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Corbs

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  2. Corbs

    Colour Film of Tidmouth Docks c.1962

    By Corbs,


    Sudrian Life
    FROM THE ARCHIVES Colour footage of various locos engaged in shunting at Tidmouth Docks in the early 1960s. Visible on the quayside are USATC S100 'Marcus', Bagnalls 'Liberty' and 'Atlantic' of the Tidmouth Docks Authority. North Western Railway 'Perseus' also makes an appearance, handling a private owner wagon rather roughly. In reality this is a bit of shunting filmed on Bob Edwardes' marvellous M Shed (Bristol) diorama at the Thornbury Model Railway Show last weekend. The locos were being run on a mix of DC and RC.
     
     
  3. Corbs
    NWR No.
    700-703
     
    NWR Name:
    Erin, Triumph, Vanguard, Powerful
     
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-8-0/2-8-4T
     
    Builder
    Various
     
    Class
    ROD 2-8-0 (GCR 8K)
     
    History
     
    The first locos of this class were among those drafted in by the ROD to operate the newly-formed NWR during WW1. Upon cessation of hostilities, masses of these heavy goods locos were surplus to requirements and put up for sale.
    The embryonic company, faced with the withdrawal of government support, recognised that goods travelling via Tidmouth would be the lifeblood of its survival. It sought to purchase several of the ex-ROD locos then on the market. Of these, 4 made it past the grouping, the others were scrapped for their tenders or in the case of two, stripped of their vital components which were used in the Beyer-Garratt 'Revenge'.
     
    The best of the bunch were overhauled and given side-window cabs. They were named after great warships built by Vickers at Barrow-in Furness (the NWR clearly wanted to keep one of its biggest clients on-side).
     

     
    No. 702 'Vanguard' is pictured in this condition with original boiler. 
     
    In 1926, one of the group was rebuilt into a 2-8-4 tank loco at Crovan's Gate. Train weights were increasing and delays in getting outbound trains up the sharply-inclined harbour line were worsening. No.700 'Erin' was thus allocated solely as Tidmouth Docks banker and spent most of its life on these duties.

     

     
    No. 700 'Erin' missing plates and whistle, fresh out of the paint shop.
     
    These brutes were the mainstay of NWR goods locos until the 1930s, when a purchase was made of several LMS designs, including several brand-new Stanier 8Fs.
    As the ROD boilers, which retained their steel fireboxes, came up for overhaul, they were rebuilt using new LMS type 3C boilers built under licence. This enabled standardisation of several components with the new locos.


     
    No.701 'Triumph' shown post-rebuild with 3C boiler.
     
    In this form they lived out the rest of their lives.
    One modification of note was the fitting of a Giesl Ejector to No.703 'Powerful' in the mid-1950s. This was an experiment to reduce fuel consumption. In the event, it was not fitted to any other members of the class although 703 retained the unusual chimney until withdrawal.
     


     
    No.703 'Powerful' with 3C boiler and Giesl Ejector.
     
    The Models
     
    More children of Hattons' 'sale of the century', I had long wanted to add some RODs to the fleet but this was a chance to acquire a few at bargain prices. The models are built from a mix of ex-GWR RODs and ex-LNER O4s, the GWR examples being rebuilt using second hand Hornby 8F bodies from the 1990s.
    The 2-8-4T uses another Hornby Fowler 4P body, Peters' Spares was selling a few new old stock plain bodies which have come in very handy. Between these and the cabs for the tender locos I am hoping to establish a 'house style' much like the neighbouring LMS. The extended tanks match the Woolworth 2-6-2Ts and No.301 quite nicely.
     
    Check out the build thread from this page for more!
  7. Corbs
    Hello, I have been entertaining myself with trying to make posters for the North Western Railway in a sort of Art Deco style to try and root my version of the NWR in the world and give it more than just some models. Here's how I did it!
     
     
     
    If you are interested in buying one, my shop is here:
     
    https://www.railwaymania.net/shop
  8. Corbs
    Tidmouth Yards, Winter 1960. An intrepid enthusiast has braved the cold weather to capture some rare colour footage of NWR and SCC locos at work. The tight confines of the yard here make for some interesting shunting manoeuvres.
     
