ianathompson

I am not sure how complex you want your signalling to be. A quick flick through the recently published The Brighton Line; Brighton to Coulsdon North; A signalling perspective is interesting. The only terminus examined is Brighton, so this might not be typical of practice elsewhere, but it was certainly intensively worked. It shows that in LBSC days each platform road had a home signal and a shunt ahead signal beneath it. There was also a route indicator for departing trains. Just beyond the station there was a six post signal bridge. There were five arms for arrivals and four for departures. (Some had arms for both directions.) The arrival arms were connected to mechanical indicators showing the platform that the train was signalled into. One of these had ten discs available! Each post, or doll, at the end of the platform had, in addition to a starter and shunt ahead signal, a home and distant for inward bound trains. The principle was that the home and distant were cleared when the line was clear to the buffers. With the distant on the driver knew that the platform was partially occupied. The home effectively acted as a slot for the main approach gantry as the signal and route indicator could not be cleared for the platfrom whilst the platform end home was on. The sidings were controlled by rotating disc signals. The LBSC signal box diagrams do not seem to have employed the standard line and dot for the box. Most of the frames seem to have faced the front, however. Brighton was signalled by Saxby & Farmer using grid iron locking and "rocker" frames. Much of this is probably not relevant to your projected layout but it does show the potential for complexity using LBSC principles. Hope that this is of interest. Ian T

Just a short note about the layout which is not quite dormant. Attention has turned to building the train ferry which crosses the lake. This has existed as a plank for far too long and a decision was made to develop it. Four new locos were begun at the same time although so far they have escaped the camera man. Here are a couple of ferry photos. The ferry stands on the kitchen table in its basic state. One of the locos has crept into the photo at top right. A little more development has taken place. The woodwork on the wheelhouse needs tidying up and a saloon has been added onto the upper deck. The technical aspects of the ferry have been discussed on another website. Basically the asymmetric layout is counterbalanced by machinery, weights and ballast tanks below deck. Outdoor activities, including cricket and croquet, are taking precedene at the moment so it could be some time before another session starts. Ian T

Liverpool Street appears to have had them and used them in Great Eastern days. The Great Eastern in Town and Country (I forget which volume) shows pre-Grouping photos of locos waiting for an incoming train in various spurs. The spurs were equipped with rudimentary servicing facilities. I don't expect that locos hung around for too long when the Jazz services were running! (Probably the wrong era and I wait to be corrected but the princiiples were the same.) Ian T

That was my experience (sometimes) of working the real thing! My own layout, which has many stations operates on the KISS principle. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Ian T

Nice view of a microwave where the Moray firth should be but at least the bridge is fitting for an GNoSR layout! The loco is on a trip from the Highland side of town. (It probably needs renumbering and might eventually get it.) Following a long hiatus I have included a short update on the layout. Not much has happened since the last post and what has happened has been retrogressive for the railway. The layout is a second string affair designed to be portable and to be taken to the Cotswolds when I visit my mother. On its last outing various problems arose with the Peco points which needed rectifying and one of the signal operating rods "came off". These items were left for some time before I began repair work. The signal rod had come off because the layout had shifted in the car and smashed the signal head, on closer inspection. The whole unit (the platform starters) had to be removed for repairs to take place. It is still off the layout. Two more Peco points failed with electrical continuity problems and the main entrance point took to derailing trains entering platform 2. This is an asymmetric three way point at the station throat. At one point I seriously considered abandonning the whole layout and beginning again with hand made points. A repair/rebuild was eventually successful, preventing this ignominious end. I do wonder how many more problems will arise with this pointwork. A fair number were defective as supplied. The track was "ballasted" in the meantime. The GNoSR used shingle, from what I can tell, and covered the whole of the sleepers. This causes problems when later stock is operated as practices changed. As the idea is to evebtually have sufficient pre-Grouping stock to operate a session this was the state into which the layout was finished. Shingle is not going to be really portrayed by the traditional limestone ballast often used, usually complete with 6 inch pieces of stone in N scale. The whole area has been liberally coated with plaster, although attempts to add texture have failed dismally so far. Still, at normal viewing distances, one has to wonder quite what would have been seen. The dropped rail joints and filthy ballast in the yard are not everyone's idea of the pre-Grouping image but they certainly fit the BR scene. As I commented on another thread recently, I am rather suspicious of the typical pre-Group layout where everything is freshly painted and maintained in tip top condition. The whole thing was powered by coal and pigments were more likely to have faded than they would today. The Directors were also inclined to parsimony, preferring to take fat dividends. Anyway that's enough for now. With a bit of luck the infrastructure might soon be completed allowing attention to turn to stock weathering, for the BR stuff, and some stock building for the pre WWI stuff. Don't hold your breath. Ian T

