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AUGUST 2020 UPDATE
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GREG BROOKES
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PAUL JAMES
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HYWEL THOMAS
The rail loaders have always fascinated me with their little ‘tent’ and the winch set lurking
beneath. Quite a few of the WR sets ended up at Woodhams so I’d spent plenty of time clambering
over them. That yard was a godsend for a budding wagon enthusiast - absolutely no restrictions
on access (unheard of today!) and that included not only the storage sidings and the long
rows of engines but also the cutting area, which looking back was a very dangerous place.
Teetering piles of scrap, sharp objects and huge oily puddles everywhere… but it was great!
I used to borrow my parents car and go down every Sunday - they got back from church at about
12.30 so I’d whizz off to Barry (15 mins drive) have an hour in the yard and back for lunch
about 1.45. The wagons changed every week so it was really exciting parking up and walking
around the two old sheds near the entrance (I use that term loosely - no part of it was fenced
off at all) and see what had arrived. That’s how I ended up with several thousand wagon photos!
There was no H&S or environmental concerns at all. I recall one Sunday finding a couple of the
BR creosote tanks (like the old Airfix Esso tank kit) parked up in the yard. One was still full
of creosote and obviously the yard staff had discovered this on the Friday - their solution was
to hammer a cold chisel through the end of the tank and leave it to drain. So when I got there
probably ten tons of the 35 ton capacity had drained out over the wagon buffers and was sat in
a sludgy puddle over the track! I have a great picture of a steady stream of this brown stinky
liquid spraying out of the wagon and over the draw gear! Imagine doing that today?! That was
why it took the developers two years longer than they planned to prepare the ground for building -
full of contaminants! It’s all now dumped in the former dry dock in front of the Dock Office and grassed over.
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KARL CROWTHER
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PETE JOHNSON
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KIER HARDY
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With holidays currently on hold, let's make up for it and take an
excursion away from EM Gauge, but still maintaining that feel for the era.
We step up a scale to see Bill Connelly's Blowers Green layout in the O Gauge guest
spot, featuring a section of secondary main line with adjacent wagon repair facility.
Whilst on our excursion, we'll pop in to see Steve Harrod's Worcester Road Gauge 1
depot layout, also showing some of his latest progress in this larger scale when not
working on the 83A Newton Abbot Works in EM. Click on the images below to open the
Blowers Green and Worcester Road pages in a new window.
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BILL CONNELLY
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As usual we'll have a look at the latest spottings around Shenston Road, so starting off
at the steel works we get a chance to snap D1054 Western Governor in the exchange sidings.
On another occasion D1000 Western Enterprise is about to depart the sidings with steel coil traffic.
Yorkshire Janus locomotives 105 and 107 at rest in road number 6.
Another Janus number 103 on duty shunting at The Mill.
Recent work on the layout includes extending the pointwork sleepers at the top of the goods
loops to accomodate replacement Westinghouse point motors, from DCC Concepts.
Another project has been the construction of a Ratio Austerity signal box for the south end
of the station, to replace the temporary Tri-ang conversion that was sat there for many years.
The window glazing is perhaps a bit on the thick side, so it will be worth investigating
the possibility of replacing them for some etched replacements.
D5021 is new into the fleet. A SLW Class 24 suitably weathered showing its recently replaced
buffer painted in red-oxide primer.
It's not easy to find a Class 24 from this era that hadn't suffered from coolant spilage
on the roof and down the sides!
Entrusted to the mail train seen heading south at Hornsey Broadway, whilst Class 24/1 number
D5140 (Bachmann) makes its way to Temple Mills Yard in East London with a mixed freight.
This view shows two of the original point operating mechanisms still in use on Wood End
Sidings, located directly underneath the point tie bar, and were built many years ago
when the baseboards were part of a previous loft layout. The control of the points use
slide switches (for polarity changing) linked to brass rod and plastic angle cranks, with
sections of square brass box section sliding inside each other. The inner section has
a piece of round tube soldered at right angles, into which a rod is connected to the
point tie bar. I have used this method of point operation on a couple of layouts in the
past, and has proved to be very reliable in operation.
