Hairy Bear Digital

To be held on the 15/16 and 17th June 2018.

£20 entrance fee which includes unlimited rides on trains between staions.

Open 10 til 17.00 Fri and Sat.  10 til 16.00 Sunday.

Parking very limited at Loughboro',Rothley and Leicester but 10acre field available at Quorn(Woodhouse/Forrest Road Quorn) for £5 where majority of the layouts are.

Layouts so far (All liable to late change)..- http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/modelevent/layouts/

Traders        -            http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/modelevent/traders/

Parking   -  http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/modelevent/venues/

Tickets and Timetables  -  http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/modelevent/buy-tickets/

 

 

 

The distance between masts is not a factor in determining the maximum permitted speed of electric trains, It is for other reasons.  If they can run on 125mph south of Hitchin on the ECML with equipment of the same design which is even older, then it really ought to be possible to do so south of Bedford if they get their act together...

So the Network Rail electrification guy that rode with me and told me this was wrong. Ok fair enough.

Will be running even slower after next months timetable change. Even more 100mph Thameslink's to follow.

What's that. ..a stone train...yes, put that out in front as well, more the merrier.

Overheard in a local model shop today:  "I went to the South Notts. show at Cotgrave at t'weekend.  It wan't bad, in fact it were quite good - but it were nearly all N-gauge, and I hadn't taken me glasses, so I were really strugglin' to see what were goin' on!"

 

Take note for next year!!

Youv'e not brought your glasses, your not coming in.

So you can’t do 125 on electric south of Bedford?

Correct....the masts are too far apart.Alot of dosh needs to be spent before that can happen.

I know that 5 of VXC's 91's and some EMU's suffered with ice in the traction motors but I hadn't heard of any trouble with diesel trains.

 

I suppose diesel electrics could get ice in the traction motors too but 180's are diesel hydraulic.

Quite a few of our 222's were pulled out due to snow ingress and traction packages shutting down.

Must try to go see how they are progressing at Market Harborough

If your really into car parks, yes go visit, otherwise don't bother yet.

Thread on progress here...

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/market-harborough-station-upgrade.151511/

Dear forum members

 

I used to travel the route from London to Sheffield as a student back in the late 1980's and have never been back since.

 

Just wanted to ask a couple of questions if somebody has a brief moment.

 

1. Is the route north of Corby also single-track or did it escape rationalisation?

2. Is the section between Bedford and Kettering to be tripled or will the entire section be quadrupled again?

 

Thanks very much in advance!

1- Corby north to Manton is double track with a long signal block section which changes after next weekend.

2- Bedford to Kettering is currently 2 fast and 2 slow north to Sharnbrook, 2 fast and bi-directional slow to Kettering south then 2 fast/2 slow to Kettering.

Currently having the 2nd slowline being reinstated between Sharnbrook and Kettering South to be ready for May next year.

that is the one I'm thinking of? it stood until fairly recently, I'm presume its knocked down now?

Long gone. Roughly where the pile of contaminated soil now sits.

Light switches were on the engine wall ,block of 4.

One of them controlled the the cabroof light in the centre, a bare bulb I've only ever seen.

Another controlled a light which shone on the vac guage, came with a cylindrical cover with a hole in it, to shine onto the guage. Usually missing.

The 3rd desk back lights.

4th the light in the speedo/ammeter. ...maybe, can't remember it's been a while ..!

Worked over the branch last week .No sign of any work being done yet.

Many thanks to all those who attended this year's exhibition .The increase in size to 4 rooms and over 30 layouts was well received.

It was very successful for us with numbers remaining at last year's overall level.

 

An apology also to George for not quite leaving him enough room behind Towcester..........for his toaster !!.

Sorry.

The Heart of the Midlands
MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION  Extended for 2017 to 4 Halls with 30 layouts.
 

