ianathompson

I am certainly no expert on the NSR! I have looked at the photos and tentatively identified where they might be. The first photo is taken above one of the two luggage subways which were added to supplement the main footbridge. The signals and pointwork suggest to me that they are taken in what is refererred to as Down platfrom No 2 on the signal box diagram for New Street No 1 box. The points in front of the loco would lead to the Fish siding and the Middle roads. This is shown on p 14 of Vol 3. It would appear from the diagram that reference to the "South Staffordshire bays" had fallen into disuse as these are labelled as Up Bay 1 and Up Bay 2 on this diagram. The person who labelled the photos was probably using an unofficial name as Down platform No 2 was one of the through roads (alwaysassuming that I have the location correct!) Hope that this is of interest. Ian T

Are you sure about the reference to a North Staffordshire Bay? Wild Swan published a comprehensive series of three books about Birmingham New Street looking at its development from inception to Nationalisation. (Incidentally a fourth, post Nationalisation volume, was advertised but I assume that this never reached publication. Either that or it is as scarce as hen's teeth.) The relevant book, Vol 2 (1860 to 1923), makes reference to a South Staffordshire Bay but it does not show a North Staffordshire Bay. The LNW or Midland trains leaving this South Bay ran via Proof House Junction and presumably served the north of the city towards Walsall. The timetable between 16.30 and 18.30, to use modern terminology, in 1910 shows that, without exception, the trains were run by the Midland or the LNW. (This is in Vol 3 to illustrate the growth in traffic when compared to 1890. The same two companies ran all the listed trains in 1890.) Rather more tellingly the "list of abbreviations" in Vol 2 does not include NSR, as might be expected if they ran regular services into the station. Ian T

I stand corrected. Still suuspicious of the paint, however! Ian T

I have had problems with Humbrol paints in recent times, as I have documented on my various threads. The conclusion that I, and other people, have come to, is that some of the formulas have been changed since they were taken over by the (American?) company thet bought them out. I am rather suspicious as to what is going to come out of one of their tins nowadays. Ian T

Its that time of year! Fortunately managed to dodge this bullet although I have been advised to throw my whites away if I don't want to step onto the park next year. That is not going to happen is it?! Ian T

I have not been totally idle on the modelling front whilst redoing the website. Work continues slowly on the melting snow scene and thoughts have turned to the end of the peninsula scene once more. Here are a couple of snaps of the proposed arrangements at Ghealdaban. Preparing the layout sketches for the Carramassco Gorge caused me to rethink the ideas. Time will tell whether the lower part of the scene will work. These are the views of the upper scene as a basic mock up. At least it will stop the area acting as a dumping ground for discarded items! It is now envisaged that the road from the valley to the village will pass through the scene. This was not the original inention. The scene lifts out to allow the Danulbo area cassette to plug in behind the backscene. It is unlikely that there will be so much road traffic when completed. The bridge acts as a handle and the foam board shows the extent of the removable section. The red box is a marker for a barn and the shelter has temporarily been stolen from the Karushnastrato crossing. The lower angle view includes a train testing clearances. The car at the right waits on a steep slope but it seems to be no worse than many Swiss roads. In typical AFK manner the train stops on the crossing and ignores road users. Onwards and upwards! The next job is to "do" the lower scene. Then to complete the two station buildings off the layout at the moment. Also to rewire all the controller sockets to provide a more robust system for the controller tethers. Ian T

I have not been totally idle on the modelling front whilst redoing the website. Work continues slowly on the melting snow scene and thoughts have turned to the end of the peninsula scene once more. Here are a couple of snaps of the proposed arrangements at Ghealdaban. Preparing the layout sketches for the Carramassco Gorge caused me to rethink the ideas.Time will tell whether the lower part of the scene will work. These are the views of the upper scene as a basic mock up. At least it will stop the area acting as a dumping ground for discarded items! It is now envisaged that the road from the valley to the village will pass through the scene. This was not the original inention. The scene lifts out to allow the Danulbo area cassette to plug in behind the backscene. It is unlikely that there will be so much road traffic when completed. The bridge acts as a handle and the foam board shows the extent of the removable section. The red box is a marker for a barn and the shelter has temporarily been stolen from the Karushnastrato crossing. The lower angle view includes a train testing clearances. The car at the right waits on a steep slope but it seems to be no worse than many Swiss roads. In typical AFK manner the train stops on the crossing and ignores road users. Onwards and upwards! The next job is to "do" the lower scene. Then to complete the two station buildings off the layout at the moment. Also to rewire all the controller sockets to provide a more robust system for the controller tethers. Ian T

