Life in a Northern Town

[Mikkel]

I suppose it depends on what scenic features will surround them.  In proportion to the vans, they look fine to me.

 

I think you're onto something interesting with the overall concept here, i.e. "life in a Northern town". I often find myself marvelling at scale replicas of particular station environments, or having fun with more or less fanciful settings (my own included). But neither of those approaches necessarily provide a feel of what it all actually "looked and felt like". That's hard to do, but knowing your skills for creating atmosphere it's bound to be good. 

[Captain Kernow]

I think the proportions look pretty good, Neil. What will the backscene show at this point? Further factories and industry, perhaps?

[PMP]

I suppose it depends on what scenic features will surround them.  In proportion to the vans, they look fine to me.

 

 

^^ Wot he said ^^

[Neil]

Thanks all for your comments and observations. One of the reasons why I questioned, perhaps still question the size of the buildings is that they're bigger than what I would normally plan or build; another that I don't want one area of the layout to dominate, but when set against rolling stock they look about right. The backscene here will be Bar Walls on top of their grass embankment, if I've got this link correct this should show the view from the bridge as it is today. Between the rear of the two buildings and the backscene I intend to deploy some low relief visual trickery to make the factory look bigger without significantly increasing its volume and therefore dominance.The glassworks buildings need to be here because in my strange geography of York their position makes logical sense. Besides this they provide a couple of practical functions as a destination for traffic and to hide where the main line into the layout enters the scene and a road disappears. This sketch should make clear.

 

 

I hope that the tall terraces and trees of New Walk to the right of the glassworks will help keep things in proportion and provide a visual link to the less urban stretch of the layout as the light railway tracks head out of York.

[NHY 581]

This is looking interesting I must say.

 

Rob.

[south_tyne]

Neil,

 

Loving seeing this develop as I know York really well. Enjoying the sketches and I like the concept of things evolving as you go along rather than having a plan 'dead set' from the outset. I think the cameo approach to modelling scenes reminiscent of the city is a great idea.

 

David

[bcnPete]

Big fan of your work Neil so looking forward to this see new project

 

Hope we get to see those BR Blue Sulzers stretch their legs on it too...

[Andrew Young]

Looking forward to seeing this develop. Often the less glamorous parts of the network make for more interesting models imho.

 

My father is a North Eastern oo modeller and can see why you succumbed to the Q6, my Dad’s one is a lovely model.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Neil]

Thank you all. Regarding the Sulzers I'm not sure they'll be seen on my other York. I'd need to push the wheels back in to start with as they're still set up as EM gauge locos. Though Morfa is no longer I still have Shell Island, crated up and sitting under the new layout. Now I know that Cambrian 24's worked the York - Aberystwyth mails, but did they work the train throughout?

[Oldddudders]

Thank you all. Regarding the Sulzers I'm not sure they'll be seen on my other York. I'd need to push the wheels back in to start with as they're still set up as EM gauge locos. Though Morfa is no longer I still have Shell Island, crated up and sitting under the new layout. Now I know that Cambrian 24's worked the York - Aberystwyth mails, but did they work the train throughout?

 

No idea - but on the one occasion I saw the return trip, Aberystwyth - York, the loco was apparently not working at all, as it was sitting in the up loop at a passing station somewhere in Montgomery, obviously failed. I think the date would have been Maundy Thursday 1973, as I was on my way to Towyn, for my one and only volunteer weekend on a preserved railway, navvying. 

[Russ (mines a pint)]

It most certainly is CK. Though my recent UK outline layouts have been EM gauge I've gone this time for a less exacting formula which should see me less bogged down in the bread and butter stages of construction and therefore leave more time to savour the jam on top. In fact I'm using a not very finescale recipe with Peco code 100 track as the main ingredient.  Though in some circles this might be considered a heretical approach I'm convinced that the wow factor lies in the arty farty bits of layout design and construction, not in the engineering purity or obsessive dimensional accuracy. To see whether this theory holds water I need to put my time and money where my mouth is and build something to prove it works.

 

Time available is a big factor too not just track but stock conversions- I've gradually talked myself back into OO even though I've been using scale trackbases and still copperclad points I have still not manged to complete anything that sustained my interest long enough to get to the scenic stage which is the bit I really enjoy! 

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with this time, every confidence it will be a nice layout  

 

From what I saw of the Aberystwyth mails at the Yorkshire end it was usually a 31 - which must've been swapped somewhere before Manchester?Crewe? 

[woodenhead]

Thank you all. Regarding the Sulzers I'm not sure they'll be seen on my other York. I'd need to push the wheels back in to start with as they're still set up as EM gauge locos. Though Morfa is no longer I still have Shell Island, crated up and sitting under the new layout. Now I know that Cambrian 24's worked the York - Aberystwyth mails, but did they work the train throughout?

If that is the one that used to change traction at Stockport around 11:30pm, if it is then it used to turn up exotic traction like a 50 or a Deltic as a running turn from Doncaster works. I saw a Deltic once middle road at Stockport as I was passing on an overnight train from Piccadilly.

[NHY 581]

Morning Neil.

 

Your use of PECO track does not surprise me and I agree with your sentiments regarding the arty farty side of things.

 

Carefully laid and weathered OO gauge trackwork will look just as good as more finescale options. I have no aspirations to go to a wider gauge being content with OO though prefering code 75 for my own more modest efforts.

 

Rob.

[Windjabbers]

Neil, couple of quick questions, what height did you settle on for the height of the baseboards and how wide have you made them?

 

I'm intrested as I have about the same amount of space to play with.

