Fordbank

Thanks for the expert input Robert. There are many ways to 'reflect' on Peak Forest and all are very welcome on this thread. I have corrected the mistake with the captions. Must try harder.

National Power Class 59s at Peak Forest Further to the post earlier today...... Sadly there are no photos to be found of the National Power Class 59s on power station workings at Peak Forest Revived. I have thought about modelling this train in the past as models are available of both the loco and the HKA hoppers in National Power livery. However in reality both space and funds are limited so that current planning has imposed a future limit of just two more wagon rakes. The good news is that @eatus-maximus has provided an excuse to include a couple of excellent photos of the real thing by Robert Catterson:- '59201 works the afternoon Tunstead - Drax loaded limestone train formed of a half rake of wagons. 29th March 1995.' '59201 approaches Great Rocks Junction on 6E56 06:39 Tunstead - Drax loaded limestone train. 1st June 1964.' Photo Robert Catterson.

Mick, you've probably looked it up already, but a good excuse to post something not yet modelled on PFR... Stored 'Dutch' Class 31/1, 31159 Stabled on the same road at one of Tinsley's independent snow ploughs, Civil Engineers 'Dutch' liveried Class 31/1, No. 31159 was seen stored at Peak Forest on the 31st March 1996. The loco had been involved in a heavy shunt, which had seen the cab damaged, giving the 'droop' effect. Stored due to the damage the loco never worked again, and went for scrap. Photo "Dalzell" from Flickr. Some "heavy shunt"! It reminds me of when kids say, "I've had a slight bump in the car."

During the mid nineties there was a steady traffic from Tunstead of limestone to the power stations, particularly Drax, as the limestone was an important constituent of the desulphurisation process by which polluting emissions from the flue gases of fossil fuelled power stations could be greatly reduced by absorbtion. National Power the then owners of Drax Power Station bought its first of five class 59s in 1991, the loco arriving in February 1994. National Power also purchased 85 bogie hopper wagons which were painted in a smart matching blue livery and used in both coal and limestone traffic. In 1998 National Power sold its class 59s and HKA hoppers to EWS. A National Power class 59 and the odd crippled HKA were not uncommon sights in South Sidings between 1995 and 1998. Photo Neil Harvey 156 from Flickr Failed Class 59 At Peak Forest. 59201 "Vale Of York" is seen at Peak Forest on the morning of 4th April 1996, having been declared a failure. It was booked to work 6E56 Tunstead to Drax, but unfortunately got no further. It was being pulled out of the way by a Class 60 at this point and was later rescued by 59202.

I amsure you are correct. I try hard to correctly attribute any photos used on this thread. Original photos contribute greatly to the interest of the thread and the photographs of John and yourself have provided not only great interest but also valuable information about the line through Peak Forest. I had searched at length through my archive to source an accurate description and attribution for the photograph concerned but had failed to find one. I rather rashly assumed that it was the earlier working of the below:- 'Peak Forest 23-4-95 (SUN) 37426+026 had just worked the morning empty ICI hoppers from Northwich to Tunstead and were stabled waiting for the afternoon trip '. Photo John Catterson. However you are clearly correct regarding the rosebay willow herb. ( it is such a distinctive plant at Peak Forest and I am still working on a way to model it believably). My sincere apologies for mistakenly attributing the photo to John. It is often a balance between failing to credit the photographers of original material, and doing so in error. I clearly rushed this one, and must try harder. Many thanks to you and John for making so many of your photos available on Flickr; Reflections on Peak Forest would be far poorer without their benefit. Regards, Andy

