Fordbank

Vive La Difference! A small (thumbnail) celebration of the wonderful variety of traction liveries that have been on view at Peak Forest over the past twelve months:- Photo: Adrian Nicholls Photo: Ian 10B Photo Marcus Photo Matthew Bailey Photo Jon Gavin Photo Matthew Bailey Photo Jon Gavin Photo Jon Gavin Photo Brad Joyce Photo Adrian Nicholls Photo Fordbank Photo Jon Gavin Photo Fordbank Photo Matthew Bailey Photo Fordbank Photo Dave Photo Mike J Photo Fordbank Photo Mr P Photo Phil McC My thanks to the above photographers for their work in making Peak Forest such an interesting location to follow. ( I've used only thumbnails out of respect for their copywrite. please look them up on Flickr to fully appreciate their artistry.) Particular thanks to Jon Gavin for creating such a useful archive of Peak Forest over such a long period.

The Completed PHV Loads

Loads of PHVs ( Sorry, just couldn't resist..) And as it's Thursday some more Sulzer traction.........with the new loaded PHVs.

Magnetic Dismountable Limestone Loads for the PHVs. A description of the modelling of these removable loads appears on the RMWeb thread Peak Forest Revived, page 10. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/105210-reflections-on-peak-forest/page-10

A bit of modelling Unless I wished for my limestone hoppers to circulate Peak Forest Revived in only a clockwise direction then they would need sometimes to be loaded. So time to make some limestone loads. And in order to save the cost of separate loaded and unloaded rakes of wagons the new loads should be easy to remove. To achieve the latter whilst avoiding damage to the fragile loads the decision was made to make the loads capable of being lifted clear of the wagons by using a small magnet. The load base was made from 5mm thick expanded polystyrene - an old ceiling tile - cut to 114mm by 29mm. The ends were then trimmed to fit the sloping ends of the hoppers, and a small nick added at half length to fit around the cross bracing in the hoppers. A magnetic weight was required for removal of the load and one cent euro coins were an appropriate size, magnetic, and plentiful in that bowl on the table by the front door. To make fitment of the weights neat they were countersunk by heating one up on the gas hob and placing on the polystyrene load base. ( NB not too hot or it will drop straight through!) An attempt to attach the magnetic weights beneath the load base were unsuccessful as it seems that polystyrene is quite an effective barrier to magnetic waves, and the magnetic force proved inadequate to lift the loads. Small heaps of stone were then carved from polystyrene offcuts to mirror the shape of the load. These were then glued to the load base. The shaped loads were now covered in Woodland Scenic light grey ballast using PVA glue. A whiter shade of ballast would have been preferable as the limestone quarried from Tunstead is of an unusually high purity and is generally a fairly brilliant white. As yet, however, a whiter graded model stone is yet to be found. In reality the appearance of the limestone does indeed vary with different strata being quarried and different ambient light conditions. For now the Woodland Scenics light grey will suffice. A quick rummage in that Alladin's Cave of modelling resources known as The Kitchen Draw yielded a suitable fridge magnet. (NB the magnetic force needs to be carefully balanced by trial and error as too strong a force will make the loads difficult to remove from the magnet without damage.) The limestone in the hoppers carried from Tunstead to Northwich is of a fairly coarse grade and is probably better represented by the coarse rather than medium grade of Woodland Scenics ballast. The two photos below show the difference.

To Sandhole Thanks for the encouragement, Chris. It will be critical when the temperature in the garage begins to plummet!

Yep. Throwback Thursday! Photo: David Hills Fabulous photo by David Hills; note Peakstone 07 in distance. Those limestone hoppers have a lot to answer for. All that research just threw up loads of lovely old Peak Forest photos. The limestone hoppers were around for so long that there was a healthy variety of diesel traction to power the workings from Tunstead over Cheshire Lines to Northwich. Before the Class 20s which appeared in the in the previous Throwback post, the limestone hoppers were hauled for twenty years from 1964 to 1984 by class 25s. Any Reflection on Peak Forest would therefore be incomplete without them. {I appreciate that most readers of this thread will already be familiar with chapter 'Limestone trains from Great Rocks/Tunstead' ( www.derbysulzers.com/5274.html ) but I mention it as it provides a fine summary of the stone workings from Tunstead.}

Wordless Wednesday

Hi Chris, Love the phrase 'milking cows for the Co-op in Gloucestershire'. Sounds bucolic but I bet it was early starts, hard work, and cow muck. Watch out on the scanner. I bought one a few years back, but the quality on negatives was always disappointing and as a result I've used it rarely. I suspect the good ones are quite pricey. I've pinched a couple of Choppers in the Snow shots from the web. Here's a favourite from November '85... Cheers, Andy

Hi Marcus, At least it's slightly less damaging on the bank balance to look towards the past at Peak Forest. Given the amazing proliferation of new liveries that have put in an appearance this year, it would be a dear job trying to keep up with the current railway scene. Great to see you are still following the Reflections thread. It sounds as if the Big Trains kept you pretty busy over the summer. Cheers, Andy

Throwback Thursday Many months ago a pair of Class 20s were acquired with the intention of eventually upgrading them (high intensity headlights ,etc) to 1999ish condition to replicate RHTT and empty stock workings. However whilst researching PHV limestone hopper operations through Peak Forest I came across several photos of the hoppers worked by pairs of Choppers. And how fine they looked... Photo courtesy of Jon Gavin I suspect a second BR Blue Chopper, suitably heavily weathered, will find its way onto the future acquisitions list; but also a future dilemma - whether to update or leave in 1980s spec for yet to come 'Throwback Hopper Workings".

