UK Screenshots for Pre BR Blue. High resolution warning.

What a surprise KG actually has an early era BR layout. It's a very much modded copy of 'Middle Vales' by harcourt originally built back in TS2004 days. I wanted a change after finishing another project and I had a number of ex-LMS and constituent companies engines in early BR livery in my digital trainset box so after about three months work I ended up with a layout that's a lot of fun to operate.
This is in TS2012 so if you don't like legacy layouts look away now.

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And a video that will steal away 11 minutes of your life can be found here https://youtu.be/qSew6x9W8j8
Unfortunately I had to cut the video short at the end because the AI driver cleverly did a SPAD past the overbridge.
 
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Woah, slow down there cowgirl, BR? You? :hehe::p I jest of course. On a serious point you have a Garrett? And do you knownthe origins of that lovely loco and the brake van?
 
Yes this is my one BR layout because I have a not so secret liking for the early BR era. It's a good layout for running long coal trains on and as well as the Garratts I have a WD 2-10-0 and WD 2-8-0's as well.
The Garratt and the brake van are payware by Paulz Trainz and are quite old models now, but as you can see they don't look bad for their age. There's a few ex-WD steel wagons in the coal train and they are by Paulz Trainz as well. My Garratts, - I have four in all, - are modernised a bit with later sound and engine spec files and they run very well. For such large engines they are controllable down to a crawl and they will pull anything. The coal train in the screenshots is just under 50 wagons (forgot exactly how many) and even though the Garratts can move more than that anymore than 50 and the train won't fit in any of the loops or sidings.

Now I'm in the mood for running trains on this layout I'll post a few more screenshots later on.
 
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Yes this is my one BR layout because I have a not so secret liking for the early BR era. It's a good layout for running long coal trains on and as well as the Garratts I have a WD 2-10-0 and WD 2-8-0's as well.
The Garratt and the brake van are payware by Paulz Trainz and are quite old models now, but as you can see they don't look bad for their age. There's a few ex-WD steel wagons in the coal train and they are by Paulz Trainz as well. My Garratts, - I have four in all, - are modernised a bit with later sound and engine spec files and they run very well. For such large engines they are controllable down to a crawl and they will pull anything. The coal train in the screenshots is just under 50 wagons (forgot exactly how many) and even though the Garratts can move more than that anymore than 50 and the train won't fit in any of the loops or sidings.

Now I'm in the mood for running trains on this layout I'll post a few more screenshots later on.

Great shots and video KotangaGirl !
How long did the video take to upload , as a matter of interest ?

Here's A3 Merry Hampton passing Garton Baulk crossing. The signals are NSWGR which look very good for UK railways particularly in an industrial setting due to their dirty white posts.

Merry Hampton at Garton Baulk TRS19 9.8.20 by A1 Northeastern, on Flickr
 
Great shots and video KotangaGirl !
How long did the video take to upload , as a matter of interest ?

Here's A3 Merry Hampton passing Garton Baulk crossing. The signals are NSWGR which look very good for UK railways particularly in an industrial setting due to their dirty white posts.

Merry Hampton at Garton Baulk TRS19 9.8.20 by A1 Northeastern, on Flickr

Thanks.

It was around two and a half hours to upload the video lewisner. Upload speed depends a lot on how much traffic is going through their servers.

Back in the steam era most Australian signals were made by Uk manufacturers or from parts purchased from Uk manufacturers so there are more than a few similarities which makes them useful to Uk Trainz enthusiasts.
 
Push-pull sets, - so much more fun than a DMU.

On my version of Middle Vales the local passenger services between Avavoyle and Dunleer are the province of the two ex-LNWR 5ft 3in 2-4-2 tank engines assigned to Dunleer shed. Push-pull sets are perfect for this line through what is a remote area with longish distances between towns and where roads are poor. (Roads on my layouts are always in poor condition, - why build in your own railway's demise)

Leaving Avavoyle.

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Leaving Castle Bellingham. Forgot to take a snap at Dromin.

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Heading for Dunleer.

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And arrival.

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Nice carriages Kotanga, seeing a few windows open makes it a little more interesting and real in my opinion.

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17697 leaving the horse show bend from Dacre with an early morning mixed goods. Has all the ingredients for the pie shop on board, very important goods! haha

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Quite the mist on the moors this morning as 17697 begins to slow for the passing loop before the climb begins.

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Wath Coal Mine can be seen in the distance, slowing still for the points.
 
Tyne Dock 9F Iron Ore Power - South Pelaw Junction 1958

A westinghouse equipped BR standard 9F 2-10-0 of Tyne Dock shed arrives at South Pelaw junction with a trailing load of nine 56 Ton bogie iron ore wagons. A former LNER Thompson Class O1 2-8-0 waits in the spur on banking duties. It will bank the iron ore train as far as Medomsley South junction, only a couple of miles short of Consett itself. The train will tackle a ruling grade of 1 in 50 as far as Shield Row and the steepest section, with grades as steep as 1 in 35 will be encountered between Shield Row and Annfield Plain stations. Both the 9F and O1 will have their regulators fully open with towering columns of smoke emitted from their chimneys and even then speeds can drop as low as walking pace.




The westinghouse pumps on the 9F have two different jobs to do. One runs to keep the air-powered hopper doors shut during the journey while the other has the job of opening the hopper doors on the gantry drops at Consett Fell depot. Even so, pellets of iron ore can sometimes still be found on the former trackbed.
 
The westinghouse pumps on the 9F have two different jobs to do. One runs to keep the air-powered hopper doors shut during the journey while the other has the job of opening the hopper doors on the gantry drops at Consett Fell depot. Even so, pellets of iron ore can sometimes still be found on the former trackbed.

