MODEL RAILWAYS. On-Line. No: 4 November 2004 Free Magazine. In this edition Great Western in the Dart Valley Prototype layouts - Grosmont

Transcription

1 MODEL RAILWAYS On-Line No: 4 November 2004 Free Magazine In this edition Great Western in the Dart Valley Prototype layouts - Grosmont Download from: mrol.gppsoftware.com

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3 NOVEMBER MODEL RAILWAYS On-Line No: 4 November 2004 CONTENTS Wennin 4 A GW branch line in the Dart Valley Described by Paul Plowman British Railways Switches and Crossings (Part 1) 10 By Paul Plowman Puzzle Picture 13 Readers Letters 13 Dibley 14 A Great Western Branch in 0 Gauge Described by David Lord Previous Puzzle Picture 16 Grosmont - A Prototype Layout 18 By David Elliott Picture Gallery 22 Review of the Hornby Class By Graham Plowman Editorial With this edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine we complete our first year of publication. It has been a very enjoyable year and we have received much support from our friends and readers. The original idea behind the magazine was for an activity to occupy me in retirement, which would keep me in contact with friends and enable me to enjoy our hobby. It has come as a complete surprise to be told by Railway Modeller that we are in conflict with Peco Publications. No, it is not 1st April! This is from the directors of Peco and they are serious! They have refused our advertising and returned my cheque. So where does this leave Model Railways On-Line Magazine? To secure the long term future of the magazine the readership needs to increase significantly from the present level to tens of thousands. Do our readers want to have a top quality model railway magazine free on the Internet? Is this the way you want us to go? Do you want us to develop and enlarge the magazine? If you do then we need your help. We need your contributions in the form of articles and most importantly we need the help of everyone to increase our readership. I would like to appeal to all our readers who belong to model railway societies worldwide to press their committees to give Model Railways On-Line Magazine a mention in their newsletters. With your help we can make this the best model magazine for followers of British railway practice. In this edition we feature two model railway layouts built by the late Laurie Clark. Wennin is a finescale 00 gauge layout, which is now owned by Tim Arnot and Dibley is an 0 gauge layout owned by David Lord. Both layouts feature Great Western branch lines and show Laurie s enthusiasm for the Devon countryside. They are also further evidence of the skills and enthusiasm for modelling British railways, which exist in Australia. Model Railways On-Line is published by Paul Plowman 11 Porters Road, Kenthurst, New South Wales 2156, AUSTRALIA Readers may copy and distribute this publication without limitation. The copyright of articles and photographs remains with the Editor and contributors to the magazine. We have received a very good response to our puzzle picture of the Skew Bridge near Haywards Heath in Sussex. In this edition I have included a selection of the s received together with photographs from both my own archive and the web site of The new puzzle in this edition is one, which has always fascinated me and I hope you will find it enjoyable. Essentially the puzzle is to find where the Great Northern Railway operated passenger services over mixed gauge tracks shared with the Great Western. Finally I would like to thank Hornby for providing a sample of their new Class 50 for our review. Much has already been said and written about this model, which is in a class of its own. Graham has, therefore concentrated on examining the differences between his own purchase of a model from the first batch and the example provided by Hornby from their second batch. He responds to some of the mis-information, which has appeared on the Internet. Cover: GW push-pull departs from Dartness with a train to Wennin. Photo: Paul Plowman The next edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine will be published on 1st February For those who wish to be reminded we have provided a facility on our web site for readers to register with us. When the magazine is available for downloading we will send an to let you know. Paul Plowman

4 4 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE WENNIN A Great Western branch line in the Dart Valley A 00 gauge layout built by the late Laurie Clark, photographs by Paul Plowman Wennin is the first of two layouts featured in this edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine, which was built by the late Laurie Clark in Australia. It is now owned by Tim Arnot who is continuing to improve and extend it. Tim first saw the layout under construction in 1988 at Laurie s home in Eastwood, near Sydney and was very impressed. When Laurie came to move to Western Australia, it was a case of sell or break it up, which would have been quite a shame. Location The layout represents two Great Western branch lines somewhere in the Dart Valley, which terminate at Wennin. Laurie had a very Goonish sense of humour and the choice of name was a case of Wennin Rome. The main branch, which leads to the traverser is supposed to come from Totnes, while the twig (Laurie s humour!) has no actual destination past the false tunnel mouth at the end of Dartness platform by the River Dart. Baseboards Much was reclaimed from earlier layouts except the baseboards for the section under development on the opposite side of the room, which Tim has built new. All the track is level, despite the crafty illusion that this is not so. Track and signalling Track in the main area is K&L, which was sold under the Gibson name when Top: Wennin Station. GW 45xx Class 2-6-2T No.4550 has just run round and is being coupled up to its train. The bay for the Dartness line is in the foreground. Left: The 45xx propels its train over the run round crossover closer to the station building ready for departure to Totnes. Hall Class No.6962 Soughton Hall reverses past Wennin Signal Box in the background.

5 NOVEMBER GW 14xx Class 0-4-2T arrives at Dartness with an auto-train for Wennin. at Dartness Quay. Laurie purchased it. The remaining areas and fiddle yard are SMP. Points were constructed using copper-clad sleepers. Ballast is a blend of local grey material and an imported white. These were mixed into various blends for use according to the area; darker becoming almost black in the station and goods areas. It is fixed with the usual PVA glue-water-detergent mix. Tim is building a new station in line with Laurie s original concept and is using C and L individual components which gives much more realistic turnouts. The signals are mostly from Ratio kits and A small fishing boat on the River Dart is mooring are unworked at present. Points motors are a mixture of H & M and Peco. They are not very reliable and are to be replaced. Most of the points are wire and tube operating off the two way switches via mechanical means. Unlike the point motors, this method is simple, effective and trouble free.

