Afroal05

Many thanks for all the tips! I will certainly take it all on board, alas I have fallen into some of the mistakes listed above which I'll confess to when I can get a couple of pictures of the errors I've made. I hope that over time I can look back on this thread and see an improvement and a development. I have tried more recently stripping a couple of coach bodies back using isopropyl alcohol and a scrub with an old toothbrush, seemed to work fairly well at stripping the finish back. White primer! Definitely something I shall need to procure, I have used grey for the one coach I have sprayed in yellow and I've never been happy with the finish (that and I've clearly laid it on too thick!) Thanks again for the comprehensive advice! Alex

I know from another TOC that the way in which companies are measured in their PIDD (Passenger Information During Disruption) is based on how quickly they message out amendments and cancellations both internally and on their website, journey check etc. As a result when major disruption starts, and before you truly know the full scale of the issue, it is advised to advertise all of the trains in the affected area or on an affected route as delayed or cancelled. Which one is done depends on the nature of the original incident - if it is a broken down train or a train fault blocking the line then the bias is towards showing everything as delayed, if it is an infrastructure problem blocking the line then the relevant controller is much more likely to show trains as cancelled. Especially if the incident might last several hours and cause crew and unit displacement. Two hours is a pretty standard length of time for said controller to look at as it gives you breathing space to figure out what is going on and put an alternative plan in place. Once a plan is devised then services can be reinstated but the controller won't always speak to station staff about it, they'll be expected to see it on the internal messaging system that company uses or the relevant crew to tell them their train has been reinstated - sometimes it's whoever you can get hold of first and then you rely on the message being passed along. I'm not saying any of the above is correct or that I don't think more could be done to keep people informed but sometimes the only way a controller knows what's going on is from the integrated log entries written by the TOC and Network Rail in realtime or from the Network Rail incident officer telling them. I don't think it should be a surprise that like in many industries/companies communication isn't always what it should be and so sometimes the information controller is trying to put out useful information to the passenger without having much information to go on about the nature of the problem. The whole idea of the PIDD scoring and the league table for all passenger companies is meant to improve the timeliness and usefulness of messages and announcements (with specific metrics for timeliness and detail of messages) but can ultimately lead to trains being shown as cancelled which will be reinstated at the last minute when a crew and unit are cobbled together and sent on their way.

That's the set that is being used regularly at the moment. ROG take it from Bristol to Hull on a Thursday and bring it back on a Tuesday for servicing/maintenance.

NR Test Trains - So as mentioned previously inspired to create yellow Network Rail test trains but where to begin? Well I thought something simple, were there any coaches that required minimal modifications but could be changed into something that one couldn't get off the shelf? Well I settled for a brake force runner. There are a variety that are used, some are based on Mk2 coaches and some are based on former Great Western Motorail vans (there are probably more that I haven't mentioned here too, I'm no expert). The Motorail isn't available as a propriety model so that was out of the question but the Mk2 most certainly was and after raiding a web retailer for a variety of Hornby TSOs and FOs for bargain prices I was set to have a go. My first example was/is to be number 99666. A friend asked if there was anything I wanted for Christmas and I found a detailing pack that contained blanks for the windows, perfect! I removed the glazing and rubbed the bodysides down with wet and dry paper trying to break through the blue grey finish of the coaches. After much elbow grease... little progress. I removed the window blanks from their frets and glued them over the window holes. Once this was dry I sprayed the body with a yellow rattle can. I can't say I'm entirely sold on the shade of yellow and for some reason the paint doesn't seem to go on evenly. I now had this... The only problem was that my model looked nothing like the photos I could see on the internet, had I stuck the blanking plates on the wrong side?! Then I found it, a picture of a brake force runner in its previous guise. Ah dang it! So the window blanks have been removed, beyond that 99666 has not progressed in 3 years, I'm not satisfied with the shade of yellow or the quality of the finish and my attempts to simply chuck on another coat certainly hasn't helped! The other MK2s I had ready for yellow coaches were then used for another project but I have since had an online auction frenzy to acquire more. Additionally I have been noting down test train consists either when I have seen them or from TRUST when in the office. From this I have a long list of consists which has helped me to identify some trains I can model that I know are prototypical. Something like test coach Mentor is going to take a lot of progress in my modelling before I even vaguely attempt it but others shouldn't need major modification. DRS Mk2s (the Cumbrian Coast set) - It will become apparent that I have quite a soft spot for DRS. This is because 'home' is the West Coast of the Lake District, in the shadow of Wainwrights and a certain nuclear reprocessing plant! I grew up in the area and then lived with my Mum for a bit in 2013/4 and her house was right next to the railway. We never bothered straightening the pictures in the house which were all rattled out of place by the roar of 37s accelerating away from the nearby station, she said it was all part of the charm, I wasn't complaining! Anyway, I was bitten by the bug of light engines, over powered one wagon [flask] trains and latterly the Cumbrian Coast loco hauled set. As I had intentions of acquiring DRS liveried loco(s) at some point (and was already working on the 47 dummy runner) I decided I would have a bash at the coaches and DBSO. I purchased the PH Designs etch and bits for the DBSO and then shied away from it for a bit, another bout of lack of confidence. It was in March 2017 I finally sat down one night and decided it was time to have a go! First up I removed the end gangway from the BSO and filed down any detail using my newly purchased set of files and wet and dry paper. I then folded the brass jig, taped it onto the end of the coach and drilled out the headlights followed by chain drilling the windows and filing out the drilled voids to roughly the right shape. There were some more tweaks to be made and they were all clearly laid out in the instructions and from the jig, sadly I don't have anymore photos until after I had applied the plate that fills in the void left by the gangway door. I also folded the etches for the window surrounds and stuck these on. This highlighted that I had been a little too enthusiastic with my filing out of the windows. Fortunately I had also bought some modelling filler stuff - I didn't use it at this time as that would have been logical! The above photo also shows some of the additional work required to one side with a partial window blank fitted to reduce the width of the (now) cabside window and drivers door. Next up was folding the etches for the headlight clusters. It was at this moment that I learnt that the Network Rail DBSO (or RTOV technically) and DRS' DBSO have some subtle differences. The NR example has a a light cluster on 3 lights on the driver's side and 2 lights on the other. The DRS examples have a pair of lights on either cluster and a top light above the centre window. This was going to require my first kit bashing. In the above photo the components can be seen, the 3 light block was carefully cut to remove the centre hold. On the fret can be seen 4 rings plus another square with a hole. This 5th hole creates a raised headlight present on the NR examples. However on the DR DBSOs both of the headlights are raised. AH, a problem. Well having made successful progress thus far I was feeling pretty good about things so I bodged one up using several small squares of plasticard all glued together with polycement. I then drilled through the plasticard to create the headlight hole. In all of this I only used 2 of the light rings shown on the fret above. To make the headlight above the centre I window I used one of these left over rings and it looked something like this... This then went off to the paintshop (the kitchen) to await the arrival of the MK2 TSOs. More on them soon!

