buffalo

Hi Missy, This is coming on really well. Mike is (of course) quite right about the single light. I've added to our earlier discussion of the lights on your 'Part II' entry, hopefully explaining where I think Alex' quote from the 1960 appendix is confusing. Interestingly, the one in the photo you link to above appears to have had the red light removed and plated over. As also does No 4 in the photo that Craig refers to. I also agree with you about the 'ridge'. It is only apparent in a very small number of photos of the Gloucester bodied railcars and is not visible under most lighting conditions. Indeed, it may be more pronounced on the Park Royal bodies (Nos 1-4) and is very much more obvious on the later, more angular, Swindon built bodies. Nick

Hi Missy, All the information I have (mostly text and photos in the Judge book) indicate that the red light was the same size as the white lights. There are a couple of photos of an unidentified railcar showing the red light plated over and a socket fitted higher up below the GWR roundel. The plating over the light position makes it looks larger. The socket was for an electric version of the conventional tail lamp. However, I can't find any other photos so this may have been a one-off experiment. Class A (or, since about 1960ish? class 1) is an express passenger, mail train or breakdown train en route to a job. It is indicated by two white lights at about the platform height, i.e. the lower ones on the railcar. Class B (or class 2) is an ordinary passenger or a breakdown train not going to clear the line. A stopping train, the normal job of most railcars, is indicated by a single central light at roof level (top of smokebox on a kettle). Alex' quote from the 1960 appendix is interesting in that it is clearly a BR rewrite of the 1936 version to remove references to the GWR and add the mandatory add-on tail lamp. The rewrite is, however, rather less clear than the original: 1936: The car will not carry the standard G.W. head or tail lamps. 1960: The car will not carry the standard head code, but the standard tail lamp will be carried. The reference to the head code is confusing but from the earlier version it suggests simply that oil lamps are not to be used at the front. 1960: ...two white lights (horizontally at platform level) must be exhibited at the leading end as Class 1 or 2 (" A "). Surely, the "...or 2..." here is an error? Nick

Hi Missy, Yes, there was a red light, it is the central one roughly at buffer height. It was certainly used pre-nationalisation though whether anyone replaced failed bulbs in BR days... There's an interesting extract from the 1936 rule book at the end of the Judge volume that makes it clear that the electric tail light was the norm, but that each railcar had to carry a conventional oil tail light for use when it was parked in sidings or for emergency use. Nick

Adding lights has been on the TODO list for my Hornby 4mm railcar for some time My plan is to use some 1mm fibre which will give a close approximation to the size of the lens plus the external bezel, so I guess 0.5mm would do the trick for you. One point to remember is that they only carried class A or class B headlights so, unless you want to be able to do some high speed main line running, you can get away with only lighting the upper central front light. The problem comes with the tail lamp as it needs to be removable (unless you only run in one direction). I did wonder whether this might be done by having a short section of fibre in the lamp body which plugs into a small hole in the body to pick up the light, though light leakage might be a problem. As to brightness, well, the originals were quite dim Nick

Hi Missy, As well as removing the bogie covers in BR days, the drive shafts between the two axles were also removed, so each bogie was only driven on its inner axle. As to the electric lights, this type was built with three white lights. Two inboard of the buffer pins with their centres just above those of the buffers. The third was central above the cab windows and between the vents in the front of the roof section. An red tail light was also provided. This was mounted centrally slightly below the level of the buffer pins. The lenses on all four were 2 11/16" diameter. A lamp bracket was fitted later to take a conventional tail lamp and I believe they normally used this in BR days. Nick EDIT: crossed with Bernard's posting. The light locations on most of the drawings I've seen of the early streamlined batches do not correspond with any photographs. I recommend Colin Judge 'The History of the Great Western AEC Diesel Railcars' as it has many drawings and photos, including several of No 12 and contemporaries in as built condition. Unfortunately there are fewer good views of the streamliners in later days. We also discussed lights, amongst other things, in this thread.

