Bath Queen Square

[queensquare]

1 minute ago, Donw said:

Very neatly done Jerry. It is a fair sized frame what are you using for point motors?

 

Don 

Tortoise for  all the mainline point work .

 

Jerry

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, queensquare said:

Progress on Bath is painfully slow at the moment - not just because I’m busy with work/garden/grandsons etc but also because the job in hand is painfully slow  - and deadly dull!

Im working on the wiring up of the main panel so that when the point motors on the main run into the station are fitted I can connect them to the lever frame properly and not in some temporary lash up that would almost certainly remain temporary for years!

All the point levers are now connected to D plugs. This main frame only controls the signals and all the points necessary to run in and out of the station, the various yard points will be on their own, much smaller, local panels. Two nine pin D plugs are sufficient for the points, the 25 pin D plugs are for the signals - it may be some while before they are needed!

 

Jerry

 

Nice work, Jerry.

 

Before you go much further, may I suggest that you label each end of every wire? I use a labelling machine, wrapping the tape round the wire to that it sticks back on itself, if you see what I mean. Saves a lot of grumbling if when one falls off.

Edited August 9 by St Enodoc
speling

[queensquare]

10 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Nice work, Jerry.

 

Before you go much further, may I suggest that you label each end of every wire? I use a labelling machine, wrapping the tape round the wire to that it sticks back on itself, if you see what I mean. Saves a lot of grumbling if when one falls off.

Good call. The reason I went for the D plugs with screw terminals is they are numbered so that it’s easier to keep track of the various wires. It’s also why I opted to have separate plugs for points and signals. I shall do the same with the smaller, yard panels which won’t have any signals but will have points and uncoupling magnets. I  have a wiring diagram with them all noted on. 

Im trying to be as methodical as I can with the wiring so that any fault finding will be reasonably straightforward to trace. I’ll be honest in that I’m not particularly enjoying it but I’m determined to do it myself so I can fix it if needed! I’m way out of my comfort zone with this sort of work, I’m much happier cutting things out and sticking them together! 😊

 

Jerry

 

 

[queensquare]

Sometimes I feel as though Bath should have made a lot more progress than it has and, to be fair, if I had remained more focussed it may well have progressed a lot further that it has. Then I come across pictures like the two attached and I feel better. These were both taken almost exactly 14 years ago in September (Corsham) and November (Warley) 2010. The single station board with the original plasticard roof (which ended up going brittle and falling apart) was all that existed then. It pre-dates Tucking Mill and I hadnt even built the shed the layout lives in at this point. The two clerestory coaches are now six, and there are a couple of other rakes of MR coaches plus three proper rakes of SDJR coaches and lots of other stock. The old Denys Brownlee converted Farish coaches are long retired.

That said, the Midland 2-4-0 and 0-4-4T still arent painted......... !

 

Jerry

 

 

 

 

[Donw]

I think it is true that other things like other layouts and doing all those shows may have slowed progress but hey you have enjoyed yourselves.  Sticking to just doing the big layout could well have become a chore if it stopped you doing anything else. You could even have abandoned it.

As it is I think you have been making good progress and enjoying the build. The rate of progress seems to have sped up in recent years. I think you should be pretty pleased with how its turning out.

 

Don

[nick_bastable]

It's not the destination, it's the journey

 

Nick B

[queensquare]

12 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

It's not the destination, it's the journey

 

Nick B

just as well Nick! 😊

 

Jerry

[queensquare]

To give myself a break from wiring, and to take advantage of the brief dry spell, I finally got no. 81 painted. The basic loco was scratch built by John Greenwood in exchange for the Padstow buildings and is a truly stunning piece of work. I  did the final detailing  and painting. She is posed here alongside large boilered no. 88, though both need weathering. This now takes my fleet of 7Fs up to three (the other being my original no. 84 which is very slowly going through the works - at over 30 years old she is due an upgrade!). I have all the parts in stock for three more which would give me just over half the class, probably about right for an average day at Bath!

 

Jerry

 

[queensquare]

And for the sake of completeness, here’s old no. 84, built late 1980s. GEM boiler, scratch brass footplate and cab. Chassis is much modified Raithby 8F with white metal wheels. Scratchbuilt tender which originally had an old Tenshodo open frame motor in it. When I get time I will fit a coreless motor and chip, fit new handrails and touch up the paintwork - I’m keen to keep my original hand lettering, warts and all!

 

Jerry

 

[Compound2632]

I gather these engines were originally provided with tender cabs because they were too long for the turntables so were expected to spend half their time running tender first. When were turntables enlarged and tender cabs removed?

[Jim T]

Glad you’re going to keep the lettering, Jerry. It’s a bloody decent job, and we all should hold on to a bit of our modelling history, just to remind us we’re making progress. Nice to see all three in consecutive posts…

[queensquare]

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

I gather these engines were originally provided with tender cabs because they were too long for the turntables so were expected to spend half their time running tender first. When were turntables enlarged and tender cabs removed?

Morning Stephen. The tender cabs proved unpopular with crews because of poor ventilation in the tunnels on the climb out of Bath - they tended to fill with smoke. In addition, manoeuvring long fire irons on the enclosed footplate was also an issue. The tender cabs were therefore removed, exactly when is unclear. Some sources state by1920, others a couple of years later. Either way, they had all gone by the time the second, large boiled batch of 7Fs arrived in 1925 so my picture of 81 and 88 above is a complete anomaly - oh well!

 

The 42’ Bath turntable was replaced in 1935 which meant the 7Fs could then turn there although they still spent a lot of time running tender first on the coal traffic as  there was never a turntable at Radstock and the too small table at Templecombe remained until the end. They could turn at Evercreech though, without looking it up, I'm not sure when that table went in - I suspect around the same time as Bath.

 

Jerry

[Compound2632]

Thanks. Does that mean that for 1920 they should all be the same way round?

[queensquare]

34 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Thanks. Does that mean that for 1920 they should all be the same way round?

Chimney first heading south out of Bath seems to have been the convention so, yes, up until the new turntable was installed they were all the same way round. This seems to have continued for coal trains from Norton /Radstock until the end.

I can’t remember ever seeing a picture of a 7F heading out of Bath tender first but that’s not to say it never happened!

 

Jerry

[queensquare]

Kim has had this week off and we had originally planned to go away for a few days, or at least have a few days out but not only has it been chucking it down all week, but these five little beauties decided this week was a good time to arrive so we will be having a few days off but we won’t be going very far! Mum and pups doing really well.

❤️❤️

Jerry

 

Edited September 9 by queensquare

[Donw]

Beautiful photo. Are all the pups spoken for Jerry?

 

Don

 

Edited September 6 by Donw
to remove extra blank lines