Captain Nick

More news from Wormdale! I have spent most of my modelling time this past winter away from the layout and in the workshop. (There has also been a months trip around the Isle of Wight etc. courtesy of P&O). I have weathered and Sprat & Winkled my way through about 100 waggons and have begun the building from scratch the station plate girder foot bridge that is based on that which was originally at Chinley in its heyday. I have also scrapped the method for coupling coaches that I had begun to use and have shown earlier in this thread for something more easier to use. Unfortunately fitting S&Ps to the buffer beams of the coaches caused the coaches to de-rail on the 19 inch curve that is found off-scene on the layout. The new method involves the S&Ps being fitted to the top of the modified bogies of the rake ends and to the underside of bogies where a semi permanent coupling is required within the rake. The robustness of the S&P hook means that the coaches can be gently pushed together when joining up the rake on the layout. This Mark 2 method is much easier to fit than the Mark 1 version although I have not tried fitting them to Thompson coaches yet . The foreseen problem here is that these coaches have a bigger overhang between bogie and buffer beam. The hook does need to be mounted on or in front of the bogie in line with the buffer beam. The wire loop for the hook to grip needs only to be put on one end of the coach. I have also fitted home made carriage connectors which are in contact with each other at all times on the layout. This picture shows the semi permanent coupling. This one shows the rake end method with a truck acting as a loco for illustrative purposes. This is a picture that I found on the net of Chinley foot bridge some time ago. The author of the picture was unattributable and so I cannot ask his or her's permission but I hope they won't mind my using it for illustrative purposes. The picture shows the bridge with the glazing and roof removed. Below are two pictures of my efforts thus far. It is entirely constructed out of individual Plastruct parts. The white blob in one of the pictures is a stair case but it hasn't obviously come out in the photo.

The finished article. The extended gap is a compromise and I think I can live with it. I think it looks so much better than r-to-r couplings and of course it gives me remote control of shunting and in the case of passenger coaches, changing locos and adding through coaches etc.

Well, I've had a go at adding home made corridor connectors and S&Ws to the ends of a 3 coach fixed rake of Mark I coaches for experimental purposes. All went reasonably well on the layout with the rake behaving well through point formations and the corridor connectors nicely filling the gaps between coaches and moving against each other well. The problem was off scene where there is a minimum curve equivalent to Pecos 4th radius. Here the S&W paddle came into contact with the leading bogie wheels and caused derailments. It seemed to me that the only way to get around this was to mount the coupling further aft under the corridor connector. This was not ideal and I'm sure the purists amongst us would not be pleased with the resultant increased gap between the pulling loco and lead coach. A compromise for this seems to be the connector itself which fills the space to an extent but much more that would happen in real life. What do we think? The Spratt and Winkle in original position but which fouls the leading wheels on my off-scene curves. My first attempt at corridor connectors. Note the left hand coach connector has been mounted too high but I think the effect is getting close to what I'm after. I did try and take off the molded connector but then decided to keep them and put the new connector on that. These last photos show the difference between the old and new mounting positions and the resultant gap between coach and loco and how the corridor connector disguises this to and extent. The last picture is of the new mounting position.

HI Joseph. My layout has fairly long sidings so I'm hoping to get away with magnets being fairly well distanced from each other. I will also have them at the ends of platforms for loco changes and running round etc. I have found that there is some magnetic interference to the wagon weights but not so that it upsets the operation. I will continue experimenting and report back as to how I'm getting on. I am pleased with the looks of the couplings and they are fairly unobtrusive to my myopic eyes. I'm feeling so much more confident about my modelling after this experiment. Regards Nick

Hi John I already have this link and it has helped very much, even so far as breaking the magnets in half. I have converted 9 wagons so far and they work as the should on my test bed track. I haven't put any magnets on the layout as yet nor have I converted any locos but will do so this week. I'm also putting S&Ws on one end of my carriage brakes and have already modified one ready for fitting. These will be fitted on the ends of permanent rakes. In the meantime I have been experimenting with corridor connectors today and so far I'm pleased with how that is going. I will post some photos tomorrow, Jane permitting! Its the start of her 'weekend' off so who knows what my job list will be. Regards Nick

Hi Al I have been following your Grindleford Station with great interest. I was just wondering if Joseph had more pros and cons for using the different types of magnets. I have also just learnt that the 8 S&Ws that I have so far fitted aren't the delayed action version. I had assumed they were. Doh! Gordon Bennett! This modelling lark is so confusing at times but I must speed up my modelling output. Cheers Nick

Yes I did look at them but I reckoned S&Ps seemed easier (for me) to fit. As for fixed rakes, yes I am planning on that but don't have suitable chain to hand. Perhaps someone could give me a pointer for ready made brass chain?

