The Night Mail

[Northmoor]

2 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

My father taught a young lady chemistry who had grown up in that cottage. Her father was the section ganger. Every Tuesday her mum would get a ride in the gaurds van of a goods train to Ribblehead then catch the train to Settle to go to the weekly market.  Then back the same way with a weeks shopping. Lovely family I knew the father.

These sort of local arrangements were once so common but seemed to die out around the end of steam on BR.  One of the more extreme examples, where the beneficiary was not even a railway employee or their family, was how Great Longstone station on the Midland Main Line through the Peak, continued to be served after official closure in 1962 by one train each way a day for five years.  This was to allow a local nurse to continue to travel to Buxton hospital for which no other transport was available.  However, two college school girls who did the same journey were not allowed to use the train as to do so was considered to be tantamount to keeping the station officially open. 

 

Today there are now about 50-60 stations on the UK network (about 2% of the total) which remain open despite having fewer entries/exits than Great Longstone had after closure.

[Northmoor]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Despite the fact that I love the Dales, am a fan of the midland Railway and the S&C is my favourite piece of that railway, to spend a quarter of a mil on what is euphemistically described as an 'exciting renovation project' without any mains supplies, is probably almost inaccessible for some of the time in winter except by rail, and by the look of it isn't much bigger than HH's signal box..........

 

No way Jose

 

Dave

And you can't even collect firewood for fuel, because you'd struggle to find a tree for five miles in any direction.

[Dave Hunt]

2 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

And you can't even collect firewood for fuel, because you'd struggle to find a tree for five miles in any direction.

 

It probably depends on coal falling off the locomotive......... oh, hang on........

 

Dave

[polybear]

37 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

And you can't even collect firewood for fuel, because you'd struggle to find a tree for five miles in any direction.

 

And I wonder just how many Builders would be prepared to do the renovation.....

[jamie92208]

51 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

And you can't even collect firewood for fuel, because you'd struggle to find a tree for five miles in any direction.

IIRC there used to be another 2 cottages but they have fallen down/ been demolished.  Presumably a signalman or another ganger lived there.  Yes there is a distinct lack of timber nearby but there is a small plantation in a sort of Corrie just west of where the aqueduct  crosses before the tunnel.  I believe that Peter Kermode modelled all 3 cottages for his model of Blea Moor.  Just as an aside didn't one of the Midland's chairmen want Blea Moor in the background of his official portrait.

 

Jamie

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Despite the fact that I love the Dales, am a fan of the midland Railway and the S&C is my favourite piece of that railway, to spend a quarter of a mil on what is euphemistically described as an 'exciting renovation project' without any mains supplies, is probably almost inaccessible for some of the time in winter except by rail, and by the look of it isn't much bigger than HH's signal box..........

 

No way Jose

 

Dave

 

It's in Yorkshire - so in the words of a TV series "I'm out"

[jamie92208]

5 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

It's in Yorkshire - so in the words of a TV series "I'm out"

Ah but the railway is headed for a proper cou ty further north. 

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Ah but the railway is headed for a proper cou try further north. 

 

Jamie

 

What Scotland?

 

Bit far to go if you forgot the milk for the builders tea.

[AndyID]

Hello Everyone,

 

My name is AndyID and I have to confess I've whizzed away a small fortune on (as yet) unmade toy train wagon kits by pretending that they were actually "scale models" of really obscure prototypes when, in fact, all I was trying to do was simulate the Halcyon days of my yoot.

 

Still, that's nuthin' compared with the actual fortune I'm about to whizz away skiing at Aspen next month 😀

 

At my age I think it's important to get my priorities sorted out. I am so very fortunate to be able to do really stupid things when so many of my pals and peers are no longer here.

[AndyID]

11 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

DD or to give her proper name  Ziggy Lou - don't ask as it's a quite a long tale, is my second schnauzer and to say that the two are the exact opposite of one another is a bit of an understatement. The first one i had, Ziggy -see above, was got as a therapy dog to help with my depression. My mother having sat next to well known psychiatrist at an inner wheel function asked his recommendations and he suggested getting a dog. It helped greatly ensuring i got out and met people. She lived until she was eleven and her death was very traumatic. One of mums last acts was to get me a replacement. Ziggy Lou is far more forceful and more energetic but i wouldn't be without her for all the panniers in the GWR.

