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

[Annie]

Steam Railmotor on the Brixham Branch.  So far I've run into the buffer stops twice because I can't get used to how the brakes work.  At this rate I'll end up getting busted down to being a sub-porteress who can only be trusted to sweep the platforms.

 

[Edwardian]

Well that's a biy gorgeous.

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Well that's a biy gorgeous.

It most certainly is James.  A number of community made scenarios have been made for this Steam Railmotor model and the Brixham ones are enjoyable due to the accurate modelling of the branchline.  Now I just need to learn how to drive using this very different steam control set.

I'm too used to driving 19th century locos in Trainz and using independent mechanical brakes instead of vacuum or air braking systems.  Unfortunately the Train Simulator doesn't have independent brakes and the continuous brake systems are a complete mystery to me.  I might have to go back to the driving tutorial a Dawlish and get some more practice in until I can operate the brakes properly. 

[Annie]

Brixham OS Map 1904.

 

[Annie]

This is a preview screenshot from the Steam Railmotor session I've been trying to drive without causing havoc.

This is the branch platform at Churston.  And because I didn't write the session I'm not responsible for the 'Blood & Custards' approaching on the mainline.

 

 

I did the braking tutorial that had a 4F as the official learner driver engine and passed the test just fine, but when it came to applying what I had learned the Red Terror wasn't having any of it.  About the best I did was banging into the buffers at Churston without derailing for once, but otherwise it was almost 100% hitting things and derailing.  I only managed to not derail at Churston because somehow I stopped well away from the platform when the brakes suddenly gripped, - and then when I did my best to do a slow and careful approach toward the platform at about 6 mph to recover some semblance of dignity my efforts with the brakes were entirely ignored and I hit the buffers, - wump!

 

Mike Jefferies painting of Brixham Station circa 1950. (Courtesy of Brixham Railway Heritage Trail page Facebook)

 

 

Pre-WW1 GWR Brixham poster.

 

 

Edited May 30 by Annie
Added three pictures

[Annie]

I think I might be getting close to understanding what is wrong with the 'Red Terror'.  Pictured is a mucky ex-GWR 57xx about to head off from Brixham to Kingswear with three Mk 1 coaches.  I had absolutely no problems with this engine's brakes as it was a fairly recently created model with independent brakes and the vacuum brake; - and they worked completely as I expected an engine's brakes to work!  The independent loco brake was brilliant which would make this particular engine an excellent choice for a spot of shunting.

My own performance on the run to Kingswear was a bit wobbly as I'd not driven the route before, but I did arrive at Kingswear without trying to plow through the buffer stops or derail anywhere.

I think the problem with the Red Terror is that its brakes haven't been properly set up.  Unfortunately Train Simulator is different to the Trainz Simulator in that it's by no means straightforward to get into an engine's inner working and fix stuff.  All I can really hope for is that whoever made the 'Red Terror' will do something about improving its brakes..

 

[Matloughe]

I'm not an expert - its been a while since I have driven the Railmotor.
Were you driving from the actual cab or from the trailing end? I have found that from the trailing end it needs to be set to 'Advanced Mode' for the bell system to work correctly. And from the actual cab - the end with the boiler have you tried shutting the small ejector (Default Key J)? With the ejector open it restores the vacuum faster than your brakes can destroy it which means you just keep rolling.

 

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Matloughe said:

I'm not an expert - its been a while since I have driven the Railmotor.
Were you driving from the actual cab or from the trailing end? I have found that from the trailing end it needs to be set to 'Advanced Mode' for the bell system to work correctly. And from the actual cab - the end with the boiler have you tried shutting the small ejector (Default Key J)? With the ejector open it restores the vacuum faster than your brakes can destroy it which means you just keep rolling.

 

Kind Regards,

Gary

I was driving from the cab end with the boiler.  However I did not know about the ejector as all my driving experience up until now has been with the Trainz Simulator and the Trainz steam controls don't include an ejector.  Thank you very much for your help Gary, I'll give that a try on my next session at Brixham.

