The Bigbee Line

It might have been a nice to do at the time. The LMS bean counters would have rubbed their hands at the saving in materials...

Curiosity Killed the Cat..... John, the comment regarding lack of tie bar between the axleguards grabbed my attention. 'Normally' when unfitted wagons receive vacuum cylinders on 'pusher' brakes a tie bar is fitted to stop the axleguards being pushed outwards, not necessary on 8 shoe clasp brakes as they grip the wheel. However I found a picture of an LMS fish van http://www.alextrack.co.uk/model_railways/2mm_finescale/non_passenger_carrying_coaching_stock/fish_vans_lms_d2107.html where it has a 10'6" wheelbase, pusher brakes and no tie bar... It may be that the tie bar fitting came later (after a problem had been perceived). Looking on the internet it appears..... that LMS fitted 9' pushers do not have the tie, whereas LMS fitted 10' pushers do. Maybe the 9' wheelbase were not XP rated and as such the brake force required to stop at Freight Train Speeds.. A real conundrum....

Nearly fell off the settee when I saw this one https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/SR-and-BRS/SECR-tank-engines/i-PXHW8LG/A Then reading the text I see it was part of a Push Pull set.......

I'm thinking about some sort of motorised roller that I can sit my Fettling Jars on to gently tumble and condition the surface. Rather like the stone tumblers you can buy. Any ideas anyone?

Not too much to report. Work and the weather have conspired against the modeller.. Having an indoor Home Office is a luxury. I've been able to bring some things in from the cold and the desk can double as a work bench. I have a load of partially built wagons in O gauge that need finishing. To that end I have started a batch of Instanters. The brass inner link has been tinned on both sides and they are ready for the 'Fettling Jar'. This is a small jar of coarse sand into which certain small items are placed then at various times during the week, the jar is shaken and tumbled to 'condition the surface of the items. Instanter links soldered... The contents of the fettling jar ready to take the links...

Nice pictures. As a Freight Guard in the early 80's we used to work a morning service from Tonbridge West Yard that could call at Ashford, Paddock Wood (IIRC), Ashford the either Canterbury West and Ramsgate or Folkestone East and Dover, not sure if it was times round via Deal to Ramsgate. I remember the state of the minfits, for Bauxite read Rust.. I'm sure there was a 2 door version on one occasion. At Canterbury West you had to shunt across to the sidings that were on the up side... Wish I taken more pictures....

Chris, nice pictures, good detail. I may be be repeating myself, excuse me if that's the case... In the 80's as a Freight Guard I had a few jobs on the Ashford - Hastings line, after it had been singled from Appledore to Ore. The section from Winchelsea to Doleham had a length of concrete sleepered Bullhead track. The 60' rails had been welded into 120' lengths, you knew where you were as the clickety click changed as you went from 60's to 120's. All the end sleepers had been changed to wood. There was some mention that one style was to insert the bolt from the bottom with the nut on the top, the other had the bolt head at the top. Whatever the reason one type made changing broken items quite difficult as the bolt could not be dropped easily to allow a broken sleeper to be replaced. The ones in the picture have the jointed sleepers replaced with wood.

Good evening Here is a panorama shot taking this afternoon. Just after 16h30. Must try to get out earlier when the light is better..

Thanks for the tip. What is the learning curve requirement for this software?

I have been experimenting with home produced backscenes. I first down loaded images from the internet to join together to get printed as a banner. My first efforts were trial printed onto glossy photo paper and came out OK, but they were very much 'sunny day'... This is a Georgia Pine Forest, very neat, very sunny... So I decided to take some pictures and see if they could be used. Unfortunately I've been out quite late in the day and started to lose the light. A little quandary was, do I expose for the land or the sky.. Here is an exposed for the sky... Compared to an exposed for the land.. I think I might need to print both and see how they compare. Has anyone else tried this?

The RIV was superceded by the GCU and GCU appendix 11 covers markings on wagons, available on-line.. http://www.gcubureau.org/documents/10184/52712/20150101+-+EN+-+GCU+appendix+11.pdf/ec0dbf03-965a-4e5a-951f-915786104d3d Let me know if you have any queries. Thanks Ernie

Oh dear Brian, you need to pay attention in class... :-) The lower weight is the brake force of the hand brake. Used in SNCF yards. The brake force 'masse frienee' can be calculated 'mandraulically' from the information on the wagon side and the load information from the CIM or LVI. Again I have something I can scan later...

Close but no Cigar.. The 4 figures are the maximum load depending on the 'line category', so a journey over an A line can only carry 41 tonnes of load. Some steel carriers have additional D ratings for lines specifically able to take high axle weights, usually steel traffic. I think I have something I can scan late...

I have a stash of athearn gears that are a drop in replacement. Not expensive. An essential with any proto loco.

The proto 2000 is worth a look.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HO-Scale-Life-Like-LV-Lehigh-Valley-PA-1-Diesel-Locomotive-611-Powered-Model/332529295817?hash=item4d6c4a61c9:g:SmEAAOSwMqBaZllX Smoother operation than the Athearn, even though the mechanism design is a clone. Thanks Ernie

Brian, Thanks for the links. I used a picture from the Georgia Forestry site to rough out a frieze for a backscene.. I then trimmed the file to let me print a section on a piece of glossy A4 paper... Here standing at the back of the baseboard to get a feel for the look. I'm not sure if the trees need to be bigger as I want to put some other trees actually at the back of the board.

If they are like other Roco points they are not isolating. You will need an insulated joiner and switch.

I have one terrier. If one with a better chassis was produced I’d get at least one. In my opinion it has so many livery options that make it good for the manufacturer. DCC sound would be the icing on the cake.

I'm keen to create a backscene to represent the Georgia countryside. Not sure whether to photoshop or have a go at painting. What have others done?

The 'home office' progresses.. Part of the shelving is planned to hold a shelf layout. There is a standard format that will allow me to 'ring the changes'. Here is the HO board. I will get some shorter brackets so I do not spear myself. The shelf above will have a strip of LED lights and a small pelmet. The beauty of the twin slotted shelves is the versatility. Just need to get them all at the same height...

You can isolate a vacuum braked wagon. One of the flexible pipes underneath is cut and a wooden cone (like a small spinning top) is tapped in the pipe to allow the vacuum to be created in the pipe. Had that done a few times in the 80's at Hither Green in the middle of the night with Minfits ex Betteshanger. Until recently I had one of the wooden cones..

Bending the rail beforehand might help stop it springing out of place. I have a Fasttracks Rail Bended, https://www.handlaidtrack.com/tl-0004 not cheap, but effective. Great for FB rail. Bullhead could be bent using three stout nails in the manner of the rollers on the rail bender..

Yes, a sad day indeed....

Today I replaced the code 60 rail with code 55. I managed to slice the end of my thumb by running it along the web, OUCH. The cutting the rail into scale 39' lengths and staggering the joints has got the 'not worth it' vote. Reasons: The joints aren't noticeable. I think some glued on fishplates with bolt heads might be more visually attractive. The joints would need soldering and I want to minimise soldering. It's easier to use longer lengths. Here are a couple of images showing jointed track. The representation of the spikes are tiny on the code 83 track base, in the pictures they looked enormous.

Z - Service Departments 2 Axle Freight Vehicles