thegreenhowards

Indeed! I don’t think we’ve had any ‘snap’ moments on the loco front yet though. As you seem to post twice a day and probably have less trains to run (having lost all the KX suburban/ Cambridge trains), I imagine you‘ll soon be well ahead of me.

Today we have a train which I haven’t attempted to run before, the 1640 Doncaster-King’s Cross. From the timetable this seems to be a relief for the White Rose, and on Mon-Thu was a fairly uninspiring rake of mainly Mark 1s with no catering. On Fridays, in 1958 at least, it was a string of (mainly open) Gresleys which formed a Skeggy service on summer Saturdays. But I don’t have that many open Gresleys, so I had to settle for the Mon-Thu formation. As a secondary service I added a couple of Thompsons instead of Mark 1s as well as the booked Gresley BSK. To make up for the uninspiring rake, we have a new A3; appropriately enough for this train it’s 60048, Doncaster (a renumbered Hornby Minoru). ...and here’s the video.

I find the Bachmann Pannier chassis very good. I’ve used it under a J52 (for which it’s spot on in wheelbase and diameter), a J50 (for which the wheelbase is 3mm short, but otherwise spot on) and a J3 ( for which the wheelbase is correct but the wheels are marginally too small). And what better use for a GWR engine?! Andy

Well what’s a cartezi truck and a large firebox between friends?! Now I’ve got to work out how to change titles on YouTube which doesn’t seem to be easy.

Today we have an up engineer’s train. I’m fond of this train as it’s 100% kit built being formed of: Sturgeon (Cambrian) Dolphin (A1 model - tricky brass kit) Several Grampus (Parkside) Dogfish (Cambrian) Shark brake van (Cambrian) The J3 is an old K’s kit I built 40ish years ago but have finally made it work recently by putting it on a Bachmann Pannier chassis. ..and here’s the video.

Today we have an up fitted freight headed by a V2. This is a Nucast model bought off eBay and fitted with a nice brass chassis and (quiet) Portescap. I’verenumbered it to King’s Cross stalwart, 60814. The freight is headed by four bogie brick wagons. I’ve never seen a picture of this, but I know they worked from Peterborough to London and while some went on the front of coal trains to provide extra brake force, I suspect others must have worked in fitted freights. If anyone knows any more info, please share. I’ve tried a new viewpoint for the video. Any comments on whether it works are welcome.

The second Cambridge train was a buffet car express (aka beer train). Again we go back to the immediate post nationalisation period, this time with an all teak rake of Gresleys. I know Hornby Gresleys attract a fair bit of criticism, but I rather like them - they are exceptionally well detailed and apart from the lack of tumblehome seem pretty accurate to me. This rake has been put together from the various issues of BR numbered teak coaches that Hornby have produced and matches quite well to some photos of these trains in the Late ‘40s. I have based this loosely on the formation shown in the frontispiece to ‘The Power of the B1s’ which shows an apple green B1 61333 on an all teak rake of mainly all door stock in 1949. In this case we have sister B1, 61334. ...and a slightly different angle for the video.

John, Being a GN area modeller, I have a very limited knowledge on this subject, but do have some information on the use of ex NER stock on the GN. I know that some of the NER Lavatory third stock was cascaded to the GN for use on King’s Cross outer suburban workings (amongst others?). There is a good picture in ‘Power of the B1s’ of 61121 heading a six coach train in 1949 of which the leading two coaches are ex NER - a BTL and a TL of diagrams NE.113 and NE.111 respectively. This information comes from a Steve Banks article in Model Rail Oct 2005 in which he shows several pictures but mainly pre-nationalisation. I also believe that a NER non corridor third was used in the Ally Pally push pull set into the ‘50s, but I can’t find the reference material for that, so I can’t be 100% sure. Sadly Isinglass don’t list these diagrams, so I guess I have to wait for the D&S kit to be re-released! I’d be very interested in the answers to your question and I’m sure Tony would welcome that sort of discussion, so please keep any responses on the forum. Andy

We’re now moving back to the early post nationalisation period with a couple of Cambridge - King’s Cross trains in close succession. These left Cambridge an hour apart but the first is a stopping service and only arrived at KX 5 minutes before the second. I don’t have details of the formations of suburban trains in this era, but from photos they seem to be a mixture of Gresley twin-arts and Thompson non corridor stock with the odd other coach thrown in. So here is my take on the stopping Cambridge service with three Hornby Thompsons and a Kirk twin-art. I have seen several pictures of D16s on these trains up until the early ‘50s, although this one was a Yarmouth engine, so will need renumbering when I get roundtuit.

Today I have been to the East Lancs Railway diesel gala which was very good. Star of the show was this beastie which may yet feature on Gresley Jn - so watch this space! I’m now on the Pendolino back home and onto my second G&T courtesy of Avanti West Coast so I think it’s time to write up the next move on Gresley Jn before I’m incapable of typing! Today we feature the 1845 King’s Cross-Cleethorpes headed by B1, 61138. I’m afraid that you’ve seen this loco before, but while I have plenty of glamour locos (aka Pacifics!), I seem to be short of the more mundane types - is this a common problem?! This train features my newly completed rebuilt D.16 RKB which was patched together from bits of Kirk sides (see my Coulsdon Works thread for details) and is the first time I’ve been able to put together the formation accurately. Here is a close up. ...and here’s the video. Andy

I believe that the Coronation spare was also used for the Silver Jubilee even though the interior layout was very different..

Next up we have the 1820 King’s Cross-Baldock which was another train strengthened for the peak, formed of a standard non corridor 6 set (SLO,BS,CL,SLO,CL,BS) with an added SLO. I don’t have a spare SLO, so I’ve had to use an ‘S’, but hopefully it gives the flavour of the train. And here’s the video.

