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Making sure summer comes soonest in the South

June 16, 2013 by grahammuz

With once again a respectful nod to the Southern Publicity Department  back in 1936 I am soon heading very South (well about 2 and bit  hours in a plane south)  for some exploration,  rest, relaxation and hopefully some sun and sea too. There will, therefore, also be a break in posts on this blog with normal service being resumed week commencing the 1st July.

summer posterThe now famous Southern Railway publicity poster  ’I’m Taking and Early Holiday cos I know Summer Comes Soonest in the South’, was first released in 1936. It was dubiously parodied later by the Late and Never Early Railway, imitation being… etc. etc.

The Photograph, originally in black and white, was  taken in 1924 by Charles E Brown and shows a small boy carrying a suitcase on the platform at Waterloo station talking to the fireman of N15 King Arthur class 4-6-0 locomotive No 755 ‘The Red Knight’, as he leans from the cab. The Southern Railway publicity department had the image coloured for use on this poster the hint of the black and white original can be seen beyond the locomotive.

I know this post is a bit of a cheat, as this is a pretty much a repeat of a similar post from last summer, but I am already in holiday mode. If you are also about to head off on vacation or have one planned over the summer months then enjoy!

Just in case you get withdrawal symptoms feel free to click here to view a totally random post,  speak again soon.

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Controlling interests #6 uncoupling the box van

June 15, 2013 by grahammuz

One of the regular operational movements when operating Fisherton Sarum is to bring the 12t box van of spare parts and shed consumables, that has arrived from Eastliegh works, to the shed stores located in the water tower building at its own unloading platform.

Uncoupling_1

With the electromagnet energised the iron wire dropper visible under the coupling hook is pulled down and the hook lifts

Just as at Salisbury this involves a shunt across the turntable. At an exhibition this has required a 12″ to the foot scale ‘hand of god’ to uncouple the wagon from the shed pilot loco, or sometimes the ash wagon, until now…

With the simple addition of a short piece of iron wire fixed to the dropper of the tension lock coupling hook, and the installation of a ‘Dingham’ electromagnet kindly provided by fellow High Wycombe and District MRS member and regular Fisherton Sarum operator Mark Riddoch the process is now totally hands free!

Another view with the electromagnet energised and the hook lifted clear of the bar

Another view with the electromagnet energised and the hook lifted clear of the bar

The bolt of the Dingham electromagnet has been simply self threaded into an interference hole drilled into the baseboard below so that the end of the bolt does not quite come though the ballast keeping it totally invisible from view, whilst firmly holding the coil in place under the board. A simple push to make switch on the control panel provides the required 12v DC for the magnet to operate that pulls down the iron wire dropper that lifts the hook for uncoupling.

This latest addition to Fisherton Sarum can be viewed in action during its next exhibition appearance at the Hornby Magazine Live Exhibition at the Hartlepool College of Further Education on the 13th / 14th July 2013.

The brief video below also shows the uncoupling in action.

Posted in Controlling Interests, Fisherton Sarum, General, HW&DMRS | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Protoype information re Hornby Maunsell open second class coach in BR green

June 14, 2013 by grahammuz

Further to my post earlier this week regarding the availability of the Hornby R4538 Maunsell open second class coach in BR green, its arrival has generated some discussion on a number of forums and email lists with respect to the prototype that Hornby have chosen to model.

Friend and guru of all things Southern coach related Chris Knowles-Thomas kindly provided a useful summary for the R4538 model, so I hope he does not mind me using his information as the basis of this post.

R4538 has the running number S1314S and carries set No. 104 on one end. Coach number 1314 was one of the diagram 2005 open thirds (1312 – 1361) built in 1933. Its designation changed to open second in 1956 when British Railways abolished the use of Third.

It was loose, i.e. not allocated to any particular set, from 1933 until November 1959 when it replaced the ex SE&CR diagram 52 non-corridor second 1063 in 2-set ‘W’ Number 104.  [Edit: although, see Clive Standen's comment below, that it appears as allocated to South Eastern Division boat train set number 8 in 1957.]  The other coach in set 104 was Maunsell brake composite to diagram 2401 No. S6589S.
Hornby have also previously released a Brake Composite to diagram  2401 though not yet with the appropriate running number for set 104. This set was disbanded in June 1962 and 1314 reverted to lose stock. It was withdrawn in November 1962.

It is currently being debated whether S1314S carried set numbers in reality. Generally the Southern only applied set numbers to brake ends but at least some of the open seconds in 2-sets ‘W’ 100-110 are known to have had set number applied, e.g. set 103, so if anyone has any photo references for set 104 it would be good to know.

