gc4946

This is the layout, as seen from the other end. I've seen few minimal-sized layouts where a complete island platform has been incorporated, with track that deviates as though it was on a busy main line. Millbrook, near Southampton, is one prime example of a station with a similar width island platform, another was Westbourne Park, just outside Paddington, which had an isolated mainline platform that allowed interchange with the underground, before it was swept away in the early 1990s when the track approaches to Paddington were remodelled.

Here's my first photo, this had to resized so to fit within the 2MB limit for uploads: This is designed that the sidings on the left can be used in DCC mode and the single isolated right track possibly for test running in analogue (DC) mode. The platform was built from Bachmann's Underground Ernie range and can hold a single car DMU or a two-car 101/108 57' length DMU set. Track is Fleischmann Profi and terminates just short at the board edges to minimise damage to the rail ends. This also allows future extension as and when more room is available.

This arose out of my abandoned Westfield Green layout for a self-contained layout project that takes up little space in my flat. The name, Westfield Priory, is a combination of both my junior and secondary schools that I attended, but unlike its predecessor, isn't any longer tied to a specific area of Portsmouth. It measures 4ft by 16in and is intended to be a layout that allows shunting and a limited amount of other movements such as DMUs/EMUs shuttling back and forth, light engine moves and short freight train workings. Photos will follow in due course.

I've examined several paste tables recently and the cheapest sold here in the UK have hardboard tops, ill-fitting and shaped timber frames and legs, often with "knots" and after a short time, sag in the middle where the two halves hinge. Build quality's worse than about 20 years ago when some of the better tables, at least, had 1/8 inch thick plywood tops. There are some metal-framed and heavy-duty plastic paste tables available but they'll cost up to around a third of the total layout cost on this thread!

In my experience, it's easier finding unwanted cardboard than foamboard, also card's surprisingly strong - think of the packaging that came with your TV or washing machine. It'll be interesting how you'll be dealing with the scenics, buildings and accessories, as they are features of a layout, after locos and stock, potentially another cause of overspending. Keep up the good work, however.

I've found this old forum discussion about this line on LondonBanter.co.uk (unfortunately many of the links quoted no longer work) but mentions the book "Lost lines: London", by Nigel Welbourn (Ian Allan, 1998) ISBN 0-7110-2623-8 the chapter that mentions the line is called "A loop to a lost empire" http://www.londonban...-wembley-2.html Just found an image of Wembley Stadium maroon station totem: http://www.railwayana.net/Totems&Targets/Totems/totem_variations.htm

Fascinating topic as I was only there a week ago to see the Senegal v Mexico Olympics game. As it closed in 1968, I wonder if it was used for the 1966 World Cup. I could ask someone who I know attended a game there at the time if he used the station, but I'd doubt it as he would have travelled on the tube from central London, did anyone take any photos of trains on the loop at that time? The decline of rail excursions due to the greater use of coaches and private transport, coupled with only occasional use of the infrastructure, must have surely sealed the line's fate. It has appeal for those who like modelling excursion specials with unusual combinations of locos and rolling stock, in particular one could go to town on some of the variety of carriages used.

I have photos of all my locos bought so far as part of this collection on this blog: The J17, Terrier and M7 all appear in part 4; The 28XX and J72 all appear in part 5; No work have been done on any of the above yet. however the J17 will now appear in authentic plain GER black, numbered 1217 (the preserved loco) the 28XX with GWR roundel rather than "G W R", but I've yet to decide which 28XX number to choose (it's currently 2847 as made by Hornby, but will change it to an ID of a loco currently in preservation) and the J72 to appear with a pre-1946 LNER number. It's a question of finding time to spare for repainting and re-numbering without rushing things and making a hash of them, and ordering suitable 28XX numberplates. In any case, I'll post up photos of finished models for all to see, photographed individually, and to a better standard, rather than in groups. This is a long-term project, I see this like a marathon, rather than a sprint. Some of the locos I want to buy such as Bachmann's Midland 4F, J11 and L&Y 2-4-2T won't be released until next year at the earliest.

