ejgray52
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Posts posted by ejgray52
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On 14/08/2016 at 15:21, Foulounoux said:
Well having just come back from my first weekend on the island since 1971 some observations
Portsmouth fishborne by car 155£ but reduced via hotel package
Spent more time queuing at Portsmouth on Friday afternoon than the whole rest of the journey
Return was much better just traffic getting out from old Portsmouth to the m275
Ventnor station site is so far out of town that it's difficult to see how it would be feasible even putting aside the industrial site occupants interests
How much car traffic would be removed by a rail network on the island. Holidaymakers with luggage unlikely to give up the car
So what traffic would a revitalised network have
Islanders heading to Portsmouth or Southampton for the big shops
Mainlanders on a day out to the island
But would locals switch to rail when like elsewhere a lot of development has taken place out of town and away from likely stations
And you have to remember how close everything is and the geometry of being able to cut across the island Ryde to Yarmouth 20mins compared to Portsmouth to lymington 1hr if you are lucky
I would love the island to extend its network but can't see if it was my investment how I'd make a return
Having said that I've turned down interviews for senior positions on the island not because of the crossing but because I'd want to do it as a foot passenger and the job locations on the island weren't on bus routes
So here's blue sky thinking
Reopen what you can of the rail network
Set up a shared taxi operation using minibuses aka the Turkish dolmus which would run from each station to serve local destinations
Colin
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I've bought this, for although I am planning to set my layout in Lincolnshire, the local garage needs a corrugated roof, plus a couple of outbuildings etc.... the buildings themselves will no doubt find a home too, suitably modified.
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Pity it’s no longer there...
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Back in the day I was a draughtsman with the OS; for accurate layouts stick with the 1:2500 for rural areas and 1:1250 for urban areas. These are plans produced at the time in limited numbers. The 1:10000 (or the old 6 inch equivalent) move things according to a set of rules; eg roads that are named have to be a minimum width to fit the name in, a building less than a certain distance from a road will be shown touching it and so on. I did write a few things about it elsewhere here (under real life locations, I think it was), feel free to ask anything and I’ll attempt to drag it out of my memory!
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If anyone wants an explanation of 1:1250 and 1:2500 sheet numbers to get a particular plan, I can do a brief class on it here.
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One other thing for the lovers of pre-grouping; the original 6 inch series, known as the "County Series" (beautiful things produced from etched copper sheets), were surveyed county by county - hence the name. It was done that way as surveys were done from a datum line; as you move away from the datum it becomes more inaccurate. Therefore the datum was aligned to the longest dimension of the county being surveyed... Imagine Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; The Hampshire datum line would be north/south, the Isle of Wight would be east/west. Which meant of course you could end up with a huge blank sheet with a tiny blob of ink in the corner and county borders would not line up! (We tried it in the office one day, when preparing a display for an official visit). In 1938 the OS went metric, grids changed to km's and County Series went. Going metric got rid of awkward scales over the years, 1 inch for example was 1: 63,360 and 6inch is 1:10,560; 1:50,000 and 1:10,000 are much easier to deal with.
The 'Units of Change' mentioned in a previous entry are taken from 1:1250 and 1:2500; each square on a 1:50,000 is half of a 1:2500 sheet (they are 2x1 km) and 4 of the 1:1250 sheets. 1:1250 show urban areas and 1:2500 are generally rural.
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Dragged a few more details from my memory; the poster paint was Plaktra, we used red.
On large scale plans (1:1250 and 1:2500) the surveyor took an astrofoil of the plan into the field, adding any additions in black ink and crossed out any features that had been removed. They were then printed in negative on a coated plastic sheet, producing orange lines on a brown background. I believe the manufacturers were Ozilid. We used 78rpm steel gramophone needles filed to a 7 thou wide chisel shape in a holder to remove the coating where the lines were; curved lines used the same needle mounted in a perspex tripod allowing it to swivel. Railway lines were done using a set of french curves, known as 'railway curves' and a fixed handle with two needles mounted in it to scribe parallel lines. Points always had their tie bars shown as that gave a reference point for starting the other set of lines and were accurately surveyed. At the same time we ordered any names etc which would be added at the next stage. All this was just the first part of producing the plan; combined with the next stage and all the examinations in between, looking back it seemed a lot of effort for the production of a print run of 75 to 150!
