Sitham Yard

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

@Gilbert What was in this roped off area, it just seems to be an empty space

Two restored tracked military vehicles from Midland Military Vehicles. not much information displayed but more in the free magazine size guide.

Andrew 

9 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Glad I didn't go then, after Milton Keynes last year no thanks.

 

However, well done to Key, big crowds are what they needed to pay for this and big crowds they have got then.

Got to the hall about 9.00am after a long trek, must be the hall furthest from the station.  I was I think in about the first hundred or two advance ticket holders. Ticket was scanned by 9.16am (I think 3 or 4 scanners in use) and all lined up and let in about 9.30am . A NEC staff member was actively calling out for VIP ticket holders and they got in first. Didn't look behind me but all seemed to be handled very well.

Andrew

On 21/04/2024 at 22:47, Sitham Yard said:

Not sure what is happening with these kits. They are only now available on Ebay with low amounts available. Is this because they are made in small batches?

Andrew 

On 22/04/2024 at 14:10, Halton Boy said:

Hello everyone

I am a bit wary of Fair Price Models as their web site is down and they are only available in small numbers on e bay. If there is a problem with a kit this may be difficult to resolve.

 

Ken

 

 

 

I now think that they are made in small. batches. I am sure that with an item I have ordered and is on its way to me there are now more available than immediately after I ordered it.  

Andrew

1 hour ago, Porcy Mane said:

50 D7557 breakdown train 27081968 by Nigel, on Flickr

If you click on the photo and then scroll both backwards and forwards there are more photos and details of what looks to be an interesting case of one bogie taking the wrong road and nearly damaging a bridge support. Could have been much more serious.

Andrew

Variation on buffer stops. End loading/unloading Melton Mowbray 2016.My photos.

4 hours ago, Halton Boy said:

Has anyone used Fair Price Models?

Thank you for your help.

Ken

Not yet completed one but I have kits for 7mm and 4mm which look as they will be a good basis for a building. For a club 4mm layout I have a low relief warehouse gable end warehouse which will probably be deepened.

Note that you will have to provide your own surface layer of brickwork or whatever.

Not sure what is happening with these kits. They are only now available on Ebay with low amounts available. Is this because they are made in small batches?

Andrew 

1 hour ago, 41516 said:

Can anyone find VANFIT markings Pre-1963/4 i.e. on wagons without the maintenance datapanel and/or without the 'boxed' lettering?

From looking at photos I have always reckoned on the VANFIT markings dating from the 1960's.

The above diagrams were originally published in, I think, 1949 and were stated to be provisional. Note no mention of black patches as dark grey was envisaged at the time for unfitted vehicles similar to that used by LNER and GWR.    

Andrew 

4 minutes ago, fezza said:

 

I've read a bit about pooling but am not 100  per cent clear about the implications. Was this an entirely national process so a coal private owner wagon from Somerset could end up in Norfolk? Or would wagons still broadly stay in the same geographical region? For example, should a model of a  Norfolk branch line mainly have former Eastern coal private owners or were they completely mixed up by 1950? I'm struggling to find detailed reference photos of rakes where the original PO identity can be discerned.

I think the answer is yes. If a full wagon was sent from a somerset colliery to say Wiltshire for unloading, when empty it would finish up in a marshalling yard say Salisbury along with other empty wagons that might have been loaded in the Midlands or further north. If Salisbury is told to send say 20 empties to Bristol (for Somerset), 40 empties to Oxford (for sending to the Midlands) they are not going to worry which wagons are sent where.  That original wagon could be sent to the Midlands for loading and then to Norfolk.  

Andrew

28 minutes ago, johnofwessex said:

Whay was the 1938 pooling of PO wagons?

 

I thought that the entire point of PO wagons was that the owners controlled them.

The reason for pooling was to make more efficient use of the wagons. For example, if a wagon was owned by a colliery, then it had to be returned empty to that colliery which might involve remarshalling a number of times. An empty pooled wagon could be sent to wherever it was needed which could nowhere near its previous loading point.

