Wentworth Junction

[Nick C]

58 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Nor was I until Mike @The Stationmaster taught me.

 

If you're standing facing a signal in the direction of travel, anything behind your rear is in rear of you (and therefore anything in front of you is in advance).

Although most loco crew will use 'at' or 'behind' when calling in from an SPT, I don't think they get taught signalling terminology!

[5BarVT]

9 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

OK, I'm not that good with signalling terminology!

Neither are pway.  But I think that’s cos they define things from the toes of the points not by line direction.

Paul.

[dave75]

On 03/02/2022 at 21:31, LNERGE said:

I thought the clear call was on the locos from the outset?

 

I have heard stories of it being unpopular with crews as it was attached to the overhead wire. I’d like to know more about it as to work at all the 1500 volt D.C. would have to be true D.C. with no ripple voltage whatsoever. 

 

It's covered in one of the more recent woodhead books, apparently there was an early (1950s) trial that didn't work well, and the clear call system was fitted to the air braked/multiple working locos when they were converted in 1969 & 1976

[Michael Edge]

After the gap caused by taking Herculaneum Dock to Bristol work has resumed on Wentworth Junction.

Most of the rest of the landscaping can be done from the inside without any need to dismantle the layout - so trains can continue running. The flat area to the left will have some cottages, the first few trees (Bachmann silver birch) are where the remains of Sovereign pit will be. The baseboard joint here is the one designed with possible expansion (for exhibitions only) in mind, the tracks cross at right angles to the join. I've just noticed that the signal is in the wrong place, it should be about 1ft nearer the camera, on the link section break.

Looking the other way after another couple of day's work, the gouge at the right is where a small stream runs in a culvert under the colliery branch.

[Barry O]

Trees?? whatever next? Grass??? 😁

 

Baz

 

 

[Michael Edge]

Yes, this is very much the green side of Barnsley.

[Enterprisingwestern]

47 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Yes, this is very much the green side of Barnsley.

 

Because it's in the Sheffield suburbs!!

 

Mike.

[Michael Edge]

That’s Sheffield, the dirty picture in a golden frame….

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, Barry O said:

Trees?? whatever next? Grass??? 😁

 

Baz

 

 

You beat me to it!

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

That’s Sheffield, the dirty picture in a golden frame….

I think the least-appropriately named station I ever travelled through was Sheffield Brightside - followed closely by Coatbridge Sunnyside.

[Enterprisingwestern]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I think the least-appropriately named station I ever travelled through was Sheffield Brightside - followed closely by Coatbridge Sunnyside.

 

Pedantically, just Brightside, the only British station The Killers wrote a song about!

Surrounded by gasworks, steelworks, chemical plants and not the best housing in the city, as an Escafeldian, I regrettably agree with you!

 

Mike.

[Michael Edge]

More progress with the landscape

The colliery branch runs across the valley on an embankment which is taking shape now. There's only a small stream in this part of the valley, it runs in a culvert under the branch as it meanders down to form part of the Dove at Worsborough.

The combination of Kingspan and expanding foam is working quite well now, both quite expensive but Kingspan slices up very cleanly (the outer coating is a bit of a nuisance though) and the expanding foam glues it all together very well. The foam is easily sliced to shape as well and works very well over baseboard joins - spray it all over the top, slice it flat and then run the knife down the joint.

The scenic break on the colliery branch will be a bridge here, it's going to be a bit speculative as nothing much remains now except for the stone abutments. There are some rock outcrops in in the cutting here so some actual rock is being incorporated into it, the foam holds everything securely in place. I'll build the bridge before this part is finished, I'm guessing it was just a plate girder, it only carried a farm track.

[Michael Edge]

First production EM1 now finished apart from control desk/seats which are waiting for the moulds to be made.

Lining wasn't as difficult as I had expected, most of the red lines are alongside panel joints but whoever cleaned up this moulding rounded the bottom edge on this side so the grey line almost disappears in the middle. Pantograph springs not fitted yet.

It was going to be 26005 but I had already put the BR crest transfers on when I worked out that only the first three had left and right facing ones, all the others had left facing crest on both sides.

The real pain was fitting the windows in the moulded part, using this is looking more and more a false economy - might be easier just to build the etched part next but I still have one body and some spare cabs.

That makes a grand total of four electric locos available for the layout now, two EM1s, an EM2 and the EB1.