[Adam88]

I think that this counts as a cheer-up.

 

 

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Adam88 said:

I think that this counts as a cheer-up.

Oh Wow!  An absolutely maximum cheer up 300%.  Oh wow!  This is almost better than the Broad Gauge (Oh St. Isambard please forgive me for saying that, - I didn't really mean it.).

 

Thanks very much for posting that amazing Duck End Pictures video 😀😄😁

 

Edit: The full length Juniper Junction video is well worth watching if you have 40 minutes to spare.

Edited May 31 by Annie
more to say

[CKPR]

To my mind, Brixham is thee GWR station, with Charlford a close second (the latter having much to do with the range of buildings in the classic Prototype Kits of the 1970s).

[Annie]

33 minutes ago, CKPR said:

To my mind, Brixham is thee GWR station, with Charlford a close second (the latter having much to do with the range of buildings in the classic Prototype Kits of the 1970s).

Well Brixham has certainly taken a hold on me and has captured my interest.  I must confess that I'd not heard of Brixham and its branchline until I came across it listed in a session made by a member of the Train Simulator community.  After looking it up on the Disused Stations website and reading more about its history I was definitely hooked and I want to find out more, - especially during the Broad Gauge era.

[Adam88]

11 hours ago, Annie said:

Oh Wow!  An absolutely maximum cheer up 300%.  Oh wow!  This is almost better than the Broad Gauge (Oh St. Isambard please forgive me for saying that, - I didn't really mean it.).

 

Thanks very much for posting that amazing Duck End Pictures video 😀😄😁

 

Edit: The full length Juniper Junction video is well worth watching if you have 40 minutes to spare.

 

Yes, I thought it would be appreciated here along with the other Duck End films.  Sadly there won't be any more.

[Annie]

11 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

Sadly there won't be any more.

Yes that is very sad  😢😞

[MikeOxon]

12 hours ago, Annie said:

This is almost better than the Broad Gauge

.

 I was very relieved to see that you withdrew such heresy before being condemned to the flames 🥵

 

I agree, though, that those videos are delightful 😀

 

Mike

[Schooner]

On 30/05/2024 at 07:58, Annie said:

 

The gable-ended building on the right is in fact the outstanding Queens Arms

which I was very happy to have as my local, as it would've been for railwaymen I imagine.

 

Welcome to Fishtown!

[Annie]

23 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

 I was very relieved to see that you withdrew such heresy before being condemned to the flames 🥵

Yes I was so ashamed of myself I drank tea made with cheap budget tea bags from the supermarket as a penance for the rest of the day.

 

Part of the latest project from Steve Flanders, - a Broad Gauge covered van based on the drawing in Alan Prior's '19th Century Railway Drawings in 4mm Scale'.

We decided to do it in well weathered brown rather than the red livery that the rest of the planned goods wagons will be wearing.  So far the list includes an iron Tilt wagon, a S.D.R open wagon and a PO wagon.  There might be more after that as Steve has said he'd like to give some of his older Broad Gauge models a refresh and tidy up.

 

The covered van is presently being checked over and tested by me to make sure it works properly.

 

Edited June 1 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Annie]

Afternoon Broad Gauge Cheer Up Picture:  May 1888, broad gauge 2-4-0 locomotive No 14 was outshopped new from Swindon Works. She was one of two identical locomotives, the other was No 16, designed to haul the heavy 3pm express from Bristol to Swindon.  They were built with the intention of converting them to standard gauge, but instead they were 'rebuilt' in 1894 as 4-4-0s of the Armstrong class – No 14 being named ‘Charles Saunders’.  It is highly likely though that the rebuilding was a paper exercise to avoid capital expenditure as very little of the original Broad Gauge engines were used during the 'rebuilding'. 

Personally myself I'd much rather have the original Broad Gauge No.14.

