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

[Tom Burnham]

Always like scenes where wagons dwarf the loco!

[Annie]

40 minutes ago, Tom Burnham said:

Always like scenes where wagons dwarf the loco!

I have to agree that I have a soft spot for them too. It's a fair sort of load for that Aveling & Porter tram engine to handle as well I would imagine.

[Annie]

Latest magnificent locomotive model from Ed Heaps;  An LSWR H16.  Also available in Southern and BR liveries.

 

 

 

[Annie]

Almost back together again with all dependent assets in their correct places.  Apart from a couple of warehouses missing a texture library and a ground signal the rest of the AWOL items are mostly my own carriages and goods wagons.

 

A crossing the salt marsh snap is just about compulsory.  This ex-Brill Tramway Aveling & Porter locomotive does about 15 mph at top speed so going anywhere driving it requires a good deal of patience.  It makes a good job of shunting the yards at Tenpenny Wharf though.

The red 4w passenger guards van is ex-NLR.

 

Edited August 14 by Annie
more to say

[figworthy]

5 hours ago, Annie said:

A crossing the salt marsh snap is just about compulsory.  This ex-Brill Tramway Aveling & Porter locomotive does about 15 mph at top speed so going anywhere driving it requires a good deal of patience.  It makes a good job of shunting the yards at Tenpenny Wharf though.

The red 4w passenger guards van is ex-NLR.

 

 

By a strange coincidence, I was reading the September 2024 edition of Steam Days this afternoon, and one of the articles was on the Wotton Tramway (later known as the Brill branch).  Not surprisingly, the Aveling & Porter features.  It would only do 8MPH on the level sections, averaging 4MPH over the route.  When pulling a heavy load, the front wheels would lift off the track.  When the original owners of the route tried to get it reclassified as a railway (rather than tramway), they failed as (amongst other reasons) one of the clauses of the Railway Regulation Act of 1844 required a minimum average of 12MPH.

 

Adrian

[Annie]

5 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

By a strange coincidence, I was reading the September 2024 edition of Steam Days this afternoon, and one of the articles was on the Wotton Tramway (later known as the Brill branch).  Not surprisingly, the Aveling & Porter features.  It would only do 8MPH on the level sections, averaging 4MPH over the route.  When pulling a heavy load, the front wheels would lift off the track.  When the original owners of the route tried to get it reclassified as a railway (rather than tramway), they failed as (amongst other reasons) one of the clauses of the Railway Regulation Act of 1844 required a minimum average of 12MPH.

 

Adrian

The Wotton Tramway has fascinated me for some time now and I would like to do something in the way of a model of it in Trainz.  I no longer subscribe to Steam Days so thanks for telling me about that article.

 

My ex-Wootton/Brill Aveling & Porter loco isn't all that happy if pushed out to its maximum speed and it runs and sounds much better at lower speeds.  It uses a lot less coal too!

It does its best work on the tightly curved trackwork at Tenpenny Wharf and over the tramway sections at Windweather where speed is not an essential requirement.  One thing it doesn't do is skip its front wheels up off the track if it's dealing with a heavy load which is definitely a good thing.

I wrote its engine spec so I should see if I can limit the maximum speed a bit more.

 

I have a larger Aveling & Porter locomotive of the same 4 coupled type as the ex-Wootton/Brill one and that one is a bit more capable when it comes to dealing with heavy loads.

 

[Annie]

More snaps from my Hopewood and Windweather Tramways album.

 

This little tramway engine was created by Steve Flanders and it's based on an Australian rural tramway locomotive that was built around the steam power plant from a Foden steam lorry.  I've given it a few enhancements and additions as well as a new engine spec I devised especially for a single cylinder steam engine.

 

 

 

I know I've posted this snap before, but it's one that I really like so it's back again for an encore. 

Hopewood Tramway No.08  rounding the curve below Cathill and heading for the tramway station at Bluebell Woods.

 

[Annie]

I spent a couple of hours or so at Cathill Junction station this afternoon doing all kinds of small jobs.  The whole district here is given over to farms and field crops and orchards so in the harvest season things can get pretty busy.  I had a go at setting up the orchards to have rail access around a year ago, but I over egged the pudding somewhat and this time around I'll try to be a bit more sensible about it and not get so carried away.  Less is more and all that.

