Banbury Connections
Banbury Connections British 00 Scale Model Railway
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Facing up to a facing point at Banbury

7/7/2022

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Following derailments by locomotives reversing into the horse siding at Banbury, the facing point on the Western DOWN main has been removed and replaced with a point on the Great Central UP main. This has resulted in much improved reliability. Pictures of the operation are below:
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A Grand Project

11/6/2022

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I recently completed repainting a 5 carriage HST in Grand Central's second livery.

Following the acquisition of a pair of cheap GNER power cars from our local hobby store, 5 Lima Mk3s were acquired to create a Grand Central rake. Decals were obtained from Railtec Transfers. The decals were fairly difficult to apply, given their length, but the end result was excellent.

Unfortunately, my Humbrol Clear varnish decided to dry with a white glaze. This was rather disappointing and required the carriages to be carefully repainted in gloss black to hide the effects.

With this rectified, I finally thought we had an operable train. However, the Lima Mk3s I had, had their wheels changed which created excess axle play. This caused the train to derail. I have temporarily rectified this with bogies from another Lima XPT rake.

​Pictures of the train are below.
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Power cars repainted in gloss black.
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Finished train at Marylebone
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Machynlleth Lower Level Track Plan Alteration

11/6/2022

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To improve railway reliability, the three way point at Machynlleth lower level was recently replaced with two conventional points.

Given that the station's electrical wiring partially went through the three way point, we were somewhat perplexed as to why nothing would operate immediately following the rebuild. This was rectified by attaching new power leads to the track in question and disconnecting the original leads from the point motor.

I attach a picture of the new arrangement below. The three way was replaced by the two points in the top right.
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New Sheffield Electric Siding

2/5/2022

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Owing to the previous shortage of electric locomotive storage at Sheffield, delays to the UP Manchester to London could create an operational lock up at Sheffield Victoria when the DOWN train had already reached Sheffield. What would happen is that the electric loco on the UP train wasn't able to run around to the other end as the track was blocked by the DOWN train.

The new siding has enabled the addition of another electric locomotive, thereby rectifying this problem.

The picture below shows two EM2s side by side at Sheffield Victoria. The original siding is on the left whilst the new one is on the right. Addition of the new siding required modifications to the station's overhead in a number of places.
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Rolling stock update added following delivery of 9F

29/4/2022

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Backdrop Buildings

11/4/2022

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Following a kind donation of old plastic buildings from a local modeller, Banbury Connections installed an industrial backdrop behind Bradford Exchange Station. 

Before installation, the buildings required some minor repairs and a new baseboard was erected in the gap between the Bradford baseboard and the train room wall.

Following the acquisition of several more trucks and a couple of additional Bradford trolleybuses, the buildings look very much at home in their new location.
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Modern Image Visitors

7/3/2022

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The last time the modern trains were operating late last year, a couple of our operators brought round a few trains from their own fleet. 
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EWS Managers train on its way back from Bradford
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A Virgin HST was spotted on a special Chester to London working.
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Chiltern Class 121 on the Leamington Spa to Stratford-Upon-Avon service.
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Northern Rail in Settle and Carlisle Livery on the Bradford to Leicester local with a Transpennine Class 158 which was, at the time, rostered on the Bradford to London express working.
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Sheffield Sand Delivery

4/2/2022

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In a rare moment, the operating team has sent the Sheffield sand wagon down to Gosport where it has returned ready to service the fleet at Sheffield Loco.
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New Sheffield Walls

4/2/2022

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After many years with a plain Masonite wall behind Sheffield Victoria Station, we recently removed the wall, cut 24 arches and reclad the entire wall with Slaters stone plastikard and inset stone (cardboard) lintels. Per modern scenic standards, a copious amount of putty was used to hide any joins resulting in a much more realistic wall that looks strikingly like those ready made Noch walls you can buy "off the shelf".

The red brick walls behind Sheffield at Leicester and Rugby were also reclad as part of the upgrade.

As with many activities on this railway, this project was a victim of scope creep. Both ends of Platforms 4 and 5 were relaid to improve the track geometries. This required one of the electrification masts to be extended for the second time!