Thanks for clarifying the problem, Pete. I hadn't fully worked it out from the previous blog entry. Since I read your reply this morning I've been wondering about chamfering the sides and ends, thinning the buffer beams and/or shortening the chassis, but I see Kris has beaten me to it Hopefully, you can find a compromise. The buffer beams do look a bit too thick, so maybe it can be done without losing the fine rivet detail on the solebars. Still in nit-picking mode, the photos give the impression that some of the axle boxes are upside down. The tapered part should be at the top. Mind you, I realise that what I am looking at is about four times life size and once the solder is cleaned up and its had a coat or two of paint you'll need a magnifying glass to see them, let alone which way up they are. Nick

Thanks, I've yet to digest all the details on placement... Am I then correct in thinking that this one would control access to the main line, and the two shunt signals in the lower right of the photo permit access to the headshunt? Nick

Thanks for posting this! I'm way behind you in understanding German signalling, so can you please explain how the signal next to the double slip would be used? Nick

Pete, This does really have the potential to be a very nice wagon, but I fear you need to go back to the drawing board on the question of how to trim the sides and ends to fit the chassis. From the picture of the kit, it appears that the ends are intended to fit between the sides, with the sides resting on the extended ends of the buffer beams. This way you would get the hinge bar above the end door to line up with the loops on top of the sides and the corner plates on the fixed end to line up correctly. Perhaps the problem is accentuated because you have the ends the wrong way round? Sorry to sound so negative, I'm really looking forward to seeing you make a good job of these wagons. Nick

This was hardly mass production, the largest batch of streamlined railcars was nos 8-17. No, the front ends and the cab roofs were hand beaten by craftsmen. Much closer to what we are seeing here. Good work, Missy. Nick

Kempenfelt, I'd certainly interested in seeing that photo of the Sentinel in transit, if you do manage to track it down. According to Chris Handley, 'Radstock Coal and Steam' vol 2, the pug 11202 first visited Radstock in March/April 1931 to replace one of the Sentinels when it was away for maintenance. It returned there in again soon after when one of the Sentinels went elsewhere. It was there for much of the 30s, going to Derby in 1937 and returning to Bath (for Radstock in 1938). In 1939-41 it was at Gloucester, thereafter it was mostly at Radstock though appears to have been moved around quite a bit. It was seen at Burton in 1948 and returned to Barrow Road in October 1952 to replace 47190. By which time, of course it was numbered 51202, so this may include the period you refer to. It remained at Barrow Road until withdrawal in 1958. It was apparently adapted to fit under Tyning Arch, presumably in 1931, but the sources I have seen only mention a shorter chimney, not cab modifications. Nick

I've been looking forward to this bit as this was the end of the shed that I knew best -- I only got beyond here once These were, of course, the S&DJR Sentinels (originally nos 101 and 102) from Radstock. One of the Pugs, 11202/51202 was the regular replacement when one of these was at Barrow Road for servicing. The trip up from or back to Radstock must have been a long day's work for the crews. Nick

Good to see you back, Mikkel. I know what you mean about work, it can be such an inconvenience at times As ever, it's the little details like the mail bags and parcels that make all the difference to your excellent photos, not to mention the Captain Birdseye figure That certainly is a motley collection of stock, but so very prototypical for the minor lines. It reminds me I have a Siphon C to finish and have been looking for an O1 for ages with no success. Maybe I'll just have to scratch build one. Nick ps. I'd not noticed the rather good weathered wood effect on the underside of the canopy before. How did you achieve that?

Ian asked about 60' lengths, but 'twas not always thus. For example, the GWR didn't start using 60' rails until 1929. Previously they had 44'6", 39'5" and 32' lengths in the 00 section rail introduced in 1900, and 45', 40', 36' and 30' in the BS95R rail used from about 19211. Then there were all the earlier and lighter profiles used on minor lines... Presumably other companies had their own profiles and lengths, and/or different dates when the BS rail was adopted. Does anyone know of any earlier rules about minimum lengths than those applying to more modern rail? Nick 1 according to David J Smith in "GWR Switch and Crossing Practice"

Looks like slate to me, there's not much flint in Cornwall...

