Gallows Close

Hello Leon, I found this today, and thought it may be of interest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard_davies_collection/6944018332/in/set-72157629449803758/ It shows 58048 at Cwmbargoed on June 19th 1998. Best wishes, Chris.

So, no chance of a nice BR Blue, split box class forty then? The goods shed is quite a beautiful piece of woodworking - very nice. Best wishes, Chris.

Great! It's 1987 all over again. MORE please! Thanks, Chris.

Hello All, A wet bank holiday Monday, and with it the chance for some more modelling. I decided to work on my rake of HAAs, however after re-wheeling 16 wagons and building sixteen pairs of instanter couplings my sanity was in serious danger. So to rectify my mental state I decided on a quickie project. Here is my prototype coal tram/dram (I never know which) outside the Power Hall being pushed away from the upcast shaft having just returned to the surface. It is just a couple of bits of Plasticard and a pair of Farish N scale wheels. I'll make another three, plus a flat car now that I have the prototype. The N gauge track will be buried to rail height in due course - This will give the buildings a foundation as well. Hi Alex, Thanks - I'm busy with planning the coal prep plant to fill the gap to the left of the headframes. I'm hoping the final impression will be reminiscent of a South Yorkshire mine in the late eighties / early nineties. You'll get a really good impression once I start linking the various parts together with conveyors in due course. Hello Mark, thanks for your comments - I wish my wife would view it in the same way as you and the others here on RM Web! Hello Jason, Thank you for sharing your research. The L150 suffers a little on its reach, but I put that down to it being only a model rather than too much of a scaling issue. It seems to sit well alongside the hoppers. I will pose it on a small pad loading area after the RLB to show waste shale being loaded for disposal. I'll be busy with the shovel, and a couple of other road vehicles in time - I promise It'll be proper dirty when done. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your opencast project. Thanks again for looking in, Chris.

Very, very nice. This place looks purposeful, yet sleepy. A perfect rendition. I cannot wait to see more - especially with more motive power on shed. Best wishes, Chris.

A quick and dirty look at how the four wheeled shovel stacks up against the hoppers. The photo in the background shows what I'm trying to recreate. All in all I think as long as I can back-date it a few years it should look OK. Thanks, Chris.

Hello Jason, Thanks for the information. Good question, I'll take a couple of photos. I've only used it as a prop so far, it would be good to see. A couple of questions for you though, in your experience were Volvo shovels ever used by British Coal? Do you know what RJB and UK Coal prefer to use? With the weather being OK today I moved the model out in to the garden to take a short film of the operation of the RLB doors. http://youtu.be/3O0WFXXLUUc Unfortunately the bright sunlight played havoc with the infra red sensors and my proposed loading demonstration will have to wait until the cladding covers the lower parts of the building. Whilst I had the camera out I took another couple of shots. http://youtu.be/nlwbeqesKN8 With the ground to the left of the headframe in the upper photo as you view it above I can now start to plan out the location and dimensions of the coal preparation plant and blending bunkers. The photos give the model quite a depth, but from from to back the whole thing is only five feet. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello Guy, Thanks for your comments. The tail lights are from Springside Models. Returning to the RLB - In the past few days I have re-built the clam shell doors from the prototype a couple of posts back in brass to give them some durability. I have also built a linkage from the motor to the doors using brass rod inside some tubing. Sadly in the course of testing, the Fulgurex motor died, but it has been replaced with a Tortoise motor. The replacement motor is smoother and quieter, so I should have used that in the first place! I have spent today setting up the sensors for the automatic loading operation with some good results. I will upload some photos and hopefully a video of the loading process shortly. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Thanks for the info and link. It looks like with the BM badge missing that my L150C loader is from 1997 or later. However looking at the info the original Volvo BM L150 was introduced in 1991, and there does not seem to be too much difference apart from the badging, which I can fix with some home made transfers I think. An L150, brand new in 1991 would be perfect for what I have in mind. Are there any other four wheeled loaders from that period available as models? Thanks, Chris.

