Tallpaul69

Hi Matt, You seem to be making good progress. Have you posted or have I missed the track plan and layout size? How are you getting on with the DCC side of things? Happy modelling Cheers Paul

Hi All, I have a question about the sound of LNER P2 2-8-2s:- Those of you who have read my recent threads on availability and use of TTS Chips will know that I think them a good deal! I am now thinking of using them in types of loco other than those they are designated for. Thinking about the LNER P2 chip made me wonder what sound source was used as there are no P"s around and I doubt if their sound was recorded pre war? I am wondering if, as the P2s were rebuilt to A2 4-6-2s if Hornby used A2 60532 (but this has double blast pipe?) If so I could use the P2 chip in my Bachmann 60532? Or might I do better with the A1 chip? So does the A2 sound like a P2 or an A1?e I wrote this thread in the DCC Sound threads but thought followers of the LNER prototype might have information. Best regards Paul

Hi All, Those of you who have read my recent threads on availability and use of TTS Chips will know that I think them a good deal! I am now thinking of using them in types of loco other than those they are designated for. Thinking about the LNER P2 chip made me wonder what sound source was used as there are no P"s around and I doubt if their sound was recorded pre war? I am wondering if, as the P2s were rebuilt to A2 4-6-2s if Hornby used A2 60532 (but this has double blast pipe?) If so I could use the P2 chip in my Bachmann 60532? Or might I do better with the A1 chip? I will also copy this thread into the prototype questions as readers there might have information. Best regards Paul

I am trying to plan TTS chip fitting to a number of Locos. Can any one advise realistic availability of the following TTS Chips:- Class 20 (is this a reissue?) Class 37 (is this a reissue?) Class 66 Black 5 Also has anybody got any hard facts (as against pure guesses) on what TTS chips might be offered next year? Also any info as to how the sounds on the new Sound Van (R6295TTS) will differ from those on the previous R6888TTS? If any of this info is available on previous threads, cross references to them would be appreciated? Many thanks Paul

I am interested in peoples experiences in fitting Hornby TTS chips in Bachmann locomotives:- In particular I am interested in Class 08, Class 20 and Class 37 Diesels If this has been covered in other threads, then I would appreciate any cross references? Many thanks Paul

Sorry Julia and TonyMay, but my vote is stick with the 4 track approach! While Julia is right that in the real world you have the equivalent of 585 metres, provided the advice of other postings re distance from the backscene and particularly the radius of the curves is taken it should look great! Modelling early 2000s you can simplify the trackwork greatly over that of the 1960s. But you do need more fiddle yard! 3 trains per track is not going to allow a realistic timetable, even though, on the face of it, many trains at this time were nearly identical. You can get away with running one train round again soon after its first run if you are short of stock. However you should look at eventually having six trains each track as a minimum for each track, so your loops need to be longer, or you need more of them, or a combination of the two, The points about the branch are well made though. By the 2000s branch lines were on the whole pretty basic, so not much fun operationally. However you could turn it into a harbour branch and have an interesting mix of freight and through passenger traffic. I see no point in your red section, either scrap it or take it somewhere where a train can terminate (such as the Bourne End to Marlow run. Keep at it, you have a great space to make a really significant model! Best regards Paul

Thanks for the info everyone, I am reassured that they would e correct for my model of the period 1960-2! Any further info/pictures would be appreciated. Best regards Paul

Hi All, Can anyone suggest a type and source of metal wheeled wheel sets to replace the plastic wheel sets supplied in Ratio wagon Kits? All the Hornby and Bachmann wheel sets are too short in the axle. They have c25mm axles but the Ratio kits require c28mm axles. I think the standard Maygib and those supplied with Parkside kits are also too short for the Ratio kits. Many thanks Paul

Hi All, When were the last GWR Toads used on freights (not engineers trains) in the Paddington - Reading area? Were they seen on the branches later than on the main line? Many thanks Paul

Hi Phil, I thought long and hard on the coupling question before taking the plunge and going for Kadees. I have yet to use them seriously on my test track but hope to soon, I will let you know how I get on! Initial impressions on fitting some goods wagons is good. Re Lower Thames Yard, the timetabling exercise is on the back burner until the Autumn. Problems with Chipping locos and domestic needs such as holidays having prompted a rethink of priorities. No sooner had i coped with the rot problem on some of my locos I then was faced with the high current requirements of Lima locos (they love to blow up chips!!). So I have been busy finding Hornby chassis for the locos I need which are reissued by Hornby with modern motors and chip sockets. Trouble is having paid unplanned amounts for the chassis, I now am, in the short term, short of funds for them to be chipped! Love the slip coach saga which demonstrates you should be careful what you joke about. When can we see a prototype?? Best regards to all, I am away next week, so will pick up the tread ina couple of weeks! Paul

Hi to you all, I am trying to find out details of the use and labelling details of Restricted Use (RU) WR Toads used on the WR Main Line and branches out as far as Reading around 1960. I want to correctly label 00 Toads for my model of the area around Maidenhead. So I would appreciate anyone's recollections of these, or suggestions as to where I might find such information. Doubtless there exist photos of these but who might have such photographs? Many thanks for any information or thoughts Best regards Pauli

