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Flint Hill: Modern Image Nuclear Power Station Terminal - OO


MattBlack33
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Hello everyone. I have finally decided on my first layout in a long time, and I would like to share it with the RMWeb community for pointers, help, and mainly just to be social!

 

Background

I had recently set about planning a modern-image terminus station with the view to starting it at the end of summer. My previous experience operating layouts has been purely analogue and with the complexity of this particular layout I thought it might be a better idea for me to cut my teeth on a more simplistic layout first, that way I am more likely to finish it and enjoy it more. I also like the idea of exhibiting it, if the demand was there. I originally thought about building a Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) and drew up a few plans that I really liked the feel and look of. However, on reading some of the advice on here and from seeing many a prototype depot, I thought I would do something slightly different.

 

In planning my initial TMD I think I was drawn into putting as much track into the space as possible, which I have seen/heard, is a no-no for TMD design, both in scale and prototype. So I took inspiration from Nick G’s “The Sidings” (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/108369-the-sidings-recreating-the-modern-scene-in-a-small-space/) which has shown that simplicity, modelled correctly, can have the same visual impact, variation in stock/fleet and interest as any 20ft multi-tracked layout. I have set myself the challenge of developing a minimalist layout, with three sidings that can be visually pleasing, has variation in stock and has operating interest for me and others.

 

What sort of setting could I use to achieve this? Well, my house whilst at University had the WCML running at the bottom of the street and I used to see (and hear!) the 37s and 20s pulling the nuclear flasks to and from Sellafield. So, I have decided to model the beginning of these journeys, and create a nuclear flask loading yard somewhere up North on the WCML.

 

My key aims for the layout are:

 

To build a modern-image layout.

To familiarise myself with electrifying a layout - wiring, lighting etc.

To get to grips with DCC and realistically operating locomotives (I have only had experience using analogue control systems back in the day so I think it would be better to start on a smaller layout to get the hang of DCC).

To produce an exhibition-standard layout.

To have a layout that is not purely prototypical, but has elements of prototypes within it.

 

 

Layout Plan

 

This is the track-plan I have worked up so far:

 

FlintHillFinal_zpsayv5ucie.jpg

Scenic Version

 

I have written a short description of the history of the yard that I won't post on here unless people are really interested. The below image situates the yard within the local geography:

 

CamberforthValley_zpshgdoahd2.jpg

 

 

The Layout is on a 400cm by 45cm baseboard made up of 3 sections of varying length to aid storage and transportation. The main focus of the layout is the flask loading area which is based on the loading facility near Valley Station in Wales. In the space I have there is room for a maximum of three-flask rakes which will allow me to play around with one/two/three flask rakes with push-pull/double headed loco configurations to mix things up. With the run-arounds I would hope to have some shunting movements too, my reasoning being I want to add extra interest to the layout. The DRS shunter (whether it is the 08 or lead loco in the flask train) will make up the train on the yard, rather than it being pulled in complete. I am not sure how prototypical this is but this is how things are done at Flint Hill!

 

Scenics

I like to focus on the scenery and aim to create an atmospheric layout, perhaps mid-autumn adding interesting colouring to the foliage and scenery. I intend to scratch build most of the scenery, however I will likely kit-bash an already available crane and use the Knightwing Portakabin kits. Perhaps at some point I may try and get the crane working…we will see! The crane area will be placed on a concrete hard-standing surrounded by an appropriate security fence with a variety of road vehicles and activity going on to busy it up a little bit. I would also like to add variable height to the layout in that I want the track base slightly raised from the baseboard and a slight dip in the area near the Mainwaring Lane entrance which has an outlet pipe and small dirty stream running from it. I hope this makes sense?

 

I have given some thought to the scenic break in that I did not want it to be a road/rail bridge as the depot is located in the middle of a valley. Instead I wanted to disguise the break in a less forced way. The current idea I have is to have a stack of 45ft containers on the scrap yard side of the yard, and the end of the old Camberforth Valley viaduct on the other side. I plan to stagger the containers slightly which I hope will disguise the break further. I think this may be one of those things that I will explore further once the track is down and the boards are built and see what it all looks like. I like the idea of having a rogue trainspotter watching the activities of the yard from the viaduct end whilst being accosted by the local law enforcement due to the ‘sensitive’ nature of the cargo – “honestly guv! I’m researching a model railway!”

The backscene will be a generic farmland backscene. There will be a slight embankment with trees which gives the depot some privacy. The sidescene will represent the Camberforth by-pass. I will probably try and take these pictures and have these printed myself.

 

Stock

 

My stock will primarily focus on the late 2000s to the present day:

 

Class 08s DRS and Network Rail.

