Update No.44 - 07.11.13
Hello my friends...your eyes are not deceiving you...Corky is back at last!....Hellfire!
Just when you thought I would never return - here I am again. I did warn you all that my updates would be more infrequent, but even I was shocked to see almost 3 months have elapsed since my last riveting (no sniggering at the back) instalment in the epic tale of the construction of our beloved Corkscrew-Lines. Maybe a little over-hyped perhaps, what do you think?....Dreadful!
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| If you go down in the woods today! |
So what have I in store for you this time I hear you all ask (I often hear voices in my head...explains a lot doesn't it?). Well, I have been sampling some full sized classic traction as evidenced by the shot above of the cute little Teddy Bear and I've also been enjoying some scaled down action at the Peterborough Model Railway show. That show gave me some great ideas for future options and possible changes in approach regarding constructing the Corkscrew-Lines mk2, but more of that later.
The big news this update is actually a total lack of any news regarding selling Jones-Towers. Although we've had a few viewings and apparently come close to receiving an offer a couple of times...if you believe what the Estate Agent tells you! - no house sale yet. This means there has been no further physical expansion of the layout or new tracklaying for about 4 months now, This is all very disappointing because I am itching to get started again but at least it allows me to keep mulling over ideas and options for whatever the space I have available at the next house. One thing's for certain...this is not going to be the end of the line (sorry) for this project...it will rise again.
Full Sized Railway Adventures
A few weeks ago I attended the autumn diesel gala at the Nene Valley Railway with my good friend, and long term Corkette, Mr Wibble. A thoroughly good time was had trundling along behind classic traction in surprising, but very welcome sunshine. I must confess I was a little disappointed that the majority of the locos were in "banger blue" rather than my preferred greens or maroon, but hey, I'm just being picky now. A bagpipe Crompton, a particularly enchanting Scandinavian railcar and some diesel-hydraulic action were personal highlights.
The funniest incident was watching a class 47 being run-round its train at the Peterborough end of the line. All went swimmingly with the loco unhooked and at the buffer stops ready to run round. However, the overly enthusiastic shunter forgot to throw any points and simply changed ends. Had the driver bothered to change ends as well and inspect the route, (always a good idea), he would have avoided his embarrassment a few minutes later at finding himself right back where he started! Great entertainment value for Wibble and myself though - Dreadful!
One thing that always irritates me with the NVR is the use of the continenal rolling stock during diesel galas. This stock just looks plain wrong to me but I know nobody's going to take any notice of a Corky rant so lets just enjoy some of the shots from the day...
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| Childhood memories of Bagpipe Cromptons come flooding back - Oh My Lords! |
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| Time to do some Hoovering....Hellfire! |
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| At last - a proper green engine! |
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| Peak at Wansford |
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| Met this Guy at the gala...Hellfire! |
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| The one and only Wibble |
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| Nothing Duff about this beast! |
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Absolutely Dreadful
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Great loco - naff stock!
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Peterborough Model Show
Because I am currently loathe to add to the current layout, I often sit twiddling my proverbial thumbs these days. Model railway exhibitions are therefore a welcome diversion and a way to keep my enthusiasm levels high until I can start cutting plywood again. The last show I went to a couple of weeks ago in Peterborough was excellent. Some shows leave me cold on the day. Not because the layouts are poor but normally because the choice of subject or scale simply doesn't float my boat. On paper there was a danger the Peterborough show would do the same. There were no OO gauge Southern/Western layouts based in the 1960s. However, a couple of layouts had me captivated for very different reasons.
Newchapel Junction is a large modular O Gauge layout which can be exhibited or erected in a variety of configurations. It was exhibited at Peterborough as a terminus station to a return loop with a separate branch line terminus. What really impressed me was the way the terminus platforms all lead to a turntable which in turn leads to a compact MPD at right angles to the terminus baseboard. This is a very effective means to have your cake and eat it without taking up too much space. I certainly made a mental note that this is a solution I may incorporate into the Corkscrew-Lines mk2.