Train #1 The varied rolling stock accumulated over several years has meant that it is now possible to run many different trains on Peak Forest Revived. Moreover many of the nearly fifty different consists can be hauled by a variety of prototypically correct locomotives. In the case of the limestone hoppers there is a choice, including double headers, of no less than eighty different loco/train combinations. I guess I will never get to run them all! Of all the trains available there is only one consist that could possibly be in the running for the designation of ‘Train #1’ on Peak Forest Revived. The first trains of ICI limestone hopper wagons began running from Tunstead quarry to the soda ash works in Northwich, Cheshire in 1937 and they continued to run through Peak Forest for the next sixty years. The last train of the by then TOPS coded PHV wagons passing through Peak Forest on 29th December 1997.* 'Fowler 4F 3851 heads a train of ICI limestone hoppers out of Great Rocks Tunnel as it heads towards Peak Forest Station. October 17th 1938' The first trains of limestone hoppers were hauled by Fowler 4F 0-6-0 locomotives; these were quickly superceded by more powerful Stanier 8Fs. By the time of the last train from Tunstead the hoppers had seen regular haulage by diesel classes 25, 20, 47, and 37s, often in pairs. Class 25 25104 passes Peak Forest with its train of limestone hoppers. 'January 21st 1981. 25279 Tunstead to Oakleigh Sidings passes Peak Forest Station.' 37026 and 37416 on Tunstead to Northwich lime hoppers. 23rd April 1995. Photo As yet unknown. See post below. '37026 and 37415 pass Peak Forest South signal box with a long rake of PHV limestone hoppers. A rake of ICI hoppers is then the iconic freight train of Peak Forest and sits unchallenged as Train #1. *Anyone wishing to know more about these long serving hopper wagons should refer to the excellent and comprehensive ‘An Illustrated History of the ICI Hopper Wagon’ by Paul Harrison.

That is quite probably what they said, but probably not what I remembered. Anyway it sounds about right, and Taunton Controls say that they have modified the ZTC 611 to prevent the same problem recurring. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks to all who responded to this query. When posting I had been under the misapprehension that ZTC had ceased trading. How wrong I was! I eventually tried their helpline at Taunton Controls Ltd. and was met with truly excellent and knowledgeable advice. Apparently the early model ZTC 511s do not like capacitors. ( Early version 511s programme at very low voltage – typically around 1v - to protect the decoder and this voltage is exceeded by that stored in the stay alive. Later versions of ZTC controllers I am assured have been modified to accept the fitting of capacitors.) {The wonderful man at ZTC even offered to programme the decoder to my specification for free if I could deliver 66612 to him. I couldn’t.} My solution was to dig out an as-yet-unused Lenz Compact controller and connect it to my test track/shunting plank, Slutchers Lane. The Lenz was happy programming with stay alive capacitors. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Trouble on Forth #3 Successful upgrade having created a smooth running Freightliner, all that remained was to change the loco ID to 67 and CV 29 to the value of 2 in order to turn off DC compatible as widely advised. 66612 creeps sweetly on to Peak Forest Revived’s programme track; controller switched to “Programme”; and CV 1 selected. Computer Says No! The ZTC 511 does not want to know – does not want to programme this loco. Some consultation on RMWeb (inconclusive) leads to a phone call to ZTC helpline. I had wrongly thought that they had closed down. Fortunately not. And the as ever person at ZTC, who just loves to be helpful, confirmed that early model ZTC 511s do not like capacitors. ( Early version 511s programme at very low voltage – typically around 1v to protect the decoder – and this voltage is exceeded by that stored in the stay alive. Later versions of ZTC controllers I am assured have been modified to accept the fitting of capacitors.) {The wonderful man at ZTC even offered to programme the decoder to my specification for free if I could deliver 66612 to him. I couldn’t.} The solution was to drive 66612 from the programming track on PFR over to the fiddle yard and onto its cassette. The cassette was then whisked across to Slutchers Lane (my test plank inside the nice warm house as opposed to PFR in the increasingly freezing garage.) and driven, still sweetly, onto the programme track at Slutchers Lane. Slutchers Lane is equipped in DCC mode with a Lenz Compact controller. The Lenz is still unfamiliar to me so after a lot of fiddling with buttons the relevant CVs were eventually accessed and their values updated. Job done. Trouble on The Forth resolved, and 66612 can now be rostered to the multitude of duties befalling to Freightliner on Peak Forest Revived. '66612, Forth Raider, stands in the stabling sidings at Peak Forest awaiting its next duty.'

