Saturday Variety

Helping Hornby’s  Horrors

Model Railway lovers were aghast at those losses. But in the corporate world dealings often involve sums of money that will scare the average bloke or bloke-ess beyond measure.

But if, domestically, you are a bit short of the readies, you can always sell something!

So Hornby have sold something.

£20 million should help a bit!

Easy peasy.

The snag comes when you have nothing left to sell and those who are bankrolling your struggling business want their money back!

There may be a few directorial fingers crossed in the Hornby boardroom! 

Hornby bought Scalextric in 1968; although Hornby then and Hornby now are very different beasts, corporately speaking.

Here, for the old people, are the Scalextric racing cars of 1957.

And today, things have changed somewhat.

Elderly Man Remembers

But not quite everything below!

Sheffield's last tram can on 8th October 1960 and fbb arrived in the city to pursue his studies just three years later. By then there was little to seen of the trams. A short section of reserved trackbed still lay unadopted on Abbeydale Road between Millhouses and Beauchief but, generally, the city was very quick to expunge tracked urban transport from history.

Here is the Harley Hotel at the bottom of Hounsfield Road.

It is still there today, but now trendy and called "The Harley",

In the old picture above you can just see the overhead which powered the trams up the hill to the University. Here you see it better.

,

Well actually you don't, because in the above shot track is still in situ but overhead has been 'recovered'. We will meet the premises on the right again in a jiffy.

Today's view is unrecognisable.

At the top of Hounsfield Road was a junction. Trams to Walkley went straight across Western Bank as below ...

... whilst trams for Crookes turned left. Because the pointwork in the overhead (called a 'frog' in tram-speak) was actuated for a left turn by the tram driver's notching up the power, trams would never be able to fork right to go to Walkley.

They needed all the power to climb the hill.

That's  why that man on the left has a little hut.  The frog had to be worked manually!

Here is the junction today, now with no exit to Western Bank.

Back to the old. 

fbb attended lectures in those terraced houses. By the time the picture below was taken, trams to Walkley had been withdrawn (see bollards far right) ...

... as the University had annexed Winter Street for its expansion. Here is a similar shot today. 

Following the former tracks to Walkley (right) ...

... we see what blocked the route for ever! fbb was part of the first cadre of students to "study" in that tower, now largely bereft of Uni teaching departments and replete with burgeoning admin offices.

If we cross the road and turn through 180 degrees we look back to the top of Hounsfieild Road.

Over there is the University bookshop, visited just once by fbb in his keen first year; and a greasy spoon caff (possibly known as Violet May's), cheaper than the Uni eateries and coffee emporia, thus very popular with the lucky few who could bag a seat.

Oddly, although there is now a wide walkway under the road, a crossing has re-appeared in recent years ...

... because those confounded students often crossed the busy Western Bank 'at grade', eschewing the diversion via ramps and colonised underpass, for the quick but death defying dash across four lanes of speeding traffic!

The bookshop and caff are long gone, but buses to Crookes still pass by whilst much diverted buses to Walkley now stop far beyond that tower.

Open Street Map shows the route today ...

... from the Harley (Hotel) bottom right to the (Arts) Tower top left, a microcosm ot the removal of trams and the domination of the ever expanding University over the last sixty years.

But as Welsh entrtainer Max Boyce was wont to say ...

... and fbb loudly echoes,

I Was There!

The Lego Play Area ...

... is already taking shape.

The "hut" will be repainted.

The wheels have been removed as has the black Lego underframe "plank". This now allows the bus to sit flat on the ground. Wheel arches are panelled over and cosmetic wheels will replace thise that came with the kit.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 1st March 

Delightful Danish Delivery

 

Yesterday was a busy day with a glorious funeral at church followed by the somewhat less glorious eyeball check-up. Any funeral of a committed Christian is such a positive recognition of the strength and joy for the departed as he is welcomed into eternity. There is human sadness, of course, but Stan (aged 90+) has now moved from death to life!

The eyeballs have not deteriorated since the last check-up over six months ago which equates to two years of stability.

But the overall consequence is a weariness not conducive to detailed blog work.

But fbb has built his first ever Lego kit. It is of a red double deck front engine rear entrance bus, vaguely akin to those that once graced the streets of London Town.

The box contained two bags of Lego "bricks" plus an instruction booklet which wasn't even in English. It began with an instruction to sort the components into piles of the same colour.

The whole booklet was in pictures only, so easy for fbb to understand.

In theory!

Each stage of construction had a picture of the finished section, plus pictures of the parts needed.

Readers may remember Lego sets of yore which came as a pack of parts plus a booklet showing all the various models you could make with part of those parts.

But never no more!

Most Lego sets are now of one model, some simple (like the bus) ...

In theory!

... and some fiendishly complicated. Here is Hogwarts Castle at £409 ...

... and Gustave's Parisian excrescence ...

... at a modest £630!

fbb's birthday bus is available on-line at prices ranging from £6.79 to £11.99.

So let the construction begin. Here is stage 5 ...

... but fbb pressed on at a cracking pace.

... and was soon getting ready for the top deck. To make the model resemble some sort of bus, there were many pieces apparently specific to this one model. Below, a set of wheel arches ...

... and a radiator grille in two parts.

When fbb was just a little tot, pushing the pieces together was easy peasy. The consequence was that bits fell off, equally easy peasy!

Now it needs the power of a multi-ton steam hammer to get them to click firmly together!

