jamie92208

If it ever does get opened I hope it lasts better than the York Road one in Leeds, the Concrete is starting to spall badly in the upper edges and apparently the buses are always breaking guide wheels. The sad thing is it's built on top of the old tramway up York Road and they lifted the long buried rails to bid the busway. Jamie

Great exitement, after several iterations to the artwork the platform canopies appeared this week courtesy of York Modelmaking. cut in 0.75mm romark they came very well packed. I couldn't wait to see if they went together as well as I hoped but here is the result. This is the first only another 19 to go , then add glazing and finials, flashing etc. Hopefully in the next couple of days the first test etches for teh supporting girders will appear from Birmingham. meanwhile the tracklaying is progressing well.

August 1st 1960. That day my late father went from Gigglewsick to Manchester via Hellifield and Blackburn to watch cricket. He noted the follwoing observations:- London Road Stn. 42638 2-6-4T 4MT 42889 2-6-0 5MT M50508, M79177 D5083 M51964 M50456 Stockport M50487, M59143, M56091, M50135, 42316 2-6-4T 45079 4-6-0 M50423, M59135, M50427, M50455, M59163 E3047, London Road M50434, M59142, M50486 Central Stn, D5706 Jamie M

A friend of mi e built some brakevans for a Lancashire and Yorkshire based layout and the L&Y used to put the gaurds names on them. All the members of the team got their names one the various vans we also put the layout owners name on the mill chimney so the firm became known s Brearley's yarn spinners. Jamie

Thanks for that about ROGS I will need to read up about it for getting the horse tram that I am involbed in reswtoring, approved for public passenger carrying. Life is a learning curve though some bits are steeper than others. Jamie

I don't know about the coach parties but I believe that it;s to do with the new Railway Inspection regime that is due to come into force in nthe autumn which will be much more expensive than the current system. Several railways, including the Ecclesbourne Valley are trying their hardest to get new lines/trackage approved under the old system and I have heard that the CTRL on the WHL falls into this category. Jamie

The HST at Masboro would almost certainly be on test after final asssmbly at Derby. The route was the original Midland Main line to Altofts then to York and finally ECML to newcastle and back. they needed the strecth north of York for the High speed testing. Jamie

Members might be interested in the following photos of these early HST workings. I have scanned them and am sending decent copies to the original poster but here they are. The first production HST set 253001 going through Castleford in early 1976 on it's main line test run from Derby to Newcastle. Here it goes North towards York. It had come up the Midland Main Line from Derby and needed to get to the ECML for High Speed testing. It was still able to travel the direct route via Oakenshaw and Goose Hill in those days. Here is set 253021 at Bradford Interchange on display for the opening of the new Interchange station. Here 021 is climbing the bank through Laisterdyke near Hammerton Street DMU depot. My friend who was one of the HST development team remarked that it was a long time since anything had gone up the bank that fast. The sound from the screaming Valenta's was great to hear as the rear power car passed. Hope these are of interest. Jamie

That looks good. I'm not sure how the wagon was secured when it tippled but it must have gone past the horizontal and be going on towards vertical. There was a barge lift at Ferrybridge Power station that worked on exactly the same priciple but with 200 ton capacity barges. At the top there was a counterweight that the barge came into contact with as it started to swing past the horizontal. This then acted as a clamp to keep the barge in position as it tippled. Very simple with few moving parts. The counerweight was housed within the top of the mechanism and didn't travel up and down. I was able to photogrpah it when it was working from inside the building. (Quite scary when you see a barge that large being upended just in front of you.) If youa re interested I'll try and find the negatives and scan them and post them. The bargbe lift is no longer in use. Jamie

As well as the work on the baseboards and tracklaying, structure modelling is ongoing and the main station building is progressing well. It is now possible to see it's full extent. The whole structure is about 5'6" long and is being built by John Patrick. The basic dimensions were worked out by comparing it to a model of a Ford Cortina (Mk 1) , one of which appears in one of our photographs of the building before it was demolished. When I eventually obtained accurate drawings our dimensions were only out by about 2mm. At the east end of the building is a magnificent 'Gents' with attached coal store. The detailing is very good with here the corbelling and ridge tiles which are made from resin castings in 4" lengths. The chimney's are also castings, there are 7 of them in total on the up and down platform buildings. The buildings are mainly made from artists mounting card applied in various layers. Here is a view of the platform side which is not quite as advanced. Finally a shot with a Slater's Cattle wagon posed in front of the station to give some idea of relative size. One problem is storage and transport. the building naturally splits into 4 sections for transport and John has shown great dedication to his task of providing safe storage as the storage crates are made from wine boxes. His willingness to sacrifice his liver to the good of the layout is much appreciated. Jamie

Reading this thread brings back many happy memories of an 8 month exile in London in 1971. I loved watching the REP's which as well as having the same power as a deltic had a similarity in styling as there were those curved equipment covers under the underframe that reminded me of how a deltic's body curved outwards. The only units I like better were the 4 Cor's that were working the reading/guildford lines and I used to see them hurrying through Ashford (Middlesex) with the corridor connections banging from side to side. Clapham junction was great with the early 4 SUBs, the 5 Bel's the 4 Cor's the REP's and warship's on the Exeter's. It almost made up for beieng away from the North. Jamie

