Clackwick Circa 1955

[brammie]

Looking at my history on the site this afternoon, I was more than a little surprised to note that my last post on Clackwick was 9 months ago! Think I must have been in a time-warp since then. Anyway, I hasten to add that I have not been idle during the meantime and the wiring recovery work was completed shortly after new year. I then set about organising the inner and first outer loop (both of which pass through Clackwick station), with two locos on each track. All locos now operate very successfully, and with sound which I find really satisfying. Just as I thought I had the track completely under control again, one of the points on the big outer loop started derailing locos (next on my to-do list). I have also added an impression of Gt Clacton shopping area pretty much as it was circa 1955. Without more ado, pictures:

"Britannia" waits to depart Clackwick Station for Colchester with passengers.

Ivatt Class 2 ready to leave for Thorpe-le-Soken. Loco 46464 was regularly to be seen on the Clacton/Colchester line.

Loco 64377 passes the bunker with a milk load.

Two Class 20 Diesels "in consist" pulling a heavy coal load.

The small shopping centre on the Gt Clacton to St Osyth road (depicted here to the east of Clackwick station). Welham's Fish and Chip shop was a favourite, but we lads rarely had funds to buy such luxuries - hence two adults are shown enjoying their purchases while a couple of local lads quickly made the bid "Save us yer cracklins, please mister".

[brammie]

Thought it might be of interest if I added a wider view of the new Gt Clacton "shopping precinct". My hope was that the new build would fill the gap between the Eastern National depot and Clackwick Station. I'm happy with it, so on to the next feature ………………

[brammie]

…. and so to the next feature of the layout to be addressed; an offending Peco SL-88 Large Radius RH Turnout. I referred to this in a recent post, and decided this morning that it should be top of the priorities list. Explanation might be easier if I include some pics first:

Point in operated condition for turnout - locos pass freely:

Point in mid position:

Point operated for straight ahead. Loco front bogey restricted.

Point of restriction:

I've looked very closely at the operation of this point but can see no clear reason why it should restrict loco movement. It may be that I have to dig out the old point and install a new one, but I see that as a last resort. In the meantime, I would particularly appreciate the views/advice of others who might have experience of similar problems. Many thanks in advance. In the meantime I'm going to take some vernier measurements.

[Chops]

love the shopping district. I wonder if a file to the guide rail might fixit. Nice old flanges seem a trifle heavy going Into it. Does it foul in the opposite direction, as well.

[brammie]

love the shopping district. I wonder if a file to the guide rail might fixit. Nice old flanges seem a trifle heavy going Into it. Does it foul in the opposite direction, as well.

Hi Chops - good to be back in touch, and thanks for your interest. I took a few measurements last night and the results confused me even more; 16.38mm between inside rails with point set to right, and 16.61(!!!!) with point set to ahead. After sleeping on this, I tried a variety of options - including entering the point from the opposite direction (which proved OK). However, changing the direction of loco travel is no longer an option (signals, etc). I then removed the front bogey from the loco (thinking that this was the point of fouling) - no difference, but it did tell me that the front bogey wasn't the culprit. I then separated the loco from the tender and was surprised to find that it cleared the point without a problem. Now to the tender - the photos below will explain:

Underside view of Britannia "Robin Hood" (tender drive!!).

Note drive wheels - inner cogged drive on front and rear of tender on LH side in direction of travel.

Further close up:

Close examination of the tender travelling over the point immediately identified that the cogged wheel was riding up over the conductor rail of the frog. I set about dressing out the insulation hoping to remove sufficient to give enough width to allow free travel but, although improved, it did not solve the problem.

I took stock of the situation and decided to try other locos (with standard wheels) through the point - hey presto, they went through the point no problem! So rather than labour with reworking the point mechanism I opted to relegate my tender drive locos to one of the other two loops. Job done!

[Bufferstop]

Hi Brammie
The problem would appear to be that the cogs on the back of the wheels are larger in diameter than wheel tyres. Are they fitted with traction tyres (whether driving or not). Shrunken O rings may be the problem. The tyres should carry the wheel high enough for the points of the cog to just clear the rail surface. I've had similar problems with ringfield bogies, which I cured by collecting as many dummy bogies as I could and robbing them of the wheels with the gears on the back, They have no grooves for tyres and avoid the problem. They just need some more ballast in the loco to get traction. Another product of the engineering dark ages at Margate!

