Grimleygrid

On Tuesday I heard that 19 and 99 were allocated to the ores and with the weather supposed to be good I decided to head up to Barnetby. This was the first time in two years that I had ventured up to this lovely area and with 10 on 6E46 it was just like the good old days! I have to say that I have never seen so many people out and about around Barnetby taking photos, even more than when there was a DRS37 railtour! 60010 approaches Barnetby with 6E46 Kingsbury to Lindsey 60099 passes New Barnetby with 6T23 Immingham to Santon 60099 passes Knabbs bridge with 6K23 60019 passes the Lime works with 6T24 Immingham to Santon 60099 passes Melton Ross with 6T25 Immingham to Santon Although I am concentrating on late 80s stock I can’t help but think how nice a model 099 would look on the Grimley ores……..

Mr. B Exam I must have been standing not very far from you yesterday! I will post some photos shortly.

On Saturday whilst preparing the inside walls of the shed for the lined plastic sheets, I decided that in order to get the plasticard to sit nice and flat more supports were required. Although it is probably a bit over the top and unnecessary I feel that if I don’t do it now, should in the future the walls not look right it will always annoy me. Oh and I will wish I had addressed it whilst I had the opportunity. So lots of wooden battens were cut to size and then glued in place on Saturday. Yesterday I filed the walls to make sure that they are nice and level ready for the plastic sheets to be glued in place. Very pleased with how it has turned out. Hopefully I can get a couple of sheets added this week and also start painting the inside. Here is a photo of 60040 inside: This is the first time that 040 has been inside Boxenby depot since the shed was fully assembled and glued together.

Hi Leon, no problem at all, I hope it was helpful. I look forward to their arrival, I am jealous! Wouldn’t mind that lot myself…..B) I do have a Hornby 60077 which will be turned into 60008 in Metals at some point. Will have to get a few coal 56s and 60s once my depot is finished, not exactly sure when that will be! Thanks for the photo of 56073 Peter, always did like that one in Metals. Nice and dirty too!!

Excellent work Leon, although I do like pairs of 37s on MGRs Grids do just edge it for me so thanks for the photo of 56032. I can just imagine the noise from the Ruston-Paxman engine as it trundles passed……….. Really do love all the sector locos on shed, good work. Me thinks you need a couple of coal sector Grids and 60s just to finish it off! B)

Thanks Ian, if only I did have the space to accommodate all the yards and along the line including Trent Junction to Ratcliffe Power Station. But alas I don’t! My plan is eventually (many years off but, as you say, you have to plan for the future!) to have a four track mainline along side the depot to allow trains to run passed. Pairs of 20s, 56s and 58s on MGRs running passed would just finish it off I think. Obviously this is a long way off and probably will have to wait until I have retired with a nice large converted barn to accommodate my ridiculous idea…..But hey forward planning and all that! Last night whilst out in the garage Mrs. G did pass comment about how mad I was, and seemed to just accept it! May be in a few years I could broach the subject of an extension to allow the depot and mainline to have a home…….

Thanks to all of you for the information on the silo much appreciated, I have been wondering what that was for! Now we know…… D winpenny, unfortunatley I think you are right completely! Hopefully by 2015 I will be ready to start accepting locos on shed, and yes no problem…the more grids the merrier! Baggie, you will be pleased to hear that the real reason I have not made much progress on the depot is due to me building the other boards for the yards at Toton. Also I have moved into an industrial unit to fit it all in……..I will make a start on the other boards to accommodate Ratcliffe Power Station and Trent Junction at the weekend but to be honest I think that will have to be it. Mrs. Grimley thinks I am going a bit too far now!.........could you imagine the room that would be required for all that? Ridiculous, it is bad enough just having the shed! Luckily I am not that insane to attempt the above! I know what you mean, I keep looking at the Railfeight 58s and 20s and start thinking of how to weather them. It makes me want to make a start on weathering them, you certainly do need some dirty diesels on shed! Thanks for that, we have another home game this weekend, Wigan must be excited at the prospect of leaving with three points! Thanks Kaian, glad that you like it. Hi CR, yes it is based on Toton but not an exact replica. As I do not have access to the real depot it is near enough impossible to get it exactly the same so Boxenby will be a large TMD similar to Toton. Not sure how it will turn out though!! Looks good, I am very pleased with the Peco inspection pits both for Grimley and Boxenby. Once painted and weather and in position they do look rather nice in my opinion. Over the weekend I managed to do some work on the top of the shed in preparation for the roof going on although that is some way off yet! I also did some more work on the inside of the shed and this part is now ready for covering. So hopefully this week/weekend I can make a start on adding the lined sheets and painting the cross beams. It should really start to come alive once the wood is covered and begin to feel like a building rather than a wooden shell.