Andrew   

47 minutes ago, Cwmtwrch said:

Peter Fidczuk in his article in Modellers' BackTrack Vol, 1 Nos. 3-5 mentions an experimental aluminium 21T mineral wagon built in the 1940s reaching its seven year general repair in 1952. He also refers to a policy in force by 1954 of descaling and repainting mineral wagons at five year intervals, which lasted until 1962 when the period was extended to seven years.

 

The implication would seem to be that seven years was 'normal', but that, because steel mineral wagons deteriorated faster, they had to be dealt with more often, which would have been fairy obvious by 1954. I am speculating here, and even if it is correct it is possible that rarely used wagons would be overhauled less frequently, or not repainted at overhaul, whilst intensively used vehicles might be overhauled and repainted more often. To add to the issues affecting the answer, wagons sometimes got 'lost' and overran the scheduled overhaul date, whilst accident or other repairs, or modifications to the wagon, might lead to a premature repaint.

 

The shortage of suitable paints immediately after the war, and BR policy decisions, meant that some wooden bodied wagons only had the steelwork repainted at the first BR overhaul, the wood not being repainted, and some weren't overhauled and repainted at all, being withdrawn instead, or left in use until they were 'stopped' for repair. Also the war itself had left a large backlog of maintenance which affected wagon stocks in particular, and took some time to clear.

 

Early 1950s photos suggest that wagons in pre-BR liveries were becoming a minority by then.

Also worth noting that there are photos of repairs left in unpainted wood. These could be just individual planks or a whole end or more. Steel wagons certainly seem to have better maintained paintwork than wooden wagons. Also wagons with wooden underframes were not normally repainted until about 1958 when there was a short period of painting or patch repainting. The best way is to look at photographs, ideally dated. Probably need books for these such as those by David Larkin. Also John Turner 53A Models on Flickr.

Andrew   

30 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

They were only introduced in the mid 50's. For the nationalisation period the Thorneycroft/Coles mobile crane from the Airfix RAF recovery set would be suitable as near identical cranes were supplied to the 'big four' railway companies in the mid 40's.

Beware the Airfix model is an early version of the crane with a rotating threaded rod used to raise and lower the jib. Later wartime cranes used wire ropes similar to the Hornby model and as far as I know this applied to all later cranes.

Nonneminstre Models made a 4mm kit for a rail mounted Coles crane and this appears to be still available. See their website.

Andrew  

5 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Its interesting in that the prototype only has a very short length of hose in the form of a nozzle. The jib is lowered into the filler hole and is held in position by the water pressure. Very sophisticated for a water crane.   

Andrew

4 hours ago, Nick Holliday said:

That may have happened, but as I understand it, the flap, the presence of which severely weakened the structural integrity of the wagon, was an early example of health and safety, and/or labour pressure. As the height of coal wagons increased in the Edwardian era, the workers employed in London to unload the wagons objected to having to lift the coal over the higher sides, and, to appease them, the flap was introduced to reduce the height accordingly to something like that of the five or six plank wagons they were used to. Perhaps labourers north of Watford were made of stronger stuff, or were less organised.

Going back to wooden bodied private owner wagons some had the "London Plank" where the height of the top plank was lowered, just on the section above the side door, to the agreed maximum height. Other wagons had cupboard doors, either just in the top plank or in all the planks above the side doors. 

Source book "The Acquired Wagons of British Railways Volume 3" by David Larkin.

Andrew  

29 minutes ago, Covkid said:

Just surprised Bachmann have not announced it at the Scottish or Ally Pally shows.   

This is an announcement for the Ally Pally show which starts today. See news item on Bachmann website.