6 6 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Above and below: Wennin Locomotive Depot. The engine shed has been built from the Wills kit, which is based on Tetbury in Gloucestershire with a water tank built into the structure over the track. Scenery Laurie has used mainly polyurethane and styrene foam for the scenery. Chicken wire and card strips have been used to fill in the gaps. It is all covered with Chux Superwipes, liberally soaked in plaster. Woodland Scenics have been used to complete the scene. The hedges are the usual strips of pot scourers covered in Woodlands Scenics foliage. The hedgerows are tapered and angled to give a better perspective. Using N gauge cattle and sheep in the far background helps the illusion of depth. Rolling Stock Most of the locomotives and rolling stock are r-t-r models. The layout is operated with a selection of GWR panniers, 14xx tanks, large and small prairies and a Dean Goods. A Hall Class makes an occasional appearance. Couplings are the Sprat and Winkle design. They were originally designed to operate on wire bars fixed to the buffer faces, which would also prevent bufferlocking. Laurie thought these bars looked very poor and instead mounted them under the buffers, with a separate fine brass wire protruding out level with the buffer faces. When painted matt black the wires are almost invisible on locomotives and no additional hooks were required. The future Wennin now has a permanent home in Tim Arnot s garage. The original section was only half built when Laurie sold the layout. Tim is now working on completing the second side of the U. Track has been laid using C & L components and the construction of a new station building is well advanced. Conclusion I would like to thank Tim Arnot for allowing me to photograph this remarkable model railway and for providing background information to enable me to compile this article. Laurie Clark had an eye for detail but he was able to use a mixture of proprietary models and kits together with hand made items to create a realistic overall picture of a Great Western branch line in Devon The more I look at the photographs the more detail I notice. Laurie was truly a gifted modeller.

7 NOVEMBER Above: GW Hall Class No.6962 Soughton Hall passes Wennin Signal Box as it reverses off shed. Wennin Station. The station building is a much modified Ratio Castle Carey and the goods shed is based on Watlington, using Wills stone and slate sheets.

8 8 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Above: GW push-pull pauses at Dartness with a train to Wennin. The GW push-pull departs from Dartness continuing on its way to Wennin.

9 NOVEMBER Above: Wennin Station, GW 45xx Class 2-6-2T waiting to depart for Totnes with a train formed of a 2 coach B set. The auto-train approaches Dartness with the return working from Wennin.

10 10 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE British Railways Switches and Crossings (Part 1) By Paul Plowman There have been many articles in magazines over the years, which describe building model trackwork but they rarely explain prototype track geometry. In this article I hope to fill in a few gaps. Design practices around the world vary significantly even for standard gauge railways. Part 1 of this article will, therefore, be confined to describing British practice between 1948 (Nationalisation) and Before 1948 the former railway companies were using their own designs of turnouts. Following Nationalisation standard designs were introduced to facilitate interchangeability of components. These early designs were for Bullhead (BH) track. Turnouts using 109lb/yd flat bottom (FB) rail appeared later using the same geometry as the BH designs. These designs in both BH and FB were used, essentially unchanged, until about 1967 when the new vertical designs of FB turnouts were introduced. The expression vertical indicates that the rails are fixed vertically, i.e. they rest on horizontal baseplates. Rail Inclination In plain track (BH & FB) the rails are inclined inwards at 1 in 20 to match the coning of the wheels. Throughout the period, being described the rails in switches and crossings were also inclined inwards at 1 in 20. Although the designs of FB turnouts have changed the early BH designs remain in use to this day largely due to the requirements of London Underground in tunnels. BH designs are still available for use on the national network but there has been a policy for some years to undertake all renewals in FB material. The 1 in 20 inclination is usually omitted from model railways because it is much easier to fix the rails vertically. However, it is a puzzle why the prominent r-t-r manufacturers cannot incorporate this feature into their plastic mouldings because it would significantly improve the realism of model track. Stock rails are inclined inwards but switch rails slide horizontally. The switch rail is twisted near the heel to make the blade vertical. At the bends in the wing rails there has to be a vertical set to Figure 2: Measurement of Crossing Angle Figure 1: Straight Switch Planing prevent the splay from sticking up in the air. Both the point rail and the splice rail have to be twisted so that they join vertically in the vee. Switch Blade Geometry The geometry of possibly all r-t-r model turnouts follow modern FB practice in that the turnout curve is tangential to the straight. During the period turnouts on British Railways were not tangential. Switch blades are made by planing rails on a horizontal planing machine. Up to four rails at a time are fastened down on to a flat bed table which moves horizontally. The planing tools or cutters remain stationary. It is quite a spectacular process to watch with huge chunks of smoldering swarf flying off in all directions. Now this process has a couple of limitations. Firstly, the maximum length of the switch blade which can be made depends on how far the bed of the machine can travel and secondly, the bed can only move in a straight line so the planing of the rail also has to be straight. Modern techniques have overcome both of these problems more later. Figure 1 shows the geometry of BH and FB switches used until about Switches were available in a range from small radii for low speed to large radii for higher speeds (sounds obvious). Alphabetical notation is used to identify the various switch designs. The Bullhead A switches have the smallest radius (477 feet). Initially A switches were not available in flat bottom rail. As we progress through the alphabet the radii increase. The range finished with F switches ( feet radius). Figure 3: Compound Curve Turnout Common Crossings Common crossings (frogs) are available in a large range of angles. The expression frog is not generally understood by British track designers. Modern turnout designs have attempted to minimise the number of standard angles to reduce the number of maintenance spares in stock. The angle of a