Hi Lewis, nice photos of LH beast 059. Those buffers on the HTA nearest the 60 look rather clean, does anyone know if that particular wagon has recently had them fitted? I had heard that there were plans to increase the number of HTAs with buffers.

40 and 91 were on the ores earlier David, would have loved to have been there today! Might have to visit Barnetby soon, hopefully 60s will feature quite a bit whilst the RHTT season is on. I think 73 has also worked the West Burton tanks!

Hi Leon, I think that you have pretty much got it covered although I am sure that there are plenty of members on here that can provide you with correct workings and wagon formations. For metals the Bachmann BDA and BAA/BBA is right up your street for slab, mainly BAA/BBA but occasionally you could see a few BDAs being used. Coil you can use the BAA with cradles Oh and don’t forget some iron ore tipplers, either triple-headed 37s, double-headed 56s or 37/7s and then of course class 60s! Just the job! I look forward to seeing lots of block trains running on your layout.

Fantastic modelling, a real inspiration. Thanks for the reply on the depot shed, apologies for not replying sooner, I thought I had! You certainly did a cracking job on the loco shed and all the time and effort has paid off as it will be a nice addition to Hornsey Broadway. Love seeing photos of the shed a brilliant piece of modelling, I always expect to see a Deltic sitting inside! Like Peter I too visit your website to see your updates.

Hi BigT, thanks, slow progress at the moment. I am at the stage where a lot of work is being done but with very little to show for it. Still I will keep chipping away…….. I managed to spend a few hours working on the inside of the shed at the weekend filing and sanding in preparation for painting and covering. The inside of the shed is now ready so my attention turns to the roof area. Hopefully I can get this finished at the weekend. My plan is to start covering the inside first so it should really start to come alive then.

I know it has been said before but excellent photos, truly stunning work. The 33 in the low light is just quality, I seem to have missed the photos of the 56s on test from Crewe though! Is it not about time 60001 or 60002 arrived on a test rake of HEAs?!!

Thanks Peter, I have been called some things in my time but that is actually not that bad! The brick counters society may be founded sooner than you think! And I bet you might be thinking of joining?!!! Thanks Peter and Porkie I do have a copy of said programme, on video! Yes it is very good and has been watched quite a few times!………I also have some video that was taken on our visit back in 1988, not great quality but useful never the less. Lots of BR blue and original Railfreight. Don’t worry Temeraire you are on the list. You can’t beat a few hours counting bricks! Well over the weekend I managed to spend a few hours filling and filing and I am quite pleased with how it is looking. Hopefully this week the depot shed will be ready for me to make a start on cosmetic surgery on the inside. Then it will start to look like a building rather than a wooden structure!

Good shot of 071 Jo. Great news to hear that the 60 fleet is on the up. I wonder if 60099 will emerge in a new coat of paint? And if so what colour?! Does anyone know if 099 has had any refurbished parts added as it seems to have been worked on for a while? Or is it just a patch up and return from store? If today’s TOPs report is correct there are 4 Brush Beasts at Peak Forest, must be a while since that last happened! I presume 39 must have an exam coming up and needs replacing but not sure if 84 is the same. That may explain it, perhaps someone on here can confirm.

Hi Lewis, yes I did renumber and weather my 60s with the exception of 60049 which was purchased off of Baggie on here. 60006 was resprayed by Bishopstoke works (he did an excellent job on it) and weathered by me. Hi Dave, oh yes I am definitely there! I believe they are called brick counters!! Where as before I used to sit at the computer studying individual locos for weathering now my time is spent looking at photos of the inside of Toton! Very sad I know…. You are quite correct the project is definitely more about the building and the contents than the locos that will be sitting inside. I have learnt a lot about the depot over the past few months but still do not know enough but this will change as the project progresses. Due to my lack of access to the real depot I can only model mine based on the prototype as opposed to modelling an exact replica. But I am happy to do it that way as it is then my take on it. I have to confess that many years ago I sat outside Tescos and McDonald’s counting bricks for Grimley……I think I should have kept that quiet! Well I managed to spend a few hours with some wood filler in preparation for the wood to be covered. It is nice to do some work on the main building again, a few more days of filling, filing and sanding and hopefully I can then make a start on covering the inside walls.