I'll repaint my loco in plain black in this case, as it was bought secondhand painted in GER blue (a photo of it appears in part 4 in the series) In any case, I'm not entirely happy with the model's finish anyway because of its lettering and lining. When it's overhauled and repainted, it'll receive its number 1217 (LNER 1217E, 8217, 5567, BR 65567)

No more progress has been made on any of my locos in this collection, but today I bought from Ingrow Railway Centre four British Railway Modelling back issues containing Nigel Digby's articles titled "The liveries of the pre-grouping railways" featuring colour side views of the main passenger loco, carriage and wagon liveries as well as detailed prototype notes on freight liveried locos: Apr. 1996 - Midland & Great Northern Rly; Apr. 1998 - Great Eastern Rly; Apr. 1999 - Great Central Rly; July 2001 - Wirral Rly Of those, the Midland & Great Northern's brownish yellow ochre and burnt sienna pre-1914 loco livery will be the most challenging to reproduce, especially as I want my chosen loco to be in the same era as my own GER's blue J17 loco. Both the Great Central and Wirral locos will be modelled around 1922, but at least they'll be in different variations of lined black. Earlier on at Railfest in York, I suggested to Bachmann's reps that they release their planned J11 in GCR livery and/or the L&Y 2-4-2T in Wirral livery for their Collectors' Club, I'll wait and see if any of this materalises ...

The aim of this weekend project was to model an early refurbished 4VEP based on those outshopped in 1988/89 to run alongside my appropriate loco and MUs that would stand up to the rigours of handling and storage. Hornby's modelled a late refurbished version with cab door sealed headlights so the biggest change was to file off the headlamps. I snapped the fragile front cab handrails several times beforehand so they were replaced by Slaters 20thou X 10thou microstrip, glued onto the bodies, as that best represents the flat metal section handrails. From memories, Southern Region headcodes were always backlit using filament lamps so LEDs are far too bright but in the interests of simplicity, abandoned lit head/tail lights but kept the carriage lighting (I don't know which of the LEDs on the circuit board mounted behind the cabs controls the round sealed headlight) Weathering was by drybrushing and using diluted enamel paints so it ran into crevices, and a small amount of graffiti was added to both end vestibule doors. I chose a South Western Division based unit, 3456, over a Brighton based unit as they had bars fitted over the droplights and it would have been very time-consuming to apply them to the model. Because the 4VEPs were reformed on refurbishment, once I've located a source listing the individual carriage numbers as applied to the EMU, they'll be corrected to suit. Overall I'm pleased with this quick job but may revise the weathering and as stated above, change the individual carriage running numbers.