11 NOVEMBER common crossing is measured as a ratio along the centre line, see figure 2. Thus a 1 in 8 crossing has an angle of deg.. As far as the author can determine this practice appears to be unique to the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland). Other countries measure the angle of a crossing by its tangent. A French or Australian 1 in 8 crossing has an angle of deg. Within practical limits any crossing can be used with any switches. French crossings have been purchased for use with British switches (installed at Battersea Park Junction for example). FB crossings have also been used with BH switches (Faversham and Canterbury East). Turnout Geometry If a 1 in 8 crossing is used with, say, a set of B switches the turnout is described as a B8. Now this practice of combining switches with a range of crossings means that the radius between the heel of the switches and the intersection of the crossing is not necessarily going to be the same as the radius of the switches (see figure 3). In a limited number of combinations the radii are the same, e.g. A7, B8, C10, D12, E16,F20. These turnouts are described as natural turnouts. Common crossings are available to order with any radius on the wing rails, point rail and splice rail. This practice has resulted in a proliferation of non-standard components supposedly of a standard design, which has been a maintenance burden to British Railways over the years. Practical Considerations In the design of turnout components a number of practical problems have to be addressed. Firstly the end of the crossing vee cannot be planed to a sharp point. The weight of a wheel on a point rail would immediately break the end of the rail. For this reason the pointed end of the vee finishes at a blunt nose which is 3/4 inch wide for BH and 5/8 inch wide for FB. Therefore the blunt nose of a 1 in 8 bullhead crossing is located 3/4 inch x 8 = 6 inches beyond the theoretical intersection point ( ip ) of the turnout. Even these widths are quite narrow. Maximum strength is obtained by placing a chair or baseplate directly under the blunt nose to give full support. Likewise the tips of the switches cannot be planed to a razor sharp end. Two techniques were used in the period described, either a joggle in the Figure 4: Undercut Switch Blade stock rail (straight cut switches) or undercut planing (undercut switches). Figure 4 shows the tip of an undercut switch. Joggles were not used in trailing points because the knock on the wheels caused bad riding and undercut switches were not favoured in facing points because being very thin, they wore out rapidly. A double junction would therefore be fitted with straight cut switches and joggle on the facing turnout. The trailing turnout had undercut switches and no joggle as shown in figure 4. From about 1966 a chamfered design of planing was introduced and has been used exclusively for all applications until the very high speed era. The chamfer is applied to the side of the stock rail head to create more room for the switch blade. Note, the top side of the head (the running edge) of the stock rail was never planed away to accommodate the switch rail. Curved Switch Blades From about 1965 a new technique for switch planing was introduced. Someone came up with the idea that if packings between the flat bed table and the rails varied in thickness such that the rails were held on their sides in a predetermined arc then when released after planing and laid straight the switches would indeed have curved planning. The geometry of the switches was modified as shown in figure 5. Turnouts using this new geometry were longer than earlier designs. To distinguish between the two types of switches the letter C was added to the code, e.g. a B8 turnout fitted with curved planed switches became a CB8. High Speed Switches The range of FB switches was extended to included a CSG (short G) and CG ( feet radius). I do not have a record of the planing details of these switches but later designs of G switches required a massive 11.6m of planing. This was achieved by the introduction of a technique for planing the switches in two stages, effectively enabling the planing to be twice the length of the movement of the planing table. These new switch designs were of a different design to other switches in that the arc was offset inwards from the straight by about 11/16 inch to provide a transition effect at the switch tips (see figure 6). The CG switches were also matched to a 1 in 28 crossing with transitioned geometry (see figure 7) to create a turnout design suitable for 70mph. This design was used for the high speed crossovers at Worting Junction near Basingstoke. Flat bottom curved A switches also became available at this time. Figure 5 Curved Switch Planing Experimental Designs Many experimental designs appeared during the 1960 s. Fine Entry and Short Fine Entry switches were tried, based on the geometry of the CSG and CG switches. The transitioned geometry was tried with lower speed turnouts. The author spotted a pair of CC13 turnouts with transitioned geometry in use as a crossover near Portsmouth Harbour Station in They had certainly lasted well being about 30 years old and still going strong! Much of this experimental work was undertaken by the Southern Region, which had its own switch and crossing