Trouble on Forth #2 ‘There is no problem that cannot be solved if you hose enough cash at it.’ Could the problem running of 66 612 also provide an opportunity to try out the benefits of fitting a stay alive capacitor? None of the locomotives on Peak Forest Revived could boast the fitment of a stay alive capacitor - until yesterday. I didn’t have the nerve to subject an expensive decoder to my basic soldering skills so chose something ready wired for a Stay Alive. In this case a Zen Black decoder and Zen Super Stay Alive from DCC Concepts. I figured if I was trying to assess the benefits of Stay Alive then a good quality decoder and matched capacitor was a sensible, if somewhat expensive, place to start. The Outcome An excellent running class 66 which is a delight to drive. It will progress at a crawl without coming to a halt. It is yet to stall or hesitate on any part of Peak Forest Revived’s trackwork. But not cheap; although in fairness the conversion did yield a good quality decoder which was removed from 66612. All good then? Well not quite….

Trouble on Forth #1 Peak Forest Revived has only three locomotives in its Freightliner roster: a class 57, a class 66 in Freightliner Orange, & Forth Raider a Bachmann class 66 in Freightliner green livery. At the same time Peak Forest imposes a high demand for Freightliner traction as there are rakes of HIAs hoppers and MIA Box wagons to be hauled and maintained. As a consequence the workload on 66612 is considerable: it being the only Freightliner loco suitable for limestone trains prior to the arrival of 66623 in G&W Orange. But 66612, Forth Raider, is a disappointment….. 66612 is a poor runner. It hesitates, and will routinely stall completely when entering left hand curves. In comparison its sibling the Bachmann EWS class 66, 66135 is smooth and reliable. The difference would appear to be the odd decision by Bachmann to place pickups on its early class 66s on only the inside and central axle of each bogie. Bachmann appears to have recognised and remedied this shortcoming on later class 66 models and placed pickups on all six axles.. EWS 66135 is unsurprisingly one of later models. The first attempt to resolve the poor running was to try to improve the contact between the pickups and the rear face of the wheels. Much time was spent subtly bending and and poking the brass pickups: there was no definitive improvement in running but a dramatic escalation in frustration! Making adjustments to the pickups on 66 612 is made doubly difficult by the virtual impossibility of removing the bogie sideframes without breaking the plastic clips. It would seem this is only really possible if the bogies are released from the chassis first. A further design fault, surely? Time, then, for a more high-tech solution?

I have recently fitted a DCC Concepts Zen Black decoder plus DCC Concepts 'Super High Power' Stay alive to an early model Bachmann class 66 as a ( rather expensive) cure for poor running due to the absence of pickups on the front axle of each bogie ( -a problem later addressed by Bachmann on later class 66 models.). The modification worked well and the model tested encouragingly over all track configurations; however I appear to have encountered a problem. When I subsequently attempted to change the CVs on the programming track I received the message " Track Overload - Try again?" Needless to say trying again produced similar results. I checked the decoder programming procedure with two other locos and it worked fine. Is there a compatability problem between my controller and programming decoders with wired in Stay Alive capacitors? The controller is a ZTC 511. I realise that the next step should be to disconnect the Stay Alive and try again, but I wish to avoid having to resolder connections between decoder and capacitor every time I need to change a CV. Is this a problem unique to ZTC controllers? Any adfvice would be welcome, Thanks in advance, Andy