I was a Cartographic Draughtsman Grade 4; a Grade 3 ran the office and a Grade 5 was a Cartographic Assistant. When I asked one day the difference, I was told, "You can draw sloping masonry" - Ah the joys of having one more 'O' level...
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I worked for the OS as a draughtsman back in the early 70's. Only the 1:1250 and 1:2500 scales, known as plans, are the most accurate. 1:10000 ( the old 6 inch) and above are representations of what is there. I worked on the plans and the 10 thou, as we called it; the later was drawn using ruling pens and poster paint (!) to a set of rules i.e. if a road is named it has to be a certain width, if the houses along side were less than certain distance from it they were drawn touching it and so on. You started with any water and worked back from there. A plan or map was redrawn when so many 'units of change' had taken place, which in the case of a 1:50000 could be quite a while in some cases! Easiest one I ever did was a 1:2500 of Pendine Sands - a line showing the high water line across the top right hand corner. It took longer to travel to the Examinations Department than I took to do it!
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I travelled up to Derbyshire back in November; fine going up (Crosscountry from Southampton), but coming back the East Midlands Alfreton to Nottingham train was late, so missed all my onward reservations. The train manager was extremely helpful and advised me which carriages to avoid on the next leg; it was effortless for the rest of the journey, seats all the way. Due to booking in a hurry, I selected the best time to return without checking the route and found myself going, Alfreton - Nottingham, Nottingham - St Pancras, St Pancras - Paddington, Paddington - Reading, Reading - Southampton. At least I avoided Birmingham New Street lol. One variant of the route had the changing time at New Street as 12 minutes! On the Paddington to Reading leg on the Swansea express service, there was an annoucement shortly after leaving apologising for the fact there were only five carriages due to 'technical difficulties'. Looking through the glass door into the next coach they were packed in like sardines while I sat in a half empty one, weird...
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OK, I've now dug out the June 1978 Railway Modeller with the drawing in and can give a few dimensions from the drawing which I hope the OP might find useful. I'm assuming he's modelling in 4mm scale, which is the scale that the drawing is reproduced at.
Overall length of main structure - 89mm
Length of original part of building - 59mm
Length including upstairs lavatory extension - 102mm
Overall width - 46mm
Height of front & back walls - 64mm
Height to top of end gable - 81mm
Height to operating floor level - 29mm
Height to bottom of operating floor windows - 36mm
Height to top of operating floor windows - 59mm
I hope the above helps; if any more dimensions needed please let me know.
I don't think there was such a thing as a standard LNER box and in any case it was built by the Great Northern. They didn't have standard signal box designs either although several were built to some of the various types, and a lot of them tended to have a 'family likeness'.
Many thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. I realised after I posted my question that it should have read ‘Great Northern’...oops.
I will build mine in its original form, but looking a little careworn as the layout will be set in the early 60’s.
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I'm planning a 'what if' layout based on the High Dyke mineral line, which will include a signal box based on the one at the junction with the ECML. I've had a couple of goes at estimating measurements and making drawings, but they all seem to be wrong, maybe because I am assuming standard door sizes etc. I am guessing there are standard LNER box types, so does anyone have the dimensions of that particular type of box?
Many thanks in advance....
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We used to have a printer shop in town, but there were lease problems and they closed down. A pity, as their generic cartridges were excellent and contained more ink than the originals. I have tried 'cheapo' ones from the internet (not e-bay) and have been disappointed with the quality, so buyer beware, as they say... Manufacturers, I think, has a policy of making their money on the consumables - after all, once the printer is sold, no more profit from the sale. I'm sure there is a printer out there which is cheaper than the replacement cartridges! Looks like I will be trying some of the firms mentioned above...
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I worked in Saudi Arabia for a while and some of the translations on signs were hysterical...
On a petrol tanker bombing down the highway: 'Nearness prohibited - highly fuel'
On the wall of a factory: 'Al-Hasa Animal Droppings Factory' (Guess what they made...)
Finally for now, there was a children's clothes shop in town called 'The Fondled Child'; I think they had used a thesaurus for that one!
My only attempt to correct one was a sign outside of a local house, made by the chap who worked for the owners, which read: 'Slow, childrens on play'. It was easier just to chat about the weather and drink a cup of tea with him!
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That just dawned on me as I read the posts again - but many thanks though, for replying!