[brammie]

Hi Brammie
The problem would appear to be that the cogs on the back of the wheels are larger in diameter than wheel tyres. Are they fitted with traction tyres (whether driving or not). Shrunken O rings may be the problem. The tyres should carry the wheel high enough for the points of the cog to just clear the rail surface. I've had similar problems with ringfield bogies, which I cured by collecting as many dummy bogies as I could and robbing them of the wheels with the gears on the back, They have no grooves for tyres and avoid the problem. They just need some more ballast in the loco to get traction. Another product of the engineering dark ages at Margate!

Hi Bufferstop, thank you for your reply. Sounds good - I have some Hornby O rings among my spares upstairs and will have a root through them tomorrow.

[joshv8]

9 months Brammie? It cant be! Oh well glad the layouts still surviving and its great to have an update.
I think your shopping district has come up a treat. It was great to see some photos.
Josh

[brammie]

9 months Brammie? It cant be! Oh well glad the layouts still surviving and its great to have an update.
I think your shopping district has come up a treat. It was great to see some photos.
Josh

Hi Josh. Thank you for your compliments, Yep, 9 months. Things seem to take much longer these days, perhaps the years are catching up with me. However, I think I'm almost there with the layout and ready to switch to care-and-maintenance. I'm working on a video at the moment. My first attempt, which I thought I planned with great care, has a number of "howlers". The difficulty factor in operating a video camera and a layout controller at the same time (particularly with sound on all four locos) meant I settled for a static camera in order to allow operation of the controller. Odd thing how you don't see the obvious until the third or fourth viewing though.

[joshv8]

Odd thing how you don't see the obvious until the third or fourth viewing though.

Almost as frustrating as the fact things you do look great to your own eyes until you photograph or film them and suddenly all kinds of sins are shown! Or atleast thats my problem.... must wear my glasses more

Looking foward to your video brammie!
Josh

[brammie]

I saved my video to Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/165741652 ... ed-public/) hoping that it could be called up from this link for viewing, but doesn't work for me. Obviously I'm going wrong somewhere - can't use yahoo as Mrs B has an issue with them. All advice gratefully accepted.

[brammie]

I saved my video to Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/165741652 ... ed-public/) hoping that it could be called up from this link for viewing, but doesn't work for me. Obviously I'm going wrong somewhere - can't use yahoo as Mrs B has an issue with them. All advice gratefully accepted.

It worked! How embarrassing!

[brammie]

Been mulling over what I should do next on Clackwick. Whilst filling in the odd half hour here and there bringing an open top Bristol Ledekka up to Jaywick local colour scheme (c 1950); I remembered a Hornby BR 75 Ton Breakdown Crane I bought new more than ten years ago - it had been languishing in a remote siding since. The thought occurred to me that a Bachmann B1 that had been a notoriously poor runner in its' day, deserved no less than to feature as the centrepiece of a derailment incident requiring the services of the crane. One thing led to another, and a new Hornby Diesel 08 (now with TTS sound) joined the recovery team. The next job is to create the diorama, but some careful thought will be necessary beforehand. I hope to post some pics as the scene develops.

[Chops]

I got to see the video, that is a beautifully crafted layout and the sound
adds another dimension. The dieselization is most eye catching, as well.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is there a bit of splay in the center axle
of the tender wheels? I can't imagine the drive gear fouling the works,
but I'd swear those center tender wheels look wide and tilted.

That you have banished the old girl to another line, works well, too.
I recall that the Pennsylvania Railroad's T1 would not make the
radii at the Pittsburgh Terminus, and passengers had debark
considerably out of the city limits and take some sort of a
shuttle!

[brammie]

Kind words Chops - thank you. You are quite right re the tender centre axle splay, although I hadn't noticed it until you raised the matter. Had a close look at the tender this afternoon and was soon reminded that the motor needs to come out to access the tender wheels. Reflecting on the last time I stripped out one of these tenders I immediately determined to leave it as long a the centre wheels continue to free-wheel without problem - other things are on the priority list at the moment. In particular the derailed Class B1:

No works crew in place yet -they are in the paint shop. I fabricated a loco lifting sling which is shown attached to the gantry hook. Next step is to get some other recovery kit in place and (perhaps) organise a basic weathering on the new Class 08 shunter.