Methuselah

Thank you. Extinct - indeed. One of my earliest memories is of just such a building. Warm, candle-lit, and sat with a 'Play Hour' whilst my mother worked away in the warm gloom with a time-worn stick when she lifted the old wooden lid of the boiler. It was the end of an era - within a short time, the wash-house, and all the street were gone forever - the back-to-backs, the alleyways - along with a way of life and communities. No more women painting the threshold and polishing their brass letter-boxes in the mornings, no more horses with the nose-bag on following the baker, or the loud calls of the rag & bone man. There was the whiff of coal as winter set-in, and the smell of the newspaper held across the open hearth to draw a new file - about to self immolate and disappear up the chimney. Shops had awnings, and smelled very strongly of whatever they sold - policemen walked in pairs, and so did nuns in a cloud of black & white linen. Not for long was the sound of steam trains either, and the clattering and shrieking of endless lines of protesting loose-couples wagons, or the echoes of doors slamming in a station. Never a thought what those bells really meant, ringing-out from the open windows of a signal cabin on a summers day - except that they presaged the appearance of some snorting - and invariably filthy behemoth. So many small details of the tail-end of the Victorian world, so ordinary at the time as not to require comment or a second glance. Most people were poor by modern standards....yet, we had a more cohesive society, and 'happier'....? Oddly, - yes. S.

Further to my previous post showing Harp Bank Cottage, here is the brick outbuilding that was in the garden. It is visible in many of the old images of the station. Again - all credit due to John Woodhall. S. ========================================================================================================

Fifty years ago, when I said that OO would be OK outside, as there was nothing to seriously decay with Peco Streamline - I was ridiculed. Now, I find that there are many OO garden railways that have been running successfully for thirty years or more. Perfectly do-able with the right approach. Once my basic indoor set-up is running, I have an extension into the garden planned......🙂

....of course Brian, you can have your cake and eat it........🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyGAL9Rv7Pk&t=17s

Looks like a sharp winters day - a low hazy sun under an atmospheric high. One can almost smell the smoke hanging in the air.

Saltley - and Bourneville - both had collections of grubby old LMS engines, some of which, even then, were antiques redolent of Emmet Dunn....! The old New Street - I remember it well. A dark, cavernous grubby maw, the echoing sounds of locos and busy footfall on that footbridge ......it was a main pedestrian route into the city centre and was rammed with people at rush hour. The old northern side was bomb-damaged during the war and the remains torn-down, over which loomed the ugly rear face of the old LNWR Queens Hotel, where my mother used to work. BNS was a dark, dirty Dickensian hole, but not without it's charm for those interested in the locos. I'd still rather have it than the current station, a typical dingy BR nuclear bunker.....! Actually, the old LNWR Queens hotel was large - and quite splendid inside. It was the preferred place to stay for all the stars and personalities appearing in - or passing through Brummagem.

I'm not really a serious 'railwayana' collector, but I do have some of this old 'junk'. One recent addition was a Woofferton - Kidderminster double-sided destination board. It's only a weener, as rather than originating off a bogie-coach, it's actually one used on the GWR Diesel Railcars, and would have slotted-into a mount next to the main entrance-door. See below ;-

Brian, Heading east from Woofferton, the branch is to the north, your left hand side. It crossed the River Teme, then crossed the road at the Little Hereford level-crossing to the south side of the road. Then about a mile or so on towards Tenbury, after Eastham Court Station, the line re-crossed the road to the north side. That is the single bridge abutment that you probably saw. The road used to run where the lay-by is, to sweep under the bridge in a double-bend, the westerly abutment now having been removed to straighten the road. There are quite a few bridges still extant, that cannot be seen from the main road. Did you kit-bash the three-car DRC set...? Cheers, Stephen.

Update 27th March, 2024 ;- Harp Bank Cottage, Tenbury Wells. I haven't posted here for a while. There were only two buildings left to model at Tenbury. One was the small Harp Bank Cottage, seen here below, right next to the bridge carrying the GWR branch line under Clee Hill Road. This was cottage was built by the canal company in 1794, which was later taken-over by the railway to build the branch partly upon in the 1860's. This is pictured below, in both 1:1 scale and 4mm. Certainly, in the post-war era, the Tenbury signalman lived in this cottage. This is the only remaining railway-related structure at Tenbury, apart from the road bridge itself, and both may now be on borrowed time. This only leaves the small Tenbury West signal cabin to be made for Tenbury. This was removed during the inter-war period when all the signalling at Tenbury was simplified. Since my target date for all the infrastructure is around 1912, it must be included. Only a single photo has been found, but fortunately, there are a number of very similar structures still remaining - for now - on the old H&S.....and long may they remain. This will be the next structure, and the last for Tenbury. All credit for these lovely building goes entirely to my friend and other local, John Woodhall - an absolute maestro. Just the little signal cabin to go, then we are onto Woofferton itself. The scope of the diorama only really covers the railway itself, so hardly any non-railway structures will need to be modelled. Progress is still slow, whilst awaiting the erection of the building to house the model railway - then I can go full-throttle on the diorama itself.