Why would you recommend that in particular Joseph? I would have quite a problem retro fitting electro magnets on my layout.

Well I've finally got back to doing some more modelling and doing something I've been putting off. I thought sometime ago that I would like to see what Spratt and Winkle couplings would be like. I had liked the hands free operation of these which had impressed me at shows and felt that they were so much easier on the eye than most others. So a couple of weeks ago I sent off for a starter pack in 4mm finescale and also ordered a couple of packs of the ready made version. Now these latter items are very handy but also expensive if you have a large amount of stock to retro fit. There are only 4 pieces in the pack but if you only fit them to one end only then obviously there are enough to fit 4 wagons. This is what I have done and using the wire supplied in the starter pack have made loops for the other end of the wagons. I found this latter operation the hardest to achieve and tried two methods. The first method was to make a staple shape and glue this to the underside of the buffer beam, a method easier described rather than accomplished. The second method was to fit a bar across the inside lower hemisphere of the buffers. Both worked but I preferred the first method as it was easier on the eye and more easily fine tuned. The gluing of the loop to the underside proved difficult to achieve the strength and robustness required so I came up with sandwiching the ends of the loop between two small wafers of gash corrugated plasticard and then gluing this in place underneath the buffer beam. I should point out that I'm using the lower method of mounting these couplings. I have completed 8 wagons and have tested them with magnets placed under the tracks. Shown above are the trucks tested on a piece of track which is the same radius as the minimum found (offscene and about 3ft) on Wormdale and all were found to operate well although some further adjustment was made.

In my experience, celebs are just like the rest of us. Some have good manners and some don't, some have good days and then they have bad days. Many years ago I was introduced to a fairly well known female TV presenter but I pretended not to know who she was or what she did.(Mariner just returned from years at sea!) She asked me what I did and then explained in a matter of fact way what she did. We hit it off for the rest of the evening although it cost me a lot of G&Ts.

Hi Al. I guess you do but my efforts will be more akin to poaching. I have been looking at all the posts on here and elsewhere about S&Ws so I think I'm good to go. I have always been impressed with them at shows etc and they will be way cheaper than kaydees. I'm also looking at ways to semi- permanently couple rakes of coaches and putting S&Ws on the ends.

A badly photoshopped Black Five lifting a stopper from Platform 5

Well nothing much has happened over the last three months except for installing a fence between the kiln sidings and the mainline. I have also scratch built a couple of plate layers huts. I am about to go a Spratt and Winkling on almost all of my rolling stock. There is also a lot of detailing to do around the kilns and crusher such as yard lamps and point levers etc. I want to get this done before I do any further drastic scenic work although I may start the station foot bridge. Having badly sprained my ankle getting off a boat (50 years of getting off and on the damn things without mishap) two weeks ago, I can barley get up the stairs to the railway room at the moment but I did take a some photos today.

Another pic from rail level

I have been back from holiday for four weeks and after a slow start I have been back up to Wormdale (in a loft conversion) and tinkered about with it. I had become increasingly niggled by the lime kiln sidings area over by the hill on the right hand side. It kind of looked too 'flat'. It then occurred to me that at Peakdale and when the Midland built it's line up through Millers D. they left odd pillars of rock around in fact just north of the station the line appears to go into a cutting but in fact the track bed is on a ledge above the river and the builders have left a thin embankment of rock on the outer side. Also, where the signal box was they left a small pillar of rock next to it which of course is still there. I have tried to replicate this latter feature next to the signal box in Wormdale while adding a larger pillar of limestone in the sidings. I am happy with the result as I think it visually break up the area and adds more interest. I have also tried to replicate the shape taking into account the flow of the geology before any excavations took place. See what you think. I have also added more vegetation to this end of the layout and there is a lot more to do by adding general detritus, mess huts and yard lamps.

Yep! The pipe has to go in!

Lovely pictures of Black and Brown Edges where I use to roam as a kid. Incidentally, Peak Dale village was (is) known as Upper End. I think it got given the more prosaic name in the seventies. There used to be a pub across the road bridge at Small Dale on the eastern side called the Midland Hotel. The building is now a private house but it would be nice if you guys could perhaps bring it back to life as it were. Keep up the good work. I just wish I could sum up the energy to restart Wormdale after my extended break.

Hi Andy. many thanks for your kind comments and I'm sorry that I haven't replied until now. I've not logged on for a few days, being busy with other things. I am impressed with what you are doing and I'm pleased to see that the old Midland Line through The Peak is becoming so popular amongst fellow modellers with various locations being modelled. Just as winter arrives in the High Peak this week, we shall be attempting to get over the Cat and Fiddle on Thursday morning to get our flight to Hong Kong from Manchester . All that hassle so as to get free parking for a month at my mate's house in Buxton! Regards Nick

Hi John. Yes I'm very glad not to be fighting these gales and I think of you guys working out there when its bad. We are meeting up with a former Meridian old man and friend in Hong Kong who is now Fleet Director for Wilhelmsons Car Carriers in Korea. Ugh! High sided and single screw in this weather!