Pictures of the new wall and track are below. The last photo shows the improved wall/viaduct.tunnel mouth for the Rugby to Leicester mainline (new wall and pratt truss support) and Huddersfield line (tunnel). This job was necessitated by recent improvements to Nottingham's walls (previous blog post).
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View of Sheffield Victoria with its new wall in the background.
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The alignment into Platforms 5 on the far right has been markedly improved.
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The parcels carriage siding with an L1 locomotive was realigned enabling an improved track geometry between Platform 5 and the line to Bradford Exchange. The lengthened electrification mast can be seen adjacent to the L1.
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The tunnel mouth at Huddersfield station can just be seen on the left. The new wall used a piece of recycled material from some old walls at Nottingham. We had some spare pratt truss bridge girders which were used to bridge the Bristol Midland yard over the mainline between Rugby and Leicester.
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Easing the curve at Banbury

11/1/2022

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A nasty reverse curve on the northern end of Platform 1 at Banbury Station was a source of derailments for many years.

To rectify this problem, Platform 1 has been curved at the end to allow a smooth transition into the northern throat. This has allowed for faster and more reliable running through the station.

A number of pictures showing the changes can be found below.
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The platform's square end was curved to enable a smoother transition into the throat (left). The picture shows the track, ballast and platform removed.
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The new alignment on Platform 1.
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Railway at the Botanical Gardens

9/12/2021

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You'll be pleased to see that this post is the first in a while not to refer to new walls being installed on the railway!

As a Christmas treat, I've attached some photos of a recent trip to the National Botanical Gardens in Washington DC where I found an outdoor railway where all the buildings and bridges were made entirely of plant matter.

The display included scenes from multiple countries, including Australia's Barossa Valley, each depicting a type of agriculture that has defined a particular region.
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California scenario.
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Katie posing beneath a Pratt Truss bridge made of saplings.
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Kansas scenario.
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Percy from Thomas and Friends can be seen in the background. James was also present but had, unfortunately, departed from the rails with some troublesome trucks nearby.
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Train passing the Barossa Valley scenario. A derailed James in a rather dangerous position can be observed in the background.
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More Walls?

20/11/2021

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The pictures below reflect work done on the Gosport, Winchester and Bradford aisle of the railway. New red brick walls were installed at Winchester and behind Solihull and parts of Leamington Spa whilst a large new stone wall was inserted along the mainline between Bicester North and High Wycombe. Whilst dad was initially worried about how the stonework would turn out, we were pleased with the final result which incorporated a subtle mix of colours typically found in stone work.
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The new brick wall at Winchester with the unfinished wall on the mainline near Bicester.
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Winchester station removed as the new stonework goes in.
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O Gauge brick was used on the walls at Solihull and Leamington Spa.
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A new Cross Country HST at Winchester on the Gosport to Birkenhead with the new walls behind.
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A new Cross Country HST at Winchester on the Gosport to Birkenhead with the new walls behind.
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The Arches of Nottingham

17/10/2021

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One wall led to another and another...
The recent lockdown resulted in the construction and reconstruction of 12 walls across the layout. Following the recycling of some test arches for Marylebone, Birmingham Snow Hill received a new arched wall. 

Shortly after, following many years of disgruntlement concerning Nottingham's pictured wall, relative to the larger arches behind the station, a major project was undertaken to replace the three small arches with six large ones.

As you'll quickly notice, the new arches made the old "superior arches" look rather rough which resulted in the application of a Slaters stone cladding to all 16 existing arches. This resulted in a completely refurbished 19 arch wall behind the station.

We also took the liberty of applying a new station sign across the entrance and some period BR notices.

​A selection of photographs from the project can be viewed below.
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Original arches slated for replacement.
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New arches taking shape.
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Completed new arches. Oops, the other 16 arches aren't looking as good!
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Progress on updating the old arches.
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First train going through the worksite.
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Filling in the gaps with filler.
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Arches complete.
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The 19 arches spanning Nottingham Station in all their glory!
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New Nottingham station sign and BR timetables.
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New videos.

6/9/2021

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A couple of videos have been recently uploaded to the BC Youtube channel.

The first shows the railway running in 2012 mode whilst the second shows a locomotive change at Sheffield Victoria since electrification. 
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Birmingham Arches

4/9/2021

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John's prototype arched wall for London Marylebone was repurposed and extended to produce a new row of arches to reinforce the wall behind Birmingham Snow Hill. The first picture shows the arches in place without the new stone work above the arches and the second shows the completed wall.
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