Category Archives: Fisherton Sarum

Ch-ch-changes, Turn and face the (s)train…

With apologies to David Bowie… regular readers may have spotted a slight change to the layout of my little corner of the world wide web.  The previous WordPress theme (page style) I was using had become obsolete and was causing a few back office and functionality issues, so I therefore have adopted a new WordPress theme that hopefully solves some of the issues and gives a similar but slightly fresher look.

The downside, and there is always a downside of course, is that the positioning of images, annoyingly, align differently and so has affected the visual appearance of previous posts. Please bear with me and accept my apologies as I either find a work around and / or slowly manually correct past posts.

USA Tank No 68 shunts across the Quay.

In other news, Canute Road Quay is on the road again next month and is appearing on Saturday 20th August 2022 at the Silverfox DCC MRC exhibition being held at the Oakgrove School, Venturer Gate, Milton Keynes MK10 9JQ

It is good to be at exhibitions again, especially as many Model Railway Clubs/Societies have lost such valuable income from the lack of exhibitions during the pandemic,  so if you are able to visit the show, and support the Silverfox DCC MRC, please drop by Canute Road Quay and say hello.

Going bananas with daffodils for Easter

The pair of SR Diagram 1478 banana vans being shunted along with the daffodils bring a splash of colour to Canute road Quay this Easter

The budding trees, the new flowers, and birds that sing, whisper to me that it’s Easter, and that the supermarkets are full of chocolate of all shapes (many irrelevant), sizes and special offers!

Here is wishing a warmth in the firebox of your soul on Easter & always!

Rails of Sheffield announce ex SECR / SR Maunsell D1 Class 4-4-0 in 00 Gauge

In partnership with Dapol, Rails of Sheffield have announced that they are producing the ex SECR / SR D1 Class locomotive.  Production is already well underway with a current ETA being late Autumn 2022. The first livery samples have already been ‘apparently’ reviewed by Dapol.

This locomotive follows on from the Wainwright D Class.

The model will be available in six liveries:

  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class SECR Grey 4-4-0 Steam Locomotive No.735
  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class Southern SR Maunsell Green 4-4-0 Loco No.1749
  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class Southern SR Maunsell Green 4-4-0 Loco No.1741
  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class BR Black (Early Crest) 4-4-0 Locomotive No.31741
  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class BR Black (Late Crest) 4-4-0 Locomotive No.31246
  • SECR Maunsell D1 Class BR Black (Sunshine Lettering) 4-4-0 Loco No.31487

They are available to pre-order both DCC ready and DCC sound fitted. £199.95 DCC Ready, £324.95 DCC Sound Fitted.

After 1901 the D class locomotive further more powerful locomotives were investigated by the companies. After Richard Maunsell took over as CME from Harry Wainwright in 1913 he worked on a series of new locomotives which were intended for a long service life, this involved the conversion and upgrade of 11 E class locomotives, resulting in the E1 class. This proved very successful and led directly to the conversion of 21 D class into the D1 class between 1921 and 1927. Though arguably, not as elegant as the D class equipped with a larger boiler, a belpaire firebox and longer travel cylinders the D1 was able to produce a considerable haulage and power increase over its predecessors.
Initially allocated to Ashford shed, this class was to be found all over the south-eastern division from London to the south.
All were withdrawn by November 1961, no preserved examples exist.

The model variations include:

  • Two frame variations (to include early D class conversions)
  • Two cab types
  • Two Chimney types
  • Two Smokebox types
  • Three dome types (with/without top feed and plated)
  • Two safety valve types (Ross-pop and Ramsbottom)
  • With and without smokebox snifter valves
  • ‘High capacity’ tenders
  • Manual and automatic lubricators

The technical specification includes:  Diecast Chassis, Sprung buffers, Pickup from tender and driving wheels,  5 pole motor located within boiler, Pull-out PCB for tool free DCC & Speaker fitting, ‘Snap-fit’ conductive tender drawbar,  Options for bass reflex speaker in tender (pre-wired) and Firebox glow.

Rails of Sheffield advise “The images shown are of early decorated production samples and are NOT final production models. Various amendments and alterations have been reported and will be altered on final production models.”  Lets hope that that the review includes improvements to some of the colours lining and lettering, but such issues were not improved on the previous D class (I still need to replace the decals’ on mine with correct versions).

The D1 is however a good addition to the SR locomotive fleet available in 00.