Dorkingian

Virgin territory

Just after the turn of the Millennium, Virgin Voyager Class 220 units revolutionised Cross Country services with their useful connections, elongated routes centred on Birmingham New Street and regular interval timings.  Not rocket science, but it made an impact, as did the comfortable and good-looking units themselves.  This is the Bachmann version:

Here's a Brighton to Manchester service (or is it the other way round?) on the North Downs Line near Dorking:

Foreign Visitors to the DGR

Geoff and Josh braved the intense sun in Dorking yesterday and, as usual, brought a welcome eclectic mix of rolling stock new to this railway.  First up, the Germans:

Here's a handsome NordWestBahn "Lint" diesel unit from Niedersachsen:

and here, somehow coasting over the Northern Viaduct with its pan down, is the Piko model of a Talent emu in DB Regio livery:

On 09/06/2019 at 22:52, CKPR said:

Why does this look so authentically mid-1960s in a way that so many finescale efforts can't match ?

Thanks for that, CKPR.  I like to think it's the scenery - all painstakingly hand-painted!

And thanks to Sarah for informing me about the missing yellow panels; having inherited the loco, I was unaware of their absence.

Summer comes soonest in the South

This week David H. brought ten very handsome locomotives from his large Southern collection to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine in Dorking.  First up was a double headed ensemble of King Arthurs, with Sir Meliagrance piloting Pendragon:

After running successfully for some time, we noticed that Sir Meliagrance had nevertheless sustained an earlier injury.  Visible in this next photo is the dislodged off-side slidebar assembly.  So he is now in the shops for care and attention.

Number 30915 Schools class "Brighton" ran well, seen here running off the Northern Viaduct with a very light load.  But she then shed a traction tyre, so also had to be removed from service for later attention. 

Deciding a beauty contest can be hard, but Dugald Drummond's T9s, nicknamed "Greyhounds", will always be strong contenders:

The last photo shows an Adams Radial tank as the train engine with an M7 as pilot, passing Northdown Sidings:

To entertain some very young visitors recently I decided to run some more robust rolling stock, specifically the Tri-ang Class 37 D6830 and some Mk I coaches (which are surprisingly good for their period).  A good time was had by all - although the loco was reluctant to run over Peco points.

That's Entertainment

Yesterday the DGR was delighted to welcome Hal and Joe to see the trains.  As neither has reached their third birthday yet, it was an excuse to run some older, more robust stock, so I dug out the battered Tri-ang BR green Class 37 no. D6830 and some Tri-ang Mk I coaches (very passable models for their day) - which seemed to keep the visitors happy. 

Afterwards, as everything was up and running, I decided to exercise the BR Standard 4MT and relax while watching it trundle past with a coal train.

First the 37.  Someone seems to have taken a bite out of its bodywork:

Then the Class 4, here running onto Sycamore Curve:

and on verdant Foxdale Bank:

Going Great Western

Visiting locomotives and rolling stock aren't exactly unusual on the DGR, but yesterday was a bit of a first with some visiting signals.  More specifically, some beautifully finished lower quadrant Ratio signals arrived for the day (helpfully tailored to the DGR track plan), along with Julian's ever growing stock of realistically grubby GW-origin rolling stock.  So we planted the signals and ran some trains.

First out of the box was Resolven Grange, seen here on a parcels train passing some fine signals (note the bucket on the tender footplate):

Later, the Grange paused with some coaches in the headshunt, to admire the signal controlling access to the main line...

and King William IV ran past with an express to Paddington from the west Midlands and the Principality beyond:

Continuing:

9F and train approaching Throstlebeck Sidings

With the 9F in the headshunt, the 8F takes its train past Throstlebeck signalbox.

After which, the 9F gets the road and heads away.

Goods Vibrations

To celebrate some fine weather this week I decided to have a freight train day.  Recently I've been buying up secondhand 16 ton mineral wagons wherever possible, which has produced a nicely differentiated and battered rake (although a few more wagons wouldn't go amiss).  So it was out with the 8F and the 9F and plenty of wagons to shoot.

First, the 9F on a coal train:

Crossing the Northern Viaduct

Running along Foxdale Bank

On Sycamore Curve

A last quick pic from yesterday.  The fifth wagon in the train is the Tri-ang converter wagon for coupling Peco and tension lock vehicles together; a shame they made it in the Tri-ang tradition with open axleboxes.

Not Forgotten

My great uncle Ralph Lloyd passed away in Ontario this week.

He seems to have had a long, full and happy life.  This included a large HO layout in his basement.  When he was 65 he started to lose his eyesight, so changed to G scale modelling, and he gave me a demonstration of the current layout in his basement in November 2017.

The staff of the Dorking Garden Railway honour his departure.

Back in the (slightly more) modern world...