How many of us who own their favourite/preferred loco(s) or other item(s) justify their appearance on their layouts in their chosen era or location? We can invoke Rule 1, "It's my layout so I can run anything I like", but I prefer to go down the route of prototypical likelihoods and possibilities. As most of my collection is based on specific themes I try to group small groups of locos and stock which could have appeared together to stage a running session on my small layout. To show how I'm approaching this issue, my current attempt is to create a scenario representing the Coastway West line in West Sussex from May 1989 to the end of that year, using what I own without buying anything extra unless absolutely necessary. I wanted to find suitable uses for the following: 1. 73130 City of Portsmouth, this was my first loco that started off my theme of owning locos after places where I've lived over the years. 2. 73211 County of West Sussex 3. 56075 West Yorkshire Enterprise 4. Hornby's refurbished 4VEP 5. A Provincial liveried class 156 DMU, I was born in Birmingham, it was built at Metro-Cammell, so one example had to be included. 1. First point to address was my 156, the 155s worked Brighton-Cardiff services until door faults grounded them in Dec. 1988 so 156s planned to enter service in Scotland were urgently drafted in as substitutes, they were used until about Nov. 1989 when the 155s returned to service. members.madasafish.com/~dysgraphyk/156/class156_br-years.htm 2. The other critical point was the introduction of revised weekend-only Plymouth-Brighton services from May 1989, they were hauled by 50s Plymouth-Portsmouth Harbour and 73s Portsmouth Harbour-Brighton. I found a photo on Flickr showing 73130 on such a service www.flickr.com/photos/75514026@N03/6824127550/ and it had to be modelled! 3. The next thing to address is my 4VEP. Hornby's model represents 3588 refurbished in 1995, a late-refurbished version with sealed headlight, overhead warning stickers, orange cantrail, no NSE lettering and extra black areas above the cabs. It needs to be backdated and has to be a unit that was allocated to Brighton in 1989 and not one from the ex-7701-55 series which have body mounted lifting brackets. This morning after googling unit numbers from 3421 upwards, I found two possibilities that fitted the bill, albeit they were taken sometime after my chosen date 3465 www.flickr.com/photos/40011/6287209864/ 3463 www.rcts.org.uk/features/archive/image.htm?img=HU05397C&jpg=HU05397.jpg&srch=&page=0 Therefore I'll need to paint the cantrails in NSE red, (carefully!!) paint window bars over the doors, file off the sealed headlights, repaint the black front cab areas yellow, add NSE transfers and renumber. 4. The most surprising find this morning was a photo of 56075 on an ARC aggregates service from Whatley to Ashford West via Orpington on 18 June 1988. www.flickr.com/photos/16313630@N07/6220653555/ I now have a plausible excuse to use it on the Southern Region on aggregates serving Ardingly, although I'll need to customise my Dapol version to suit and I own appropriate ARC wagons for it to pull. PS - Just re-checked photos from various sources on the net, 56075 lost its large logo Railfreight livery sometime in the first few months of 1989, before my intended timeline, and its recorded shot at Orpington cited above must have been a rarity, as the next nearest geographically recorded image of it was at Bescot in 1987 www.sharpos-world.co.uk/BB3cpg/displayimage.php?album=82&pid=240 ... never mind. PPS - using the search function on Flickr this morning (4th June) brought up another photo of 56075 on a return empty ARC aggregates working at Eastleigh on 2 June 1988, that's even better for me as it certainly travelled via the Coastway West route. Maybe it was drafted in from Tinsley to help out for one of its regular Bristol Bath Road/Cardiff locos under overhaul?? www.flickr.com/photos/47500/5817987888/ 73211 can be used on the Plymouth services as well as engineering trips alongside my 33s and my Bachmann's 37254 can be used on Speedlink coal workings. Now that I've got an idea of what needs doing I'm more confident on creating a workable collection for my enjoyment and pleasure.

I saw 85101's naming ceremony at Doncaster Works in 2003 and am seriously tempted in buying the limited edition, having bought 85026 which looks perfect for the mid-late 1980s. Having said that, they could have lasted a little longer and would have passed into Railfreight Distribution or Freightliner ownership, but might not have survived beyond late 1997/early 1998 when the 92s were finally cleared for full WCML use.

Two more pre-owned locos arrived this week, a Hornby R2464 Chinese 5-pole tender drive GWR 28XX and a Bachmann J72 with post-1946 LNER numbering. This completes the initial batch of acquisitions, so work will start on servicing them and changing numbers or logos as appropriate. It's likely the 28XX will have its G W R insignia changed to the 1934-1942 era roundel (shirtbutton) logo as I don't own any GWR locos with that style and it looks better with my GWR Toad brakevans labelled "Birkenhead" (post-1936, small GW lettering) and "Bordesley" (pre-1936, large GW lettering) I'm waiting for a suitable opportunity to access the relevant volumes of Yeadon's or the RCTS LNER books to find out which J72s, and when, were transferred to Bidston and Wrexham depots. I own a book titled "Locomotives of the LNER: a pictorial record", 1st edition, by E.R. Wethersett and L.L. Asher (Heffer, 1947) which lists locos re-numbered under their post-1946 renumbering scheme with their earlier numbers, and notes covering the 1942-1945 interim changes. The other thing is Bachmann's only released to date the 1925-built batch of S&D 7Fs (BR 53806-10) and there were differences between them and the original 1914 versions which hopefully will be covered in a future release. LATEST: I attended Railfest today (3rd June) and accessed the relevant Yeadon's volume for the J72s. Several were transferred to North Wales and the Wirral from 1930, and examples allocated there during the 30s and 40s included nos. 2184 (later on 8701, 68701) and 2307 (later on 8714, 68714).