 

Doggies and cats can be quite remarkable at sensing the human condition.

 

Some years ago I was well and truly depressed. I sat down on a chair by the fire and Muffy, our adopted stray cat, jumped on to my lap and just lay there for a very long time. It was very comforting and it was not typical of Muffy's behavior.

 

Lorna is a nurse and a "call the midwife" midwife and she was a hospice nurse in the US. There was a cat at one hospice which was the "cat of death". It jumped on to the beds of patients who were on their last legs and stayed with them to the end.

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[jamie92208]

One small problem has occurred  to me about my grand project.  The metre gauge wagon has no tracck to run on.  I need to find some smallish rail and build some.  To do that I will have to make some 22mm track gauges.   That could be fun.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

48 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

One small problem has occurred  to me about my grand project.  The metre gauge wagon has no tracck to run on.  I need to find some smallish rail and build some.  To do that I will have to make some 22mm track gauges.   That could be fun.

 

Jamie

I would suggest that metre gauge track in 7 mm scale is around 22.89mm gauge, so I'd suggest going hell for leather and either take it up to 22.9 mm or down to 22.8 mm.

 

If you are prepared to compromise, and lose 3.25" in the track gauge Irish model railways in 4 mm scale (P4) are 21mm gauge. Slaters did (might still do) a small range of 7mm scale wheels primarily for Irish 3 ft gauge models.

 

I's not so much the track gauge that you need to worry about, it's ensuring the various clearances in the crossing nose, wing rails and check rails that are the problem.  'Back to back' is the usual cry, but in fact it is the distance between the inside face of the running rail and the inside face of the check rail that is the critical factor.

 

I know this from my experimentation with 'true' 18" gauge at 1:12 scale.

 

I suspect you could use Peco IL-5 Code 100 flat bottomed rail as a reasonable representation of French Metre gauge rail.  But how is it secured to the sleepers?

 

Spiked direct; spiked through base plates or some form of  base and clip arrangement?

 

Of course it could also be chaired track as evidenced here in Lightmoor Press's  French Narrow Gauge Album:

 

 

Merdrignac station on the line running east from Carhaix to Loudéac with a Mallet 0-6-6-0T taking water. Although the train is mixed, the regular railcar service would have meant there were few passengers riding in the coach which, in all reality, was used as a brake van but available for casual passengers who could put up with the waiting time at stations whilst shunting ensued – railway photographers, for example. John Snell

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Happy Hippo
addition of picture

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I would suggest that metre gauge track in 7 mm scale is around 22.89mm gauge, so I'd suggest going hell for leather and either take it up to 22.9 mm or down to 22.8 mm.

 

If you are prepared to compromise, and lose 3.25" in the track gauge Irish model railways in 4 mm scale (P4) are 21mm gauge. Slaters did (might still do) a small range of 7mm scale wheels primarily for Irish 3 ft gauge models.

 

I's not so much the track gauge that you need to worry about, it's ensuring the various clearances in the crossing nose, wing rails and check rails that are the problem.  'Back to back' is the usual cry, but in fact it is the distance between the inside face of the running rail and the inside face of the check rail that is the critical factor.

 

I know this from my experimentation with 'true' 18" gauge at 1:12 scale.

 

I can crank out some "go, no-go" gauges on the lathe and a layout to scale in Templot. Assuming it's soldered FB rail on PCB sleepers I have quite a lot of copper-clad PCB that's not doing much and a guillotine that can slice it up to any old width.

 

Unless Jamie is planning to recreate huge chunks of the French NG system, postage should be the only expense.

 

😀

[jamie92208]

29 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

I can crank out some "go, no-go" gauges on the lathe and a layout to scale in Templot. Assuming it's soldered FB rail on PCB sleepers I have quite a lot of copper-clad PCB that's not doing much and a guillotine that can slice it up to any old width.

 

Unless Jamie is planning to recreate huge chunks of the French NG system, postage should be the only expense.