Hello Lewis, I've had a look at your suggestions for coal. It seems quite expensive - especially with postage! So Mrs. G.C. was allowed to help, and she came up with a similar product used for flower arranging displays. It costs a couple of Euro a pot. The material seems to be like fine glass pieces and runs quite freely through the loader, so I'll try to perfect the set up with this. Hello David I have just used the standard Hornby disc wheels as replacements - but they do make quite a difference. Hello Alex

Hi Alex, With the platforms in place it somehow makes the scale of the whole thing seem much larger - You can almost smell the warm oil and diesel wafting out from the screen! It just needs to be filled with Peaks, Choppers and RFG Grids. Cheers, Chris.

Hello Lewis, The jury is still out. I have a stock of crushed charcoal, which works well but it is difficult to crush and grade properly, so I'm looking for a better idea. I'm thinking about black volcanic sand at the moment..... Any ideas gratefully received. Real coal is difficult to get here in the Netherlands. Hello Owen, The '37 is one of a South Wales trio on the workbench at the mo, all based on Bachmann '37's. I've done 37691, 37701 and 37702. The two Railfreight grey liveried ones are total repaints and the triple grey is a partial repaint. With a model based on Taff Merthyr for the colliery buildings you'd expect me to have a soft spot for the Welsh class 37's - and how could I not have 37702 Taff Merthyr? They all still need some small detail work and of course weathering. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello Lewis, Thanks for the tip off regarding the HHA's. As it happens I'm busy with my first rake of 36 HHA's at the moment. I'm fixing the, ahem!, "flexible" arrangement for the wheel sets to make them less prone to wobble and re-wheeling them. The final touch is a Smiths instanter coupling, and air pipes. The whole rake will be weathered in a oner. I have ambitions for a second rake, so the railroad range may be a good solution. I can live with the deficiencies in the Hornby model, just because with a full train of 36 the overall impression makes up for the inaccuarcies of an individual wagon. During the weekend I have also made a start with the operating set of clam shell doors. Here's what I've come up with. The real thing can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nottsexminer/5381483793/ As you can see there is some tidying up to do, but at least they function. They are built up from half round strip, and plasticard bits. The pivots are brass tube and the gear teeth are from an old spur gear from a Ringfield motor cut in to quarters. Next up is to automate the thing before I'll add the other eight sets of doors to the loader. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello RM Webbers, First up a quickie. Most British Coal collieries were at some point converted to skip winding for bringing mineral to the surface. This method replaced the more traditional winding of trams on standard double deck cages - two trams per deck. The skips were typically nine or more tonnes in capacity and were loaded at pit bottom and discharged at pit bank automatically. Two skips worked the shaft alternately. See below for skip winding in action at Sherwood Colliery in Nottingham. http://www.flickr.co...157626875446548 And my version of a nine tonne skip. It will be fitted with a replica of the skip plant to the downcast headgear in the unloading position. I have also managed to finish the upper cladding and roof on the RLB. A couple of shots below. I'll have to finish the workings of the loading bunker now before I can complete the cladding and set everything up for train loading. This is the bit I'm not looking forward to! Once working, it will all be painted. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hello All, Not much to report, and no new pictures - But over the weekend I have finished the massive transfer house tower steelwork, and also made progress on the interior of the bunker itself. Last evening I satisfied a couple of hours with running various 'coal' types through the hopper and in to wagons waiting below. I discovered that my initial idea for 'coal' - a powdered lignite - was too fine to flow and required much poking to get down through the 10mm square loading chute. Next I tried a Hornby black scatter material - with again the same result. In frustration I resorted to my original plan A. This is crushed charcoal. In the Netherlands it is difficult to get real coal, so you have to make do with second best. Anyway, the crushed charcoal worked a treat. I just have to find a way to efficiently crush the stuff now! I also took advantage of the fine weather and made a few small repairs to the headgear on the downcast shaft in order to be ready to paint both the rapid loader and the repaired headframe together later on. Oh, and this morning... Mrs. G. C. is complaining of a fine black powder on the top of her bookcase - Now where could that have come from? Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hi Alex, The 'Bones' are looking good. Can't wait to see the pits weathered, and of course the locos! Best wishes, Chris.

