Trog

Ash was sometimes used on running lines over weak embankments with the idea of keeping the weight down. I remember being told by a trackman in the 1980's that he could remember when they were still using ash on a Bletchley - Bedford embankment that the engineer did not like the look of. The accident report for a derailment north of Bletchley in I think the late 1930's also mentions that the fast lines were still ash ballasted. Again that may have been due to ground conditions.

It is a good idea to check your gauge every time before you use it, by taking a reading turning the gauge through 180' and seeing if you get the same result. I was once on site with a keen young chap who when I asked about checking the cross level pointed to the little sticker on it saying calibrated. But that did not stop it giving readings that varied by 20mm depending on which way round you put it on the line.

I wonder if it is a test length for track gauges and to put a thermometer on for CRT (Critical Rail Temperature) purposes?

If you want weird there used to be a signal arm in Rugby bolted to the top of a manual OHL switch gear control, Moving the ground level handle rotated the signal arm from facing down the track to edge on. I think it was used for controlling movements into the cement works.

I bet a 25Kv bulb will really cut through the fog though, just hope the poor drivers don't get too badly sunburnt as they pass through the beam.

I think they were originally through platforms joining the fasts at the north end of the station, rather than bays.

The lines to Fenny Stratford and Denbigh Hall South Junctions diverge in level quite quickly, moving the junction north towards the old S&T offices would involve steepening the gradients on one or both lines considerably. I would have thought platforms cantilevered out from the flyover south of Flyover Junction and opposite the existing station, connected by an extension of the existing footbridge would be a better bet.

The track over the flyover is all double there is just a stretch of single on both lines between Bletchley and the junction shown above, and from there to the east of Fenny Stratford to allow three road under bridges built in the 1970's to be single track width.

The bolt spacing is wrong for British Bullhead even if you trimmed the plates down to four holes, also the traditional bolt used was pan, pear square so one side of the rail should have round bolt heads and the other usually the outside square nuts. There was some use of three hole plates for which half of one of these plates would work, but they were I believe rather rare.

As stated earlier my LMS Garratt failed with a locked up front unit. To save sending the whole loco back to Hatton's I took the front unit apart to see if I could find out what was wrong. The motor is mounted between two metal weights which have a suitable shape cast in them to hold the motor by gripping on a couple of O rings wrapped round the motor body. One of the two screws that clamp the plates together had sheared off, I think it must have been over tightened during assembly. This had allowed the two weights to move apart and the motor had shifted until it got far enough out of line that the joint in the shaft locked up. I emailed Hatton's and they sent me a replacement screw, I then re-assembled the two weights carefully so they were reasonably tight and the two weights were square to each other, and the loco works again. While I had the loco apart I took the chance to lay a piece of roofing lead over the top of the motor holding weights, and stuck some more to the sides of the tank. This has helped reduce the number of derailments the loco suffers, but it still has a tendency to take a turnout route on code 75 diamond crossings. If only Heljan had put half as much effort into the manufacturing of the Garratt loco's as Hatton's have put into after sales care, I think we would all be much happier bunnies.

My BG failed yesterday with the front unit locking up. It has always been a lemon being very prone to derailment and with a habit of trying to take a turnout route at diamond crossings. I am very disappointed with it and will be very unlikely to buy anything else from the same manufacturer.

Relief lines, that's what we call what used to be goods loops on the North Western mainline. Although with all those little stations the GWML Reliefs are actually more like the Euston - Watford DC lines.

My whole point was that having successfully made something from a Templot template. Learning Templot to make more specialised units then becomes something that is obviously worthwhile. Before you have proved you can make something it is just another overhead, something you have to spend time and effort on for possibly no result. As for custom designs I deliberately tried to suggest things that would be of use to, and hence a lead into hand built track for as many people as possible. It was just a suggestion as I don't need any track at the moment myself, and there seemed to be a thought running through the thread that perhaps more people should make their own S&C.

That is a bit of a leap for me to consider. Could Martin perhaps make available a few predesigned Templot patterns of Peco matching units for units Peco do not make? Something that matches the Peco geometry, and uses rail stripped from flexitrack so the risk of explaining to the wife why you have bought loads of parts and spent hours producing an expensive bin filler is minimised. As a beginner I would not dare to try and build all the S&C for a layout by hand, and even if I was feeling brave I would not want to put off turning the first wheel for months. However I would be happy to try and make an odd unit that was not in the Peco range. Say a fixed diamond with a third radius curve in one road so I could make a double junction with the diverging road on a curve. Or perhaps a crossover to fit between a third and fourth / second and third radius curve. Perhaps such units could be described as Ploto?

It is a very long while ago since I was playing with those things but I seem to remember you needed one Stingray for every five lit wagons, (Including the Stingray). The positioning was not important as we virtually never used them as it was easier to unload using lamps and torches than fiddle about getting the lights to work.

I suggest and would buy an LNWR railmotor, although the GWR version might be more popular as there is now one running. Its a train in a box, ideal for the space limited modeller, add a van to the back and you can do a bit of shunting on arrival, hours of fun.

If we build for freight instead, is it just me that thinks Northolt - Birmingham is the route to up grade? A lot of the over bridges and some of the stations were built for four tracks, which would be quite a saving. I quite fancy listening to a diesel hauled freight climbing up and over the Chilterns in the dead of a winters night.

Wow you mean you can see into the past! The northern French railways were I believe widened out to the Berne Gauge standard, from their as built loading gauge finishing in the mid 1930's. Just in time for the sudden increase in Franco German rail traffic during the first half of the 1940's.

I don't think the GC was built to the Berne gauge, as there would have been no point in doing it at the time even if Berne Gauge had existed. As the railways of northern France were built to a tight loading gauge.

I don't know about the 1960's but when I was chaining stuff to wagons in the 1980's the chains had a hook both ends and a tensioner towards one end. We were told to avoid steel on steel if we could due to the risk of the load sliding, so timber dunnage was the order of the day. It is also why bolsters were often wooden and why many Flatrols had wooden floors. Once the fabric straps came in there was still a need to separate metal load components with something softer usually wood. The straps themselves also had to be protected from being cut by sharp edges, the almost universal answer to this problem was an old rail pad. Many engineering wagons having some in the chain pockets ready for use. A few wagons used for carrying Wacker plates to site also had rail pads nailed round the corner of the timber floor above the ratchets. To save the bother of finding rail pads each time the wagon was loaded. When loading track panels, rails and the like the end straps would be wrapped right round the load to hold it together as well as hold it on the wagon, This was called a strangle wrap. With track panels there should be a strap every ~10' down the load so a 60'-0" panel should have 6 straps.

That's interesting considering that earth and neutral are connected together in a block below my electric meter.

Its possible but all the chairs on that length were the same.

1905 vintage GW&GC Joint railway pot sleeper. Chairs for 97.5lb 00 bullhead rail.