Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Edwardian]

Looking good.

 

Just wondering what adaptions I need to make to view and run that as a physical layout;; and.

 

Also, rather envying the nice shelves and cupboards underneath!

[Annie]

47 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Looking good.

 

Just wondering what adaptions I need to make to view and run that as a physical layout;; and.

 

Also, rather envying the nice shelves and cupboards underneath!

Thanks very much James.  I was a bit glum earlier on, but I was just being silly.  I'm actually quite pleased with how 'Minories' is turning out. I haven't had a proper look at the houses and shops along the street above the tunnel yet to roll them back in time, but that will be the next job coming up.

 

My big advantage in the digital world is that I can go anywhere at pedestrian level without any barriers to doing so.  With a physical model I would say that at a minimum the glass canopy roof would have to be removable and with there being three overbridges fairly close together that might get a wee bit tedious after a while.  I've thought about removing one of them.

The goods shed might need part of it's roof removing as well along with the side that's facing into the room.  The other thing would be the room side trench retaining wall and how much of a pain that might be to reach down into to uncouple wagons & etc.

 

Those shelves and cupboards under the layout are really corker, but unfortunately in the virtual world they are no more than nice looking stage props.  It is possible to lay invisible track on the shelves to store engines and rolling stock, but it's not really possible to access them during a running session.

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

Minories, - WIP continues.  I decided to build up the goods shed using the same wall sections as i used for the station's overall canopy roof.

 

[Annie]

And that's enough for today, - i need a cup of tea and a nap.

 

 

[Annie]

New South Wales Government Railways junction signal (oil lamps) in use at 'Minories'.

I've frowned at these for ages, but in the end I decided that because they aren't identifiable as belonging to a well known UK railway company and do have an old fashioned quality about them I'd make use of them.  Suggestions for the name of the now absorbed minor railway company that originally built 'Minories' are very much welcomed.

 

 

Looking in the other direction towards the tunnel you'll note that the NSWGR bracket signal has wooden posts.  Ideally I would have preferred it if the junction signal models were the same, but you can't have everything you might want I suppose.

You will also note that the Midland Railway company has provided a D299 5 plank open in accordance with current regulations.

 

[Edwardian]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

New South Wales Government Railways junction signal (oil lamps) in use at 'Minories'.

I've frowned at these for ages, but in the end I decided that because they aren't identifiable as belonging to a well known UK railway company and do have an old fashioned quality about them I'd make use of them.  Suggestions for the name of the now absorbed minor railway company that originally built 'Minories' are very much welcomed.

 

 

Looking in the other direction towards the tunnel you'll note that the NSWGR bracket signal has wooden posts.  Ideally I would have preferred it if the junction signal models were the same, but you can't have everything you might want I suppose.

You will also note that the Midland Railway company has provided a D299 5 plank open in accordance with current regulations.

 

 

 

A good choice, if I may say so. Frowning has paid off.

[Annie]

33 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

 

A good choice, if I may say so. Frowning has paid off.

Thanks.  Next task is to run some trains and see if it all works as it should.

[Annie]

Various snaps taken while working on Minories.  Because this version of Minories is a lot longer than C.J.F's original plan I put a crossover between platforms 1 & 2 as well.  It might not need to be used all that much, but it's there should a shunting maneuver need it.

 

Building this up in TANE has the problem of a lack of suitable London engines.  Ed's class 'E' you can see lurking at platform 2 is the version made for TS2012 and it's perfect for Minories.  Once I'm sure everything works Ok I'll take 'Minories' over to TRS22 where all the wonderful Beyer-Peacock Class 'A' engines live.  Six MET 'Dreadnoughts' will fit comfortably at platforms 1&2 and five will fit at platform 3.

 

'Crowstone' is still about and ten hired Midland 4 wheel coaches fit the platforms just fine.  This version of 'Minories' is supposed to be mainly GER-LTSR with additional visitors should I feel like it, but I'm lacking for suitable pre-WW1 GER engines in TANE.

 

Well that signal works alright.  MET Peckett No.101 is on pilot duty.

 

Edit:  There is this older GER L77 expertly reskinned into blue by Rob Dee. (and some others in grey, - but we don't talk about those.)  1915 is well outside my time period, so sorry not today No.1001.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Annie
added a picture

[Compound2632]

21 hours ago, Annie said:

You will also note that the Midland Railway company has provided a D299 5 plank open in accordance with current regulations.

 

Stamped "APPROVED".

[Annie]

This is the fiddle yard for Minories.  It was developed for a 1970s based dismal era version of Minories so I'm more than likely going to have to make some modifications to it.

 

 

 

This is the street that sits on top of the tunnel.  I've changed the street lamps to gas lamps and deleted all the modern trucks and cars, but there's still more to do yet.

 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

This is the fiddle yard for Minories.  It was developed for a 1970s based dismal era version of Minories so I'm more than likely going to have to make some modifications to it.

 

 

 

This is the street that sits on top of the tunnel.  I've changed the street lamps to gas lamps and deleted all the modern trucks and cars, but there's still more to do yet.

 

 

You could demolish the two pairs of semis and erect a Victorian terrace in their place.  Perhaps the l/h end terrace* could be a small business, a monumental masons might be fun...