Re my previous comments. It should be noted that the long curved gradient (known as the vulpafaukangulo) does create some problems. Train lengths are limited (and a banker added as needed). The gradient is in the open and has been made into an operational feature of the layout. The "bankers" actually hinder proceedings as the layout works on straight DC so they cut the power to the train loco. I would not fancy any steep gradients in hidden sections. There are also two hidden points on the layout. Guess where many derailments occur! Ian T

My own layout takes the from of a double helix around the room. The ruling grade is 1 in 36. The locos do tend to slip on these gradients before the motor is overloaded. I have pushed the boat out in that my locos are heavily weighted so that they can pull decent loads. I am using HO/OO mechansims in 7mm scale so there is plenty of room in the bodies to do this. No burn outs yet! This was how my initial experiments were conducted. If the locos had not been able to pull a train up this grade whilst rounding a curve the layout design would have had to have been binned! I heartily recommend such a trial before proceeding further. (Although I do not recommend derailing the train onto the lower level/floor as happened on my test run! Fortunately I used my cricketing skills to catch the loco and the carriages were only very basic shells at that point in their development.) Ian T

Contrary to what many people think that is not quite the case! Gently undulating might be a better description for most of it. The fens in the western part of the county are very flat but they are only a small part of Norfolk. Ian T

Would this have been a consideration in the Edwardian era? From what little I know most pre WWI stock disintergrated rather than crumpled when involved in an accident. It was also not uncommon for the coach to telescope where the body became detached from the underframe. To be honest I suspect that a "crumple zone" is a modern concept. I remember a question being asked in signalling school where some-one raised the disparity in drivers' and signalmen's wages. The answer was along the lines of, "They are sitting in the pointy end. They pay for your mistakes with their life." The crumple zone in modern emu sets is the driving cab and the driver is "expendable". Having ridden in the cab of a class 365 you are well aware that there is nothing between you and any obstruction. Ian T

Just a thought re turntable size. If you want a smaller one and are not propared to scratchbuild why not use the HOm turntable? Place a short piece of OO track on it and you should be good to go. Peco Reference LK-1455. No idea of the dimensions and Peco's website is awkward to use. Ian T

My pre-Grouping interest has always been the Great North of Scotland Railway. This was a relatively minor railway, covering a small territory mostly in Aberdeenshire and what is nowadays Moray. It seems to be a real life equivalent of the West Norfolk. Prior to the 1890s the livery was brown then Pickersgill changed this to purple lake and white (1896?). Being the cash strapped company that it was, and having a typically Scottish parsimonious atttiude, vehicles ran for years in the old livery. It was apparently not uncommon to find brown vehicles in trains even by 1914. As I recall, it was reported that one famous example, dating from the 1860s never received a repaint at all, was almost white due to the bleaching effect of the sun! I am a little cynical of many pre-Group models. There seems to be a prevailing idea that everything was nicely painted and in tip top condition. God forbid that dirt encroached onto the railway. The reality, I suspect, was somewhat different. Paint pigments were not as stable as they are in modern times, and probably faded quickly. All those nicely painted goods wagons? Really? I know labour was cheap but... We are also dealing with a coal powered railway. There was plenty of cheap labour to polish the engines but I am sure that it was not employed to counter the effects of steam and smoke gradually fading and blackening everything. My own attempts at depicting the pre WWI scene are spasmodic at best, due to other interests, and are currently in abbeyance. Here is a very old picture showing Inverness Citadel as it might have looked in preGroup days. The rake of mixed liveries is in the departure platform and the , to date, only GNoSR loco (No10) is in the foreground. A number of BR liveried candidates await attention and the paint brush. The modelling is crude, no doubt about it. The NBR wagon in the foreground (yes, probably miles too big, I know) shows my interpretation of a careworn livery, as opposed to a museum exhibit. Eventually, when I can drag myself away from the over the counter BR locos and diesels, I hope to complete many more pre Grouping models, and not in pristine condition. Ian T

