Artless Bodger

On 07/05/2024 at 11:17, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Like the Yorkshire city.  Also called "lever plates" or "Pull Plates", at least when then do list the other levers that you have to pull to release the interlocking on the lever.  Quite often the numbers are engraved into Traffolite (a sheet of black plastic sandwiched between two white sheets).

When a lever function has to be changed and a new plate is needed, S&T often just turned and old one over and engraved on the other side, the original being invisible when fitted to a casting on the lever.  So sometimes signalmen do a little unauthorised archeology during a quiet spell by unscrewing the plate to see what it used to be.

On reading this, and remembering the instrument engineer at work engraving name plates for our intruments, I decided to look up Traffolite and between wikipedia and Graces Guide, learned that it was named after the Trafford Park works of Metropolitan Vickers where it was invented, was made at a factory in Walthamstow which was later bought by my erstwhile employer De La Rue (who also later had a factory in North Shields making Formica). De La Rue are still in the plastic business in a way, they make the plastic banknotes for BoE.

C6615, it took me  a while to realise what was in the lower right corner, my first reaction was 'What is a scalextric track doing by the railway?' The double yellow lines I saw as the copper tape contact strips on model car racing track (like the ones I saw on the Reed Model Engineering Society track).

8 hours ago, DaveF said:

They really just show infrastructure and scenery.

And are no less interesting for that, you have some superb photos of the railway in the scenery, with or without trains. Thank you for posting them.

7 hours ago, Edwin_m said:

I think it's the latter.  There is a white post near the end of each of the ducts, perhaps indicating where to find the lever.    

Looks like a shunter's pole, wooden handle tapering into the socket of the metal hook, there's a smattering of dark dirt around the other blade tip too, already grubbed out?

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

A double Deltic, there are some that might exclaim Hellfire here.

 

The old advert "A double Deltic works wonders! So get one today!"

J4397, another one of those lovely north eastern picket fence crossing gates, supported on a wheel at the free end. This one looks as though it is hand operated (handle on the left end), compared to the ones I saw at Brough which had motorised wheels. I cannot remember ever seeing one of this type of crossing on a layout. When did this style originate and were they only found in the north east?

28 minutes ago, 33C said:

Yes, two different doors! (And maybe 4?) I hand painted mine....

Prototype for everything. 

I used to see a (I think) Escort estate on my way to work, originally white it had been patch painted in a pointillist style apparently with the entire stock of the owner's Humbrol tinlets. It also sported an aerodynamic spoiler made from a contiboard shelf (priceless as the advert used to say). Some of my colleagues had cars kept going with parts from the scrappie, not the most reliable to accept a lift from.

Nice photos of Tanfield. My one visit was many years ago, I had accompanied my manager to a meeting at our factory in Gateshead, work was completed early and we were taken to a pub around Tanfield area for lunch, then as there was time before our flight back south, the factory driver (knowing I was interested in railways) made a detour to the railway for a short visit. Two things stcik in my memory; a huge version of our workshop vernier micrometer in the the Tanfield workshop by the lathe, to measure wheel diameter; and a boilerless steam locomotive crane, powered by a diesel compressor on an attached wagon, doing a bit of shunting. Visit all too soon over it was back into the traffic jams approaching Newcastle airport.

As an aside, I noticed in a company brochure, an aerial photo of our factory at the south end of the Team Valley Industrial Estate with what appeared to be a concrete staithe or viaduct passing just north of the factory site. No longer in existence at the time of my visits, it was a branch from iirc the Bowes incline to a colliery to the west.

J3831, full of interesting detail, I wondered what the building in the distance through the arch was, looking on Google maps it is probably Glenluce Abbey.

C1059 at Embsay, what was the orange object / device labelled 'Clockwork Orange' in the bottom right corner - diesel shunter? 

Thanks.

