Buckingham West

[Richard Mawer]

Rich

 

We added a "branch" line around the outside of the club's O gauge layout some while ago. This incorporated a small station that had to be higher than the original part of the railway to enable the operator to couple/uncouple stock in the yard. The incline up to the station started at the end of a curve. As a result some of the locos struggled with the incline, often finding it difficult to get off the curve and onto the incline.

 

We decided that we'd need a banking engine so we added the necessary point and short siding on the outside of the curve.

 

The layout is DCC controlled so we were able to all but automate the operation of the banking engine by flicking a single switch to start the cycle.

 

However, we added a bit of a cant to the outside of the track around the curve where the new point was put. As a result we've now found that most trains can get around the curve and onto the incline without the need for a banker!

So I’m not the first! Found it hard to imagine I would be. Ha ha.

[Richard Mawer]

I was thinking more along the lines of keeping the road level (or nearly so) so that the bracing piece on the lifting flap becomes a bridge parapet/wall.

I tried that but didn’t like the look of the tall bridges. It just didn’t look right. But that was the original idea.

 

Thanks again.

[Richard Mawer]

Good Evening Rich

I have been following your problem for some time.  I am a great believer in trial fittings.

 

 

I am also a great believer in nice deep plate girders. Unlike brick and stone arches the sides do not need to be parallel and there could be all manner of construction and support 'off stage'.  However girders are almost invariably horizontal so your sloping bridge will just have to be masonry.

 

The hinge - it looks like a corn mill / animal feed mill - in fact any 1930s factory.  Might it be made wrap around and detachable / lift off when you need to lift the flap?

 

I shall continue watching with interest.

 

Regards

 

Ray

Evening Ray :-)

 

We have come to the same conclusions.

 

I’m going with bridges not a tunnel. Its going to be a plate girder over the base of the incline. This is normal height for a bridge. I tried taller but it looks wrong. Its a very wide bridge because of the severe skew. That so I can have it hard up against the support bracket.

 

Then the trackbed for mainline is lower and the road rises to the level crossing. This bridge is going to be brick. Its on a slight skew but well within the capability of masonry. I’ve used a larger radius arch so its flatter therefore lowering the height of the keystone - as advised by Stubby. It looks much better. Its still a tall structure with large aperture, but looks in balance.

 

I’ve started building, so will include photos soon.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and comments. Much appreciated.

[Richard Mawer]

BUILDING BRIDGES

 

Its taken the best part of a week but I have now built the bridges.

 

The brick one over the mainlines was first. I made new card templates with the lower arch and made sure I was happy. I used those as templates to cut 3mm foam board to shape. I cut some polystyrene into blocks to become spacers between the 2 sides. I then covered them with Scalescenes aged brick paper.

 

 

 

I added some support pieces on the inside and cut a road to fit in supported by them. I added 3mm plastistrut suitably painted to be some detail between the road wall and main parts, added copings and then the detail around the arches. The final bit was the trickiest, cutting a piece for under the arch. This was just card, but the bridge is on a skew. I basically put a long piece of card through parallel to the direction of the tracks and marked off the sides. This gave me the correct parallelogram.

 

 

 

 

The road needs painting properly and connecting up to the level crossing, which also needs the road painting. Because of the gradient of the road, the skew and the baseboard details, it was a complicated job of trial and error, but I’m happy with my first scratch build. Pendon won’t be calling but .........

 

The girder bridge over the incline lines was tricky really because of the extreme skew on a notable curve. One side of the bridge is much wider than the other. The abutments were easy by comparison to the first one, but getting the clearances was very tight. The roadbed is a weired shape because it just peters out over the curve of the trackbed. Its the same 3mm foamboard.

 

 

 

The girders are Peco. There in fact 3 girders. Because of the hardboard bracket (part of the lift flap) one edge of the roadbed is on the far side of it while the road is on the near. There is a girder on the far side, hard up against the hardboard. There are 2 girders on roadside so it looks like complete bridge.

 

The roadbed (including edges) needs to be painted. The road needs to join to the other bridge. Some fill pices are needed and a backing fixed along the baseboard edge (to cover the back of the abutments, which are still white.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the view from the entrance looking in the room.

 

 

The wooden post still needs disguising. Of course there are still the cuttings and embankments to be put in.

 

 

The lower part of the post will be inside a cutting side. The top part will be on top of the small bit of raised ground, and fronting immediately onto the road when seen from inside the room :-

 

 

I think a mill of barn, or maybe a house can be dropped over the top of the post, but I’ve got to be careful it doesn’t look silly in such a strange location.