Now back to that transition era layout I'm planning... (where all the diesels are 1960/70's Triang and Hornby...lol)
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I think I am having a senior moment, but I can't work out/find out what 'D & E' stands for... I am guessing 'D' is detail, but flummoxed by 'E' ! Bet when someone tells me I will say, "of course!".
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Here's another one from the same seller; anyone fancy a go at motorising a Matchbox loco?
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Unrelated topic:
How many Islanders does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Change? We don't want change!
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Something has just popped out of my memory.... Several years ago there was a guy on e-bay selling 'rare' Airfix kit locomotives. The one that springs to mind was a Battle of Britain class, the tender, with a few wheels and other bits missing, painted in Dulux vivid green by 6" brush for £50; the loco was separate, in, if anything, worse condition for £60..... Wonder if anyone bought them?
My real annoyance are those people who will not post to the Isle of Wight; they class us as 'Highlands and Islands'. I have spotted some real bargains over the years, only to get 'Does not post to....' message appear on the screen. I know i could get it delivered to relatives/friends on the mainland and then sent on, but why should I cause them hassle? The few sellers who have responded to my question why?, They claim its because their courier charges extra... So why not use Royal Mail then - they manage to deliver here with no problem. Quite often ordered stuff one day and it is delivered the next day by the postie. Joke is that if I post a letter to another address on the Island, it goes to Portsmouth first to be sorted, then returns... I guess Royal Mail don't pay ferry fares...lol
Rant over, thank you for listening (if you got this far...lol)
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Just browsing through e-bay and found a Peco single slip, £58.55; Hattons do it for £32 +£2 postage... But then the e-bay lot has free postage - maybe people see that before they look at the price?
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I too looked at his website; certainly gives a wealth of inspiration and a level to aspire to!
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Got to see this layout in the flesh last weekend on the Isle of Wight. Really impressive - and the grandsons loved it too. Many thanks.
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Just discovered this topic, so thought I would add my memories.
I grew up 'across the harbour' from Portsmouth, so trains were rows of green carriages shuttling in and out of the Harbour Station on my rare trips across on the ferry. Around 8 years of age my parents started to take me up to my paternal grandparents, where I would be left for a week. The trip was fascinating, opening up a strange new world of open cast mining near Corby, white V bombers at Wittering, Bloodhound missles next to the A1 and life in a city (Grantham). I looked forward to these trips and especially trips to Grantham station with my uncle. He had an encylopedic knowledge of railways, traction engines and wood-working, so was the ideal person to keep a younger me entertained! There was my first non-stop A4 (Silver King, I think) going through, which prompted that strange mixture of terror and excitement in the 8 year old me; the ringing in the ears and the smell of steam lingering in the air after it passed. There was also a big MPD to keep you amused before the next one went by.
The highlight of the annual visit was being allowed to stay up late on a Saturday night to see the Aberdonian. More knowledgable people on here may correct me if I am wrong, but it stopped at Grantham around 9:30pm (for a crew change?). I only remember it being Deltic hauled and being in that beautiful two tone green that looked so good on them. I'm afraid the later corporate blue did nothing for it's looks in my opinion. Sorry about that, if you are a younger member of this site! One particular evening I was invited up into the cab. That left an impression....
My Uncle and Aunt moved to a new house on the outskirts of Grantham overlooking some fields with the ECML at the bottom of them. One quiet summer's evening I heard that unmistakeable sound in the distance and wanted to run over the fields to see it go by. "We've got time to walk over', said my my Uncle and he was right!
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Forgot to say, I'm looking forward to seeing this layout when it is finished.
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Thought I'd just add my history here...lol. Born 1952, Gosport. Only local memories are the green EMU's leaving Portsmouth Harbour and a Q1 not far from my home on the truncated branch from Fareham to Gosport at the junction with the MOD line into Frater Depot. I remember being fascinated by this rusty, simmering weird looking loco...... Other than that my train spotting was limited to an annual week with my grandparents in Grantham; A4's, A3's and Deltics etc thundering through made rows of green carriages pale into insignificance I'm afraid!
IoW light rail conversion proposed
in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
Posted
New to this thread, but saw Ryde to Yarmouth in 20 mins... I live 4 miles west of Newport and even without the current 'road improvements' it's 30 minutes to Ryde on average. Would that be back in 1971?
How we long for those days :-)