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I thought it might be a nice idea to have a topic on here where group members can introduce themselves and their current "real location" project.

 

I'll start the ball rolling....

 

I'm currently planning a model of Wolverhampton Low Level, circa 1970-72, in EM gauge. Having made very little progress in the past 12 months following a house move, I am now ready to make a start on baseboard construction (hopefully this weekend!) and have recently drawn up the track plan in Templot.

The scenic boards of the layout will cover an area of 2.4 x 1.2m, which should allow the area being modelled to be represented without too many compromises.

 

So over to you; what are you up to?

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My model layout will comprise Manchester Central Station, CLC Goods Warehouse/Yard, GN Deansgate Goods Warehouse/Yard and the Castlefield/Cornbrook Viaducts in the period 1950 thro to closure in 1969, all in 4mm scale

 

After 6 years I have managed to build 50% of the station, goods warehouses, bridges, some of the viaducts, and some of the trackwork. 18 months ago, I moved to Spain, and now in the process of converting the villa underbuild into a railway room approx. 8 metres x 6 metres, which will just accommodate the model structures and approach/station/yard tracks

 

The trackwork beyond the viaducts will run through the garden in a loop returning to the railway room on two levels. The up lines will return as the down lines A & B, and the middle line M will return to the carriage sidings (Cornbrook) and locomotive depot (Trafford Park) on separate baseboards in the railway room

 

My present modelling is the construction of the Castlefield Viaduct some 4.5 metres long

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Guest jim s-w

Hi all

 

I am modelling perhaps the most disliked station on our system, birmingham New Street although I am modelling it during 1986/87 when at least the trains were interesting! The model covers from the Wolverhampton tunnel mouth to as far as proof house junction. This will be my lifetime project

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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At the opposite end of the scale to Jim, my railway portrays the smallest station (Avonwick) on the old South Brent to Kingsbridge branch. The station including the goods facilities fit on a baseboard 6ft long with no compression.

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I am modelling Whitby West Cliff on the Middlesbrough to Scarborough line in the mid fifties. Growing up in Middlesbrough, I can remember travelling this route several times in those summers.

long ago. I have a track plan, but am having difficulty obtaining accurate drawings of the station buildings, signal box, and goods shed. Any help would be appreciated.

Trevor Elliot,

Bellingham, Washington, USA

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I am modelling Whitby West Cliff on the Middlesbrough to Scarborough line in the mid fifties. Growing up in Middlesbrough, I can remember travelling this route several times in those summers.

long ago. I have a track plan, but am having difficulty obtaining accurate drawings of the station buildings, signal box, and goods shed. Any help would be appreciated.

Trevor Elliot,

Bellingham, Washington, USA

 

Hi, Trevor

 

Have you seen Disused Stations

 

The station buildings have been preserved and are in use as Residential Housing. Contact with Scarborough Borough Planning Dept. may assist your search for dimensional drawings

 

Were you aware that a book on Whitby West Cliff Station is due to be publish 1st Aug 2011

 

Authors

Mike HItches, Paul Hughes

 

Publisher

Amberley Publishing

 

ISBN

9781445602868

 

Paperback - 192 pages

 

Price

£14.99 UK

 

No synopsis available yet

 

Cheers

 

Ron

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After initially planning something involving the CRE and a D800, I've been put off rather dramatically by finding out that just this one train is about 6 feet in length - in N gauge! That would require a minimum of 18' of track just to bring it in and out of the station. Plan shelved.

 

New plan devised. After researching the CRE I came across a video showing Cardigan station and thought it would make an interesting model for steamers, being a green diesel man myself. However, after a bit of thought I've decided to give it a go. I really like the station layout - it's got everything, and in a compact space too. I just means I've got to get into steam irons. I guess, if all else fails I could just imagine that it survived Beeching's axe and now runs DMUs.

 

The scale will be 2mm and will be modelled in its first few weeks of operation (1886). Unfortunately, that means scratch building locos and carriages, but hopefully I can get away with most of the wagons. The whole station, sidings and a good amount of scenery can be built in 12' length.

 

We are moving next month so no modelling work can realistically start before then. I've bought a good selection of books and mags with relevant articles to read for research. I'm reasonably confident about modelling the buildings and architectural structures but I have no idea about how to model engines and coaches. A membership to the 2mm Assoc would come in handy perhaps?

 

Steve

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When I get the time I am looking into the history of Larbert Station in scotland. I grew up in Larbert so I know the current station well, but I am really interested in its earlier history especially 1890 onwards.

 

I have located various OS maps from around this period that show the general track layout and I have some plans from the National Archives of Scotland that detail some of the station buildings from this time. I have found time to start creating a CAD drawing of one of the footbridges.

 

Maybe once my youngest (6 weeks) is a bit older and we are getting more sleep at night, I might get around to actual making something or planning where I would fit the baseboards.

