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Birmingham New Street Station Log(Hello from the UK)

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      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    Hi all

    I have just installed "statcounter" on my website and notice a lot of Australians seem to look at it.  How do you lot know?

    Anyway as I am not into Australian railways I don't know if I should post updates of my layout progress on here or not.  Its a model of Birmingham New Street Station so rather than just dive in I thought i'd ask first.  

    Anyone interested?

    Jim

    http://www.p4newstreet.com
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 04:29

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      robertc Chief Train Controller

    Nice work Jim. The scale trackwork does photograph nicely and I like the detail work on the overhead.
    Sure beats Triang :>)
    Not sure if you will get much response given this is mainly about Australian modelling, however I find post steam era British quite appealing. I also appreciate good modelling whatever the prototype.

    The British Railway Modellers of Australia (BRMA) website might well appreciate your work.
    regards
    Bob Comerford
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 09:00
      dthead Site Admin

    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    Do share your updates, Had a quick look at your website and I think many would get alot from it. The trackwork, the overhead, the sity location I think many can enjoy and learn.

    Sugest you post into this thread with updates....

    Regards,
    David Head
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 09:27
      flathog Chief Commissioner

    Location: Central West, NSW
    Wish I knew about it earlier!!!
    Brilliant work Very Happy

    Tom
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 09:42
      Roberts0001 Chief Commissioner

    Location: Perth, Western Australia
    Hi Jim,

    Saw your layout a while ago I think in one of the English Magazines I subscribe to and have been interested in it ever since!

    Would be very keen to see updates on it!

    Rob
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 09:45
      Hendo Deputy Commissioner

    Hi all

    I have just installed "statcounter" on my website and notice a lot of Australians seem to look at it.  How do you lot know?

    Jim

    http://www.p4newstreet.com
    "jim_s-w"


    Jim,

    The UK magazines sell well over here and with so many ex-poms living here, plus the Brithish Railways Modellors Associaiton many would know of your site.

    Visitors here would tend to be more parochially Australian, BUT all of us appreciate great modelling and your work is certainly that!

    Chris
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 17:11
      wrongroad Deputy Commissioner

    Location: Grafton
    G'day Jim,
    Welcome to Australia, so to speak.
    Keep the posts coming.
    All stuff has some value and yours has plenty of value.
    Regards and respect.
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 17:45
      sandown Chief Commissioner

    Location: sydney
    Hello Jim,

    At least thrice a week to p4newstreet and the same to RMweb.

    As my finescale fix via MRJ arrives intermittently the web provides the balance especially with such diverse topics as those raised and covered via OMWB.

    The favs are Kier Hardy's, Electric Nose and Nigel Burkin and anything from Tony Sissons.

    Extreme modelling at it's best.

    sandown
    Posted: 15 Apr 2008 17:48
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    Hi All

    Thanks for the warm welcome.  Currently OMWB are 3 class 86 locomotives along with a couple of class 87's.  Here is a brief update but you can follow in more detail on RMweb (a british forum)
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1935&p=266970#p266970

    The RTR 86 comes with a  pancake motor with a 10ft wheelbase.  86's have a 10ft 9 wheelbase so they need changing.  I replace the RTR drive with that from a Bachmann Warship - which has a much closer to prototype wheelbase than the original bogies


    Pic shows the Bachy bogie fitted with Alan Gibson 3ft 8 wheels and my own etches for the SAB resilient wheel pattern.

    Class 87's!

    Bogies first.  Bachy warship again and Gibson 3ft 8 wheels but no inserts this time.  For sideframes I use Hornby class 90 which unlike the class 86 frames are 2mm too long not too short.  This means that you only need 1 sideframe for each new one.  



    The class 86 chassis with lots of holes cut into it to give better depth



    A couple of complete class 86 chassis

    [/quote]

    I draw my own etches for bits I need that I cant get from other suppliers



    Various class 86 bits.