Not too sure that some of their offspring are not still wandering the West Norfolk fens, to this very day. Ian T

You have my sympathy. I am just coming out of the far end of a similar incident. I went to watch Brackley v Boston United on Easter Monday on my way to my sister's, in the Cotswolds. I managed to tip a boiling hot cup of tea onto my foot which blistered etc. To cut a long story short it is now healed, about three weeks later. Why is it that the automatic response of Doctor's surgeries is "Go to A&E"? Thankfully I managed to avoid that particular from of purgatory in this instance. Ian T

Thanks. I knew that I had not "nailed "the proper title! Ian T

I often wonder about how reliable the US magazines are at showing the typical US layout. Large model railroads sell magazines and allow people to dream. There are plenty of small to medium layouts featured in the magazines as well but obviously they do not make the same impact. One feature underpinning large US layouts is that YOU will build it but OTHERS will operate it. The typical large layout apparently works on the premise that a large crew will assemble to run the layout, sometimes driving for 3 hours or so to run it. The oft quoted adage is that, "You build it and they (the operators) will come. The owner, meanwhile , acts as Troubleshooter No1. He does not get to run trains on his own layout and has created a layout that can never be operated by himself alone. It seems strange, to me, that these sorts of layouts are eulogised. I suppose, on the other hand, that in effect, that assembling such a crew is no different from running a sports team. I just preferred to spend my time playing more physical games, although I am reduced to spectating nowadays. I might suggest that whilst this once was the standard interpretation that things have moved on. Bill Darnaby's Maumee Route and Tony Koester's Nickel Plate layouts are more typical of the large US layout nowadays. Having said that the current issue of Model Railroad Planning featues someone recreating John Allen's Gorre & Daphaetid for some reason. Although it was a classic of its time it did follow the template suggested by The Johnster and influenced many other modellers. I would be lying if I said that my own layout was not influenced by American, rahter than British, ideas. There is an anlysis of the underlying planning philosophies here. It is, however, deisgned to be operated by a one man band. Returning to the OP's question, "How big is too big?" CJF attempted to cover this in a Plan of the Month in Railway Modeller, back in the seventies(?) The title was something like the "The Practical Maximum" (more than likely this is the wrong title!). From memory he advocated a large terminus fed by a return loop that housed various stations and (possibly a fiddleyard). I am sure that the concept would still be valid today if you can find a copy of the plan. Ian T

Posted in error.

Thanks for drawing this book to my attention. I have not seen it reviewed or advertised anywhere. As CKPR points out, the layout was featured in an early edition of MRJ. (I have a full set of these but they are a little difficult to access, so I won't be hunting for it!) There was also an article on modelling water, in a much later MRJ, featuring the layout. In addition a single tantalising photo appeared in another edition. I was surprised that the layout did not receive the full blown "show case" treatment reserved for other inspiring models. The impression that I got, however, from MRJ, was that Mr Harvey was more interested in modelling than in getting his work into magazines. My copy arrived yesterday, whilst I was involved in the standard twelve hour day that County Premier cricket has now become, when playing away. (I am the scorer nowadays, not a player, I hasten to add!) A quick flick through suggests that a very few railway aspects are a bit "iffy", such as yellow distant signals and a Fleischmann double slip. These are minor issues and the general railway ambience and the rolling stock is most convincing, better than anything I have produced. As for the scenery ~ I don't think that "excellent" does it justice. Once again, Thanks Ian T