Phil, Concerns about models running through a number of times to portray different trains need not be a problem if you think about the realistic length of an operating session, and what you can portray in that time. If you run your session in real time and plan that probably 2-3 hours is as long a session as is realistic, then even if you ignore the night shift and portray 18 hours of the day, it will take you a week or so to get through a day. So the fact that an express ran through at the end of hour 1 of session 1, will be forgotten when it appears again after 5 minutes of session 3, as that will be 2 days later! If you can reverse the train and run it through in the opposite direction so much the better. The real problem are the GWR/WR beloved named trains. At least pre war there were less of them than in my period of late 1950s/60s. However the 1950/60 period has the advantage of the advance of standard coach formations which GWR never got around to!! On which subject, have you thought about what couplings to use? While I understand your front or back operating position, I think that decision and the need to juggle even coach formations, does make couplings an issue to consider sooner rather than later. You may be able to arrange things so that the majority of coach juggling takes place "between" operating sessions not during them. Hope everyone is managing to do some modelling in these unrealistic temperatures? Best regards Paul

As far as I can tell the shadows are to the north of the engines which could suggest early afternoon as the date was in October. Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Regards Paul

Hi Everyone, In Mike Pope's Photo Album "Steam Ramble South and West" there is a photo of 4 28xx and 38xx locos setting out in convoy from Southall Shed down the relief line. in October 1961. My Locoshed book from the period tells me two were from Seven Junction shed and two from Newport. The photo cation suggests that this happened weekly when there were no return freights for up trains. I cant find mention of this in relevant WTTs and I do not have the relevant Loco diagram books. So can anyone suggest a time of day for this movement? The photo was taken in October, in daylight, so I guess it was before 6pm, but any facts or theories would be appreciated! Many thanks Paul

In the 1950s and 60s there was a morning train that started from Oxford with Fish vans off of the night fish specials from Aberdeen and Hull and ended at Slough. Where were the vans unloaded at Slough? The parcels van working book infers that some were dropped at Maidenhead. Did any of those go forward to Bourne End or Marlow? Did any go to Windsor ? Where were the vans stored in the day and what train took them back to Oxford? There is no obvious candidate in the WTTs to get them back to Oxford for the early evening fish empties from Swindon. I am assuming that the vans worked on a two day cycle three times a week :- Day 1 load with fish in the north Night 1 travel south Day 2 distribute, unload in the south, gather for trip north Night 2 Travel North Or did they work a three day cycle twice a week, as I can see that any working to Bourne End, Marlow or Windsor might struggle to be unloaded and get back to Oxford in day 2? Thanks for any thoughts or help! Paul

Once again other activities and domestic requirements have got in the way of progress! So I have done little except some doodling with the timetable work, but watching Phil's Hannet Purney thread has made me think about a few aspects of Lower Thames Valley. Like Phil, I had been puzzling how to avoid the conventional but non prototypical bridge or tunnel scenic breaks. So my current thinking, reinforced a week ago by a visit to Maidenhead, is that the left hand scenic break would be station buildings rather than a bridge, and the right hand one houses and a cutting rather than a tunnel. The branch scenic break would also be houses. The houses would probably be half relief. The branch in reality does have a bridge, but the need for the branch to rise to get to the branch yard makes the road approach to a bridge too difficult. The next stage is a bit of scale model making to see how the scenic breaks might work. Further on my visit to Maidenhead, it is a shame that electrification has meant the end of the Train Shed over the branch platform, but it is great that the goods yard area has been rejuvenated with the sidings for the Elizabeth line. I also quite like the reversing siding between the relief lines to the west of the station. Hope everyone's modeling is progressing? Cheers Paul

I think you have got it all sorted now! However, a word of warning about the trees! The tree cover now is in many instances a lot denser than even 50 years ago, as I have found at Maidenhead when recently researching for Lower Thames Valley. So go back another 30 years and there may be even less trees? As railway photos may not help (they tend to concentrate on the railway!),you might get some information from the library service or local newspaper files? I don't know if there is any local files etc. kept in Devizes? Best regards Paul

How time flies when you are enjoying yourself (or coping with a string of problems!) So the current state of play is as follows:- 1) The high current consumption of Lima motors I have now reached the stage where I have concluded that the only way I can make DCC use of any of my Lima models is to find Hornby chassis for those that Hornby have updated. One Lima class 121 /2 has been successfully dealt with using a Hornby version chassis that I bought some years ago with the intention of building a MTK model. I had sold the kit when the Dapol model came out, but kept the chassis. 2) Use of TTS chips. Now have several TTS locos and several Zimo chipped Locos both steam and diesel. I am finding more about their capabilities now that my roundy round test track is operational. I expected that I would find the TTS steam inferior to the Zimo, but this is not the case so far. I have been able to live with only having two functions available at a time on the TTS. Watch this space...… 3) The Mazak rot saga. Have still to check my SR fleet for problems, this has gone to the back burner while I deal with the Lima motor problem. I will now try to update at least once a week, and next week show some other things I have been doing on the DCC front. Enjoy your modelling! Best regards Paul