See the flat red strip politely declining to adhere to the white advertising panel.

But after a significant morning chunk of effort, fbb was at the roof line.

There was a flat red two piece gap ...

... top deck offside front; but, alas and alack, only a right angled three piece flat to fill it.

There was no alternative but to rip bits off until the mistake was found.

Of course it was fbb's bludner! He had proceeded apace and not bothered with what he felt were trivial instructions.

They weren't and the old bloke got it wrong! A seven year old assembler might struggle likewise; but knowing the nous of the average seven year old, such a Lego builder would probably teach your bodging blogger a thing or two. 

And look at this model specific piece, four off!

They formed shaped corner panels for the roof.

But, after much perspiration and inadequate concentration, the bus was finished.

It matched the picture on the box perfectly ...

... BUT ...

... there were nine bits left over!

??????????

It's embarrassing to see an old man cry! 

Coming soon : more  Internet stuff!

  Next Variety blog : Saturday 28 Feb 

Hope Valley P.S.

Plus A Celebration Report

 

A star gift from No 1 son is illustrated above. Whether fbb will be able to manage its complexity is open for debate. The accompanying card was also very appropriate.

A little artwork from the Dean of Distance Learning at the University of Arts (London) offered another salient comment on the birthdays boy's obsession!

The likeness is truly remarkable!

Now fbb is considering whether the highly detailed Lego bus model might be adapted in some way for use on the Peterville Quarry layout - possibly as a childrens' indoor play area.

Watch this space blog!

Chum Giles sent a fine card emblazoned with a real bus.

Easy to identify, herewith a picture of roughly the same location c/o Gurgle.

On the right is the former LNER opulent office block; behind the York West Yorkshire bus is a section of the city walls of York and in the distance ...

... on the far aide of he river, is York Minster.

And Back To The Hope Valley

Mr Ableman's report postulated interchange "hubs" at all three key Hope Valley stations, Bamford, Hope and Edale.

fbb is uneasy about this. Does a 272 from Sheffield to Castleton connect with trains at Bamford AND Hope?

It can't!

Does the proposed 63/64 Castleton to Edale circular...

... connect at Edale and NOT Hope. And if buses connect at Edale, which direction will be the connecting time.

A bus would need to arrive in time for the xx32 departure to Sheffield ...

... and wait long enough to gather arrivals from Manchester. For comfort, the bus would have to sit at Edale for about 8 minutes. 

But then there is a Connection from Sheffield and to Manchester.

Time for Manchester is xx47 so the bus would need to arrive at, say xx43; then wait for arrivals until xx51.

To cope with both trains a wait at Edale of at least 23 minutes would be needed; impractical and hopelessly inconvenient for any through bus passengers not wanting anything ferroequinological. The only realistic schedule at Edale would be a 63/64 shuttle approx every 30 mins. 

Nobody would countenance the level of funding that would require.

Unfortunately, the report does not provide sample bus timetables.

There is one example showing possible journeys from Manchester to Bradwell using an interchange at Hope station.

Here is the situation as the report was prepared.

And here is how it would be if the report were implemented.

Because no actual timetables are published fbb cannot be certain how the much improved scenario is worked out. There would be 272s every two hours as now plus hourly 173s. 

The report does not say whether buses would run down the lane to the station, or, as now ...

... at the end of the lane. To allow for walking and that footbridge ...

... and crossing the main road, buses would need to drop off at least 7 minutes before the train and pick up 7 minutes after. And how would that work for timings in both directions.

Here At Last Is Hope For Hope

Look again at those timetable extracts.

Joy of interchange joy; trains in both directions are there at almost the same minutes past each hour.

This makes interchange much easier; half the hassle in fact.

There is another possible bonus to be had. Here is the bus station at Castleton.

So 272 buses approaching from the east would call at Hope BEFORE the trains arrived depositing passengers for the Manchester AND Sheffield departures. The bus would nip 5 min to Castleton, do a smart U-turn, set down and pick up Castleton customers then ...

... tada ...

... take a smart nip back to Hope station to collect arrivals.

That would be splendid for passengers to Hathersage, Bradwell, Great Hucklow, Eyam, Stony Middleton and even Baslow. But what about passengers to and from Castleton itself, we hear you cry?

The 63/64 shuttle to Edale could be timed to take folk from Castleton to the departing trains and to collect Castleton passengers upon arrival.

Seemples.

But you might need bigger buses.

Variation of the 63/64, 173 and 272 cycles could be made to balance demand with capacity.

Then all you have to do is build a proper staffed station at Hope (with lifts and toilets) and a high quality bus terminal ...

... and you would have a superb and workable Hope Valley hub.

You might even call it a mini-Switzerland.

Would the Peak Park planning people promote the proposal? They ought to, because it is all about increasing bus and train usage and reducing car cloggage of the carefully conserved countryside.

The environmental cost of a proper hub ought to be a small price to pay for the benefits to accrue.

Not sure about the swans, though!

It would be interesting to see a full set of worked-through timetables. Such a skill is way beyond fbb's pay grade and mental acuity!

Anyone want to volunteer?

Friday's blog was unplanned as today's was put to bed on Wednesday late evening. Today fbb has his six-monthly eyeball examination (no stabbing these days) plus the funeral of a church chum and attender at the fbb's fellowship meetings. So Friday's  blog uncertain!!

  Next unplanned blog : Friday 27 Feb