thegreenhowards

A bit of glamour today with the passage of the up White Rose from Leeds/ Bradford. It’s headed today by Doncaster A1, 60119, Patrick Stirling, Here is a view of the whole 12 coach train on the viaduct. I’m pleased to report that this train is fully fitted with Hunt magnetic couplings and worked very well. Since I last reported on this, I’ve received some intermediate and standard (i.e. long) couplings. I’ve fitted these to the problems coaches - mainly the ones using old style Bachmann Thompson donor bodies and the long ones work perfectly. The intermediate seem tight but seem to work as well. Once these have been fitted, putting these rakes together is very easy - a big improvement on tension locks. It’s working out quite expensive though - I’ve spent over £100 on it so far. It works out at just over £1 per coach which I suppose it very reasonable; I’ve just got too many coaches! This train has a couple of Thompson catering cars which are worth a closer look. They’re Comet (RSP) and SPM (RF) sides on Bachmann donors. There is also a prototype Mark 1 which was a regular in the White Rose for a few years in the late ‘50s/ early ‘60s. It’s a 7 compartment SK built by Doncaster. I used a Replica FO bodyshell (the Hornby one wasn’t available at the time) which had the correct window and door spacing. The only main mod was the the toilet window on the corridor side. Here’s the video. Andy

A break from suburban trains today with yet another New England- Ferme Park Class F. I believe that some of these paths were used for loaded coal trains, so that’s what we’ve got. Today it’s headed by a new engine, WD2-8-0 90246, a New England regular. This is my recently purchased and repaired Bachmann 90015 renumbered (as 90015 didn’t make it to New England until the late crest era). Frustratingly this WD couldn’t manage my full coal rake which the other WDs and my 9F and O2s manage OK. So I had to knock 8 wagons off the back - still a respectable load, but I think this one will be dedicated to lighter duties in future. I’ve worked out how to make my phone do focus lock. So this one is focussed on the middle of the train. It means more of it is in focus but the front of the loco is slightly soft. Which do people prefer? Here’s a video to show the full train.

Tony, I think the answer to this is it depends on what you're trying to achieve. For a working loco on a scale model railway trying to depict a scene from a point in history, clearly the answer is "yes". I suspect that includes all layouts that you're likely to be involved in! However, the answer would be very different for a museum quality loco built for a display case. I'd prefer to see that in pristine condition, partly to show off the workmanship but also because its purpose is different. It's broadly the model equivalent of the Doncaster Works shot showing off the livery in all its glory. There are also occasions on a model railway where it would be valid not to weather. As an extreme example consider a model of the Isle of Sodor. As the model is trying to represent the fiction presented in the books then weathering would not be valid. Other examples might include a model railway which is trying to present an idealised version of history. If that is a stated aim then I think it's valid to display the models in ex works condition. Where the hobby falls down in my view is the standard RTR satin finish which is neither one thing nor the other. There have been attempts to present models with a gloss finish to represent them being ex works - I like this and have a couple running round like that on my layout. But the standard Bachby finish needs either shining up or weathering down - that's not to say I've done all mine but I am working on it! Regards Andy

50040, Leviathan (aka 45704).

I missed that. I'll go for South Africa for today as I'm fond of the country and it reminds me of No.9.

I don’t know anything about Jubilees, but I’ve had a look at the list of names and Leviathan was my favourite class 50 so I’ll go with that.

Today we see the arrival of the 1842 branch service from Ivatt pushed by C12, 67374. Now at rest in platform 6. This is the last service of the day for this set, so the C12 shunts the coaches into a siding as shown in the video. I’ve now squeezed a sound chip into the C12 so I hope you enjoy it. The uninitiated amongst you who don’t like sound will just have to turn the volume down! Finally having left its coaches in the siding, 67374 heads to the coaling plant to top up for tomorrow’s services.

Another suburban train this evening, the 1758 KX-Welwyn Garden City. This service was formed of a quad art strengthened with a non corridor second. It should really be quad art set 85, the only one which retained First Class, but that must be in works today! It is headed tonight by N2, 69574, here seen approaching platform 2. And now at rest at the platform. The N2 is scratch built I think. It is made from very heavy duty brass. I picked it up for next to nothing at a show in 2018 and replaced the course scale wheels and old motor and repainted it. It represents one of the later, Hawthorn Leslie built batch unlike the Hornby ones.

When exhibiting Oakbourne, the OO gauge layout of the East Surrey Model Railway Club, I have invited members of the public round the back to operate. One young lad (who I knew because he was one of my scouts) was better than many of my fellow club members and kept at it for a good hour. I think this was inspired by invites for my daughter, Ellen, to operate a couple of layouts when she used to come with me to exhibitions. That really helped keep her enthused in the hobby for a while (sadly no longer). I think being young and female helped as I never got invited!

I think it has fantastic ambition and pulls it off to some extent. There are too many derailments and the action is rather slow/ spaced out, but when it works there are many things to marvel at. I’m really impressed by the ferry loading and unloading. That is prototypical (as I understand it) so I think it’s a bit unfair to call it a gimmick. The guy out front doing the interpretation has been very good when I’ve seen it.