Phil has said he is aiming for plausible , entertaining operation, not strictly correct operation, which is fair enough. At the end of the day, it is his railway, and he can best judge what compromises he can live with. One overall planning decision worth making is how the line is to be run. By this I mean realistically, what sort of operating sessions will normally be run? An hour, or less, or longer? And during a session, what portion of a day is to be portrayed? Why does this matter, I can hear you all saying? It matters because you have to decide whether you are going to run in real time or accelerated time? If you are going to run for an hour a day in real time , it will take 24 days to run a real days timetable, so with days off a month! Conversely if you decide to run at 4 times speed so that your one hour running session represents 4 hours of the day, you can get through a day's timetable in a week! However you might not be able to be slick enough with your wrong road shunting to clear your up slow goods to the down main, without there having to be a timetable hour (1/4 hour in real time) between your up through trains and a similar delay between down main trains. Just a thought...…... Best regards Paul

Maybe, it is time to let Phil think the whole goods handling scene through, but I do think the following questions need to be considered:- 1) Did the yard handle anything except general agricultural needs and produce? a) If so what was it, was the traffic seasonal or all the year round? b) If seasonal, was it handled by expanding the normal timetabled trains or did it require "Q" paths? c) Did other stations on the line or branch also participate in the traffic? d) Did the traffic flow in one direction, if so, which direction was that, or did it flow along two or three of the directions away from the junction? I really think the layout needs something to replace the Military Traffic, if it is going to satisfy long term. 2) Associated with the above, I do wonder if the return loop is really as useful as it might appear? It appears to me easiest accessed to/from the branch, but its use seems not prototypical to branch traffic, even though some traffic such as the Paddington -Bristol trains was a step above typical branch traffic. I think a branch yard, similar to the upper branch yard on your suggestion for my Lower Thames Yard would be a better answer? But as Mike has said previously, it is your railway, so it must tick all your boxes not mine, or those of any other contributor. Best regards Paul

Many thanks Mike, Does that mean no up freights worked Patney? I assume the 02.35 Reading - Bristol went via the branch through Devizes? Phil, A good reason to stop one of the normally through freights is a "hot box", especially on a wagon right in the middle of the consist! Best regards Paul

Hi Phil, The train details I quoted were from "Train Formation and Carriage Workings of the Great Western Railway" by W.S. Becket published by Xpress Publishing as IBSN 1-901056-08-2. Can't find a publishing date in it! This gives the formations of all the main passenger trains in 1931/2 but while it includes some timetables, these do not cover the B&H very well. A second hand copy should be reasonably priced, the new book cost 14.95 pounds. I realise this is no help with the freight side, but maybe a few well directed questions to Mike might give you some starting points from his bound STT? I guess the key questions are about what freight trains stopped at Patney and Chirton, and how was the branch freight operated? I will watch developments with interest, and if I find any other sources of useful information, I will let you know. Best regards Paul

Hi All. Any one got access to any pictures of Parcels trains between Paddington and Reading in the period 1960-2? I am trying to sort out prototypical locomotives and consists for my upcoming model, and want to find out what the trains looked like. I have a coaching diagram book which gives me an idea of the catogories of parcels van in each train, but no details of locos! Particularly of interest are the following:- 5.33am Paddington to Oxford 6.45am Paddington to Reading 11.38am Paddington to Didcot 12.50pm West London to Didcot 8.10pm Maidenhead to Reading 8.40pm Paddington to Reading 5.35am Oxford to Slough Fish and Parcels- also how did the fish vans get back to Oxford? 5.40am Reading to Princes Risborough via Maidenhead and High Wycombe 11.22am Reading to Paddington 11.55am Oxford to Paddington 7.05pm Reading to Paddington Many thanks Best regards Paul

Looks good Phil, However, before you progress any further, I think you should look at the WTT for the area (but I would say that wouldn't I!) and see what were what I call the "signature trains" for the area. In other words much as features of the Kennet and Avon Canal are unique, you need one or two trains that make the layout unique. Immediately there comes to mind the Bristol to Paddington trains that ran via the Berks and Hants and Devizes. In the 30s there was a 11.15 Bristol to Paddington, which only had six coaches plus a syphon G, and one of those was a non corridor 3rd! The 14.45 down train started as 9 coaches but dropped four at Newbury. Best regards Paul

Thanks for your write up on how you operate the layout Rich, As Trevor said it is always interesting to learn how other people operate their layouts, especially when, like me, there is no track laid yet. I worried that my ideas would not work and once the track was laid it would be a bit late for anything except minor tinkering. Anyway, the way you do things is much as I was planning to operate, so things should be okay. I do have the advantage with the 1960-2 period that trains were a bit more uniform than in the 30s so one train can more easily run as several during the day. I am intending to give variety to my freights by say a class 9 running through with one formation, then on its next circuit some time later, dropping off wagons in the yard, picking up replacements (but a different quantity to that dropped!) and running through again a bit later, so that the two run throughs portraying different timed trains, have different formations. Rich, if you haven't already done so could you post your timetable? Many thanks Best regards Paul