The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[Richard Gawler]

"Lady Marion" has a charging socket inside the front of the smokebox. I couldn't find a space inside the frames to fix a suitable socket, and wiring back into the boiler is easier from inside the smokebox.


The tiny smokebox dictated a miniature power socket, which in turn needs a coaxial adaptor to let me connect a charger with a standard plug.



Despite my planning and expectations from the recess in the front buffer beam, I had to turn down the outside of the adaptor to let it clear the coupling hook. One of the magnets has fallen off the smokebox door twice, but the door stays put with only one.

To quell (or indeed promote) the obvious follow-up, the loco imagined here is indeed contemporary with the story of Pinnochio.

 

[Osgood]

Vaping. Disgusting. Best Welsh Cobbles flavour no doubt…..

 

[Richard Gawler]

Still, the Heybridge Railway has now been underway for three years so here is a brief reflection on "whether I am doing it right".

I have met up with the two members of a “broad gauge” press gang twice in less than a fortnight – once at British Sugar and then at St Edmondsbury Cathedral. These two always need some care – one is worryingly clever, and the other is a lot bigger than me. And, of course, their take on the hobby is a demonstrably commendable one.

My house is small, and the longest indoor layout I can ever build will be about 3.5 metres long. I could find a space for an L-shaped arrangement, but the curve would be about a one-metre radius maximum, so two scale chains in 7 mm. I am best to save the site for something where the geography allows a tunnel; I have the trains from my last H0 project.

I have seen few 7 mm layouts I would find satisfying to operate over any extended period, and needless to say I don’t find operating at home terribly engaging. I am sure this is because my layouts are never sufficiently complex. I do enjoy seeing my trains running over a decent distance, and I currently have access to at least five tracks to do this. Only the NEEGOG one supports analogue DC, but now I have two battery-powered locos I have a choice of motive power for the dead track at CSME, the stud-contact at a friend's layout, the three-rail in another garden, and the DCC at the friend of a friend. And this sort of roundy-roundy running is more fun with company.

I am sure, something like the ScaleSeven or S Scale approach would be well worthwhile for me to investigate if I try for an obscure gauge where interoperability is never going to happen (perhaps one of the narrow gauges) and the project will always be small, well-defined and self-contained. But I am sure, the Heybridge Railway is best in a mixture of 0-F and 0-MF, because of the interoperability this gives me.

I am less happy to realise I haven’t built a wagon for over a year, yet I have five unbuilt kits to choose from. I also want to extend “Heybridge Basin” and give it a cassette-based fiddle yard.


In the meantime, a battery loco can pull itself and maybe a train in and out of a cassette, which I guess is either a gimmick or really useful, depending on where you run your trains

This cassette and ramp are from Intentio.

 

[Dog Star]

Richard, your posts of late have been thought provoking so please continue to tell us how you and your models are progressing. If you have a stash of kits, maybe posting a summary of what is to be done might bring forth encouragement for specific models.

Rgds, Graham

 

[Richard Gawler]

If you have a stash of kits, maybe posting a summary of what is to be done might bring forth encouragement for specific models.

I think everyone has a stash unless they have chosen a scale with no commercial support. This is mine, recently slimmed down to nine models:


The well-defined models

• GER bolster wagon
• Gloucester 5-plank, to be lettered up for E H Bentall
• 10-ton brake van, for later years
• Two horse boxes, for special events

The more flexible feasts

• Aveling and Porter traction engine
• NER H2, I want to add compensation to the chassis and not ruin the kit in the process
• Slater’s chassis, to build a 7ft 6in wheelbase wagon from a photo I have lost
• Composite coach, to rework into a private coach with a lot more detail

I also need to finish off my saloon coach, but this will come naturally alongside working up the private coach.

The diorama of Heybridge Basin has rather knocked back the stock building. It will be good to warm up the iron and build things where I am not repeatedly waiting for glue and paint to dry, and I can let myself sit down too!

I reckon, the GER bolster wagon is a good place to re-start. It will let me put long lengths of timber into an adjacent open.

 

[chigley]

welcome tothe stash club Richard

 

[Dog Star]

Richard,

Your mix of stock is a fascinating choice of prototypes and I think that I can see how each has a part to play in the Bentall's story. If the gentry are sending their steeds by rail, where is the loading dock in your plan? What I do not see - and this might not be needed if the horseboxes are used for hunters - is an open carriage truck for the carriage (that is to be pulled by the horse(s).

