The Bigbee Line

Just picked up a broken 78 in the market. Will try dissolving in meths when I get home. What can go wrong......

I used a tin of 'knotting' that was at least 5 years old and it dried with no stickiness...

Thoroughly enjoyable day. Lots of chin wagging. Met some nice people and came away with no additional rolling stock or locos.

As I’m thinking of modelling an allotment, it begs the question - When in the year? Often our models represent that yearned for past time. I’ve thought that runner bean poles would be essential. With the beans a couple of feet up the poles. Potato plants just poking through after earthing up. Plus the soil on a Hayling Island embankment would be pretty poor. So a visit to the area might be useful. Even though the railway is long gone......

This is the only show that actually has me excited..... I think everyone should have a name badge to avoid having to guess who people are.

During the time period to be modelled the ballast was almost manicured by the local staff. Once the base for the shoulder has dried, I plan to create the cess / walkway with some kind of thick slightly textured (maybe masonry) paint. Finishing in matt grey. I can the do test sections to see what angle I can achieve with the ballast shoulder. I'm also keen to get the ballast size as near as I can, see examples that I am using for size...

Tonight some 10mm ply was cut out as the first piece of roadbed and screwed into place The track was pinned back in place. It will get it's final alignment when there is roadbed under the curved turnout The ballast shoulder had a base of filler made from PVA, water and balsa dust. It saves the amount of ballast required and the PVA in the mix bonds the ply roadbed to the main board.

Now the boards have reached the actual track laying stages I am going to do things slightly different to my normal method. I will tape a piece of paper to the rear of each board and trace the rail tops onto the paper. I will then draw lines 26 mm from each rail to represent the ballast shoulder. That template will be used to cut the 'roadbed' for each board. The measurements used were roughly extrapolated from a view of the track at Langston Halt. I would like to represent some lineside staff allotments on the first board farthest from the buffer stops. Again the inspiration is shown below...

We are off to Telford at the weekend. I must write a shopping list for 2 purposes: 1) Only to buy the things I need. 2) Avoid the impulse buys.... So some items for Cameo's will be on the list. I was thinking what season to model? I could be really sad and choose a particular day... I quite fancy a section of field with some kind of agricultural implement in use...... On the other hand something more modest my be more suitable... The station had an end loading dock so flats with machinery on would be excusable...

Tonight the second and final board for the station throat was sorted. An 18" x 48" board was subject to the usual carpentry efforts. Shown here butted against the previous board. A couple of darts were cut and the board shaped to match the curve... Here with the first curved point and the line towards Havant laid in.... The end of the board is 18" wide, with the track 6" in from the front, with 12" at the rear for some interesting scenery... The scenery in the area is very flat and quite bleak in the winter. A bit like the branches to New Romney and Allhallows... The 4 boards form a J just under 17 feet long. It will fit into the workshop and if set a slight angle there is room for a small fiddle yard. So far it is the most interesting layout I've built as the idea was not to have any tracks parallel with the long straight edge of the 2 station boards. The boards of the station throat have followed the alignment of the track rather than the track following the board... The next job is to create the front facia, it will be straight on the station boards at 24" width and then curve in on the station throat boards to match the 18" width. I might add a small scenic only board at the end of the line for exhibition use, curving round to avoid a sharp corner...

Today I managed some time in the workshop after some hardcore gardening... The darned cabbage white are on the rampage. The 2 beds of greens have been cocooned in shading netting... Let the blighters get through that.... Anyway back to the railway. The first curved point between was pinned down along with the curve to the platform line. Right hand curved point was trimmed to form the trap point from the run round and goods siding I had some Wills OO point rodding, that seemed a bit over scale, I need to check the dimensions to see hoe it compares to O scale

A continental screw coupling fully extended on a loaded wagon (springs compressed) will clip the rails at turnouts, cattle grids, and AWS magnets. At speed it will be flailing around if not correctly stowed.