 

I am going to attach card to each side of the hardboard bracket, so it becomes a sort of backscene and will block the holes to the sides of, and above the girders.

 

And it all needs weathering.

[Stubby47]

It looks to be a great solution to a very challenging problem.

 

You could disguise the wood as a chapel, they often appeared in odd, remote locations.

[Silver Sidelines]

Looking good, cannot have been much gardening this week!

 

Balsa for the roads is a good idea. I used cardboard which sagged and warped when I coated it with 'wet' road surfacing material.

 

Ray

[Richard Mawer]

Well over a month since the last post. All I can say is BALLAST! There’s rather a lot. Still more to go.

 

Thoughts are turning to the next two projects though. 1) automating Banbury (storage loops). More later.

2) scenery. I’m going to use a combination of cardboard strip lattice, carved high density foam sheet (over Banbury), polystyrene and scrunched paper. The coverings are going to be papier-mache with hanging basket liner and vinyl backed Readygrass mat. With static grass where needed.

 

Its going to be Spring (May/June).

 

Any advice?

[Silver Sidelines]

Well done Rich

Well over a month since the last post. ...

Any advice?

 

All I can say is 'gardening'!  Three 20 year old Cupressus felled, most of the foliage dealt with, still 2 x 5ft trunks to saw up (by hand).  Only four saw cuts so should be another afternoon.  Ballasting sounds like light relief.

 

Ray

[sjrixon]

I used plaster bandage instead of paper mache. I guess personal preference, but I found it better to work with. You can buy cheap rolls of it on Amazon.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mouldmaster-Craftrock-Plaster-Bandage-Rolls/dp/B071VV5B2V/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1528104331&sr=8-5&keywords=plaster+bandage

[RJS1977]

Or I've got a cardboard box full of the stuff if someone can collect it from Reading.....

[Richard Mawer]

Or I've got a cardboard box full of the stuff if someone can collect it from Reading.....

Thanks, that’s very kind but I’m not going to be in that neck of the woods for quite while. Very nice offer though.

[Richard Mawer]

Can’t believe its nearly 2 months since my last post.

 

So what’s been happening? One major thing has been BALLAST! I am sick of the stuff. However apart from 3 points at Evenley, it is all done from Banbury to the tunnel approaching Buckingham West. I still have Buckingham to do, but only the approaches and platform lines will be done. The main headshunt anf Goods Reception will be done in cinders. The goods yard, loco yard and private sidings will be done in crud (artex) and sprayed. Once all the ballast is finally down, the rail sides and sleeper ends will be sprayed with sleeper grime. Rust will be spayed on the sides of the siding rails.

 

I have started adding some rail over bridges for a stream, and building some formers for my first attempts at scenery.

 

There have been lots of tweaks to the timetables to make them more asily read and understood.

 

Lots of discussions have place about automating, or semi-automating Banbury. Hopefully more later.

 

Finally on the railway, I have lost patience with County of Bedford. I bought it new years ago, but it sat in its box for years on end. It is the tender driven version. It ran well at speed, but was not a slow runner. It needed a high voltage to start to move, then shot off. So I’ve bought a Hornby Railroad County of Devon. First impression are that the finish is quiet poor, worse than the old County in terms of mouldings and detail. I expected it to be the same. I knew it would’t be better. I know the Railroad are basic and cheap. But it’s almost as if they have out of their way to make it worse than it used to be. Anyway in terms of running, its hugely better. Very smooth and good at slow running. Overall I’m pleased I did it.

 

I can’t wait for Dapol to get their 43xx out. I desperately need a replacement for the Bachmann/Mainline junk running at present. I’m sure Bachmann missed a trick there.

 

I don’t know where or not to upgrade my Collett Goods. The 2251. Mine is an old Mainline body on a heavily weighted Bachmann chassis. Its not a perfect fit so the body is not fixed. Its a very loud growly loco, but it pulls reasonably well. So its not perfect, but not a disaster. Does the latest version pull well? There’s very little room in the loco for weight. Would I need to pack it with lead again? Is there room to now?

 

Anyway, I won’t leave it so long next time.

 

Rich

[RJS1977]

Of course you could try putting the County of Bedford mouldings on the County of Devon chassis...

[Neal Ball]

Morning Richard,

 

I feel your pain at ballasting that much track.

 

Good luck with the next phase of progress at Buckingham et al.

[Richard Mawer]

Of course you could try putting the County of Bedford mouldings on the County of Devon chassis...

Hi. Thanks.

 

A good idea, but Bedford is a different shade of green from Devon, so the tender wouldn’t match. New tender is very different from the old. Therebe something I could do.