 

Peter

 

 

 

 

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I'm part of a small group modelling Blandford as it was in the late 1950's, as seen in, and on the cover of, Feb's Railway Modeller. The layout can be seen, semi-permanently, at the town museum, when it's not out at shows.

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I'm fairly fixed in the BR(S) Central Section in the 50s and early 60s, and in P4. My projects are also group ones - never get them finished otherwise!

 

Eridge is a country interchange near Tunbridge Wells, or at least it was in my period, serving London-Brighton/Eastbourne via Oxted and Tonbridge-Brighton. It still exists, but is now more like a Parkway station on the truncated branch to Uckfield, and also recently the new terminus for the Spa Valley Railway. We (the Kent Area Group of the Scalefour Society) started building it in 1998, and it attended a few shows in the southeast before being retired, uncompleted, due to baseboard warping issues. It is currently being completely rebuilt.

 

I also have a much bigger project on the go to do the Ouse Viaduct and Balcombe station on the Brighton main line, and part of Lewes, together with Re6/6 and occasional contributions from others in KAG and DRAG. If (alright, when) completed, this could be joined on to Eridge as well but would need something the size of the hall at Railex to see in full. At the moment work is concentrated on the Ouse Viaduct.

 

There are separate blogs on the two projects, linked from here. Also a new topic on the Ouse Viaduct at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/43107-ouse-viaduct/page__fromsearch__1

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I am modelling a slightly compressed version of Hemerdon Sidings at the top of Hemerdon Bank.

 

Its an N gauge model set in the late 60s after diesel has taken over the line, with a second era of the mid 70's as the westerns are phased out and the HSTs come in, but getting the stock for that will take some time. The model area is around 9ft long and 17 inches wide on an overall baseboard of 11ft 8in by 2ft 6in.

 

Its my second attempt at a real location after an incomplete attempt for the challenge layout to produce Alvescot on the old Fairford branch line.

 

So far all my research has been done on the web, but I do hope to visit the site over the summer.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am building a P4 model based on Llanfyllin in Mid Wales. I say based as I have compressed the track plan to fit on a 12ft baseboard.

 

I currently have track laid on two baseboards, the platforms and station building almost finished. The Signal Box has also been built. I am currently working on a weighbridge, its office and a coal office.

 

I am working from photos of which there are plenty though I still find new ones.

 

If you wish to view the work in progress, search for Llanfyllin.

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I am modelling Markinch in Fife, Scotland in the banger blue BR era. OO scale dcc with a crossed figure of eight to allow the summit loop at Lochmuir to be incorporated. Oh, and not forgetting a cameo of the Auchmuty branch.

 

A fair amount of track is laid and a start has been made on some of the buildings but progress is spasmodic at the moment.

 

About 30 years ago I started the same venture in N and vowed not to model a real location again - but heyho...

 

Bruce

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  • 1 month later...

Greenfield will be my third attempt at modelling Greenfield Station between Stalybridge and Standedge Tunnel.

 

It hasn't been a junction since 1964, which suits me from a modelling point of view. PROBLEM : It was a junction in the early 1950s period I aim to model and previous attempts showed it took up too much width. So at present it is a case of lay now't until detail is finalized. If I re-write history and use the Oldham Branch as the mainline and deprive Mossley of a railway connection, will I be barred from joining....?

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Guest jim s-w

Hi Larry

 

What's wrong with a real place but changing the timeline a bit? Build the newer layout but with the older stock I reckon

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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  • 4 weeks later...

Having generally been tempted by branch line modelling based on the Worth Valley over the last few years, the lure of moving to the Aire Valley with it still having the local passenger and goods but also bringing in the likes of the Thames Clyde and Waverley through traffic, and Lancaster parcels for all that NPCS that I couldnt really get away with on a branch, is all too much!

 

I was wondering whether to add a ficticious station in the Beckfood/Cottingley area (Between Bingley & Saltaire, which was never quadrupled) but I seem to be settling on Bingley itself.

 

This will be some time in gestation. I pick up the keys to my first house tomorrow, but am bringing my current housemates with me initially so wont have a spare room to go at. There is a shed which I need to investigate the options for though...

 

Bingley works nicely in that a fair amount could be achieved in 6ft of scenic length (just including the ends of the platform, and going past the goods shed), and could be built up in chunks from there if the room allowed.

 

My main issue with going for a through station though (which is still niggling) is the need for either two fiddle yards or room for a full circuit (in P4). This makes even the basic 6ft scenic layout take up 14ft x 8ft!! This wouldnt allow full length expresses, but I dont think I would want to run those until/unless the scenic area was large enough to accomodate them without looking silly anyway.

 

14ft x 2ft (min) would allow the 6ft section to be built with a 4ft fiddleyard at each end - but this restricts to 3 coach trains...

