Steve Hewitt

Packing the Hotel.............. (Not packing up at the hotel) The last few weeks, since our visitors from Down South spent a great day with us, have been quite busy. All our crew have had a couple of days operating, to refresh memories and run-in several new additions to the fleet. Probably the biggest change we have embarked upon is attempting to re-create a full days running from the 1947 Working Timetable. Noel Coates has been the source of most of the reference information we have used and he has written the "script" for the activities. These comprise the Arrivals and Departures of course, but also all the shunting and positioning moves at both the Station and on the Hidden Sidings - which represent the rest of the railways of Great Britain just prior to Nationalisation. (At least those parts which could be reached directly by train from Liverpool Lime Street). Subsequently, I have interpreted the script into specific operating instructions for the three operators. Currently there are some 657 instructions for the pair of "Station" operators, and 725 for the "Sector Plate" man. Progress is slow but steady. We start with a 05:50 train to Leeds, and at the end of three days running we have reached about 3:20pm with an Arrival from Newcastle! Fortunately, most of the pit-falls have been errors in the instructions and the layout has performed almost faultlessly! However, all good things come to an end, or at least a pause. Peter Goss will shortly be bringing another crowd of passengers and staff, and some technical alterations are required. All this requires the layout to be partially dismantled, and the following little video shows John and Les making a start by removing the North Western Hotel and putting it away safely for a few weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to report progress as the developments are made over the next few weeks. Steve.

Come along and meet us......... This coming weekend, March 5/6th, Les Green, John Holden and myself will be demonstrating at the Preston show. Not sure what the others will have on their tables, but I'll have the Route Indicator and other signals on my table if you want to examine them or discuss them in detail. Any of us will be pleased to talk to you about Liverpool Lime Street or anything else to do with our modelling. Please make your self known. See you there..... Steve.

A chance to meet........... This coming weekend, March 4/5th, I'll be demonstrating at the Preston show. I'll have the Route Indicator and other signals on my table if you want to examine it or discuss it in detail. Please make your self known. See you there..... Steve.

Mick, Yes, one or two Down Rod guides were common, I believe. Remember the down rod on lower quad signals is quite substantial so you don't need to to be too fine with the operating wire. I use 0.4mm N/S for operating wires. Much too large for scale wire, but necessary for a model where it is required to push as well as pull. For Down Rods I often use 0.45 or even 0.5 N/S to give the extra bulk of the real thing. You can fashion rod guides from fuse wire with the ends twisted together and tinned to make it rigid. A suitable hole is drilled in the post with the guide soldered or glued in place. Where several guides are required for parallel rods, I use a length of 1mm x 0.5mm brass strip. Drilled as required with 0.6mm dia holes for the rods to slide in. A 90 degree twist in the brass rod will give a flat surface to solder or glue to the post. Hope this helps. I completed the Woodford Halse signals several years ago, at least those that the layout builder required. Steve.

Those etches are absolutely fabulous Jon. Stay safe tomorrow. Steve.

Thanks Jon. I actually had to extend the sides of the indicator's box by a mm. Steve.

Another GWR signal for Acton Wells........... During the last few months, I have constructed several signals for the fictitious Acton Wells. I apologise for not detailing the construction previously, but the latest is a little out of the ordinary. I hope this video is self explanatory, but if you want any further details just respond on this topic. Steve.

Steam supply connected....... Some while back we saw the 3D printed Boiler House which Les Green created, and the chimney installed with its steam generating plant, John and Rob have now installed the steam delivery pipework which runs on a gantry between the Boiler House and the Factory building. Looking across the station throat: And from the overbridge: Running sessions are well under way now - Covid permitting - so I hope we'll get some more photos and possibly the odd (literally) video. Steve.

Hi John, Thanks for your comment. I'm afraid I'm not likely to do any more conversions as I don't have any more locos! Nothing special in the process, just a fairly straight forward chassis build as per instructions, using a Hobby Holidays Chassis Jig. Much hacking at the body to get it to fit. Its been converted to run on Liverpool Lime Street and John Holden has refined my conversion to smooth out the running and added extra pick-ups (to the tender). Steve.

A few more improvements to the 8F....... John has made a few improvements to the 8F prior to it going to Rob for weathering shortly. Steve.

Hi Chas, The signals are seperate from the servos. The key is the foundation tube - usually 1/2inch dia brass. This locates the signal in the baseboard where it is retained by friction. The servos are mounted on a bespoke frame assembled from plywood. This is also located by the foundation tube. The operating wires for the signals are terminated in 1/16inch brass tube which fits in the servo horn. The final fixing of the 1/16th tube on the operating wire is done with the servo set to about mid-throw. (The Safe position on the GF Controllers I use). The signal arm is set to mid way between On and Off and tube joint soldered. The servo is then adjusted via the Controller to the correct ON and OFF positions. Unclipping the 1/16th tube from the horn allows the signal to be pushed up by its Foundation tube for removal. The relationship between the signal baseplate and the servo frame is critical. This is the thickness of the baseboard. I assemble the signal on a frame - the Transport and Test Frame - which represents the baseboard thickness as accurately as possible. The signal will be delivered on its Transport and Test Frame where it can be connected up to its servo control and tested. I hope all this explains the signal installation process adequately? Regards, Steve.