12 12 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE manufacturing works at Redbridge near Southampton. Cast Manganese Crossings Flat bottom shallow depth cast manganese crossings became generally available about 1967 although they had been available for some years previously for limited applications. Shallow depth castings are mounted on baseplates while full depth castings are fastened directly to the bearers (sleepers). The use of inclined FB turnouts for track renewals and new work ceased a few months later. Modelling Turnouts From the modellers point of view there is little chance of providing scale versions of the turnouts, which have been described unless one is prepared to build them oneself. Even then the radii are very large. The most commonly used turnout for crossovers and siding connections at wayside stations was the C10 with a radius of 958ft. Even the A7 turnout with a radius of 477ft when scaled down to 4mm to the foot would be 6ft 3in. Possibly the best r-t-r available is the large radius turnout from Peco. This is to 16.5mm gauge and has a nominal radius of 5ft. Scaling up at 3.5mm to the foot this is equivalent to a prototype radius of 435ft. The author once had a conversation with the Figure 6: SG & G Switch Planing Figure 7: Transitioned Turnout late Sidney Prichard during which he tried to convince him that it was possible for Peco to produce an accurate model of an A7 turnout for 16.5mm gauge. Unfortunately Sidney Prichard was not convinced. In Part 2 of this article I propose to describe Vertical switches and crossings, which were used almost exclusively on the national network from about 1967 until the introduction of 60 kg/m rail in the year I also propose to describe briefly how Northern Ireland Railways adapted British Railways standard components for use on the Irish Gauge. Above: The first switch and crossing design undertaken by the author. A new crossover formed of two CC10 turnouts fitted with curved planed switch blades installed at Hayes, Kent in July 1968

13 NOVEMBER Puzzle Picture The Puzzle Picture for this quarter shows a large railway station in the course of major engineering works. The photograph was taken in March Can readers identify the station and the company, which owned the railway at the time of this photograph in 1905? To help (or totally confuse) here are some clues:- 1) The railway company remained independent until the grouping of ) Goods trains were prohibited by the act of Parliament, which authorised the railway and this still applies today. 3) The railway was originally built with mixed gauge tracks, Standard and Brunel's Broad Gauge. 4) There were only two stations on the line. One has now closed. It was located in a very unusual position. Can anyone identify the location of this now closed station? 5) The railway company did not operate any trains of its own. 6) In 1905, at the time this photograph was taken, the following railway companies were operating passenger trains over the railway: i) Great Western Railway (for which the Broad Gauge had originally been provided). ii) London and North Western Railway. iii) Great Northern Railway. iv) Midland Railway. Two other railway companies were also operating passenger trains over the railway but if they were included in the foregoing list the identity of the station would become immediately apparent. Attention is drawn to the water in the left foreground of the picture. This is a significant clue. Can anyone explain the special involvement of water with this site? For those readers who have a copy of the Ian Allan British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer, the railway company in question is not mentioned in my copy. The diagrams only show the companies who were operating the services in Readers Letters Swanage: Rodney Hills has written to explain how long trains were prepared at Swanage. This is an extract from a longer and has been edited: In his article "Swanage" in MROL Issue 3, Aug 2004, Paul Plowman wrote: "The loop is only long enough to run round four Mk1's or five Bullied coaches" and "However photographs show the Saturday through trains from Waterloo made up of eight coaches, some of which were the shorter SR Bullied types." The trick (I can't at the moment recollect where I read it) is to: 1. Propel the train out of long Platform 1, but short of the outer crossover. 2. Divide the train, leaving carriages between the outer crossover and the double slip located at the approach to Platform Draw the remainder of the train into Platform 1, clear of the double slip and runround crossover. 4. Loco uncouples and runs round via the platform run-round loop, passes across the double slip between the divided train portions, along the shorter loop on the up side of the main line, over the outer crossover and stop clear. 5. Reverse onto the outer train portion, couple up. 6. Propel outer portion over double slip onto inner portion, couple up. 7. Propel complete train nearly to buffer stops of Platform Ready to load passengers and ultimately depart. Yes, the availability of a second loco did make life easier! Regards, Rodney Hills

14 14 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE DIBLEY A Great Western branch in 0 Gauge Described by David Lord, photographs by Paul Plowman For those who knew the late Laurie Clark and Valerie his wife, they would remember them for two reasons, the wonderful welcome they gave to everybody, and Laurie s enthusiasm for his models and the construction and playing of his Hawaiian Guitars. In respect to model railways, advancing years and prospects of moving to Perth prompted Laurie to sell his wonderful 00 gauge GWR layout called Wennin to Tim Arnot, and that should have been the end of Laurie s layout building. However, after Wennin had gone, Laurie could not resist another go, this time in O gauge, hence Dibley. On becoming friends, Laurie would sometimes call on myself and Chris my son, to visit whenever he had something new to show, such as this new project, an O gauge layout using Styrofoam as a base to reduce weight and designed to be portable because of the immanent moving to Perth. My first sighting was just of baseboards then basic track work being laid. The project was a little different to what I had expected of Laurie, but the workmanship was to his usual meticulous standard. At this time, the layout was not named and then Laurie and Valerie moved to Western Australia to be near their son. The next time we heard of Dibley was when Laurie, due to failing health, offered to sell the layout to the Central Coast group of the British Railway Modellers of Australia. (The Central Coast is located about one hours drive North of Sydney Ed) We accepted the deal and then, despite his failing health, Laurie did a wonderful job of packing everything into two boxes, which duly arrived with little or no damage, complete with instructions for reassembly. It was not very long after that Laurie passed away. That his creations live on in the form of Wennin and Dibley is testament to his ability to set the railway scene and complete the projects that he set in motion. Location The name Dibley comes from the Television show Vicar of Dibley. Anyone who knew Laurie would have been well aware of his sense of humour, Top: GW 48xx Class 0-4-2T No.4816 waits to leave Dibley with a train of 4-wheel coaches. Left: 850 Class 0-6-0PT No.2025 shunts coal wagons in the small loco depot at Dibley.