 2nd  and 3rd  of September 2017 

 

 

 

SAT 10am-5pm, SUN 10am-4.pm.
ADMISSION:  Adults £8.00  Concessions £7.00  Children £4.00  Family £20.00 
Free Exhibition Guide included with entry whilst stocks last.

 

30 Layouts, 25 trade plus demo's.

 

This venue is not far from the centre of the town, lying to the south, off the Leicester Road A6. Entrance via Burton Walks.

Regular local bus services from the Railway Station, Town Centre, Leicester and Coalville pass by the entrance. 

15 min walk from GCR., 20 mins from Loughborough Rail Station.

Plenty of car parking is available.

The venue is disabled friendly.

Hot and cold refreshments will be available.

 

I've sometimes wondered what the general public make of train load of bogie tanks that say 'TEA' on the sides plodding though the station

A few years back I was travelling pass to Nott'm when stood outside alongside a tanker train on the adjacent line. Two student age lads in the adjacent seats then commented on the tea label on the side of the tanker.A conversation then took place on why they would want to transport tea around the country and wether it was in liquid or powder form. Not wanting to spoil the fun I decided to not put them out of there misery and kept quiet.Kept me amused for the rest of the day.

So I take it the wires won't reach Manton now?

They never were. The extension of wires is/maybe, Bedford -Kettering- Corby.

Don't hold your breath though.

it definitely says UP Sidings on the access gate and in my Quail.

 

i take it the sidings will go and the building too?

 

Then you are referring to the up side with the shed. Apart from platform lengthening , not aware of any plans for the upside.

What's happening at Market Harborough?

Looks like the old up side yard is being cleared?

That would be the start of £30m+ project of minor straightening of the line, platform lengthening and new car park project.But nothing to do with electrification

Oh and it's the Down side actually! .

Trains were due to start running again today but not actually checked to see if they have, presume all is now back to normal.

Back to as it was 6 weeks ago.

Existing single line relayed in places(but a bit dodgy in places), 1 rebuilt bridge , some of the new line track taken up in places, but not that much to show for a 6 week closure. Should be good for Christmas next year......maybe.

What is AFAIN please?

 

Dave

As Far As I Know........But spelt wrong ha !!!!!

How much of the line between Bedford and Glendon Junction is it planned to restore to four tracks? 

 

Also, does the electrification project cover all four lines where 4 lines exist? 

 

ROB

its currently 4 track Bedford to Sharnbrook , 3 Sharnbrook to Kettering South then soon to be completed 4 tracks to Corby. All to be electrified by 2021 maybe.......! No plans to 4 track the current Sharnbrook to Kettering South bit.

Will the ohle to Bedford need to be upgraded for faster trains to run or is it upto the job now?

It needs to be upgraded as its only designed for 100mph running.

Yes, but I thought there was a standard area of yellow that must be met. Maybe it does and the standard area is smaller than I thought.

 

ROB

just 1 metre square I believe.

Thanks Hairy Bear for the link. Very useful picture. However, as usual, if you want to build a model, get a picture of the actual vehicle you want to build. The roof detail on the van in the vid is actually different to that on the van I have almost finished. I did manage to get a good picture of the roof detail on the RPSI van, and used that. The difference is not major, and most people would never notice, but it would have bugged me had I got it wrong.

David

 

Any chance of you posting the pictures you took of the van as I would find them useful for my own build of the Silver Fox model ?. Thanks.

Youtube vid of the steam vans showing the roof area quite well here......

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heIlc873Hvc

But when is Market Harborough actually going to happen?

 

Bearing in mind I first read about it in 'Modern Railways' back in the mid seventies.

 

Then in the same magazine a month or so back I find it hasn't even been given the go-ahead.

 

So it now seems Nottinghamshire County Council are having to push for it. (Even though the afore mentioned curve is actually in Northamptonshire).

 

Any further updates would be welcome.

 

it was costed up a few years ago at £26 million. Deemed not worth the money so now on the back burner as they say.