These mark 2 versions of the point operating mechanisms are for the recently built and
installed pointwork, as seen here lined up and ready for fitting. The right hand image
shows one secured in place. These later versions differ from the originals, making it
easier to position them correctly under the points, something that was a little difficult
to get right with the original design. The newer version didn't take as long to make
which was also a bonus.
Point operation uses a double pole slide switch with a hole drilled to accept the brass
operating wire, which then is connected to the angle cranks (as used in radio control
model aircraft and boats). These are then laid out something similar to the real thing to
operate the pointwork. The plastic cranks have a little flexibility in them, compensating
for any excess movement, similar to an omega loop. Adjustments can be made by using any of
the holes in the arms to vary the positioning of the brass rods. I found that using at
least two angle cranks in a run allowed easier adjustment. This method was used on Eastwell
Ironstone for many years of exhibiting without ever causing problems, and can easily be
adapted for use with servo motors in the future.
With the wiring all connected, test running commenced. For the record it's a Heljan model
with the original wheels turned down and the cab rainstrip modified, then weathered by Greg.
Last month we saw the construction of the café interior and here’s the finished piece,
complete with customers. On the counter, two tasty plates of Senior Moruzzi’s finest
fare will soon be heading for the window tables. All the figures are from the excellent
ModelU range.
Here we can see the interior installed in the former newsagents, ready to serve the hardy
workers from this forgotten corner of Port Talbot.
And a close up of the newly installed glorified card kit with some temporary lighting installed.
With the café complete another wagon project moved onto the workbench. This is the Lister
HA3 engine and winch that will form part of a WR rail loading set. A number of these sets
were produced for the WR, LMR and ER (and possibly for the SR too) using mainly Grampus
but also Ling. One wagon contained the winch and the other a series of rollers. In between
was placed one or two track carriers and the winch used to haul lengths of rail up onto them.
The roller wagons did vary slightly but as far as I know all the WR examples that I saw
followed this design. The model uses two Parkside Grampus, one is the earlier kit for
the unfitted version and the other a ‘de-fitted’ current kit. Most of the sets used
unfitted wagons although one of the earlier WR sets was based on clasp-braked wagons
but they seem to have been returned to original condition by the late 1970s.
The winch and engine was covered on all the designs. The LMR variety was rather more
substantial than the WR versions, the early example of which seemed to feature just canvas
hoods. In later years some seemed to be plywood covered while others featured galvanised
sheeting but each set was slightly different. This set was based on one I had clambered
over in Barry back in the 1980s.
Here we see the completed pair primed and ready for the paint shop.
The Lister HA3 has now received its coat of deep green and the winch red paint as per the prototype.
After a coat of faded olive green (always an interesting colour to replicate) and rust the
two wagons spent a long time undergoing lettering, little of which was available commercially.
A fiddly job! Now just awaiting some couplings and some old old ballast across the floor of
the roller wagon.
With the Grampus pair complete a Cambrian Sturgeon A followed them across the workbench to
run between they two other wagons. This carries several lengths of rail hauled on board by
the winch from the rail set. It makes for an impressive wagon but does take up a lot of space!
Progress has slowed a bit this month due to pressing jobs in the garden. But the track
in Kentside station goods yard is now finally laid and all wired up. Some of the point
servos here have been mounted on the rear edge of the baseboard; others at the front.
At Kentside the plan is to re-use all of the buildings from the original layout. However,
for the goods shed to occupy its new home it was realised that that the track access was
at the wrong side of the building. Here I’ve carefully cut a new rail opening into what
was a plain wall in the original structure, so the shed can at least be placed the
correct way round. That’s the first step – in addition, the door to the road side seen
here will need removing and re-positioning at the opposite end of the building. There
might also be a small office extension to be added at this end…….
Points in the goods yard would have been ‘hand-operated’ locally and not connected to
the signal box. This small panel has been built to operate these points. The green LEDs
indicate which road has been set via the four turnouts involved.
This is the Kentside Signal Box panel - with the labelling ‘provisional’ at this stage
(I’ve already had to correct one error…). When the electrical interlocking board has
been built, the row of red LEDs just below the levers will illuminate to indicate those
levers that should not be pulled (as they can’t be physically locked by the interlocking)
and a loud buzzer will also sound just to let everyone know about it! Eventually the plan
is to replace all of this with a Scalefour Society lever frame assembly. The wiring
connections will be common to both, so the switch panel can always be reverted to in case
of a lever frame failure, and similarly, the interlocking board can always be bypassed.
