GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

[user=1698]Silver fox[/user] wrote:

……………………
for Petermac the coloured stone was as sandstone.also came in red..
:doublethumb:thumbs;-):cool:

Thanks Owen - I seem to think it had a name, or maybe what they did with it had ……………..:roll::roll::roll:  Not "scouring" but something like that ……….:hmm

Just ask a woman !!!  Liz remembered it was called a "donkey stone" ………..:thumbs

Thank you so much guys. I am really glad that you enjoyed the photos and, in particular, that you felt I had succeeded in capturing that grimy northern atmosphere………..many thanks to you all for your encouraging remarks.

Marty wrote:

Super job.

Elephant stamp….. not nearly good enough… here's the beginnings of a mob.



cheers
Marty

* the collective for kangaroos is a mob.

Never been awarded a kangaroo before Marty…….I am honoured:roll:



Ed wrote:

Just gotta ask, is that very large underwear on the washing line quest:

Ed

I think they are intended to be nappies Ed but I agree they do seem a bit oversize:roll:

Petermac wrote:

I've always admired your little cameos and you've missed nothing at all  about northern life in the 40's and 50's in these scenes.  I love the  lady on her knees scrubbing the step - or was she using one of those  funny stones to mark a line on the edge …………:roll::roll:   I can't remember what it was but I know there was a yellowish stone  they ran over the step edge to mark it.  Maybe a legacy of blackout days  in the war ……….:roll:

Petermac wrote:

Just ask a woman !!!  Liz remembered it was called a "donkey stone" ………..:thumbs

It was certainly called a donkeystone in Oldham and as Owen says made from Sandstone. It wasnt a wartime measure though……it was a centuries old custom………the sandstone acted as a cleansing abrasive as well as "whitewashing" the entire step.  Woe betide anyone treading on the step before it dried!:roll:

:cheers:cheers

Having received a replacement throttle courtesy of Max………a public thank you Max!!:Happy   it was good to start operating again.



Here is an overall uncropped shot of Granby Shed




Bachmann "Colston Hall" is just moving on to the turntable …….Hornby Castle "Wellington" waits her turn in the Water Crane road and Hornby "Brockton Grange" is third in the line up in the distance. 




Isnt the difference between Bachmann and Hornby GWR green amazing?

I know I have the wrong Head Lamp Code on the Hall……I am afraid I allocate locos to a particular working and then I am stuck with it;-)

For computor control enthusiasts:   the entire sequence is automated from the moment a loco enters the booking in block to stopping in its allocated shed road. Working out how to get the Heljan Turntable to select the correct road was an interesting exercise. Determining which direction the loco was facing was equally interesting! 

Here are a couple of Black and White close ups










Next post ……a change of pace……my latest loco, a Bachmann 64xx Pannier 0-6-0T is being crewed (the paint is drying :lol:), coaled and hooked up to the Ruabon Autotrain

:cheers

Cracking photos as always John. The loco's look suitably poised for action. Again, the scenics just set it off, fantastic.

Cheers

Toto

Makes a man's heart surge with joy! All that impressive motive power in GWR green (whatever the shade).

… And a Pannier yet to come… My day is complete! :lol:

Marty

Thanks Toto and Marty .....the GWR did have some rather nice Locos despite all the nay-sayers

nice scenerio,looking forward to doing that myself, as for gwr they did have some nice loco`s,just not as nice as L N E R thats all:pedal:pedal
:thumbs;-):cool:

Loving all this detail, John.


[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

John, that street is just mind blowing. :thumbs

I've always admired your little cameos and you've missed nothing at all about northern life in the 40's and 50's in these scenes.  I love the lady on her knees scrubbing the step - or was she using one of those funny stones to mark a line on the edge …………:roll::roll:  I can't remember what it was but I know there was a yellowish stone they ran over the step edge to mark it.  Maybe a legacy of blackout days in the war ……….:roll:

The bomb site is superb - I do recall Doug's masterpiece and also made a mental note to fit one in to Maxmill somewhere ………

I could spend half my life studying your photos but alas, there's an electrician shouting for me at this very moment so must dash……………..;-)

I remember 'Mansion' brand red polish as the finish of choice for door steps of my youth.  Care was taken not to get it on the walls inside the doorway, and milk was to be left in a basket or on a piece of slate because the wet bottles made a ring-mark on the polish.

