Brookhall Mill - A GNR(I) Micro Layout

[popeye]

The wife will be looking for the knobs off the chest of drawers. 

But you could wire the drawers up with point motors. 

[Patrick Davey]

UPDATE: The original electrics are still working fine!  Yay!

[Patrick Davey]

iPhone not great with low light shots but I am pleased to report that Brookhall Mill is now fully illuminated, with all buildings so equipped.

Really only the backscene, surround & overhead lighting rig to go.....

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Patrick Davey]

Some CIÉ action from Brookhall this evening.  Apart from a protesting platform lamp everything is running smoothly!

 

 

 

 

Those of you with the vision prowess of a large bird of prey will spot that the Provincial Wagons CIÉ vans are as yet unfinished, with buffers and decals still to be added.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[jhb171achill]

Looks great, Paddy! I like the way you've enhanced the trackwork and associated vegetation.

[Patrick Davey]

13 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Looks great, Paddy! I like the way you've enhanced the trackwork and associated vegetation.

Cheers JB.  Hard to believe it's actually nearing completion!

[Patrick Davey]

Late evening at the mill.

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Galteemore]

You’ve woven a lovely scene together Patrick - definitely not run of the mill.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Galteemore

[Patrick Davey]

10 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

You’ve woven a lovely scene together Patrick - definitely not run of the mill.

Ha!

[Patrick Davey]

Last one for tonight, I promise!

 

 

[Tullygrainey]

Lovely work Patrick. The layout looks terrific and the low light stuff is really atmospheric. Those paving stones shining in the reflected light of the wall lamps really do suggest one of those misty, slightly damp Irish evenings. 

Alan

[David Holman]

Some really good photos here. Somebody is having fun methinks!

[Patrick Davey]

58 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Some really good photos here. Somebody is having fun methinks!

Thanks David - nice to see I share the front cover of the latest edition of NIL with your good self!

[Patrick Davey]

Early UTA days at Brookhall Mill and Jinty No. 18 is still wearing her NCC livery as she arrives with a short goods train from the north. The consist includes two ex-NCC vans as well as a UTA coal wagon and brake van. The two Jinty tanks rarely ventured far from York Road and the Belfast dock lines but this was an occasional working which brought them a far as Antrim before taking the GN route towards Ballinderry and then into Brookhall.

Loco: Murphy Models/Bachmann

UTA coal wagon & van: RTR Provincial Wagons

UTA brown van: Provincial Wagons kit

UTA brake van: built by Gareth Brennan

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[murphaph]

Delightful scenes at the mill!

[Patrick Davey]

32 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Delightful scenes at the mill!

Cheers Philip!

[Galteemore]

Agreed. Great stuff. Those brown vans were big - this short vid shows similar traffic around Belfast c1962 - with a bonus bit of 800 going north….https://youtu.be/ac3uEgqAETg

[Patrick Davey]

3 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Agreed. Great stuff. Those brown vans were big - this short vid shows similar traffic around Belfast c1962 - with a bonus bit of 800 going north….https://youtu.be/ac3uEgqAETg

Thanks GM - they surely are, very distinctive.

[Patrick Davey]

When a train from the UTA (ex-NCC) section travelled to Brookhall Mill, it would first go as far as Brookmount station where the locomotive would run around before bringing the train onto the mill siding.  This meant that the brake van would be next to the locomotive on arrival.  Here is a short video showing the shunting movements that would take place after the train arrived, in this case to collect a consignment of linen for the Northern Counties Hotel in Portrush.  Earlier, one of the ubiquitous ex-NCC brown vans had been brought to Antrim, from where a Jinty tank loco brought the van to Brookhall.

 

[Patrick Davey]

Another short video showing a CIÉ train shunting at Brookhall Mill. The procedure was that a mainline goods train from the south would stop at Lisburn, where the vans for Brookhall would be taken off the train and along with the brake van, brought up the Antrim branch and into the mill. The locomotive would then return to Lisburn and bring the rest of the train on to Grosvenor Road Goods Yard in Belfast. The reverse procedure would apply for the return journey.