15 NOVEMBER some of which was painted onto wagons and such like. One example had a painted label, when empty, return to the railway with little green engines. The track plan is typically Hemyock on the Culm Valley Line in Devon, although it has been altered in respect of the siding arrangements and by the removal of the Creamery, which was such a feature of Hemyock. However, as a six-wheel milk tank comes and goes during a running session, there is still a possibility that a portion of the Creamery may be a future addition. Baseboards The baseboards are a sandwich type being a light timber frame around the outside of a full size layer of Styrofoam as a main baseboard level. Additional layers have been added to build up the track bed, the general ground level and the hillsides. The whole is therefore very light. The river at the front is the lowest level of Styrofoam. to improve the electrical pickups, which have proved to be a little unreliable. The pannier tank is an 850 Class No Tom Imeson of Brisbane built it from a Vulcan kit. It is an excellent runner and certainly looks the part. There are no plans to do anything other than maintain this model in good working order. Rolling Stock Most of the rolling stock is comprised of Slater s kits including two GWR 4 wheel coaches and a Siphon. (Continued on page 26) Track and Signalling Peco track and points have been used throughout. The point motors are hidden under the polystyrene and to date have not been seen. They go thump most of the time and are of Peco manufacture. Operation is by a switch that indicates where the point is to be set and then a push button to fire the capacitor discharge unit, which is a little light on the job and will be replaced with another in the near future. The single signal is operated by a relay. The level crossing gates also work quite effectively after Rob Lees operated on them. Above: GW 850 Class 0-6-0PT No.2025 shunts cattle wagons into the cattle dock. Scenery Layers of Polystyrene have been used to form the scenery contours with Woodland Scenics for the green stuff. Trees constructed by Gary Stephan are twisted wire. There are some additional natural trees of appropriate shape with Woodland Scenics applied. Locomotives The layout is operated with two locomotives. The GW 48xx class 0-4-2T no.4816 is a Springside kit. We believe this model was built, much modified and detailed by Laurie. At present it requires an overhall Above: The small loco depot at Dibley.

16 16 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Last Quarter s Puzzle Picture Puzzle Picture from MROL 3 In the August edition of Model Railways On-Line Magazine the puzzle picture was of a bridge located near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, which carries the London to Brighton main line over the road between Balcombe and Haywards Heath just south of the Ouse Valley Viaduct. It is known as Skew Bridge. The picture was taken looking southwards. During the 1870 s work was started on widening the bridge on the east side but it was never completed. Readers were invited to tell us why was the bridge being widened and why was it not completed? improvements) and a deep cutting to a tunnel near Kenwards Farm was started, although the cutting was not completed and the tunnel itself was not dug. Work on the line was abandoned after delays caused by severe flooding in February 1867, and the only trains that ever ran were contractors' trains on the temporary way. Tim Sanderson wrote: The skew bridge near Haywards Heath is a remnant of the aborted "Ouse Valley Railway" scheme. This would have taken a line through Lindfield and crossed the route of the Lewes and East Grinstead line near Sheffield Park, on the current BLUEBELL preserved line. The railway would have joined the Uckfield branch near that station. Paul King mentions the pond at Kenwards: The widened abutments were for a branch to run eastwards to link up with line now partly-reopened by the Bluebell Railway. A cutting leading to a proposed tunnel remains as a long thin pond in or close to Kenwards Farm, and the western course is shown on the Ordnance Survey map. Brick abutments for a bridge stood in a field long enough to be photographed and included in a Railway Magazine article but are almost certainly now demolished. Martyn de Young provides OS references: The Ouse Valley Railway was a pawn in Victorian railway politics designed to block rival plans to capture a slice of the lucrative London to Brighton traffic, but with no hope Alan Pearmain wrote: The widening of the featured skew bridge was part of the preparatory work for the building of the LBSCR's Ouse Valley line, which was never completed. This was the first over bridge after the new line diverged from the main London to Brighton line just south of the Ouse Valley Viaduct. The line was planned to run to Sheffield Park and thence to Uckfield, possibly continuing to Hastings. Much of the earthworks had been completed, other bridges had been built (the overbridge at what would have been Lindfield Station was eventually demolished to enable road Above: Unfinished cutting at Kenwards Farm looking eastwards towards Lindfield. Paul King and Martyn de Young refer to this pond in their answers. Photo: With permission of the webmaster Above: Abandoned bridge abutment in Copyhold Lane, near Haywards Heath Photo: With permission of the webmaster of it ever being profitable. A London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) act of 1864 sanctioned the building of a line from the south end of Balcombe viaduct, on the main fine, to Uckfield, then the terminus of the branch from Lewes, and on to Hailsham then also the terminus of a branch from Polegate. A further act extending the line to St Leonards was passed the following year. Work commenced on the first section of line from Balcombe to Uckfield in May 1866, just a few days after the collapse of the great railway banking house of Overend and Guerney. This caused the railway boom of the early 1860s to burst and work on the line was stopped in February 1867, never to restart. Because the line traversed a still sparsely populated area remains can still be found. On the east side of a skew bridge south of Balcombe viaduct at TQ can be seen the brick abutments where the bridge was to be widened for the junction of the Ouse Valley line. Embankments can be