 

 

 

[Annie]

More Cathill snaps.

 

This signal box is one of fruits of the project George Marshall (from the creator group) and I embarked on to increase the numbers of GER railway buildings available in Trainz.  As you might expect with me involved the selection bias was in the direction of the GER's minor lines and light railways.

 

 

This goods shed is based on a plan for a timber built goods shed published in a 1950s edition of the Model Railway News.  Ray Whiley from the creator group originally made the goods shed for Trainz and with his permission I've done some reskinned variations including this green one with a corrugated iron roof.  From memory the MRN plan was based on a GWR timber built goods shed, but I think it's generic enough to suit any minor railway or tramway.  It's become the standard Hopewood Tramway goods shed and others of the breed can be found at Bluebell Woods, Bluebell Sands, Hopewood on Sea and Elgar Wood, but not necessarily painted green.

 

 

[Edwardian]

On 15/08/2024 at 05:21, Annie said:

More snaps from my Hopewood and Windweather Tramways album.

 

This little tramway engine was created by Steve Flanders and it's based on an Australian rural tramway locomotive that was built around the steam power plant from a Foden steam lorry.  I've given it a few enhancements and additions as well as a new engine spec I devised especially for a single cylinder steam engine.

 

 

 

I know I've posted this snap before, but it's one that I really like so it's back again for an encore. 

Hopewood Tramway No.08  rounding the curve below Cathill and heading for the tramway station at Bluebell Woods.

 

 

That little green loco is adorable

[Edwardian]

3 hours ago, Annie said:

More Cathill snaps.

 

This signal box is one of fruits of the project George Marshall (from the creator group) and I embarked on to increase the numbers of GER railway buildings available in Trainz.  As you might expect with me involved the selection bias was in the direction of the GER's minor lines and light railways.

 

 

This goods shed is based on a plan for a timber built goods shed published in a 1950s edition of the Model Railway News.  Ray Whiley from the creator group originally made the goods shed for Trainz and with his permission I've done some reskinned variations including this green one with a corrugated iron roof.  From memory the MRN plan was based on a GWR timber built goods shed, but I think it's generic enough to suit any minor railway or tramway.  It's become the standard Hopewood Tramway goods shed and others of the breed can be found at Bluebell Woods, Bluebell Sands, Hopewood on Sea and Elgar Wood, but not necessarily painted green.

 

 

 

Perfect little good shed.

 

Reminds me of one on the Colne Velley, Halstead IIRC

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Halstead

Wasn't the goods shed at Halstead a large brick built building?  I've been meaning to get a book on the Colne Valley Railway for some time now.

 

 

Edit:  Did you mean the timber goods shed at Sible & Castle Hedingham? (Image borrowed from the Disused Stations website)

 

Edited August 17 by Annie
added a picture, wrote more words

[Edwardian]

51 minutes ago, Annie said:

Wasn't the goods shed at Halstead a large brick built building?  I've been meaning to get a book on the Colne Valley Railway for some time now.

 

 

Haverhill!

 

[Annie]

2 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Haverhill!

Yes that's the one.  My rusty brain was struggling to remember which goods shed you might be referring to in the Colne Valley.

 

Similar in many ways to the larger timber Eastern Counties goods shed at Marks Tey that George Marshall and I put together for Trainz.

[Annie]

After looking at the Colne Valley & Halstead Rly in previous posts I was reminded of an engine I have in my digital trainset box.

Four years ago Cameron Scott made a model of CV&HR No.1 and made it available on his Darlington Works website.  It was somewhat of a surprising choice considering that all the other engines available on his website were very much mainline company property.  Made for TS2019 using the new Trainzmesh system and PBR graphics it's a bit on the shiny side which is unfortunate really.  Unlike the previous .IM meshes used in Trainz where I could mute down the shine it's not possible to do this with Trainzmesh.

 

[eheaps]

14 hours ago, Annie said:

Unlike the previous .IM meshes used in Trainz where I could mute down the shine it's not possible to do this with Trainzmesh.

 

It is absolutely possible to change shininess in PBR and its much easier and more flexible than with im meshes. You just need to edit the roughness channel of the parameters texture. As it's a texture you are editing you can change the shininess of individual parts of the mesh rather than having to blanket modify the whole thing too.