This is the main photo used on the website and draws your attention to the fact that the website has just been through a revamp to make it more user friendly. A new journey along the line has been included whic uses up to date photographs and diagrams This can be found here. If there are any issues, such as non working buttons please let me know and I will try to fix them. Ian T

This is the main photo used on the website and draws your attention to the fact that the website has just been through a revamp to make it more user friendly. A new journey along the line has been included whic uses up to date photographs and diagrams This can be found here. If there are any issues, such as non working buttons please let me know and I will try to fix them. Ian T

You have my sympathies. At least the Premiership is streamed live in the UK. I prefer the 13 a side code however. Ian T

A little bit of a late reply but it might be useful. I have all sorts of ancient continental mechanisms uderneath my AFK locos, many of which have/had traction tyres. When they fall off they leave a groove and lifting the offending wheel above the railhead is not an option, unfortunately. One option is to fill the groove with plastic padding (car filler). This is easily pared back by running the mechanism upside down whilst applying a file to the wheel tread. (Don't forget to use safety glasses!) This works reasonably well in that the groove is no longer there and the filler gives some grip on the rail. More recently, after a couple of my modern N gauge locos threw their tyres, I acquired, for an eye watering sum, some electrically conductive epoxy resin. This removed the groove but maintained electrical contact. The converted tender drive locos run okay on the level terminal fiddleyard layout (Inverness Citadel). I have not yet tried them on the semi-moribund roundy roundy which has a number of unintended gradients. Uax6 of this parish suggested, not totally facetiously, I think, that mixing iron filings with the araldite might achieve the same effect at much less cost! Ian T

Unexpectely the inter session development has focussed upon Ospicio d'Helcaraxe, the summit of the line. This was previously a vast swathe of undeveloped baseboards and backscene, reminiscent of the fabled "Plywood & Pacific" of American modelling legend. A number of photos have been taken of developments which can be found here. a couple of these are included here. This is a view of the entire scene taken from the far aisle, looking over the backscenes there. The embryonic station building bears little resemblance to the place holder. What, you may well wonder, is that?! It is a water crane protected from the cold by straw. This was quite a common technique in France whereas British practice favoured ‘fire devils’. A long search of likely candidates for other countries’ approach revealed no heating apparatus at all. A quick thumb through a Finnish NG book (in Finnish ~ that’s fun) Swedish books, German and Swiss books reveals nothing, although it was noted that few photos were taken in the snow! Any information or photos of heating arrangements would be gratefully received, although the conclusion that I draw was that water was supplied from heated tanks protected from the weather. This was the US method in areas of cold climate. It was intended to place this and another crane between the running lines but this has not proved possible because the ‘insulation’ fouls the loading gauge. This location looks likely to become the permanent home of the southern end version. Ian T

In the time honoured manner of the AFK nothing quite happens as anticipated. Despite suggestions that Ithilarak might see some development the bare board wilderness at Ospicio has received some unexpected attention. The pointwork at both ends of the station needed attention. It has now been adjusted and successfully run through by the awkward squad. Whilst this issue was being sorted out a wilderness of a different kind was created. A backscene magically appeared. It shows the early Spring scene as the snow begins to melt: the Mud Season as it is apparently known in North America. At least the stranded passengers now have something to contemplate from the warmth of their carriages. The Hospice is shown on the backscene, in outline only. It might/might not receive some windows. The first thought was to surround it with birch or spruce trees but his was discounted as the Helcaraxe is effectively a tundra region. Licherns and mosses, along with sphagnum moss, of which I have fond memories from my walking days, are the most likely inhabitants of these areas. The test train provided an excuse to dig out the "reserve" stock for the express. This has not been needed for some sessions now. It deputises for the mixto or the express should they be running extremely late. Quite naturally they are more complete, even including roofs, than the regular stock. The roofing of the carriages was an avowed objective for this interval. Not one item has received attention to date! Ian T