Rgds, Graham

 

[Osgood]

An idea for the A&P maybe?
Saw similar on a layout at a Gauge O event at The Engine Shed, Highley (Oct 2023?) where the flywheel and motion had been made to run slowly (out of gear, as they often do) - the resultant movement was quite therapeutic.
I seem to recall the drive mechanism had been cleverly built into the baseboard below, but I’m sure you’d be up to the challenge of making a fully mobile unit.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Your mix of stock is a fascinating choice of prototypes and I think that I can see how each has a part to play in the Bentall's story. If the gentry are sending their steeds by rail, where is the loading dock in your plan? What I do not see - and this might not be needed if the horseboxes are used for hunters - is an open carriage truck for the carriage (that is to be pulled by the horse(s).

E H Bentall used a firm in Witham as their distributor for their cars. I still think the railway needs some kind of open carriage truck for the delivery of cars to distant customers, and the return of cars for specialised repairs. This could be a PO wagon, painted to match the Gloucester 5-plank.

I have always imagined, the railway did not carry regular livestock traffic (the GER being better-equipped to do this at Maldon) and so the two horse boxes and the cattle wagon (this built by Doug Thomas) are here to support a nearby agricultural show. I also imagine, regular horsebox traffic only worked as far as Heybridge; but if the animal was something special, perhaps it could use a passenger platform?

An idea for the A&P maybe?
Saw similar on a layout at a Gauge O event at The Engine Shed, Highley where the flywheel and motion had been made to run slowly (out of gear, as they often do) - the resultant movement was quite therapeutic.
I seem to recall the drive mechanism had been built into the baseboard below, but I’m sure you’d be up to the challenge of making a fully mobile unit.

The A&P is a white metal kit, so I would want to look for a stronger crankshaft. I like the idea, though the example at Highley would still look lovely without its motion running. This kit was a birthday present from my beloved, so it is important to finish the model in a timely way. I need to find out more about prototypes before starting.

 

[bob savage]

Hello from Essex
I have been modelling in 0 gauge for less than a year. Last summer I bought a Minerva Manning Wardle K class loco. The idea at the time was to put it on a low loader and to build a 7 mm street scene to show off a rather lovely row of shops I was able to buy from the estate of a modeller who had bought commissions from Allan Downes. Who in turn inspired me a lot when I was modelling in my teens about 40 years ago.

Well, I just sort of looked at this model for a month or so. Put it under a Perspex cover and admired it. I had a look for a suitable “heavy haul” tractor in the diecast ranges and found nothing, and ended up just buying two yards of track and a couple of Dapol wagons as a sort of a fix. I discovered Peco BH rail uses their FB rail joiners. Then I realised the loco ran perfectly out of its box and ran better than most of my 16.5mm gauge models, and I enjoyed this so much I bought a Setrack point and a third yard of track and built a simple baseboard for a little test track.

Well the big mistake I made was to buy two wagons and to keep them near each other without a trip to the vet. Nature seems to have taken its natural course now I have four more RTR wagons and I am doing my ninth kit-built one. I have joined the North East Essex group of the Guild, and now signed up to Western Thunderer. Both seem like friendly places to share new models and ideas and progress and so on.

As a beginner in 7mm scale I may well not have much new knowledge to contribute here, but I am hoping to model a railway set in the 1890s; this is a relatively unpopular period and so maybe I can be useful here. I do know, I have given up on the idea of the low loader