    This is how the battery box looks  Smile



    Time to move to the bodies.  On the 86 the Headcode box needs the frame removing and filing flat while the hatches on the cab side are wrong and need removing.  I etched new bits for these and the cab front TDM jumpers.



    More to follow

    Jim
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 05:14
      bulldozed Deputy Commissioner

    Gee, there's some great content in this thread! I modelled British OO for about a decade myself, it's quite interesting to see how the standards of power units are improving!

    Somewhere in my collection of old, old Railway Modeller magazines, is an article on an 80's built 'New Street' of immense proportions, were you aware of that layout? It was pretty mind-boggling at the time!
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 08:05
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    Hi

    Yep - Don's Miniature New Street.  It still exists, woven into his garden.  My New street is an exhibition layout and will be somewhere in the region of 52ft by 20 ft.  Thats still pretty big though.

    Jim
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 08:10
      73LJWhiteSL Deputy Commissioner

    Location: South East Melbourne Surburbs
    That all looks great. I'm Aussie through and through but i can appreciate good quality work.

    The trackwork looks tops, as does the locos.

    Steve
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 10:34
      Roberts0001 Chief Commissioner

    Location: Perth, Western Australia
    Yes I must say that overhead is fantastic and plenty of inspiration for my own when the time comes.
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 10:43
      michaelgreenhill Administrator That's Numberwang!

    Location: Melbourne
    Wow, that's fantastic Jim Smile Keep us updated with photos!
    Posted: 16 Apr 2008 13:21
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    Thanks Chaps

    I have looked at the BMRA website but a lot seems to be waiting to be finished.  Is the BMRA quite new?  I assume its a specialist society that you have to pay to become a member of, is that right or is there a free forum like this one?

    OK - Really stupid question time - sorry!!  Does Australia use electric traction?  If yes is it AC or DC?  Where can I find pictures (just curious)

    Jim
    Posted: 17 Apr 2008 07:46
      dthead Site Admin

    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    Great response there Jim, I have renamed the thread for the longer term !
    (plenty of Electric traction downunder, but not a lot of modelling of it)

    Regards,
    David Head
    Posted: 17 Apr 2008 08:23
      Roberts0001 Chief Commissioner

    Location: Perth, Western Australia
    Jim - heaps of electric traction - the Metropolitan/Suburban System is almost exclusively electric and in the past we even had a handful of electric locomotives. The E and the L class electrics. These have since faded into the abyss but the metro system is alive and well with the electric system. Its [edit]Melbourne&Sydney are DC, Brisbane&Perth are AC[/edit] system, two rail with overhead. There are plenty of other Comeng, Hitachi and Alstom fans here to explain to you the real nitty gritty of the different types of EMU's (To take a term from British train vocab!) ....... (Comeng, Hitachi, Tangara & Alstom are the names given to the different builders or refurbishers or EMU's who did work on the EMU's and thus the name stuck....)

    I am sure another railpager can elaborate on the electrical system in melbourne at least....or sydney etc....

    I do have a couple of the L class models in HO scale for my layout that will be run on a Traction section....
    Posted: 17 Apr 2008 09:56
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    Great response there Jim, I have renamed the thread for the longer term !
    (plenty of Electric traction downunder, but not a lot of modelling of it)

    Regards,
    David Head
    "dthead"


    Thanks David

    Similar here.  Not a lot of people model OLE - there are no RTR systems available (I'd still scratchbuild it all even if there were)

    Its a shame as the West Coast Main line was electrified in the 1960s and our other principle route, the east coast main line was electrified in the late 1980's

    We also have third rail too on the southern and there are more people model that but still not loads.

