It's Been A While 

With not having a permanent home big enough to erect it, the base boards of our South Pelaw layout have been scattered for some time. However last month we collected everything together and erected it in a hall in Middlesbrough - by the kindness of the Middlesbrough Model Railway Club.

The event enabled us to take stock of how far we have progressed and to remind ourselves how far we have yet to go. We also established that the layout will fit comfortably into a Transit Luton van, thus keeping expenses down when we take it to exhibitions. (Don't ask when!)

The first photo gives you some idea of the size of the layout. It's 39 ft x 18 ft. Unfortunately Richard's delightful pointwork at the approach to the fiddle yard is about as far away from the camera as it could be.

And that's Pete, the Slim Controller.

The most visible development has been the work done by Phil to lay down the scenic details. He's mastered the static grass techniques. Phil used to live in the area and used to cross the line every day to go to school. Phil needs no motivation!

Here follows a few photos of an ore train that we managed to actually get running up the climb towards Consett.
  
This shot shows the tail end of the  ore train pulling up to wait for a banker. The lines in the foreground are those of the South Pelaw Colliery. The colliery isn't on the model.

Beyond the 9F can be seen two buffer stops. One of the very few things left in real life, the remains of these two NE cast stops are still there in the undergrowth (along with old tin cans and the like!)

 The banker has arrived, has buffered up and is ready for the big shove.

 

 The eagle eyed of you will spot that neither of the 9F locos are Tyne Dock ones. We were interested to see if the models would climb the gradient behind Stella Gill Flatts box - and they did with ease. Unlike the real things which had a hard slog. They are re-gauged proprietary models. New bodies and new tenders will turn them into realistic, reliable performers.

 

Inside Stella Gill Yard there were two turntables. After building the Stella Gill Flatts bridge, Richard is building one of them.  We have used a bit of licence as to the positioning of it. The 38 roads in Stella Gill yard are just too many for us to model so this end of the model departs from the prototype. Perhaps another day! 

A J21 waiting to be turned after the fire has been cleaned.

Here is the view from off Stella Gill Flatts bridge looking towards Pelton Lane bridge.

We can glance back and see Rich's model of Stell Gill Flatts bridge, At some time in the future there will be a signal gantry spanning the tracks. This governed the passage of trains into the extensive yard. Behind the box can be seen Phil's embryonic NCB shed. This building is also still in existence but in a very dilapidated state.

Running back down to pick up another seven 21 ton hoppers of coal, is this Q6 and van. They used to bring 21 hoppers as far as South Pelaw then split the rake into 3 lots of seven and then take each set up the bank in turn.

Mark's model of Pelton Lane bridge nearing completion. The wooden skewers indicate the positions of the many signals, yet to be built.

 

Pelton Lane Bridge from the other side.

And this is the view from off of Pelton Lane bridge with the last surviving N9 climbing the steep gradient to the colliery sidings.

This must be a Sunday shot with the ore train (still the wrong loco) running via Gateshead and Ouston Junction when the line via Washington was closed. It closed overnight weekdays and all day Sunday but if an ore ship was in Tyne Dock, trains often ran almost continuously, going the long way round if necessary

One new model signal that Rich has made and has been installed is the rotating lamp shunting signal on the far left hand of the picture.

Just looking back, later in the day we catch the back end of the oil train, banked by a Q6. Again the eagle eyed will spot that the oil tankers are not of the correct diagram. These are yet to be modelled - but you get the idea! A friend once said that the oil train was the one to nip away from work on a lunch time to go and take photos of. Two Q6s on full chat weren't to be intimidated by their 9F stablemates.

This is a shot taken a few months ago It shows Mark's Pelton Lane bridge before it was painted but shows an empty ore train heading back to Tyne Dock for another load. We understand that the train loco would do one round trip before returning to Tyne Dock  for servicing and to be taken over by a fresh crew. However the banker (in this case a Q7 sat in the siding) would do three round trips before heading back to Tyne Dock.

Now the view towards what we call Pete's bridge (because he's building it). The line to Ouston Junction goes off under the left hand span and the line from Tyne Dock via Washington comes in under the right hand span. This bridge was still in place when we started surveying for the model.  We photographed and measured it thoroughly. A good job because it was demolished a couple of years ago. Pelton Lane bridge was extensively re-built a few years ago, retaining the stone abutments but filling in all but a cycle way where the original steel span was. The bridge at Stella Gill is still in place but the track bed beneath has been filled in right up to the underside of the bridge. We think that the structure only survives because it supports a gas main, (visible on Rich's model).

This is what it looked like in stone rather than Plastikard!

Our depiction of things beyond the bridge show the line heading off to Ouston Junction on the left and, the line on the right somewhat unrealistically but supposedly climbing to cross the old A1 at Birtley (another bridge which is extant but no longer carries a railway) and thence via Washington on to Tyne Dock. The buffer stops are at the ends of the two sidings which went through the centre span of the bridge.

Looking back towards Pete's bridge we catch a WD, at the end of the working day, hauling the coal empties back towards Tyne Dock.