Treatment Tuesday

Modern Monday - Less pollution and the end of coal The Large Combustion Plant Directive in 2001by the European Union limited the harmful flue gas emissions from large power stations; in so doing, over the next two decades, this directive together with the urgent need to reduce the burning of fossil fuels to reduce CO2 emissions, lead in the UK to the closure of a higher proportion of coal fired power stations than in any other country in Europe. The impact on coal mining and coal transport by rail was dramatic. By 2015 hundreds of coal hopper wagons, some built less than ten years earlier, were now stored and lying idle. One solution was to use the ex-coal wagons to meet the growing demand for stone aggregate. On 26th September 2018, 66789 exits Dove Holes tunnel with a rake of GB Railfreight HYAs on the 4M11 Washwood Heath RMC to Peak Forest empties. Photo shaunnei0 from Flickr. ‘Class 66 66789, British Rail 1948-1997, passes Peak Forest with the 4M11 empties from Washwood Heath. 26/09/2018.’ However the use of ex-coal hoppers for aggregate use had a significant drawback: stone aggregate is significantly more dense than coal which meant that the wagons could not run fully loaded. The widely adopted solution was to reduce the capacity of the wagons by reducing their length. In early 2016 WH Davis of Shirebrook produced a prototype stone hopper wagon by removing the central discharge door from a GB Railfreight HYA. Over the next four years batches of HYAs were also converted for wagon leasors Touax, Nacco, and VTG. * A similar process of modification was also undertaken on many of the ex-coal HTA hoppers owned by EWS. ‘An HYA shortened by WH Davis at its Langwith works passes Peak Forest on trial sandwiched amongst a rake of ex-coal hoppers. 22nd January 2017.’ *Many thanks to Paul Harrison for his excellent and highly informative book, ‘Wagons in the Peak District’ which has provided invaluable guidance about the wagons seen at Peak Forest.

Throwback Thursday Before 6F67 there was of course Speedlink..... ' On 22nd June 1991, 31144 draws its short train into the Up/Down Loop. The Speedlink service with one Polybulk and two ex Grainflow PAA hoppers from Dowlow to Warrington Arpley has picked up three empty loco fuel TTA tanks from Buxton shed.' In addition to class 31s it was common for a class 47 to be used on the Speedlink service. Great Rocks Junction. On 27th April 1991 47343 heads for Buxton via Ashwood Dale on the Warrington Arpley to Dowlow trip with 1 Polybulk, 2 ex Grain wagons and a fuel tank for Buxton shed. Photo John Catterson Within three months, in July 1991, all Speedlink services were ended. The Dowlow -Warrington trip was fortunately replaced by an Enterprise service thereby beginning the saga of 6F67.

Wordless Wednesday

Back to the Neolithic..................Rockpainting. I like plaster cast rockfaces. you can use the same moulds to make lots, and then you can use some of them to practice on. You can also cut them up easily and rejoin them to create different rock formations. Their only downside is they are quite brittle; however this is easily overcome by gluing the back (ie flat side) to a thin piece of polystyrene ( usually a pizza base). So time to play. Some bits of rockface from the Rock Box, and some very expensive paint Some test samples, and try-it-out- as-you-go-along bits. The Before and After shot.... Tequnique was to paint it all dark grey, then add add a bit of dark 'pre-shading' Next to add lighter shades of grey in layers using a drybrushing method. I remembered whilst painting that last time I had sprayed all the rockfaces with Halfords grey primer before embedding them in the plaster scenery. Definately preferable, and the primer gives a better base than the expensive Earth Colours as it doesn't blend in overly with subsequent layers. Some foliage detail still to be added, but fairly content with the results, and always best to stop before overcrafting. Now what else can I find to do before that bleedin' static grass...

And in the beginning there was rock..... ......and it was there even before the static grass. Having covered up the whiteness of the plaster bandage with a nice blanket of greeny brown flock, the unpainted white of the rockwork screams out all the louder:- I can't even remember how I achieved an acceptable finish on the rockwork at t'other end. A quick rummage ( actually quite a long hunt in the furthest corners of the garage ) dug up a box of rockface trial castings which were compared to the still raw castings on PFR:- ... by which time you've forgotten what The Real Thing actually looks like on a sunny August afternoon in 2003. So another quick (not) quarry in the laptop archive yields some essential reference:- The trial casting bottom left above looks a good place to start. Out with the paints.