I suppose that the only people posting here are the ones who successfully transitioned from one job to another, so it is rather self-selective. I don't imagine that anyone for whom redundancy was a personal disaster is likely to post. My own experiences reflect this. I left teaching twenty odd years ago and never regretted it. I was "over qualified" in that I had a PhD which caused great suspicion and fear amonst senior management. I escaped at the first credible opportunity by demanding the redundancy package being made available, whilst going through a spurious disciplinary charge. I then worked for three years on a seasonal basis in a local factory before deciding that I might as well apply for the railways. My father spent all his working life with them and they were good employers. It gave me an inside perspective on my hobby and I frequently refer to it on my layout thread. From a practical point of view for those facing redundancy I never found myself short of work when I faced unemployment. I think that you must try to keep a positive mindset if possible and be prepared to accept what comes along. Sometimes it is not the job that you want but so long as it puts food on the table and keeps a roof over your head you have to accept it. That does not mean that you should not be looking for something more suitable in the meantime. As an example, a couple of years after leaving the school I met another (disgruntled) member of staff who asked me how I had fared after escaping. I told him that I took on a job that involved working night shifts and acting like the Pied Piper when I went out to get samples. (There were a fair number of rats around the back of the facory.) Would he like a job? In essence the answer was "No" because he was not prepared to undergo the mind shift that leaving his comfort zone entailed. Some people manage to go through life without changing their occupation. For the vast majority of us, I suspect, in this day and age that is unusual. Hope somebody finds my views useful. Ian T

I missed this post when I posted on my own layout. Its a great layout and captures the atmosphere of the docks and LOR very well (from what I can tell, as I knew neither of them). I believe that I once saw the layout somewhere (probably York) in the flesh years ago. I tend not to go to exhibitions but it stuck in the memory. Thanks for the photos. Ian T

The operating session has finally finished. There are around forty photos on the website following it to its conclusion. They can be found here. 272. The railcar, towing the ambulance, and the two van tail load, runs into Urteno at 21.05. It will stand to allow the hospital patients to be removed from the train whilst the shunter, in the background, adds the Post van. There are few passengers on the train by now and most of them know one another well. The Urteno station stop used to be the cue for them to decant to the station café/bar creating a ‘club’ style atmosphere. The station staff advises them that they had better be quick tonight because the train will leave “shortly”, although everyone realises that this is “AFK speak” for, “In around half an hour”. 279. Speaking of ugliness the CFS three phase loco brings the cement train into the Merkatubaxu at Isuri. The loco and van of the Altingablecaŭtoj local have simply waited in the square before preparing to take this train out. There has been a crew change as this working runs to Lacono before taking a break and leaving early in the morning. The interchange between the two railways is quite flexible and although the AFK train is timed to depart much later it is easier to run it early tonight. A phone call to Nordabordo, across town, sees the train traverse the connecting spur, blasted into the Orbon gorge following WWI. 284. The banker is closely followed by the railcar covering the URT-ERO diagram. This is the last down passenger service of the day and it serves to return the unit to its starting point for “tomorrow”, It does often runs empty over the last leg of the journey, once it leaves the Kasatritikakamparoj for the coast. The RFK-URT goods, beside the trainshed wall, will terminate here tonight and return with the wagons in the siding on the left. It made a dramatic arrival, as it derailed on the turnback curve behind Aspargo engine shed and could not be retrieved without removing the retaining wall behind the shed. This necessitated clearing all the locos and stock as well as taking out part of the tunnel entrance. This is a right pain in the rear and such manoeuvres are reserved for the between sessions breaks, as far as possible. The culprit was quite obvious once I could get access. The two rear SG wagons (on transporters) had buffer locked because I had not used a long enough connecting bar. There are three lengths available and I had used a short rather than a medium length one. The rerun, with everything replaced and the correct length bar, went off without a hitch. Lesson learned for the future! 298. The pilot, as usual, has the last say in matters. The tank wagon is positioned opposite the gasworks, after one in the morning, for the pipes to be extended across the road to allow for loading. It will then be filled with tar. The road is closed during this procedure. There are one or two items that still require shunting, even at this time of night, but there is a limited window for the loading process so the pilot returns to the shed and the session ends. That concludes the tenth recorded operating session. I only ever intended to document one session, but readers seem to find them popular. The railway will now shut for repairs and maintenance as well as some construction, in one form or another. There are three other layouts also demanding time and attention so how much progress is made remains open to speculation. As usual I have many grandiose schemes under consideration but experience suggests that few of these will come to fruition! Thats all for now folks! Ian T