Andrew 

4 hours ago, Slanjonok said:

Hi,
My name is Sascha and I design kits for railway models, which are freely download-able for everyone having a 3D-printer:

https://www.printables.com/de/@Slanjonok/collections/654987

One of the models I’m currently working on is the Karrier Cob, being ones used by all Big4-railways.
During the modelling process I found insufficient information/pictures about the inside of the cabin, which would be visible, due to the missing cabin doors. Here starts my request for support: I know that an example of this mechanical horse is on display at National Railway Museum York:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/National+Railway+Museum/@53.9605467,-1.096366,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipOwRUWmznCJntpO88uQZ0HqbZOXGKsLua8cSXZY!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOwRUWmznCJntpO88uQZ0HqbZOXGKsLua8cSXZY%3Dw203-h152-k-no!7i4032!8i3024!4m18!1m7!3m6!1s0x48793105fbb3dfb9:0xd6bb9be9978a4331!2sNational+Railway+Museum!8m2!3d53.9605467!4d-1.096366!16zL20vMDE5Z2Zy!3m9!1s0x48793105fbb3dfb9:0xd6bb9be9978a4331!8m2!3d53.9605467!4d-1.096366!10e5!14m1!1BCgIgAQ!15sCiRyYWlsd2F5IG11c2V1bSB5b3JrIHBpY3R1cmVzIGthcnJpZXKSAQtyYWlsX211c2V1beABAA!16zL20vMDE5Z2Zy?hl=de&entry=ttu

 

Living in Germany it’s not so easy to visit the museum myself. So, my hope is someone here in the forum may have pictures of this lorry, especially of the inside part of the cabin or is anyway visiting the museum soon and willing to make such photos to share with me.

Many thanks in advance for you help.

Sascha

Have you tried mechanical-horse-club.org.uk?

Andrew

15 minutes ago, Typeapproval said:

Hi,

 

Placed an order with Pheonix on 03/03/24. Having used them previously I am concerned that I have heard nothing from them. usually the response is immediate.  Is anyone aware of problems? As we have had sporadic postal deliveries recently I emailed to confirm if the order had been processed and again received no response, not the usual!

 

Just concerned, any information please?

 

Kind regards

David.

 

 

See their website - Phoenix Precision Paints - Service Update 12.3.2024

Andrew 

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

There was a major rationalisation of cattle traffic in the late 1950s (c.1958 I think).  This reduced the number of locations continuing to handle cattle to around two dozen or so.  I found a list many years ago of the places which continued to handle the traffic but I can't find it now; a check of various NR annual statistics booklets might give the answer but I only have few of those.

 

As mentioned by bécasse bulk cattle imports through the Irish Sea ports, particularly Holyhead, lasted longer and were probably the final evidence of the traffic on BR.  In addition donkeys were imported from Ireland via Fishguard and sent by rail to Reading in the 1960s and they were loaded in cattle wagons but they were basically only occasional moves.

I think I am correct in my recollection that BR's legal obligations as a "Common Carrier" did not apply to cattle traffic. They could therefore carry out this rationalisation and were free to refuse any cattle traffic offered if they wished.  

Andrew

21 hours ago, Garry D100 said:

 

Well the link in the post above yours still works and was updated in January so id guess so

Also listed by H & A Models

Andrew (just a customer) 

On 06/02/2024 at 10:54, aictosphotos said:

Does anyone know what the following sidings lengths are or know where this information can be found in the public domain please?

 

Watford

Ricksmansworth

Northwood

Harrow-on-the-Hill

 

Any help would be most appreciated.

The following I think is correct.

Watford - the sidings either side of the platform roads will each take a S8 set plus another set in the loop next to the southbound departure road. The current view on Google Maps - layers shows a train in the platform which gives an idea of scale.

Rickmansworth - the North Sidings and the South Sidings each will take a S8 set. The siding nearest the station will take 2 S8 sets.

Northwood - the reversing siding will take a S8 set. The other siding and the kickback were I think put in when the A stock was being disposed of by road. A stock was in 4 car units and my recollection is that one of these fitted into the far end or the siding and then individual cars were taken along the kickback siding and loaded on to road transport. Edit - having second thoughts after looking at Google maps again possibly only a single car fitted between the point for the kickback siding and the buffer stop.  

Harrow-on-the-Hill - the reversing siding will take a S8 set.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

@KingEdwardII Motorised wagons would be easier than creating a working Dowty retarder/boosting system in 4mm scale.

 

I am still hopeful someone one day will create an exhibtion working marshalling yard with hump or fly shunting it's main feature and not relying purely on a overly large slope and/or too fast freewheeling wagons to make it work.