Back to Modelling A long overdue return to proper modelling after a somewhat prolongued period of staging (ie messing about ) with photos of Peak Forest Revived. The Horrible Corner The left hand end of the layout features the tightest curve on PFR. From the planning stage I knew it was too tight but the alternative was a wider baseboard and giving up the chance of ever getting a car into the garage. ( And, as is the way, I had not quite given up the idea of a pools win and a Porsche.) Ten years later no Porsche, but too late to redesign the layout. This tight curve determines the width of the tunnel mouth beyond the road bridge and at the end of the scenic section, and the width of the tunnel determines its height. And it looks much too big and this scenic section is quite unable to resemble the line as it leaves Peak Forest Station, crests the highest point on the Peak Line and descends into the wonderful cutting into Dove Holes Tunnel. I need another six foot, but alas it is not to be. The outcome is a too tight curve and a very awkward end to the layout which has put me off finishing the scenery on this section for fully eight years; it has remained a white eyesore of plaster rockface and polystyrene. However the time has come to bite the bullet. So a quick layer of plaster cloth afollowed by a coat of earth undercoat. I've noticed of late that much of the colour on the older scenic section of PFR has faded quite badly. This may well be due to the use of cheap childrens poster paint left over from, yes, children. But the children having gone and the wallet fattened I was tempted to try a ridiculously expensive proprietary brand of Earth Undercoat 'formulated specifically for coating plaster cloth scenery.' It was easy to apply and suitably opaque. Job done. Once everthing was dry(ish) another coat of PVA and a thorough sprinkling of greenish flock to create a base for the static grass. ( I dug out the mini hoover to remove the flock as I went along. It is a very useful tool to have available when messing with scenery.) Not a view normally to be seen on PFR as Batham Gate Road bridge is missing. But from this angle the tunnel doesn't look quite so bad. Next : Get out the Static Grass. Better not wait another eight years.

Wordless Wednesday Photo John Catterson from Flickr.

Not So Duff .......And Only a Little Bit Tubby. After nearly three years in their storage box it was a pleasant surprise to find all six of the Heljan class 47s moved off on the first application of the ZTC throttle and began a few warm up laps. The Heljan model has certainly been hugely improved by recent releases Bachmann but despite their extra millimetre or so, the Tubby Duffs of Peak Forest still look good once running on the layout and away from the workbench. And the Z-Exam? The dreaded Mazak ( alias Zamak ) rot..... The PFR Heljan 47s sit on Slutchers Lane ( the PFR test track and possibly a future thread), bodies off, awaiting the all clear from Mazak Rot. Sadly one of the seven tested had a terminal case and a replacement chassis was purchased. The remaining six returned to the Peak Forest Revived Pool (PFRH) as seen above. It was re-affirming to see these Tubby Duffs soldiering on. It would not do if a few extra millimetres around the middle meant that we were all sent off to the knackers yard.

Return of the 47s Seeing 47840 North Star a few posts above acted as a reminder that the Peak Forest Revived allocation of class 47s had not made an appearance on the layout for quite a while - much too long in fact. I try to run as many locos as I can without too long a period in cold storage so as to ensure the mechanisms don't sieze up. Looking up the 'Loco Logs' on the laptop revealed that apart from the appearance of 47840 above, no class 47 had run on Peak Forest Revived since 2020 when they had been subject to a Z Exam. Cold storage for the winter for the Duffs is not a siding at the far side of the fiddle yard but is in fact the inevitale Really Useful Cold Storage Box. Following their re-instatement on Peak Forest the class of 47 lined up for a celebratory photo (or two) in comemoration of a famous photo taken on the last day of mainline class 47 service in 2002. Following which they chased each other round and around on PFR whilst I had a cup of tea. Class 47s in heritage liveries line up for a photo farewell at Toton in August 2002.

Now that's what I call a competition entry! Brilliant, Paul. You have added a keystone to the foundation myth of Peak Forest Revived that 'Trains don't just run on Peak Forest revived - they are embedded in real history'. Thanks.

You certainly 'got away with it' - a great looking model. And 37 678 was not a stranger to Buxton if I recall correctly. I'm unconvinced my loco modelling skills will ever be sufficient to convert models from one protoype to another. However Nifkins Bridge is a great inspiration. In the meantime I have a little used airbrush in the garage and plenty of stock to practice on.

A very fine re-spray job. So are the grills on a 37/4 (ie Cwmbran) the same as on a 37/5? I had thought there were differences. Andy