Our world in miniature, hobbies

Good morning Philip I must be the one with the wheels in your wonderful model, not only for us has our forces sacrificed their lives but for other countries too, like Afghanistan with Pakistan also Bosnia etc.

Hello all, isn't it lovely to think even the little villages are remembering the fallen. Thanks Philip, you think of everything. I am still trying to fathom out something for the table umbrellas. Will there be a Christmas tree this year on the village green?

Philip you could use the cocktail brollies which they place on the side of the glass when serving cocktails

Hi Morgana, I had thought of that & trimming them, but because they have concertina type folds, they might look a bit odd. I could use them & coat, using paper-mache. Thank you, Morgana.

Hi all In real life, the roster of steam locos followed a strict routine of boiler washout maintenance, which legislation dictated must be carried out within fourteen days of each other. This was to ensure that at no time would there be a build up of scale (or furring on our kettles at home), which could restrict safety valves & so on. In Coventry, it was common to see the same loco on the same time working each day, until it required the washout. The washout would usually take the loco out of service for two days whilst any minor repairs were seen to. On our Hall Brooks railway, we like to do a loco replacement in much the same way, so here in this picture, instead of the Standard class 4, on the local freight from Leamington, a Hall has arrived. Pretending that it is unexpected, I have recorded this pic in much the same way as in my memory, where I was walking through Penny Park, did not have time to get up to Hounds Hill station platform, but was desperate to ring my train-spot friend Midland Red from the call box, in order to tell him that a Hall has turned up. I do hope that you like. ps I have made this pic my screen save but it has highlighted the fact that the drainpipes on the viaduct need cleaning out, grass is growing out of the tops. Another point is that the washout interval period changed throughout history.

The same loco, now attached to run tender first to Leamington with the return local goods. All but two of the wagons in this train are empty fruit vans, which are being used to transport dried food. The vans have been steam cleaned at Longford. There is low priority for this train which will have to wait for all other traffic to clear. It is sitting in the up platform at Hounds Hill, which is only used for one passenger train & the rest of the time for parcels. The platform nearest has become an up & down platform, used by frequent DMUs. The raised repeater ground signal on top of the starting signal, gives the status of the point, that allows reverse access into Grove & Longford sidings, to the loco crew for arriving freight trains. The loco arriving with a goods train is at this end of the platform & the crew would not be able to see the ground signal which is next to the point. Seeing the state & position of point-work is crucial, as the crew on a class 2 found to their horror when they derailed their loco in front of crowds at the Great Central preserved railway last Spring. What an embarrassment!!! Derailment, live recording It was obvious that the catch point was in the catch position, but the crew were not looking at where they were going, relying on a hand signal from an inexperienced signalman. At least the catch point did its job properly, which is designed to derail any unauthorised vehicle before it comes on to the main running line. It was the lack of these catch points in London that just over ten years ago, allowed a "rooky" driver to over-run a signal in the same way, allowing his Thames train to collide with a fast intercity Great-Western train at Ladbroke Grove with many deaths & injuries as a result. We learned good lessons over many years of our UK railway industry, only to now be ignored & for a parliament to dispense with so many safety measures, as it has done over the last thirty years. In the last decade, this & two other rail disasters have come about because of abandoned safety rules. The Cumbrian crash in which one lady died & many, including the very experienced driver were seriously injured, came about because the rule not to have facing crossovers on high speed sections was ignored. The crossover was installed to make maintenance a bit easier, but the history of these point-tie-bar failures had been forgotten. What really concerns me is that I honestly do not believe that the official enquiry into both of these disasters took the seriousness of these issues on board. I say that because as I travel around by rail, I see facing points here there & everywhere, where they are not under constant watch. Any rail joint takes a massive hammer-blow pounding of hundreds of tons as a train passes over it. For the bolts holding the tie-bar, its like having a jack-hammer being hammered on it until the bolts are sheared. Once that happens, the blades are then free to move as a train is passing over it, like at Cumbria, with another disaster on the cards. Catch points are nearly none existent nowadays, so if a driver proceeds in error, there is nothing to stop the train & we finish up with another Ladbroke Grove type disaster. We throw away good safe practise built up over a century & a half, because we have forgotten the principles behind them. We then call it progress. What a joke!

Hi all I have now added the top to the viaduct. I was going to increase the height of the brickwork so as to have a deeper web above the key stones of the arches, but am trying these ready made N gauge struts which give a more open appearance, but in reality, give the strength just the same. Hope that you like. In this pic are shown the ground signals both to Grove, nearest, as well as the former Bishops Heath yard furthest away. Just noticed that Mayjan & Tricia are waiting on the Bishops Heath Platform. They were also at the memorial service in Longford on Sunday.

Also, The plate girder has been added to support the brickwork to the over-bridge. It provides strength in much the same way as a R.S.J.

Tricia and I are becoming such gadabouts We are always popping up in Hall-Brooks. I tell you Philip, it was such a rush to get from the Memorial Park to Hall-Brooks Village Green. On Remembrance Sunday, I had to time travel. Good job The Tardis was handy. By the way has our pub got a name?

Hi & thank you Mayjan, The current name on the pub is the Wheatsheaf Arms. The model is a Skaledale model, very high quality, so much so that if I had not found a hobby shop that had them in stock (it is an out of production item) the current bidding on ebay is nearly twice the list price. Skaledale models are precision copies of the original, including staining on the walls & so on. Thank you so much for going along with the fiction of our stories. It's not just the dash from the Memorial Park either, it's quite a hike to get from Longford to the station at Bishops Green. You have been stood there for days too. Don't be too worried yet, though. A couple of ladies have been stood at the bus stop in Bishops Green for at least eight years with the same shopping bag.

That's a coincidence Philip, and a nice reminder, my father's last pub was The Wheatsheaf, in Titchmarsh, and my son was born there.

Hi all I hope that Mayjan & Tricia are discussing the new ladies waiting room, new covered area awning & the flower bed. Just as well as their train is late, again!