Artless Bodger

Thank you Johnster, that is useful information, particularly regarding coal. I had originally wondered if - for my putative independant minor railway - that the wagon stock would be limited. To deal with an incoming coaster / lighter loaded with coal for the up line industries then all available wagons might be pushed into service to clear the load as quickly as possible (mindful of some of your posts regarding the desire of ships' captains to minimise unprofitable time in port). Empties returning down line might then be used for stone traffic to the wharf for loading into lighters / barges. It just means I need to source extra wagons - a good excuse for a few kits I think ;-) Though I've no fixed era in mind (very rule 1), when were shock vans introduced - I'm only familiar with the BR type (which looks as though it is based on a GWR design)?

Yes, though not all. A quote from https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/12/trolley-canal-boats/ Two barges crossing On the larger part of the canal trajectories in France, traction occurred only at one side of the canal. When two tractors going in opposite direction met, they switched barges and drove back to where they came from (one barge had to navigate over the sunken towline of the other). A similar method had been in use with mules and horses for centuries. On the Teltow canal in Germany and, later, on some canals in France, tracks were laid on both side of the canal, which made towing easier but more expensive. However I recall first having read this years ago in a book from Maidstone library about French canals.

J1627 - an early application of RES livery perhaps? Weather your model like that and wait for the comments at exhibitions!

Just a thought - several comments here about locos being pulled sideways due to the triangle of forces, but horses didn't fall over and the tow rope was attached to their collar. Looking at the photos of some of the CGTVN locos, the side plates are hefty with plenty of big rivets, perhaps for ballast? I read somewhere that on heavily trafficed canals, the electric tractor drivers might spend their whole working day shuttling along a very short stretch of canal bank as each time they met a boat coming the other way they swapped tow ropes and reversed direction.

EMD E units were A-1-A A-1-A and I read that this was to allow the bogie pivot to be centrally mounted with a symmetrical axle layout - developed from the Blomberg B bogie. E units were the express passenger units, with twin engines, so the extra axle helped carry the extra weight. Other loco manufacturers in the US used C bogies (US nomenclature doesn't use the o afaik) but resorted to assymetric axle layouts as between the middle and one end there had to be 2 traction motors. There were various proprietary 3 axle bogie designs for C bogies - the Tri-mount comes to mind. Look at the bogies on locos like FM Trainmaster C-Cs. FM later produced the C-Line series, one option was for a B-C cab unit There is a lot of data on this in some US HO diesel drawing collections and class recognition books (Pinkepank & Marre? Kalmbach?). I don't have my copies anymore.

The poor weather has in some ways made it necessary to get on with some modelling. Progress so far includes: 1. Completion (almost*) of the track laying. 2. Permanent wiring - nothing special, just needed to solder some fishplates onto wires and set up just two feeds, one to the standard gauge and one to the narrow gauge / N gauge. 3. *I was unhappy with the angled loco release, having some damaged curves in my nephews old stuff I cut one down to bring the headshunt parallel to the other roads. I'm much happier now with it. 4. Made a start on the station platform - 3 layers of 5mm foamboard, Metcalfe brick card for the front and edging stones from cereal packet card scribed with a ballpoint pen. Thinking of using sandpaper to represent cinder topping. 5. Drawing up plans for a loco body to fit the Kato pocketline chassis for the narrow gauge. The layout has multiple uses potentially - the main OO standard gauge terminus - fiddle yard, an N gauge roundy roundy in case I want to run some of my older stock (its 9" radius so not recomended for the newer locos) and an OO9 narrow gauge quarry branch. More than a nod to Gwiwer's Porthgarrow layout for inspiration in this direction. Ideally (i.e. in some of my pipe dreams) the N gauge oval can have modular scenery - I still have some buildings from the old N gauge layout - or modules to depict the quarry / sand pit for the narrow gauge. I suspect that if I get that far the narrow gauge will win, I fancy a crane / shovel or two. Cranes were a childhood fascination (thinking of trips to Margate, passing the gravel pits at Sturry), when Mum collected me from my infant school we had to detour via local building sites to watch the cranes at work.

Your layout looks very good and inspiring, especially in your use of sectional track which looks good with ballasting. I thought your experiment with the photo background really worked, the tumbledown building gave me a real feeling of depth beyond the plane of the station. I'm also envious of your self discipline in regard to period and location - if I had a fiver for every time I changed allegiance I'd be rich!

Lydd Airport (London Ashford)!

There were 4 lengths of what looked like Barlow rail covering a cess catch pit at the end of Mortimer station a few (10?) years back. Clevedon Pier was constructed from redundant Barlow rail - not sure if any remains since restoration.

In the two of Worksop East, amazing how the change of perspective between the two photos makes it seem as though the buildings behind the snow plough have been instantly demolished. Wagon turntable on the far left siding in J1606 too, an interesting relic.