Another aspect of the layout that made me take notice was the almost total absence of any superfluous scenery or features which do not directly affect the running of trains. This is a modelling philosophy that seems to be gaining acceptance across the Atlantic with the movers and shakers of the North American model railroad scene. Luminaries such as Tony Koester and Bill Darnaby are building basement filling multi-level layouts with baseboards at 12" or less in depth for the majority of the layout. The layouts reason for existence is the running of trains and nothing else matters. Being a professional railwayman myself with years of train driving, signalling and operational work under my belt, this is an ethos that appeals to me very much. I can see scenic vistas taking a back seat to broad curves, prototypical track layouts, smooth reliable running and a model that works just like the full size railway does. The moral of the story...If you reach an ideas cul-de-sac then go to a show for inspiration and to turn that mental light bulb on!
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| Newchapel Junction |
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| Newchapel Junction |
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| Newchapel Junction |
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| Newchapel Junction |
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| Newchapel Junction & Corky getting in the way! |
The other layout which blew me away and also deeply impressed my friends on the day, who significantly are all professional operations based railwaymen... was the magnificent Black Country Blues. This 4mm scale slice of the West Midlands based on the 1970s BR Blue era is a stunningly realistic model. The scenery is sublime and the trains are a procession of run of the mill hum drum blue diesels operating a variety of grubby freights at prototypically slow speeds...Hellfire! If I can emulate this layout with the Corkscrew-Lines I'll be delighted.
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| Black Country Blues |
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| Black Country Blues |
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| Black Country Blues |
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| Black Country Blues |
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Black Country Blues
My next exhibition fix will be the, always entertaining, Spalding show this coming weekend. I'll be going on Sunday and inspecting everybody else's hard work and hopefully getting some more good ideas for the Corkscrew-Lines mk 2. Then in a couple of weeks time it's the daddy of them all...Warley at the NEC. This is a monster of a show and never disappoints. I'll be there on Saturday the 23rd wandering up and down the aisles of layouts and sales stands looking for bargains. Well, it is also my birthday week so I may have to treat myself to a few goodies don't you think? If any Corkettes are going to either show then let me know so we can have a natter and a cup of tea....Dreadful!
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| Nothing beats a hearty flail!...Sad I know! Wibble, Corky & Napier-Boy. |
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| Oh My Lords! |
Traction Action!
A detailed look at what's currently happening to the Corkscrew-Lines traction fleet.
You will no doubt recall my tales of woe regarding the recent Dapol Class 52 Western releases. To briefly recap, both the models I received ran so poorly and had such poor build quality issues that I decided to return them for a full refund. I mentioned I would be trying again when the next batch of locos is released. Well today, my favourite Liverpudlian retailer of model railway models, has informed me that another pair of maroon Westerns with small yellow warning panels have been announced by Dapol so my pre-order has been placed. Fingers crossed Dapol have learnt the lessons from the first batches.
I love Westerns whatever colour they are but I am particularly fond of maroon examples. However, to add more variety to the fleet, I will also be requiring at least one green loco and ideally, I had hoped to get a model D1015 in the one off golden ochre livery. Well my prayers were answered about a week ago when Cheltenham Model Centre announced they had commissioned a limited edition model of D1015 "Western Champion" from Dapol with a small run of only 250 models. I pre-ordered one immediately. If this model isn't a good runner then I'll be sending it away for repairs because these will certainly be in short supply. Returning the loco for a refund will not be an option this time so fingers crossed.
Talking of pre-orders, I have over the last 5 years or so placed a considerable number of pre-orders for locos and rolling stock and unfortunately it is looking like a large number of them will be released within a few months of each other. Very exciting to receive a number of models you ordered 3 years ago, but not such good news when you have to pay for them all in one large hit. Luckily Mrs Corky is a reasonable and understanding woman who I'm sure will accept my dilemma with good grace and won't make an issue of it. However, I may be spending a lot more time than I'd like wandering around ladies fashions retailers over the next few months to try and compensate her and restore some balance!
Imminent arrivals are Bachmann's LMS twin, No. 10001 and Heljan's AC Cars Railbus. I think the LMS diesel will be with me around the middle of the month so I'll be sure to include some shots of it working some trains over the line in the next update. As you will hopefully know, the Corkscrew-Lines is broadly based on an ex LSWR line in the West Country in the 1960s. Although firmly LSWR, there will be strong Western Region influences and this may even include a ex GWR line and stations along the route. Making my life considerably easier at the moment is Kernow Model centre who keep announcing LSWR buildings as limited edition releases. They have recently announced a large LSWR Type 3 box and at the other end of the spectrum, a cabin just large enough to cover a ground frame. Thank you Kernow and keep those ex LSWR buildings coming you lovely people!
