cbeagleowner

Nice to see Bude (if I remember rightly). Is that Oliver Bury as well? Am I right we didn’t have a WR engine over the peak?

Thanks Baz. Your encouragement is much appreciated. I think there are some things I can practice without extra cost - eg I can do wiring and practice interlocking (is that the right word) cobalt point motors with a Dapol signal maybe. And I can make some platforms and stuff. I guess I can also practice running the timetable too - I’ve got most of the stock for the peak line! Any other things that might be worth doing for the future?!

Not posted on here for a long time but I have an update finally, though it’s an odd one. L & C was meant to be my ‘layout of a lifetime’ but basically I got a new job and we’ll be moving about this time next year so it’s not going to happen. Therefore I’ve decided to level the baseboards and lay the track I have down i. A simplified track layout so I can play trains - they’ve just done nothing for years. However I’m not sure if it’s worth doing any more than that and wanted some thoughts? What would you do if you had until December?

Is that Luzern? Looks lovely!

Hi all. I’m starting feel drawn to modelling some of the trains of my youth but have a question about liveries as I simply don’t Remember what happened. basically as say intercity liveries were repainted to GNER or Virgin were coaches and DVT’s done as full sets or individually please? Ie would you get random mixes in trains or mark 2,3 or 4 coaches or would it just be potentially the loco that was in a different livery? thanks very much for any help you can give me!

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I didn’t realise that there was so much stuff going on at Barrington. I didn’t even realise there was a branch there until I went cross country to avoid a jam on the M11! it will be interesting to see what the detailed plans for EWR are. I understand that it will come in at Harston. I hear they are closing the level crossing between Little Shelford and Hauxton too which might br a pest!

Hi Stewart. Thanks so much for the comprehensive reply. Very helpful. That should have read MP book - ie Middleton Press! More due to hamfistedness and short sightedness!

Hi all. I hope that you’re having a good Christmas holiday. I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me with a couple of questions I have regarding the GN Cambridge ‘branch’ in the pre electrification days please? I’ve got the MP booom which is useful for the line and info but am trying to find out about locos and stock? Loco wise I know there were B1’s and B17’s then class 31’s on the faster trains but hat would have pulled the stoppers and local goods trains. And am I right that 34A would have employed Pacifics on some of these workings? Coach wise I have found the stock of the ‘beer trains’ but does anyone know stoppers would have consisted of? Would quad arts have been used? Finally did any services go beyond Cambridge at all? Were there any interesting good services (particularly thinking Barrington Quarry) and Would it have been used as a diversionary route for the Ecml? Sorry for all the questions but any info would be much appreciated. my thanks in advance - Richard

As far as I'm aware from our local press sharing the corridor just means following the same route give or take so all the infrastructure is in one place. So round St Neots you’ll have the current A428 town by pass, the new dual carriageway and the railway running close to each other.

Looked in Foxline Woodhead 1-4, railways around Manchester, bellcode Sheffield, steam memories - Sheffield and nothing past 1954 I’m afraid.

Pics of production samples from hattons https://www.hattons.co.uk/directory/versiondetails/5312/heljan_oo_br_nbl_prototype_10800&utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=modvehid5312-heljanbrnblprototype10800productionsamples#models

Hi all. Does anyone know when 10800 lost its silver bogie frames please? I model the peak line and have a photo in the early 50’s at Peak Forest where the bogies are clearly silver bogies and one at Chinley North junction if memory serves which is less clear. Any help would be appreciated as I think I prefer black bogie frames! Or was that just when it ran on the SR? Also just to say I did message BJ about the early crest green livery as I woupd have waited around for that one - John’s kit is superb I think - but my impression is that He / Heljan don’t seem to think it ever ran on that condition.

Thank you very much to everyone who's replied - this is all very helpful!

Hello all. I’ve been thinking of asking this for a while so here goes. Where I live in Cambridgeshire we have loads of WW2 airbases. Mostly 8th AAF or Bomber Command. Some (eg RAF Kimbolton or RAF Glatton are next to railway lines or greater or lesser fame) and others are close-ish. I had a few questions therefore. 1. would ordnance / other supplies be transported by rail to these airbases? 2. if this was the case woupd the trains have gone from factories to the airfields directly? 3. the base was on a secondary line - eg RAF Kimbolton on the Huntingdon- Kettering line would there have been unusual (for peacetime) motive power? 4. I appreciate that wartime pics were a no-no, but are there any good photographic books about the railway in ww2? thanks fir any thoughts / help in advance Richard

It was always Battleship Grey in service. The apple green was just on a cigarette card. When it was rebuilt it got painted in Garter Blue like the A4's. The rebuilt & streamlined w1 in photographic grey is a fictitious livery too according to the key model world article on it. https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/streamlined-w1-gains-photographic-grey

I think train tech do what you’re thinking of. Saw them at an exhibition and they did look good. http://www.train-tech.com/index.php/smart-screen

I would agree with the above. I had a look in colour rail and couldn’t find anything different. The area you need to watch is the tender as I think Mallard had the cut down back...I think...

Cheers Baz - good advice!

Thank you - that is amazing! I've done very little of late. I did manage to mark out the bay and runaround platform and then cut the hillside. We have to have our roof replaced tomorrow so hopefully there won'[t be any issues for the layout.

At the end of over the peak 2 there is a picture of a LST train being assembled from the limeworks mmediately south of the viaduct. Fascinating to hear they had to make the trains up from smaller sections crossing the up line to do so! So you would have had some trains on that section I guess. I've never seen a picture of a train from the limekilns and quarry to the north of the station but I guess there would as some time being a service from there.

I'm now a homeschooler of 3 children - to be fair they've been pretty good. However things have slowed down at Litton & Cressbrook.... The other thing that's slowed me down is that I've been trying to work out the width of the platform on the up side of the main line. It will be platforms 2 & 3 on my layout - on the real Millers Dale it would have been platforms 4 & 5. With help of Paul Bolton (thanks Paul) I found a diagram of the station on the MRS archive site and worked out the rough widths. I cut some templates out but initially I thought they looked too thin at the ends however, I do think it's right. I've done some embankment work which I think makes a big difference. I tried to work out the 'right' distance between the road bed and the start of the embankment and then cut it there. I hope that it looks ok. I think the geology / earthworks is a big feature of a peak line layout. I put some more tracks and templates down to give an idea of how things will look. I don't know how long I'll need to wait for slips and curved points in bullhead though. finally I did get a 1P - lovely little loco! r I'm managed to get a bit of work done on the points leading into the bay. With the help of I found this more challenging then I thought it would be because

Hijack away! It looks excellent. It’s amazing how even the polystyrene scenery changes the look. feel free to post more stuff anyhow. For me the ‘railway in the environment’ is one of the things I’m trying to achieve in this layout. I tried to plan it in from the beginning with the baseboards being above the frame so I can sink some bits of it and raise up some others. I think the other challenge is to get it geologically correct...that’s another challenge though!

Glad to hear it! I’ve just found the pic didn’t actually upload . I’ll try again.

Happily We’ve managed to avoid being flooded by the great Ouse over the past few days though we’ve had new record water levels. hopefully I’ll get round to doing some stuff today and take some pictures. Just for the moment though I did stumble across another water jolly Dale pic featuring a down midland home signal on the up side of the line.

Thanks David! Just for comparison here are a few 'real rails'....