The operating session has finally finished. There are around forty photos on the website following it to its conclusion. They can be found here. 272. The railcar, towing the ambulance, and the two van tail load, runs into Urteno at 21.05. It will stand to allow the hospital patients to be removed from the train whilst the shunter, in the background, adds the Post van. There are few passengers on the train by now and most of them know one another well. The Urteno station stop used to be the cue for them to decant to the station café/bar creating a ‘club’ style atmosphere. The station staff advises them that they had better be quick tonight because the train will leave “shortly”, although everyone realises that this is “AFK speak” for, “In around half an hour”. 279. Speaking of ugliness the CFS three phase loco brings the cement train into the Merkatubaxu at Isuri. The loco and van of the Altingablecaŭtoj local have simply waited in the square before preparing to take this train out. There has been a crew change as this working runs to Lacono before taking a break and leaving early in the morning. The interchange between the two railways is quite flexible and although the AFK train is timed to depart much later it is easier to run it early tonight. A phone call to Nordabordo, across town, sees the train traverse the connecting spur, blasted into the Orbon gorge following WWI. 284. The banker is closely followed by the railcar covering the URT-ERO diagram. This is the last down passenger service of the day and it serves to return the unit to its starting point for “tomorrow”, It does often runs empty over the last leg of the journey, once it leaves the Kasatritikakamparoj for the coast. The RFK-URT goods, beside the trainshed wall, will terminate here tonight and return with the wagons in the siding on the left. It made a dramatic arrival, as it derailed on the turnback curve behind Aspargo engine shed and could not be retrieved without removing the retaining wall behind the shed. This necessitated clearing all the locos and stock as well as taking out part of the tunnel entrance. This is a right pain in the rear and such manoeuvres are reserved for the between sessions breaks, as far as possible. The culprit was quite obvious once I could get access. The two rear SG wagons (on transporters) had buffer locked because I had not used a long enough connecting bar. There are three lengths available and I had used a short rather than a medium length one. The rerun, with everything replaced and the correct length bar, went off without a hitch. Lesson learned for the future! 298. The pilot, as usual, has the last say in matters. The tank wagon is positioned opposite the gasworks, after one in the morning, for the pipes to be extended across the road to allow for loading. It will then be filled with tar. The road is closed during this procedure. There are one or two items that still require shunting, even at this time of night, but there is a limited window for the loading process so the pilot returns to the shed and the session ends. That concludes the tenth recorded operating session. I only ever intended to document one session, but readers seem to find them popular. The railway will now shut for repairs and maintenance as well as some construction, in one form or another. There are three other layouts also demanding time and attention so how much progress is made remains open to speculation. As usual I have many grandiose schemes under consideration but experience suggests that few of these will come to fruition! Thats all for now folks! Ian T

After the passage of some time a number of photographs have been added to the website. They were ready some time ago but I took a break at Easter and there was not time to add them before I left. There are about forty or so of them. 216. The FDV-RFK goods is nowadays scheduled for a crew change at Lacono. It will stand for almost two hours because there are no paths south of here. The shunter has been unable to visit the Danulbo industrial zone today so the engine crew are asked if they want to earn a little overtime. To anyone who has worked with engine crews this is a no-brainer, alongside, “Is the Pope a Catholic?” Unwary van drivers had better pay attention when this monster is in the middle of the road! 225. One slightly concerning aspect of having both goods trains shunting simultaneously is the possibility of crossing the relevant consignments notes into the wrong train administrative packet. As has been noted before, admin is not a strongpoint of the AFK. Two similar crew vans with consecutive numbers does not help matters either, although the sharp eyed will be able to spot differences between, currently incomplete 276, and 277. 230. Meanwhile the AFK’s nemesis is bearing down upon the congested southern section of the line. The mixto makes the stop at Cadsuiane-Fanhuidol, as seen from the steep approach road to the foremost village. A couple of opens are needed here for the pulp wood traffic but this is allegedly in hand. 253. The up railcar, meanwhile, has reached Boursson. Any-one with an understanding of the AFK would have smelt a rat by now. The railcar is standing in the PFT (loop) with nothing to cross and all the signals “on”. It will be held here for some time until the mixto appears. What the passengers, especially the entitled bureaucrats, make of this is anyone’s guess. At least Glissent has the Golden Perch to hand but Boursson is literally in the middle of nowhere. It is named for the numerous surrounding villages which incorporate the name of the first Abbott of Narrasson Abbey into their own names for historical reasons. The station is remote from any of them and only contains a very basic refreshment room, run by the stacioĉefina between trains. It is also, inevitably closed by this time of night! Ian T

