Steaming South

It's been some considerable time since my last blog entry, but the model railway has unfortunately been put on the back burner, hopefully to be resumed very soon. but in that time it's not all doom and gloom..........during that time we have been able to visit some interesting train related locations. The most recent our first visit to "The North Yorkshire Moors Railway" and on another day being able to incorporate a day excursion from York to Scarborough on the "The Scarborough Spa Express". So as I'm trigger happy with the old camera I decided to include some of my photo's for those who may be interested. On our first visit to the Yorkshire moors we were not disappointed, The North Yorkshire Moors Railway meanders through some fascinating countryside from Pickering to Whitby, with stop offs at Goathland station, which goes without saying was made well known by the "Heartbeat TV series" being filmed there. Our second stop was Grosmont station which incorporated a visit to the engine sheds etc, you are able to have a fascinating walk around the workshops which incorporates a fully functional coaling plant. The stand out attractions for me was seeing the 4-6-2 Sir Nigel Gresley tucked up in one of the sheds together with a Cowans Shelton 45 ton crane in the sidings. Our final destination being Whitby, which incorporated having the pleasant view of the marina while slowly entering the station. The visit finally being capped off with some of the most tastiest fish and chips we had ever eaten, the chips being served up with scraps, which I haven't had for years. My only disappointment of the day was our train being pulled by a diesel railcar instead of the intended 2-6-0 Great Marquess engine, which incurred problems on the day............but hay ho, still a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Our second train day was spent on the more recently overhauled LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0 "Galatea" engine which ran from York to Scarborough, unfortunately this day was hampered by weather, as you will be able to see by the photos. It decided to rain most of the day, which certainly brought back memories of old train travel as we spent much of the journey wiping the condensation off the dirty windows to be able see out. Thanks for looking and until next time ! 76079 (BR 4MT 2-6-0) Passing through Levisham. Diesel Railcar & 45428 LMS Eric Treacy engine sitting in Grosmont Station. LMS 45428 Eric Treacy engine leaving Grosmont Station. LMS 45428 Eric Treacy engine & the Railcar passing at Grosmont Station 2 photo's of the Coaling Stage at Grosmont Sheds. 45428 Eric Treacy passing the Coaling Stage & sidings at Grosmont. 3 photo's of the Cowans Shelton 45 ton crane situated in the sidings at Grosmont. 76079 (BR 4MT 2-6-0) leaving Whitby Station. Water tower & water crane at Goathland Station. Goathland Station at dusk. 5 photo's of the LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0 Galatea engine on a murky day at Scarborough Station. The Galatea engine waiting to set off on the return journey to York.

Having mentioned in a previous blog that I recently visited the National Railway Museum in York, on this occasion I took a good long look in the reference library for some information regarding TPO's as I'm interested in incorporating this in my new layout, but whilst looking through the shelves of hundreds of books, I stumbled over a book called Barry Scrapyard...........The Preservation Miracle. This book was written back in 1988 and reprinted in 1989 by writer Alan Warren, who gives a blow by blow account on all the steam locomotives that were saved from the acetylene torch after being withdrawn from service in the restructure of the national railway network that finished up at the famous Woodham Brothers Scrapyard in Barry, South Wales for disposal. This fascinating book is an easy read that consists of 288 pages with over 30 beautiful colour pictures and many black and white shots as well, it contain an interesting background to the Woodham scrap business depicting the story that was going to unfold regarding life or death of the steam engine! The book dedicates a whole chapter to the rescued locomotives, which includes a complete page and photograph to each of the 213 surviving engines. Now some 50 years on, we should salute all those individuals and locomotive restorers in the late 1960's and early 1970's for having the foresight to save the locomotives for the future generations to enjoy, plus fortunately for the likes of me in 2013, to be able to sample the great wonders of engineering from all those years ago. I've also included a link below to the BBC iplayer, which is a 30 minute programme called The Train Now Departing - The survivors, which has an short interview with Dai Woodham first transmitted back in 1988. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p011v89n/The_Train_Now_Departing_The_Survivors/ That's all for this year, so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

After much deliberation, due to the interesting comments made about a previous blog regarding 2 or 3 rail, which gave me some second thoughts, I came to my original conclusion. As much as I would like to accommodate my 3 rail on the same layout, I believe the dimensions of my baseboards would virtually make it restricted, so it just confirmed 2 rail it is! Now the plans have been agreed and drawn up by my father for the new layout, but only after many alterations to the original drawings, we have now settled on Mk V111........thank god he is a patient man! The layout for my first attempt will be kept simple compared to many of the more experienced modellers' layouts out there, but will be functional for the area ( 11' 9" x 4'6"), with the engines all within reason travelling in one direction, while I get to grips with a few grey areas regarding the wiring. So on this occasion, I have included the plan and photo's of the constructed baseboards in the blog, together with my Locomotive acquisitions in the photo gallery section. Let the track laying commence, until next time thanks for reading.