I once put some on my sister's nose [3 yrs old]. Mum punished me by putting some [a lot…] on my nose and sending me to school with the result, it took a few days to wear off…

Is this the scene you are referring to?




Doug.

[user=1698]Silver fox[/user] wrote:

nice scenerio,looking forward to doing that myself, as for gwr they did have some nice loco`s,just not as nice as L N E R thats all:pedal:pedal
:thumbs;-):cool:

Thanks Owen……I am looking forward to the roundhouse again …..I always enjoyed your thread. I shall ignore any references to the LNER…..I get enough aggro already from Peter  :lol:


Chubber wrote:

Loving all this detail, John.


Petermac wrote:

John, that street is just mind blowing. :thumbs

I've always admired your little cameos and you've missed nothing at all  about northern life in the 40's and 50's in these scenes.  I love the  lady on her knees scrubbing the step - or was she using one of those  funny stones to mark a line on the edge …………:roll::roll:   I can't remember what it was but I know there was a yellowish stone  they ran over the step edge to mark it.  Maybe a legacy of blackout days  in the war ……….:roll:

The bomb site is superb - I do recall Doug's masterpiece and also made a mental note to fit one in to Maxmill somewhere ………

I remember 'Mansion' brand red polish as the finish of choice for door  steps of my youth.  Care was taken not to get it on the walls inside the  doorway, and milk was to be left in a basket or on a piece of slate  because the wet bottles made a ring-mark on the polish.

Thanks Doug………I must admit the detailing is the part that I enjoy most……which, no doubt, is why after 8 years the layout remains unfinished:oops:

"Mansion" that does bring back memories. I think my Mum used it on the Fireplace. It was Doreen's Mother that used the Donkeystone……..in Oldham……can you imagine….such optimism!

I once put some on my sister's nose [3 yrs old]. Mum punished me by putting some [a lot…] on my nose and sending me to school with the result, it took a few days to wear off…  

Hmm…..now you would be whisked into care……doesnt seem to have done you too much harm though:lol:

Is this the scene you are referring to?

Yes thats the one:thumbs I remember seeing it when I first joined YMR and before you converted me to card. It was such an evocative scene, brilliantly executed………I vowed I would try and do something similar eventually

Regards from a very sunny Vancouver

Lovely scenes John.Those green locos do look well on your railway.I don't mind which company you run I like all steam models.
Cheers,
Derek.

Talking of fireplaces - do you remember "Zebrite" black lead ?   We had a big "Yorkist" range in our "breakfast room" - fireplace with back boiler, a warming oven and two cooking ovens.  Originally, these ranges had water tanks on either side of the fire for hot water - heated by the fire and drawn off via a tap at the front.

Apparently, they smashed them up by the thousand in the 60's and 70's.  Now, gold bars will hardly buy one ……………:roll::roll::roll:

that was my job on a saturday morn,got it everywhere on me:roll::roll:
:thumbs;-):cool:

Remember it, Peter?

We are still using it!





….it was a great wheeze to rub a little on the earphone of the local 'phone box, too, and see how many of your neighbours you caught….

Doug

[We had a double oven coal fired Rayburn, in a pale green enamel, with a long chrome drying bar that needed polishing]

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Talking of fireplaces - do you remember "Zebrite" black lead ?   We had a big "Yorkist" range in our "breakfast room" - fireplace with back boiler, a warming oven and two cooking ovens. 

Well I guess it would be called that wouldnt it?:lol::lol:

You guys are sure bringing the memories flooding back………now I come to think of it we had a coke fired range in the kitchen although all the cooking was done in the scullery….off which were two pantries. The laundry was done in a separate outbuilding called the wash house:roll:

I am beginning to realise the extent of the changes I have seen in my fairly long life!