48 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

My former manager knows, or knew, the victim in that case.  It's worth reading the RAIB report if you think he was "leaning out"; I think it suggested that the clearance between coach body and the signal post at that speed (so allowing for the dynamic envelope) was no more than a few inches.  Anyone with their head out enough for just one eye to be able to see forward, would have been fatally injured.  Just like the fatality of a young woman between Bristol and Cardiff (is this the one you're referring to?), there was a suggestion she was completely inside the coach, but was struck by something fouling the loading gauge and which came through the open window.

Yes, I'm sure these are the ones I had in mind - thanks for the correction. 

WRT leaning out of windows - I think there have been two at least fatalities in the UK recently from just that. Lady fatally injured leaning out of an HST droplight between Bath and Bristol, and a man (regarded as a railway enthusiast and therefore probably more knowledgable of the risks) leaning out of a 5WES droplight.

I travelled a lot on Mk1s, often on my way to / from work. Not something I get misty eyed about enough to want to reprise.

Progress with the narrow gauge side of things. My first attempts at scratch building for a long while. The loco is intended to represent a battery electric loco, inspired by various standard and narrow gauge examples, notably the 3rd rail electric locos used at Highstead chalk pits as photographed by Gordon Edgar ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/5752243793 ). It sits on a Kato pocket line N gauge chassis (which also fits under a Dapol N gauge Fruit D body to power a demotored GF pannier). I've learned a few things in its construction, as usually I put a model together then wonder how I can paint or glaze it.  In this case the body is 20 thou (60 thou bonnet tops), 2 sheets glued at the edge, marked out, window corners drilled then cut and filed to shape before cutting the body side out. It has a false floor above the motor to hold the body square. The driver is a cut off Dapol workman on a drop in base. By luck I had left over N gauge factory kit glazing - thick crystal PS rectangles, which with a bit of sanding was just about the right size for side and end glazing. It makes a box which pushes down into the painted body. The roof just sort of plugs in. 

So, I've learned to make things in modules so they can be painted separately before final assembly.

One lesson to carry forward is to drill holes for handrails while the sides are in the flat state - I decided not to try drilling the completed body and use wire, so it has glued on plastic rod handrails - sufficient considering some of my RTR locos are no better, and I'm not dissatisfied with them.

I want to buy some of the PECO V skip wagons, but until the budget is up to that I've made the first attempt at scratchbuilding on a spare N gauge wagon chassis. Based loosely on the side tip wagons used at Scaldwell ironstone quarries, I used the drawings on the IRS website as a base.

Oil Keep? vs grease?

The apparent movement of the other loco could be done by masking most of the photo in the printing frame and racking the enlarger up or down while exposing the loco. That might also effectively double expose part of the track it is on making the blur around the chairs.

A quick search, if you blow up the photo linked here on Boxley's Flickr site, you can see the white painted buffer beam and buffers at Maidstone West.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boxley/219288118

Interesting also how the bullhead track on which the buffer stops are mounted has been retained and is connected to what looks like newer flat bottom rail in the bay. There was something similar in platforms 1 and 2 at Reading (don't know if it is still like that). Using buffers mounted on the beams, the bay road at Maidstone West, originally used for the Paddock Wood trains, had a pair of chunky bodied, self contained buffers mounted on a wooden beam, one buffer had a cracked casing - maybe due to a bump? I never thought to photograph it.

J657, a really nice photo with the incidental details - the car, open boot and bonnet, garage door windows etc. And the dog on the lawn.

Dawlish Warren? Looking across / up the Exe estuary?

This photo from wikipedia illustrates the sort of arm I think is used, the lower one with the lamp and spectacle to the left of the post. It's all I can find at the moment.

On 29/03/2024 at 23:02, melmerby said:

In this picture

 

What sort of signals are those?

They look as though the spectacle plate and lamp is located to the left of the post, to reduce the spacing between adjacent dolls. The spectacle plate is inverted. I've seen pictures of vaguely similar GWR signals, centre pivoted to save space of for restricted clearances, e.g. gallows signals under platform awnings. These Saxby signals appear to have repeater arms visible under the bridge arch too.

The drawback I can see with placing the spectacle plate to the left of the pivot is that it no longer provides a counterbalance weight tending to return the arm to danger in the case of a linkage failure.