[Barry O]

Oi! You missed one  .. another EM2

 

Baz

[Michael Edge]

I haven't got it yet......

[Barry O]

2 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

I haven't got it yet......

It's getting new pantograph fitted..

 

 

Baz

[Michael Edge]

More landscaping

The land gently rises at this side of the line so one piece of Kingspan laid in place up to the baseboard joint, foam squirted all round to fill the gap and hold it in place.

Meanwhile the new EM1 is on test on the layout

This is one of the heaviest jobs one loco has to do on its own, up steel empties. It may be going downhill at this point but the loco has to get the train up the corresponding hill out of the fiddle yard.

A comparison with the original all moulded EM1 going the other way, not much difference really but the slope of the cab front and the window proportions have been changed in the light of more accurate information since 1984. I'm not sure why there's so much body lean on 26044 here though.

26044 is on the loaded steel train which is of course much heavier but it has the EB1 coupled on all the way round - presumably from Wombwell. S1 0-8-4T and an empty ash wagon in the colliery siding.

Another research trip on Sunday, only a 20 mile round trip by bike on a nice day, produced some new photos.

This is the view from the lineside up the bit I've just landscaped.

Then I went down the path alongside the colliery branch to find the culverted stream.

I was only expecting to find a small brick culvert here, not this rather elegant stone tunnel. I'll presume the other end is the same, it's not so easy to get to - the river is a bit bigger than I had thought as well.

[Michael Edge]

First bit sliced down and next board started.

More expanding foam was squirted along the baseboard joint and then sliced flat.

Then it's easy to slide the knife join the line between the boards to restore the joint - they will come apart cleanly now when the layout is dismantled.

[Michael Edge]

Back to work on Wentworth Junction after two long holidays.

I wanted to get the landscape complete by the end of August and just about managed it. The two cut outs in the embankment on the up side are for a wooden hut and the big water tower. On the down side just past the loco is a flat area for Strafford sub station, at the far end the land rises to Gilroyd Lane bridge.

The end of the colliery branch isn't quite finished, the bridge needs painting and fixing down first. The plate girder is pure speculation, I've not found any photos showing it and only the right hand abutment survives today.

I've got a few weeks now to turn most of this green and add as many details/buildings as I can before it goes to the Leeds exhibition in October.

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

The plate girder is pure speculation, I've not found any photos showing it and only the right hand abutment survives today.

If it’s a square abutment rather than the remains of an arch it’s most likely to be a girder construction.

And as you say, no-one can prove otherwise!

Paul.

[Michael Edge]

It is, definitely not an arch but that’s all I can be sure of. It wasn’t a very accessible place when the railway was running.

[Michael Edge]

More work going on before it starts to turn green this week.

The bridge carrying Gilroyd Lane forms the end of the layout, nearly completed here - photo taken to check that it fits correctly. Made from a combination of plastikard, random stone and 3mm acrylic sheet. The actual bridge itself is made from concrete, probably rebuilt to prepare for electrification, the parapet is made from cast concrete sections, some bolted together.

Clearance test with the biggest thing likely to run through it.

The big water tower at the junction was set into the cutting side in this brick enclosure, on the right a mock up of the Strafford sub station kindly provided by John76.

This brick enclosure still exists but well buried now in the jungle. I went up there at the weekend to check measurements and see how the sloping ends were done, measurements were correct but I was surprised to see that it was red brick - from previous visits I'd convinced myself it was blue brick...

After all that I decided to move it an inch or so along the line - so that returning bankers can stop here clear of the crossover to take water before going back to the banker siding. The water filler bag was at the far end of the tank where this O4's tender is standing.

 

[Michael Edge]

Greenery started today.

This morning, not long after Innocentman arrived to show me how it's done. We started with the fields at the far side.

By 6pm we had got this far, I'll try to get the rest of it done tomorrow. A few closer photos now, we've done all the scabby long grass on the embankments.

This is very much the green side of Barnsley, always was and still is - though not so unfamiliar to travellers, the M1 runs through this countryside now and the bridge over it would not be very far off the layout past Gilroyd Lane.

 

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

This is very much the green side of Barnsley

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Barry O]

Wot???!!!! Even more grass than on Chapel.. heavens to betsy!

 

Mind you it does look good.

 

Baz