I've posted this photo of my acquisitions to show what progress has been made. The first loco bought out of those three in this photo is a pre-owned GER J17 0-6-0 bought off an auction site about two years ago. It's a BEC white metal kit using a Triang-Hornby chassis, painted in GER passenger/mixed traffic livery by its previous owner. This was bought for my collection because the preserved J17 was based at Norwich in its final years of service when my mum and late gran lived at the time. A Hornby Terrier, and more recently the same firm's M7, fitted with screw links and weathered by its previous owner, are more recent additions. At the moment the J17 looks lonely without a train to pull, but I'm looking into buying or building a suitable GER brake van as I already own quite a few private owner coal wagons. On the other hand I can call upon my Hornby Maunsell carriages to go behind my M7 and Terrier. Most of my locos that are planned to appear in pre-grouping liveries will be freight or mixed-traffic types as I can then arrange appropriate brake vans to suit. My latest thinking is I'll group together the ex-NER J72, GWR 28XX and ex-LNWR G2 0-8-0 locos to carry the "Big Four" liveries. Because the Wirral Rly was intertwined most closely with the Great Central Rly, the ex-L & Y 2-4-2T and the GCR J11 0-6-0 will both be in their appropriate pre-grouping liveries.

Last Sunday I attended Scaleforum North in Wakefield, this was my first visit to such an event and information gathering continued for this planned loco collection. From two traders I bought postcard prints of the following: Three prints of the Wirral Rly (ex-L & Y) 2-4-2T no.6, two showing how it was lined out and numbered in its pre-grouping style, it had a brass numberplate on the centre of each of its side tanks, and the other in its LMS no. 6762 condition; One print of a Midland & Great Northern Joint Rly brake van; Two prints of M&GN 0-6-0 no.69 (class D rebuilt, closely resembling the MR 3Fs) one in M&GN livery, the other as LNER no. 069 My plans are evolving, and I think my proposed collection will fall into four sub-groups: 1. BR Southern Region, ca. 1956-57 - LBSCR Terrier, LSWR M7 and S&DJR 7F 2-8-0 all in BR livery; 2. Norfolk pre-WW2 - J17 in GER livery, a M&GN 0-6-0 and a LMS (ex-Midland Rly) 4F 0-6-0 no. 3913 on loan to the M&GN between 1934-1936 (source: A.J. Wrottesley, The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway, 2nd ed., David & Charles, 1981); 3. Wirral in 1922 with Wirral Rly 2-4-2T, GWR (loco to be decided, 28XX?) and LNWR 0-8-0; 4. For the ex-NER J72s, quite a few were allocated well outside LNER's NE Area including Scotland, North Wales and the Wirral. I'll model a Wirral or North Wales-based loco as I have quite a few other locos that were represented in the Chester area and can always imagine a J72 working to or from Gorton Works for attention. However, I haven't decided whether to allocate my GCR loco, which is more likely to be a J11 because of its versatility, either to represent one of the locos transferred to the M&GN post-1936 in LNER livery, or arrange for it to be a Wirral group loco in pre-grouping or BR condition. It's been quite interesting finding out little snippets on loco gen so I can assemble small sub-groupings that complement each other.

It's a great choice of prototype, Hornby AcHo produced one in HO scale in the 1960s but is rarely seen on sale and commands high prices when it does on a certain auction site. I may buy one to model as 30072, the last steam loco to visit Portsmouth on 9 July 1967, having arrived down from Guildford (source: Diary of a train-spotter, volume 2: 1960-1968 by Michael G. Harvey (Silver Link, 1996)) which is now preserved on the Worth Valley.