 

Rich

[Richard Mawer]

Morning Richard,

 

I feel your pain at ballasting that much track.

 

Good luck with the next phase of progress at Buckingham et al.

I’ve also been laid up for a few days with a running injury. You do Parkrun too, so you might also know about pulled muscles and tendons! Its about getting old.

[Neal Ball]

I’ve also been laid up for a few days with a running injury. You do Parkrun too, so you might also know about pulled muscles and tendons! Its about getting old.

 

 

You have my sympathy Richard. Ive not done Park run for about a year, preferring a longer run on a Saturday, usually about 5 miles on the seafront.

 

I think aching muscles are part and parcel of being a runner at my age! lol

 

Have you got a foam roller? Lay on the floor with that of an evening for 5 or 10 minutes and it makes a huge difference, or you could get a sports massage. Also standing on the top stair and dipping down and up also helps with some niggles.

 

Before every 1/2 I need to go into that sort of routine; foam roller and the stair dips, just to keep going! I'm doing the Bedford 1/2 soon and am regularly running about 50miles a month at the moment.

 

Hope your aches are sorted soon,

Neal.

[RJS1977]

I’ve also been laid up for a few days with a running injury. You do Parkrun too, so you might also know about pulled muscles and tendons! Its about getting old.

 

I feel the pain too with an ankle injury having flared up again in recent weeks.

[Richard Mawer]

You have my sympathy Richard. Ive not done Park run for about a year, preferring a longer run on a Saturday, usually about 5 miles on the seafront.

 

I think aching muscles are part and parcel of being a runner at my age! lol

 

Have you got a foam roller? Lay on the floor with that of an evening for 5 or 10 minutes and it makes a huge difference, or you could get a sports massage. Also standing on the top stair and dipping down and up also helps with some niggles.

 

Before every 1/2 I need to go into that sort of routine; foam roller and the stair dips, just to keep going! I'm doing the Bedford 1/2 soon and am regularly running about 50miles a month at the moment.

 

Hope your aches are sorted soon,

Neal.

 

The Physio has worked wonders. Yes I have a foam roller. I also do the heel drops and other exercises. Its all about recognising the issue before it gets to the level it did. I'll never be able to do 5 miles or a 1/2. Parkrun is good enough for me. Leaves a bit of time for the railway. I'm impressed with 50 miles a month. 

[Ray H]

Snip

 

I'm impressed with 50 miles a month.

Is that your new rate of track ballasting Rich?

[s182ggu]

Is that your new rate of track ballasting Rich?

Thank goodness - I thought this was turning into a medical thread!?

[Richard Mawer]

Thank goodness - I thought this was turning into a medical thread!?

Good point!

[Richard Mawer]

REALITY

 

I had a brilliant day in Ropley box yesterday on the Mid Hants Line. Thanks to all involved.

 

Rich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Richard Mawer]

SNOW AT BUCKINGHAM WEST?

 

In August? Even though it feels flippin cold today its not snow, but the first layer of the grime of the goods yards. Because the yard had liitle stock in it, I was able to send two trains up the main and headshunt and then set to work.

 

After the results at Evenley and Brackley Road I’ve stuck with Artex for yard cover.

 

 

To start with I just spoon the stuff on and using the back of the spoon spread it about, making sure it covers the sleepers both between the rails and the sleeper ends. It doesn’t matter how thick it is between tracks because one look at old yards shows the rails almost buried at times.

 

 

I drag a wide lolly stick (which fits perfectly between the rails) along the tracks to keep the artex only sleeper high between the rails. The stuff self levels to a degree, so filling up the 4’ and trying to leave gaps for the flanges is impossible.

 

I stay well away from moving parts of points.

 

 

Once dry in a day or two it still has some give and flex. Its very easy to run a small screw driver along the inside faces of each rail to peel off the excess artex and run a rail rubber over the rail head.

 

I then test it all electrically. When happy, I will mask the point blades and spray the area with Sleeper Grime and Weathered Black to produce a basecoat of general crud. That will then be added to in certain areas.

[Richard Mawer]

WEATHER UPDATE

 

The snow at Buckingham West has partially melted.

 

 

Actually the Artex shrinks as it dries. It’s now rather too low over many of the sleeper ends compared to the effect I want. So I am going to have to put another layer on between the tracks towards the ends of the sidings where the crud would be right up level to the tops of the sleepers.

 

 

 

By way of another update, here’s a picture of the rail overbridges. The embankments have yet to be built and clearly the stream. I’ve got some Woodland scenics water in a bottle. I gues I pour that over a papier mache base? Any other ideas?