After the passage of some time a number of photographs have been added to the website. They were ready some time ago but I took a break at Easter and there was not time to add them before I left. There are about forty or so of them. 216. The FDV-RFK goods is nowadays scheduled for a crew change at Lacono. It will stand for almost two hours because there are no paths south of here. The shunter has been unable to visit the Danulbo industrial zone today so the engine crew are asked if they want to earn a little overtime. To anyone who has worked with engine crews this is a no-brainer, alongside, “Is the Pope a Catholic?” Unwary van drivers had better pay attention when this monster is in the middle of the road! 225. One slightly concerning aspect of having both goods trains shunting simultaneously is the possibility of crossing the relevant consignments notes into the wrong train administrative packet. As has been noted before, admin is not a strongpoint of the AFK. Two similar crew vans with consecutive numbers does not help matters either, although the sharp eyed will be able to spot differences between, currently incomplete 276, and 277. 230. Meanwhile the AFK’s nemesis is bearing down upon the congested southern section of the line. The mixto makes the stop at Cadsuiane-Fanhuidol, as seen from the steep approach road to the foremost village. A couple of opens are needed here for the pulp wood traffic but this is allegedly in hand. 253. The up railcar, meanwhile, has reached Boursson. Any-one with an understanding of the AFK would have smelt a rat by now. The railcar is standing in the PFT (loop) with nothing to cross and all the signals “on”. It will be held here for some time until the mixto appears. What the passengers, especially the entitled bureaucrats, make of this is anyone’s guess. At least Glissent has the Golden Perch to hand but Boursson is literally in the middle of nowhere. It is named for the numerous surrounding villages which incorporate the name of the first Abbott of Narrasson Abbey into their own names for historical reasons. The station is remote from any of them and only contains a very basic refreshment room, run by the stacioĉefina between trains. It is also, inevitably closed by this time of night! Ian T

Time moves on and another set of pictures chronicling the layout is now available. As per usual it will take a minute of two to load up. 181. The Isuri pilot returns from Rivaborda in the mid afternoon. There are a number of vans in the Riverside yard and more in the goods yard. These, along with the hoppers in the blanket factory, could do with moving south. This could mean a late evening special might be needed. Wagons gradually seem to accumulate at Fenditavalat partly because of the limited train lengths that can be held in the Basabazaro. 195. The schools’ railcar across the Magasoromban, or the Altingablecaŭtoj for Thalnian speakers, provides a pleasant rural contrast with the pressures of Lacono. The train is making the stop at Ayleha, out in the wilds. The Maejorolatyrn valley is well known for its cold microclimate, as the cow contemplates whilst chewing the cud. 212. The RFK-FDV goods ‘gets’ the “Star” as it leaves the snow shelter at Ospicio, as is to be expected. This is at the cost of holding the mixto at the down home to allow sufficient distance for a clearance point. The AFK does cheat a little where it is unavoidable but as far as possible it tries to follow prototypical procedures. Ian T

Time moves on and another set of pictures chronicling the layout is now available. As per usual it will take a minute of two to load up. 181. The Isuri pilot returns from Rivaborda in the mid afternoon. There are a number of vans in the Riverside yard and more in the goods yard. These, along with the hoppers in the blanket factory, could do with moving south. This could mean a late evening special might be needed. Wagons gradually seem to accumulate at Fenditavalat partly because of the limited train lengths that can be held in the Basabazaro. 195. The schools’ railcar across the Magasoromban, or the Altingablecaŭtoj for Thalnian speakers, provides a pleasant rural contrast with the pressures of Lacono. The train is making the stop at Ayleha, out in the wilds. The Maejorolatyrn valley is well known for its cold microclimate, as the cow contemplates whilst chewing the cud. 212. The RFK-FDV goods ‘gets’ the “Star” as it leaves the snow shelter at Ospicio, as is to be expected. This is at the cost of holding the mixto at the down home to allow sufficient distance for a clearance point. The AFK does cheat a little where it is unavoidable but as far as possible it tries to follow prototypical procedures. Ian T