john dew

Well I guess this old girl passes the authentic 1947 unlined look After todays news she and her equally elderly sister (7805) can look forward to a few more years employment on Granby. Knew it would be safe to upgrade the decoders over Christmas. Regards to all John

Talking of Hawksworth Coaches.........could anyone confirm the length of the coach destination boards......on the Hornby models the brackets are 14'6" apart rather than the normal 18' (they are also on the coach side rather the roof) There is an interesting photo of the boards being painted here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/111946-gwr-coach-roof-destination-board-size/ which tends to confirm that Hawksworth boards were shorter and that the lettering used was sans serif (arial should do) and white on a dark background I am not certain whether this photo was taken in BR days which would account for the dark background Assuming that the Hawksworth coaches carried boards in their all too short spell in GWR livery,............what was the colour scheme? The normal black on white or something more exotic bearing in mind their new location on the coach side......Cream on Brown perhaps? Hope everybody had a great Christmas and you are looking forward to the New Year Regards from Vancouver where non stop rain is finally washing away the snow at our level John

Merry Christmas from a very white Vancouver to you Robin, and all your followers I would like to thank you guys for providing me with so much information, enjoyment and amusement throughout the year. Its a very difficult choice which to read first with my morning cup of tea........ ANTB or the Guardian Rugby reports (no clue there as to my political views their Rugby section just happens to be very good).....ANTB usually wins. Incidentally my morning cup of tea is usually at 3pm GMT which perhaps is why my contribuitions replies are sparse and always late Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year John

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year Thanks again to all who have ticked assorted boxes or posted comments throughout the year. As I have written before its incredibly encouraging and morale boosting. Well for what is probably the final post of the year I am afraid there are no carefully crafted shots of Gorgeous Green Locomotives and certainly no videos........the reason being I finally decided to do some much needed track work The xover at the South end of Granby has been an ongoing problem......I inadvertently set up the tortoise so it was a millimetre or less too far over so the switch blade just failed to mate with the stock rail. Applying a little pressure to remedy this eventually sheered the little tab that connects to the tie bar. Repairs with super glue (welcome to bodgers junction) were less than ideal......resulting in a very limited Up service from Platform 6. Finally enough was enough: . Fortunately I was able to use the existing tortoise rather than fit yet another surface mount All done and dusted apart from ballast and a saw cut The second venture was rather more radical........ the down exit from the Storage Yard Tucked away in the corner behind the Scalescene Warehouse is an old Fleischman Turntable Its a bit Heath Robinson but I managed to get this to work with DCC and RR &Co. so rather than just roundy roundys I can run an automated out and back service using the same loco. The problem is access to the turntable is via this 3 way point My experience with 3 ways has not been a happy one. They are great space savers but I have problems consistently reversing Tender Locos through them....particularly the centre road. It may be due to some extent to my dodgy track laying but I wouldnt use them again So the bullet was finally bitten and out came the 3 way to be replaced by two points set further back into the yard Big improvement all round. Totally reliable entry and exit to the TT. Two locos can stand in the entry and exit roads and the third siding ( carriage siding/headshunt ) can now accommodate six carriages so I can run trains to and from London. Dont know why I didnt do this in the first place. It means I can now go ahead and confidently build the bridge to conceal the yard exit.......which was supposed to be the main winter project. Once again thank you for following my random scribbling me and providing so much encouragement PS Still lots of snow......must be 2 feet at least. Digging out the driveway is a frequent and challenging task for this old age pensioner.....at least I dont have to go to work though.......commuting is a nightmare.

Well said Neal. Totally agree

Thanks Rich.......glad you like the boards. Vancouverites driving in the rare occasional snowfall are a constant source of amusement to the rest of Canada. On a slow day the story has lead the National news on CBC! Fortunately we have an ancient (like its owner) but reliable Honda 4x4 to cope with the steep hill on which we live. Kind Regards John

Good Morning John Glad you liked the boards....I wasnt certain you would approve.....I will email you later today regarding the images. I find the Working timetables absolutely fascinating.....I am getting all sorts of ideas for Granby when I finally get round to constructing my Timetable Its bright and sunny here and -7o which is super cold for us. We are only 15 minutes drive from the local ski mountains but are about 400' below the snow line so we get snow on the ground quite infrequently......mostly its rain......in quantity! Best wishes John

Thanks MIB I used Smiths a few years ago but found their selection too restrictive for the North West. I think its Sankey who offer a much more flexible range and I probably would have saved time and heart ache if I had used them! Are you home for Christmas? You must be clocking up the Air Miles. Best Wishes John

I have a vague memory, I guess in the late fifties early sixties, of travelling on trains with only a 1st class dining car......if you were travelling third class you could still buy your dinner there. In fact if you booked the last sitting you could continue your journey in first class comfort.......this was probably ex LMS Euston-Liverpool Lime St

A question for Hatton's Dave Firstly thank you for all your updates. They are much appreciated and I for one admire your patience! Will a Lenz 6 pin direct decoder 10311 be suitable for these locos? Secondly if they are, will I be able to buy them from you guys ( as I have many times in the past)......your current stock of Lenz products is a little underwhelming. Kind regards John