Class 20s DRS.

Class 37s DRS.

Class 47s (Including "Northern Belle" as these have been photographed pulling Flasks...they'll break up the DRS blue at least).

Class 66s DRS.

Maybe class 68s to bring us up to the present day – DRS.

Network Rail engineering stock.

Class 97s Network Rail.

Nuclear flasks.

Stock making "deliveries" to the yard.

 

I hope to get started on the baseboards in the next month or so, then finalise the track plan and get the track down, hopefully before the beginning of August. After that I’ll work on it little and often when I get the time (I'm not expecting massive gains straight away!).

 

I welcome any suggestions from members, that includes the historical/backstory stuff as well as on my layout plan. My biggest issue is designing a functioning fiddle-yard which I am not 100% happy with at the moment. As I have said I am making a start on the baseboards in the near future so nothing is set in stone and if anyone sees any glaring errors or potential pitfalls please point them out!

Edited by MattBlack33
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Looks great, however, i do question what the 3 way point is as it seens to connect what is already connected and reduces siding space...

 

Ben

Hi Ben,

 

believe it or not, this is actually a reduced version as the previous had two single-point turnouts! The loop at the bottom serves as a runaround/headshunt for the class 08s when shunting stock into their respective sidings. I wanted there to be the opportunity to run locos simultaneously so included the runaround at the top too so that a train can leave siding 1 as a new one enters siding 2. Is there an alternative you would suggest?

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Hi Ben,

 

believe it or not, this is actually a reduced version as the previous had two single-point turnouts! The loop at the bottom serves as a runaround/headshunt for the class 08s when shunting stock into their respective sidings. I wanted there to be the opportunity to run locos simultaneously so included the runaround at the top too so that a train can leave siding 1 as a new one enters siding 2. Is there an alternative you would suggest?

 

Cant suggest an alternative, the trackplan is actually very clever in that respect I didn't see it like that.

 

Ben

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Hi, looks great. What stock do you already have?

 

Cheers Ollie

Thanks Ollie,

 

Embarrassingly I don't have any stock yet, this is my first go! I'm going to get a couple of Locos and wagons when I start laying my track. I did but myself some track to have a play with today though. I'm just going to set up a simple couple of siding to practice laying ballast etc.

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Fully recommend a Dapol 68 or Bachmann 47...I was wondering if because it is a conjoined DRS and NR owned area, maybe use the top most siding as something more for a virtual quarry or small engineers yard to add interest, allows host of wagons and locos, have you already though of this or do you have other scenic planned here?

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Fully recommend a Dapol 68 or Bachmann 47...I was wondering if because it is a conjoined DRS and NR owned area, maybe use the top most siding as something more for a virtual quarry or small engineers yard to add interest, allows host of wagons and locos, have you already though of this or do you have other scenic planned here?

Cheers, Ben. I was going to ask for recommendations for stock at some point. There's a nice Network Rail 08 on sale at my local model shop that I was tempted by yesterday so was thinking about starting with that and a few wagons.

 

My plan for the MR yard is to have it as an engineer's yard similar to the one North of Durham station. It's a simple, relatively short, one-siding yard and like you said can welcome an array of stock. The siding and fiddle yard can (on paper) take a loco and three MK2 coaches so I was thinking about getting/making some test coaches as I've seen a few three-rake test coach trains in prototype. I was thinking about putting in a loading siding to the top left of the layout too and have a couple of forklifts parked up. My backstory for the yard is that it is part of what used to be a large WRD so there are remnants of this time dotted about the site. Again, I'm not sure if this would be seen in prototype, but my view is if it makes the NR engineer's lives easier then they would keep it rather than demolish it.

Edited by MattBlack33
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Cheers, Ben. I was going to ask for recommendations for stock at some point. There's a nice Network Rail 08 on sale at my local model shop that I was tempted by yesterday so was thinking about starting with that and a few wagons.

 

My plan for the MR yard is to have it as an engineer's yard similar to the one North of Durham station. It's a simple, relatively short, one-siding yard and like you said can welcome an array of stock. The siding and fiddle yard can (on paper) take a loco and three MK2 coaches so I was thinking about getting/making some test coaches as I've seen a few three-rake test coach trains in prototype. I was thinking about putting in a loading siding to the top left of the layout too and have a couple of forklifts parked up. My backstory for the yard is that it is part of what used to be a large WRD so there are remnants of this time dotted about the site. Again, I'm not sure if this would be seen in prototype, but my view is if it makes the NR engineer's lives easier then they would keep it rather than demolish it.

