Binge and Bracket

Binge may be an exaggeration but our regular visits to Glasgow, either to exhibit one of our layouts at the annual Scotrail exhibition or simply to seek out some of the cities fascinating past and present railway heritage, always include the sampling of some of the ever growing choice of excellent real ales created by local brewers from across Scotland. Well, somebody has to do it!  Our preferred drinking establishment is the majestic Counting House on George Square, conveniently situated between Queen Street and Central Stations.

So what about the Bracket you may ask? Something that was missing from the original New Mills layout was a colour light signal protecting the exit from the up loop which is tucked under the flying junction. It was probably ommitted first time round because few viewers would actually realise it was there, hidden under that bridge!  That bugged us particularly from an operating standpoint as there was no obvious stopping point for trains held on the loop. So we decided to introduce a signal on a wall mounted bracket and then set about identifying an example on the WCML.  The closest we found was a similar arrangement on the up side of Birmingham New Street but only rather distant photos could be found.

However, on a journey around Glasgow's Cathcart Circle we spotted this bracket at Crosshill Station. Not quite the WCML but spot on for our location.

Himself took measurements and the rest is history. A fully operating model was installed on New Mills a few weeks later. Rather nice to have a little bit of Glasgow on our layout!

More from Kitmeister

Many of our 1960s freight vehicles are from the increasingly impressive Bachmann stable plus some of their earlier ancestors including Mainline, GMR and even Airfix. The odd Dapol and some Hornby wagons just scrape in in terms of quality. In order to create a little diversity, Himself has been assembling a batch of Parkside kits to compliment our ready-to-run fleet.

These include an ex LNER twin bolster,

an ex LNER bulk grain vehicle, 

 

BR 12T Fruit Van,

and a 12T BR Pallet Van

At this stage the underframes have received a coat of matt black ahead of full painting, application of transfers and weathering.  Not quite as demanding as Lyd but the usual attention to detail and professional job by our very own Kitmeister!

Clickety Click

A reminder that we have not deserted modern image on New Mills. Although our current focus is the fascinating period of transition on the WCML in the early 1960s, an era that we will present at exhibitions in Derby, Wigan, Glasgow (Scotrail) and Manchester over the next eighteen months, The Boy, aka Rob Cooper, continues to build on his collection of present day locos and stock.

66552 ambles along the down freight loop towards Mill Lane bridge. The following evening finds this working routed via the down main!

Bees Knees

One of the splendid new Bachmann B1s has been added to our New Mills loco stud. The original Mainline production was a really nice model in its time but this Thompson loco has been upgraded superbly. It will appear on  parcels and passenger services on our upper level route which is a cross country line from the Midlands that joined the WCML via our flying junction. But not before it enters our works and gets that Immingham or maybe Wakefield or even perhaps Colwick, weathering treatment!

HRH

An all too brief glimpse of one of the giants of the steam era on the WCML as Stanier 46021 (6201) Princess Elizabeth stormed through our part of the world this morning, seen here heading south from Princes Risborough ( no relation) on a positioning turn from Tyseley to Southall ahead of a weekend special.

Photo: Helen Gomme

Dub Dee...light

A recent addition to our steam fleet on New Mills is yet another WD, or 'Dub Dee' as we remember them. The Guru's 90047 is the superb Bachmann model which needs little extra detailing but comes to life when weathered. It will haul some of our inter-regional freights at future exhibitions.

90047 was shedded at Wakefield shed 56A in the early 1960s but crossed the Pennines frequently.

Despite rumours to the contrary on a related blog, this is further evidence of the huge effort that Himself, the Guru and myself are applying to the layout ahead of our next outing, severely curtailing if not bringing to a halt, our mission to sample new real ales.

Big Mac

Clans rarely strayed on to the southern section of the WCML south of Crewe but we like them so why not! Rob 'Guru' Cooper has added another to our steam fleet on New Mills. Here it is, 72005 Clan MacGregor, a fine model from Hornby but looking quite ludicrous in it's 'out of the box' condition so heading for the works and a full weathering before our next outing at Derby.

Rob Roy was probably the most famous MacGregor, his story somewhat embellished by Sir Walter Scott, and one of the few Highland warriors to actually die in peace!

Hay...big spenders

Well, grass actually. Recent refurbishment of New Mills has included some scenic treatment. Areas of trackside vegetation particularly along the front were looking a little tired especially where younger exhibition visitors cling to the layout to avoid tumbling from their barrier perch or more senior enthusiasts require that additional support in later years. Our grass embankments and cuttings were originally created with a scenic fibre trading as Turftex which offered a very natural hue, in some contrast to the rather vivid green scatter of that time. It was simply pasted onto our emulsion covered glass fibre superstructure. However we have been experimenting with static grass on Bron Hebog so decided to address the balder patches on New Mills in a similar fashion.

First apply the sticky bit, in our case Grass Masters flock cement, working it into the areas to be treated.

Now comes the magic! At great expense we created our own static grass applicator. While working in Islington I popped along to Chapel Market and purchased a fly zapper for £2.10 (with batteries) and a tea strainer for £1. Surplus wire and a spare crocodile clip completed the components which Himself quickly assembled, all for under £4! Thanks are due to the Dublo 0 Gauge Association for the original idea. We use MiniNatur fibres which are available from International Models in various lengths and colours although we favour the autumn shades rather than brighter summer greens.

Don't forget to earth the applicator and discharge the current after each application! 

Super Power

Difficult to choose our favourites on New Mills. Our stud of Stanier's pacifics are very special and so too our fleet of Black Fives...but what about the mighty 9Fs, the cascaded Brits, the awesome English Electric 40s!  Right up there are the 8Fs and 'The Guru' (Rob) has recently added two further examples to our representatives of this class with 48500, seen above passing 48773 earlier this week, both 'ex works'. The excellent Hornby model has undergone the application of appropriate weathering and detailing to replicate their work-stained appearance during those 'final years' on the WCML and are now ready to perform at the Derby Show next month.

Going up!

Apologies for the lull in postings but a brief trip to Cheshire and the Welsh Borders has intervened. One of the highlights was a visit to the Anderton Boat Lift. What an incredible structure, built when the majority of barges were still horse-drawn and thousands of workmen were quarrying salt by hand. Now dwarfed by the Winnington chemical works, it must have been an awesome sight when opened in the 1870s.

These semaphores, controlling access to the Dutton Locks on the nearby Weaver Navigation, look rather odd in their maritime environment. They arrived in the 1950s, replacing the original gas lamps.

At Tatton Park House near Knutsford, a 1' 3 3/4" inch gauge railway system conveyed coal and other goods around the extensive cellars. This was also the first house in the country to produce electricity from a steam driven generator. The legend on the wagon turntable indicate its' Decauville provenance.

And on to Llangollen and how nice to see some decent rolling stock, a Black 5. a nicely restored ex LMS bogie brake and the pride of East Anglia, a Wickham DMU. Not a GWR vehicle in sight.

Rest assured that Himself and the Guru undertook some modelling in my absence. I await photographic evidence which I will post as soon as I have it.