(Picture and most of the words borrowed from the Didcot Railway Centre)

 

Edited June 1 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[phil_sutters]

23 hours ago, Annie said:

Well Brixham has certainly taken a hold on me and has captured my interest.  I must confess that I'd not heard of Brixham and its branchline until I came across it listed in a session made by a member of the Train Simulator community.  After looking it up on the Disused Stations website and reading more about its history I was definitely hooked and I want to find out more, - especially during the Broad Gauge era.

Brixham also has a place in my heart. We took a day trip during our holiday in Dawlish. I am the geeky teenager with glasses under the 'Way out' sign. The gaberdine mac was my school uniform one. No 'casual' outerwear in those days. One of my sisters is next to me. I would recognize one of our mother's home-made check skirts on her any day. Weirdly the bearded bloke looking out of the window looks like I did twenty years later.

Edited June 1 by phil_sutters

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, Annie said:

May 1888, broad gauge 2-4-0 locomotive No 14 was outshopped new from Swindon Works.

 

Options for numberplate placement were limited. Good job it wasn't a 4-digit number!

[Annie]

1 hour ago, phil_sutters said:

Brixham also has a place in my heart. We took a day trip during our holiday in Dawlish. I am the geeky teenager with glasses under the 'Way out' sign. The gaberdine mac was my school uniform one. No 'casual' outerwear in those days. One of my sisters is next to me. I would recognize one of our mother's home-made check skirts on her any day. Weirdly the bearded bloke looking out of the window looks like I did twenty years later.

Thanks for your memories of Brixham and the photo Phil.  It certainly is a grand little station.

 

Nothing like seeing a photo of yourself at school age to set the mind wondering where all the years have gone.  I know it's been that way for me of late.

[MikeOxon]

It may have been Brixham that started my interest in the GWR 

 

I remember a camping holiday in a field by a small lane that led to a bridge over the Branch.  Even at that age (5 or 6)  GWR engines seemed 'exotic', after the plain black things of the North West. 

 

I had been allowed to go to the bridge and watch for a train,  Unfortunately, some sort of horrible-looking large insect landed on my shirt and I ran crying back to Mum.  Just as I was out of sight of the railway, along came a train. Now I knew - life's like that!

[MikeOxon]

12 hours ago, Annie said:

Part of the latest project from Steve Flanders, - a Broad Gauge covered van based on the drawing in Alan Prior's '19th Century Railway Drawings in 4mm Scale'.

That looks like the 'Henson Patent' van that I have modelled. 

 

Mine is also brown since that was the standard colour, before red was introduced around 1865

 

[phil_sutters]

Strangely Dad didn't have any photos of the railway at Brixham when he visited in 1936. He did take a couple of photos of the harbour. The vast majority of his photos were of railway subjects, nearly all just locos. Family photos were his second favorite category. He took very few landscapes, so the Brixham ones are rarities. Both are from tiny little negatives.

Not sure why I have two different years in the captions. I doubt he was there both of them!

Edited June 1 by phil_sutters

[Annie]

1 hour ago, MikeOxon said:

That looks like the 'Henson Patent' van that I have modelled. 

 

Mine is also brown since that was the standard colour, before red was introduced around 1865

Yes it is Mike.  When we were looking over Alan Prior's drawings we also had a look at your blog page as well.

 

59 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

Strangely Dad didn't have any photos of the railway at Brixham when he visited in 1936. He did take a couple of photos of the harbour. The vast majority of his photos were of railway subjects, nearly all just locos. Family photos were his second favorite category. He took very few landscapes, so the Brixham ones are rarities. Both are from tiny little negatives.

Not sure why I have two different years in the captions. I doubt he was there both of them!

What an amazing record of a time gone by, thank you for sharing your Dad's photos.  The photos might have been made from tiny negatives, but even so they still manage to show so much useful detail.

 

I doubt very much that I have the skills to ever try to model the harbour, but knowing what it looked like is immensely valuable.