61656

A little timetable re-jigging, turn the dial on the time machine and we can sort out the fiddle yard! Here’s an overview of the yard. On the left are the 5 Crewe sidings with the 6 Warrington sidings on the right. The empty line in the middle is W1, a terminal siding and actually currently containing the MGR set. Next is the tanks, on W2, this line is through and can be exited at the Crewe end. W3 and W4 are also through and can be entered at the Crewe end, currently with a speedlink and an intercity set respectively. The final two are both terminal sidings. Moving the tanks to the Holyhead yard will allow the Freightliner to perform several south to west services. Loco changes and eventually container swaps will help with the illusion. As 7F55 is being re-routed it will need to reverse at Hooton. A class 25, vice 47/0, is despatched in advance to facilitate an easier reversal. It runs as 0F55 showing it as the light engine for 7F55. The train loco will return light engine from Hooton to Christleton Bluebeck depot, running as 0Z00, a light engine running to shed. 7F55, re-routed bitumen tanks (yes, I know they are the wrong colour) from Skipton to Ellesmere, rounds the curve into Christleton. Luckily it’s a short load as it’s another 25 filling in for a 47. This could definitely be a 37/0 turn! We can now reset the time machine and get back to today, which is about 17.30 in September 1986! The Lawley Street to Holyhead liner pauses in the middle road for a crew change. Someone needs to turn the marker lights down!

Some more pictures as we pass through 17.00… An 86 has come off the 11.30 6M23 from Mossend to Dee Marsh. The wagons are left in the centre road whilst it shuffles on to the stabling point. The 108 has worked in from Crewe and will shortly disappear to the carriage sidings. A pair of 20’s can just be seen in the background moving off shed to takeover the steel train. The 108 makes its way into the carriage sidings, with another unit waiting to come in to form a Manchester service. The departing 108 is taking the line that leads into the Holyhead fiddle yard, ready to change identity on a Helsby shuttle. Shortly afterwards a 25 brings in a two coach train vice a sprinter on a local from Helsby. The next set of moves was curtailed due to failure of the 101… the Bachmann pick ups failing to pass current as required. Whilst the top was off I also added another speaker as the sound was far too quiet. I also tried to fix the trailer car lighting which only work in one direction, but the cause is a mystery. I then spent a good chunk of time working out how to get the stock for the evening series of Freightliners and Euston services in the right places. Oddly the solution seems to be to move the tank set from the Warrington yard to the Holyhead yard to free up a through road. So the 7M55 Skipton to Stanlow is now routed via Christleton, reversing at Hooton. I’ll add a couple of light engine moves to facilitate the reversal, which regrettably means I’ll need another loco or two…

Great to have you back! Are you running the layout again?

When I first started the layout I had no plans to run it to the actual timetable, indeed I thought that it would probably limit operation and I’d need to add a lot more services to keep it interesting. I couldn’t have been more wrong. For (I think) the 4th time during the day, trans-pennine workings cross at Christleton. This is very fortunate as it means they just swap roads in the fiddleyards. There are a number of options for how the loco swaps take place, but generally one loco comes off shed to take out the first train. That frees up the loco from the first train to take over the second. Equally you can use two new locos, one for each train. You can also let one of the services run round in platform 2 and keep the same loco. Here we see the two incoming services neck and neck. On the right is the 16.30 arrival 1M26 from Scarborough, catching up on the 1E16 16.29 arrival from Llandudno. Both are peak hauled, with a 47/4 waiting on the holding road to take the train from Llandudno on to York. Another 47/4 is on the fuel road, just to give the travelling peak fans the jitters. Before the 47 has finished backing on to the York set, a 25 brings in a Speedlink service, the 7F10, also from Llandudno. The timings suggest the passenger service overtook the 25 on the four track section (west of Chester). The station pilot has been fired up to add a couple of vans from the brewery to the Speedlink working, before it carries on to Walton Old Sidings (or Warrington Arpley, to you and me). This is an unusual period in the layout’s working timetable, with the entire Holyhead fiddle yard (6 roads) empty, except for a solitary DMU. There’s a Dee Marsh and several Holyhead-bound ‘liners due to fill it up though. I do have to magic up some stock for the Euston working as well; I doubt the 108 will keep time!

The steady march of progress… a few more arches added to the viaduct. And a bus strategically placed in front of the baseboard catch!

At £30 a bus it is a fleet! I’d like 3 or 4 waiting at the bus rank eventually. Ideally some older types too, but this is currently the only one in the right colour.

Back home from a short break and found this little beauty waiting for me. The registration needs back dating, but they built Olympian’s from the early 80’s, so it should be ok. I think August 86 would have just seen the new ‘C’ plates come in.

At the risk of ‘peaking’ too early, here’s a new year’s wish for you all. And can you say it better than with a Scarborough to Bangor service? I took 3 photos and can’t decide which is least worst, so you can have them all! The next leg will be worked on by generator Duff 47402. 2023 promises to be another year of almost developments at Christleton. Many thanks for your support this year, I look forward to more to come!

