jonhinds

Trying to resist the urge to post too many photos until the layout is looking a bit more ‘finished’, but quite pleased with this iPhone shot of a Ped on parcels service. This will eventually be sent to Mercig Studios to be converted into a 31/4.

Thanks for the info chaps! These wagons don’t seem to be available in N (The Chivers Finelines kit appears to be the EWS rebodied SSA on a generic Peco chassis), so it looks like I’d have to kitbash something. A future project, perhaps.

Yep, apparently the HST ran into the Interchange until ‘88 (then Forster Square thereafter). I posted a question about loco-hauled services on the prototype questions forum a while back. There were seasonal trains to Poole (1O04) and Paignton (1V27) until summer ‘87, usually pulled by a Peak or 47 with Mk2 stock. I’d be interested to know about other services. All in all, a lot more interesting than the endless parade of Northern DMUs at the Interchange these days!

Final question(s), promise! Do you happen to know the type of scrap wagon that would have been used, and where the train originated? I’m guessing it would have been hauled by a 47 around 1990.

Yep, several hours of trawling through Flickr has sadly not produced any pics (seems people were more interested in snapping the Duffs and Peds). Sounds like it would make for a fun little cameo!

Thanks! I’m interested in the tow tractor. Was it used to transport parcel trolleys? From what I gather, it seems that parcel trains often used platform 4, so there was a bit of distance over to the parcels facility.

One corner of the layout is shaping up The retaining wall is 1mm card faced with Scalescenes ‘random ashlar’ texture, and weathered with DCC Concepts powders (a bit pricey but worth the money IMHO). Buildings use brick texture (from my own pics) on 1mm card, roofs are plasticard sprayed with Humbrol primer then weathered. Quite a few details left to add before everything gets glued down (e.g. there’s a big gap under the arch and at the end of the wall!) Took me a few tries to solder the 2mm FS buffer etch to a standard I was happy with. The cross beam is off cuts of bullhead rail & rivets glued with Slo-Zap. Gluing the assembly to card allows for proper(ish) sleeper spacing. The hydraulic buffer stop is the front part of a white metal kit glued to styrene tube, painted with Humbrol rattle cans. First attempt at masking and there’s a bit of paint bleed between the two layers, but overall I’m happy. Base yet to be painted, and lots of detail (pipes etc.) still to add. Quite chuffed with how everything compares to the prototype so far (top view courtesy of Google Earth):

No longer required.

I shoulder all responsibility for any experimental paint jobs The main problem I have is that both the turnout and plain track in the passing loop are FB rail on wooden sleepers. I think the distinct shape of the plain line concrete sleepers would be hard to disguise (along with the Dow-Mac branding), and there’s no Finetrax FB/wooden plain track combination. I’ll probably paint the turnouts and leave the plain track as-is. TBH I’m not too fussed; it still looks heaps better than Peco track! I remember you mentioned over on the N Gauge forum that 2mm Easitrac can be used with Finetrax turnouts. I’ve just noticed that there is in fact an Easitrac plain line FB rail/wooden sleeper combo! Hindsight 20/20 and all that.

Ah, now there’s an idea. Everything’s glued, soldered and wired but I could mask the rails perhaps? Hopefully the eagle-eyed won’t spot the microscopic Dow-Mac branding.

Thanks, just what I needed! There’s a Peco kit that looks suitable, certainly to my untrained eye: https://peco-uk.com/products/10ft-wb-wagon-chassis-steel-type-sole-bars-with-disc-wheels

Ah, like this (?): https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/279/no-749039-demountable-tank-wagon Is there something similar I could hack together in N? The chassis resembles several RTR tank wagons and Peco kits but I don’t know enough to tell.

Thank you sir!

I’m trying to identify the wagon used as a match truck for the Bradford CL 03 station pilot based in Hammerton Street. I don’t think it’s a conflat wagon but I’m not sure? It’s described as match truck 705370 in the first pic. I’m modelling in N gauge, so would be keen to see if there’s anything kit-based or RTR I can modify to suit. If not, the Conflat L is available as an etch via N Brass Locos so I’ll probably go down that route.

