THE FNA-Ds The last few years of my working Railway life were concentrated on introducing the new FNA-D Nuclear flask wagons and also disposing of the redundant and life expired FNA-Cs. From participating in the early Haz-Op conferences to doing pre-delivery acceptance and then snagging, as early teetihng problems arose, I was tied up with these from about 2012 including the introduction onto the mainline in 2014. So when Revolution trains asked if there was someone in DRS who could help them with information to introduce a RTR model I was happy to help A total of forty were built by W H Davis of Langwith Junction in three batches. These four are from the second batch In service they are nearly always hauled by DRS class 68 diesels or Class 88 Diesel/25KV AC locos. In this shot taken at Kirkby in Furness 68 005 Defiant and 88 007 Electra top and tail a Sellafield to Heysham Nuclear power station working A less common occurence was the loading of a flask onto an FNA-D that had arrived by ship at Barrow Marine terminal ( The weather was truly apaling that day) I had high hopes for the model with the amount of information they went away with and was knocked out when I saw Accurascales model in th flesh There is a lot of lettering on the real thing and it is all there in 4mm to the foot A look at the instructions showed how many seperate components are needed. Note the instructions for the working tail lamp With the canopy removed you can see the represenatation of the flask guides and also the PCB for the tail lamp Video of the tail lamp in operation These fantastic models are about £74 retail for a pair and I doubt a better piece of British 00 Rolling stock will come out this year The Revolution trains N scale version is due later this year More soon Kev
In a strange co-incidence I spotted a working timetable variation on TOPS last week. 6Z69 Sellafield to Barrow Marine Terminal. what could it be we wondered? Probably my favourite photo taken this year, so far 68 006 ' Pride of the North' in its 'Geener Britain' vynils with a single FNA-D and 68 033 'The Poppy' on the other end Pacific Grebe, Pacific Heron and Pacific Egret all in port and the 250 tonne crane pointing just the right way and perfect morning light. Waiting for the security gates to open. The train ran to the docks because the BBC were coming. Don't know what TV program it is intended for yet. On the return 68 033 was leading towards Salthouse junction At Salthouse there is a reverse move (Hence the Topping and Tailing) Which means 68 006 was leading again. Seen passing the site of the former Furness railway 'Cocken Junction'. This shot was taken from the Slag bank left by the former huge Barrow Steelworks Needless to say all this vegitation wasn't here in those days! And, Yes, I did video it all. Would have got it up on youtube already but the BIOS battery decided to pack up on the big P.C and of course I didn't have one in the house. More soon Kev Kev
The work on the much modified Lima Class 33 was starting to bear fruit and I have got 33 029 to the stage where I need to fit the grabrails, windshielld wipers and finish the fine detailing on the underframe Hycote Ford Midnight Blue and Ford Bermuda blue. Railtec decals (Superb!) Flush glazed. Rood antenna added , these are the black boxes on the cab roof Meanwhile... I went into Furness Model shop and was saying to Simon I could actually fancy upgrading another Lima 33 as a twin for '029' "you can have this one for £20, whoever had it before had done some work on it already" Some good bits, some bad bits and straight into the paint stripping bath when I got home, this one will be 33 030, which means it will have to have Mini plows fitted. Seen at Carlisle Citadel station on the ill-fated Mini Modal trial train The centre window of the cab has a Route Indication indicator fitted . This was a roller blind that could dispaly the destination using a full alphabet and numbers. Long out of use, the driver (and I know who you are, Gordon) was set at either end to read GO! 33! With the model railway shows complete now until October I also got around to finshing the two Ministery of Defence coaches, MODA 99152 and 99153. 99 153 was already complete but I wasn't happy with the colour grey and the lack of the cage in the 'Observation/Gun'end. I found out that the sister coach to the one preserved at the Avon Vally Railway (99153) was donated to the East Lancashire railway (99152) but sadly has been scrapped before I could get to it In service these coaches were vary rarely photographed as their movements were kept as secret as possible I've tried to to recreate the look of the blanked in windows and doors which on the prototype are still visible The vehicle they escorted was the infamous KMA Hot Core wagon MODA 95780 which topped the scales at 188 tonnes and wa 86ft long making it one of the largest freight vehicles ever to run on British Railways. built by Head Wrightson it was converted to air brakes in 1984. I've got the six wheel trucks already but am struggling to get a drawing of it. However I am sure a former colleague of mine will have a scan of the weight diagram in his collection which is all I need really More soon Kev
So, I mentioned the RNAs earlier, probably the most pointless ral vehicle ever introduced. A converted HEA coal hopper converted to a 'barrier vehicle' by the simple expedient of cuting off the hopper body to protect the train crew from radiation? So I have been working on the four 3D printed ones , Two I acquired and two Martin picked up. Guess what? They are all different sizes! So I moved the air reservoir tanks, added all the Air brake pipework, lamp irons etc. Sprayed then black and started to apply the Fox Transfers (Decals) Doh! Half of them were too large. And the pipework was in the way Compromise alley You can see the difference in the bodies A typical train formation, An FNA-C (Bachmann) with two RNAs and the Athearn powered Airfix Class 31. There would be an air fitted 20T Brake van (Caboose) on the back normally More soon Kev