My cue for a Peak (if one were needed) is the fact that they often appeared on the
Leeds-Morecambe/Carnforths. This is to become Holbeck’s D34. I picked up the model on a
well-known second hand website – to discover it was one of the early batch, lacking the
infamous ‘nose seam’, which I set to and remedied, along with separate wire handrails on
the nose and a new top lamp iron (courtesy of Masokits). My efforts at the seam not quite
perfect, but it’s a job that’s not really possible to alter once done! Also treated to a
replacement Shawplan/Extreme Etchings radiator fan and roof grille, plus still to be fitted,
Laser-glaze windows. Red marker lights have been configured, but the illuminated headcode
panel defeated me and I turned these instead into cab lighting! Everything was stripped
from the chassis block so I could then cut recesses using the milling machine to house the speakers.
As part of ‘the treatment’ D34 is having the Penbits upgrade to sprung suspension. Here
are the main parts involved (for one bogie), plus the modified original drive train housing
ready for the reassembly to commence. Sharing this with you now will give me the impetus
to get it done so I can show it completed next month…………
Shelf space for half-finished projects finally began to run out, so the weathering paints
and brushes came out…. Drawing inspiration from the Paul Bartlett photo collection, several
wagon models have been completed. B746762 is a late-style 13 ton Sand tippler finished as
it might have appeared in the late 1960s or early 70s.
The LNER-style Shock open has been finished as B720200 for the same period. The offset
application of the shock stripes on the end panels is an interesting feature of the
livery on this example.
26 ton Twin Bolster B450516 + B450825 has been weathered to suit the 1970s, with the steel
bar load chained to the scratch-built swivelling bolsters.
This Esso Class B tank wagon, from the Airfix kit, was originally built many years ago but
saw little use in an ex-works livery. It has now been weathered to a mid-life condition when
the fleet was cascaded onto small-order deliveries such as to BR diesel depots.
Paul Bartlett’s photographs also show the type in the second half of the 1970s after disposal
by Esso, when some were taken into departmental use by BR. TDB999065 models the typical livery
worn during that service.
The Ratio coke wagon kit has been heavily weathered to reflect the closing days of wooden-bodied
mineral wagons in BR use.
The 1930s LNER/BR fish van E230333 has been modelled to a 53A photograph taken in 1964.
Another picture from this collection shows one of the type freshly repainted in the later Ice
Blue livery, with number and markings applied in white…..despite probably being within only a
year or two of being condemned.
This and the following few snaps were taken at Broadway Cutting, somewhere in the London
suburbs where a wide variety of inter-regional traffic can be seen passing by. Here's
Electro-Diesel E6107 with BRCW type 3 number 6572.
E6107 returning light engine later in the day.
More Electro-Diesel action with E6018 hauling a rake of 21 ton hopper wagons loaded with coal.
E6018 returning with empties.
Broadway Cutting is 3ft long x 1ft wide to accomodate the 4 tracks. The steel rail is part-cut
every 9.5 inches and given cosmetic fishplates, then the rail and chairs are painted prior to
ballasting. Sleepers on the disused tracks are treated to grey and light brown washes. I've used
resin retaining arches, clear cast from the Hornsey Broadway silicone mould, painted grey and
given a few high and low tones with foliage to cover the cracks. Small and easily portable, this
photo-plank will be useful for experimenting with different lighting conditions. The selection
this month have all been taken outside when the clouds parted for some evening sunshine.
D826 Jupiter with a rake of Lowfits en-route to an Army depot.
Van traffic in the capable hands of Hymek 7098.
D1033 Western Trooper with a mixed freight.
Here's some archive drivers eye footage taken at Wibdenshaw in 2015, recently
discovered on an old device. Apologies for the incorrect and annoying date stamp up the side.
The video button at the bottom of this page will direct you to a selection of other
clips showing various EM Gauge layouts that are featured within these pages.
Take a trip to Blowers Green - Bill Connelly's O Gauge layout. Click on the image to visit the page.