Further progress is being made and those points at the east end are now ready for tie bars, just the diamond crossing to do before we move onto the next board on the curve to the fiddle yard. However the progress has made me think carefully about where the Overhead Line portals are going to be placed. the problem is that this area at the east end was straight on the prototype is on the start of the transition to a 6' radius bend on the model. I've found a way to use Templot to plot the positions of the gantries and the contact wires. The pantographs are going to have a contact width of 27mm and as I don't want de-wirements I've got to keep the stagger within those limits. This caused a problem as it meant I would have to put a portal in the middle of this point comlex that would have to spand two main lines plus the two headshunts for the bay platform and the4 coal yard. The Midland would have made a lattice portal for a long span like that but the only lattice was at the other end of the station so a big lattice portal wouldn't look right on the model. No using the 'shove timbers' feature on Templot I've managed to find a place where I can put a 43' portal that could be done with some channel and two wooden posts, and the contact wire stagger still keep just within limits. All in all I will have to put about 3 extra portals in this area to cope with the curvature but at least they will all be of the right design for that part of the layout. Hopefully in about 2 years I will be able to show some pictures of the area with the portals erected. Jamie

Some more progress. Over the last month track laying has continued and research has also taken great steps forward. A chance meeting at the GOG do at Halifax has lead to a planned meeting with two retired enginemen from Green Ayre. I have progressed my computer knowledge thanks to suggestions on two threads here on RMWeb. I downloaded a CAD program called ProgeCAD as suggested byMartin Wynne and then looked at You Tube and watched 14 video tutorials about Autocad 2008. For years I have struggled to make sense of CAD programs and have never got past first base. Thanks to the two steps mentioned I have now progressed. The reason is that I need to get some artwork done for etchings for the platform canopies and the overhead line equipment. As mentioned I am fortunate enough to have the actual contract drawing for the OLE in my temporary possession so I need to get something sorted out. the following pictures should show the results. GA overhead.pdf This is my first attempt at doing the Warren trusses for the awnings. The lattice section is the centre of the truss (In reality just a series of 3" wide strips riveted in place, the four strips will be bent to form the four angle girders that make up the rest of the truss as in reality with rivets to be punched out from the back. Hopefully this will work. Only time will tell. At this stage I have not sorted out what bits will be etched on what sheet but am just trying to get the different bits of kit drawn. GA Awnings.PDF This is my next attempt which is for the glazing bars for the actual awnings. I intend to have these laser cut in a white plastic material by a firm in York that I talked to at Scaleforum in Wakefield. This is a not very clear photo of one of the drawings that I am working from. It was done in mid 1907 to specify the gantries that went between the awnings through the platform area. 6 similar ones but of slightly differing lengths and specs as one of them was an anchorage. By sheer good fortune the canopies were drawn in profile and elevation so with a bit of O level geometric construction I was able to sort out the actual dimensions of the structure. From these I drew the above drawing. A an aside it is seen from the various scribbled notes on the drawings that there were several amendments as the contract just to check I printed the drawing out at scale size and glued the bits of paper together. the effect looks OK so I now need to send the artwork off to the firm. I need to do some more work on the artwork for the trusses as they need bits chopping out where the supports are going to go and tabs for joining the bits together but I have got the basics done. Meantime there has been steady progress with track construction. Here the points at the east end of the platforms are taking shape with a crossover leading right into the bay platfrom and the lead from the down line across a diamond crossing into the coal yard. At the exit from the coal yard there is the standard Midland arrangement of a double slip to provide protection for the main line. And finally here is the statutory inspection of new track with the Northern district Superintendent viewing the works from the comfort of his saloon.

As another outsider with no particualr axw to grind, I also found problems understanding the various alignments. The site run by Barrie Hughes www.isengard.co.uk is excellent and has some very good hostorical ino about the various earlier railways that occupied the areas in question, as well as good maps. I will however giv e you a health warning. Once I discovered the site I soent nearly all the next 2 weeks reading all the old blogs about the various stages of reconstruction of the WHR as well as the history. Jamie

On This Day in History 15th June 1954 From my late father's diaries:- Seen at Tapton, Chesterfield (Between the station and Tapton Junction) 42904 2-6-0 and 43515 0-6-0 (ExR 3F). On This Day in History 15th June 1955 Seen at Tapton 60881 Ex LNER V2. Jamie