    This is something I've been working on for a while, I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to give the impression of a small story unfolding, but with no voiceover or titles, just the engines going about their business as if someone was really filming them. This video took AGES to make. The snow was done by sprinkling flour over the layout, all the locos in the video run off battery power, radio control so pickup wasn't a problem. All the audio is from real locomotives, particularly footage I shot of 'Willy the Well Tank' at the Avon Valley Railway, mixed in with some ambient winter town sounds. I've tried to make it as believable as possible. The smoke and steam FX were all added in Adobe After Effects using green screen footage of smoke charges going off, which were keyed, masked and modified to try to provide as much variation as possible. I'll try and make another video on how this was done.
  21. Corbs

    Nil Unquam Simile

    By Corbs,

    With the Nailsea Show fast approaching, the first public outing of the NWR looms, so I've been giving a lot of thought to the display.
    I've long wanted to make my own version of the NWR logo as described by Awdry, here's my current attempt.
     
    "Per saltire azure and vert, Two gloves argent saltirewise 
    in fess a rose of Lancaster proper
    1st Azure a wheel or winged of same
    dexter vert a fleece argent, sinister vert a mattock argent hafted or 
    base azure herrings naiant argent
    Motto: "Nil Unquam Simile" 
    - "There's Nothing Quite Like It""
     
    This was made in photoshop using lots of borrowed elements. The majority of the heraldric items came from wikipedia, for example the fleece is from this Spanish coat of arms.

     
    The wheel is borrowed from the BR later crest

     
    Some handy stock images provided the missing elements, like this gauntlet.

     
    The end result is a bit flat in colour, so I grubbied it up a bit using the 'Burn' tool, and then overlaid a stock image of a fabric texture, set to 'Multiply' and with the opacity turned down. Quite pleased with it so far! No doubt it will be revised in the future but it'll do for now.
  22. Corbs
    An action-packed photo here from the 1920s showing ex-TK&F No.6 leading a string of lead hoppers into the yard whilst two goods trains pass on the main line above. China clay and empty alumina trucks in transit to Tidmouth, milk and fish heading east. Just visible behind No.301 is the tender of one of the ex-ROD locos lending banking assistance out of the steeply graded docks branch.
     
    The mighty air-braked hopper wagon is also visible. This was designed to be attached to passenger trains for the uphill run to Toryreck, but rendered obselete when Knapford (Harbour) station closed to passengers.

  23. Corbs
    FACT SHEET
    NWR No.
    901
    NWR Name:
    Revenge
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-8-0+0-8-2
    Builder
    Beyer Peacock, Gorton Works, Manchester, 1924
    Class
    Beyer-Garratt
    History
    Since Cronk and Maron are much higher than Suddery Junction near Wellsworth, the four miles at a ruling gradient of 1 in 45 have through the years been a testing ground for NWR locomotives. Bankers are stationed at Wellsworth specifically for this section.
    In 1924 the NWR ordered an articulated 2-8-0+0-8-2 Beyer-Garratt from Gorton, to do the work of two locos while requiring a single crew. The design was to use the wheels, motion and cylinders from ex-ROD 2-8-0s being sold as war surplus, enabling a commonality of components with other NWR locos.
    For crews, the Garratt was hard work. Lack of a mechanical stoker put a huge strain on the fireman. The enclosed cab, whilst a great help in Winter when the cold wind blows in from the Irish Sea, was a furnace in high summer.
    When compared to Gresley’s 6-cylinder Garratt, the NWR example was able to maintain a head of steam and occasionally worked service trains.
    Like most NWR goods locos, ‘Revenge’ was named after a warship built at Barrow, in this case the battleship HMS Revenge of 1915.
    The Model
    Hattons’ ‘Sale of the Century’ yielded a supply of cheap ex-GWR ROD 2-8-0 locos, the tenders of which ended up on the Woolwich moguls. The chassis found their way onto the Garratt.
    I had to re-mount the motors so they sat over the centre of the chassis, thereby locating them in the engine units and enabling the boiler frame to sit over the driving wheels.
    The boiler itself was also from Hattons’ spare parts department, a victim of Heljan’s burnt out motors and broken valve gear from the first production run of the LMS Garratt.
    The engine unit superstructures were mounted on running plates salvaged from Hornby 8Fs I was cutting up for the boilers and cabs, with the bodies made from styrene sheet. Handrails are from Markits and the filler lids were salvaged from Great British Locomotives static models.
    Click here to see the thread.
  24. Corbs

    'What's in a Name?' Part 2

    By Corbs,


    Sudrian Life
    The trends of my naming conventions are rough but follow a sort of convention. This is meant to reflect changing attitudes and preferences in the management of the NWR, and how they want to present themselves.
    I've added notes below in italics to explain the thinking behind each era.
     
