Grosmont Jnc

Martin has updated our blog with a post on signals and signalling, working signals being a major feature of the layout as South Pelaw and Stella Gill had a veritable forest of the things. See our blog here. Here's a picture of one of the last signals under construction (South Pelaw no. 15, Up Main starter towards Consett, with Pelton's Up Distant slotted with it on the same (slotted!) post. Joe

Nice shot Porcy. S Pelaw colliery has developed a mountainous slag heap - I didn't know photoshop had a 'pit heap' tool. People unfamiliar with the location would be surprised to know that we've added to the forest of semaphores seen in the picture since it was taken and we've got more of the beggers to add. When we've finished we'll have to warn Andrew at MSE because his takings are going to take a dip. Anyway, must go - I've got a NER rotating ground disc to build! Joe

Our blog has now been updated, with some more pictures from our open day. See http://southpelawem.blogspot.co.uk/ Joe

Interesting loco Paul. When was it based at Rosedale? Early enough to be painted green??

NER - survived long enough to become LNER J22, but I don't think they lasted into the 1930s. I'm trying to work out whether they worked the Rosedale branch, which would be a big clue!

To continue the guessing game, how about a McDonnell Class 59??

Another option for the slates is to glue paper strips onto plasticard with DL limonene. Butanone leaves a gooey mess as Derek says, but DL limonene is much more gentle and takes a while to go off. I used it on the cottages for S Pelaw and liberally soaked the paper, and it worked well. Cottages looking good by the way, I wish I could work at your speed! Joe

Those of you following our blog will see that the Q7 featured above has now been in traffic for a while and hasn't really seen many (any?) loco cleaners. Here's a picture of it in Rich's workshop (Rich is our chief weathering correspondent): And here's a picture of it on the layout: Joe

Some of the RMWeb community will be aware that a small group of people based in Yorkshire and Teesside are building an EM gauge model of South Pelaw Junction and (part of) Stella Gill yard. South Pelaw was a key junction on the route between Tyne Yard/Washington and Consett in County Durham. The layout is set in the late 1950s and early 1960s and will feature the famous Tyne Dock to Consett iron ore trains, with their bespoke 56 ton iron ore wagons. Motive power ranges from Raven Q7s and Robinson / Thompson 01s to Riddles 9Fs and later class 40s and 24s on the iron ore traffic and many other ex NER, LNER, LMS, and BR standard types on other traffic. This includes coke and oil to Consett, steel traffic and mineral trains from the local collieries which were marshalled at Stella Gill Yard. There might even be the occasional passenger train / excursion, although the line to Consett via Annfield Plain actually closed to passengers in 1955. The location was chosen for its operational possibilities, with a complex junction together with the attaching / detaching of bankers and splitting of trains due to the severe gradients in the area. The layout has been under construction for a number of years now, and we are aiming for completion in 2018. The layout is large (38ft x 19ft) and difficult to erect in its entirety, however recently we were able put up most of the scenic boards and do some test running, and take a few photos in the process. Our group is a mixture of seasoned modellers (of Biggleswade and Stainmore Summit fame, amongst others) and relative newcomers - the latter hoping to learn the tricks of the trade from the former! If you want to find out more, have a look at our blog http://southpelawem.blogspot.co.uk/ which has recently been updated. In the meantime, here's a picture to whet your appetite.