 

* From this viewpoint, the r/h end looks a bit cramped.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Hroth

[Schooner]

2 hours ago, Annie said:

...so I'm more than likely going to have to make some modifications to it.

 

Loops and a headshunt, by any chance?!

 

...actually, giving it ten seconds' thought, might it be one for bringing the sidings in to a TT at the end...?

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Schooner
PS. Needless to say, it looks wonderfully evocative already. No supplementary BGCUPs required :)

[Annie]

9 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

You could demolish the two pairs of semis and erect a Victorian terrace in their place.  Perhaps the l/h end terrace* could be a small business, a monumental masons might be fun...

 

* From this viewpoint, the r/h end looks a bit cramped.

 

 

The semis are presently under the shadow of a demolition order since they are most definitely not from the pre-WW1 era.  Fortunately I don't lack for suitable buildings I could use it's really just making up my mind as to what to put there.  A small business with a cluttered yard would be good.  i wondered about a church or a chapel as well.

 

7 hours ago, Schooner said:

Loops and a headshunt, by any chance?!

 

...actually, giving it ten seconds' thought, might it be one for bringing the sidings in to a TT at the end...?

A turntable is fairly high on the list as well putting crossovers at the end of most of the sidings.  With 6 'Dreadnought' coaches and a medium sized tank engine being about the limit for the station platforms the fiddle yard sidings are way too long unless the intention was to double stack trains into each siding.

I'm somewhat stumped with trying to understand how the yard was supposed to work without resorting to reversing whole trains by magic teleporting trickery.  Doing that is entirely possible in Trainz and I've used it myself in hidden sidings where there wasn't space for a return loop.  It's a bit of a cheat though and is the kind of thing that might be done if it's wanted for the fiddle yard to operate entirely under AI control.

[Annie]

Evening Cheer Up Poster: 1910

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Annie
Um.........

[Annie]

The semis have gone and the pigeon says he saw nuffing.

 

[Hroth]

You'd better dispose of the two telephone boxes and the modern looking pillar box too...

🙂

 

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

You'd better dispose of the two telephone boxes and the modern looking pillar box too...

🙂

 

Yes they've gone too as well as the modern bus shelter opposite the gas works.

 

I feel a bit of a rotter in some ways as much of the modern details I've been deleting were quite cleverly arranged and I know how difficult it can be to do that sort of thing without making a mess of it.  But on the other hand they can't stay where they are either so they have to go.

[Annie]

Just because it hardly ever gets taken out of my digital train set box I thought I'd pose GER L77 No. 1001 at Minories.  It's an older model for TS2012 and it runs reasonably well.  Unfortunately or not it always reminds me of an 'O' Gauge tinplate model by Bassett Lowko.

 

 

Another digital trainset box refugee.  LNER No.2600 dragged out blinking into the digital sunlight is an older model by Cameron Scott.  He seemed to have been very much into things LNER back then and it wasn't until a year or two ago that he started to make pre-grouping engines.  The only engine he ever made in GER livery though was a C53 tram engine.

While digging about I found that 4 wheel LNER pigeon van.  What an awfully good idea, - providing a van so pigeons can catch the train into London of a morning instead of having to fly into work.

 

[Hroth]

On the other hand, the Pigeon Van might be used by the Catchers of Trafalger Square to transport a quantity of feral pigeons from Central London to the countryside for rehoming.

 

A fruitless experiment.  A later, equally unsuccessful attempt took the Tom Lehrer approach...

 

[Edwardian]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

On the other hand, the Pigeon Van might be used by the Catchers of Trafalger Square to transport a quantity of feral pigeons from Central London to the countryside for rehoming.

 

A fruitless experiment.  A later, equally unsuccessful attempt took the Tom Lehrer approach...

 

 

Well, Spring is here!

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Edwardian

[Hroth]

15 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

Well, Spring is here!

 

 

 

 

I decided not to be too obvious...  🤪

 

Thing is, considering the weather we had this week, I wonder if spring IS here!

 

[Edwardian]

33 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

I decided not to be too obvious...  🤪

 

Not something I ever worry about!

 

33 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Thing is, considering the weather we had this week, I wonder if spring IS here!

 

 

Well, Spring has certainly come to the Midlands. Back home it was clement enough when I left, even the constant biting winds had abated somewhat.

 

This should get us in the mood...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

 

Not something I ever worry about!

 

 

Well, Spring has certainly come to the Midlands. Back home it was clement enough when I left, even the constant biting winds had abated somewhat.

 

This should get us in the mood...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Spring in the Midlands", an obscure DH Lawrence short story*. A forerunner to Lady Chatterleys Lover...

 

Not suitable for those of a delicate disposition!

 

* Allegedly...  🤪

Edited April 16, 2023 by Hroth

[Annie]

My commision with Connor to have a GER E22 locomotive made is now underway.  My light railway ambitions have been languishing somewhat so the arrival of an E22 will go a long way towards reigniting my interest again.

 

 

Picture courtesy of the GER Society.

 

 

[Annie]

Still keen on commissioning a GER '209' class after the E22.  No prizes for guessing which one I want.

 

No.231, the Nielson clone built under James Holden at Stratford in 1903 and kitted out as a tram engine.

Picture courtesy of the GER Society.