Following an inspection of the permanent way during the carriage sidings rebuild, a couple of large gaps were identified on the UP main. These were swiftly rectified, resulting in improved running into London.
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On the last days of summer, all of Banbury Connections' three excursion trains made a trip to Gosport causing havoc for train controllers!
For my birthday in April, which took place just after Easter this year, my mother and wife took advantage of the after Easter discounts on chocolate to purchase a chocolate Thomas locomotive! This was accompanied by a lovely cake. This post probably gives you some insight into how far behind the blog currently is!
Birmingham Snow Hill engine shed was recently the recipient of a major improvement program which included the construction of a new road to lift storage capacity, an additional scratch built double track engine shed to complement the existing shed and a significant scenic uplift.
Photographs and accompanying captions are below. On a layout with as many stations as Banbury Connections, it is easy for minor details to slip the attention of the scenic team.
Recent work at Leamington Spa and Platform 1 at Birkenhead Woodside has left Stratford-Upon-Avon as the only unnumbered station on the layout. This should be rectified shortly! Fluctuations in traffic at Bradford Exchange has often left operators with a shortage of locomotive storage roads. In response, the head ganger inserted an additional locomotive storage road between platforms 1 and 2. Unfortunately, it has been occupied by the pictured 9F ever since!
With the aid of our new scenic expert Katie, the scenery around Bradford Exchange carriage siding and the southern end of Winchester Chesil were recently improved.
Since construction of the Chester and Birkenhead extension in 2015, traffic coming and going to the north of Wolverhampton has been constrained by the restrictive trackwork at the station throat where up trains from Chester shared a double slip with all down trains. It was noted that track geometry would permit the installation of an additional crossover between the centre bi-directional and the up Stafford track, thereby permitting parallel moves of up and down Chester line trains.
Unfortunately the existing Wolverhampton Control Panel (the oldest on the system dating back to 1975 and extensively modified over the years) could not readily support this further change to the track diagram. Accordingly a 3 stage modernisation process was put in place over the Xmas/New year period without interrupting regular operations. Firstly a new and longer panel was constructed, taking advantage of the previous removal of the controller to an adjacent location but still alowing room for coffee cup storage! This was initially wired as before, although showing the new track arrangement. Secondly, the new crossover was laid in. This initially relied on reinstatement of the previous wiring, as the use of sandwich baseboards, skeins of similar coloured wire and unlabelled multi-pin plugs at this location makes wiring amendment much more difficult than on contemporary interlockings. Consequently, the upgrading of the two affected switches to double throw, double pole, centre off status was deferred until a third possession which, unfortunately, still resulted in a long string of technical expletives when the aging and poorly sighted Head Ganger managed to get his wires crossed. All eventually ended well and the new arrangements, which bear a remarkable resemblance by Banbury Connections standards to good railway practice, are now functioning correctly, thereby enhancing effective operational capacity at Wolverhampton. Access into the carriage sidings at London Marylebone have always been a source of operating trauma. The three way point couple with tight curves and old point and track make derailments unacceptably common.
With operating procedures requiring extensive use of the carriage sidings for exchanges between Mk1 and Pullman rakes, excursion traffic and sleeping car trains, efforts have been made to address poor running. Two new points were inserted in lieu of the three way point and ballast was carefully leveled, resulting in a marked improvement in operating reliability. This was particularly important given the frequency with which trains are pushed in and out of the sidings. An aerial photograph of the works is below. Naturally, the oldest looking points received our modern weathering treatment and are in fact the newest Recent track work has been undertaken on the UP main into Marylebone to allow for smoother and more reliable running. The old section of track and ballast were becoming extremely worn.
Rummaging around the train room, I came across a pair of 69' ex-LMS sleeper cars. These carriages arrived at Banbury Connections in non-running condition over a decade ago and their future on the layout looked extremely uncertain. Intrigued by the carriages, work was undertaken to bring them back into working order as part of a new Anglo-Scottish sleeper. Of the 2 carriages, the 12-wheeler had its original bogies but lacked couplings. Though couplings were sourced off my old Triang mail van, new Hornby bogies may be fitted in due course to improve running smoothness. Work was also undertaken on the lining which had began to detach with age. The second sleeper was more challenging as the original bogies had been misplaced. Based on the bogie mounting points, it was surmised that this sleeper used conventional 8-wheel, opposed to 12-wheel, bogies. Originally, old Hornby bogies were fitted but this resulted in poor running as the couplings were slightly too recessed. Following the great melt-down, when next door's tree fell through the shed resulting in considerable sun damage to rolling stock when the roof was being repaired, we had several spare Lima bogies. These bogies proved a more suitable alternative and, after multiple adjustments to their height, were subsequently fitted. Building up the rake required a composite and full second carriage. We had a spare Bachmann Mk1 full second which was prone to poor running. Instead of fixing the coupling issue, the Hornby bogies discarded from the sleeping car (mentioned above) were fitted. This resulted in faultless running of what is otherwise a beautiful model. A search through an old box revealed an original Triang Mk1 composite carriage with old non pin-point bogies. We sourced a pair of Lima bogies as replacements and, though successful, their mountings would have required minor modifications to fit the interior. Luckily, we had a Triang sleeping car with no interior fittings, so a swap was possible. Following a paint job to the interior, the carriage was ready for service. A Gresley buffet, which might arrive one day and a Stanier full brake will round off the final rake. The new carriages, in an interpretation of the final rake were test run in the videos at the bottom of this post. Photos of the work can be found below. In the era of railway construction, scenic effort on Banbury Connections was largely directed towards new baseboards which, at the time, were extremely raw in appearance. This resulted in many sections of the old railway, which had enjoyed several decades of natural weathering, missing out on improvements to modern scenic standards.
In a recent push to lift areas of the old railway, the Aberystwyth end of Machynlleth Station was treated to a significant facelift. These improvements complement earlier work done on the Welshpool end of the station. Improvements included shrubs along the permanent way and a new lawn for the terraced houses. It is expected that further upgrades on the old railway will take place in due course. As with all scenic improvements, nothing appears to have changed! The original Gosport shed was constructed when locomotives were smaller and did not provide sufficient space for four full size tender locomotives to be in the actual engine shed at the same time. Careful examination by the chief ganger determined that sufficient space for an improved arrangement could be obtained by redesigning trackwork at the down end of the shed using smaller radius points which would be quite sufficient for the low speeds involved. A weekend possession allowed the new arrangement to be installed and it is proving much more satisfactory for operations once shed staff become accustomed to the improved opportunities afforded.
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April 2024
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