More suburban workings today. @Clive Mortimore and @stewartingram were singing the praises of a baby Deltics so they’ll be pleased to see ex works D5900 on the 1745 Broad St to Gresley Jn today. Here it is approaching platform 4. and now at rest. The video shows the approach. I rather ‘over zoomed’ so it’s a bit grainy I’m afraid.

I’ve finally just about finished the Gresley twin art. The only thing remaining is couplings and I’m waiting for some Dinghams to be delivered to try them out. I went for 100% Smoking in the end as the diagrams and photos show. John at Precision labels did me a sheet of just the blue oblongs to allow me to finish the twin without too much wastage.

It’s 1835 at Gresley Jn which means we’re in the middle of the evening peak so there will be a lot of suburban trains over the next few moves. If you don’t like quad arts and Mk 1 non corridor stock then look away now. This is the return of the Broad St to Welwyn Garden City which we saw a few moves back. So N2, 69498 again with the quad art set. I’m concentrating on the North of the station as the quad arts don’t often make it past Gresley Jn. And the video. Andy

Stewart, I'm sure that's true of the period after they were rebuilt (i.e. when they came back with centre headcode panels). I think they were mainly withdrawn eventually because they were non standard rather than very unreliable. However for the period I am depicting (up to '62) in their unrebuilt state, I think they were pretty unreliable. Isn't that why they were all laid up for a while and then rebuilt? Do you think otherwise? Andy

Thanks Tony, Constructive criticism is always welcome and the colour match with the Bachmann is not quite right - I just think it’s the Bachmann I need to change if anything. Examining the rake in more detail has made me realise that the Bachmann CK is wrong anyway on two counts. 1. It should be an SK for 1957 - the SK was swapped for a CK in 1958; and 2. The CK has a yellow line above the first class section (post c.1961?). So I need to do some swapping around! There’s always something to stop me getting on with scenic work! Regards Andy

Tony, I’m surprised you say that about my SPM BSOs. They are from the ‘Etchmaster’ range, so they are etched brass sides on a donor coach, painted with Ford Burgundy red. Six of the eight coaches in the train are kit built and have the same paint finish, so if anything is an outlier it’s the Bachmann CK next to the BSO! I’ve done a colour comparison. This shows the SPM BSO (right), a Bachmann SK (centre) and a SPM Mk 1 prototype (E3083) from their colourmaster range (left). In terms of finish, the Ford Burgundy red is slightly lighter than the Bachmann colour but quite within my acceptable range. The Colourmaster (pre printed sides like you just built) is perhaps a better match colour wise to the Bachmann but is glossier. For me all these differences are OK. My top priority is always getting the correct formation and (if I can’t have the best of both worlds), I’d rather have a poor model of the correct diagram than a good model of the wrong diagram. I appreciate that others will have different priorities. By the way, the problem becomes worse with Crimson and Cream liveries where there are two colours to match and in this case the SPM colourmaster stands out more. Regards Andy

Nice idea Clive, that would certainly sort the problem! Jonathan, the Heljan Baby Deltic is not very prototypical in that it’s reliable and pulls well! Sadly for Clive’s idea, this train changed format completely in 1959 just before the diesels arrived, so it would be hard to justify.

Good evening Tony, No I didn’t add the extra doors to the twin FO. This was the first prototypical rake that I put together - chosen because it was relatively short and my layout at that stage couldn’t take more than 8 coaches. I didn’t know about the extra doors at that stage (6 or 7 years ago). I do have two BSOs though - both SPM as Hornby hadn’t produced theirs at that stage. The RF and RSO were Comet and SPM respectively. Regards Andy

Another quick win for 2021 - looks rather similar to the first! It’s another j52. The body has been sitting on top of a Hornby J52 chassis on my shelf for a couple of years. It’s another Becs white metal body bought on eBay as body only. I couldn’t make the Hornby chassis fit without creating short circuits. But the body was a perfect fit for the new chassis I built for 68815 above. So I have two bodies sharing one chassis. Not ideal, but as J52s won’t feature very frequently and they represent different time periods anyway I think I can live with it. Unfortunately it’s a case of one step forward and two steps backward. In doing the research for 68815 above I bought the Yeadon J52 book. This enabled me to get 68815 right. But I’ve realised that both this one and my Hornby one are not correct for the number they carry. This is the Hornby one (which runs on a Bachmann Pannier chassis). I specially made the front footsteps for the Hornby one however this type of footstep was fitted to the earlier members of the class (like 68761). 68862 should have front footsteps like on my other two and should also have a large ventilator on the cab roof. 68761 needs the earlier metal bar type front footsteps. So I either need to renumber them both, or swap the footsteps over and add a cab ventilator on 68862. I’m tempted to do the latter. Has anyone made a cab ventilator or have suggestions on what it should look like from above - the photos in Yeadon are all side on. These well lit photos have also shown up some flaws in my painting of the chassis - this will be sorted when I do the weathering. Andy

This evening I feature the 1752 KX-Cambridge/ Peterborough. This is the train which was double headed as far as Hitchin in the early fifties with the two locos taking the respective portions forward from Hitchin. Later in the ‘50s the 1739 was double headed instead (as we saw last week) with a single B1, 61138 today, on this service. Here is is emerging from Canal tunnel. And now at rest in platform 2. This was an eleven coach train, with a standard Cambridge outer suburban 6 set on the front and a standard Peterborough 5 set behind. This proved quite a struggle for my unweighted Hornby B1 so the get away in the video is not very smooth. I think I will have a revert to double heading this train in future or pack my B1 with lead.