[Tom Burnham]

On 17/08/2024 at 23:03, Edwardian said:

 

Haverhill!

 

You could still make out the site of Haverhill South station in 1996. Probably redeveloped by now.

[Annie]

7 hours ago, eheaps said:

It is absolutely possible to change shininess in PBR and its much easier and more flexible than with im meshes. You just need to edit the roughness channel of the parameters texture. As it's a texture you are editing you can change the shininess of individual parts of the mesh rather than having to blanket modify the whole thing too.

Thank you very much Ed.  There's so much I don't know about PBR and I've been a bit nervous about attempting to edit textures on the newer models.

[Edwardian]

21 hours ago, Annie said:

After looking at the Colne Valley & Halstead Rly in previous posts I was reminded of an engine I have in my digital trainset box.

Four years ago Cameron Scott made a model of CV&HR No.1 and made it available on his Darlington Works website.  It was somewhat of a surprising choice considering that all the other engines available on his website were very much mainline company property.  Made for TS2019 using the new Trainzmesh system and PBR graphics it's a bit on the shiny side which is unfortunate really.  Unlike the previous .IM meshes used in Trainz where I could mute down the shine it's not possible to do this with Trainzmesh.

 

 

Lovely.

 

Neilson-built, IIRC, but surely based on GER T7 drawings.

 

 

Therefore also WNR's No.1!

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Neilson-built, IIRC, but surely based on GER T7 drawings.

 

Ha, an S.W. Johnson engine then! 

 

The earliest locomotive design for which he claimed credit were some 2-4-0Ts from his Gorton days - Ahrons says he would always look them out on visits to Trafford Park shed. These featured what I suppose one can consider a rookie blunder - it was necessary to step over the splasher of the rear wheel to get into the cab. I now see that when designing the T7, he felt this obstacle was a feature worth repeating, despite it being a 0-4-2T!

[Annie]

30 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Lovely.

 

Neilson-built, IIRC, but surely based on GER T7 drawings.

 

Yes there's a definite family resemblance. Makes you wonder how the conversation went at Neilsons when they placed the order for No.1 

CV&HR No.1 has barely turned a wheel since I got it so once I've got it tidied up I intend to give it a run about on my Norfolk layout.

[Edwardian]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Ha, an S.W. Johnson engine then! 

 

Yes, indeed. 1871+ IIRC.

 

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The earliest locomotive design for which he claimed credit were some 2-4-0Ts from his Gorton days - Ahrons says he would always look them out on visits to Trafford Park shed. These featured what I suppose one can consider a rookie blunder - it was necessary to step over the splasher of the rear wheel to get into the cab. I now see that when designing the T7, he felt this obstacle was a feature worth repeating, despite it being a 0-4-2T!

 

See also Brighton Terrier, E1, D1... 

 

 

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Edwardian said:

See also Brighton Terrier, E1, D1... 

 

That's a minor trip hazard. We're talking up and over here.

[Annie]

I've been digging through my old Norfolk layout snaps.  It's a good cheer up as I've been sleepy and not so well lately.

 

Some snaps from September 2023.  This is H.T.Co. No.4 at Bluebell Magna shed not long after it received its last general overhaul according to my scribble on the back of the photo.

After languishing at Moxbury for far too long doing very little No.4 was given the job of being in charge of the Bluebell Magna-Muddle Junction-Little Keldon passenger service where it proved to be very capable.  I must comment though that GER lamp codes are an awful lot of fun to mess about with.

 

 

 

 

[Johnson044]

On 15/08/2024 at 05:21, Annie said:

More snaps from my Hopewood and Windweather Tramways album.

 

This little tramway engine was created by Steve Flanders and it's based on an Australian rural tramway locomotive that was built around the steam power plant from a Foden steam lorry.  I've given it a few enhancements and additions as well as a new engine spec I devised especially for a single cylinder steam engine.

 

 

 

I know I've posted this snap before, but it's one that I really like so it's back again for an encore. 

Hopewood Tramway No.08  rounding the curve below Cathill and heading for the tramway station at Bluebell Woods.

 

I really love these images Annie, especially the third one, which reminds me of so many occasions where I've visited former tramway / industrial sites. and compared old photos with the present day, looking at surviving walls and other features and imagining the rails threading their way between. The whole salt marsh scene is really powerful.