I have spent the last week setting up Coach Destination Boards for the three Passenger Expresses that I run.....18 coaches in all.. Took far longer than it should have done because, yet again,I couldnt make up my mind about the most realistic formations. The aim was to create the typical GWR rake where it was rare for two coaches to be the same.......As I wrote earlier using only RTR stock in realistic formations made it quite difficult The destinations were printed out using Libre Office......the free alternative suite to Microsoft Office......I prefer it to Word ....it has a wide font selection and smaller font sizes. The strips were cut out and glued to plastic boards........ Hornby supplied boards with the recently released Collett Bow Ended stock so I used these as a template to cut out boards for my other stock. Not entirely successfully......They look ok if one applies the three foot rule (which I seem to be doing with increasing frequency) Close ups show I have my boards a millimeter or so too deep. Doesnt sound much but proportionately its rather obvious. Fortunately they are only secured in place with plasticene......which also shows on occasion So I may have another go in the New Year. The font is Times New Roman, bold, size 7 which I think is a reasonable facsimile Including Granby is a bit of an indulgence but with so few letters its a useful filler for the long scale 18' board. Proper sign writers spaced out both letters and their width......couldnt get the computor to do that Most of my GWR carriages are Bachmann models of the Collett Sunshine stock which I bought 15-20 years ago.........the difference in standards between them and the Hornby Hawksworth above is quite marked. There is some question whether these coaches ever appeared in GWR livery........but they are rather elegant..Rule #1 Here is a Collett Bow end sandwiched between a Hawksworth and Collett Sunshine. A good example of my formation dilemmas.......would a bow end coach have actually appeared on the London train in 1948?, I have decided (I think ) to split my 5 car rake of Hornby LMS Staniers and now they are being coupled with GWR coaches I will definitely have to weather their all too pristine rooves LMS used 12' boards. The font I used is Tahoma Bold 7........close up the bold is a bit too strong but no bold was not strong enough. 3' rule and at least I can tell where they are going Font Arial Bold 7. I painted the board edges out, rather appropriately, in Pine Green Southern used 11' boards ......the length that BR adopted. I do wonder how the GWR guys managed with changing 18' boards, one would think it must have been a two person job. Southern had brackets on their coaches for two boards. The second space being used for either destinations or the name of the train. Apparently the " Pines Express" from Manchester to Bournemouth was quite well known.......so maybe Granby can run a named train after all. Including , of course, a through coach to my friend and neigbour John Flann's layout.....in Utah The boards are a bit oversize and wavy but en masse and from a distance I think they add to the general atmosphere of Granby It has become my habit to finish with a brief report on weather in Vancouver........... This says it all

Here's one Colin https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bachmann-31-089-Class-Shirt-Button-Monogram/dp/B01ASIR2EU/ref=sr_1_25/254-5748762-2649920?ie=UTF8&qid=1480626186&sr=8-25&keywords=Bachmann+gwr Or maybe not!

I got up at 6 am to watch England v Australia........and sorry Robin .....Eddie Jones will not be available for the soccer team until after RWC in 2019 I shall shortly be having Lamb Korma and a large can of Speckled Hen for lunch

I am also fiddling around trying to break up the rakes and create that authentic GWR look. Have to say it goes against the grain.....Tallest on the right....shortest on the left etc Using RTR stock I only have Collet Bow ends and two versions of Sunshine to play around with......I think a Stanier LMS will not look out of place I have a couple of Hornby Celestories but I am inclined to think they wouldnt have been be on main line expresses in 1947/8? I have them penciled in on my Cambrian Barmouth rake. What do you , and any one else think? Best wishes John

I will do that.....no problem

Thanks James thats very kind of you. Sorry about the link some extraneous letters appear to have got got added......this should work http://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk.......if it doesnt google Michael Clemens Railways Its a great site.......I downloaded the GWR passenger summer timetables for 1947 last night. I was delighted to discover that I had guessed correctly with my imaginary West Country Express. You could actually get on the 9.20 at Birkenhead in 1947 and travel direct to Plymouth or Penzance or Bournemouth.......always provided you got in the correct carriage of course. Kind Regards

Thanks for all the likes guys Cold and crisp didnt last very long.......pouring down and the grand dog ran away in the park.....ugh....not a happy camper Hi MIB As always you are very kind! I am working away on the coach boards and once they are done I can start shooting. I am all set for the game tomorrow.....invested 6.99 in a sky day pass.....set the alarm for 6 am........with my abysmal record there are no predictions but ......I am hoping for an unbeaten year! Best wishes