Hello All, Thanks for your kind comments, and for following this build. I can report that riding conveyors is not only normal practise, but also lots of fun! I have been lucky enough to visit two working UK deep mines, and in both I rode conveyors! I also really appreciate your other comments Lee. Now, I have been busy again with the RLB (Rapid Loading Bunker) - and this is what I've come up with. I have built the interior bunker structure. Based on scale drawings and photos, this represents a rapid loader with three separate bunkers. For the model I'm proposing to make the centre bunker the operating one. Each bunker has three sets of clam shell doors - making nine sets in all. The Fulgurex motor will sit inside the bunker itself and operate one set of doors on the centre bunker. For the "coal" I have a ground lignite powder to represent 50mm powedered coal for power station use. For the doors themselves I think I'll play around with some 10mm diameter brass tube. The idea is that a quarter round will make one door with sides soldered on and a section of brass rod acting as a hinge. This is at least the idea! I appreciate any feedback, and comment - especially for the doors! Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Thanks for the Goldthorpe Colliery video - It is a great illustration of the sheer size of the rapid loaders. If you are interested to see the actual loading process, then this film from Silverwood Colliery shows an MGR loading, and the operation of the clam-shell bunker doors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U8h48C8ZYE Pure late '80's nostalgia - Long gone of course, but not forgotton. Cheers, Chris.

Hello Max, and RM webbers, I have finalised the skeleton for the main part of the loader, and have made a start on the gigantic transfer house tower that sits at one end of the structure. Basing the model on the rapid loader at Taff Merthyr, this was a steel construction, whereas the rest was concrete - so out with the 'H' section. I have aslo installed the track and an apron through the main building as access will soon be difficult. I did make sure that I'd still be able to get a hand in there to clean the rails though! In the mean time I have also been busy with the electronics. As you can see in the photo above I have run some wires through the columns. These are for the Fulgurex motor which will power one ste of clam-shell doors on the loading bunker. Below that I have installed an IRDOT sensor from Clive Heathcote, which - when the infra red beam is interrupted - will operate the Fulgurex to open the bunker doors. A test run has proved that this will work with HAA hoppers, and also with the more modern bogie HHA wagons, each time ensuring the relay on the IRDOT opens and closes as the wagon passes through. Once the transfer house tower is completed I will begin cladding the skeleton of the structure, and then start construction of the inner bunker. I propose to build the bunker inner as a separate structure to slot in to the skeleton - more on this later. Thanks for looking in, Chris.

Hi Max, I like your project very much . Just one thing I'd like to suggest for your rapid loader though. I would consider a gate at the base of the funnel - a simple sliding affair would do, and with this you will be able to accuarately control the flow of coal to each wagon. Your funnel arrangement can then be kept topped up. I think it will go better than guessing when, and how much coal to drop down the chute. The real things use clam-shell doors, and as far as my research has turned up the NCB had a fairly standard design for the loading bunkers themselves with only the cladding varying from mine to mine. Google Welbeck Colliery rapid loader for some photos of the bunkers there - they are facinating. Also there is a video on YouTube showing some shots of trains loading at Silverwood Colliery and the operation of the clam-shell doors. Plans for the loader at Gasgoine Wood can also be found online complete with measurements. Thanks for pointing out your thread over on Kinsley - It's great to see other people doing similar stuff. Best wishes, Chris.

Just looked at the date from the last post on here - August 2011! Thanks for all the supportive posts. The cold weather effectively puts paid to my modelling on the main colliery boards. They are kept in the garage, and it is not so pleasent down there at this time of year. So, I decided to concentrate on some rolling stock projects - nothing exciting - a couple of repaints and the like. But that got me thinking about my idea for a rapid loader for the colliery. And I think I might just be able to make a working rapid loader.... I've ordered up some electronics and plastic, and made a scale drawing from photos and plans. This is how far I've got after the first day's building. The rapid loader is built on its own module to make it easier to service. It's all fresh air at the moment, but hopefully you can get an idea of the size of it. Finally here is an idea of how it will look once done. This is the loader at Taff Merthyr under demolition. Thanks for looking, Chris.

Best wishes to you too Ron. I'm looking forward to seeing how you illuminate the sign with the fiber optic - This has to be one of the most interesting threads on the forum, not just for the WOW , but also for the pace of progress and your modest, but yet attentive approach. Brilliant stuff! Cheers Chris.