    I have uploaded another page to my site - this time dedicated to visitors stock and my own stock that I didn't do (chequebook modelling) or that doesn't fit into the New Street plan



    Direct link is http://jsmithwright.demonweb.co.uk/stock/other/visitors.html

    Cheers

    Jim
    Posted: 18 Apr 2008 09:21
      Gwiwer Rt Hon Gentleman and Ghost of Oliver Bulleid

    Location: Loitering in darkest Somewhere
    Some very fine work there Jim and thanks for sharing it with us.

    Only Queensland Rail (Brisbane area and the vast coal systems of the Goonyella and Blackwater basins)  and the Perth metro lines are anything like modern OHLE here and run on 25kVac.  Melbourne and Sydney run on ancient 1500vDC systems; if you're at all familiar with the GE or MSJ&A overheads before 25kV came along that's about what it looks like.

    I am not aware of a major layout modelled on the QR coal system but given the traction (tri-Bo locos of quite unusual design and often four or five to a train) it would certainly make an interesting theme.

    There are a few specialist modellers but those who want to run electrics would need to scratch build everything, or obtain an expensive kit at best.  As with the UK there is no RTR OHLE.  Most Aussie modellers will be running steam or diesel-hauled freights.

    I have a fairly basic representation of the Cornish main line and don't pretend that it s anywhere near the same quality as your work.  But if my eyesight holds for another few years I would love to be able to retire and spend a lot more time creating top class workmanship.

    Keep up the posts.  It doesn't matter where in the world you are.
    Posted: 18 Apr 2008 10:25
      Roberts0001 Chief Commissioner

    Location: Perth, Western Australia
    My apologies, I did mean DC.....
    Posted: 19 Apr 2008 16:56
      raymond Deputy Commissioner

    Location: Gladstone, Queensland
    Jim,we  started with steam

    Maryann



    Then one of the early electrics


    First type of EMU



    Refurbished ICE




    Rrfurbished EMU




    Tri Bo on coal (4 of them,2on the front and 2 in the middle)





    Tilt train (160+)


    New SMU on test


    QLD is 25Kv on 3'6".

    We have more electric track than all the other states.

    The overhead was a straight copy of the british system.
    Not all my own photos, some are borrowed off others.

      RAYMOND
    Posted: 19 Apr 2008 18:59
      Somebody in the WWW Banned

    Location: Banned
    The last photo is actually an IMU 160 (interurban multiple unit), not an SMU 260 (suburban multiple unit). They are being built for the Gold Coast line Smile
    Posted: 19 Apr 2008 19:05
      Gwiwer Rt Hon Gentleman and Ghost of Oliver Bulleid

    Location: Loitering in darkest Somewhere
    For those in the know there is a striking resemblance between the Brisbane EMU and the (now withdrawn) class 303 and 311 first introduced in 1959 for Glasgow "Blue Train" electrics from the UK.  Both systems use 25kVac overheads of very similar design.

    Here is a class 303 in original style (though not its original "electric blue" livery) at Springburn



    Compare with Raymond's "First type of EMU" image above.

    I might have a memory failure but I seem to recall that a few 303's were transferred south to work out their last days in Manchester, reaching Birmingham on occasions; the rest of their long lives were spent around the Glasgow suburban network.
    Posted: 19 Apr 2008 19:12
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver


    I might have a memory failure but I seem to recall that a few 303's were transferred south to work out their last days in Manchester, reaching Birmingham on occasions; the rest of their long lives were spent around the Glasgow suburban network.
    "Gwiwer"


    Thats right.  In my era (1987) there was just the one 303 diagrammed service out of New Street and that was a very early morning one.  I do have a 303 in progress - I will post pics later.

    Thanks for the pics Raymond.  Before I read to the point where you say the OLE is a straight copy of british stuff I was thinking how much it looked like our Mk3 system.  Same construction and low encumberance.  Where multiple tracks are spanned does it use headspans or gantries?  

    Jim
    Posted: 20 Apr 2008 03:59
      jim_s-w Locomotive Driver

    303 in progress as promised



    Jim

    [/img]
    Posted: 20 Apr 2008 07:44

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