Today I attended the York model show and one of my aims was to find out information amongst the booksellers on Midland & Great Northern (M&GN) locos and LNER B17s. Even though I use the internet as an integral part of my work and for pleasure, there's a lot of information that's only been recorded in books and other non-electronic media. I was successful in both of my aims, Yeadon's register of LNER locos showed quite a few photos of LNER J41 locos (M&GN rebuilt D class 0-6-0s), only four of them appeared anywhere like their Midland Rly 3F counterparts as modelled by Bachmann, but only with extended smokeboxes and differing chimneys - no cop out. If only Bachmann brought out a MR round-topped boilered 2F, none of those issues would have arisen (incidentally, Loco Works in OO have brought one out in ready to run form) The second aim was to find out about the early prototype history of my Hornby model of B17/4 4-6-0 2859 Norwich City, in LNER Darlington green. According to the RCTS volume dealing with the B17s it was initially allocated to the GC section in 1936 and only appeared in that guise for less than a year until it was streamlined and re-named East Anglian in 1937 for the East Anglian express and transferred to Norwich. Consequently Hornby's version represents the loco for a very short period indeed. By the way, did they ever visit Chester via the CLC or reach Oxford on inter-company services?

Following on from my entry last week, I've identified other possibilities only a few miles away from my initial choices: Seacombe - Wirral Rly with GCR running rights Bournemouth West - LSWR with S & D running rights I'm always looking for synergies with my existing fleet and can now see another nucleus forming around pre-WW2 era in Norfolk. I already own a B12/3, B17/4 and J17, but tonight I came across a large number of images of Midland & Great Northern (M&GN) locos taken pre-WW2 http://www.smugmug.c...55256&k=xrMnPDT including a GCR J11 drafted onto ex-M&GN lines and several shots of the Midland Rly design 3F (M&GN rebuilt D class; LNER J41). Other sources also state ex-Midland Rly 3Fs and 4Fs also visited M&GN lines at the time, so I could potentially be interested in not only Bachmann's forthcoming L & Y 2-4-2T, one of which was bought by the Wirral Rly, but also Bachmann's J11 and Midland/LMS 4F when they're released. 0-6-0s were the workhorses of yore but they're underrepresented in my collection. If I decided to include a S&D loco in my fleet my first choice would be the iconic 7F 2-8-0. These acquisitions will all be integrated into my appropriate sub-collections so they may appear in pre-grouping, Big Four or BR liveries as necessary. Certainly this time I've got plenty of options to consider! Latest news - I'll wait for Bachmann's L & Y 2-4-2T to appear "in the flesh" before proceeding any further with this project, as that'll be the lynchpin for this collection.

Bachmann's announcements yesterday (13th) were significant in one respect, although it took time to realise its opportunity. Their forthcoming L & Y 2-4-2T finally allows me to model a complete collection of RTR locos, if I so wish, i.e. one loco chosen from every pre-grouping company represented in each of the areas where my family and I have lived over the years. If I take into account the nearest station (open or closed) to where I and my family have lived over the years, here are the following possibilities in chronological order: Moseley (station closed 1941) - Midland Rly Edge Hill - LNWR New Brighton - Wirral Rly Fratton - LBSCR/LSWR joint Worthing - LBSCR West Ealing - GWR Bournemouth Central - LSWR Cross Gates - NER If my mum and late relatives are also included: Bramford - GER Tivetshall - GER Hellesdon - M&GN Of those, I already own a LBSCR Terrier in BR lined black and a ready-made kit-built GER J17 in GER ultramarine blue (a few were painted in that livery for mixed traffic use). The most elusive gap now plugged is a L & Y 2-4-2T, one of which was bought by the Wirral Rly in 1921. In the case of the Midland & Great Northern, I could modify a Bachmann 3F 0-6-0 to one of its versions (LNER J41) by extending its smokebox http://www.modelrail...showtopic=17101 These plans aren't finalised at the moment as they depend on how much storage space all of those will take up in my collections, as well as their affordability in these difficult economic times.