Posted in General, Model News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

R4538 Maunsell open second class coach in BR green arrives

June 10, 2013 by grahammuz

Just a quick post to confirm that as advised in my delivery status update post, on 22nd May, the Hornby R4538 Maunsell open second class coach in BR green has now arrived with many retailers although those of you, like me, wanting the SR open third version will have to wait a little longer until September.
Although I do not have one of the BR liveried versions as it outside my usual 1946-1949 time period, I have in the past been fortunate to have had a close look at the pre-production sample, of course we have also seen the modified version as part of the 6xx series Pull Push sets, and it certainly maintains the high standards we have come to enjoy with the other Hornby Maunsell coaches produced to date.

Posted in General, Model News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »

Talking Stock #25 Marsh got one Atlantic 4-4-2 tank right with the I3

May 31, 2013 by grahammuz

Douglas Earie-Marsh will probably be best known for the popular and graceful H1 and H2 Atlantic express engines, although these were essentially Ivatt designs from the Great Northern with whom March previously worked. His fist design of Atlantic tanks the I1 and I2 classes were not at all successful performers. The I3 tanks  however changed that  and quickly gained an excellent reputation especially with respect to fuel economy. When used on the ‘Sunny South Special’  between Brighton and Rugby, a superheated I3 could could do the entire round trip without need for water en route or re-coaling at Rugby!

I3 2084_1

I3 No. 2084 built from a Wills kit

The class were very successful  and when electrification of the Brighton lines started to displace them they found new jobs elsewhere. Having been built initially to the more generous Brighton loading gauge they were cut down slightly by reducing the height of the boiler mountings and rounding off of the cab roofs to work on the Eastern section, they subsequently worked further afield.

I3 2084_2

She is the latter condition with cut down boiler fittings and cab to suit the SR composite loading gauge

They could  often could be seen on the Brighton and or Portsmouth to Cardiff services being replaced by an other railway company  loco at Salisbury and between 1938 and 1943 four of the class were allocated to Salisbury itself. This  gives the excuse for one to be seen from time to time on Fisherton Sarum.

My model of 2084 has been built from a Wills (now South Eastern Finecast) white metal kit in the form with the cut down cab and fittings to fit the SR composite loading gauge and is finished in my usual Bulleid post war black livery.

Posted in Fisherton Sarum, General, Talking Stock | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hornby Maunsell Open 2nd / 3rd delivery dates

May 22, 2013 by grahammuz

Hornby’s R4538 Maunsell unconverted* open third class coach in BR green and R4537 Maunsell unconverted* open third class coach in Southern Maunsell green were originally announced in January 2012 and were a logical addition to the range as they were also tooling a variant to be part of the BR converted Maunsell Pull Push sets .
I have recently noticed a variety of misinformation about delivery dates appearing on various online forums and in communications from some retailers (although some do match that below), there has also been an increase in the number of times they have appeared in the search terms used resulting in readers arriving on this blog.

Maunsell Third/Second Open as a loose coach (Picture courtesy of Hornby)

Maunsell Third/Second Open (Picture courtesy of Hornby Magazine)

To clarify the situation and after discussion direct with Hornby I am able to confirm the current anticipated delivery dates to Hornby in Margate, and therefore retailers shortly afterwards as being:

R4538 Maunsell open second class coach in BR green due June 3rd 2013
R4537 Maunsell open third class coach in Southern Maunsell green due 9th September 2013

I will not add to or comment on the reasons and or speculation for the apparent and or perceived delay in these arriving other than I am sure they will be worth the wait and sometimes as modellers we should be a little more patient in this seemingly “I want it now world”!

*Note: ‘unconverted’ is a term used by Hornby and is a bit like the term ‘unrebuilt’ being used for Bulleid Pacifics in original form. Technically the term ‘unconverted’ is not necessary at all in describing the coach.

Posted in General, Model News | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Coals to Stoke Manderville…Railex this weekend

May 22, 2013 by grahammuz

This coming weekend sees the annual Railex Exhibition organised by the Risborough and District Model Railway Club at the Stoke Manderville Stadium. Railex has rightly gained a reputation for being one of the top shows in the country with 16 quality layouts and an impressive range of specialist trade stands. This year is no exception and the floor plan and full line up can be found here.

8738532539_90b4766089_b

The colliery at Polbook Gurney. Picture courtesy and copyright of Chris Nevard

This year I again have the honour and privilege to be operating one of Chris Nevard’s layouts in the shape of his latest master piece Polbrook Gurney  once a sleepy Cornish Halt but now extended to include a colliery and moved to North Somerset! So not Southern, but fear not, there might just be the odd visiting engine on loan (if I can sneak one on when no one is looking)!

Southern fans don’t worry as normal service will be resumed on the blog next week back with the proper railway week. However  to help me survive the weekend there will be a couple of high quality Southern Region layouts at the show in the shape of ‘St. Merryn’ (North Cornwall) in P4 and Phil Hutchings’ delightful 3mm layout ‘Sandown’ (as in the Isle of Wight); both these layouts are set in the early 1950′s.

Posted in Exhibitions, General | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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