Hello! So I've been a long time lurker but haven't really contributed to RMweb until now... Anyway, I've decided to break cover and create a workbench thread! My interests are modern image (generally post 2010) although I'm guilty of being a magpie and modelling anything that takes my fancy. Having been a 'box opener' for many years I decided I had to make my passion for model railways become slightly more affordable, I couldn't simply buy a new model every time I needed a fix for it's getting far too expensive for that and in 2015 I decided to very tentatively have a go at detailing and 'improving' various items of rolling stock. Month by month I'm slowly getting more bold with both my ambitions and my undertakings. So without further ado, here's where the last 4 years have got me... Kit Building - I started with a couple of Parkside wagon kits, granted hardly modern image, and I was never good with Airfix at a teenager so the wagons are not entirely square and the bolster lollops along a bit. I also have a couple of card building kits that I hope to detail up with Ratio guttering as well as curtains made from an old T-shirt. DRS Class 47 - My first detailing project! I bought a dummy runner ancient Hornby 47 from a popular auction site for £5 and decided that I would cut my teeth on something that I could run on flask trains on my layout, I am a DC modeller but wanted to have two locos hauling a flask plus it could double up on railtours etc so this seemed like a good idea. I purchased a 47 detailing kit from somewhere (Shawplan I think...) and set to work. I am kinda self taught with all of my techniques, gleaning information from RMweb users and their threads and any books I can lay my hands on. I did join a model club for about a year in the hope of learning more but for a few reasons it wasn't to be. Anyway, I started by using wet and dry paper to file down all of the raised details, removed the hand rails (keeping them somewhere safe) and for added challenge removed the headcode box as I had bought a brass replacement. I stuck on brass window surrounds and carefully rolled the roof mesh - I've made the accompanying roof fan but it's yet to be stuck in to anything and sits in a draw - At this moment in time I also chose to stick the buffers on, I later regretted this... The next warm day I took it outside to paint! Only problem is I have no idea how to paint a model. I had purchased a bottle of Railmatch DRS Blue paint and a wide flat paint brush. I sprayed the body with Halfords car primer and with a reference photo to hand set to work... Please excuse the fact the paint and thinners are lined up like a promotional photo, they're not meant to be. One coat of blue paint and I must admit my hand painting is... shocking! Brush strokes clearly visible. I didn't use the thinners, wasn't sure what I was doing. In a further moment of madness I tried to wash the paint out of the palette under the tap. It was at this moment I learnt about enamel paint and how it's oil based and thus covering it in water simply made a mess of the kitchen. That palette is still a shade of blue today... So the 47 sat on a tray waiting for another spurt on inspiration. In the meantime I became interested in Network Rail test trains. I work for the Railway and would sometimes go out to Swindon station at lunchtime if there was something of interest coming through. NR Yellow trains took my fancy and after finding Mick's (of Newbryford fame) thread then I decided to have a go myself... I'll continue with NR Yellow Coaches in my next post. Whilst beginning work on the test train coaches I had a recurring thought - if I struggled painting the 47 I wasn't going to suddenly get better overnight and this problem would rear its head again. But I didn't want to invest in an airbrush because it felt like a major investment and I wouldn't know where to start with any of it. But since I was already using primer in a rattle can then what if I could find a paint can in the correct colour? Ta Da! I found a pretty close match to DRS Blue and suddenly the 47 was back on the table (I didn't have a literal workbench back then.) And so that was the beginning - that probably covers 2015 - 2017, the 47 was put away and left for a very long time and from one painting experience I managed to convince myself I didn't have a clue what I was doing until I plucked up the courage to have another go remembering that the loco had only cost me a fiver in the first place and everybody has to start somewhere.