I’ve now fitted a sound chip to my Dapol Class 21. I chose the Coastal DCC product, recorded off a DB class 218 which had a similar engine, although how much the hydraulic transmission would affect the sound I’m not sure. Kevin has programmed all of the Dapol light settings onto the Loksound chip. It sounds nice and bassy but I’ve no idea whether it’s accurate. Here are a couple of short videos of it running on my layout Gresley Jn. Any comments on the sound welcome. Andy

Now that is a good question Clive. I’m always suspicious of one offs for that reason. I imagine they added a CL or two with a standard quad art, but who knows?

Today we feature another slightly unusual commuter train - the ‘pottersbarbarian‘. This was the 1758 King’s Cross - Welwyn Garden City and featured quad art set no 85 with First Class accommodation retained. This was the only such quad art set and followed complaints from the well healed commuters of Potters bar that they didn’t have any First Class accommodation.. It also featured an extra non corridor second class coach on the front. My version uses my standard quad-art set as I thought it was a little excessive to produce a set 85, just for one train! It is headed by D5301 of the new order. ...and here’s the video

I haven’t tried the builder’s plates, but I removed the shed plates on mine. They were attached with a (slightly over large) blob of cyano type glue. I levered them off with a knife and they came off easily, but left a small blob of glue underneath. This I removed with a light sand and T cut and it disappeared under my weathering, but was slightly glossier than the rest before I weathered. I think the builder’s plates would be the same, although slightly larger of course! Andy

Isinglass would be better than my attempt, but they tend to only produce things for which they have a drawing, and they don’t have one for the rebuilt D.16 RKBs (I checked before I did my own rather rough attempt).

Switching to the viaduct section, we see the up White Rose headed by A3, 60061, Pretty Polly. This train is in its 1960 formation and Pretty Polly wears the wing deflectors which she carried at that time. I have adjusted the angle of the deflectors following some comments on ‘Coulsdon Works’ , so I hope they’re about right now. The train is formed from loose stock with just the core being dedicated to the train. The core is formed of a Gresley RF/RSO pair - the RSO should be an RSP but I haven’t built that yet! It also features a Doncaster Mark 1 prototype SK, E25457 which is a 7 compartment SK with toilets at each end. It’s based on a replica FO with some windows filled in. Details of the work involved are here https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3609954 Here is the video. Apologies that the signal comes off rather late. I didn’t notice until I sat down to process the video, by which time I’d put the train away!

Darryl, This is going back a bit, but I’ve finally finished my take on the rebuilt D.16 RKB, E1225E. I started by making a diagram from the photos you sent, for which many thanks again. And then cut and shut bit of Kirk kits to make the sides. Here is the finished coach. The sides are slightly wonky in this cruel close up, but that’s somewhat inevitable given the number of cuts and shuts. I chose E1225E because several of your photos showed it at Bounds Green or nearby, so I assume it was used on the GN. More details of the build for anyone interested are available on my workbench thread, starting here Andy

Spurred on by needing it for a train to run on my Gresley Jn thread, I’ve finally finished the D.16 rebuilt RKB today. Here she is. In cruel close up you can see that the sides are slightly wonky, but I think that’s inevitable (at least for me) given the number of cut and shuts that were required (as a reminder see the original post here https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3760679). As a layout coach she is OK and certainly looks a bit different to other coaches. Moreover it now enables me to form the correct formation for the 1845 King’s Cross- Cleethorpes. Follow Gresley Junction (link below) to see that running in the next few days. Both the roof and the under frame were educated guesswork from the photos I had available. If anyone knows better then please let me know. Andy

I’d never argue with that choice. I’ve seen it several times and always stay and watch for quite a while. It’s a superb layout. Andy

Today we have the arrival of the 1745 from Broad Street to Gresley Jn. (In reality this terminated at Hatfield). It is formed of a standard inner suburban mark 1 5 set hauled by N1, 69458. This dates it to 1954 or 1955 as the non corridor Mark 1 were only introduced to the GN in 1954 (I think) and the N1 was withdrawn in November 1955. In practice, I believe that the N1s were mainly used on ECS by this stage, so Hornsey must have been short today! I built the N1 from a 3D printed body mounted on a Hornby N2 chassis.

Not really. I’m more focussed on rolling stock and not much of a buildings person, so it took me a couple of years (on and off) to build that Scalescenes building. Having got used to card, I think that if and when I do scratch build something, it will be from card and brick paper.

I like the D16 shot - nice to see a different angle.

Today we feature the 1829 Welwyn Garden City to King’s Cross. This is the return of the 1706 Broad Street to WGC which followers of the thread will remember was hauled by NB type 2, D6106. The question is will it make it back?! And the answer is ‘no’. The driver failed it at WGC and the old order was dug out to haul the return including the errant type 2. So here we see N2, 69546 piloting D6106 at Gresley Jn. I tried a new camera position but I don’t think it worked. The picture is rather back lit I’m afraid, so let’s say it was grabbed by an enthusiast who spotted the unusual working but didn’t have time to get to a better vantage point. The more observant of you will spot a new station building in the background. This is the beginning of my attempt to ‘de-superquick’ the layout. This is a Scalescenes kit, but will be much more unusual, I hope, than its predecessor. Unfortunately I didn’t quite measure it accurately, so, because of the slope of the loft walls, it won’t fit in the old location without my trimming the Copula which would be a shame. So I’m going to wait for the second building and then decide where to place them. In reality, rather than the NB Type 2 failing, it was a case of having tried the DCC consist function, I wanted to practice it again. This time it worked first time and both engines worked smoothly as I hope the video shows.