No compromise, no shortcuts - this is what we're building in 4mm. The real thing is over 440m long and up to 30m high, so the model will be about 20ft long.
Here are some of my own photos from our initial field trip last November, but if you Google images under Ouse Viaduct, Ouse Valley Viaduct, or Balcombe Viaduct there are loads more, some of them showing the whole thing in one go.
John has been busy stitching together a 10th scale 'moquette' of the whole ensemble so that we can get a better overall picture in 3D and experiment with different configurations. Usually you would do this at quarter scale but the house isn't big enough
Meanwhile we've also decided to go straight for the full scale version of the Ouse Viaduct rather than spend time on an interim version, so I've been deriving dimensions from photographs to go with our measurements of the bases of the pie
A bit more meat on the bone now from the previous 'vague' dimensions.
We've dispensed with the idea of a common 'Brighton' fiddleyard fed from both the north and from the Lewes Brighton platform, mainly because of the tight curves needed to get to/from the latter. Instead we have a separate shorter fiddle yard of 8ft for 'Brighton' on the basis that through trains via Lewes would only be loco + 4 coaches + van from Eridge (which also assumes an 8ft FY) or short coast route trains from Eastb
John (Re6/6) and I had a very constructive day today planning some layout configurations out and deciding on a few design criteria. More of that anon, aside that I checked with David (Bigcheeseplant) Lane how big the hall is at Railex , but here are some pics of EMUs on the short-term version of the Ouse Viaduct which will form one of the centrepieces of the layout.
4CEP comfortably dwarfed (the short-term version was built by the late Nigel Hunt for his home layout and is about 8ft long w
Inspiring (or daunting) as the whole thing might be, we will obviously be taking this a step at a time with a view to proving the concept in exhibition conditions with just some of the possible whole.
Balcombe itself will be first, with the viaduct, and a fiddleyard each end. The fiddle yards will need to be able to accommodate 12 coach EMUs so will have to be around 12 ft long each, so that's the length of four shunting planks before we even get to the scenery! Uncompressed, Balcombe is a
Here are a couple of snaps of a typical FREMO set-up. 'Hölle' in P87 was seen at Utrecht last year, with a known reprobate playing trains!
This bit is only about a 20th of the whole project! There are interchangable sections which are cleverly 'scenically blended' This one was the best that I've ever seen with such good scenic continuity. Some that I've seen in the past have looked like a patchwork quilt!
We would devise our own profile for baseboard end plates, rather than using the 'lai
John and I had been thinking about Balcombe as a modular end-to-end layout on which we could run full-length EMUs etc including a representation of the Ouse Viaduct. I then thought about the attraction of seeing these trains snake over some nice P4 trackwork, and Lewes floated into my head again, as it is wont to on occasions like this.
So, having Templotted Balcombe
(OS map is over 50 years old so out of copyright)
I then had a go at Lewes - 'just for a bit of fun' you underst
Spent a pleasant hour or three doing the basic Templot plan for Balcombe station yesterday, using the 1910 25-inch OS map as an underlying picture shape together with some photos in the 1950s to modify some of the detail/errors in the map and changes due to the subsequent elapsed time - notably the change in position of the trailing crossover between the two main lines from the platform area to north of the entrance to the down refuge siding.
FB on the main line (thanks to Martin Wynne for p
We've decided that the main running lines will be FB rail (as they were by the 50s) but with the yard and refuge sidings still in BH. Research into the precise kind of FB fixings is ongoing (and thanks to Colin Craig's website and links for valuable material on this).
Whilst at Warley I also bought a Lens of Sutton photo listing from Roger Carpenter's stand and was pleasantly surprised to see a dozen or so Balcombe photos listed, so they will be ordered.
Another piece of luck is that my
Looks like that it's been there from the early days, judging by the brickwork looking unaltered.
The first pic suggests that the original finished near the lamp hut.
Re6/6 and I, accompanied by Captain Kernow who knows a good grice when he sees one, visited Sussex yesterday to have a look at Balcombe station for the first time. Initial reactions were good, and the following photos give an indication of what it is like now - only a double track main line now, all the yard and refuge sidings have gone, but many of the buildings and other features of interest survive.
Train services are very frequent (usual Brighton main line
Just had to use that lovely word lacuna!
I've just had some 1:2500 map sections courtesy of West Sussex CC archives, unfortunately there is nothing between 1910 and the 1970s so more research needed to verify the 1950s condition.
John and I have been bouncing some ideas around and I've sketched out a possible layout concept. Effectively two dioramas, one of the station itself and one containing the viaduct. As if this is not enough, John has proposed making the join between them adaptable, FREMO-style, so that additional scenic sections could be added at a later date. Well, let's see how it goes with just this for the moment!
Meanwhile I've ordered some 25-inch OS map copies from West Sussex County Council ar
Balcombe would see these as the main traction on fasts (which wouldn't stop!)
http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/6pul_1.html as well as Brighton Belles.
Semi fasts and stoppers would be
http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/4lav.html and http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/2bil_01.html
Whilst Newhaven boat trains and freights would be either steam-hauled or with Bulleid's CC1/2 and 20003 Booster electrics such as (first two pictures, actually in Balcombe yard):
http://semgorgu.i
The viaduct that will become the shortened version of the 'Ouse Valley Viaduct'. We'll be adding the ballustrading and cut the voids from the supports. (if we can!)
Some of you will know of my planned Camberhurst layout from the old site http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7091
I'm not sure any more whether this will ever happen. This is for a variety of reasons, including
* Time for a sole project considered against other commitments
* Space to put it up at home
* I don't really like shunting, much prefer trains passing through the landscape (c.f. Eridge, Tawbridge)
* I also feel much happier with real locations, or at least so