 

Best Wishes

 

David

Edited August 27, 2018 by Windjabbers

[Neil]

Hello David, the boards are four feet high and two feet wide though the corners are angled and there's a bit at the end of one side which is four feet deep just before the line passes through a partition into what will be the fiddle yard. However the track is temporarily pinned down at the moment and once I've finalised the design it will all be lifted and mounted about two inches higher on a separate mdf deck which will allow for rivers and land falling away from the trackbed. Advantages of this reasonably high level is that it's better for my back (I'm 6'4" tall) and that it gives lots of storage space underneath.

[Russ (mines a pint)]

Carefully laid and weathered OO gauge trackwork will look just as good as more finescale options. I have no aspirations to go to a wider gauge being content with OO though prefering code 75 for my own more modest efforts.

 

Rob by far the most difficult thing with going back to Peco I ever found was cutting to length and getting neat joins - with handmade track you very rarely need to cut anything bigger than a single rail - need to do it though as I am a small/simple layout person and getting the track done in one hit kind of appeals...

[NHY 581]

Rob by far the most difficult thing with going back to Peco I ever found was cutting to length and getting neat joins - with handmade track you very rarely need to cut anything bigger than a single rail - need to do it though as I am a small/simple layout person and getting the track done in one hit kind of appeals...

Totally agree Russ.

 

I take what seems a ridiculous amount of time setting the PECO track out and cutting to length......not to mention the subsequent ballasting......drat! .....mentioned it....but it is worth it in the end.

 

And that is why I am a confirmed small layout type of chap.

 

 

Rob.

[Windjabbers]

Hello David, the boards are four feet high and two feet wide though the corners are angled and there's a bit at the end of one side which is four feet deep just before the line passes through a partition into what will be the fiddle yard. However the track is temporarily pinned down at the moment and once I've finalised the design it will all be lifted and mounted about two inches higher on a separate mdf deck which will allow for rivers and land falling away from the trackbed. Advantages of this reasonably high level is that it's better for my back (I'm 6'4" tall) and that it gives lots of storage space underneath.

 

Thanks Neil, that is really helpful. I've been mocking up various heights before I saw your new venture and had come to about the same height of baseboard and track level to my height ratio that you had come to. I'm a bit shorter than you so slightly lower baseboard and track level!

 

Looking forward to seeing you develope this one.

 

Best WIshes

 

David

[Neil]

Here's a bit of a blind alley, but a useful one.

 

 

 

Though I was happy with the shape and mass of the glassworks I was less happy that trains leaving Piccadilly Yard over the BR connection would disappear behind the glassworks and not be seen further until they entered the fiddle yard twelve feet away. I was happy that I could arrange access for track cleaning and to recover breakdowns but it seemed such a wasted opportunity to see my bigger locos stretch their legs. I began to wonder what would happen if I pushed the glassworks all the way to the right hand end, which is what can be seen in the photo. While it sort of works it sort of doesn't too. All along I've been quite happy how I've managed to arrange York like transitions between the different bits of York that I wanted taken from unconnected areas of York. The arrangement with the glassworks at the far right destroys the York like qualities of the planning so far. However it has suggested an alternative where the glassworks occupies the centre of its side and a way of opening out the view of the main line I previously hadn't thought of.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Neil

[Neil]

Following on from the blind alley I went back to the track laid in for the first glassworks position and tightened up the curve leading out of the yard, took out the point and added some more plain track. The glassworks mock up was shifted to a spot about four feet away from the fiddle yard entrance and then I started to play about with loose pieces of track. This is what I came up with.

 

 

 

One of the problems I wanted to overcome was that trains previously would be hidden until almost upon Piccadilly Yard/Foss Yard (I've yet to settle on a name) but now I can open out the view.

 

 

 

Here the K1 on a short rake of coal wagons enters the scene from behind a row of tall terraced houses (use of imagination a requirement here)  before passing behind the glassworks.

 

 

 

Emerging at the other end the train drifts past the glassworks yard ....

 

 

 

 

.... and the light railway's shed and depot ....

 

 

 

 

.... before coming to a halt in the yard.

 

 

All of which illustrates the benefit of being able to plan full size on the hoof and not being too fixed on the early iterations of a design. Some bits I find work right from the off but some, like this bit, take a bit of tweaking to get the most out of the space and concept.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Neil

[Stubby47]

Have you thought about the line coming in descending a slight slope ? 

Stu

[Neil]

Right concept but wrong line Stu. The main is due to be level but the light railway, that at the front of the baseboard will drop down as it heads away from the yard.

[woodenhead]

This is beginning to look like one of your layouts now Neil, the evolution of the track layout is paying dividends.

[relaxinghobby]

Light railway, would that be a version of the Derwent Valley Railway, an industrial loop lines connecting York's industrial areas to the national rail network?

An excellent subject for a model railway.

[Neil]

Light railway, would that be a version of the Derwent Valley Railway, an industrial loop lines connecting York's industrial areas to the national rail network?

An excellent subject for a model railway.

 

You're most perceptive, the light railway will have a Derwent Valley-esque feel to it, some structures will be copies and one location a direct-ish lift from the real thing. I also have in mind the Isle of Axholme, though that won't result in any physical representation. The light railway will be less of a feature than I'd originally intended when faced with the bare boards, but less is as ever more and I think that what's left will be better for it.

 

Earlier Ian (old dudders) suggested that I take a look again at the British Transport Film's 'This is York'. I'd last seen it about forty years ago as a teenager. Viewed again I found it more charming than I remembered and more interesting. One thing that struck me is that it appears not to use stock footage but has everything shot specifically for it; it becomes far more valuable for that. Anyway, take a look for yourselves.