The first ones to enter my mind when 18" and industrial were mentioned were - Horwich and Crewe works.

More, halting, progress. I've restored the beading on the ends of the 6 wheeled carriage sides, getting a stiff neck in the process. The magnifier is great but with a short focal length I have to bend close to the workbench, and get quite tense as a result. I managed to complete the roof to my satisfaction - if I dont look too closely I dont see the gaps. Livery? Probably plain brown. Currently building the Wills goods timber goods store and small station building - what colour scheme to adopt? The current K&ESR scheme at Northiam and Bodiam (dark red and cream) looks smart, however the later stations on the Headcorn extension were more economy minded in tarred timber, so black, dry brushed in grey and brown probably. What rolling stock would be appropriate? I'm thinking mainly 4/5 plank opens as the primary traffics would be coal, baled rags and woodpulp inwards, and stone outwards. Would the same wagons be used for all traffic, suitably swept out between types? Or would there have had to be specific coal, stone and general merchandise wagons? So, a few questions there and I'd be interested to hear any observations or suggestions you might make. Thanks for reading.

The IoW Central had 2 outside cylinder 2-2-2Ts, Precursor and Pioneer, apparently the first locos on the island (Rails in the Isle of Wight, P.C. Allen and A.B. MacLeod, p10.) The photo of Precursor appears to show a crosshead driven water feed pump attached to the ends of the slide bars. It is all inside framed though, built 1861 by Slaughter Gruning , scrapped 1904. One photo in that book shows one of the locos pulling a train of 6 (maybe 7) 4 wheel coaches, so not lacking a certain puisance.

The original Nanking Blue? I wonder how well that would translate to the 800s, as I don't think it sits as well on the HST. The LUMO blue isnt far off? Perhaps I'm too conditioned to BR(S) plain green and the ensuing plain blue from my formative years :-)

Nice to see photos of 1618 in action. I remember summer Wednesday evenings, going into the Blackhorse yard at APM New Hythe where it was stored after leaving Barry to help in the early days of its restoration. 1968 when I changed schools and 1969, I could only go when we had no homework set, from 2nd year onwards we had homework every night of the week. With thin arms I got the job of scraping congealed grease and dirt off the inner surfaces of the tender frames, then laying under the tank with a wire brush removing rust. At least I didn't have to get inside the tender tank, or the firebox. Used to use the Reed's yard gang wash room after to get all the crud off before catching the train home. Rather lost track of it after that, I think it went to Tenterden first before the Bluebell. Most of the group working on it at APM were K&ESR stalwarts.

I wonder what they would look like in the original HST blue / yellow? Most modern livieries are to my mind fussy marketing exercises, in that respect the LUMO plain blue is actually quite nice, GWR green nice and plain but too dark, TPE looks like a pop-art explosion. LNER is a hangover from Virgin livery isn't it? Too hung up on red and wavy lines (GNER blue wasn't bad).

Strange names - one appears to be named after a South African president (but carries the mark of Zorro), the other for the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, at least none after its companion the highest occupied molecular orbital!

As to date, the caption / file name suggests 1964.

Are these the ones you are seeking?

The grass mat in the adjacent field looks a bit unrealistic?

Ah, I hadn't thought of that. Thank you.

I'm interested to know what the device to the right of the loco is, it appears to be electrically powered. Can anyone enlighten me please? (Looks like a useful stand for oil cans if nothing else, or are they paraffin, and cotton waste on the end box, for loco cleaning?).

Having looked at the film, I wouldn't have wanted to be the bloke leaning across the haulage cables, lubricating them where they passed over the top of the frame - if a cable broke he'd be a goner.

OT but yes, I remember that, the recovery was reported in one of the magazines. The loco ran off the end of the up goods loop I think nearer London, just before a major road underbridge and ended up partly on its side propped up by trees. The recovery required one or two 47s to pull it back onto a sleeper base extended beyond the sand drag, two or three 47s to ballast the tracks on the mainline to which an additional tow cable was attached to prevent the 31 rolling further down the slope. The recovery gear was Kelbus if I remember rightly. Quick search came up with this -

If my family is anything to go by it is Nana, my grandmother on my mother's side was Nana, on Dad's it was always Granny (Gran when I was older). Great stuff all of this, I never had 0, nor Hornby Dublo, Grandad (mother's side) bought me my first trainset when I was not quite 4, a Tri-ang clockwork 0-6-0 saddle tank and 2 coaches. A friend had Hornby 0, I remember the three rail and a lamp in the front (didn't know it was the smokebox door at that age). A later school friend had Hornby 00 three rail, I used to feel a bit second class as his trains were metal and mine were plastic. Such was life aged about 6!