[Patrick Davey]

I had been looking forward to making this video but I was disappointed in the performance of the U class locomotive (OO Works).  Despite being a thing of beauty, it wasn't running smoothly at all but I guess I have been spoilt by the effortless running of the recent IRM diesels.  So I had to cheat a bit and slow some of the video clips down in order to get the desired effect, as the loco just wouldn't negotiate the (Peco) turnouts at anything other than a gallop.  But here's the video anyway!

  

Edited November 28, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Lambeg man]

13 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

I had been looking forward to making this video

Superb Patrick, well done! LM

[popeye]

If the loco is all wheel pickup it should go over points ok.

Have you cleaned the track recently? It can help a lot.

[Patrick Davey]

35 minutes ago, popeye said:

If the loco is all wheel pickup it should go over points ok.

Have you cleaned the track recently? It can help a lot.

I don't think it is, I think it just picks up from the driving wheels rather than the driving wheels plus the pony truck, and sends the current back through the tender wheels.

Yip track is cleaned before every running session.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[LARNE CABIN]

Loco movements look pretty good, Patrick. I Love the story telling in movie format combined with 'subtitles'. Also, the beautiful music. A movie maker, story teller and talented musician, as well as an accomplished modeller.

[Galteemore]

4-4-0s are notoriously hard to get right in model form, and various solutions have been advanced to assist. I won’t bore you with my own GN 4-4-0 weight plan as it’s not relevant to this situation. Try sticking some weight in the cab - temporarily at first - and see if that helps. Lovely work by the way - the late Iain Rice would have thoroughly approved. This thread may also help 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Galteemore

[popeye]

19 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

I don't think it is, I think it just picks up from the driving wheels rather than the driving wheels plus the pony truck, and sends the current back through the tender wheels.

Yip track is cleaned before every running session.

If the tender has pickup through the wheels it should get all the power it needs

over points. 

[GSR 800]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

4-4-0s are notoriously hard to get right in model form, and various solutions have been advanced to assist. I won’t bore you with my own GN 4-4-0 weight plan as it’s not relevant to this situation. Try sticking some weight in the cab - temporarily at first - and see if that helps. Lovely work by the way - the late Iain Rice would have thoroughly approved. This thread may also help 

 

Perhaps, but my J15 is a pretty weak runner too, I've never had such a problem with any other locomotive, it's jerky and has little torque unless you give her a good lick of power. Steamers do tend to be a bit more tempermental than diesels with running but her running is bad in a very unique way. She almost always needs a bit of a bump to set off and stalls randomly.

 

[DoctorPan]

10 hours ago, popeye said:

If the tender has pickup through the wheels it should get all the power it needs

over points. 

00 Works have a most unusal method for power pick ups on the Us, the driving wheels pick up power while the power return is through the tender, meaning that while wired for power, annoyingly the tender doesn't aid in pick up. Been meaning to rewire mine as its only let down by its poor running abilities.

[Mayner]

13 hours ago, DoctorPan said:

00 Works have a most unusal method for power pick ups on the Us, the driving wheels pick up power while the power return is through the tender, meaning that while wired for power, annoyingly the tender doesn't aid in pick up. Been meaning to rewire mine as its only let down by its poor running abilities.

The pick up system used by OO Works picking up power through the loco on one side with the return through the tender or the "American" system was commonly used for tender locomotives.

It would be worth while converting the bogie wheels to live axle pick up by fitting "Shorting out Brushes" part 4M52 available from Alan Gibson Works sales@alangibsonworkshop.com or by leaving a message for Colin Seymour on 0044-161-679-1607

The best option to improve running and pulling power is to add weight to the tender and modify the drawbar to transfer weight from the front of the tender to the rear of the loco using 'the weighted tender' system. 

