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Cometh the Hour- Cometh the Axeman- Beeching Closures announced- tracks being lifted :(

danstercivicman

Entry posted by danstercivicman

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blog-0263831001411036397.jpgHello all,

 

I am afraid reading this month's BRM, running problems through Harton station (the damp has affected the gauging), problems with the remaining Hornby points (do they make them out of rubbish), the fact I am undergoing a massive career change and the fact I am getting fed up with having to climb over the layout to get into the basement means the line has been closed by Dr Beeching! Citing the damp problems (I am damp sealing the walls) and the lack of traffic (a blatant lie) the layout is being broken up and re-built.

 

The re-building will take a few years, but I am going to start it properly. No more Hornby points, raised trackbed on cork matting, proper attention to the backscene and a basement that can be easily accessed. Thankfully my decision to use John Lewis washable PVA for the ballast was a good one and the track is peeling off nicely.

 

I have been using AnyRail and please see the plans. I plan to build the station in the part of the basement that is least affected by the damp and I am building a junction station with that ex GWR branchline :)

 

The de-humidifier has been doing a great job of keeping things dry, but what might not be obvious is that where my wife knocked over a glass of water in the living room (above) the water seeped through the floor and has caused major issues with the scalescenes printed medium station. Its also made the platform edging at Harton run and change colour. Time for a change.

 

Progress will be slow as I move jobs and due to finances (our daughter is now going to nursery).

 

Beeching's men have been swift- the line into Hopeguard has already been singled- thankfully this does not affect the operation of the line as due to the layout of the track it was pretty much a singled line into the station here anyway...which has given me other ideas :)

 

Thankfully an earthquake has removed some of the offending and annoying bit that you have to climb over to get into the basement- it was 7 on the Jiigsaw scale!!!!

 

The Stanier 5MT, 8F and the Ivatt 4MT seem un-affected in the shed thankfully!

 

Best

 

Dan

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sigtech

Hello Dan, good luck on the layout renewal project,- The hardest part is dismantling it all and salvaging what is going to be reused. I like your proposed trackplan, looks to have much potential and  will probably be more reliable this time around, as like most of us you learn from your mistakes (and mine was that wet modroc and card tunnel portals do not mix very well together....!!)

Regards

SIGTECH (Steve)

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danstercivicman

Thanks Steve- its amazing how as you get further and further with this hobby that you realise how badly things like track heights, dead spots and generally poor areas of the baseboard can limit locos to 5 coaches and de-rail other locos :)  Lets hope layout three works better!

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KH1
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Your cellar looks just like mine with all the lime wash blown out around the mortar joints. I have not yet managed to get any rails down there yet and maybe some time off due to the unfeasible amount of junk down there. Don't forget though that the most important thing in keeping a cellar damp free is venilation and am looking at some rather more modern solutions than just air bricks.

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rovex

Its amazing just what Dr Beeching has to answer for

 

You have my sympathies - been there and done that.

 

Good luck with the next one

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danstercivicman
 

 

Very much so- I have a Meaco De-humidifier and that has saved the basement really.  We have two air bricks and they seem to do very little- let me know what solution you come up with for ventilation :)

 

I tried out some new junction ideas yesterday and they seem to work so just more track to lift and wood to remove :)

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Mikkel
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A knocked over glass and an earthquake - looks like someone up above is trying to guide you in a certain direction - you had better follow the hints! :-)

 

Good luck with the build, hope you can salvage as much as possible.

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danstercivicman

:)  Actually stripping back the layout I can see new possibilities and a need to finish the paint on the walls!  The track is coming up well and I am trying out new ideas :)

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