Hello again Tony, In all my excitement of talking about the Talisman I forgot to respond to the rest of your post! You're right in that using the same rake for both directions I am presenting an idealised version of the train with no substitutions. These did, of course, happen from time to time, although less on the prestige trains I think. I accept that compromise in order to be able to utilise my stock rather more than I would otherwise. For the made up trains, I often put in a ex LNER substitute for a Mark 1 to ring the changes (based on photos where I can). I agree that fiddling is not to be encouraged for reliable running. In practice when I form a train up I tend to run it round three times - once to check that it doesn't derail, once for a video and once for the still photos. I often have to tweak a coupling after the first run to prevent problems. This would be embarrassing if guests were here but is fine if it's just me. I stick to ready formed trains when guests come. Agreed about the strengtheners but I'm struggling for space so rarely add them. I haven't had to knock a coach out of any train yet. Regards Andy

Good afternoon Tony, The more interesting one of course - Why run boring Mark 1s when you can run something more exciting?! The Talisman changed significantly over the years. It was introduced in 1956 as an afternoon only train formed: BSO (Mk 1) SK (Mk 1) SK (Mk 1) SO (Thompson) RF (Thompson) FO-FO (Gresley ex Coronation) BSO (Mk 1) From June 1957 a morning train was introduced departing from each end at 0800 and the stock of the morning train arrived in time to form the return at 1600 from each end so just two sets of stock, both the above formation. This is the period I model so that I can justify using the same set for three services (my sequence starts after the down morning train has gone through). In Autumn 1957, the morning train was renamed 'The Fair Maid' and extended to/ from Perth. It was therefore unable to work the afternoon train as well. This is when the separate (nearly) all Mark 1 train was introduced. I think it still had a Thompson RF at least initially. This lasted a year before the Perth extension was abandoned as uneconomic, so from Autumn 1958 we were back to a morning and afternoon Talisman. However a slightly later timing than before meant that the morning set could not return on the evening service, so the 'boring' Mark 1 set was retained for the morning services. I think these are the versions you model? Happily this rake is short enough for me to be able to fit the whole train into a photo relatively easily, so here it is. This wouldn't be one I'd choose to write up for a magazine because of the difficulty of modelling the twin FO now that Mailcoach (which is how I built mine) has disappeared into the Coopercraft morass and D&S/ Marc models are dormant at best. Regards Andy

As a scout leader, I’ll go for Gilwell Park too.

Another New England- Ferme Park Class F goods today headed By O2, 63954. This is another combo of some assorted goods wagons up front and a tail of half my loaded coal train. Another view of the O2 - they’re so graceful for a heavy goods loco. Here’s an aerial view of the train. And a view of the train departing. Finally the video showing the train approaching the outskirts of Gresley Jn.

Tony, I do think it’s possible to run a full sequence provided some compromises on speed of operation are made. On Gresley Jn (timetable based on Hatfield) I’m currently running through an almost complete sequence from midday to midnight. There were many more trains at Hatfield because of the Cambridge line and inner suburban terminators. My sequence has 154 trains in it and I’m still finding things to add! There are three compromises: 1. A lot of rakes get used more than once. For example my Talisman rake gets three appearances for the up morning and down and up afternoon Talismen. This is possible by modelling the 1957 service as the same rake worked out and back. Of course I should still have two rakes with different coach numbers, but as you’ve said before ...who reads the coach numbers? Some sets like my quad art get used many more times than that! I do try to get a different loco on each time though to ring the changes. Goods stock also get used several times, particularly mineral wagons. 2. I have a few fixed rakes like the Talsiman, Lizzie and West Riding which were very distinctive. But the majority of ECML expresses were formed of 6-10 Mark 1s and a Gresley/ Thompson catering core. So I have the Mark 1s and catering cores in a pile of trays and pull out what I need for each train. To economise on coaches some are ‘borrowed’ from the fixed rakes. Coach roof boards are not always correct but I do have different ones on each side so that I can get it right more often than not. Rather like the numbers they’re rarely read! 3. Time! It takes a while to form each train up. I enjoy this as I research them in the CWN and then form them up from my stock but it’s not a spectator sport! I’m running the sequence through at one train a day. At that rate it will take almost half a year to run through the whole (half) day. This works well for lockdown but when friends come round, I run a much shorter sequence based on what’s set up in my fiddle yard and a handful of cassettes. This tends to be similar to your sequence in length (40 movements over 2-3 hours) and is the practical maximum for a visit. Regards Andy