17 NOVEMBER found either side of the road at TQ from Borde Hill Gardens to Haywards Heath Golf Club. Near Kenwards Farm at TQ can be seen the eastern cutting which was to have led to a short tunnel, which now forms an ornamental lake. At Lindfield, off Spring Lane at TQ can be found another stretch of embankment near to the proposed site of Lindfield station at TQ Nearer Uckfield are more embankments and abutments around TQ This isn't exactly my own research, it comes straight from the web site of the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society! I hope they don't mind. h_3a.htm Of course, the Lynton & Barnstaple has a skew bridge of its own. Peter Richards wrote: The photograph of Skew Bridge shows some of the abandoned work that was carried out for the Ouse Valley Railway, sponsored by the LB&SCR. This railway was authorized in 1864 and was to have run from a point north of Haywards Heath, on the main line to Brighton, through Lindfield and Sheffield Park to Uckfield and Hailsham. The junction was to have been between the Ouse Valley Viaduct and this bridge and the photograph shows the abutments built in connection with widening the bridge to take the diverging lines. Considerable other engineering work was undertaken before the collapse of Overend & Guerney, a major railway financing bank, in 1866, then floods in 1867, led to the railway being abandoned in Some of the earthworks for the embankment that would have followed on from the bridge can still be viewed today when looking out of the east windows of a train on the Brighton Line. Other remains of embankments are to be found in several places along the proposed route, including near Lindfield and Uckfield. Eric Penn also sent in the correct answer. Thanks to everyone who sent in an answer to the puzzle. The Lewes and East Grinstead Railway, part of which was to become the Bluebell Railway did not open until 1882, 14 years after the Ouse Valley line was abandoned. The abandonment of the railway offers a number of might-have-beens for the southern modeller: Possible double junctions at Sheffield Park and Uckfield, a possible junction with the Cuckoo Line at Hailsham and intermediate stations along the line including Lindfield and Fletching. Remains of the Ouse Valley Railway Above: Abandoned embankment adjacent to Spring Lane, Lindfield looking westwards on 8th May This location is now heavily overgrown. Photo: Paul Plowman. Right: Bridge abutments beside the Lindfield to Ardingly road on 31st May The private gardens behind the fence would have been the site of Lindfield Station. Alan Pearmain tells us that this bridge was demolished to enable road improvements. Photo: Paul Plowman

18 18 Grosmont Third in a series of prototype layouts by David Elliott All photographs taken by the author in 1982 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Above: Grosmont Station building History In May 1836 the Whitby and Pickering Railway was opened as a horse drawn line. From Whitby it followed the River Esk to Grosmont where it turned to follow the River Murk Esk to Beckhole. At Beckhole the line climbed the slope to Goathland (Aidensfield in the TV series Heartbeat ) by use of an incline and thence horse and gravity through Newtondale to Pickering. The small tunnel at Grosmont, which was the subject of the puzzle picture in the May edition of the magazine, is that used for the horse haulage. In 1845 the line was acquired by the York and North Midland railway and a connection from Pickering provided a route to the south. At this time the Whitby to Beckhole section and incline top to Pickering was doubled and the new tunnel at Grosmont constructed. Steam locos arrived in Whitby in In 1861 the rope on the incline broke for the first time without fatalities, however in 1864 this occurred with a passenger train with two dead! At this time a deviation was already being constructed by the North Eastern Railway to bypass the incline, which opened in 1865 with a new station for Goathland. Left: Grosmont Station layout plan. Drawing extract by permission of NYMHRT. Copyright reserved.

19 NOVEMBER Also in 1865 the NER opened a branch from Grosmont following the River Esk to Battersby and Middlesbough, which completed the standard gauge railways in the area. Around Grosmont there were ironstone mines and a blast furnace with four locomotives. This lasted until 1891 and was on the north side of the line. Nothing remains in this area, which has reverted to brush. Memories of the line My earliest memories of the line are as a child of about six being taken for holidays in Sleights. As we lived in the village of Bransby, 14 miles north of York this involved a taxi to Gilling East station on the Pilmoor to Pickering railway, a change at Pickering for the train to Sleights and a taxi or bus to where we stayed. We always took walks across the moor to Goathland and took the bus back. A second walk was the Esk valley route to Grosmont and train Above: Esk valley line on the right, line to Pickering on the left. This is the site of the original signal box with the entrance to the goods yard between the platforms. Above: The top portion of the original signal box. This was mounted on two brick piers in-filled with wood and overhung the base in all dimensions. back. Later we had school camps in Levisham. When British Rail closed the line from the junction near Malton to Grosmont my mother was so angry that she became one of the first life members of the North York Moors Railway (NYMR) and I became a life member after her death. The layout I have always felt that Grosmont station is a prime prototype for a model. With this in mind when we visited England after my mother s death my wife Crenagh and I spent a day there traveling by train from Darlington via Middlesbough and the Esk Valley line, which is still operational Crenagh has always complained about being on the photographs for scale. Grosmont is the junction between what was the Malton to Whitby route and the Esk Valley line. With the assistance of the Above: The east end of the original signal box.

20 20 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Above: Main station building south, road side. On the plans, the blocked in door is shown as the entrance to the booking office. Above: The chimneys on the main station building. archivist of the North York Moors Historic Railway Trust (NYMHRT) I have been able to obtain plans for the station. There are floor plans for all of the buildings but only some have elevations. Models could be built from these plans and photographs. The exception to this is the signal box base, which was narrower than the box itself to fit the restricted site. There was a ground frame by the level crossing, which controlled the gates. The layout plan shows the station almost at its greatest extent. Through the short tunnel there was, for a time, a turntable spur and the junction off the original line to Beckhole. The turntable site is now occupied by the repair shops for the NYMR and the walking route for access from the station is by a distinctive suspension footbridge over the Murk Esk and the original horse tunnel. A model of the station could be either a double track oval with the North Yorkshire and Cleveland branch crossing the centre or using the branch and mainline in the Malton Above: Shelter on Platform 2 direction as a return loop. Whitby could be represented by storage sidings, or if one wished to be more ambitious, by including the station itself. Whitby is well described in North-Eastern Branch Line Termini by Ken Hoole with drawings and pictures. I have created a CD-rom from my collection of Standard Gauge photographs including the NYMR with emphasis on Grosmont. The CD-rom includes the pictures shown in this article, which in combination with the plans available from the NYMHRT should enable a model to be produced. Above: Bargeboard detail on the main building. modeller! Another challenge for the Operation Early locomotives included Kitson s (1845) and Fletcher s, which were originally built for the line and later rebuilt. Larger locos by MacDonnell and William Wordsell were also used. The