May 3rd 1830, Opening of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Today is the 180th anniversary of regular steam-hauled passenger services -- note, words chosen with care, for loco-hauled we need to wait a few months longer Nick

I'm sure there must have been sheds that match Slinn's description, and black ironwork was probably common for general fittings, roofing etc. I think he probably exaggerates about the white walls becoming almost black. I can believe a general grey/brown dusty appearance as they aged, after all whitewash is not really permanent. In your case, I would think the steel roof trusses suggest a fairly recent build, so the walls could still be mostly white. Most of the photos I've seen would support some variation on the two-tone columns and dark brown with light stone above sounds as reasonable as any suggestion.

I wouldn't say no to one of those, too In the meantime, we can drool over this list of other versions of the B VI http://www.modellbau-wiki.de/wiki/BR_34, not to mention pretty much every German model loco made in recent years. It's a site that will come in very handy when you win the lottery as well as for working out exactly what an ebay listing really is. The Wikipedia Bavarian locos page is also very interesting.

You're right Early morning light in this room is none too good -- at least, that's my excuse -- but it is much clearer now. I still doubt that they are the stone colours, though, as they look too dark to me, even allowing for the large amount of white in the photo. Is this the photo on p.168? It's very difficult to tell, isn't it? The exposure of that plate is so skilfully crafted to bring out the detail in a very wide range of light levels. The columns could be lightish, but compare their tone with that of the adjacent goods wagons and they could equally well be quite dark in colour

Just found the photos I was looking for earlier Pages 185-6 of Great Western Enterprise show the shed at Canon's Marsh, Bristol and the interior shots look to have been taken shortly before it opened in October 1906. In the outer part with metal-framed roof, the columns are all one dark colour, perhaps brown or black? Inside the two storey ferro-concrete section they are dark up to about six feet from the ground, but everything else is white. Upstairs in the warehouse/storage area, everything is white.

Sounds like a good plan. Most of the interior views of early goods sheds that I have tracked down seem to show whitewashed walls. There's no hint of any other colour in the Bourne etching of Brunel's original Bristol shed (though I only have access to monochrome reproductions), and the columns appear to be all white as well, including their bases. In contrast, a couple of rather more recent photos of Newbury in Vaughan's 'Great Western Architecture' show whitewashed walls but the columns have a darker colour over the lower six feet or so. I suspect they might be light/dark stone. However, these photos were taken by Vaughan so are probably post-war. Attractive though it might be, I'd like to find more evidence that the stone colours might have been used like this in the Edwardian era. Nick

This is a large proportion of my Bavarian stock, I also have one 4-wheel coach, a Glaskasten and a couple of 1920s electric locos. The early coaches and wagons (all Trix) are difficult to find at reasonable prices Ex Prussian stock seems to be more readily available. Yes, the raised line will run along a ledge on a near-vertical cliff, interspersed with retaining walls. This line goes all along the back of the layout, eventually returning after reversing at the far end, and descending to reach its own the station area a little above the main line. At least, that is the plan...

Agreed. I was certainly seeing it as an actual platform face. if you can avoid that I think it will be fine. I'm not sure where you intend to put the office but, if it is at the front face, perhaps leaving the front end open might enhance the effect and give even more interesting opportunities for photos.

Excellent progress, Mikkel, and I agree with Will about the lighting potential this will have. The windows and planked platforms are particularly good, though I'm a little uncertain about having some of the pillars so close to the platform edges. Is there any scope to adjust the track plan to avoid this? You're right about platform heights. Most photos suggest that they were arranged so that the folded down doors of open wagons provided a slight upward slope from the platform into the wagon, and van doors could be opened without any problems of catching parts of the locking mechanism. Interestingly, the broad gauge structure diagram of 1879 in the original 'Great Western Way' shows goods platforms six inches higher than passenger ones at 3'3" above rail height. Etchings and photos of the Brunel shed and its later replacement at Bristol seem to agree with this showing the surface at or a little below buffer centre height, just like yours.

Yes, I've been suffering from this affliction for few months as well Nick