Thanks! I’ve found RMWeb an invaluable source of technical information and expertise, as well as Google Earth, Flickr and a host of other sites great for location research. There are some fantastic books out there for beginner modellers as well (‘Making a Start in N Gauge Modelling’ worked for me). I’m also working on this very slowly, so I have plenty of time to spot mistakes. Even so, I’ve had my fair share of minor disasters, including locos initially derailing on every point and a poorly constructed traverser that sagged in the middle! All since fixed (phew).

Yep, first project full stop. Building the track is very straightforward, but I found the turnouts a lot trickier as the components need to be assembled in a particular order. I found the Finetrax thread over on the N Gauge forum to be useful, as well as a bit of careful trial and error.

This layout came about from a desire to model a real location in a very tight space. Some time ago, I posted an idea for a simple N gauge track plan vaguely based on Bradford Interchange. @Flying Pig sensibly pointed out I could fit part of the actual prototype into the space I had available, with an overpass providing the scenic break. The layout is my first go at proper railway modelling. It’s partly inspired by my childhood train spotting at Leeds in the early ‘90s, and covers the period 1987-1991 (with the anachronistic presence of an 03 station pilot, which in reality had been retired several years earlier). There was a surprisingly broad range of trains running through the Interchange during this transition period, including the last hurrah of the Peaks during the early 1987 timetable, Red Star parcels trains, a range of 1st generation DMUs including 101/105/108/110/114/120/128 (often in parcels service) and the newfangled Pacers and Sprinters. Many of these are available either as RTR models or Worsley Works etches. The scenic area measures around 93x40cm at its widest point, and trains are fed from the traverser at right, just over 59cm long. The traverser can accommodate a CL 47 / 31 plus 3 vans, or a Sprinter / Pacer pairing. Embedded magnets provide hands-off shunting. Track is code 40 Finetrax, and turnouts are operated by Cobalt iP Digital point motors. The FY track is Peco code 55, with its own crossover to allow locos to run around 3 car parcels trains. Operation is DCC using NCE Powercab. To date I’ve completed the baseboard construction, tracklaying and wiring in the scenic area. I’ve made my fair share of beginner foul-ups with the track laying and wiring, but managed to get everything to work (after a great deal of grumbling). The track isn’t fully prototypical; the crossover doesn’t have shared timbers and the passing loop should be FB rail on wooden sleepers rather than concrete. But it’s good enough for me!

Thanks everyone, this is all really useful information!

Many thanks, I’ll have a look!

Alternatively, are there any online resources for passenger timetables in the 1980s?

I’m interested to find out what loco-hauled passenger workings appeared at Bradford Interchange in the late 1980s (ideally around ‘87-‘89). I gather there was a 47-hauled summer service to Paignton, and HSTs ran into the Interchange until ‘88 or so. What else am I missing? When did Peaks stop heading services into the station? ‘86-‘87 seems right, but I’m not sure.

I’ve acquired a Poole-era Farish Mk.1 BG coach and due to its large wheel flanges it won’t run on code 40 FB rail. I’ve been looking on N Brass Locos which seems to have suitable replacement wheel sets, but I’m confused as to how to measure the diameter. Is it to the rim or flange?

Looking for a Graham Farish Class 03 in BR Blue, either weathered (371-064) or non-weathered (371-062). Good cosmetic condition and working. Many thanks!

Thanks for your help everyone! Turns out the fix wasn’t too difficult. One of the point blades needed carefully resoldering to its chair plate as the blade was jamming slightly (not sure the cause but it might have been a stray particle of gunked-up solder on the side facing the stock rail), and after a further bit of careful filling it’s running perfectly now. Phew!

Here’s the left-hand turnout set to ‘straight’. As the loco approaches from the toe end, the wheel that I’ve indicated will always slide into the ‘wrong’ side of the switch blade and send the loco onto the diverging route. A back-to-back gauge gauge sounds good. Please excuse my ignorance, but is there an accepted ‘standard’ back-to-back, and how do I adjust the wheelsets?