The session has now finished and the last few photos are available here. 260. The von Ryan heads through the Lower Aepto Gorge in the darkness. This will be the last train up the vulpafaŭkangulo today. The leading wagon is the CFS van returning home with a load of grain. The incline obviously has a large influence upon AFK operations and any train climbing it is usually loaded to the maximum allowance as far as possible (see photo 71). The CFS van is travelling on what I think of as the “underground railway” in that is making an unconventional journey stopping at many places. It went from Glissent to Lacono on one train, then travelled by another to Urteno and now is in its third train for the journey to Ithilarak. It will probably complete its journey behind the schools’ railcar tomorrow, along with the two other vans left behind at Urteno. The railcar is restricted to a trailing load equivalent to two wagons up the hill, hence the need to fill out the load on the special and take this van up the bank. Note to self; clean the wagon roofs before the next session. I don’t mind the dust that accumulates; it is the finger marks that jar. 272. The railcar arrives at Breĉo de Glissent to receive an adverse aspect from the home signal. This is showing an “orangey red” as did the early prototypes because the light is shining through the yellow and red spectacle plates as the arms are on the same spindle. A simple device was invented which moved the yellow out of the way in this situation but pulled it into place when required. The AFK engineers have no intentions of replicating such a device in 7mm scale! The train is standing here because the late running up train is running into the station and there is no run-off to allow a train in the opposite direction to safely enter. 280. The station pilot runs into the goods yard some time later to transfer a cut of vans to a more convenient place for the down goods to collect. This is the first time that this pointwork has been used “today” and almost inevitably there were some teething problems, particularly with the crossing microswitch. These were quickly resolved. The barriers often do not drop to quite the horizontal position but this was not an uncommon feature of continental minor railway crossings and there are more pressing concerns than this. The layout will now be closed for a while whilst more development takes place. Ian T

The session has now finished and the last few photos are available here. 260. The von Ryan heads through the Lower Aepto Gorge in the darkness. This will be the last train up the vulpafaŭkangulo today. The leading wagon is the CFS van returning home with a load of grain. The incline obviously has a large influence upon AFK operations and any train climbing it is usually loaded to the maximum allowance as far as possible (see photo 71). The CFS van is travelling on what I think of as the “underground railway” in that is making an unconventional journey stopping at many places. It went from Glissent to Lacono on one train, then travelled by another to Urteno and now is in its third train for the journey to Ithilarak. It will probably complete its journey behind the schools’ railcar tomorrow, along with the two other vans left behind at Urteno. The railcar is restricted to a trailing load equivalent to two wagons up the hill, hence the need to fill out the load on the special and take this van up the bank. Note to self; clean the wagon roofs before the next session. I don’t mind the dust that accumulates; it is the finger marks that jar. 272. The railcar arrives at Breĉo de Glissent to receive an adverse aspect from the home signal. This is showing an “orangey red” as did the early prototypes because the light is shining through the yellow and red spectacle plates as the arms are on the same spindle. A simple device was invented which moved the yellow out of the way in this situation but pulled it into place when required. The AFK engineers have no intentions of replicating such a device in 7mm scale! The train is standing here because the late running up train is running into the station and there is no run-off to allow a train in the opposite direction to safely enter. 280. The station pilot runs into the goods yard some time later to transfer a cut of vans to a more convenient place for the down goods to collect. This is the first time that this pointwork has been used “today” and almost inevitably there were some teething problems, particularly with the crossing microswitch. These were quickly resolved. The barriers often do not drop to quite the horizontal position but this was not an uncommon feature of continental minor railway crossings and there are more pressing concerns than this. The layout will now be closed for a while whilst more development takes place. Ian T

Having watched a few "Americans in Europe/Britain" type YouTube videos are you sure that they are not adding sales tax? I am certainly no expert on the subject but from what was said by the American posters this mark up is common in the US. Each State in the Union has its own laws They independently set their sales tax/VAT or whatever which varies from State to State. As a result it is not possible for a supplier to quote a single price because State A taxes at 10% whereas B taxes at 15%. It is apparently quite common to advertise an item at the cost price in the knowlege that the purchaser will expect to pay more because of the system. Believe it or not the said American posters eulogise about the simplicity of a system whereby what it sales on the price tag is what you pay! I am not saying that this is the reason for Shapeways actions but it might explain it. Ian T

I stand corrected. I was not exactly the star pupil! Ian T

The best part about Cambridge, originally, was the Newmarket branch. This hung a sharp right off the single platform, ploughed across the goods lines, and took off due east of the station. It is traceable on old OS maps. Nothing like that now! Ian T