Stop Press! - Rumours are circulating that Bachmann may announce a Western Region 8-car Blue Pullman set...Oh My Lords - Hellfire!
New Arrivals on the Corkscrew-Lines
Another very quiet period with very few purchases since the last update (just as well considering what I've said about long standing pre-orders now being despatched). I have bought the occasional book and die-cast model and a single item of rolling stock...a Bachmann Thompson Full Brake. This will add a bit of non Southern variety to my parcels rakes.
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| Latest Arrivals on the Corkscrew-Lines |
On My Workbench
I have decided to use this period of forced layout building inactivity to catch up on assembling some of the many plastic kits I've collected over the last 10 years or so. I thought I would start with a kit I purchased at the Warley show some 5 or 6 years ago and one I've been looking forward to finishing because it will be a major source of freight traffic on the layout. Glacier Gravel is a model of an aggregates loading facility by the American manufacturer Walthers. Although it is an HO scale structure, it's presence and size mean it can easily be passed off as OO gauge and indeed it should form the centrepiece for a very busy and entertaining scene with conveyors bringing the aggregate from an off scene quarry to the train loading sidings. The building reminds me of my days as a driver working ballast trains from Mountsorrel Quarry sidings on the Midland Mainline. I'm just finishing assembly of the kit and then the lengthy process of painting and weathering will begin. I will show you how it is progressing next time.
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| Glacier Gravel |
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| Glacier Gravel |
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| Glacier Gravel |
Frequently Asked Questions!
I received a light hearted response following the last update from a modeller called Phil Taylor who lives in New Zealand. Apologies for the tardy response Phil, but I thought I would include your question and the reply in the main body of this update because it is probably something others would find interesting. Phil wondered how high from the garage floor the aperture was to gain access to the middle of the helix and crucially, how easy it is to get in and out.
Now I must confess that as I am a middle aged man who does not follow a regular fitness regime and as I am somebody who can think of nothing worse than joining a Gym and spending hours sweating in the company of others, having to regularly squeeze under low baseboards is far from ideal. The rather simple and elegant solution is what I believe mechanics call a "Crawler Trolley". My great friend and long standing Corkette, Lord Dowsby, very generously presented me with this fantastic bit of kit a couple of years ago and I can honestly say gaining access to the centre of the helix has become a breeze. The trolley folds up when not in use but when needed is a very comfortable and quick way to pass through the 15" gap without fear of banging your head or twisting yourself up in knots! If you can sit on the floor, push your feet and then stand up then you can use the trolley...Hellfire!
I hope that answers your question Phil. It is certainly the best way I have found to get round the unavoidable problem of a low access. To be honest, it's actually quite good fun to use in a "whizzing tea tray on castors" sort of way...Dreadful! As all of the track on the helix is plain line and I took as much care as I could when laying it to make sure it was true and would be reliable, I rarely have to go into the centre although some Corkettes (Wibble!) seem to like sitting in there and watching the world go round and round until their heads swivel like an Owl's!
Talking of the helix and gradients on model railways, a very interesting new product has just been released by DCC-Concepts called Power-Base. In a nutshell, when faced with a steep gradient you lay steel plates under the track and then fix magnets under your locomotives to gain extra traction. This is especially needed with low powered steam locos which struggle to climb with realistic length trains. Reviews and reports would suggest this can effectively double the train length.
At the moment, I have no real issues with trains climbing the helix as all of my diesel fleet can lift an 8 coach train without assistance. It is a different story for the steam fleet however and I had resigned myself to using "Bullfrog Snot" (see earlier updates) to give a loco a set of invisible traction tyres to get round the problem. However, if the future Corkscrew-Lines mk2 needs to fit in a smaller space or the helix becomes tighter or steeper then Power-Base could be the answer to my future problems.
So there you have it my friends. Surely the most effective insomnia cure known to man...another update is concluded! Look after yourselves, keep modelling and say hello if you see me at any of the upcoming shows. I'll be back with more fascinating tales, adventures and opinions soon. You have been warned!
That's all for now folks!
Corky!