Thanks Peter - that's really useful. 🙂

What make are these please Peter...?

....and a good illustration of the railways general aversion to facing points...especially on fast lines.

Hi Peter, I'm guessing that you've seen this photo - posting in case you haven't. The 'BLAKE' wagons were to be seen in number on the Tenbury Branch. Do you recognise the graphics on the other coal wagons....? Cheers, Stephen.

Thanks for that Frank. It looks great. Did you re-use the Fulgurex motor and gears etc....? Cheers, Stephen.

A question to the expert hive mind here ;- Some years ago Fulgurex produced some RTR brass GWR Castles and Kings (& Prairies...?). Were they any good scale-wise...? What was the mechanism like...? Smooth...? Reliable.....? TIA.

I think the railway modelling should be 'in addition to', rather than instead of......🙂

NB ;- Although I can't really post much here on progress at the moment - until I erect the new building to house the diorama - I do also have a blog which I occasionally add to, which can be accessed via my RMweb Profile here ;- https://www.rmweb.co.uk/profile/32202-methuselah/?tab=node_blog_blog , which as well as addressing the build of this diorama - strays into subjects of a more general nature. A current blog is starting to look at Tractive Effort ;- As all the storage and fiddle will be under the main boards - I have, perforce, to have gradients. That's a huge potential for problems, so I'm trying to quantify what locos are actually able to pull - and what it takes to pull prototypical trains of 'X' configuration. I've only just started on this evaluation of Tractive Effort, and I can see that it's going to bubble away for some time. It's an issue on the level, but if my gradients are not practicable, it could ruin my project - I'm not concerned about anything theoretical - only hard practical results. Thus far, I've only tested a few locos - but the results have been very interesting. When I have found my digital scales - I will add weights too - and expand the tests beyond the few locos tested so far. Go to the blog to discuss if interested. S.

Hi Jim, The canal was never really finished, and only used between Mamble and Leominster. After it became moribund, it was purchased by the railway company, though in fact, only a few short stretched of the original canal alighnment were used for the Tenbury Branch. A lot of the canal structures - both briidges, tunnels and aquaducts - as well as buildings - still exist. There's even a few short stretched with water in after a hundred and sixty-five years or so.... If you look on You Tube, there are a number of videos about the remnants, and there is also a society based around the old canal. Cheers, Stephen.

Thanks Brian, Good Luck - house moves are frustratingly stressful at the best of times....! Cheers, Stephen.

Hi Brian, I have put a Link to a very useful Facebook Group below. There are hundreds of images of the Tenbury Branch - and much other usefull info' ;- https://www.facebook.com/groups/656045037934245 (You will need to be logged-in to FB to see and join this Group.) Years ago, the A49 passed much closer to the front of the pub - really through the present pub car-park in fact. The remains of the masonry bridge are still just visible if you look at the lawns of the service-station opposite the corner of the pub, though, doubtless, the bridge would have been relatively narrow. The bridge passed OVER the railway - and the line was in a shallow cutting at that point. If you look to the east of the road junction there, the trackbed is still there. West of the A49, most of the old trackbed and goods yard have sadly been redeveloped. Thus far, no image of the old road overbridge has materialised. The NLS website shows how it was all laid-out, and you can fade this back & forth with the current aerial image too. Link here ;- https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.31170&lon=-2.71147&layers=168&b=1 (See aalso attached image.) Cheers, Stephen. =================================================================================================

You'd like to think so - but it was losing connection if it started to slip - hence me asking about the non-powered bogie. It's light on the power bogie too - but since it's not likely to be asked to pull much, that probably doesn't matter - unless one has inclines - like me.

Mine arrived today. I checked and tested it, then packed it away for now, but I meant to check to see if the non-powered bogie has pick-ups but forgot. Has anyone checked....?

...eeeeeeck...! What a bummer Mikkel....! Mine is due this afternoon - hope this isn't going to be a general problem with them, as they look exquisite.....🫣

Thanks Mike - I have now ordered a copy - 🙂

Is there a drawing available for the Trestrols....?