    Passenger/Mixed traffic locos
     
    Manx/Sudrian authors, poets, notable historical figures - mainly locos that were there when the NWR was formed 1915-1920
    e.g. Edward Faragher, Thomas Allen
    *William Montagu is the exception to this, having arrived in 1931. Maybe it took the name of a scrapped loco?
    The newly formed NWR, providing at long last a fixed link to mainland England, wanted to establish itself as devotedly Sudrian and to not represent 'mainland control' over the island, which has always been fiercely resisted. As such, locos present in 1915 were often named after local Manx and Sudrian heroes and notable people.
     
    Sudrian legendary figures - 1920s-1930s
    e.g. Thorkell, Sigrid, Godred Crovan, Thorfinn the Mighty
    Similarly, the NWR wanted to celebrate Sodor and Man's history and legendary tales.
     
    Contemporary Sudrians - 1930s-1940s
    e.g.Sir Albert Regaby, Rebecca Qualtrough,
    *Colonel Henry Regaby is an exception, the loco having been named in 1915, however the second loco continued the tradition in 1935
    During the 1930s, the depression hit. There was a need to remind the populace that people such as themselves could make a difference, and not just characters from legend. The war brought a renewed sense of national pride and a will to celebrate the efforts and sacrifice of local people.
     
    Sudrian Icons (buildings, landmarks etc,) - 1950s
    The post-war period was marked by a will to build a new society, and the management very much wanted to be a part of this, while retaining a sense of Sudric Pride.
     
    Goods locos (most railways did not name goods locos, but this one does, and it lines them out!)
    Warships built at Barrow - large locos
    e.g. Revenge, Illustrious, Triumph
    Courting business from Vickers-Armstrong, the NWR was a railway born in the fires of war and owed its existence to it.
     
    Submarines built at Barrow - small locos
    e.g. Perseus, Proteus
     
    Electric locos (1500v DC working the Peel Godred line)
    Sudrian geographical features - 1920s-1930s
    e.g. Corloey, Dubbhyn Moar
    Peel Godred had long been neglected and naming the locos after local landmarks which in turn gave the railway the hydro-electricity it needed seemed an obvious choice!
  25. Corbs
    FACT SHEET
    NWR No.
    403
    NWR Name
    Thorkell
    Wheel Arrangement
    2-6-0
    Builder
    Royal Arsenal, Woolwich/NWR Crovan’s Gate Works
     
    Class
    Maunsell SECR N Class Mogul (NWR Rebuild)
    History
    The N Class of mixed traffic 2-6-0 locomotives was designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell. Production of the first batch was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. Assembly began towards the end of the war and the first locomotive, No. 810, emerged from Ashford Works for proving trials in July 1917. No. 810 was trialled for three years before another 15 locomotives (Nos. 811–825) were ordered in 1919. These were built between 1920 and 1923; their construction delayed by a backlog of repairs caused by the war.
    The first batch of the N class proved successful in service, and the Ministry of Supply drew up a contract for a second batch to the same specification – to be built at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. Building of the second batch went ahead to retain skilled labour at Woolwich, and by 1924, the prefabricated components stored at Woolwich formed 110 complete N class kits for purchase from the government.

    Note: The above is true apart from me adding a fictional 10 loco ‘kits’ to include in my fictional universe. Info from wikipedia.
     
    In 1924, the NWR, in desperate need of locomotives, purchased several of these ‘kits’ to assemble at Crovan’s Gate works. 3 of the locos were built as 2-6-2Ts for working commuter services, with 5 becoming tender locos. They differed from their SECR counterparts by having enlarged cabs with side windows fitted (a blessing on a Winters day up in the North West). The NWR did not purchase tenders with the kits, and instead used tenders recovered from scrapped ROD 2-8-0s.
    All were named after important figures in Sudrian history. Thorkell of Norwich lived from 1035-1092 and fought at Stamford Bridge. He befriended his captive, Godred Crovan, and later settled in Sodor. The Kellson family claim to be his descendants.
    The Model
    THORKELL is made from a Bachmann N Class, with a GBL Hornby Black 5 cab fitted (the cab floor was extended). A tender was salvaged from a scrapped ROD 2-8-0 and attached by customising the coupling with styrene strip. Currently this is a non-runner after a valve gear malfunction burnt the motor out.
    Click HERE to see the build thread
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