 

Im talking roughly 1958 to 1962 too. What I am yet to conclude is when the Aire Valley was converted to flat bottom rail (sometime during this period from what I can tell). It looks like the goods yard entry was altered during this too, simplifying the interaction with the mainline.

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Actually Jim gave me an idea of using "N" to get the sheer breadth of the desert South West in Arizona on the BNSF mainline around Winslow - the length of the intermodel trains down there is limited somewhat (even though the mainline is beautifully double tracked) to about 1.4 miles which is about 40 real feet! I don't believe my wallet would stand ten trains an hour...........

 

Luckily the USA is still blessed with plenty of shortlines all over the place with interesting locos and stock.

 

Best, Pete.

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I am modelling the village of Chew Magna in the Mendips. The real village never had a station but a branch line up the Chew valley from Pensford on the BNSR was proposed just before WW1. A creamery at the site and through trains to Temple Meads provide justification for decent-sized BLT in N gauge.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/8158-chewton-mendip/

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Hi folks,

 

Just come across this thread. I am modelling the west end of Edinburgh Waverley station and a section of Princes St. Gardens during the 1980s. While not an exact model of the station due to space constraints, my aims are to replicate it as accurately as I can within the space available and to get the "atmosphere" of the place.

 

Progress has been a bit on hold recently with the possibility of a house move. If the move does go ahead, I should have more space available and intend to improve the Haymarket end of the Princes St. Gardens section and hopefully model Haymarket depot in the same way, add a fiddle yard as well as carry on with general detailing and other improvements.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2978-waverley-west/

 

 

Fascinating thread this, as I have personally always found models of real places much more interesting than freelance layouts.

 

Cheers,

Dave

Waverley West

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Like Dave, above, I have just found this.

My layout is two layouts in one. I have built about 25 years ago a portable model of the current station at Blaenau Ffestiniog on the single line from Llandudno Junction. Opened in 1982, I have modeled it as in 1989, when some of the traffic was loco hauled in the summer. Unlike most single lin branches it was built to accomodate 10 coach trains, and was built to the full length.

After moving house to a large loft, I am now building the (now disused) Blaenau Ffestiniog North station on the other side of the room, but being done as it was in 1965, when the signaling was still in use and the freight traffic was still steam hauled. The 2 mile Ffestiniog tunnel entrance leads to the fiddle yard.

Trains from the fiddle yard to the new station pass through the old one, just as they really do, but it is not disused.

So my stock consists of most types of things that have been used on the branch since the 1950s. Ivatt 2-6-2T and LMS suburbans to Class 67 and Northern Belle.

Merf.

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I am planning to add a branchline to my current oval layout which is currently 15'x8'. The current layout will be expanded to 21'. The branchline to Ponteland (NE region) will come of the end of the board and swing around/behind the control panel. It will be also made for exhibition (end to end). Size will be 12' x 2', 2x 6' x 2' boards. I also plan to build a viaduct in between the fiddle yard board and the permanant layout. Though this is not prototypical, just modeller's license.

 

I have the track plan, photos and timetable. Though this will have to be added to because not much ran on the line.

I even took a couple of photos of Ponteland and approaching embankment while I was in the UK in April - May this year.

Thats the plan.

 

I also visited the Blandford forum museum as put my 2 bob in to make the model rly work. very nice layout. I also saw Gresley Beat, Gainsborough, and a few others.

 

Mark

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  • 2 weeks later...

My target location is Hatfield (Herts) 1959+/- 3 years. The joy of this location is the passing ECML principal traffic, at a station which developed as the inner suburban country end terminus and the junction for three pretty bucolic branchlines, and shed 34C, (mainly N2s and N7s in late BR steam, but I can squeeze in J69s and a solitary N5). The station is remarkably compact from the old footbridge to the South to the St Albans Road bridge to the North, and can be lightly compressed to fit in the 22 feet of viewing area available (four feet reserved at each end of the 30 foot long space for the concealed under scale curves). Happily the station is actually on a very large radius curve which to my mind is a real asset to appearance, and has the interesting aspect of a Station which was expanded piecemeal in three major and many minor 'add-ons'.

 

Stock wise, there is quite a decent range available in OO, augmented by kit builds and bashes, including some quite old items from my youth, many now revived with better current chassis. (Why oh why did I sell my Bec J17?) The operational plan is to roll through the steam to diesel transition: all steam at the start, terminating with the appearance of D1500 (thanks Bachmann). It is going to be great, just as soon as I can defeat all the other jobs that come my way and finish preparing the room, where my fairly extensive test bed layout is presently located...

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  • 2 weeks later...
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In the advanced planning stage for Kensington Olympia circa 1980, I have track diagrams and large scale OS maps courtesy of the Loftus Road boys, http://www.worthingmrc.co.uk/mrc/layouts/.

Layout will be N scale and I plan to include the Motorail Terminal and a full set of platforms, all compressed a bit.

I'm currently doing drawings for the station building being converted from photos and some know dimensions.

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