Chris Chewter

Whilst walking the field above the station, a quick look down reveals a pannier in charge of a single coach train today.

A more typical view of a 14xx on shed at Tetbury

Crew and guard take a break from the mid-day shunt.

To test the revised lighting and to see how 6417 looks on camera, I took the opportunity for a spot of silent running on the layout today.

I also moved the lighting last night as per my earlier post. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects the photographs going forwards.

It’s been a voyage of discovery! The Wills instructions don’t even touch details like this so it’s all valuable stuff. However, is it worth my sanity to adjust it? Perhaps a job for a day when I’m feeling very patient!

Ground frames corrected (after a visit to Starbucks to pick up some coffee stirrers) North Station And south (I know South isn’t a precise match against the photo, and the coffee stirrers are a bit thick, but it’s closer than what was there previously!)

I was experimenting with the layout lighting last night. The area above the goods shed is always been a bit gloomy and I think I need to move the lights to the front of the layout, rather than being fitted to the wall behind. This is with the lighting as it is And with the lighting moved to the front. Looks like I better get drilling!

I was a little bit dissatisfied with the weathering of 6417 when I took it down from the shelf yesterday, but it seems to look alright in the photos. However it appears that some of the point rodding is floating, which is a tad irritating. Looks like I need to glue and weigh it down again!

Decided to take a break from the point rodding. Well, I'm a bit stuck until the Wills SS91 ground frame kits turn up, so I decided to do a bit of photography instead. Unfortunately with most of the photos, something was out of focus, but I did manage to get this one which seemed alright.

Re the run in the six foot, I was trying to avoid a double run in front of the engine shed for photographic purposes. Also I may in the future brave moving the points, and wanted the flexibility to switch things about. The spurious cranks were due to my limited understanding of the back of the Wills packet. Swapping them out for a bit of brass rod isn’t a big issue, but it’s sure not going to be more Wills rodding!

The misalignment of the points does change the appearance slightly. Point rodding has been adjusted but its been made worse by points 2 & 4 also being wrong. The options were leave it as a hand worked point, put a central run as the photo above, or move the points. I decided I wasn’t ready to move the points around, so I’ve gone with Option 2. And I still maintain that Wills point rodding is extremely annoying to work with!

A quiet scene at Tetbury, before S&T come in to move the point rodding about!

Whilst looking through Randolph on Lunch, I found the middle frame on p53. So that’s the Station frame Still trying to find a better shot of the South frame. I’ll have to keep searching.

Yes, I did think that, but in the film still of the ground frame I posted earlier today, they both appear black. I did wonder if it was just really bad cine film!

Thank you. That's been really helpful. So as far as I understand it, we have this arrangement, which seems plausible based on the photos, and Randolphs descriptions etc. That'll keep me busy this weekend sorting out points 2 and 4. The problem is, I really don't want to shift the North frame due to photographic reasons. I'll have to give it a bit of thought.

The middle frame has always been a bit elusive. I think its on P59 but its always unclear in print. Below is the best photo I've ever got close to it.

One of the problems is the photo below. I'm struggling to explain where the rodding in this photograph is going. There was a suggestion it could be some form of interlocking, but is this factual, or hypothetical? I presume from your reasoning, this is operating Point 6?

Just to expand, and hopefully not going over the old ground back in June: The Facts: It is know there is a two lever frame by Point 7 A single run of rodding passes alongside the engine shed. A point rodding run goes from the engine shed to Point 2. This also appears to also be a single run from the photos. Randolph mentions a second frame. The location of which appears in no photographs. The Mystery: How Point 6 is operated. There is no apparent lever How Point 7 is operated. There is no apparent lever It is presumed that Point 2 is operated from the rodding, as there is not apparent lever. It is presumed that Point 3 is operated from the rodding, as there is no apparent lever. Was there a second ground frame is, or if it even existed! Was Randolphs reference to TWO frames wrong? Would it really be hidden between the engine shed and corrugated hut and therefore why no photographs exist? If there was a second frame, then why the long run beside the engine shed? Did the single run past the engine shed operate Point 2 with an economical FPL. Could the frame operate ONLY the FPLs, but then where are the levers to operate the points? So many questions! Basically, there are so many possible solutions, and no clear answer from the photographs, that I've decided to model something that matches as many photos as possible within the confines of the layout. If further photographic evidence or a diagram surfaces, that'll give me the justification to adjust it. But until something concrete comes to light, the point rodding will be a best attempt within the given facts. (Hence my earlier quote from Mr Waterman). If anyone does have photographs that answers the outstanding questions, or has a signalling diagram then let me know, as I would dearly love to make sure the rodding was correct, even though I know the cross over is wrong (That'll serve me right for twisting the plan back in 2016 because "it looked nicer that way")

That's because of the baseboard join that runs just where the crossover would have sat. Like Peter Waterman once said, "No-one can model the real thing to scale. You have to fake it"

I removed the lever because of this video still below. The photo shows just two levers and nothing serving the point into the engine shed. Whilst I agree that it would be logical the point would be hand worked, I don't understand why its not in the image below.

At least with the point rodding in a better condition, I can now take photos like this without cropping them to get rid of the dodgy bits. Although that kink will annoy me after a while. However I know if I touch it, disaster will ensue! Still trying to decide how to paint the rodding. Not sure at the moment. I might need to experiment with a few ideas over the weekend.

I’ve been attending to the point rodding again. The double run was all over the place and I decided to sort out the length by the engine shed. To line up the rods, a bit of clear plastic has been glued underneath to support the join. The two lengths have been lifted and relayed and look a lot tidier. And the section by the engine shed

As the fire irons are already glued into position, I might try various ways of flattening the pricker next time. It seemed more visible on the smaller pannier, so I decided to disguise it with a bucket!

They’re 3d printed shovels from Hardies Hobbies, chopped off at the base of the handle, and glued onto the wire.