In the 1980's when I was a guard I spent a week on a turn with an old hand from Hither Green. He related that in the 1960's when the Kent Coast Electrification was in full swing, they passed out men as Motormen that under steam days would not have made a driver all the while they had a hole in their ar$e. I'm not saying this is relevant, but it illustrates that the circumstances can vary tremendously

It's been a busy couple of weeks at work. Trips to Dagenham, Trostre and Milford Haven for work, with a visit to the Gwilli which fortuitously is 5 minutes from my cousins. Once back the garden needed a bit of TLC. So today I spent a bit of time with the first of the boards with the station throat. The board is approx. 150 cm long and will have a curved front. I have done carpentry dress making, adding some darts... The front of the board still has to receive its curved extension at the front... The back of the board has straight edges, with angled joints... The wooden folded ruler shows the joint between the platform boards and the first station throat board. The picture on the right shows roughly where the curved point will sit on the next board...

When I was a guard the appendix rule was that screw couplings not in use were to be hung in the rest hooks provided. If the hook was missing and the other coupling was a screw coupling, they were to be swapped. If both couplings had missing rest hooks, the coupling was screwed into the short position and the tapper would tie up the bottom link with 'brake release' cord. Plus they would apply green cards as appropriate. Attached is a PDF with most coupling variations shown for your perusal, sample shown below. Note that there were couplings of the same type with different breaking strains... a test paper will be handed out later.... 1q1cB1-C0-90299821 .E B R COUPLING TYPES (2).pdf

As the crane runner might end up as the “last wagon” they were fitted with safety chains in case they “broke away”.

I visited Rye in Sussex in the past and visited the “Rye Model”. A history of rye it’s light and sound illuminated around a large model on the floor. Maybe Pendon could do the same, with the model as the stage and the history being performed by different trains through the years. With a nice commentary it would be good for all visitors.

With regard the 'why did they build steam shunters' comments. The infrastructure was there and the loco could be build with minimum overheads and imported materials. When you look at the parts replaced at heavy overhaul, to build a new loco was to much more. Maunsell moguls were receiving new frames very late in their lives. I have seen a picture of a set of inside cylinders for a Z class 0-8-0 being cast in the foundry at Eastleigh in the early 60's. Maybe with Brexit we will be digging up the black stuff and building such loco's again, to move things when we have no oil...... The government could requisition all the existing steam locos....... A bit of modern technology regarding lubrication and brakes and 'bobs your uncle'......

In the 80s locos were never shut down. When they started shutting them down it seemed quite strange.

Very nice. I like the representation of felt on the roof. Cheeky question, does the roof look better in real life or in the pictures. I ask as I sometimes think pictures look worse than the real thing...

I took my coaches out today for a test run. The bay platform will take 3, but the end coach is not all in the platform. I think I'll extend the line across the next board joint to get all 3 coaches on the platform. I like the way that the curves are gentle enough to give a realistic look to the coaches. Next job is to sort out the boards to cope with the gentle curve of the approach. One bonus of the curved boards is that there will be space fpr the Drivers Bothy to have a home...

The Peco Curved Left Hand points were on back order and arrived at the weekend. Plus my box of C&L flexi-track. I had pondered how to arrange the station throat, having a go with the Peco printed templates but it isn't the same as real track.. The workshop also needed the tidy up / sorting to continue. I knew I had 2 more unmade Screw-fix trestles, but could I find them... As dustbin day was for general waste I had a Sunday night session in the depths of the workshop; filled the bin and found the trestles... Not having to balance on only 2 trestles let me set up the 2 main boards and play about with the station throat. Again it was viewing pictures of the prototype that helped most. Here is version 1 of the station throat. The right hand curved point acting as a trap will not be a full turnout, just switches... This is the trap from the yard on the real thing... The Peco points take a micro-switch under the boarding modelled over the tie bar. Has anyone used that type of switch in conjunction with a Peco point motor. I have a box of motors so might give it a try. The station throat will fit on 3 x 80cm long boards, narrowing from 60 cm on the main boards, by 10cm on each board until the last board is 30 cm wide at the narrow end.

I got 2 for £15 each at Ali Pali. They were the slippery slope into O. They are morphing into a pair of single bolsters. The buffers are ok and the under frames take better wheels.

A bit late with a reply.... the crew could go back “pass” and the loco then marooned until a crew with the knowledge could get it back.

Yes, it is that good. You just have to put a lock on your wallet, loads to stock up on. Reminds me, I need to write my list....