Hi Guy, What good timing, I was just going to start searching back thru' my Topic to find the explanation for you. Regards, Steve.

Ooops ! I got my back to back mixed up with my gauge.

Taking things slowly......... Several years ago I built a DJH 8F kit to run on the Blackburn Club's 00 layout "Oxenholme". This layout has sadly gone the way of all things, so I decided to convert the loco to EM gauge so it could run on John Holden's Liverpool Lime Street. After one false start and several years of procrastination I got it running on a rolling road and a 1 metre long test track. I passed it on to John to see if it was up to Lime Street standards, and after several tweaks and adjustments it was deemed fit to be fitted with Kaydees and tried out on the railway. Here is the rfesult: Not being seen regularly at Lime Street, we now have to find an excuse to build an 8F into to timetable. Steve.

What a long wait.................. Yesterday we had our first running session on the complete layout since 2019. Les, John R and I spent the day at John's to run through the full operating sequence. We had a very good session, with only two "Hands of God" incidents in a full sequence. These were caused by the recent scenic work, specifically a barrow crossing with a tight flange way lifted the L&Y 2-4-2T and it lost electrical contact. The other was a sticking Kaydee coupling refusing to attach to its colleague on the "Coal Train". Hopefully this is the first of what we hope will become regular operating sessions for quite some time as we have no invitations to exhibit in next year's diary. This will also give us the opportunity to host some visitors which are always very enjoyable days. During the daay, I managed a few hand held shots with my phone camera, and the results are in this little video: Great days ahead....... Steve.

Hi Steve b, I found the Beattock box diagrams via a Google search. see: https://signalbox.org/ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I can't find any large scale maps which corresponmd to the track plans shown here. All the maps I've seen have the turntable by the shed, and seemingly much smaller. I'd appreciate any further information you can supply about Beattock including buildings and other infrastructure. Steve.

My club - Blackburn & East Lancs MRS - are in the planning stage for a new 00 layout. Current favourite is Beattock station and the Moffat branch. Period will be 1950's, 1960's . We have drawings of the two signal box diagrams for the period, after the turntable was moved to the south of the station, but we can't find a large scale map showing the layout accurately. Any advice on sources of information in the time period will be very gratefully received. Steve Hewitt.

Beautiful models as usual Jon. So much detail. Steve.

There haven't been many posts on this topic recently, but that doesn't mean we've all be idle. John and Rob have been particularly busy with the scenics. The following are a few pictures showing areas which have received attention. 1. Ash from the Pit Road is shovelled out onto the ground ..... ...before being barrowed up onto the staging and into a waiting wagon. 2. The new building "Lamp Room?" by the turntable has got its bike shed: 3. At the opposite end of the building is the Loco Roster board: 4. More station furniture is slowly being accumulated: 5. Lighting has been added in several locations around the station throat and other areas: 6. Thirsty work moving trains around here so improved provision of Water facilities has been made. 7. For a long time the signal box has lacked its "Gallery", but this is now in place: Health & Safety close your eyes. 8. The new water facilities are at risk of freezing in the winter months, so they will receive braziers or fire-devils. These will require fuel, which will be moved by barrow from the small bunker near the turntable: 9. Left over from the recent conflict : More soon I hope. Steve.

No doubt you had a trip on the East Lancs Railway. Steve.

Hi Mic, I think Jonathan has answered you quite well. I'm not sure which servos you are refering to as I have used various models over the years. I currently favour the 3.7gram Digital versions, which I buy in bulk from China. The design is similar to the SG90 9g model which has been very popular for a few years. It is just a bit smaller. In the larger picture, the cost of a servo is a very small part of the total for a signal. Certainly not sufficient to compromise performance. Steve.

Mike, This is from a post on the Lime Street topic in 2019. During the day we managed to find time to play with a miniature WIFI Video camera which we mounted on a flat truck propelled by the Station Pilot. I've put together this video, of three short clips. https://youtu.be/XVXTxqeYplk Clip 1 is a conventional "drivers view" Clip 2 is an angled view as a passenger might experience Clip 3 sees the train held at the signal gantry until it gets the road to Platform 6. This view provides some unique views of the station roof and the surrounding buildings. The camera was like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?ie=UTF8&adId=A02854581ERBSEYD8N4N9&qualifier=1634646291&id=8697971528262898&widgetName=sp_detail&url=%2Fdp%2FB09B3WD86L%2Fref%3Dsspa_dk_detail_1%3Fpsc%3D1%26pd_rd_i%3DB09B3WD86L%26pd_rd_w%3DNlem0%26pf_rd_p%3D828203ef-618e-4303-a028-460d6b615038%26pd_rd_wg%3DdKyqX%26pf_rd_r%3DWEGP98BY8VRAWVWG9AYR%26pd_rd_r%3De2beb580-87fa-4ccc-a0bf-c1527673562e Not exactly this model, but things move on over the years........ Good luck. Steve.

Thanks Mike for the photos. Its nice to see the signals in and working. Are there any plans for some video? I'd love to see a driver's eye view of the many routes available on this fabulous layout. Steve.

I delivered my first Carlisle semaphore signal via Alistaire Rolfe in June 2008. Steve.

Looking forward to meeting you there Jon. Steve.