Lower Thames Yard

[Brian]

Trying to upload .PDF files to the forum is not allowed as .PDF files are documents not images.
However, as you have found they can be uploaded to the linked to off site hosting company and then its URL is placed automatically back here.
Alternatively you can use a free to use conversion PDF to JPG web site and use the converted JPG file here.

[Tallpaul70]

Good Afternoon All
Perhaps a word or two about the operation of Lower Thames Goods Shed" might be useful?

All the trains though short, when operated in "serious" mode, will be according to the 1961 WTT for the Maidenhead to High Wycombe branch. So most trains will run from the fiddle yard to the station round the single track left side of the layout and reverse

Also included will be a couple of morning Paddington Trains (one steam and one DMU) from Maidenhead and their evening returns.
Some Reading to Maidenhead and Maidenhead to Reading trains will be portrayed by making them Maidenhead to Slough trains or the reverse.

So the morning Reading to Princes Risborough Parcels , reversing at Maidenhead, will become a Slough to Princes Risborough parcels. Its return working the evening Maidenhead to Reading Parcels will become a Maidenhead to Slough parcels!

As the layout will only hold some 8 trains and 2/3 LEs, most trains will portray several workings!

The station will have its shunter, although the amount of shunting will be limited. I might try to fit in an additional siding off the goods shed siding.

In "Play" mode, trains will just circulate passing each other in the station loops. I aim to use this mode mainly while doing jobs on the layout, buildings or rolling stock.

Lastly the layout will be used in "test" mode for setting up DCC on locos and units and testing new/ tinkered with items.

Here is a repeat of the plan so that you can look at it while reading the above.


Please stay safe and keep smiling.
This morning's paper suggests we may be allowed as a first easing of the Lockdown to interact with a named list of up to 10 friends and family, goodness knows how they plan to police that! Hope I can change my group when I fall out with some of the members??!!

Cheers
Paul

[RogerB]

The plan looks great Paul. There is a hint of C J Freezer about it in terms of appearance. Look forward to seeing more. R-

[Tallpaul70]

Good Afternoon One and All,

Here are my latest thoughts on Lower Thames Goods Shed after a session checking the timetable moves, which suggests I need two more sidings in the scenic area:-
One is needed to hold:-

a) an early morning GUV or Syphon G that arrives from Paddington. In reality it was on the 0430 Paddington to Westbury Parcels, but as I cannot portray that train, we will assume it arrives on the early morning shunter. Now this shunter in reality worked LE from Slough to Twyford alternate mornings to shunt then worked back to Taplow LE to be the early shunter there.
So I am working it 5 days a week with the Van. Then LE back from Maidenhead to Taplow.
The Van is added to the 0620 Parcels (now Slough to Princes Risborough) for the trip up the branch to High Wycombe.

b) Later, for most of the morning the Class 121 and trailer need a siding, and from 1300 for the afternoon the class 121 drops the trailer so that also needs a siding.
One possibility is to cut bach the straight bottom side of platform H in my sketch and fit a siding there. The only disadvantage to that is that it may not be long enough for the 121 and trailer. I am not worried by the loss of part of the platform, it was never going to be very realistic any way

In reality the siding used for this was the East end siding which ran off the Platform 5 (Branch) loop parallel to the up relief line.

The second siding is an addition to the goods yard to make the employment of a shunter a little more realistic.
If I have a three way point I will substitute it for the right hand point out of the Branch siding/ Goods Shed siding, and run a siding across the goods yard.

I might also alter the alignment of the road along the centre of the layout and the position of the bridge across the branch so that I can make the Branch siding longer, and the goods yard a little bigger (and less symmetrical).
There will need to be a bit of trial and error as the bridge cannot move too far round the curve otherwise it will not hide the first curved Fiddle Yard point!

So some time this week there might be a version 2 layout plan.

Best regards, and keep safe
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Hi Everyone,
Only time for a few comments today.

Firstly, the opportunities for people to start the build on my 12ft x8ft Lower Thames Yard layout with seemingly only a slow removal of lockdown after the next review in two weeks time, seems tobe along way in the future.
Therefore I need to move forward on the small Lower Thames Goods Shed layout.

So, following on from yesterday's posting, I've been doing some work on how I might increase the size of Lower Thames Goods Shed. The materials I have to hand will, I think, allow me to increase the size from %ft 6ins x 3ft to 6ft 2 ins x 3ft 9ins. This will allow me to increase the radius of most of the curves in the scenic side of the layout from Hornby R2 and R1 to Hornby R3 and R2.

I should be able to fit in the two extra sidings in the scenic area that I mentioned yesterday and also alter the alignment of the roadway so that the length of the Branch siding can be increased.
Over the next couple of days I will complete the increase in size, do some full size track fiddling, and revise the layout sketch.

Secondly, a few days ago I mentioned in a post somewhere (not necessarily in this thread(!)) that I had a problem with some Coopers Craft Cattle wagons and Mink vans that were missing roofs. I now have to hand several curved pieces of card and plastic from various packaging which I hope will solve the problem.
After I have made and fitted the roofs I will post some pics, I just need to remember to take some how to do it pics as I go along!