21 NOVEMBER NER 0-4-4T BTPs saw extensive use. G5 tanks were used in BR days being replaced by Metro-Cammell DMUs. The standards for many years were locos of various types. A tanks were common with larger tender locos on summer excursions. Sentinal railcars appeared before One of the last in operation ran from Pickering to Scarbough in about I remember riding in it. Since preservation Grosmont has seen changes. The goods yard and signal box have gone, though the NYMR has built a new box in NER style located by the level crossing. The upper section of the old signal box was stored on blocks in the goods yard for some years. References The best source of information for the preservation era is the NYMR web site at and the Above: Level crossing gates. The tunnel portal is in the background. of the original signal box on site, which would aid in construction of the base. CD-rom by David J. Elliott, for photos of the station (cost $15 Canadian), theelliotts@shaw.ca. Conclusion So a good challenge, if modeled post preservation era. The lines to both Whitby and Pickering lines have been singled and the line from Pickering to Malton has been dismantled. Modern railcars run on the Esk Valley Line with occasional steam and HST s. Almost anything could be run on the NYMR, which has run steam trains through to Whitby. Above: Loop gate, south side. The next article in this series will feature the station, which is the subject of the puzzle picture and will include GW mixed gauge tracks. Ed. society magazine The Moorlander. Also the North York Moors Historic Railway Trust can provide copies of plans. Their web site can be found at: m/home.html Other publications North-Eastern Branch Line Termini by Ken Hoole. A History of the Whitby and Pickering Railway by G.W.J. Potter, first published in Whitby and Pickering Railway by David Joy. Railways around Whitby, Vol. 1 by Martin Bairstow. North York Moors Railway, A Pictorial Survey compiled by Peter Williams and David Joy. This has some useable pictures Above: The north side loop gate. The building in the background was the original stable for the horse line and the building partially visible on the right is the pub.

22 22 Picture Gallery MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE On 26th June 2004 the Ffestiniog Railway celebrated the 50th anniversary of its take over by Alan Pegler. These two pictures from 40 years ago are a reminder of the dereliction faced by the new management. Truly the FR has been a remarkable success story! Derelict level crossing at Blaenau Ffestiniog. The left hand track was still in situ although in very poor condition. Derelict track between Tanygrisiau and Blaenau Ffestiniog looking towards Portmadoc.

23 NOVEMBER Review of the Hornby Class 50 By Graham Plowman Fig.1 Class 50 No Barham has just arrived at Exeter St. David s with a train from Waterloo on 8th August Fig.2 Hornby Class 50 No Ark Royal departs from Ashprington Road on Graham s Western Region layout. Hornby s model of the BR Class 50 was released earlier this year, providing modellers with an alternative to the Lima model, which had ceased to be available following the demise of Lima. Several reviews of this model have already been published in various magazines. This review will, therefore include an examination of the changes, which Hornby have incorporated into this model between their first and second production batches. The two models are of Ark Royal in 1980 s BR Blue livery with yellow cabs and large logo. The Prototype The Class 50 s were built at the Vulcan Foundry Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire plant and were initially leased to BR. They were introduced on the London Midland Region and were frequently seen operating in pairs. At this time, they appeared in the BR all-over blue livery and numbered in the D400 series until they were allocated as class 50 under TOPS in the early 1970 s. Being rated for 100 mph running, the Class 50 s enabled operations to be accelerated over the West Coast Main Line. With the extension of electrification on the WCML to Glasgow the Class 50 s were all reallocated to the Western Region, replacing the diesel hydraulics. The entire class was refurbished at Doncaster during the early 1980 s and at around this time, they took over Waterloo- Exeter services from the Southern Region Class 33 s, again accelerating timetables. The last Class 50 was withdrawn from service in A number have been preserved. The model On opening the box, the first thing that is noticeable is the incredible amount of detail on the model. Removal from the two-part polystyrene tray is very straightforward and is done in a way that prevents damage to the model. The only extra parts in the box are contained in a small accessory packet. They include detailing pipe-work for the buffer beams and the couplings. On the model from the second batch, we found that none of the buffer beam steps were fitted correctly. One fell off when touched and the other three were not mounted in their correct straight position. Removal is very easy. However, refitting is not! The reason the steps are not easy to refit is because the holes in the metal chassis frame, which accommodates them, are not large enough and require redrilling. The same applies when fitting the buffer beam pipe details. Once all the detail was fitted correctly, the result was very realistic. Comparison with scale drawings revealed that the model is correct in all principal dimensions. Buffers are sprung and are made of metal rather than plastic. The appearance is very good. NEM pockets are available at both ends of the locomotive, although the model is supplied with the Hornby small-style chopper couplings in the accessory pack. This model is unusual in that it is the first model we have come across which has a working chain coupling fitted as standard rather than a dummy non-working representation. This was welcomed by the author who uses chain couplings on his locomotives. A model which comes with chain couplings pre-fitted instead of chopper couplings and which is obviously designed to have them replaced with sprung versions is a major step forward please let s see more of this! Unfortunately, a number of models have been released recently with no provision for fitting chain couplings, for example, with body attachment screws positioned exactly where the coupling spring is needed. This model reverses that trend. The couplings look very realistic but they have no side-to-side movement and this causes them to pull any trailing vehicles off the track when negotiating even the most