Again the train enthusiasts came out in force on our second visit to the NRM in York, about 4 weeks ago to view the gathering of the A4 pacific's. It was certainly something well worth seeing in such an incredible museum and the icing on the cake being free entry. On this visit the focal point was of course "The Mallard" & it's A4 counterparts, but the one item of rolling stock that caught my eye was under the plastic canopy outside being the North Eastern Railway 25 ton steam breakdown crane, built in 1907 by Cravens Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Limited. Yet again I was very pleased to have kept my old Hornby Dublo Crane and having the opportunity to actually compare it (albeit the wrong region) to the real thing, brings it all into perspective, plus just recently having a conversation at work with a very knowledgeable work colleague (Rob) about the said item, without realising that he had also paid a visit to the museum recently, but unfortunately for him he missed the NER crane, so these pictures are for you. Thanks for reading. Followed by my Old Hornby Dublo Crane.

Possibly I didn't appreciate model railways as much when I was a young lad, but the one thing I did do right, was to keep my old 3 - rail model railway nicely boxed. Having retrieved the old Hornby Dublo out of the loft, it's nice to see how it has lasted in time.......and it still looks good in its old blue & white stripe boxes. With the Wren track, metal level crossings, "Ludlow Castle" 4-6-0 steam engine, tin coaches, various types of wagons accompanied with homemade platforms, signal boxes together with some Airfix models and amazingly they are all still in pretty good shape. But like most things in life, model railways have progressed and obviously left me behind after being away from the hobby so long. Unfortunately for me 3 rail is outdated, within reason any other items I wish to buy in the future would have to be through the second hand market, so making any future purchases limited. So it's decision time - is it the old 3 rail or 2 rail for my new layout......after much deliberation I decided 2 rail it is, mainly because there is more choice of items for the future! So after I decided the direction I was going to follow it's been a crash course in reading up about the ins & outs of 2 rail with its electrofrog turnouts and seeing just how much of my old rolling stock that I can convert with minimal fuss for use on my new layout. The locomotives will stay untouched, but I think my coaches & wagons are going to be converted, unless anyone tells me different. Possibly the one disappointing thing is that most of the off the shelf engines these days, have shells which are made out of plastic compared to metal many moons ago! Hey ho, but the detail is still pretty good. One thing that has taken me by surprise is the amount of people that are interested in railways in general. Hence why I decided to do a blog, to keep my Dad updated with progress, friends and any other interested parties. With the plans drawn up by my dad, many of the items bought..........let's see how we get on. So I have included a few Hornby Dublo 3 - rail photo's before the conversion begins! Until next time.

Some 40 odd years ago, when I was lad, I used to enjoy playing with my model railway on the lounge carpet floor. This pleased my father, but annoyed my mum who got fed up doing a hop, skip and jump over the track and rolling stock just so she could sit down on the settee. Sadly at that time, being that tender age I didn't appreciate my dad's efforts in buying and producing a running model railway, albeit I could only have it out on my school holidays. But looking back I should have paid more attention to what dad had achieved on my behalf. Unfortunately once entering my teens the model railway plummeted to the bottom of my spare time activities list.......the model railway lay dormant for a good many years. But more recently things dramatically changed on my job front, the new mundane job left me plenty of time to channel my thoughts elsewhere in just trying to keep my mind active and relieve the boredom! It was a wet and windy May afternoon last year, when my partner and I decided to pay a visit to the Hornby visitor centre at Margate. After much reminiscing that day, this was quickly followed up with trips on the Mid Hants Railway "Watercress Line" , Kent & East Sussex Railway and a visit to the National Railway Museum in York and you've guessed it..............I've caught the railway bug! Possibly it's an age thing or just big boys' toys, but like many things in life you don't know what you've missed until it's gone..... thankfully enthusiasts have kept the steam dream alive and running, so it's time to catch up on what I missed the first time round. Now for the loft to sort out the Hornby Dublo 3 rail!