Good move announcing this in OO. I'd be interested in a three-car Strathclyde PTE orange/black when first introduced in the 80s, no doubt it will be commissioned as a limited edition, and/or a 3-car unit in NSE.

I can see two possibilities for limited edition versions: 1. In L & Y livery as preserved at the NRM; 2. The Wirral Railway bought no. 1041 (built Horwich, 1890) from the L & Y in June 1921 which became no. 6. It had coal rails added to its bunker for extra capacity. In 1923, it became LMS no. 6762 instead of logically being 10638, latterly becoming a station pilot at Preston until withdrawal in 1952. Wirral Railway's loco livery was black lined with white, yellow and vermillion, coupling rods were either red or vermillion but all with black edging and vermillion lining; bufferbeams were vermillion with a black edge and the buffer casings were black. I haven't seen a photo of it in WR livery but a photo of it as 46762 is on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia..../L%26YR_Class_5 Very few locos from pre-grouping minor railways have been made available RTR. As I lived in New Brighton for a while, it would be a desirable addition to my collection. Sources: Steel wheels to Deeside by John W. Gahan, p.61 (Countywise/Avon-Anglia, 1983), The Wirral Railway by Campbell Highet, p.23-24 (Oakwood Press, 1961)

Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith's book "Branch line to Hayling" (Middleton Press, 1984) book shows two loose BCKs working on the Hayling Island Branch in the last months prior to its closure in Nov. 1963: photo no. 26 shows BCK 6699 (ex-set 619) coupled to a Mk1 64' length 10-compt second hauled by Terrier 32650; photo no. 52 showing BCK 6697 (ex-set 618) with another long Mk1 10-compt second hauled by 32646. By then, the Terriers weren't fitted for push-pull operation and both were used as normal loco-hauled stock. Both carriages still had their old set numbers painted on, and amazingly, both survive in preservation owned by the Swanage Railway: 6697 http://www.cs.vintag...nfo.asp?Ref=530 6699 http://www.cs.vintag...nfo.asp?Ref=531 The railway has plans to restore a set of this type, as SO 1323 (ex-set 611) also survives http://www.cs.vintag...nfo.asp?Ref=397 Its plans are outlined in its document http://www.swanagera...d%20FEB2011.pdf Maybe the railway could commission a limited edition version of 1323 and 6699 to raise funds??

Ok I've not taken any photos, but I can muster just enough stock to run something circa 1967-69, here are some examples that spring to mind: 1. Class 33 D6520 in blue on a parcels train with blue Thompson BG, maroon Hawksworth BG, green Southern BY van, lined maroon LMS Stanier 50' BG and blue BR 57' GUV, with a 4CEP in blue/grey and Bulleid style 2EPB in all over blue on local passenger service, accompanied outside the railway fence by a Southdown PD3 Queen Mary bus in traditional green/cream and a Portsmouth Corporation Atlantean in traditional maroon with yellow lining and white window bands and roof. 2. If I want to represent Wirral/Cheshire ca. 1967 with steam I can substitute the 33 for an Ivatt 4MT 43106 or a weathered Black 5 45377 on the same parcels train, or freight, with a class 101 DMU in all over blue, accompanied by a Crosville Bristol FLF green double-decker. Birkenhead Corporation blue/cream Leyland PD2, Wallasey Leyland Atlantean and a Midland Red coach with destination "New Brighton" (I don't own a class 503 EMU to complete the trinity of steam, diesel and electric traction) This shows the variety that's possible ... however the late steam era is only one area of my interest and I can only do so much with the space I have at my disposal.

On a positive note, this era can be very interesting: steam, diesel and electric traction working with a mixture of Big 4 and BR rolling stock in all the various combinations of liveries. If you were on the Southern, you could see pre-war, Bulleid and BR design EMUs running alongside each other. Moreover there was still steam age infrastructure around, if not already rationalised, and outside the railway fence, many local municipal and company buses still carried their traditional liveries (the National Bus Company was only established in 1969) It's unfortunate that this time period isn't as popular as it could have been because of the negativity by enthusiasts about the loss of regular BR mainline steam.