I have no knowledge of the contract and its requirements unfortunately but it would appear not! There is a live spreadsheet that is updated by Hitachi with which unit will be allocated to which service, how far in advance that sheet is complete I am not sure. However some days it is not uncommon to be working from 'version 3' by 07:00 with everything swapped about. Honestly I am not sure orientation is really considered in these processes. As Hillside Depot alludes if a reversal can be saved and a train can just carry on without anymore faff then that route is often taken but will of course change the orientation of the set.

I'm not actually sure if from a Control room point of view there are any conscious efforts to get them the 'right' way round. There are no turning moves in the system like there used to be for the HSTs and whereas historically if you knew a set was going to be turned (say through weekend engineering work) you would try to set up the following days diagram to re-turn it there is no such efforts with 80Xs. I think this is in part because the planning department simply don't know which way round a unit or units will be. Set get re-marshalled on depot overnight and GWR only find out which set is on what shortly that set comes off in the morning so even with the best will in the world it is quite difficult to know what is coming off with any real advance warning. (In the context of sets coming out of a depot - clearly you know what you've got in the ones that out stable at Worcester, Hereford, Exeter.) Once a train does come into service it is the the role of the Customer Information Controller to call each train manager or station to find out the orientation of the set(s). From that the CIS screens can be updated and the formation/orientation of a given train advertised. I'd like to think that if it is correctly advertised (and that can be a big 'if') it wouldn't be a problem but I suspect that view is heresy!

Running late anywhere where they are running under diesel power. I wasn't being so specific as to single out West of England services in my thoughts on IET diesel performance. I understand the concept of pathing and performance timings, PPM and adding minutes into schedules and I monitor train performance along its route, not just end to end. I'm just not of the opinion that those minutes in the schedule are masking shoddy performance by IETs. Once Whiteball/Marley is over I will pay attention more consistently to trains at Totnes to observe them losing time. I also whole heartedly agree that a newer model should indeed be better than what it replaces and that this is the culmination of a process that began as HST2. I have at no point tried to maintain that they are the best thing since sliced bread on diesel mode or that they are in fact a worthy replacement to the HST.

That's paraphrasing slightly. In the context of performance up a hill in Devon royaloak says that 10 cars of 802 wide open would only match the performance of an HST with one power car not on full power. My comments were on the broader network, not specifically on performance West of Exeter where, granted, 802 performance was described to me by an 802 driver trainer at Plymouth as 'equal'. His fuller comments were: 'HSTs hold better speed up steep hills but they are slower than IETs on acceleration in diesel mode. In diesel an IET will get up to 40 or 50 quicker than an HST but then the acceleration slows down. In electric they go faster than anything except a 377.' I do disagree with the sentiment that they are inferior on diesel power. I never said they were better, nor do I wish to be misconstrued as having ever claimed that. The notion that they are inferior would suggest they simply cannot keep up but as IET services to both the West of England and to Bristol/South Wales are not running significantly late for no reason I would be inclined to say that they are equal-on-diesel-when-not-going-up-a-steep-hill. I hope there are enough caveats there.

So my original statement to which you took umbrage is not entirely incorrect. I asserted they were faster on electric and equal on diesel. What I hadn't previously twigged is that a 10 car 802 is 200 tonnes heavier than an HST!

I believe the first train in passenger service using the wires on the Down was reported in Control to have arrived at Parkway 7 minutes early although I wasn't on it so cannot say that was an accurate platform to platform time and not a report through TRUST.

