The Bigbee Line

I have a copy of drawing D13/3659 dated 26 Aug 1959 for the 'body arrangement road-rail beer tank whitbreads' Its the wagon part only; 2 axle 10' wheelbase, 17'6" over headstocks. Anyone interested? I am struggling for internet at the moment so might be slow in responding.

All the parts including a White Metal radiator wait patiently for warm weather and some 00 mojo.

Good tip. Thanks.

Interesting loco. The buffers seem to be in extensions. Has the effect of setting the ETH gear back a bit. Had to be rescued by one from Lowestoft when 47828 croaked. Strange as the driver sits in the middle with a wide console in front. No window to open to look back. As an asset. They should be sweated 24 hours a day. Earning their crust. I have some detail shots. Will post if anyone's interested.

Out of curiosity. What is the latest J72 like with the body off?

I was a big Microsoft fan. Not any more my 3 year old machine (came with Windows 8 ) is now so ssssllllllooooowwwww. It's depressing that Microsoft are like the Borg and I have to be assimilated into their system with no choice. I use to laugh when people moaned about such things. Now after dutifully upgrading and loading the correct updates I have something that I don't want to use. Depressing.

Just setting off from Carnforth. Wall to wall spotters and people to see a bit of history. Wow.

Fingers crossed for the morning. We're joining the train at Nuneaton. As said before I wasn't a fan if the loco, but it's grown on me. It's very handy when Linda is so keen on railways. Even gets comments at work. Only last Sunday a Crewe fitter said " I hear on good authority that your wife's a crank". That's correct I said. "Fair play, wish mind was interested" was his reply, with a hint on jealousy.

Where is the layout set? Central, Eastern or Western section?

As Mike says, it's all part of overhauling equipment. There is also the necessary documentation. Without this documentation and subsequent certification the locomotive cannot run on Network Rail infrastructure. A small physical change that can take 5 minutes can take days to get reflected in the relevant documents. Whilst they are only pieces of paper, they are part of the bricks and mortar of keeping the railways safe. My wife and I are booked on a trip on Saturday that now has two Black Fives, am I disappointed, yes a little, but I fully understand the way things are. Hopefully there will be another day.

Looks like your all having fun. That's what it's all about. Probably a lesson for a few others. Keep up the excellent work. Can't wait for the next instalment.

I'm not a regular reader of this thread, but the NIMBY stance on the OHLE structures at a certain location seems to me like a re-run of the Royal Border Bridge episode when the ECML was juiced.........

All very confusing looks like it's the early green one for me. Anyone know when the oval buffers were replaced by the round oleos?

It also helps to remove as much magnetic material from the wagon.

Just watched the video on youtube. Was looking for the pause button to give me time to write down some wagon numbers. What a selection..... Did you see the number of ground staff, plus members of the public, I particularly like the kid walking along the railhead next to the shunt. As a kid I remember going to collect parcels with Dad from the Goods Shed at Brighton in pre-school days, the whole place was full of parcels and packets, an amazingly busy place. Looking forward to see the model as it makes progress.

The buildings look good. Old railway infrastructure in freight only use has a charm of its own.

There might be mini competition.......

I've just ordered one through Ebay, couldn't help myself.....

Another nice looking small layout. Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

I suspect the 'grey plugs' are part of the roof moulding. A neat way of incorporation a different colour to the model without actually painting anything. I would suggest having a go at fabricating the truss bars underneath, not too difficult. Plus you could cut out the 'plugs'(that are actually sliding vent covers) trimming them so that they are slightly proud of the wooden sides. If you look at the prototype picture you can see the light triangular frame that supports the vent cover. Someone on the ground could reach up, unclip the frame to allow the vent cover to be moved up or down and re-secured. In winter they were normally closed to keep the contents warm, in summer they were opened to allow ventilation to keep the interior cool. The aperture behind the vent was covered in security mesh as the contents frequently travelled 'under customs bond' to their ultimate destination. With a little work this 'sows ear' might make a reasonable 'purse'

This one is probably the closest type, if you squint a little. A medium Van from Jugoslavia 217221910189 at Dover Town Yard.

A couple of observations: If the plan is to keep the line open an 'engineers siding' running alongside the mainline might be useful. It could be used to ferry the large quantities of shingle that have formed a high bank adjacent to the Admiralty Pier, back to the area adjacent to the tunnel mouth. There are traces of groynes to inhibit the drift of the shingle. Once layed a small locomotive and a couple of hoppers could shuttle up and down as required tipping shingle. maybe a more economic option in the long term, that the 'big hit' principle that's being applied at present. Also moted in the pictures is the physical state of the concrete components of the footbridge. One shot in particular shows rows of reinforcing rods visible where the surface has fallen away. Probably a product of Exmouth Junction, I'm sure our eagle eyed photo researchers will give us an age for it's construction. Good luck to everybody and their efforts,

Years ago i had a unimat lathe and turned a couple of chimneys, never got as far as flaring the bases, but the chimney part was fairly easy. With the unimat I think you swung the whole thing to make the taper. A very long time ago...

Jon, The scroll irons were different. I think the kit is of the earlier type, I'll check out my pictures..

I was toying with the idea of filing the plastic base down until the two parts matched at the joint, see 'artists impression' image below: Not sure how much it will lower the chimney, I'll find a file and have a go tomorrow (money where mouth is...)