Contents
1. Wagons from plastic and MDF kits: a drop-side wagon, Chas Roberts tar wagon, NBR box van, MWR brake
2. Wagons from metal kits: chaldron wagon, GER low machinery wagon (LNER Lomac-L), tender truck
3. NBR 'Jubilee' coal wagon
4. GWR 'Hydra' wagon for carrying road vehicles, plus discussion of early 'Jubilee' wagons
5. Running qualities of the Hydra (and Lomac-L) on Peco Setrack, GWR 4-plank wagon
6. GWR 4-plank wagon (continued), 'Railway Wagon Technology', Manning Wardle 'Blackwater', loco 'Nellie' including chassis ideas and crane jib
7. First assemblies (crane jib, chassis and smokebox) for 'Nellie', discussion of supplier Branchlines, arrival of LNER Y7 ' 8089'
8. Chassis of Y7, start of crane tank 'Nellie' including initial design of chassis and balancing
9. 'Nellie' especially development of chassis
10. 'Nellie' including early chassis conclusions, cab detailing, adding the boiler and smokebox, and the plunger pick-ups
11. 'Nellie' chassis reassembly, hand rails and whistle
12. 'Nellie' cab interior, cab roof, drawgear; and Nellie hauling part of 'The Elizabethan'
13. 'Nellie' loco performance and final construction including boiler fittings and brake gear
14. Notes on Halford's enamel paint, subassemblies of 'Nellie', station platform shelter, Nellie with a service train, new buffers, I&WEMRC
15. Compact tar wagon, GWR 4-plank wagon (and a box of Vallejo paints), ex-MR box van
16. Assessment of the GWR 4-plank wagon, ex-MR box van (continued) with O-level metalwork
17. Ex-MR box van (continued), notes on forming styrene, "annual report", left-hand B-6 turnout, notes on GWR 4-plank wagon
18. Left-hand B-6 turnout, first plan for a layout, right-hand A-6 turnout, GWR Hydra painted, GER Y14
19. GER Y14 - a baseline for the loco and its S23 tender, and assembly of the tender body
20. S23 tender footplate including outside frames and running gear
21. S23 tender chassis completed, radio control installation, baseline for loco, tender test running
22. Thoughts on DCC and sound, Y14 loco chassis, discussion of wheels for future models
23. Y14 chassis - trial runs, and discussion of wheels and crank pins
24. Y14 chassis - trial runs, correction to A6 turnout
25. Y14 chassis trial runs, superstructure
26. Y14 superstructure: smokebox, splashers, firebox
27. Y14 superstructure: second smokebox, boiler & firebox assembly, detail parts, plywood platform for ballast weights
28. Y14 test run with superstructure; lubricator, blower valve and smokebox door
29. Y14 cab fall plate and steps, clack valves, loco completed for painting
30. S23 tender axleboxes, springs, footplate, brake standard, rear hand rails, tool box, water filler; a scenic loco boiler
31. S23 tender and Y14 cab hand rails
32. Scenic loco boiler - especially reworking the tube plate
33. Scenic loco boiler, 4-wheel coach, 'Nellie' visits the Middy
34. “Heybridge, an Essex Idyll” (the back story), break van refurbishment - wheels
35. Notes on rust and tarnish, break van refurbishment - roof, light delivery horse, scenic loco boiler
36. Oil engine, 'Blackwater' visits Taw Magna, painting model people
37. Painting highlights and shadows, crankpin problem on 'Blackwater', Y14 retrieved from painter
38. Quartering problem on 'Blackwater'
39. Y14 & S23 final assembly
40. Baseboards and their dowels, Gloucester 5-plank wagon, horse 'Charlie' painted
41. Model people and period clothing, GER 10-ton van
42. GER 10-ton van, 4-wheel saloon
43. Coach lighting especially oil lamps
44. Coach lighting (more)
45. Trimmings for GER box van and Y14, new brake gear on a Dapol RCH wagon
46. Baseboard height, Y14 visits Chadwell Heath, end of Year 2
46 to 59. Manning Wardle class F (introduction and contents list)
60 to 61. 0-4-0T 'River Pant'
61. A Sample of FB Track
63. Baseboard datum
64. MR fitted van
65. GER wagons with cable drums and a covered load, standards for track
65 to 71. Scenic models - buffer stop, yard crane, water column, waiting shelter


Related topics
A private coach in the 1890s
Heybridge Basin (first part of a layout)
Small traverser with added vertical movements (abandoned design for a layout)
Using a R/C loco as the power plant for a small 0 gauge layout
Women are difficult (railway passengers 1889 to 1907)

you have my deepest sympathies, for this predicament. But you should have asked about the o gauge . The impoverished state it can leave a financial position. And how it breeds . Its worst than 1/76 even though the number looks smaller1/43. Happy modelling

 

[Giles]

I did motorised one of the Aveling Porters a few years ago - it's doable....
The crank shaft was quite easy, but it got a bit more complicated elsewhere.

https://flic.kr/p/2g1RdQj

https://flic.kr/p/2g1RrvP

https://flic.kr/p/2g2pd76

https://flic.kr/p/2g21e84

https://flic.kr/p/2g67kQc

1:43 radio control traction engine By Giles

 

[Richard Gawler]

quite easy

Hmmm.

I met Giles and saw his traction engine at Larkrail last year. Unfortunately, I was so consumed by the sight of this marvel driving along and manoeuvring around I didn’t pay proper attention to the motion.

Thinking about my own experience and skill set, I ought to be able to get the flywheel to spin round, driven by a motor under the baseboard. I might manage the crankshaft and the connecting rod, but I will never cope with the cams and push rods. I suspect, a static model I can pick up and move around will give me as much long-term enjoyment as a model with some moving parts but tied to a baseboard.

I can however return to Giles’ Flickr channel to help to see how the kit goes together. The instructions from Duncan Models look very good, but extra photos always help.

 

[Osgood]

Isn't that the joy of a) this hobby, and b) this place?
You can solicit for suggestions and advice and then go and do just what you like - and nobody will mind

Giles went full-blown Robot Wars with his engine (because he can!).
But if a static model suffices then problem solved.

Reading the above posts has been helpful for me because I have just this moment devised a really neat and simple way of motorising the crankshaft, and a means of delivering power via the rear wheels and strategically-placed pairs of invisible power pins which will allow placement of the engine in a variety of settings to keep things fresh.
Because yes, I too have one of these kits patiently waiting (mind you it recently got pushed back up the queue by an AEC RAF refueller ).