So I hope you are all keeping sane in this continuing lockdown, but please stay safe.
Best regards
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Good day to you All, from a wet and breezy Bedfordshire,

I have completed the first redraw of the Lower Thames Goods Yard layout to the larger size as per my yesterday's posting., but have put it on one side until tomorrow to look at it with refreshed eyes as I'm not quite happy with it..
I need also to fiddle around with a couple of bits of track to verify they work in reality, before I am happy enough with it to share!

So I have now been fiddling around with bits and bobs to make up the missing Coopers Craft wagon roofs. The problem on the Cattle wagons is well on the way to being solved as I have found that our toilet roll card centres are of the correct radius to fit. They do need careful cutting, and I am not satisfied with the dimensions of the first few, but I know what I need to do to improve them.

Also, while the curve is just right the card is too thin, but the obvious solution of two thicknesses gives less than ideal edges. The other problem is how to replicate the four narrow bands that fixed the canvas to the roof. Card ones are too flimsy to handle, so I think I need to look in my scrap box for some thin metal that can easily be curved. At least these vans don't have the curved rain strips that the more modern vans have!

Take care, best of luck with your modelling
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Hi everyone,
Here in a wet and chilly Bedfordshire, where it seems like we have had all of April's showers (who is April??) in the last couple of days, I am still trying to get a round tuit, in terms of completing this week's modelling jobs.

Have managed to sketch version 2 of Lower Thames Goods Shed, and fiddle with a few points and bits of track to get rid of the worst howlers. Provided there are no violent objections, I will share that with you tomorrow?

Sorting through some old mags this morning in the continuing quest to reduce the weight on my shelves I found a 1961 pic, admittedly pretty dark, of a train I have been trying to sort the model of for a while now.
This is the 0720 Reading to Slough Fish and Parcels. Had the Local Parcels formation from the 1961 Carriage workings for some time, but nothing better than having a pic, which also gives me the loco used. Luckily the caption is pretty good so that makes up for the difficulty in making out the last 3 of the 6 vans!

Looks like the rain has stopped so I had better sign off now and dash to my Railway Room to get some bits into the house , so I have finished some modelling this week!

Stay safe,
Cheers
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Hi everyone,
Sorting through some old mags this morning in the continuing quest to reduce the weight on my shelves I found a 1961 pic, admittedly pretty dark, of a train I have been trying to sort the model of for a while now.
This is the 0720 Reading to Slough Fish and Parcels. Had the Local Parcels formation from the 1961 Carriage workings for some time, but nothing better than having a pic, which also gives me the loco used. Luckily the caption is pretty good so that makes up for the difficulty in making out the last 3 of the 6 vans!

Cheers
Paul

Hi All,
Reference the above train the details I have are as follows:-

Carriage Working Diagram:-
Formation
Item From To
Brake Van Oxford Slough
Vans Various Twyford to Slough
Formed with Traffic from 1840 York, 2150 Shrewsbury, 2055 Birkenhead, 2222 York.

The Photo:-
From page 56 of the January 2011 issue of Model Rail:-
0720 Reading to Slough Fish and Parcels photo on 2nd August 1961 with 6 vans

Loco : 4148 (I need to check where it was sheded?)
Stock:-
Item 1 ex LNER Fish van
Item 2 ex LNER Fish Van
Item 3 exSR Bogie B brake Van (grn)
Item 4 BR Mk1 BG (maroon)
Item 5 GWR or BR Syphon G (maroon)
item 6 ex LMS or GWR BG (maroon)

The above is all the information I have. The photo is quite dark, so I was not able to take a picture of it to post that showed any worthwhile detail!

Cheers
Paul

[Tallpaul70]

Good Afternoon everyone,

I thought I would round off the week by sharing the latest version of the Lower Thames Goods Shed Plan and (yet more) notes about the 0720 Reading to Slough Fish and Parcels train!

So the latest version of the Goods Shed Layout Plan, as I suggested a few posts back, has used the larger space to improve the radius of the scenic curves at the left hand side and add a couple of sidings.

I have also improved the usefulness of the fiddle yard sidings. Yet to be finalized are a couple of loco sidings shown in broken lines at each end of the fiddle yard.
I might possibly add two more loco sidings running off those, but following the curve of the fiddle yard lines.



My latest thoughts on the Fish train is that I need to try to locate where the photo I described in my earlier post was taken.

It looks to have been taken at ground level from the south side of the Main Lines with the train correctly on the Relief lines.. Unfortunately there is little showing of the background except that what appears to be part of a row of terraced houses at approx. rail level can be seen past the front of the loco. In the foreground is what appears to be grassed area on which the photographer is standing . There does not appear to be any fence between the grass and the track(!)

Now I don't know the lineside between Reading and Slough very well, but I can't think of anywhere where there is a row of terraced houses near the north side of the line, at line level.

If the location is between Taplow and Slough, this would explain why there are only two fish vans as others could have been dropped off at Twyford, Maidenhead, and Taplow?

If anyone remembers this area in the 60s and can help, I will be pleased to hear.

The article was by Robert Carroll, who I have contacted but he hasn't any location details in his records, so I am going to email the Model Rail team and see if they can find anything from their archives.

Hope you are all safe and well?
Best regards
Paul

[Walkingthedog]

I was born and lived in Slough from 1949 to 1972. There must be dozens of places with terraced houses at track level. In fact I had a saturday job with one of my mates working for his dads building firm. We helped demolish two whole streets of these houses in Cippenham and Chalvey for redevelopment.