Great news to hear that the 60 fleet is now up into the upper teens, we must enjoy it whilst it lasts! I am especially happy to hear that beast 91 is back! B) MM, 60010 has worked the Robeston to Westerleigh tanks the past few days!

Hi Ryan, thanks for the kind comments. I have not achieved as much as I had hoped over the past few weeks due to the problems mentioned before, but hopefully progress will be made now this has been sorted. As yet I haven’t put the two main boards together which would be quite scary I think. Not sure Mrs. Grimley would be too pleased to see the scale of it! Arpleymodeller, thanks but I am not sure that my modelling is of that standard to be honest. At times I wonder if it should be on here! Thanks Pete, I can confirm that I am definitely mad! Well I have now finished my design for the inspection platforms and relevant girders so hopefully this can be produced in the next few weeks. This has proved quite a challenge with many hours spent sat in front of the computer studying photos and producing drawings but should prove well worth the effort. I am also relieved that this part of the depot is in theory now sorted and look forward to seeing the platforms in position. Now that I have the platforms sorted I am going to try and get some work done on preparing the main shed for covering with the plastic sheets. Hopefully I can now get back on track and make some progress!

Hi Dave, great photos as always. I especially like the sprinter 2 in the station, it really does look good. Waverley certainly looked busy when you were there taking the photos! I remember when I was working on timetables for Grimley and just as Peter said, it was quite surprising just how much stock was required to run it prototypically. Quite scary in fact! Never did finish off the timetable although it was pretty close. There was no where near enough passenger stock to run the timetable! Perhaps in 2020 when Boxenby has been finished I will add some running lines by the side of the depot to allow trains to run passed!

Thanks for the info. Arpleymodeller I will have a look at them.

Great work on the footbridge Mark, that really does look the business. I now know where to come if I require any kits to be soldered up!

Looking good Mark, I look forward to seeing more photos of your buildings. The SPAs look really good, a nice Metals 37, 56 or 60 will look rather nice on those.

Hi Mark, I will get the diary out so that we can arrange a date for the depot open day in 2015! I like your idea about bringing locos to the open day as I don’t have enough to fill it up yet. Back in Feb 1988 when I visited there were around 70 locos in and around the depot shed, that is quite a lot of traction…I may be a few short! Thanks Branchie, you are certainly right, although I think two stops on from crazy! You must have seen a change Scott, mostly 66s I presume. Well, with a few 60s lying around! How good would that be modelling the yards too, pairs of 20s, grids and 58s on rakes of MGRs, that would be great. Now you really would have to be mad to attempt to model that lot! Get involved, always need to have a few 60s. And a few more……. Unfortunately there is not much to report. Apart from an hour a week ago working on the lower floor I have not made any further progress with the layout. A few weeks have been spent trying to work out why it appeared there was not enough room for all the roller doors to fit in the opening at the front of the shed. Hours were spent measuring the depot building, measuring the drawings used to make it and drawings on the PC but still to no avail. Even Mrs. Grimley was enrolled to try and solve the problem! In the end it was that some of the inspection pits were 0.5 mm out here and there which was causing confusion. I nearly went mad with frustration though! Still everything is fine and I am now ready to move on. Although I have spent a ridiculous amount of time figuring out what on earth was wrong with the depot building and pits, I have now moved on to researching and planning the inspection platforms. Many more hours spent sat in front of the PC looking at photos and producing drawings for the inspection platforms and I am nearly ready to start making them. This has been quite taxing trying to get the dimensions right and working out what is required for his part of the depot. The support girders for the roof also need to be incorporated into the platforms and the different floor heights has also kept me on my toes. Hopefully I can do a final check to make sure it is all correct and then production can be started on the inspection platforms. Once these are in place the depot should really start to take shape.

Wow, superb modelling. Great work on the stripes, very nice indeed Sir!

Hi Mark, those MOAs and MBAs do look really nice. After seeing the photos on the internet it certainly looks like Bachmann have done a good job on them. I had planned to get a rake of the MBAs and also the JJA Auto-ballasters for Grimley but now my new project has taken over I doubt that this will happen. Eventually once the depot has been finished (when ever that is, years away!!) all funds will be channelled towards 20s, 56s and 58s! I personally think that you should run them on Rannoch Moor. I agree with Lewis they look really good passing through behind 60026.