 

😀

That's a very kind offer Andy.  I may well take you up on thecoffer of gauges.  Thecguy that I bought theckit from told me that most of the French 0m stuff runs on 22mm gauge.  I will examine  the wheelsets with my vernier calipers.  I've got Templot and have had a quick play this morning.  Two boards 1200 by 450 should do what I want with the turnouts near the ends. I'll devise some sort of fold down or bolt on cassette at each end.  The standard layout was the through track furthest from the station with the loop track adjacent with wagons parked in it. 

 

This is going to be a fairly long term project.  I've played on Templot and Google earth this morning.  The station building is 17 metres long which works out at about 15" long.  That would be set at the back of the board.  It's all good fun.

 

I need to join thecmetre gauge modelling association and see if they have any standards. They produce the loco kit. 

 

If they let me join their standards are obviously  fairly low.

 

Jamie

 

 

[PMP]

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

.  I believe that Peter Kermode modelled all 3 cottages for his model of Blea Moor.  

 

Jamie

Pete Kirmond did model all the cottages at Blea Moor. 

This is the only pic  I have easily to hand of the layout, it was an epic project in all sorts of ways. Out the front as the ‘driver’ looking uphill you could get lost in the whole vista of the layout, and develop an almost zen like serenity. Round the back, with the folded figure of eight fiddleyard, not so much!

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, PMP said:

Pete Kirmond did model all the cottages at Blea Moor. 

This is the only pic  I have easily to hand of the layout, it was an epic project in all sorts of ways. Out the front as the ‘driver’ looking uphill you could get lost in the whole vista of the layout, and develop an almost zen like serenity. Round the back, with the folded figure of eight fiddleyard, not so much!

It was a great layout.  Having grown up opposite Settle I was able to help Peter with info about freight traffic.  I think he modelled the trainload of Ingot moulds that we used to see regularly.  If that's the south end of the UP loop, my moniker stems from mynonly ever cab ride on mainline steam. It started there and ended at Settle station on a Long Meg pladter train.

 

Jamie

Edited December 29, 2022 by jamie92208

[PMP]

^^ That is the south end. It was a simple layout out the front, and pretty complex behind the hill, which hid the ‘folded 8’. It very quickly sorted out the good from the bad and indifferent as far as RTR mechanisms went too. Easily one of my favourite layouts I’ve been a small part of.

[Happy Hippo]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 most of the French 0m stuff runs on 22mm gauge. 

Makes sense I don't suppose Peco are ever going to produce rtr track, and if the 'standard is already there I can't see a Proto 0m suddenly rearing it's ugly head....Unless DH gets involved😂.

 

A distant acquaintance wants to know if they have lamps, and if so, do they get changed?

[Happy Hippo]

For those lusting after Pempoul and a feeling for French Metre gauge modelling:

 

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/pempoul-french-metre-gauge-150-scale

 

 

[iL Dottore]

23 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Makes sense I don't suppose Peco are ever going to produce rtr track, and if the 'standard is already there I can't see a Proto 0m suddenly rearing it's ugly head....Unless DH gets involved😂.

 

A distant acquaintance wants to know if they have lamps, and if so, do they get changed?

An acquaintance of mine, iL Grande Mago Flavius, runs courses for railway modellers to develop their paranormal abilities.
 

At the end of his introductory course on lighting and signalling, participants will be able to change lamps (and headlamp codes) on their locomotives, no matter the scale, through the power of thought alone!

Il Grande Mago Flavius has noted that many of his alumni post regularly on RM web boasting of their ability to change headlamps. Only client confidentiality prevents the Great Mage from naming names.

 

Only scofflaws like Happy Hippo and others on TNM doubt that this happens (and I suppose they don’t believe in telekinesis either).

 

[Happy Hippo]

6 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

Only scofflaws like Happy Hippo

 

Does that mean I can eat a lot?

[Tony_S]

20 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

For those lusting after Pempoul and a feeling for French Metre gauge modelling:

 

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/pempoul-french-metre-gauge-150-scale

 

 

I have seen Pempoul a couple of times and have a few of the books that feature some of the techniques used. It is a fantastic model and was operated and presented so nicely. 

[SM42]

I changed a lamp yesterday. 

 

40W it was. 

 

Andy

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

trainload of I got moulds

Err Jamie what's a trainload of i got moulds?

 

Some very pongy cheese?