And a lucky photographer caught a view of the same train from across the fields.
A suitable shot to close our session.

Sorry It's taken so long to update this but with the boards scattered across the North, the photos we've taken from time to time, haven't done the layout justice. However this assembly session was arranged for a number of reasons, one of which was to take photos for this blog. There will be others .

Thanks for looking.

Richard, Rich, Pete, Phil, Mark, Martin and Joe.

Bridging the gap

Here are a few more photos of the layout, showing some of the recent scenic developments and especially the bridges. Although there is still a long way to go with the scenics (ground signals, point rodding, yard lamps, people, several large buildings ... etc.), we feel that we are beginning to capture some of the atmosphere of the place.

First of all a couple of posed (the loco is not under power) shots of a Q7 setting off up the bank to Consett with a train of suspiciously empty looking hoppers. The main development here is the abutments for the bridge, which are now nearly complete.

Another couple of posed shots show a WD waiting its turn to go up the bank, while a K1 waits in the banker's siding.

At the other end of the scenic section the bridge at Stella Gill Flatts is now almost completed. Now someone needs to start thinking about building the impressive gantry that stood here. John Donelly has some great pictures of this gantry as well as lots more information about South Pelaw and the Consett line on his blog describing a P4 version of South Pelaw set in a later time frame than ours --  http://southpelawjunction.co.uk/wp/?page_id=556.

Meanwhile, the hard work of wiring everything up and setting up the CBUS continues, although it is very exciting that most of it seems to work extremely well first time.

And behind the scenes, the fiddle yard is gradually turning from Templot into reality

Happy new year!

Richard Clayton

Up and running ...

This photo is a bit blurry, but represents an exciting development because the N9 shown is actually moving under power through the junction just in front of South Pelaw Box (despite the signals set to danger ...). This was the first occasion on which one of the boards had been powered up, and to the general amazement of all present, it all seemed to work! We plan to control the layout (sections, signals, and turnouts) using the CBUS system developed by MERG (http://www.merg.org.uk), and so what we achieved on Sunday was not just a locomotive moving, but integration of signals, turnouts and section feeds from the control panel, all designed and built by Martin.

As well as exciting developments in the electrical realm, Phil has been busy with the scenics at the Ouston/Washington end, Pete has almost completed one bridge, and Rich has been working on the bridge at Stella Gill Flatts. A huge amount still needs to be done, and don't hold your breath for an exhibition booking yet, but we are getting closer to the moment when we will be able to find out just how tricky this layout will be to operate, and just how many coal hoppers and plate wagons we are going to need to put on a convincing show ...

Richard Clayton October 2014

Colour vision

There has been some spectacular progress with South Pelaw in recent months, mainly on the scenic side of the layout. Much of the trackwork is now painted and ballasted, and work has begun on greening up the trackside areas. A lot more detail remains to be added of course, but much of this will need to wait until the electrics have been properly tested. Meanwhile, it is starting to look like a proper railway, and here are some photographs to enjoy.

Above is a view looking over the site of the Signal Box, with the lines into Stella Gill yard on the left, and the bank up to Consett to the centre right. Pelton Lane bridge is missing, and the cocktail sticks are in the signal holes. On the right, the buffer stops (which were still there a few years ago) have been installed. In the immediate foreground are the sidings for South Pelaw colliery.

Here is another view of the start of the bank up to Consett. In the foreground is a test-piece of teddy bear fur. Having experimented a bit with this, we have opted to go for other scenic materials at least for the time being.

Not sure about the historical accuracy of this shot, but it is a nice view of Martin's class 40 posed on the bank with a few ore wagons. On the left is Rich's fantastic model of Stella Gill Box. 

In the last week or so, this box has acquired a set of spandrels to support the platform around the windows, and now looks even better.

In addition to the scenics, Phil has been working on the NCB shed, which lies between the Consett Lines and Stella Gill yard. As mentioned in a previous blog post, we have had to re-arrange the geography somewhat in this region to make the layout a reasonable size. The shed is taking shape very nicely indeed, but there is still plenty to do on the bridge -- not to mention the signal gantry which will dominate this view.

At the other end of the layout, Pete's bridge is now nearing completion, and looking the part. Each of these stones has been individually carved from plasticard. Pete is also responsible for the very fine bufferstops.

We have also been busy assembling some motive power, keeping in mind that operating a layout of this scale is going to require many tough locomotives. Rich has recently completed a London Road models N9, which is seen here posed on the ramp up to South Pelaw colliery.

It has been a while ...

... since the last update. The two main reasons for this are that both Richard Nice and Richard Clayton have both been involved in major building work with a barn conversion and cellar conversion respectively. Both of these projects have consumed a lot of time and effort, but the outcome is a barn space where we will be able to erect parts of South Pelaw for scenic work and electrics testing and a cellar workshop.

Despite the hiatus in work on the main layout, some of us have continued to work on motive power and wagon projects. Martin has produced a very nice rendition of a Dave Alexander Q7, which is now ready for the paint shop.