We had a wash-house too John.  There was a big cast iron "copper" built into a brick built "fire chest" and a hand pump to fill it with soft water collected off all the house and outbuilding roofs which was filtered through a sand bed and stored in 2 large underground tanks - all apparently installed in 1904 and before the house had mains water. 

Monday was washday and my brother and I had to fill the copper and light the fire under it before we went to school - having already carried in enough logs to keep it going for most of the day.  In summer, our "evening job" was to run the washed clothes through the mangle. 

At that time, we didn't have electricity although we were only a mile from a village and 9 miles from York City !!   The only light was from either "Tilley" pressure lamps, paraffin "storm" lamps or, in the case of the "better" (reception) rooms in the house, gas mantles fed by piped Calor gas - no mains gas out in the country either ……………..and that was the 50's and into the early 60's ……………..:shock::shock::shock:   We finally got mains electricity in 1963.

Very similar, in fact, to what Granby must have been like just pre-war ………………:roll::roll::roll:

I was talking to a couple of young ladies who were moving out of their unit the other day.  I told them how a man used to come around with a horse and cart, delivering ice for our ice chest.  We used to get milk, bread, meat, vegetables, et al., from equine transport.  None of the houses in the street had telephones.  There was a box at the end of the street if you wanted to make a call.

"Really?"  They said, goggle eyed.  "But how did you get the internet?"  :roll:

There was a huge community spirit in those days Max - one where people could do things and enjoy yourself without having to resort to a square screen …………:roll::roll:

Altogether now………..(in a mock Yorkshire accent)


"you try telling the youngsters of today,
and they won't believe you!"


(not to mention - "you lucky b@stard"!)


Jeff

So, as promised, here are some shots of my latest acquisition……. the recently released Bachmann 64 xx 0-6-0T …….another GWR pannier variant. Somewhat smaller than the ubiquitous 57xx class they were designed specifically to haul those iconic GWR branch line trains……the Push Pull Autotrain………..and thats exactly what 6407 will be doing at Granby






Remembered  just in time I only needed to add a Fireman and no Head Code Lamp. She  will be permanently assigned to the Granby -Ruabon Autotrain








A couple of shots in comparison with a 57xx




ro





I should invest in more etched number plates. They do make a difference


Now a few shots on what will become its regular journey to and from Ruabon


First off …..the lead auto coach being pushed away from Platform 3





And now……Pushing and Pulling……………..past the Down advanced  starter




I  like Black and White shots because I think it suits the atmosphere I am  trying to re create……..but it also has the added advantage of  toning down the artificial back scenes. When I started this layout in  2007 I didnt know about the availability of photographic back  scenes…….sorely tempted to rip these out and start afresh but I  rather doubt that it will happen now





Passing Granby #3 Box before entering a time and distance envelope and arriving at………………




Ruabon………..or more accurately a 29" block on storage siding U4………just in front of the daily Iron Ore train from Bidston Docks, Birkenhead  :shock:


 


The  storage sidings are normally concealed behind rows of Metcalfe Terrace Houses and occupy virtually all one side of the Railway Room.







I  guess this is a clumsy segue into next weeks post but meantime……….  reverting to the 64xx ……..

Like almost all purchasers who have written reviews I am very  happy with the model.

I operate DCC and RR&Co…..I had to  fiddle with CV 2 and the threshold speed rather more than I normally do  with a 57xx, but once done she operates very smoothly and is ultra  reliable. The train used to be run with a Hornby 14xx, with pickups on  one of the coaches which also contained a Lenz Gold chip and an enormous  capacitor. I have dismantled the pickups and the 64xx is loose coupled  and runs beautifully off the 6 pin Lenz Mini.

The shuttle runs to a  timetable and the 26" train stops perfectly in the 29" block without  ever endangering the 8F…….and all this out of sight…….I am a  happy camper.



This weeks project…..boring electrical  stuff, re assigning block lengths in the storage sidings…….which  first have to be emptied :roll:


:cheers:cheers