Do you mean fly shunting or loose shunting. Fly shunting is where the loco is pulling the wagons and is difficult on the real railway, let alone on a model, and covered by specific instructions. 

Loose shunting is where the loco is propelling the wagons and is what I believe you mean.

Andrew

13 hours ago, Moxy said:

Chris Ellis has written or edited a number of books over the years.  Two that are particularly relevant to American railroading are: Modelling American Short Lines and Industry ISBN 978-0-904811-24-7 and Modelling American Railroads ISBN 978-0-904811-27-1, both published by his own company, Kristall Productions. (no longer trading).

 

He has also featured American models in two of his other books Building and Operating Small Layouts and More Small & Compact Layout Ideas, although those books also cover UK & European models as well.

 

Just to clarify his magazine work, after Airfix Model Trains, he edited Scale Trains (which became Scale Model Trains) and after that folded he published Model Trains International for about 20 years from 1995, until he finally retired around 2015. 

 

Scale Rails International was a short lived magazine published & edited by Chris Ford after MTI had ceased.  That only ran to about a dozen issues over 2 years.  I had a subscription to that, but I'm afraid I cannot find my copies of that magazine at the moment, so cannot make any recommendations.

 

Also Modelling American Trains and Settings ISBN 978-0-904811-31-X (2017) and Modelling American Yards and Operations ISBN 978-0-904811-34-4 (2018).

Andrew

27 minutes ago, JeremyC said:

A small matter of detail; signal box diagrams I've seen represent the signal box as a rectangle with a line and a dot inside. The line represents the lever frame and the dot the signalman. If the line is at the side of the rectangle nearest the track and the dot at the back then the frame is at the front with the signalman facing the track (and vice versa.)

https://wiki.openraildata.com/images/0/08/Signalling_symbols_2011.pdf see page 22 item 35

Would the position of the lever frame affect the numbering of the levers?

Am I correct in thinking that the diagram as drawn would only suit a frame at the front of the box so lever 1 is on the left as the signalman looks at the frame and looks out on to the track . (Appears to be standard practice for GCR boxes.)

If the frame is at the back then lever 1 is on the signalman's left as he looks at the frame i.e. at the opposite end of the box and presumably the signal and point numbers match?

Andrew

4 hours ago, Cwmtwrch said:

It seems that early in the 1950s it was decided that, now BR owned everything, there was no need to identify them separately and any coal wagon could be used for any load irrespective of the end user of the contents. They also seem to have eventually lost their "LOCO" branding. Thereafter photos of coal stages commonly show anything but loco coal wagons.

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

David Larkin's 'The Acquired Wagons of British Railways' Volume 2 has very many photos of loco coal wagons in early BR usage, including numerous ex-GWR types.

Some are grey, some are black. Some have a D-prefix to the number and some don't.

Strictly speaking, on a departmental black wagon the lettering should be in straw rather than white, but that wasn't always the case.

Mol

 

According to Don Rowland's book "British Railway wagons the first half million" page 10, 15960 locomotive coal wagons were transferred from Service Stock to Traffic Stock in `1952. When they were repainted or had their markings changed could of course be much later.

Andrew

5 hours ago, Ruston said:

Have you dealt with Milicast yourself, Andrew?

I ordered and received the kit but a major part was missing. Despite 2 emails being sent I have had no part or indeed any reply to the emails.

Only at military modelling shows. I get the impression that it is essentially a one man business that could be affected by holidays or illness.

Andrew

4 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

What I particularly like about this (and your other more recent) track formation(s) compared to your earlier layouts is your use of standard points to avoid reverse curves through points around loops - it inspired me to rethink the trackwork for my own micro layout Blackford Wharf (with set track code 100 points, where reverse curves are even more severe).

 

Looking carefully at the above, there are no reverse curves through any of your pointwork formations … I feel I may end up stealing borrowing this trackplan for Woodhey Wharf when I eventually build it! (Note to self - purchase of 6 x code 75 medium points required)

 

Steve S

Is that not a reverse curve through the right hand crossover? Changing the top point to a right hand will work if there is sufficient space. Nice track formation noted for future reference.

Andrew