Firstly, the results of the AGM.
You will be horrified to know
that the committee were all
voted back, with a total of 30
members viewing the AGM
Newsletter. Most importantly, 14
helpings of fish and chips were
served with both Bob and Graham
having seconds.
A big thank you to all members
for your continued support and
trust in your committee.
Despite a glimmer of light on
the horizon with the vaccines we
still have lockdown. We are now
about to enter the Tier 2 High
Alert stage and still unable to
return to our club. With
Christmas fast approaching many
of you will be looking forward
to a visit from Santa, remember
help with your modelling needs
is available from KS Models at
Stevenage, Joe Lock who
continues to support our club
and not forgetting Ken and
Heather from John Dutfield who
send their best wishes to
members.
This week, we have more
interesting articles from our
regular contributors together
with some topical jokes and the
usual features. Julian has come
up with an interesting
suggestion 'My Favourite Loco'
we look forward to hearing from
you !
On one of my journeys on the
Midland mainline in the late
1970s I noticed some rather old
wagons on a siding some distance
from the line just south of
Burton Latimer. In 1982 I was
looking for some photographic
locations in the Kettering area,
and I remembered the old wagons.
This area was at one time the
centre of the ironstone
quarrying and iron production,
served by a number of standard
and narrow gauge railways. These
gradually ceased operation in
the 1960-70s and the enormous
walking dragline excavators
disappeared along with the
railways. Eventually the steel
works at Wellingborough and
Corby closed and today virtually
nothing remains of this
industry.
My search was successful, and I
found a small works at Isham not
far from the main line, with a
dilapidated track running under
the road and some wagons. I
parked nearby and walked into
the works where I could hear the
noise of a diesel loco working.
The works manager was happy for
me to take photographs and
explained the working of the
plant.
The works used a mix of a
silicaceous clay with sand and
other materials to make Silacene
for lining furnaces and the
ladles used to handle liquid
iron. This mix was made up at
the works and the clay was moved
around using a collection of
very battered wagons.
I walked up the track under the
road to the disused quarry where
the remains of the narrow gauge
railway and some rusting Ruston
excavators awaiting scrapping
made a rather sad sight.
The works closed soon after my
visit as demand for the product
had collapsed along with the
Northamptonshire iron industry
and the eventual closure of
Corby Iron and Steel Works in
1980.
Malcolm
The clay was processed and dropped into
wagons at the lower level.
The loco in the distance was out of use.
This was the location of the line of
wagons I had seen from the train some
years before.
Unloading the processed clay for
transport to the steel works.
The line to the quarry
In the quarry, rust takes over…
One of the few number and name
plate makers left.
HARVEY’S WHARF
So it begins!
The ‘O’ gauge layout that has
been in planning for so long is
finally under way. I first
purchased the Dapol Terrier when
it came out a few years ago. At
a reasonable price and looking
absolutely superb I just
couldn’t resist it. I could
always run it at Datchworth so
that wasn’t a problem. I know I
wasn’t the only one judging by
the number I have seen there.
Of course it never stops at one
does it? It doesn’t help when
Dapol keep producing such lovely
and suitably priced models. Add
to that it is surprising what
you find at exhibitions
sometimes and so the collection
grew. Finally Stevenage and
district acquired an ‘O’ gauge
collection and it was decided to
sell some to members. Thus two
more loco’s were bought.
The tally is now:
Dapol – Terrier, Class 08 diesel
shunter, Jinty, Pannier and
Sentinel
Heljan – Class 05 Diesel Shunter
Kit built – J69 and J50
(Stevenage collection)
Lima – Class 33, LMS 4F and
Diesel Shunter
Unknown scratch build Tram
Engine.
With a suitable collection of
wagons acquired second hand at
exhibitions a layout was really
required. This started with
ideas of a small shunting puzzle
without points and using a
cassette fiddle yard to swap
roads similar to one or two seen
at exhibitions. Not surprisingly
this grew a little to
incorporate at least a couple of
points and a quay side. Despite
many drawings the proposals just
wouldn’t come together. Finally
with yet another drawing and an
even longer board a plan came
together.
With the clubs closed and no
where to run the loco’s it
really was time to make a start.
The latest lock down has proved
to be the catalyst. Not wanting
to spend several days in the
garage building the base boards
I looked at White Rose (seen in
the magazines). They are not
cheap but provide a quick and
easy way to get started. With
size and plan adjusted for
hopefully the final time and
with yet another few inches
added, two base boards were
purchased in kit form. You can
buy these ready made up but of
course the cost increases.
Of course a name was required
and after considering the
grand-children's names for
example I settled on my fathers
name, which I think will be a
nice reminder of him some 40
years on. The layout will have a
canal wharf and suitable
warehouses and factories if all
goes according to plan.