My train set locos were in order:

Triang clockwork saddletank loco in black and green

Triang Transcontinental diesel shunter (the most my parents could afford that Christmas)

Triang 3MT tank loco in lined green, I remember this was 63/-, the big Christmas present was limited to £3, but it was bought because my birthday was in January so it was a sort of joint present.

All long gone....

I've looked at the GF N gauge green 3MT tank several times but never bought one when it was available and I was doing N. Now I'm back in OO in a small way and have recently seen a Bachmann OO one available, but should I spend my limited funds on it? I'm very tempted but it would be purely for nostalgic reasons, and would probably only grace my display case.

The one toy I still have is a Dinky Toys Coles crane, much played with, restrung and paint chipped (cranes were always my first love as a child). I'd pointed it out every day as we passed a shop on our way to the beach on a holiday in Broadstairs. M & D said 'Yes, you can have it at the end of the week.' thinking I was wanting a smaller, cheaper crane next to it. When the day came they were in an awkward position, but did buy the Dinky for me. I didn't know it at the time but money was tight and they must have made sacrifices to afford it, it makes me sad to think of it now, I cherish it even more.

Nothing since or in future will have the same meaning for me. 

Thanks for the nice Swiss photos. Have just watched a cab ride video of the St Gallen to Arth Goldau route - phenominal gradients after Pfaeffikon, 1 in 20 I think, the unit just romps up them.

C8097 - Kilchurn Castle in the background? Years ago Head Gardener and I visited the Cruachan pumped storage power station on Loch Awe. We had a while to wait before the next tour, so wandered off up a footpath opposite the site, climbing a little way up the mountain side we crossed the railway line close by a short platform, saw the rock fall protection wires and double armed signals, then continued uphill until our way was blocked by a very large and very dead sheep. 

I'm surprised that Mk1 carriages are allowed on the mainline at all, given all the slam door /  body on chassis emus were condemned years ago etc. Do the Mk1s in railtour service have any over-riding protection? (Have not noticed any of the interlocking plates or extra vertical bracing on those I used to see at BTM). Mk1s at premium prices on railtours? - no thanks.

An employee where I worked (not known to me personally) was fatally injured by being thrown from an emu, the reason was apparently he unlatched the door which was only on the first catch, in order to close it fully, with the train in motion, slipstream opened the door with fatal results.

One evening travelling to London on a VEP as we stood at West Malling station the down train (another VEP) entering the other platform had an open door banging along the side of our train. After some discussion between the crews and presumably control, we set off at walking pace, expecting to find a body on the track. Thankfully we did not, but it was a sobering experience.

Have also seen a down train leave Guildford with the inward opening vestibule door behind the driver's cab in the middle of 2 units open - so anyone walking through the gangways would be at risk.

On 03/07/2023 at 04:03, SRman said:

I had similar problems but on track where no other trains or vehicles were having problems. My solution had to be with the brake vans only. As mentioned in my layout topic, I removed the metal bearings from the centre axles on each of my brake vans (one single and one double veranda type). This mostly sorted the running, except the double veranda van was still derailing at one single location on a plain curve. Checking the back to backs on both vehicles showed all but one axle (which was on the double veranda van) were at just on 14.5mm, with the exception being slightly over that. A bit of a squeeze with my fingers on the offending axle's wheels fixed the problem once and for all, and both vans have now been trundling around at some speed on the tail of my (somewhat weird!) test train.

I've recently bought the late SR brown one, trying some shunting I found it derailed over my set-track points on the curved route. I thought it was the track at first, then the b2bs. I couldn't work out how to get the wheels out, but thanks to comments on this thread, with a lump in my throat, managed to get the rigging removed and the wheels out. I found I needed considerable pressure to close them up to the axle shoulders, but the van now runs and does not derail - at the expense of a bit of the rigging! Better a usable van minus a little bit of hidden detail than a perfectly detailed hangar queen in the display case. Thanks to all the useful commenters above. 👍