment:

I understand that from 1903/04 to 1936, all GWR lamps had a red lantern case, having been black before then. After 1936 white lantern cases were used for the headcode. Presumably there was a red filter/lens for the tail-lamps prior to 1936 to produce a red aspect. I understand that the headcode showed a white aspect at night - irrespective of the case. Was a red lantern case used for the tail-lamp after 1936? Does this still work after 1936? It would still be a problem if the tail lamp lantern case was red.

Thanks Adrian. I had looked up CV19, but I had no idea if it could be cleared while in motion, or if it required being on a static programming track.

Uncoupling I had brainstormed some variations on the theme of using a right-angled pin to hook into the tension-lock crossbar of the preceding coach, that could be levered off - either electrically via DCC, or mechanically by a device embedded in the track. It sounds like a reliable scheme can be implemented. I also found this commerical US solution.

Thank you to everybody for your ideas. I'm not a DCC expert - though that was my first thought as a solution. With a motored coach there seems to be two alternatives: 1. No coupling I presume that a motored coach would have to have to be speed-matched to the locomotive with train combination if the slip coach were permanently driven by a second throttle with a second address. 2. With coupling Setting aside the electromechanical details of the uncoupling ... The way I understand it, when in consist/banking mode, are both decoders configured to respond to one throttle command? I presume it is possible to turn this off during operation to revert to separate throttles - in this case for the train and slip coach? (My guess is it has to be to model banking operations.) I'll have to do some DCC homework on banking.

No two car units, but lots of good contemporary detail photographs of AEC railcars here. (Cab, front, side view of the front, etc)

The use of slip coaches was common on the GWR and the topic seems to come up occasionally - so hopefully my question is not redundant here. (I did do some searching.) The RMweb archive pointed to this very helpful reference on GWR slip coaches. The provenance of this is link is interesting. I have the original "Railway Wonders of the World" article (Ca 1935/1936) which I inherited from my grandfather. Reading the original is what inspired this question. Searches also pointed me to a thread illustrating some GWR slip coach timetables. But my question is this: What is the optimal way to model the operation of a GWR slip coach? This is a bit of an armchair modelling exercise for me. I'm not quite ready to start it as a project, but nevertheless I'm interested to see if anyone has ideas they'd like to share. There are two primary design problems that the model must solve 1. releasing the coupling 2. controlling the stop Ideas I had varied from fully controlled 'motor' to relying solely on Newton's first and second laws of motion. 1. motorized coach A DCC decoder could be used in a 'consist'/double heading mode and drive a motorized bogie on the coach. A function button could be programmed to disconnect the coupler and then throttle/brake controls could be used to drive the coach to a stop, though I'm not sure how a second throttle is assigned to the decoder in real-time. Having a brake button programmed would be a very accurate way to simulate real operation. 2. free-wheeling coach Some kind of uncoupler device could be mounted in the track at a suitable distance from the station and the coach would roll. A second track mounted stopping device (perhaps electromagnetic) would then stop the coach at the platform. 3. some kind of hybrid - like adding a flywheel to the coach Other parameters Making the automatically detachable coupler compatible with tension locks on the train portion might be a tricky challenge too. Perhaps a dedicated mating coupler would be needed on a preceding brake coach. I don't think Kadee style couplers aren't meant to disconnect at speed. Lighting would be fun to include - particularly since the GWR had interesting lamp configurations for slipped sections. (From the 'Railway Wonders of the World' article): I'd love to hear any ideas you might have, and thank you for reading this far.

So did Nikola Tesla in the early 20th century. While contact-free, close proximity, electromagnetic charging mats are available, wireless power still hasn't gone anywhere.

Adrian, thanks. Broadway Limited is big on dual-mode decoders - in their case with sound. Nothing happens from 0 - ~5V. Then at around 5V the sound comes on and around ~7V the locomotive starts to move. I had formed the impression that in those cases there was extra circuitry. For non-sound DCC, I frankly don't know whether there is a material distinction or just marketing. I had formed the impression that there are some DCC decoder chips that don't seem to like DC irrespective of whether they are supposed to.

I made the following observation some time back: Does anyone recall hearing/seeing anything similar - that this is a dual-mode decoder, equally happy on DC or DCC?

I hoping this will answer your question - a beginners guide was referenced once already today, so perhaps you could start here? It was very helpful to me. The 54xx / 64xx / 74xx are directly related to each other. The 57xx and 8750 are a different family. After you've had a chance to look at Jim Champ's 'beginners' guide', I'm sure people would be happy to answer any more specific questions you might have.