Just a quick update. 3 more boards have been built and we now have the full length of the main line thought the station area. The trackbed and cork have been laid and the Templot printouts pasted down. Tracklaying is now continuing from the west end through the platforms. The sweeping curve through the station area is showing well thanks to Templot. Looking west from the Ladies Walk end of the layout. In the foreground is the area where Skerton Bridge will carry the A6 and the single track tramway to Morecambe over the line. One problem, the tramway was horse operated till it closed in 1926 and we are having trouble getting a 7mm scale horse to pull the tram. Some form of elecric transmission via the shaft has been suggested but we think that might make the horse a bit lively. Showing the first law of any layout construction. As soon as a flat surface is created it will fill up. All the construction material and tools at the end of the layout. The curve onto Greyhound bridge with it's checkrails can be seen. All the cosmetic half chairs have now filled th gaps in and it looks well. We are experimenting to try and find a way of colouring the checkrail so that it stays dark after track cleaning but with only limited success. Looking east along the boards. trackbed and cork are drying on part of the bay platform line. There is a small gap where the printouts appeared to have slighly distorted with the glue. I've drawn the overall grid on all the recent set of boards so we got that area laid and worked backwards and it all seems to be lining up as it should. Looking West through the single slip that gives access to the Castle branch and Loco shed area. Sods law says that there is a baseboard joint right in the mddle of it so we are going to try cutting it where everything is soldered. If that doesn't work then it's back to the drawing board and possibly make a removeable section of trackbed that the point motors can be attached to. The single slip is key to the operation of the layout, as nearly every movement goes through it one way or another. Jamie

Another interesting one is on the Cote D'Azur line between France and Italy where the line from Marseille to Nice carries on via Monaco to Ventigmilia in Italy. Marseille is electrified at 1500V DC but going East just after the main loco depot the line changes to 25KVAC and on sunny days you can see the shadows of the pantographs dropping and rising as the train coasts through the neutral section. I was interested as to what happenned at Ventigmilia as Italian Railways are at 3000V DC. Apparently there is a change point from 25KV Ac to 1500 DC just West of the station, but not at the actual border. The whole station area is electrified at 1500V DC and the Italian locos run on reduced power. They then change to the full 3000V just east of the station beyond the carriage sidings. There is no problem with the French stock as it is all 25Kv/1500V dual voltage for working east of Marseille. Jamie

The plated number was the official TOPS number usually carried in an oval yellow plate with black lettering attached to the coach solebar, the same size as a works plate. I'm not sure if modern privately owned coaches have them but if you are moelling them you need them on as they used to stand out. Jamie

I believe it stands for Thomas Hill railways based in the Sheffield area who were the owners of the coaches. they were mainatined at Craigentinny and I think a lot of the conversion/refurbishment was done at carnforth but there was some connection with Thomas Hill who were a loco building firm in South Yorkshire. Cheers Jamie

Further to the above. In the 1987 Platform 5 book the following info is given. (there is also a photo) Plated No Brake and heat codes Original No present No Built Type THR 99880 vs 5159 19?? LNWR THR 99881 vs 807 1??? GNR (Pictured in teak livery all other coaches in Plum and Milk) THR 99882 vs E19169 1962 BR SK THR 99883 vs E2108 1960 BR SLF THR 99884 vs E19208 1963 BR SK THR 99885 vs 2110 1960 BR SLF THR 99886 vs E35407 1963 BR BSK If you want me to look up any other years let me know by pm Cheers Jamie

Somethimes the basic coach info was given in the platform 5 books, what years are you interested in and I have a lok as I've got a fairly complete collection. Jamie

Yes the Lancaster/Morecambe/Heysham line was 6,600 AC at 25Hz intended as a testbed for Derby to Manchester for freight. BR later changed the switchgear and stock in the 50's and ran it at 6.25Kv 50Hz as a test bed for general 25Kv electrification and installed a stretch of experimental overhead to several different designs. They used the original overhead but just changed the switchgear and stock. I'm modelling it in the 20's with the original stock (See Lancaster Green Ayre in the Layout Thread) Jamie

Yes the pants was a typo. However on the question about height of wires, I've checked out the drawings for the 1907 electrification at Lancaster and yes they were up to 17 and 18' in the stations then down to 15-16' out on the line with a minimum of 13'6 under bbridges. This was for a pioneer high voltage overhead and they went to the trouble of covering all the roof's of the emu's in chicken wire which was earthed, just in case of a wire coming down. (for my model i've discovered that bridal veil material looks just great as a sub for chicken wire with the correct hexagonal mesh and I got all that I need for 6 vehicles for 50p.) Even with the high wires in the staion area obvioulsy some of the loco crews didn't read the notices. I have an accident report about a fireman who went onto the tender to trim coal and got a flashover. Fortunately for him it was raining hard and he was wearing a flat hat and greatcoat with the collar turned up and the juice earthed through to the tender via the hat, collar and coat. He was knocked unconcious and woke up the next morning in hospital otherwise unsacathed apart from a headache. Not bad for 6,6oo volts. They had obviously thought about such things when they planned Woodhead. Jamie

Yes the height of the wires varied quite a bit. They were usually high in station and depot areas and obviously low under bridges etc. I'm not certain but they were high in the station areas so that steam loco crews could access tender tops to trim coal and fill with water in safety. At Penistone the pairs of 76's used to roll as they came downgrade and the two sets of pantographs would be at quite an angle to each other as they came through the platforms with the pants very high. Jamie

That was the problem. If it was designed directly from the original drawings there would have been clearnace problems. The problem areas are the smokebox saddle, which by the time you have put the wrappers on is very close to the inner faces of the wheels, also the area inside the cab around the firebox and toolboxes. The Compound, which probab;y dates from the same era had the same problem inside the cab. Jamie