The simplest step would be to add weight to the cab to check whether it improves running before carrying out modifications to the tender or drawbar.

Locos with metal chassis and gearing like the OO Works locos require some 'running in' preferably on a continuous run to allow bearings and gearing to bed in to achieve reliable running as there is less in built slop than rtr diesels with plastic gearing.

MGWR 2-4-0 with Weighted Tender weights in front of boiler, below motor and front of tender.

Chassis schematic rigid drawbar and floating leading and center axle tender

Location of weight in tender.

The 2-4-0 continually hauled 21 IRM 4w wagons on test

 

[Patrick Davey]

23 minutes ago, Mayner said:

The pick up system used by OO Works picking up power through the loco on one side with the return through the tender or the "American" system was commonly used for tender locomotives.

It would be worth while converting the bogie wheels to live axle pick up by fitting "Shorting out Brushes" part 4M52 available from Alan Gibson Works sales@alangibsonworkshop.com or by leaving a message for Colin Seymour on 0044-161-679-1607

The best option to improve running and pulling power is to add weight to the tender and modify the drawbar to transfer weight from the front of the tender to the rear of the loco using 'the weighted tender' system. 

The simplest step would be to add weight to the cab to check whether it improves running before carrying out modifications to the tender or drawbar.

Locos with metal chassis and gearing like the OO Works locos require some 'running in' preferably on a continuous run to allow bearings and gearing to bed in to achieve reliable running as there is less in built slop than rtr diesels with plastic gearing.

MGWR 2-4-0 with Weighted Tender weights in front of boiler, below motor and front of tender.

Chassis schematic rigid drawbar and floating leading and center axle tender

Location of weight in tender.

The 2-4-0 continually hauled 21 IRM 4w wagons on test

 

Very helpful thanks John!

I am a firm believer in small details making a big difference

[DoctorPan]

10 hours ago, Mayner said:

The pick up system used by OO Works picking up power through the loco on one side with the return through the tender or the "American" system was commonly used for tender locomotives.

It would be worth while converting the bogie wheels to live axle pick up by fitting "Shorting out Brushes" part 4M52 available from Alan Gibson Works sales@alangibsonworkshop.com or by leaving a message for Colin Seymour on 0044-161-679-1607

The best option to improve running and pulling power is to add weight to the tender and modify the drawbar to transfer weight from the front of the tender to the rear of the loco using 'the weighted tender' system. 

The simplest step would be to add weight to the cab to check whether it improves running before carrying out modifications to the tender or drawbar.

Locos with metal chassis and gearing like the OO Works locos require some 'running in' preferably on a continuous run to allow bearings and gearing to bed in to achieve reliable running as there is less in built slop than rtr diesels with plastic gearing.

MGWR 2-4-0 with Weighted Tender weights in front of boiler, below motor and front of tender.

Chassis schematic rigid drawbar and floating leading and center axle tender

Location of weight in tender.

The 2-4-0 continually hauled 21 IRM 4w wagons on test

 

 

Interesting, thanks John for the information. Certainly something to ruminage on!

[Galteemore]

10 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Very helpful thanks John!

I am a firm believer in small details making a big difference

Quite right Patrick - all those ‘grace notes’ add up to make a lovely composition, clearly seen here. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Galteemore

[Patrick Davey]

Two video clips comparing the performance of the OO Works U Class negotiating a Peco Y turnout, before and after weight was added to the tender.  For consistency, the controller was set to '40' for each movement.

 

BEFORE:

 

Not great, but oddly better when running tender first.

 

AFTER:

 

Seems better to me but I can't run it with all those coppers on it.  Am also afraid to open the tender although obviously this will have to be done.  Any suggestions folks?  Cheers!

 

[David Holman]

Can't open the videos on my tablet, but if it is not possible to separate tender body from chassis, can a hole be cut in the underside? Alternatively, liquid lead, held in place with 5 minute epoxy should do the job in terms of filling nooks and crannies on the underside without making any holes.