As mentioned above I have downloaded some 1947 GWR working timetables for the Wolverhampton-Birkenhead region. The site is, for me, an absolute treasure trove.......http://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk/. Even after only a couple of hours browsing I feel I have a far better understanding of how complex timetabling must have been Its taken me a while to sort out......so far I havent found any through trains from Birkenhead to Plymouth or even Bristol which I find surprising. I am probably looking in the wrong places. There was however a daily train to Bournemouth departing Manchester at 8.35 am and Birkenhead at a more civilised 9.20 am It was interesting how many passenger trains had joint terminii....Birkenhead and Manchester. Granby with is elastic location makes the perfect junction. As you may have guessed from my signature bar I am an RR&Co addict. I enjoy developing automatic routines for my timetable. The arrival at Granby of the Up West Country express presents some great opportunities. At the rear of the train I can add a couple of through coaches from Manchester that had previously arrived attached to the regular Manchester - Granby service. At the front of th train I may devise a loco exchange.....perhaps not entirely credible but I like to alternate my Castles, County and Star. However the current project is to doublehead the train over Granby Viaduct. Mike (Stationmaster) has written a couple of very helpful detailed explanations of GWR practice in relation to assisting engines. Note how I carefully avoided the use of the word pilot!. Contrary to a widely held belief I now know that the GWR did not require the assisting engine to be inserted behind the train engine, Provided it matched specified wheel arrangements the assisting engine could lead.........great news for me it makes the automatic routine so much simpler Even better a 4-4-0 can assist a 4-6-0 from the front A pristine 9003 waits in the loco spur for the arrival of its train (the 9.20 from Woodside?). Technically a member of the Earl Class but known to all as a Dukedog. Very appropriate loco for Granby located on the edge of Cambrian country Mating a Bachmann loco with one from Hornby was probably not the best idea......talk about a colour contrast. With RR&Co the actual mating (consisting?) is very very simple......one single command and the locos are completely synchronised. Its quite captivating to watch the contrasting wheel arrangements working in unison Has to be my next video I can work wonders with RR&Co but sadly I cannot change head codes. I wonder which is the greater sin. Lamps on both locos or have the Star attempt to enter Granby without lamps? I still have to work out how to get the Dukedog back but as the train is a roundy roundy I think I will just uncouple in the storage area and after a decent interval let it continue on its way to Granby light engine albeit now with the wrong head code and no tail lamp. I quite like this shot but I forgot about how obvious the kadee magnet looks when its not hidden by the rake of carriages I removed to "improve" the view! Regards to all from a cold crisp Vancouver

I came very late to modelling. The first copy of Railway Modeller that I ever saw was in W H Smiths in Vancouver in the early Nineties! But now the penny has dropped I can see how Charford was a logical and rather elegant suggestion to replace Penhayle Bay......many thanks! Regards John

Many thanks I had to google that one.....I was looking for a South Coast resort......but I see its part of Bromsgrove. So that is where Southampton or Bournemouth GWR trains would be split? So much to learn....so little time Kind regards John

Thanks for the likes gentlemen and thank you MIB and the guys who agreed for making up my mind! I always wince a bit using the Hawksworth Brake....but I agree it does look good leading. I thought it was inevitable Hornby would announce a K40 after my conversion.......but not so far Apart from following the Rugby (what a bizarre game) I have been delving into a working timetable for the GWR NW area (Wolverhampton-Birkenhead/Manchester) for 1946.......... absolutely fascinating... never seen one before! I was surprised how many passenger trains were listed for both Birkenhead and Manchester......I suppose they were split at Chester....or even Granby! Hope you have a safe and productive trip Regards John

I have got behind with my posting......watching too much Rugby......anyway as promised this post is a switch from dark satanic mills to Express Passenger trains. I have spent a lot of time developing my "out and back" suburban routines but I also run a number of "roundy roundy" schedules......just to watch the trains go by. i can only devote two storage roads to Passenger Expresses. On the Down line two five coach rakes do a tail chasing routine. My dilemma...... should I do the same on the Up line or instead run one long train of eight/nine coaches. . The Star and both Castles handle nine coaches with ease. I must admit that it is rather impressive as the train thunders through the station on its first circuit and then belts over the viaduct.......on the other hand its sheer length is perhaps too much given the overall size of the layout.......as you can see it is certainly difficult to photo effectively I need to come to some sort of definitive solution because I will be adding coach roof boards........if I run two trains one will go to Paddington and the other to the West Country. If its a long train as shown it will definitely be to the West Country hence the two Southern Coaches (I understand it was not uncommon to see these in Birkenhead Woodside) Right now I am thinking of Birkenhead-Granby-Bristol-Plymouth with two through coaches to Penzance and of course two through coaches to John Flann's Port Bredy........the Southern Coaches were originally diagrammed for Penhayle Bay........but Rick (Gwiwer) is mothballing that layout when he moves to the UK. I had thought of Southampton (there was a through service from Birkenhead) but would it have bee attached to a Bristol train? Any suggestions/comments particularly about a Southern destination would be most welcome. I know its all fiction but I would like it to be credible fiction! Regards from Vancouver where, would you believe, the sun is shining John

Thanks Robin......I follow this thread and know about the number plate issue....I can live with that although it does seem a bit obvious............it was the suggestion that DJM models are prone to stalling that had me worried........ Regards John

Oh dear now you have me worried. I haven't been following the threads on any of the released DJM models so I was unaware of this problem.......which thread should I be checking? Regards John

Lovely......I think that is one that will be winging its way to the Pacific. Edited to add: though on reflection I am inclined to agree with you about the gap round the number plate......on the bright side I think I am renumbering mine John