Quick update. Including a classic Homer Simpson "Doh !" moment Both Class 33s almost over the line 33 030 needs the mini plows adding as the last job the Lara Maquette H0 scale IQA ferry wagon that used to run to the Continent has had a full restoration and detailing The flask has some detailing work done based on an document published by the International Atomice Energy Authority So, you might ask, what was the Doh! I had set out to model the two XJB wagons that ran from the experimental reactor at Winfrith to Sellafield these were two BAA Steel carriers taken out of the Tops pool allocated to Coil Steel and slab steel workings. They used to pass my house at Chesterfield quite a lot Lots of air slots in the deck so hot steel could be loaded without cooling, Moveable stanchions, Y25 trucks etc The Cambrian models kit is still available in 00 scale and although I haven't got a drawing I have enough pictures to sort of make the Frame and flask to go on it With two HEA coal hoppers as barriers and a 'normal' FNA Flask wagon one is seen hauled by a Class 33 So this rare picture shows the flask carrying frame on the wagon without the flask or canopy. Reclassified from BAA to XJB on TOPS and looking rather care worn So, I modified the ends into the cut down version. Added the Disc brake cheeplates to the wheelsets. added some extra weight and appied the first coat of black paint And then found a website that stated Experiments and modifications affected a few members of the fleet from quite early on. Apart from the coil conversions mentioned above, one BAA (900115) was given fittings for ferry traffic and renumbered in the RIV series as 31-70-4343-000-4. It reverted to its domestic number soon afterwards, and was further modified to carry nuclear flasks from Winfrith. The deck channels were removed to leave a flat floor, and a large, removable metal cover was fitted. In this guise it was recoded as an XJB, changed in 1983 to FOB, then to FOA (FOA-G) in 1986. So I need to take off the Deck channels off (At Some stage, but not now) If I had known earlier, well....... But the mounting bolt holes are in the same place so I can make a couple ot frames and canopies and flatten the floor later on Kev
Interesting signaling noted at 3:20-ish. You (DRS) used one short whistle to indicate forward motion vs. two shorts in the US and Canada. I can understand we colonials refusing to adopt the Crown's methods. But that Canada also would rebel is surprising. Though, the Loonies did "dis-own" the Crown a few years back. DRS 68's are nice looking locomotive.
Hi Hank It is all supported by extensive use of the Back to Back radios, particularly during the reversing move at Salthouse junction and when coming through the gate that divides the Dock Branch from Network rail Kev
In some of the previous photos you have seen the NTL Nuclear fuel boats moored up in the background of my train shots and videos taken at the Barrow Marine terminal. I have never got a picture of one out in the open sea as they usually arrive and depart on the night time high tides. But today Pacific Heron with the strong sunlight in completely the wrong place approaches the Walney Channel on the morning high tide I don't think she is carrying anything looking at how high she is sitting in the water She is a 103 metres long so a 00 model to go with my Nuke trains would be 53 inches long. Hmm. Tempting! Kev
24 Hours later Sister ship 'Pacific Egret' arrived ,the light was a little bit better but still not great Approaching the Starboard bouy, very slowly, to begin to turn into the channel The tide was racing in by now So after she had passed I jumped in the car and headed for Cavendish Dock to get it approaching the Sea Lock gates This is when I wished I still had my 400mm F2.8 lens i used to use for Soccer photography. The tug Tioga B has a line attached and is controlling the stern of the ship. Kamsar is on the port side to nudge the bow around if the thrusters struggle Anyway, thats the excitment over on the shipping front. i doubt they will be out again this year. There will be a video but it is going to need some serious editing, these things move slowly and I have ended up with over 45 minutes of footage. Even I don't have the attention span to sit through all that! Back to the XJB Winfrith Flask carrier This is now fully lettered including the Wheel profile symbols on the trucks, The T bars on the suspension painted white, faded yellow roller bearing yellow caps, OHL warning symbols etc This really needs weathering to show all the details on the wagon and flask frame. At the moment it still shows the TOPS code BAA. I have two pictures of it coded XJB with different size lettering. I suspect the rolling stock engineering team used the first stencils that came to hane when it was recoded The bolt holes are in place to bolt the frame down with 14BA Hex head screws and nuts . Note the vehicle would only ever have been seen in this configuration either in the yard at Sellafield of the sidings at Winfrith I finally got around to purchasing a book called 'DRS the early years'. exactly what it says on the cover and stuffed with photographs of Direct Rail Services Locomotives before I joined the company. All taken by my friend Gordon Ogden who was one of the first train drivers recruited by DRS and he always had his a camera with him when he was driving these early trains. Brooklyn has been reading and re-reading it cover to cover. During the week he decided he wanted his LIMA class 37 doing in DRS so today we had the ceremonial placing of it into the stripping bath ( a tall Pasta jar with a lid) and he was allowed to pour the brake line fluid in himself Someone has already started superdetailing it and repainting it in the 'Big Arrow' liver as 37 118 'Jimmy Shand' Won't look like this soon! Kev