Sorry. Thread drift but... When I taught geography, during the nineties, we had to refer to Boyle's Law in an attempt to teach climatology, at GCSE no less. We might as well have tried teaching in Swahili or flying to the Moon. When I asked the "Science" Department about the ineptitude of the "little darlings" they were amazed at our stupiidity in attempting such a demanding feat. I was informed that the Physics O level that I obtained in 1973 was almost the equivalent of an A level in the late nineties. Talk about dumbing down! Still, the experiment I always liked was that where you chucked a brrick out of a window, with a ticker tape attached, in an attempt to calculate the terminal velocity of gravity. Don't remember much else abour it apart from the thrill of legally chucking bricks at any passing masters/ ancilliary staff/ kids you didn't like. Ian T

You give me too much credit. I simply "lifted" the idea from the puzzles that used to appear in Model Railroader years ago! Depending upon staffing and technology levels you can use either 2 or 3 minutes per move. That obviously equates to 20 or 30 moves per hour. I chose 3 minutes to reflect the hand thrown points on the narrow gauge.. Ian T

Andy The posting onto this site is not a problem. One of the other sites that I use will not upload the photos because the file size is too large. I have now found out how to compress the file size and post smaller photos on there. Hopefully this should remove the need to post to a photo hosting platform. Ian T

The latest batch of photos is now available to view on the website. The Imgur hosting platform has for some reason known only to itself decided to hide all my images. It also has blocked the "Post to Community" button. I am fed up to the back teeth with the Technogeek cretins that run these hosting platforms. Thankfully the images on the website are beyond their reach. 212. The “creature” is shunting the afternoon goods at Boursson. This is a complex job, as per usual, and gives an insight into the problems faced by train crews at wayside stations on an everyday basis. This train, which arrived with 5 vehicles, has to make two drop offs and one pick up. It is also requested by the station mistress, on Control’s orders, to place two empties at the bottom of the goods shed siding, so that they can be collected by the down goods and to transfer the SG van to the canning factory. The two running lines are now blocked and, just to add to the complications, the evening schools’ railcar is now approaching. 220. The cuckoo in the nest! Here is where the fun starts. The SG van was supposed to be moved from the goods loop to the factory. The railcar and the down train’s arrival have all prevented this and the van is now buried deep within the train. In a similar situation to that outlined in photo 207 this might not be a problem on a station to fiddleyard layout where the station is the sole centre of attention. On a system like the AFK Boursson is “just another place” and problems there do not dominate operating decisions. Of more concern to control is purloining the motive power from this train to power the possible von Ryan referred to in photo 207 and the need for the down train to keep out of the way of the mixto which will be hot on its heels when it departs. The van in the wrong place at the wrong time is a minor concern. The anguished phone calls from the station mistress are met with the casual response of, “Bring it into Lacono, We’ll drop it off later this evening!” A nice 24 kilometres trip to move it a couple of hundred metres! Welcome to the bizarre Little World of the AFK. 238. The driver of the mixto climbs down from the cab to consult with the trajnaĉefo at Urteno. Lacono control has rung through to advise that the Talking Mouse in the Royal Narnian Railways Beruna Control Office has indeed come up trumps, letting them off the hook. The connection across the Dorsadelavestejamontoj (Back of the Wardrobe Mountains) is running over 30 minutes late tonight so the 12 minute delay generated by the AFK pales into insignificance. One or two liberties might be taken as the train now has twenty minutes plus in hand. I was going to post more photos than this but you will have to go to the website if you want to see them. This posting is including picture sizes at random and there seems to be no way of controlling what is being posted. I have now wasted around one hout of my time trying to sort these technical problems out. My experience of attemtpting to contact the technocretins is that it is a waste of time. They are not interested in your problems. This brings us to an interesting question. How many of you are attracted to the post by the pictures? Would readers just go straight to the website if I posted that it had been updated. I am beginning to be sorely tempted by the simplicity of "some more photos are available" type post. All views gratefully received. Ian T