Is it indeed? It's been a long time since I watched that movie. I don't know if I have watched it on DVD. Since we are talking about 1940, it clearly shouldn't be BR, and only barely a Manor. I guess they get a pass on that one - the Manors were brand new. I wouldn't be surprised if the coaches are Mk1s too - but I haven't checked.

How much of this (the recent Jameson commercial) is real versus CGI: Somehow the ending puts me in mind of Captain Kernow. I can't think why exactly.

Fabulous image. It's replete with a 1920s cliché - 'horse-drawn dray on a bridge' Can all those smokestacks (chimneys if you prefer) really be needed for making biscuits? This complex is enormous. If it hadn't been labelled for Huntley and Palmers I would have thought this was heavy industry. I'm guessing coal ovens - though you'd think with the gas-works next door, gas ovens would be practical and better for baking. There don't seem to be enough chimneys in the gas works. Huntley and Palmers - made for you sandwiched between HM Prison and the Reading Sewerage Pumping station.

And the Bristol end of the line to Yate too. Though you'd essentially be modeling Bristol Temple Meads at that point. The line across the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness was joint between the GWR & LMSR too.

As illustrated here. Once the copyright expired on the 1914 junction diagrams they've proliferated in all sorts of places thankfully including Wikipedia commons but they are not consistently linked to individual Wikipedia pages and I can't remember where they are on one site any more here they all are.

Simon, lovely work. I had lost track of your thread for some time now and am very impressed with your progress. I will make sure I press the 'follow' button to see more. I am very impressed with the way the dwarves worked out as engine drivers. A suitable occupation aligned with their interest in crafting in metals and smithying. How are you doing with backstory and naming? I like the signage for the pipeweed store. Will you add signposts with runes or Anglicised text? Is the layout name still 'Hobbiton End'? Keep up the great work. Good luck and best wishes for July 27 in Barnstaple.

Which I've heard described as being like standing in the shower tearing up $100 bills. Nevertheless, Those must be very expensive shoes and have 'names'.

In my university days I built the Hornby Dunster Signal box kit. I had never heard of light stone or dark stone (as GWR structure colours) and I painted it like the picture on the box in GWR coach cream. Ironically it looks much more like this Hornby Skaledale model than it does like this (as preserved at Minehead).

I have the opposite problem - locos in early Collett livery (which was the tender engine RTR "standard" for many years) and insufficient pre-war liveried wagons (immaculate or otherwise). A big challenge for me was fundamental ignorance. It might sound silly, but in my younger days I had no idea that there were distinct livery periods in the GWR. Pre-internet and not living in Britain, it never occured to me that a pannier tank lettered with "GWR" did not 'belong' to the same period as a tender liveried "Great" <crest> "Western" and I was quite indiscriminate in my early attempts to accquire rolling stock. The manufacturers don't help customers here. At best they might describe things as 'grouping' or "Era 3" but the descriptions and potted histories in catalogues rarely reference any accurate dates. As an aside, I'll take the opportunity to thank everyone who ever contributed to the "GWR Modelling" website. For those of us who don't have easy access to accquire a shelf full of Wild Swan publications, it's a great resource and covers a lot of fundamentals. Even as well served as GWR modellers are by RTR products, it's quite difficult to accumulate a large, period-specific set of stock without repainting/relettering. So ... we invoke rule number one.

The same is true of wagons. This feels more common to me these days than this though obviously both of these are in Bachmann Branch-Line's current offerings. The Hornby Colletts were available in an early Collett "GWR over crest" livery some years ago. There were multiple running numbers produced. Some should be available second hand.

Thanks for sharing that website. There's close to 100 pictures spanning a century of the GWR and BR(WR) in Bradford-on-Avon there ranging from No. 3223 to diverted HSTs. The angle of the sunlight still confuses me. I assume that the photograph was taken from north of the line. No. 4056 is stopped on the Up line at the home signal* protecting the station confines, west of the Avon river bridge, and west of the Bradford-on-Avon signal box, next to a refuge siding. * No 3 on this diagram. This appears to be approximately the same location looking east instead of west.

Me too Robin. Charged to my card and I've already had to pay the bill. I personally have a little more lattitude for the museum with this sort of thing than I would for a regular shop, but ...