Happy New Year Paul. Thanks for a great year - next year progress will also be slower than you planned, but more enjoyable nevertheless! Andy

Cutting the front end off a model bus? What kind of insanity is this? It’s just a bus.* *I now appreciate why Mrs 61656 looks at me funny when I got apoplectic about some mk1 coaches in a film about the 1930s… but still.

Fantastic old pictures. There isn’t yet a Fleetline in Chester colours, but certainly a project for the future.

Next down from Colin’s Quality Rentals is the rank of bus stops, so I’ve been doing a little research on buses. Look at this little gem on Flickr! They must have known…

Another running session this evening working a little further into the timetable and towards the evening peak. Every now and then I need a positioning move to sort out a fiddle yard imbalance. Prepping for the later cascade of containers going coastwards, I needed to move the Freightliner set from the Warrington yard to the Crewe yard. A 45/0 pulls the additional boxes over the viaduct and makes the (surprisingly good value) chippy rumble beneath. I’ll see if there’s a Trafford Park to Lawley Street service I can divert. The Christmas delivery of BAAs (or BBAs, I should look closer) was just in time for the evening Dee Marsh to Mossend. This is the first time I’ve done this particular move and it brings about this tantalising opportunity as the pair of 20’s run back towards Bluebeck depot whilst the 85 moves down from the stabling point. A more organised operator would have had the 85 waiting on the Up Warrington before the steels came in… I think this is the first time the 20’s have stabled on shed (but they may do earlier in the day, but I didn’t run the steel service due to absence of trucks). A satisfying amount of blue on display in the quad. With plenty of room for more… Finally, the 85 makes easy work of the loaded coils northbound (you’ll have to squint to see the coils, and indeed the overhead wires). A few of these services were double headed, which makes for an interesting prospect! That’s almost the end of the Christmas hiatus, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting some decent time on the layout.

Thanks! I have no idea what anything cost back then, although I guess I could have worked it out, the bank of England inflation calculator suggests using a factor of 2.7.

Progress with the lower station entrance and shops. The basic form of the viaduct is beginning to take shape. The concept I had in my head seems to be working out. There’s a little bit of fun been had with the British Rail font, which includes lots of evocative symbols! Anyone for really tiny fish and chips? Only now that it’s in place have I noticed I can’t spell haddock! The shop will eventually be lit, so the detail should be viewable.

Is there a finer way to fill the days between Christleton and New Year than with a festive special? Kingmoor’s celebrity 40, the erstwhile D200, brings a charter through the middle road. Not since the very early days of the 40’s has one hammered through non-stop.

Santa was very favourable for 1986 related gifts… The Fords in the car park of the electric stabling hint at a lot of discussion in the mess room. Finally an 86 joins the ranks, teamed up with an 87 for its first run out. A decent number of steel wagons are now available. A pair of 20’s take an empty rake north. Most of the time life is mundane. And there’s no end of units to maintain the mundane. There’s a Hooton, Llandudno and Manchester Victoria service waiting to go. But suddenly the mundane is blown away by a Sulzer blasting out towards the coast.

It’s well known that iphones learn words that you use frequently, often using them ahead of the word you intended to use. In this instance it’s not particularly embarrassing but it has caused some long explanations. And on that note, Merry Christleton everyone! Let’s hope Santa is well loaded with presents in ‘that shape’.

Completely agree with that. Llanborne is the benchmark in my opinion for 00 modellers of the mid to late 80’s.