I most certainly didn't say I was a fan! The HSTs aren't coming back and we have to accept the reality that IETs are here to stay, I'm not saying you can't complain about them but that if I share an opinion to the contrary or try to be positive when the majority seems to be negative it doesn't make me an IET fan. They have their pros and they have their cons. Based on how late running IETs can be seen to claw back time when the line ahead is fairly clear then whether or not an HST can hold them over 60 appears to be of little consequence. Also is your assertion on acceleration based on diesel vs diesel? Are they faster with the pan up or is an HST better regardless? (I don't know, that's a genuine question). New Sectional Running Times are going to be taken (or already have been) and journey times are going to be timetabled to be less. From that I think the opinion of some is that they're quicker. Your Hemerdon comparison is interesting! I suppose on balance you don't actually lose much time over there though, it's not noticeable from a timeliness point of view. I did try to find out what the restrictions are on 802s going over Hemerdon with engines shut down (in the same vein that an HST in inclement conditions on one engine either doesn't call at Totnes or doesn't go at all) and it turns out there aren't really any. That's not because they're deemed okay to run up there with only one engine - although they were tested to do so - but that there isn't a set rule.

I found another one from the same day, 026 stood on the blocks at Ormskirk.

The letters were indeed changed to better tie up with IET lettering and reservations.

GWR are definitely responsible for the diagramming and can deviate from the LTP. However there are contractual obligations to get sets onto a certain depot (NP or SG) every 36hrs or 1500 miles. For the Whiteball blockade some of the diagrams have been written from scratch so there is definitely some deviation it's just that there are much stricter criteria. Previously if there was disruption and a set destined for Old Oak ended up out-stabling in Temple Meads for the night then all you had to do was make sure it had enough fuel. That doesn't cut it anymore if that IET will now miss its maintenance window. Once GWR have completed their STP diagrams they are then sent to Hitachi's 'CPC' - Central Planning Cell - who then ear mark a set to a diagram. The depot may then do something completely different of course and that is what causes sets to arrive at 03:00 and then need to leave again at 03:40.

I think that's more to do with putting more stops into some services, at present GWR don't have any non stop runs to Swindon or Chippenham which they've historically had (although they are on the horizon when the timetable goes full IET). Certainly when it comes to services west of Plymouth I think the opinion is it's better to provide more services to intermediate stations than save a few minutes for a headline time. They go no faster on diesel. True within the Thames Valley they can struggle to get above about 120mph on diesel but they should all be on electric within the 125mph sections. Their performance against HSTs there is excellent and they accelerate considerably faster. Some services between Swindon and Bristol Parkway when on the wires can make up 7 minutes and have to sit at Parkway/Swindon awaiting departure time. GWR's PPM and right time figures have improved with IETs running on HST timings. Clearly that won't be the case for much longer as the timetable will be recast reflecting the IETs timings. I don't think there have been any major issues with 802s slipping about on Hemerdon either but I take your point that in inclement weather in the Highlands they are as yet unproven.

010 and 015 at Marylebone on 11.12.15. Only 5 minutes after this photo the station was evacuated as one of the coaches behind the DVT of 010's train was on fire! Same day but earlier in the evening and 010 sat at the head of the slam door set. 026 on the tail end of the 'Cat and Dock' tour that covered Stafford - Crewe - Gresty Lane - Preston Shunting Line - Ormskirk - Preston Dock - Liverpool Lime Street 15.06.17

Each 80X has two adaptors on board, one in a cubicle in the DPTS and another in a cubicle in the DPTF, so you know you always have one in the leading vehicle of your train.

57308 sat in the bay at Preston 28.08.15

92033 on the blocks at Kings Cross after bringing in the diverted Aberdeen portion of the sleeper 25.08.2018

According to the briefing document about the diversions there are SDO patterns in the 80X database for stations on the route with the exception of St. James' Park, Feniton and Yeovil Pen Mill and special stop orders may be issued as required for all other stations. However GWR are dissuaded from doing so due to the reactionary delays this will cause! There are a variety of specific instructions for stations/loops along the route as well, no surprise there. As a result, and partly because the unit diagrammers are quite keen on their HSTs, during the week the first and last services are planned 80X but the rest are HST and 10 car formations are kept to a minimum.

Mike, Just been catching up on RMweb from the last 12 months (hence the deluge of 'likes') and wooooow how has Oak Road continued to grow. It is easily one of my favourite layouts, right up there with World's End and New Bryford. Your attention to detail is superb. Congratulations on the Modeller of the Year award, well deserved. Hopefully I will finally be able to admire Oak Road in person this year... Alex

Quite a task but the end result will be something quite special! Ha, yes I think I'm acquiring things for the workbench faster than I can finish them... I look forward to further updates. Alex

Absolutely, although when the wires came down outside of Paddington back in October and there was a total switch off, whilst you could have run diesels on the relief lines they were all blocked with stranded 387s!

Andy, just had a long overdue catch up on your work (not been on RMWeb in about 9 months) and WOW! The weathering and that wagon construction looks absolutely superb. Looking forward to seeing more! Alex