 

Well you built it so you can include what you want. Regarding test trains I have seen smaller rakes, now I'm not to sure but I think some trains run with one or two coaches on calibration runs, not entirely sure though. A nice NR 08 would suit btw!

 

Ben

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Thanks, Wrighty.

 

Just a quick update: there's going to be a bit of a delay getting off the ground with this as I had a break in the other day so the money I put aside for getting the baseboards and track has now gone on my excess and repairs! Annoyed is not the word!!

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Thanks, Wrighty.

 

Just a quick update: there's going to be a bit of a delay getting off the ground with this as I had a break in the other day so the money I put aside for getting the baseboards and track has now gone on my excess and repairs! Annoyed is not the word!!

Really sorry to hear about your break in I know exactly how it feels to be burgled, hopefully they didn't get away with too much?

 

Looking forward to an update when you get back on track (no pun intended!)

 

Kind regards

Chris

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Really sorry to hear about your break in I know exactly how it feels to be burgled, hopefully they didn't get away with too much?

 

Looking forward to an update when you get back on track (no pun intended!)

 

Kind regards

Chris

 

 

No, fortunately nothing was taken, but the repairs are costing me an arm and a leg as most of my exterior doors now have damaged locks, or panels missing from them. Luckily (I think), it's not costing as much as I originally thought so I am going to make a start on the baseboards next week some time so there will be some sort of update coming soon!

 

I have also had a play around with the track plan and simplified it up a bit more to make the shunting aspects of the layout more intuitive. The baseboards have been extended to 2ft rather than the 1 1/2ft I had before as this gives a bit more freedom in the scenics department:

 

35667370102_6ba1c2cce2_b.jpgFlintHillFinal2 by David Marshall

 

Track plan only:

 

34996192144_9f3bb7a7dd_b.jpgFlintHillFinal2NS by David Marshall

 

 

The three siding design remains, however the flask loading area has been modified to resemble the loading siding which serves Totness power station and has a run-around. This means that the flask locos can do their own shunting, rather than having an 08 to do it for them. It still gives the opportunity for different configurations of flask trains whilst giving me more movements on the layout. The lower siding is now alongside the upper siding and I have incorporated a mini virtual quarry with some small ballast piles. The idea that the NR part of the layout is more of a stocking/signing-on point still remains the same as there is not enough room for a full virtual quarry, however with ballast on site, it means that engineering trains have access to ballast for spot-repairs (as opposed to a full reballasting). Overall, the track is simpler whilst giving me more opportunities for movements and stock. 

 

Suggestions and comments welcomed as always!

Edited by MattBlack33
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Sorry if I am overposting, I was hoping to get some feedback on my layout plans. I've had yet another re-think about the layout, specifically how long it is and how the fiddle yard is utilised. The last few plans had the layout at around 13ft including the fiddle yard, which in terms of making it portable was proving somewhat of an issue. After making a paper mock-up I decided to return to the drawing board and came up with this:

 

35846440256_74980192f9_o.jpgFlintYardFiddleExtension

 

The plan speaks for itself, it still keeps the simplicity (I think it actually makes it more simple). I have modelled the virtual quarry area on the Bescott virtual quarry with an added siding for stabling a couple of locos and/or the shunter. I am going to start building the baseboards either tomorrow or Friday so I shall have some actual progress pictures to show!

 

In other news I have managed to get a few bargains from various places. I have bought myself a Class 57 in Network Rail livery and a short rake of five IOA wagons to test out clearance and the electrics once I lay the track and wire it up. The IOAs arrived today and I am yet to receive the 57. I also have three MEA wagons on the way to start building up some interesting rakes that will eventually visit the yard. 

 

Let me know what you think!

Edited by MattBlack33
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Finally, Flint Hill Yard gets off the ground!

 

All of my initial stock has now arrived so I have made a start on the baseboards. I'm busy renovating a house for the start of the next academic year (the one that got broken in to!) so I've only had an hour or so this evening to put together one of the two scenic boards. I will complete the other tomorrow and order some track hopefully to start laying next weekend!

 

35903911206_3e3fc5f1e7_o.jpg

Underneath...

 

35903921976_40e894e7c6_o.jpg20170715_220951

 

First board, about to receive a coffee table for its troubles to help the glue cure overnight.

 

35105106484_ec18f58676_o.jpg20170715_223409

 

57312 about to leave siding two with a short rake of five IOA empties.

 

35945256725_69d82f0a62_o.jpg20170715_223446

 

57312 awaiting signal to leave Flint Yard.

 

35105114974_c3fc95327c_o.jpg

 

Approximate location of the loading sidings. IOA and MEA wagons await their loads.

