Jump to content
 
  • entries
    40
  • comments
    201
  • views
    27,307

About this blog

A multi-micro system in OO

Entries in this blog

Tweedale Goes Modular

Tweedale has acquired a temporary appendage. Ultimately it will form part of a small tabletop modular system seperate from the Tweedale theme, but for now it provides a run round loop for the layout, which allows operation with just one loco rather than the usual two. The plan below shows how it fits in with the rest of Tweedale...     I've tried to keep the length of the run round loop as short as possible. With a capacity of 2 short-wheelbase wagons, a small turntable at one end and a wh

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Thin Wire Tension-Lock Couplings

The standard tension lock couplings in use on Tweedale have been an ongoing source of irritation. They work reliably enough, but they are just so darned ugly. The original plan was to replace them with Alex Jacksons, but that has now changed and I've decided to stick with tension locks but make my own from from thin wire. They seem a bit less fiddly to set up than the AJs and the tolerances are more forgiving. I'm very pleased with the results, so I thought I'd share the details below on how the

awoodford

awoodford in dunno

Tweedale - Time to move on

Replacement Windows The layout is now in its final stages of construction. For the past two years it has endured cardboard mock-ups for the windows which seperate each of the scenes. Now that the scenery is all but complete, I've finally been able to determine the exact size required for the windows and replace them. Here is an overall view of the layout without its windows, now moved to a corner of the spare bedroom....   ...and here it is with the new windows in place, and lighting on...

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Slaghill Avoiding Line

I wasn't so happy with how the industrial scene was coming together. It just wasn't as blatantly industrial as I wanted. So I've added an extra elevated track through the middle of the scene - the Slaghill Avoiding Line. Why anyone would want to avoid Slaghill I can't imagine, but it does at least have the effect of enclosing things a bit more.     This is just a dummy track, and is there purely for looks, though I suppose it could be used to store or display spare rolling stock.     T

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Grossman's of Grimley

Development of the industrial scene has continued during the past month. The chemical works at Slaghill is now complete, and a start has been made on the lower level Grimley area. The staple diet of Tweedalers is pie and peas, and the demand is met in part by Grossman's of Grimley, whose abattoir, tannery, glue and pie factory is a major industry in the town. It has been allocated 2 siding spots out of the 6 available at Grimley, and has its own loading/unloading platform. Inward traffic compris

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Phantom Industries for Slaghill

Slaghill is dominated by steel and chemical industries, which provide plenty of varied traffic for the Tweedale Railway. However it became apparent early on that there wouldn't be enough room on the layout for loading and unloading facilities for them. So it was decided to make them into 'phantom industries', situated just off the layout and supposedly fed from extensions of the two sidings. In reality the sidings just fizzle out behind buildings. Wagons for the steel works are left in the stati

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - A Mechanical Magnetic Uncoupler

This month's blog looks at an alternative to electro-magnetic uncouplers, plus a few progress shots on the newly started scenic development of Slaghill. As a reminder, Slaghill is the high level section at the rear of the scene below, and represents Tweedale's heavy-industrial zone.   As mentioned in last month's blog, I wanted to look into the feasibility of replacing the hook and bar couplings with Alex Jacksons. Tests using a couple of wagons fitted with AJs turned out more promising than

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - A Knightwing Loco Kitbash

Until now wagons for the facing sidings at Dale End have been rope-shunted at Slaghill, to get the engine at the correct end of the train. However the imminent scenic development of Slaghill threatens to surround the railway with tall industrial structures, making rope-shunting impractical. The simplest solution seemed to be to provide the railway with a second loco.   Luckily in the spares box I had a Tenshodo SPUD (24.5mm wheelbase), which could be used as the basis for a small industrial cr

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Dale End Finished

Dale End Diary   26 October. Yes, the Dale End scene is now declared to be finally complete. No more fiddling. Three months fussing over one square foot of scenery is quite long enough I reckon.   Here's an overall view of the scene.   Beneath the covered area at the right a chute dispenses sawdust into an open wagon, to be transported to the chemical works at Slaghill for processing into ethanol. I can't say I've ever actually heard of sawdust being transported by rail before, at leas

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - September Update

September turned out to be a busy month, so I didn't get as much done to the layout as I was hoping. Still, every little helps, so here are a few more progress shots from the Dale End sawmill scene...   Dale End Diary   12 September. Nearly half way through the month and about all I have to show for it is a pile of pitprops. It contains about 100 poles, cut from bamboo skewers, and was as tedious to construct as it looks. In the prototype reference photos I'd found, the stacks were about

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - August Update

This month's blog looks at progress on the Dale End sawmill scene, a method for creating low relief conifers, and the latest update from The Pits.   Dale End Diary Dale End is the upper terminus of the line, situated at the edge of the extensive Tweedale Forest. The main industry is a sawmill, supplying pit props, sawn timber, and wood waste to other industries down the line. This month a start was made on the scenery for this section of the layout. Here are some in-progress shots...   9

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Cardboard Trees (Forest from a Box)

Here is the July progress report for Tweedale, which includes a method for creating dense woodland from corrugated cardboard shapes.   Firstly, the Poshington-Upon-Twee scene is now declared to be finished. The station has acquired a canopy (as befits a town of such importance), plus a coal yard, some fencing and other details. Nothing special about construction, the canopy is from card and balsa, and the coal heap from a piece of 'oasis' flower-arranging foam shaped with sandpaper.   The

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Operation

This 3rd blog installment describes how the Tweedale layout is currently operated.   Some people relax with crosswords or sodukos, I like to solve shunting puzzles. I endeavour to fit in at least one 20-30 minute running session each day where possible. I find the regular operating sessions help to maintain my interest. Tweedale was designed to work for its living and has been operated ever since the track was laid and wired, but that's not to say it's run in a prototypical manner. I treat the

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - The Tour

This 2nd blog installment describes the Tweedale layout in a bit more detail, with a tour of each station in turn.   As might be guessed from the name, the railway supposedly serves an area known as Tweedale, but apart from that it has no particular history or geographical location, it just is. My interest is in shunting puzzles and the layout was designed with that in mind. A number of industrial supply chains have been set up as a foundation for the layout operation, best explained in a tour

awoodford

awoodford

Tweedale - Introduction

Welcome to the Tweedale Layout Blog.   Good Intentions Tweedale has been under construction for just over a year now, but work on it has been slowing down noticeably of late. When I set out I was hoping to get the whole thing finished in a year - hopelessly optimistic in hindsight, but I suppose a useful measure of my 'production rate' for planning future projects. What was needed, I figured, was a boost in motivation. So I've created this blog, with the pressure of a regular monthly progress

awoodford

awoodford

×
×
  • Create New...