Here's a little look at what's in store for the next hour or so at Christleton. Move number 341 is about 60% of the way through the currently planned 562 moves. That will probably go up by a few for ECS and light engine moves. Thanks to @St Enodoc for the format! No. Is the sequence number UD is whether the move has been updated to include fiddle yard and stock allocations (none of these have yet) Time @CJ is the time the move happens at. Org is origin on the model - FYC is Fiddle Yard Crewe, FYW is Fiddle Yard Warrington, FYH is Fiddle Yard Holyhead. P1 is Platform 1, UDT is Up Down Through (middle road), BY is Brewery Yard, RR is Run Round, CB is Christleton Bluebeck, ES is Electric Stabling, HR is Holding Road. Dest is detination, same codes as Org Headcode is the train's unique identifier. They are not unique. Desc is description of the train type Timing Load is copied from the Working Time Table (WTT). D210 means timed for a 47 hauling 210 tonnes; there are load adjustments for different classes. DMU(A) is new generation DMU, D1 is first generation DMU, 1 car powered in every 2. VB is vacuum braked. Real From and Dep are the timetabled origin and departure time. These are always shown in the WTT. Real To and Arr are the timetabled destination and arrival time. Destinations but not times are shown in the WTT, so many are currently xx:xx. If it says Christleton it is actually Chester in the WTT. Apologies to any Chester residents who feel downgraded to bus shelter status. Booked Loco This comes from the Loco Hauled Diagrams book and shows both class and diagram. 33.004 is a 33/0 and the 4th diagram for that class. 45.112 is a 45/1 and the 12th diagram for that class. I try to match booked traction as much as possible. 33.004 and 33.002 will both be allocated 33001 under loco, meaning for the Christleton operation they can be covered by the same model. Should a second 33 be acquired I may split the allocation. Eventually there will be a loco allocation whiteboard so you can see which model is booked to which diagram (thanks to @P.C.M). Vindictive operators can assign 47/4s to all 45/1 diagrams, just like in real life. Loco is the model diagram, for example 47401. I will then allocate a 47 to this diagram for the day. This helps work out how many of each class you need to run the model timetable. You often get 3 47/4s on scene together, but so far never more than 1 pair of 20s. This means I 'need' 3 x 47/4s, but a second pair of 20s is just indulgence. It does help prioritise purchases - another 47/0 would be much more use than another 45 (regrettably). Stock is the model stock allocated: 2 x Intercity rakes (IC1, IC2), 2 x Trans- Pennine rakes (TP1, TP2), 1 x semi-fast mk1s (SF), 1 x Relief rake (RE), 2 x parcels (PA1, PA2), Tanks (TK), coal hoppers (MGR, not yet available), Steel (St), ballast (CE), Speedlink (SLK) Formation is only used to denote something specific, as most sets run as fixed rakes. Exceptions include Sleeper car, TPO, GUV/BG for drop off / pick up, tanks for fuel road and vans for brewery. Comments the most common reference is to the page in the WTT e.g. the end of page 15 in section CH (Chester area passenger). I also add notes in here where I can't currently make the timetable work - e,g. all stock in the wrong fiddle yard, no available platform, traction issue (such as I can only fit 3 electric locos on the stabling point). Once I've done a whole run through I'll try to sort these out. I'm currently considering minor tweaks to the Warrington fiddle yard to sort a couple of issues. A quick scan at the next 75 minutes suggests you should watch the 33 through on the Llandudno, and then you've got 15 minutes of units to get a Maxpak coffee and a caramac, before heading off to the end of platform 2. No-one's sure if 1K08 is running today, but someone reckons 40122 might be using the path to get back to Crewe. Also, word on the station is that last week one of the lads got a cab ride in the 08 shunting the brewery... The chippy looks like it's still not open, so it might be some space raiders and trip up to Warrington for tea if 1E16 produces the promised peak, there isn't one on shed at the moment though, so it's not looking good.

I’m very much enjoying a bit of extra time with the layout on the run up to Christmas… I’ve nearly worked through 60% of the timetabled moves now! The first run through takes a lot of time as I need to allocate stock, find fiddle yard roads and sort out conflicts across junctions. Hopefully it will eventually run at something approaching real time. A class 45 gets 1K53, the afternoon Bangor to York service, rolling across the viaduct and just beginning to snake across the junction onto the Warrington lines. Slightly further round the corner, passing the site for the incoming junction signal. There’s an embankment missing from here… The south end hasn’t been seen so much lately, with all the focus on the West end civil engineering. A 47 waits underneath the multi-storey before setting back to Bluebeck depot. An 87 is humming away, soon to move off and pick up the Euston service the duff has just come off. The DMU shortage continues. Happily no sprinters have made it into service yet, so a filthy 31 pulls a make shift DMU replacement set out of the carriage sidings to form a Crewe service. It will need to reverse from the middle road to get into platform 1, a move known locally as the Christleton shuffle, and performed with vigour by the 31’s driver.

The first bit of work for the viaduct. I’m working left to right, or East to West depending upon how you view it. The first part is the station entrance from street level up to the platforms, followed by some holes for the two shops. Next photo with various piece loosely sat in position… the entrance hall, just a wooden box with dirty red floor and cream walls. Then the boxes for the chippy and the TV rental shop. The chip shop will have a full interior whilst the rental place will just be a window display. There’s no ceiling on the shop interiors so that I can add lights. With these sections in place I can start the work on the frontages. Far and away the most important job is thinking up some ‘amusing’ shop names. Nominations gratefully accepted!

Intercity liveried 47612 has backed on and been coupled up to the 11.00, 1D48 ex Euston to Holyhead. This is booked for 100mph air con stock, but there’s not much evidence of any air con today! A little later in the afternoon and a 45 waits on the holding road to takeover the 14.28 service, originating at Bangor and destined for York. This is booked for 47 haulage throughout, so a real win for peak fans today. The booked 47 had worked a Euston service southbound owing to the current absence of an 86. A request has been made to Santa (c/o Crewe Electric).

That’s the kind of excellent, unique and niche knowledge that we need. Try using that fact anywhere else! If you win a pub quiz with it I’ll eat my hat. I assume that it’s pronounced who-ton and not hu-ton?

Rock Ferry doesn’t appear in the timetable for Chester at all. I assume the DC lines were in a separate table, being effectively a completely separate railway. I think modelling AC electrics is enough for now!