24 24 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE Fig.3 Hornby Batch 1 Fig.4 Hornby Batch 2 Fig.5 Lima Model gentle of curves. Replacement of the couplings with Romford or similar is very easy, requiring drilling through the metal chassis frame. Body moulding and painting is very crisp all over and the model certainly captures the overall image of the prototype very well. The body side vents actually open and close using a little wire tool supplied in the accessory pack and similarly, the cab doors actually open! The doors are maintained in a closed position by springs. Fig.6 The Hornby model from Batch 2 crosses Ashprington Road Viaduct. Fig.7 The Lima model crosses Ashprington Road Viaduct. This is an unmodified example, straight from the box. What s Inside? Removal of the body is very easy, achieved by releasing the body from a number of locating lugs on the inside of the body. As previously mentioned, the chassis is a very solid metal construction, which neatly houses the five pole can motor. The motor drives cardan shafts to both bogies. All twelve wheels are powered and have electrical pickup via wipers on the backs of all wheels. The model from the first batch had traction tyres on the diagonally opposite wheels at the end of each bogie. There are two tyres per bogie. The motor has a flywheel attached and on one end, a band runs around the motor shaft to power the working roof fan. Sitting above the motor is a PCB which contains all of the electronic circuitry relating to the directional lighting for the high-intensity headlight, head code marker lights, trailing red lights and an NMRA socket for fitting a DCC decoder. Our observation was that the inside of this loco is very well laid out and very tidy. There are even cable runs, plugs and sockets for all the electrical components and attachments to the PCB. Internal cab detail is exquisite and fully provided. Performance Straight out of the box, this model runs very quietly and smoothly. We don t know whether it was intentional, but with both the models under review, we found that when starting off, while the motor was picking up revs, it actually made a noise very similar to that of a real diesel even though it was

25 NOVEMBER Fig.8 Inside the body: The model on the left is from the first batch and the model on the right is from the second batch. very quiet. The wheels all run true and there is no sign of wobble. The considerable weight of the model ensures very solid running performance and haulage capability. Speed operation is consistent all through the range. Slow speed is exceptionally good. We were sceptical about the arrangement of the traction tyres, especially since they are arranged diagonally on each bogie. Past experience with other models has found that traction tyres are not always of a consistent thickness and cause wobble and electrical pickup problems. They do not cause problems with this model. Comparisons between batches When the bodies are removed, it is immediately obvious that the two releases have completely different printed circuit boards (See Fig.8). The change has been made to correct a problem on the original PCB where the NMRA DCC socket was not correctly wired and labelled. The first batch had traction tyres, which are mounted on diagonally opposite wheels on each end of each bogie. While running, we found that the directional lighting intermittently flickered and the red lights illuminated on the front of the loco in the direction of travel. Hornby have advised us that this problem could occur with dirty track, dirty wheels or earlier releases of the PCB. They have sent us a replacement PCB, which has been fitted, but it does not appear to have resolved the problem. The later release experienced no lighting problems, so we believe that the problem may be related to the traction tyres or pickup problems. There has been much speculative discussion on various internet sites about the front windows on this model. Figure 3 shows a frontend photo of the Batch 1 model and Figure 4 shows the Batch 2 model. Figure 1 shows a photograph of No Barham for the purpose of inspection of the windows of the prototype and Figure 2 shows the Hornby model from approximately the same angle. It will be noted that the windows of the prototype do droop downwards towards the sides of the loco. This can also be seen on the model in smaller form. It is interesting to note that the appearance of the windows on the prototype change as you move from ground level to being directly in line with them. Our conclusion is that the appearance of the windows is an optical illusion, dependant on the viewing angle and we do not believe that the model was incorrect in the first place as some commentators have suggested. As can be seen from our photographs, it is very difficult to identify any difference between the two versions of the model. Figures 5 and 7 are of the Lima model, showing how far we have come with modelling standards today. What s the verdict? We highly recommended this model for any BR 1980 s period layout. It is very smooth and quiet running. Very well modelled and well worth the price. Let us hope that the model becomes available with a selection of different names and numbers. Wheel back-to-back measurement: 14.5mm. Sample model from Batch 2 supplied by Hornby PLC, Westwood, Margate, Kent CT9 4JX. (Dibley continued from page 17) There is an Acorn 6-wheel milk tank plus some wagons of various manufacture plus a couple of scratch built examples. The couplings are of the Sprat and Winkle type, which when properly adjusted can be made to work well. They have their limitations, such as uncoupling when you do not want them to and therefore may well be replaced in the future.. In addition, there is a set of LMS/Midland rolling stock using a couple of much modified Lima 4F s and two scratch built Midland coaches, one in balsa wood and one in plastikard. The future The layout has been and still is under development ever since its arrival. Basically, the track layout is unaltered, but the electrics have been rewired twice and need to be further modified as we learn more about operating the layout. Two new buildings are required, a goods shed or creamery and the tunnel entrance needs attention to improve the overall general look.

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