The latest batch of photos is now available to view on the website. The Imgur hosting platform has for some reason known only to itself decided to hide all my images. It also has blocked the "Post to Community" button. I am fed up to the back teeth with the Technogeek cretins that run these hosting platforms. Thankfully the images on the website are beyond their reach. 212. The “creature” is shunting the afternoon goods at Boursson. This is a complex job, as per usual, and gives an insight into the problems faced by train crews at wayside stations on an everyday basis. This train, which arrived with 5 vehicles, has to make two drop offs and one pick up. It is also requested by the station mistress, on Control’s orders, to place two empties at the bottom of the goods shed siding, so that they can be collected by the down goods and to transfer the SG van to the canning factory. The two running lines are now blocked and, just to add to the complications, the evening schools’ railcar is now approaching. 220. The cuckoo in the nest! Here is where the fun starts. The SG van was supposed to be moved from the goods loop to the factory. The railcar and the down train’s arrival have all prevented this and the van is now buried deep within the train. In a similar situation to that outlined in photo 207 this might not be a problem on a station to fiddleyard layout where the station is the sole centre of attention. On a system like the AFK Boursson is “just another place” and problems there do not dominate operating decisions. Of more concern to control is purloining the motive power from this train to power the possible von Ryan referred to in photo 207 and the need for the down train to keep out of the way of the mixto which will be hot on its heels when it departs. The van in the wrong place at the wrong time is a minor concern. The anguished phone calls from the station mistress are met with the casual response of, “Bring it into Lacono, We’ll drop it off later this evening!” A nice 24 kilometres trip to move it a couple of hundred metres! Welcome to the bizarre Little World of the AFK. 238. The driver of the mixto climbs down from the cab to consult with the trajnaĉefo at Urteno. Lacono control has rung through to advise that the Talking Mouse in the Royal Narnian Railways Beruna Control Office has indeed come up trumps, letting them off the hook. The connection across the Dorsadelavestejamontoj (Back of the Wardrobe Mountains) is running over 30 minutes late tonight so the 12 minute delay generated by the AFK pales into insignificance. One or two liberties might be taken as the train now has twenty minutes plus in hand. I was going to post more photos than this but you will have to go to the website if you want to see them. This posting is including picture sizes at random and there seems to be no way of controlling what is being posted. I have now wasted around one hout of my time trying to sort these technical problems out. My experience of attemtpting to contact the technocretins is that it is a waste of time. They are not interested in your problems. This brings us to an interesting question. How many of you are attracted to the post by the pictures? Would readers just go straight to the website if I posted that it had been updated. I am beginning to be sorely tempted by the simplicity of "some more photos are available" type post. All views gratefully received. Ian T

I've probably told this story before, albeit elsewhere, but here goes. I was told it by a member of the local clergy. I think that the Victorian Bishop of Ely had enough on his plate preaching to the "converted". Having sexual intercourse with relatives was a major problem in Fenland villages and particularly rife in Southery, around 1900, as I understand it. The good bishop preached a sermon on the subject at the church which was met with stony silence. As the Bishop left the village in his carriage he had to run the gauntlet of the villagers who lined up at the side of the road and stoned his carriage as it passed! Southery still is, or was until very recently, a wayward village, typical of fenland intransigence. When I taught at the local High School the staff used to ask me about disciplinary issues with certain problem classes containing the "Southery Mafia". "No problems", I used to reply to gasps of disbelief. I played football for the village and was usually to be found standing alongside their brothers or fathers as we sorted out idiots from other villages and towns round about or recounted the tales in the pub afterwards! Theologically I have always crossed the diocesian boundary, away from the heathen, to sing in the High Anglican tradition at Lynn Priory (now Minster). This posting has had to be edited because it REPEATEDLY CENSORS the word sounding like insest. The posting makes no sense without the word. Ian T

That has certainly been the case with my own layout. Many more goods trains now run than was initially envisaged and they were all added to meet "demand". Similarly passenger services have developed so that each train is perceived to fulfil a specific need of the community. I, obviously, follow the 1960s continental scene, and spent some time studying what little information was available when I started to build the layout. What most people overlook is that railway travel in pre WWI Britain , as well as the continent, was a rarity rather than an everyday event. The majority of British rural branch lines operated a basic service pattern of one in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening. There might even be one in the late afternoon on a busy line! I would have thought that, given the traffic density of rural Norfolk, this would have sufficed, along with a local goods service. A perusal of a reprinted Bradshaw for the lines in your chosen area will probably confirm the service pattern or provide other ideas to copy. Ian T