I have just come upon your thread Andy and I like it very much. It's a part of the world from where I come and love. My own attempt at modelling this part of the old Midland Main Line is set three miles further 'down the dale' and in the 1950s but I'm very pleased that this area of the High Peak is giving so much inspiration to fellow modellers. I shall continue watching your progress with great interest. Best wishes Nick

Hi Brian. I'm afraid that most model work is enduring a bit of a hiatus at present other than a little tinkering here and there. My wife and I are off to the Orient next week for a month and I have spent the last six weeks editing the magazine I do twice a year which can be a bit frenetic. Whilst reclining on a beach somewhere in the South China Sea, I shall be planning my next moves for Wormdale. The most pressing things to be undertaken is the fitting of Spratt and Winkle couplings to some 50 wagons and 15 locos, however, I am inclined to get started on the station footbridge which is a copy of the old Chinley Station one. I have also got to get rid of the cassettes and replace them with a small fiddle yard. So plenty to be getting on with when I get back in February. On another note; have you ever wondered why you can buy almost any magazine at UK airports except railway and railway modelling ones. A curious state of affaires. Much to my wife's chagrin, I always load my suitcase with several kilos of them so as to enjoy reading them on hols..

Oh Dear. I'm coming up again next week but I shall have the kryptonite like powers of my wife to keep me from straying onto the M42 and a general north east direction at Birmingham. As she will have done a risk assessment, she will mitigate any desire to go to Sheffield by being at the wheel and will purposefully put us onto the M6 and the north west! I'm amazed Al that you are so strong in resisting such beguiling temptations.

I have had my 'eureka' moment following on from the above. During the last few weeks I have tweaked my back to backs to the 14.8 mark and using the flat tip of a large file, I have flattened down any proud rails at the gaps. (these have been flattened down into the cork sub base until the offending rail end is at the same height as the next rail to it). The running of my locos has improved no end. Wobbles have been eliminated considerably and so electrical contact better maintained. Another great leap forward on Wormdale took place just three weeks ago. (n.b This next part of my narrative is written in wife excuse mode!) On a trip up to Buxton in early in December, I became 'lost' in the motorway system and found myself outside a certain emporium in Sheffield that specialises in the fitting of sound. This was a serendipitous navigational cock-up as I just happened, by sheer chance, to have two unchipped locos, bought two years previously, in the car with me. It seemed rude not to enter said emporium to say hello. In doing this I felt it incumbent on myself to festively instruct the lovely people therein to chip my 8F and Jubilee with not only sound, but with keep alive too. WOW! Am I a happy little sailor? You bet I am! These two run through the pointwork beautifully, purposefully and smoothly! The way to go. So, not withstanding being presently without my wife's favour, I can report that trains are now running as they should in Wormdale. Morale is restored! Happy New Year everybody.

As I pointed out above, It was never my intention to diss Norman reputation, indeed, I have put the problems down to my own poor grasp of all things track standards. If this is how it comes across then I apologise without reservation. Norman's work is well celebrated on a popular layout elsewhere on this site and quite rightly so. If someone was looking for a track builder then I would recommend him without doubt. This part of my layout thread began last Wednesday when I was somewhat down morale wise. You very kindly came back and offered advice and help for which I am grateful. It was certainly not to decry Norman's reputation. I am actually thinking of asking him to do some further work for me in the future. This is to build a small fiddle yard in place of my un wieldy cassettes. I am extremely sorry if any of my comments have caused offense to anyone and to Norman's craftsmanship in particular.

Thanks again Martin and Hayfield for your comments. The reason I asked the question about tuning out imperfections with hand built track was not to decry my builder in any way, especially so as he would seem to have a very good reputation. I did have a few problems with aligning up the boards on which the formations were laid but that was probably down to my inexperience. Also, as I have until now, not been running trains very much, then I really hadn't got to know my track, as it were. The track has been down for about 4 years and I have ironed out a few small miss-alignments along the way that have caused the locos to wobble a little. Of course, all this has followed ballasting and painting by me. As for my instructions to the builder, well it may have been that I did say something along the lines (no pun etc. etc.) that I wanted something near finescale but requiring to run my (adjusted) rtr locos. I really can't remember the details as the original commission was way back in 2008 when I was still plying the high seas. Incidentally, I still have 4 boards comprising of a freight avoiding line and freight yard to lay in position. These are still stored in bubble wrap. I won't put these into position until I have constructed the station buildings etc.