This week the two boards have
been assembled and a back screen
added and varnished. The photo’s
show progress so far and with
the editors agreement I will try
and provide a regular update on
progress assuming there is any.
Now where did it put my articles
on ‘How to Build a Model
Railway’?
Keith
MIDDLETON-IN-TEESDALE
Some of you may like to see this
article on the
Middleton-in-Teesdale branch
that appeared in the November
2019 edition of Backtrack. The
history of the branch makes
fascinating reading together
with the photographs you can
clearly see how well our club
layout reproduces the railway.
Click on the picture to view the
article.
Please note that J W Armstrong
was not our own Jim Armstrong,
however you may like to visit
the website using
the link below to see the superb
photos they have in the
collection.
After the article in the News
letter a few weeks ago about the
Epping Ongar Railway (EOR) I
thought that I would relate a
little of my experiences there.
As some of you will know I am a
volunteer Fireman and Signalman
at the EOR, which I joined in
2013. As those of you who have
read my times at the NVR will
know I was a fireman there and
had been since 2005. When the
EOR re-opened under new
‘management’ in the summer of
2012 Wayne was one the first to
join the volunteers there. He
knew one of the originating
members Tony Goulding from the
NVR as did I in passing.
Tony had owned a small
industrial loco which he moved
to the NVR to restore. After
some work was done he reached
the conclusion that it was
beyond repair. Tony is also now
the CME at the EOR and has been
for the last couple of years.
However I digress.
When Wayne first arrived for a
visit he was more or less thrown
a shovel and told he was the
fireman for the day. That is the
way it was back then. There were
few rules and qualifications,
although I am assured that the
safety standards were being met.
Wayne had asked me to join
several times but I was
reluctant to try and fit in the
EOR with the NVR. However in the
summer of 2013 I decided to
visit to see what was what.
Having met Wayne, had a look
around and a ride on the
footplate I decided that I would
join, not least because the EOR
is only some 25 miles distant
and about 35 to 40 minutes drive
as opposed to the NVR which is
60 miles and takes just over an
hour to get there.
Having joined I attended the
initial introduction and safety
rules day in July. There were
about a dozen people there with
a very mixed ability. Some had
very little idea about railways
and what would be required;
others were more experienced,
whilst one woman just wanted to
work in the catering coach for
something to do. In the
afternoon we toured the site and
visited the signal-box at North
Weald.
The signalman gave a quick
introduction and most of the
visitors left after about 10
minutes. I was there for about 2
hours!. As it was the end of the
tour that was no problem.
Signalling has always been one
of my interests and during the 2
hours I chatted to the signalman
and learnt quite a lot about
operating the ‘box. I was hooked
and from now on when ever I got
the chance I would visit the
‘box’ and learn more about
signalling.
My first full day at the EOR was
on 21st September
2013, an ad hoc day, when I
started at 6.30 to help prep the
loco. This was 4141, a member of
the GWR "5101" class, commonly
known as a Large Prairie, being
41ft (12.5m) in length and 79.71
tonnes. It is a medium sized
tank engine with a 2-6-2T wheel
arrangement and was designed for
suburban and local passenger
services, often seen with GWR
and BR suburban coaches.
The class was built between 1903
and 1949, and totalled 209
examples. 4141 was built in
Swindon in 1946, and was
allocated to Gloucester (Horton
Rd) for all of its working life,
working on banking duties before
latterly working expresses to
London.
Thanks to the proximity of Barry
scrap yard to the former GWR
system, 10 examples were saved
for preservation. 4141 was
withdrawn in February 1963 and
reached Barry in November 1964,
being saved for preservation in
early 1973. 4141 and its
classmates have proved to be
ideally sized for use on
heritage railways, handling the
shorter journey times and
typical loads, being economic
and reliable performers.
My first rostered day was on 12th
October again on 4141. After the
somewhat lax start a year
previously things had now
tightened up a bit and it was
therefore necessary for me to
start again as a cleaner. I
didn’t have a problem with this
but over the coming turns I
quickly found that several of
the firemen had far less
experience than I did and
struggled at times, particularly
maintaining pressure over the
gradients. There were a good few
times when I had to bite my
tongue and watch them try and
figure out what was wrong and a
few when I just had to jump in
and tell them.
For example on one occasion we
stopped half way up to Marconi
bridge on the way back to North
Weald from Ongar. Having watched
the fireman stand perplexed for
a few minutes I just had to
explain that he had a hole in
the fire, probably on the front
left of the fire box. He duly
threw a few shovel full's into
the front corner and low and
behold the pressure started to
rise. He asked how I knew this
and I explained that if you
watch the smoke from the chimney
you can see a clear part and
that indicates a hole. Contrary
to what some believe the smoke
from the fire is drawn through
the boiler tubes in a direct
line without swirling around and
thus gives a good indication of
the state of the fire. This is
something that you learn from
experience.
