Hello everyone, just sneaked in the back door, and thanks Matt for inviting me in! For the benefit of those who don't know me from other forums, I'm 68, a retired Electrician, living in Morton, a small village in North Derbyshire, about 10 miles from Pete (Jakesdad) in Chesterfield. I model in 00 gauge with a Lenz DCC controlled loft layout approximately 16ft6" by 12ft6", an imaginery part of the Southern Region around the early 60's, steam and green diesel era, although having said that, I do have a few loco's that probably never saw that region,- just 'artistic licence' I guess! Looking forward to joining in the banter, Keith.
Great to see you on board Keith ! Pull up a chair settle in and have a browse round. Some things will be familiar and some things work slightly differently, but you will soon get the hang of it ! To upload photos use the 'Add photos' Link at the top right of the home page and bottom Right on other pages. once you have uploaded them, To insert in post Open the 'Reply' box, start your text and then Click the '' (on the right hand side of the menu bar, above the text box) , this opens your gallery images so you can select them. select an image, It will appear in your text box . . press 'Enter' twice to space the Image then rinse and repeat for other Images . when finished , Click the 'post Reply' at the bottom of the page To edit your Profile Info use the 'My Account' button in the same places To go to the Home page Click on the Blue Banner at the top of any page To Navigate around you can click on the breadcrumb trail ( right hand side of the blue banner at the top of a page or on the bar at the bottom of the last post on a page. . . As you move over the bar different sections will highlight and by clicking on the highlight it takes you Back to that page Hope this helps get you started Any Other questions Sing out and someone will Jump in with the Answers Cheers Matt
Hi Keith, Welcome aboard, glad to have you with us. I'll hook up with you later about that Clayton paperwork now that we are back in contact Cheers Toto
Hi Keith, welcome aboard. Now I'm confused, living close to all those lovely limestone and millstone grit areas you go and model the flat south ... hah. I grew up in Blythe Bridge on the Crewe - Derby line just outside Stoke, and did my Geology A level, studying the Peak district, love the railways in the Matlock area, just a pity it was the Midland running it . Paul
Hi Keith, I am sure you will enjoy your time on here- its just like putting on a pair of comfy slippers . Blythe Bridge Paul, I used to court a lass there back in the late 70s, I was supposed to be catching a train from there one weekend to meet a connection at Derby Midland for Chesterfield only it didn,t turn up I caught the next one which arrived in Derby just as my connecting train left, the last of the day, I wasn,t allowed to stay on the station so I set off to hitch hike home it took me all night to get home when I moaned about it to my pal who worked in the ticket office at Chesterfield station he informed me that as the train from Blythe Bridge was the reason for missing my train I should have been offered a taxi home GRR . Cheers, Pete.
paul_l wrote: Hi Paul. I'd have quite liked to build a layout based on the Chesterfield railway scene around the late 50's, as we had 3 railway stations then, (Midland, LNER and the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast railways) with the only triple railway crossing in the UK (locally known as 'Horns Bridge'), but didn't have the height in my loft to build that triple crossing. Despite liking the A4's, I still preferred the Southern's "Spamcans", and having been pulled by both "Sir Nigel Gresley" and "Tangmere" in the last couple of years, it's the "Spamcans" I like best, although the A4's siren whistle still makes what's left of the hair on the back of my neck stand on end! Keith.
Aahhh... Horns Bridge... that brings back some long forgotten happy memories... In my early years I was a Controller in the East Midlands BRB Control Room situated at Nottingham Victoria (the three large windows above the parcel depot if anyone remembers the Old Vic?) The Clock Tower ... which is still standing as part of Vic Shopping Centre... was the entrance to our office up a long flight of stairs (like a £1 for every time I've walked up or down those steps) anyway... Horns Bridge... My patch for controlling ran from Pye Bridge near Alfreton through Clay Cross and my northern boundary was Horns Bridge (as it ran into Chesterfield) which in those days was a train reporting box, passing details to me of all train movements up and down the four Midland lines... until Beeching sorted us all out. Of the 100 or so chaps who worked a 24/7/365 service out of this office, he (or his cronies) reduced it to 4 men working out of Trent Power Box. I controlled all train movements on this patch for about three years... reporting boxes were Pye Bridge, Alfreton, Clay Cross and Horns Bridge... two MPD's (Westhouses and Hasland)... major junction at Clay Cross from Derby to join the two up and two down Passenger and Freight lines with Toton and Nottingham just up the line... all Midland trains North to South and vice versa ran through here... trains like the Thames Clyde passenger and Condor express freight - now that's what you call a train set - no dcc or computer control in those days it was all pen and paper... Oh what happy, happy days those were.....