I celebrated the fine weather by running the Hornby Dublo 8F on a goods train in the garden.  The loco and tender started life as 3-rail, but were later swapped onto 2-rail chassies(?) as part of the growing-up process, so are not entirely kosher.

Starting with the train passing Throstlebeck Sidings signalbox.

I'd like to show more pics, but they seem to be large files so come up against the upload limit.  Maybe later...

It's been a while...

...since I've been able to have a running session, what with visitors, a holiday, and life in general.  So here's a photo I like from some years ago of the 9F running onto Foxdale Bank with a longish string of wagons:

Some time ago I made this video which includes an NSWGR loco:

https://youtu.be/76Ch4yFGJeY

A dishy Duchess

An attractive duchess arrived to stay with us recently, courtesy of friend Colin who couldn't see his way to continuing his relationship with her.  So it seemed only polite to give her an opportunity to pose in the afternoon sun. 

Unfortunately that's all she'll be able to do on the Dorking Garden Railway unless I can find a 2-rail chassis for her or get her converted (do Scalespeed do such operations, I wonder).  Anyway, she appeared to be enjoying today's outing:

As with many of us, close-up photos reveal quite a few blemishes, not least the rust around the tender handrails:

And another couple of pics:

While she's quite a looker, as with many of us, close-up photos do reveal a few blemishes, not least the rust around the tender handrails:

Another dishy Duchess

An attractive duchess arrived to stay with us recently, courtesy of friend Colin who couldn't see his way to continuing his relationship with her.  So it seemed only polite to give her an opportunity to pose in the afternoon sun. 

Unfortunately that's all she'll be able to do on the Dorking Garden Railway unless I can find a 2-rail chassis for her or get her converted (do Scalespeed do such operations, I wonder).  Anyway, she appeared to be enjoying today's outing:

Talking about the Duchess of Atholl reminds me of the day a friend brought a rather battered version to visit.  Being 3-rail, she couldn't run on my layout, but still managed to look stately:

A visiting Wrenn "Clan Line" lends a 1950s aura to the Dorking Garden Railway, below.  I wonder if Wrenn cheated and just used the HD West Country body and chassis, which is presumably too short for a Merchant Navy (and maybe even for a West Country) .

On 11/03/2019 at 01:24, south_tyne said:

Martino,

 

Very impressive stuff, cannot wait to see more of your railway. I love that Peckett! I'm not in any way jealous of your Florida location mind..... 

Indeed.  What a superb railway.  I followed your Facebook link to where you have scores of fine photos (somehow the most realistic ones often seem to be in black & white, but perhaps that's just my conditioning from too many old railway books!).  The pictures here are also most effective in showing how you've managed to capture just what an NG line might look like.  Thanks for sharing the very atmospheric results of your hard work.

Thanks to all those of you who contributed thoughts in response to my query about replacing Hornby Dublo metal wheels with insulated alternatives; there's plenty for me to reflect on.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the Hornby Dublo 8F enjoying winter sunshine on my Dorking Garden Railway:

Wagons Roll!  A question about re-wheeling Hornby Dublo 3-rail wagons

As I now only run a 2-rail railway, I want a good solution to replacing Hornby Dublo metal wheelsets with insulated ones.  Is there an effective way of putting modern needlepoint wheelsets into those tinplate retainers that clip inside HD wagon axleboxes (and coaches, for that matter)?  If so, I haven't found it yet.  Or can anyone please recommend a source of Hornby Dublo compatible insulated wheelsets?  Thanks for your help.

Here's a photo of some of those wonderful cast-bodied mineral wagons in the snow last year:

Hornby Dublo pictures here

I've just stumbled across your fascinating thread. 

Some people may also like to see a few photos of occasional HD rolling stock in action on my 00 garden railway:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/84103-dorking-garden-railway-videos-in-00-scale/&do=findComment&comment=3066227

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/84103-dorking-garden-railway-videos-in-00-scale/&do=findComment&comment=1936593

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/84103-dorking-garden-railway-videos-in-00-scale/&do=findComment&comment=2016039

There may be a few more if you skim through the thread.  Hope they're useful!

Adding smoke effects to a model railway

I've taken up smoking!  A first attempt is shown in this video (please ignore the opening INVALID caption inserted by software gremlins):

https://youtu.be/meFiPPiyLRk

Plenty of scope for improving on these faltering first steps - as well as for getting the hang of the new video editing software.

Catching the Winter Sunshine

We've had quite a few uncharacteristically sunny February days recently, but last weekend was the first opportunity to dust off the railway, polish up the track and get something running.

These photos feature the DGR's stalwart BR Standard Class 4MT, first caught here crossing Foxdale Bank:

Then here whistling a greeting to the Throstlebeck Sidings signalman

And finally a bit of late afternoon glint (shame the offside front steps are missing, but such things tend to happen on garden railways):

In between the still photography I was shooting video and trying to introduce smoke effects -- but that's another story.