So Border does that mean if the pump failed the hoppers would open? :eek:
 
With 14 tons of ore acting on each hopper door then once the air pressure in the air reservoir dropped below the level required to do that, yes, they likely would have done so. I do not know whether or not there was a means to cross-connect between pumps upstream from the air reservoir (which would probably require an isolating valve on the neck of the air reservoir if a flexible line had to be switched over). I also do not know of a single instance where the doors did open, dropping 504 tons of ore on to the line (though there was at least one iron ore train derailment at Consett during the period when diesel hauled). If there was one I have not yet read of it. If I have read it correctly the steam-powered Westinghouse type air pump was a very reliable piece of equipment if maintained correctly.
 
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Push-pull sets, - so much more fun than a DMU.

On my version of Middle Vales the local passenger services between Avavoyle and Dunleer are the province of the two ex-LNWR 5ft 3in 2-4-2 tank engines assigned to Dunleer shed. Push-pull sets are perfect for this line through what is a remote area with longish distances between towns and where roads are poor. (Roads on my layouts are always in poor condition, - why build in your own railway's demise)

Leaving Avavoyle.

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Leaving Castle Bellingham. Forgot to take a snap at Dromin.

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Heading for Dunleer.

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And arrival.

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Really enjoying your screenshots Annie! It's so nice to see your Middlevales route out and about again! I assume the L&Y Class 27 is helpful there eh?


I also really love the push pull sets you have on the route. Those LNWR 2-4-2Ts remind me of the Hughes Class 5 for some reason.

Speaking of Push-Pull Sets.. There is a reason the LSWR M7s were nicknamed "Motor Tanks"! A lot of them were fitted with Push-Pull Equipment as to make Branchlines more efficient. Number 30028 here is one such engine working out of Fratton Sheds. It's just now leaving Littlehampton station to return to it's homebase with two loaded coaches for the interchange to Portsmouth. Who knows? Maybe the passengers will explore the Hayling Island Branch too? ;)

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I'm going to have to agree with you Annie - definitely a million times more fun than a DMU.
 
Thanks Tanker. I dusted off Middlevales to stop me doomscrolling through webpages about human and political stupidity regarding COVID-19 and thereby upsetting myself. Being a complete and functional layout it was the perfect cheer-up tool.
The push-pull set is by Paulz Trainz and while they are legacy models from the distant past and a bit simplified in their details they look good and function just fine. My sets are modified so that the driving trailer is set up as a locomotive, - a fairly weedy locomotive, - but since I modded the engine spec I used to match the speed characteristics of the ex-LNWR 5ft 3in tank engine it all works very well together with the added bonus of improved braking at station stops since the LNWR tank's brakes are not all that good. The reason I did this is because Trainz doesn't cope well with coaches being propelled into interactive stations and with what amounts to an engine being at each end I get perfect station stops every time.
I also have a Paulz Trainz Southern push-pull set which I should try and use more than I do. Possibly it's time I dusted off my modded version of the North Cornwall route as well. I'd forgotten that M7s were called 'Motor Tanks' so thanks for the reminder.

Not so surprising really that the Hughes Class 5 tanks are similar to the LNWR 5ft 3in tanks since the L&Y had a close working relationship with the LNWR. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Preston_10_railway_station_geograph-2210724.jpg

And just to finish off here's one of the pair of ex L&Y Class 27 0-6-0s I have on Middlevales. Normally these stuck pretty close to their home metals, but one at least was known to have worked up around the Border country so that was excuse enough for me to have two of them. What I really wanted was a Fowler 3F (tender engine not tank engine), but nobody has made one (or one that is any good) so I went for the Class 27 which the LMS designated a '3F' instead and which I think looks nicer anyway..

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Unfortunately there's not that much in Trainz when it comes to the L&Y Jimmy. The two Class 27s are kept busy on Middlevales with mostly pick up freight jobs and trip workings for which they are ideally suited. They are older models by Paulz Trainz and I've given them a small amount of fettling, - not that they needed much.
 
That certainly is an amazing landscape lewisner. I wish the Yorkshire Wolds Railway every success.

I don't know how many of you have tried taking a run on the THE NORTH CORNWALL RAILWAY <KUID:265816:100245> by mrflibble, built for TS2012, but if you have you'll know that the scenery is pretty darn good, but the track alignment and levelling is a disaster. When I feel that I need a penance I've been working on the Bodiam-Wadebridge-Padstow section over the past few months with the rest of the very long route diverted off into a portal because I don't think I've been bad enough yet to need that much of a penance.

Anyway I've been sorting out the SR driving trailer I have in my digital trainset box so it can be used on this section. Being based on a LMS/LMR driving trailer it's only a representative model, but I think it will be better than a poke in the eye.
It does work well though since I'd already worked how to set up a push-pull driving trailer on Middlevale and had knocked all the bugs out there.

This is a test train only. I don't have a M7 on this route as yet so one of the Beattie well tanks did duty for the test.

Heading for Padstow.

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Heading back to Wadebridge.

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Excellent Shots Annie!! The North Cornwall is looking good!


And regarding the track alignment on the route, I absolutely sympathize with you. :eek: When I first started tinkering with UK Sussex Lines to transform it into the Brighton Route I post today, the tack was several cm higher once it was uploaded into TANE. After I linked the West Sussex route onto the main route the effect was replicate in almost every area on the entire network! I am still finding spots where the track hovers above the ground!

I guess new versions of Trainz just don't like older routes. Either way, yours looks fantastic!! ;)
 
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