CRAG Meeting 13/11/14

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Ian Everett
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:43 pm

CRAG Meeting 13/11/14

Postby Ian Everett » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:18 am

Five members gathered on Thursday for our monthly meeting, which started, as usual, with a pub lunch - for a change in the Kings Arms (which was the Drovers' Arms in BBC's "All Creatures Great and Small"). This was followed by an operating session on Clecklewyke.

We used the same timetable as we had at Scalefour North and in three hours ran 42 trains - a record for one of our sessions. The layout has been squeezed into a smaller room in our new house, so incorporates an additional 180 degree section with a minimum radius of 3'6". This converts what was a long straightish layout into a shorter U-shaped one. It has to be said that this was not a complete success, with several derailments, particularly at the new baseboard joints. It was noticeable that the rtr coaches which had just been re-wheeled, with no additional suspension, were more reliable than some of the compensated, kit-built stock!

However, Clecklewyke itself was mostly o.k. and looked good, having survived the house move with minor damage - just one signal having failed. A lot of the railway room contents are still in cardboard boxes and one problem was that the Black Five and Stanier 2-6-4T had not yet emerged from their packing, which meant that the express passenger service had some unlikely motive power! The block instruents had also suffered some slight damage but nevertheless were usable and their bell sounds must have created some puzzlement amongst passers by (the railway room is at the front of the house, on the ground floor immediately next to the pavement of Askrigg's main street).

The new arrangement is temporary (that might mean it lasts for only three or four years...) pending a decision on a new plan, which I hope will eventually include a new Bradford North Western terminus and Gormley Junction sorting yard. As currently arranged there is little scope for anything other than running trains from one fiddle yard to another. A terminus and/or sorting sidings will add interest.

Five was a good number for the session as it allowed us to have Ron Tyler and Steve Griffiths as signalmen, each in charge of a fiddle yard, with Chris King driving up trains, David Beale driving down trains, and me as the increasingly fat controller.

Unfortunately our regular photographer, Phil Tuer, was unable to attend, but I have posted some pictures of the new arrangement on my RMweb thread -

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/51388-clecklewyke-and-the-bradford-north-western-branch/page-3

The next meeting will be at Mike Norris' on Saturday 13th December, operating Preston - a real high spot on which to end the year.

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