 

It's been a massive help having the actual locos to gauge lengths and clearances. I can now see that the track plan I have in mind is feasible without looking too cluttered or complicated. Things are starting to get exciting!

Edited by MattBlack33
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Hi Matt.

 

I like the latest track plan. Looks similar in dimensions and the 90 degree turn to the fiddle yard as my layout (see link below). Not cramming too much track in the scenic section is definitely a good idea.

 

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

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Hi Matt.

I like the latest track plan. Looks similar in dimensions and the 90 degree turn to the fiddle yard as my layout (see link below). Not cramming too much track in the scenic section is definitely a good idea.

Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Cheers, Sam. In fact it was your layout that made my mind up about changing to the L-shape fiddle-yard with it being similar dimensions to mine.

 

Do you have any problems with your 90° turn with modern stock? My worry is that it might be too tight a radius.

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Cheers, Sam. In fact it was your layout that made my mind up about changing to the L-shape fiddle-yard with it being similar dimensions to mine.

Do you have any problems with your 90° turn with modern stock? My worry is that it might be too tight a radius.

Hi Matt.

 

Most stuff is fine on the curve. Just make sure you don't go any tighter than 2nd radius equivalent (438mm). I have a join in the rails for the lift out section right in the middle of the curve which doesn't help. The only thing that derails is my Hornby Network Rail class 97 but I think that is too light - I need to get round to adding some weight in it.

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Hi Matt.

 

Most stuff is fine on the curve. Just make sure you don't go any tighter than 2nd radius equivalent (438mm). I have a join in the rails for the lift out section right in the middle of the curve which doesn't help. The only thing that derails is my Hornby Network Rail class 97 but I think that is too light - I need to get round to adding some weight in it.

 

That's helpful to know, thanks. I'm looking to get myself a 97 at some point so I will keep that in mind. I've set the Anyrail warning limit beyond second radius so hopefully this will transfer to the layout and everything will run smoothly.

 

I've now finished the second scenic board this afternoon. The weather has been too nice to be spending it inside so I did another hour or so. The boards sit together nicely and have given me a better idea of where everything will sit. As I've said before this is my first layout so I've been unsure as to how long particular locos are beyond seeing them on my Anyrail plan so it's nice to now start playing around with the full-sized thing!

 

A couple of pictures showing the scenic boards. Sorry, they're not particularly exciting (they are for me!). 

 

35921556876_79b6d0dcca_o.jpg20170716_174623

 

35573952190_f0c226f796_o.jpg20170716_174708

 

The white shelf shows where the scenic break is going to be. I am going to print out a couple of track plans I have in mind tonight and see how they look on the boards tomorrow! Then it's track ordering time!

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Coming along nicely, but don't rush into building a plan unless you are 100% happy with it!

 

I spent months trying to come up with a plan I liked for a scrap yard & steel terminal layout before I eventually found a plan I liked... of a wagon works:scratchhead:

 

 

Simon (Psiborg)

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Coming along nicely, but don't rush into building a plan unless you are 100% happy with it!

 

I spent months trying to come up with a plan I liked for a scrap yard & steel terminal layout before I eventually found a plan I liked... of a wagon works:scratchhead:

 

 

Simon (Psiborg)

I'm glad you've said that, Simon I was beginning to wonder if constantly changing track-plans was a "normal" thing when designing a layout. It's been a bit of a blessing that I've had to wait a bit longer to buy track Because I'm constantly tweaking the plan which seems to be improving with every iteration I'm definitely printing out a few to try out before I settle on a final design. Your layouts are fantastic, I've been following them for inspiration and tips. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can improve on my latest plan? Your input would be very much appreciated!

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I'm glad you've said that, Simon I was beginning to wonder if constantly changing track-plans was a "normal" thing when designing a layout. It's been a bit of a blessing that I've had to wait a bit longer to buy track Because I'm constantly tweaking the plan which seems to be improving with every iteration I'm definitely printing out a few to try out before I settle on a final design. Your layouts are fantastic, I've been following them for inspiration and tips. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can improve on my latest plan? Your input would be very much appreciated!

Nothing wrong with taking more time on the track planning stage.

 

My current plan is probably into its 11th iteration, with more tweaks to finish before the track gets laid (well built in my case).

 

Once you've put it down you're stuckwith it it. Getting some templates, flexible track and laying them down to see how they look and using stock to check clearances can  be a real help at times no matter how much time you put into planning in computer software.

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Looks good.

 

Only you can decide if you like it.  But like Kelly said - check stock will fit and clearances are enough.  Also try imagining operating the layout and would it work how you want it to!

 

One query I have is, has the articulated lorry got enough room to turn? 

 

Simon

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