Wordless Wednesday - although to be honest to me they look as if they're having a bit of a parley.

Andy you win the "First Cuckoo" prize for the first snow at Peak Forest. I dropped by on Monday 29th as I was out catching the last of the Autumn sunshine on my bike.

I think we may have to invite The Stig back to Reflections on Peak Forest: he's proving unexpectedly popular (albeit decapitated!).

Eeeh 'eck! No room at the stables. The fiddle yard is filling up. Peak Forest Revived is going to need a bigger garage! Maybe not. Maybe cassettes.... Sizes vary from 20cm (class 08) to 100cm ( 3-car class 158 ). Cost from £1.20 to £6.00 Originally 15mm aluminium angle was screwed to 6mm ply cut to 46mm wide. However at Wigan this year Simon Cullen demonstrated the obvious - the rigidity of the aluminium angle is such that a continuous wooden base is unnecessary; all that is needed are wooden tie bars to prevent the two rails from splaying. A simple benefit to longer cassettes. Doubtless most modellers know this already. Simon simply glues the wooden tie bars to the aluminium rails. I found that an additional screw into the tie bar helps maintain the gauging during the gluing process. Loading and unloading the stabling cassettes utilises a simple dock in the fiddle yard. It's just like driving trains directly onto the shelves, and the locos and their delicate weathering (yet to be undertaken!!!) remain untouched by greasy human hands. I had hoped that accurate construction would ensure electrical contact between dock and cassette thereby avoiding the use of bulky bulldog clips. However reliability proved only 80%ish. My solution is a bit of copper glued to the end of a biro which is inserted vertically to guarantee electrical continuity.... .

Throwback Thursday - Compulsory Purchase

"Eintritt für Unbefugte verboten", vielleicht.

No Access! No. Not another example of corporate secrecy - just co-incidence! Sadly to visitors to Peak Forest the footpath from the road bridge down to the Down Sidings, has not only been temporarily closed but very comprehensively barricaded. The path was an excellent viewpoint for the ever changing array of locomotives and wagons held in the stabling sidings. The cause of this misfortune is the corrosion of the footbridge which spans the little cutting through which a narrow gauge track once ran from Bold Venture Quarry to a loading chute for a standard gauge siding in Peak Forest yard. Moreover this does not seem to be a case Health and Safety gone mad: there appears a real risk of the concrete slabs forming the footway falling through the two supporting girders. But how long might it be before this well used footbridge is re-instated? If ever... PS. An upside? To paraphrase the modelling press, "Add Realism - Model a Disused Footpath". Probably not on Peak Forest Revived though; it's thankfully out of my period. But maybe a new entry into 'Small Structures'....

And now, as promised in the Spring (see post 20/04/18 )..... Peak Forest - Small Structures Series 2. Another case of life copying art? These two portacabins have been placed on the east (Up) side opposite the old station. Does anyone know whether they portend the construction of new traction facilities ( Freightliner at one time considered its own fuelling point to mirror the EWS facilities on the Down side); or perhaps a serious attempt at last to sort the chronic track plan problems; or is this just part of the ongoing fiddling by Network Rail?

Autumn Colour Another visit. Another livery. No one could say the current rail scene at Peak Forest is monotonous. Peak Forest is fast becoming the home of 'a prototype for everything' - at least as far as modern liveries are concerned. Lets hope the current heavy shunter, ex-Fastline 56301, is in better health than its predecessor, the Colas liveried 56105. A Peak Forest traction calendar of 2018 is a tempting idea just now. I'm certainly relieved that peak Forest Revived is supposed to end around 2005: my budget could never keep up with the wonderful array of traction to which we are now treated.

I've just checked, Paul, and the post definitely says Harrison. Lol. (Wouldn't want to obstruct further sales!)

Vivre La Difference! Plenty of colour variation on some rakes of the hoppers, whilst at other times they appeared more uniform:- Photo: Ram 69 Photo: Neil Harvey Photo: Mark Slater Photo: Mark Slater The current Peak Forest Revived rake includes two unweathered wagons, and I plan to try a couple of lightly weathered examples.

Vivre La Difference! Plenty of colour variation on some rakes of the hoppers, whilst at other times they appeared more uniform:- Photo: Ram_69 I've included a couple of unweathered 'ex-works' examples in my rake and plan to do a couple of intermediates. I'll post a couple more prototype photos on the Peak Forest Revived Thread for those who do not own a copy of Paul Harrison's excellent book, 'An Illustrated History of the ICI Hopper Wagon'

Some close up photos of ICI006A (unweathered) and ICI005W (weathered) taken in natural light:- Some more close ups are on the layout thread for Peak Forest Revived.

Some Close Up Photos of the Limestone Hoppers..... ( Hopefully they may assist any modellers who are yet to make a purchase ) Thanks to my photo assistant who as is now customary made several tests on the robustness of the models. The unweathered version is ICI006A; the weathered version is ICI005CW.