 

[simond]

Back in the days of the Greater Windowledge Railway (whose demise had more to do the RMW photostorm than the good doctor) I arranged to supply power to the lights on my (static) steam lorry by attaching cast white metal manhole covers & grids to the DCC supply.

The front axle was insulated from the rest of the model, so “American” pickup.

AC so orientation unimportant, and constant voltage. No permanent connection to the layout and effectively invisible.

Might be useful?

 

[Richard Gawler]

Isn't that the joy of a) this hobby, and b) this place?
You can solicit for suggestions and advice and then go and do just what you like - and nobody will mind

It is also good when a thread lets two people with similar ideas come together, like power pins and powered manhole covers.

 

[Richard Gawler]

. . .

Each module of the fiddle yard has two mating ends, while the diorama has only one. The layout has two viewing sides, so the terms left and right are potentially ambiguous; so I will call these ends α and β for the fiddle yard, and γ for the diorama. Sorry the default font on WT gives a slightly crummy-looking gamma but I've done the drawing . . .


View attachment 208432
I need to be careful to make sure I end up with a modular layout not a sectional one. "Home" and "Show" are relatively easy to make because module (A) is a terminus; "Option" is much more difficult.

So the correct sequence to lay the tracks onto the baseboards should be this:
. . .

But before the stash, the layout.

I have finally realised, I would prefer to look at the front of the railway not the back. This decision has taken some time to mature, but I think it is sensible.

This means, I cannot use the traverser as drawn in my plans at home, because the wall behind the layout blocks movement of the deck. But I do want to run some trains, so I am working up a cassette-based fiddle yard. This leads me to minor changes in two modules, and a new diagram.


Module B now has one track instead of three, and the second track on Module A is now a headshunt and not a through road. The sorting table is a new baseboard which I can eventually re-use for a completely different layout if I wish.

Module B can form a scenic extension to Heybridge Basin, and I have been sufficiently motivated to lay the track.




The tracks on Module A, Module B and Heybridge Basin (the diorama) all line up with each other. At long last, I have the beginnings of a modular layout

 

[Dog Star]

Patience and determination work wonders

 

[Richard Gawler]

Patience and determination work wonders

I have struggled with some quite "deep" decisions along the way. One especially was whether to go for 31.5 mm gauge wherever possible, or to use it only around the common crossings.

In practice, I have done all of the spiked FB with fold-up gauges for 31.5, and all the chaired BH with an unholy mixture of turned and fold-up gauges for 31.5 and 32. I think, my chaired plain track is nearer to 31.8 mm, but no-one else will ever notice!

The obvious downside of using 31.5 is losing a bit of leeway at the joins between modules and especially at the edges of the traverser; but I have come to realise that if this is layout is going to work at all, all of the rails have to be placed spot-on and the choice of gauge is irrelevant. I could still lay the traverser to 32.


I have set up the essence of an occupation crossing on Module B (a detail never part of the original plan), and the use of 31.5 does make for a potentially neater model, with closer flangeway gaps. This gauge was the right choice.

Incidentally, soldering the rail ends onto brass woodscrews set into the sleepers allows no end of tweaking up and down as well as left to right, this method works really well.

 

[Dog Star]

I have struggled with some quite "deep" decisions along the way. One especially was whether to go for 31.5 mm gauge wherever possible, or to use it only around the common crossings.

Snap! In my case the decision was between 32 and 33 mm! At home our railway is S7 end to end. When Peter and I started a 7mm layout (for our local club) those who were interested were willing to go S7. Now that Simon @Caggers is up north and the others are at even higher altitude there is no other S7 support. Inevitably "O-something" won the day because club members were buying Dapol. Not so easy once peeps asked about 31.5mm.... so our hand built track is 32mm for plain line and 31.5mm for turnouts (and only over the five or six timbers which support the check rails).

Mind you, the 31.5 and 32 mm gauges live in my track box (alongside my S7 jigs) and I had a difficult moment when I found my 33mm gauges being used for track that was intended for the club layout.

... Soldering the rail ends onto brass woodscrews set into the sleepers allows no end of tweaking up and down as well as left to right, this method works really well.

Just as we have done on Scruft's Junction and reported on WT. In our case the rail is bullhead so we use brass chairs (either S7 Group stores or C&L Finescale) with the chairs soldered to the screws and the rail soldered into the rail.

Rgds, Graham

 

[simond]

at risk of raising a storm, I can see no reason for 32mm - 31.5 looks & runs better and manages all RTR / GOG-F stock and 33 is prototypical.

32 is the archetypal dog's breakfast.

That said, I think I would tend to use Peco 32 flexi (with improved sleeper spacing) for the plain running lines if/when I get to build my roundy-roundy.