Part of this day was also spent
in the signal box where I was
now in a position to be able to
actually operate the frame etc.
It had by now become clear that
signalling was something that I
wanted to do and I duly
requested to join the trainee
signalman roster.
I will explain more about
signalling and firing on the EOR
with particular reference to the
gradients next time.
Keith
AN UPDATE FROM OUR FRIEND IN THE
NORTH
Firstly I'd like to express my
thanks to Phil and Nigel for
producing the Newsletter for
over 30 weeks. It's quite an
achievement and I definitely
appreciate the effort you've
both put into it.
However, I note that only a few
members seem to contribute, so
perhaps the closing part of my
offering might give a basis for
more of them to produce
offerings for future
newsletters!
It's now over three months since
we moved up here to North
Lincolnshire, with our distant
view of the Humber Bridge.
There's been a lot of unpacking
and other activity, including
taking down four forty foot tall
trees! With the cheaper house
prices up here our move to
"somewhere smaller" got lost in
transit - we've ended up with a
bigger house with a
massive garden of over an acre.
So I had to buy myself a new
toy, as seen below!
The other advantage of the
bigger house is that what was a
formal dining room has become my
train room complete with
underfloor heating, where I've
started putting up both my N &
00 layouts. No more freezing
cold or roasting loft - luxury!
As it does, railways cropped up
when talking to the next door
but one neighbour. And it turns
out his best friend owns three
1:1 steam locos including one at
Appleby & Frodingham so now I've
an invite to the shed there.
There's still lots to do with
getting settled in to the house,
including all my 00 & G stock to
unpack nor have I started
seriously thinking about the
garden railway and I haven't
done anything about finding a
new club, but hopefully sometime
in the not too distant future I
can investigate that. All in all
we have no regrets about our
move up here (apart from absent
friends) and are thoroughly
enjoying our "extended holiday"
in the country.
For my final point, in the G
Scale Journal for some years
there has been a series of
articles titled "My
Favourite Loco" which records
each authors favourite in their
collection. It needn't be
anything fine in quality, it
might be a sentimental reason
based on who gave it to you or
where it came from. So you see
the complete spectrum from tatty
old ready to run to precision
engineering jobs can appear. As
a starter here's .....
My Favourite Loco
This is a 00 model of an LMS
unrebuilt Patriot no.5525 Colwyn
Bay. I bought it back in the
early 70's when I was in
Barnet MRC from a chap living
near Totteridge. Afraid I can't
remember his name but the loft
was odd because the house
suffered a near miss during the
war and the whole roof lifted
and moved six inches! The loco
is a Wills Finecast kit sitting
on a Hornby (old Hornby that
is!) chassis with scale driving
wheels. The only things I've
done to it are closing the loco
to tender coupling gap, fitted a
fall plate, removed the full
coal load then installed a
nearly empty one and most
importantly added pickups from
the tender wheels so it has ten
wheel pickup.
So for over 40 years now it's
been my most reliable runner,
it's been an unusual running
number to see and the thing I
particularly like is it is only
fairly lightly weighted. This
means it will haul quite a
reasonable length train, but
with the right controller and a
bit of care you can deliberately
give a wheel slip on starting!
All the best to all of you there
in the "Far South", hope you can
all get back together soon.
Julian
Also, latest hot news as
befitting it being my
favourite loco, Colwyn Bay
became the first loco to move on
the relocated Oxenholme &
Windermere layout yesterday,
albeit only six feet.
Julian
YOUR FAVOURITE LOCOMOTIVE
Please email us details of your
favourite loco.
AT HOME WITH THE BICKNELL'S
If you have missed one of our
Newsletters you can find them on
our website
www.dhmrs.co.uk
QUIZ
Answers next week.
1. What is the capital of
Australia?
2. What do invertebrates lack?
3. What type of pastry is used
to make profiteroles?
4. Who won Love Island 2020?
(One point for both people and
you don't have to name their
last names to get a point)
5. What is the longest river in
the world?
6. In Bingo, if a caller says
Knock at the door, what does he
mean?
7. Which parts of the human body
have half of the bones?
8. Which James Bond theme tune
did Sir Tom Jones sing?
9. What is James Corden's
character called in Gavin &
Stacey?
10. True or false: Bananas grow
on trees?
Answers to last weeks Quiz.
1. The Peak District
2. Andy
3. Orient Express
4. It is false. Scientists say
that goldfish do have short
memory but they can remember
things for months
5. Jupiter
6. He donated $10billion to
fight climate change
7. Planet Earth 2 (but we will
give you a point if you put
Planet Earth)
8. British Broadcasting
Corporation
9. Frank Sinatra
10. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa
and Po
