Martin S-C

The Duke of Wellington is famously quoted on the evening of his victory of Waterloo as saying: "There is nothing so melancholy as a battle lost, as a model railway that lacks sufficient coal wagons."

Its not going to be done by over 100 years ago, no. Not even I can work that fast.

I bluddy well hope so!

To paraphrase Spike Milligan, "I'm working backwards to Christmas".

It looks like the poor loco has come off second best in a particularly vicious custard pie fight.

And on we go with progress, or perhaps, more correctly "regress". There is not much going to waste except time and some of the timber as almost all the track is reusable except for a few very tiny bits that are not worth saving. Much of the wiring can be reused, all the point motors, etc, etc. I'm also finding this dismantling lark highly therapeutic.

Is the van left of the SE&CR van L&Y? It has that distinctive bracing on sides and door. Plus an ECKINGTON PO coal open, which places us somewhere near Nottingham I suspect. https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklistdatabase/63630/bachmann_branchline_33_100xx_7_plank_wagon_2801_in_eckington_red_livery_limited_midlander_edition_of_500_pie/stockdetail.aspx

GNR vent vans in the Forest of Dean... would that be a thing? Although I confess I have one of these, just because they are fun:

I think its a coloured digital reproduction since there's a line of sepia tone at the base. I can't find the red dot but I am puzzled by the covered vans at the right. Apart from the fact they are 4-wheelers they have a lot of an American look about them. Does anyone know what they are?

Wonderful stuff. RMWeb is chock full of people who know a lot more than I do and are very willing to share it. Fantastic place and thank you again. New Thing Learned For Today!

Thanks. I am fairly ignorant of wagon interiors but have seen strapping reinforcement internally just beyond the door edges. One of these Speech House models even had it moulded on and I emphasized it with extra strapping. The vertical internal straps I've added are just beyond the door and not a part of it, so the door drops down as normal. However I've seen vertical strapping just inboard of the internal door edges as well. I'm confident about the three prominent vertical straps that add strength and distribute the forces of the opening hinge of the end door. This Sully wagon was my inspiration. Its not an RCH 1923 standard but then those cannot exist on my model either as its a fictional 1919. Think of my model railway as heavily inspired by John Ahern. I won't be including American pattern boxcars or cabooses however!

The old grotty door was already a couple of inches above the outside garden paving, so the new PVC door also received a step and the usual water run-off step/weather step (not sure of its technical name). Inside the door is flush with the new interior floor as this was raised up by ~3"

Its what I chose to have done. I find that even a roll of carpeting on a concrete floor gets you cold feet after a while, so yeah, I had a wet barrier sheet laid over the concrete then 2x2 joists laid on this, rolls of insulation between those with chipboard sheets over this. Having now lived with a garage railway room for 2 years and been using it over the winter I would only recommend it for a model room if there really is no other alternative in the property. In the cold and wet you have this barrier of a rainy garden to get across and even with a covered porch or walkway connecting the two, its still a bit "shed like" even if properly insulated. In summer you will certainly benefit from proper insulation, mine is again just 3x2 battens with plasterboard then skimmed with plaster. Between the wall joists is insulation sheet and there's a massive shed load of insulation roll under the pitched roof above the false ceiling. In the pic above all the blue rolls at the far end went up above the false ceiling. The place stays nice and cool in summer, very pleasant.

I do enjoy weathering quicklime "cottage top" wagons. There's nothing else quite like them. This one looks a bit naff in the photos but in the flesh it looks better and I'm quite pleased with it.

And finished. Strapping done, interiors painted: 101 interior weathered: 103 interior weathered. I also highlighted the main lettering as Dapol tend to print it looking less that bright. 101, being an earlier model actually looks much better printed... : 103 exterior weathered: 101 exterior weathered:

Fun with strapping (ooh er missus).

I saw this in today's news and thought this thread was the best place to announce it! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57007117

It can't be helped but...

I think it will have to go where the advanced starter is (see green dot below) as SSE of the suburban villas the tramway runs on a road and stopping a train there could impede road traffic. I think there may be a casual stopping place near the road junction where the villas are anyway for people to hop on and off to access the road that runs off through the backscene there. A fixed distant could be where the outer home was on your suggested plan, possibly on the east side of the line in the hedge

Thanks, that's helpful. I will place a home signal outside the main terminus then. I think another stop board or some other warning/instruction should go just outside Witts End as well, after the line leaves the tunnel westbound and before the first houses. Here trains (trams?) will come to a stand, whistle, check for road traffic and proceed at 5mph across the public roadway and along the town's high street. Prior to this point the line will be very rural and the slow speed plus whistle should be enough when crossing roads which occurs at two other places. With no outer home or advanced starter on the branch this lets me remove two more levers from the main terminus frame. I could place a fixed distant to remind drivers of their approach to the home.

I feel very guilty about using out-of-period models and RTR simple ones when there is so much awesome modelling here on RMWeb. My problem is having a need for so many wagons to work the colliery that if I were to kit build or heavily modify I'd never get anywhere

The upper final section through the town of Witts End is tramway, so as it passes the last building going east where it leaves the road, it becomes railway and is classified as such through the tunnel. At the Catspaw lime kilns it rejoins the road so in effect is tramway again until it becomes railway once more at the NE suburban villas. So leaving Witts End terminus in the up direction we have Tramway-Railway-Tramway-Railway. So a bit complex. Perhaps it should all just be tramway until we get to the main line terminus. Also some actual modelling. My first railway-related modelling for over a year. Just an ordinary pair of Dapol coal wagons grabbed off e-Bay. Yes, I realise these are post-grouping RCH 1920s steel underframe models. I have been searching for a Speech House wagon ever since the project started in 2018 and now two arrive together. The moulded end door hinges will be replaced with something a bit more appropriate, some strapping detail added to the interiors and be weathered.

Yes, it is but I can see times when I might want to have a CJF-style through-terminus set up and operate that way if 2 or 3 friends come round. With a group session you'd get two quite different forms of operation with the lifting section in place vs without.

I'm thinking a home and a starter at the branch terminus, mostly for decoration. I'm reminded that the Highworth Branch was one engine in steam and had two signals at the terminus. The colliery will probably need a small ground frame hut and 2 or 3 signals at the entrance to the running line, and again 3 signals at the junction. The lime kilns siding will have a small GF unlocked by the train crew staff (so in effect nothing on the model except decoration).

Yes, I think that works. Lord and lady gentry's motor vehicles and carriages at the parcels depot but nasty smelly grubby workman things like traction engines and wheeled farm machinery would need to be loaded somewhere less decorous. That does mean I now sense a fun cameo coming along under a vehicle arch at the parcels depot where a pre-Great War car can be getting pushed forwards towards a loading dock. Something I don't recall seeing modelled too many times. I agree about the pointwork. I much prefer the single point exit from the goods yard and the single point exit from the carriage sidings. Seems much more sensible. I wouldn't countenance twin entries to a loco yard so I'm puzzled why I went this way in the first case. I blame you lot for not slapping me into line with a wet fish when I first put the plan up. Here's the full current plan. Pink lines are baseboard joins.