So it’s been a good while since an update as I’ve actually been getting on with some modelling for once. Firstly it was time to test stock on the finished trackwork. This highlighted a few problems, most of which were found to be wheelsets with incorrectly set back-to-back measurements. The worst was my Hornby J94 which wouldn’t run over any pointwork at all. My back-to-back gauge wouldn’t even squeeze between the wheels, being a good millimetre too wide. Time will need to be set aside later to
With all pointwork and linking trackwork finally down it was time to install point motors. I'd pondered the best method for a turnout operating mechanism for some time before coming up with my chosen solution. Many use the tried and tested sliding copper clad sleeper method but I didn't really like the look of it, finding it rather clunky looking. Instead I managed to get some thin 0.8mm copper clad from ebay. This is cut into strips about 32mm long and 3mm wide and three holes drilled, the spac
A recent article in the local newspaper led me to contact Bradford council as they’ve set up a new photo archive largely based around the commercial work of C H Wood who operated throughout much of the 20th Century. Sadly photographs of Great Horton station are thin on the ground and my morning at the archives at Bradford’s Industrial Museum proved no exception. However, I did manage to find and purchase a high resolution version of... more
Looking back it seemed a long, cold winter. Well, it was a long, cold winter. Despite the shed being insulated and lined it still gets pretty cold in there and during the recent snows of late March (ridiculous - someone should do something) I said farewell to the other half and made the long and lonely trek up the garden only to find I couldn't even open the shed door. This was doubly annoying as the snow clearing shovel was inside... So what was done on Great Hotton during that time? Well no wh
Great Hotton is now officially 1 year old and to celebrate I’ve given it a new blog home here. I'll still be posting links to relevant updates and info on my 3d modelling on this blog.
It's been a while since an update and things have moved on. This project is all about small targets and deadlines - sometimes moving if it helps with motivation! My last target was to have all of the trackwork complete by Christmas. This would mean building the five turnouts for the goods yard starting in October. Considering my limited modelling time, generally glacial workrate and the fact I've only previously built a couple of C&L turnouts, this would be no mean feat. Whilst, I'm happy to
Where does all the time go? I'm now six months into this project and I'd have to say the summer has not been as productive as I'd have liked. Still, progress, whilst not being spectacular, has at least been steady and fairly continuous.
First off, I'd always intended to change the name and I felt it was about time to come up with something more in keeping with the Great Horton/Queensbury Lines concept. I didn't want to just use Great Horton as it's not a slavish recreation and to my mind there
A busy time at work so little time to model and post any updates.
Further filling and sanding of the 3d printed model has proved to me that a complete single part body is perhaps not the best way to go about it so I'm currently investigating a 'flat-pack' kit type of solution which I will reveal in the 3d printing and cad forum soon. The partially smoothed model is shown here.
However, I still needed to prove the model will work on the Hornby chassis. Lo
Well, my i-materialise 3d-printed Ivatt N1 prototype arrived much sooner than I anticipated and so with some trepidation I opened the box and removed the rather extensive packaging. Phew! It's in one piece! and Wow! It looks like an N1! where the first thoughts to enter my head.
The model is remarkably sturdy with a slight level of flexibility not dissimilar to a RTR body. The level of detail is quite impressive although a couple of the very small parts are a little vague and fuzzy. I knew I
A couple of weeks off from the layout building has meant relatively little progress on that front. The down fiddle yard is now complete and the main running lines now extend across both scenic boards.
However, an ongoing project started in the days of Heathley Kirkgate Mk1 has been the creation of an Ivatt N1 0-6-2T. These hard working tank engines could be found all over the West Riding ex-GNR network and regular passenger services on the Queensbury Lines were almost exclusively in their ha
Work this weekend started with the laying of the interface track from the fiddle yard to the goods loop/yard. This short section is parallel to the main running lines and whilst it aligns perfectly with the fiddle yard tracks it can only be used when the mainlines are out of alignment.
With this completed, focus now shifted to the main running lines across board 2. Firstly another layer of caulk was added to the ballast shoulder area before the Templot track layout was glued in place. The tr
Work continues slowly but steadily on the down fiddle yard. This weekend I've constructed the alignment mechanisms for the traverser. With the first two roads in place running onto the main lines I soldered 2mm Ø brass tubes to the side of each track. Originally I was going to use larger tubes but there were fouling issues with some of the stock. Once soldered in place the tubes and rails were cut and I moved onto the adjacent roads. 1.5mm Ø brass rod bent into an 'L' provides the alignment bo
With most of the underlay now complete I was hoping to actually lay some track this week. However, my conviction that the horizontally placed drawer runners on the fiddle yard wouldn't be a problem proved to be misplaced. My idea of a guide worked only up to a point and was proving problematic. Undeterred I quickly redesigned them and modified the down yard to a traditional vertical placement. With the benefit of hindsight, I don't know why I didn't just do it like this in the first place as ali
Despite being away on holiday for a week I've not been idle and I've now completed the traverser fiddle yards. Both yards comprise frames of 18x44 softwood with heavy duty drawer runners between. The runners are laid flat rather than the conventional side fitting. I've tried side fitting before which was a nighmare to get alignment right. The downside of laying them flat is a tendency to sag slightly. This was anticipated and I intend to overcome this by adding either a wooden guide or perhaps a
The baseboards are now complete, jointed and sealed with varnish and work will soon commence on the fiddle yards which I hope to have done in a couple of weeks.
During the periods of inactivity whilst waiting for the glue and then varnish to dry on the baseboards I've been busy creating this 'inspiration wall'. Basically it's a series of A3 sheets with annotated photographs, maps or plans of the infrastructure in and around Great Horton station (the core inspiration for this project), as wel
Well I picked up Templot surprisingly quickly, more by trial and error than actually sitting down and learning the thing! After a few days I managed to come up with this track plan.
Happy with it, baseboards were planned out and I went off to buy some plywood. At this point I was three weeks into the project so my initial target to start building boards by the end of March had been met.
The scenic area will be split into two baseboards. Board 1 will be 5' 8" and contains the more op
It's been some time since my last blog and here's why: I'd been getting nowhere fast with this project and the usual sense of despondency and disillusionment had set in. The problem was that the scope was too large, the learning curve too steep and my free time (not to mention budget) too short. So last month I decided upon a change of direction to something smaller and more manageable that hopefully I can get some real progress with. So goodbye Heathley Kirkgate, hello Heathley Kirkgate Mk2 (I'
I thought I was pretty set in my fictional what-if but re-reading some of my research material got me thinking that it might be nice to add a little Lancashire & Yorkshire spice to the mix. In my original scenario the L&Y gained some running powers over the line through ficticious Heathley but it's not really clear how they would have used it. The answer was quite simple and staring me in the face. In reality L&Y Leeds/Bradford trains were joined or split at Low Moor with Leeds porti
Heathley Kirkgate is in a shed which also has to function as a shed and therefore has all those shed-type things in it such as gardening tools, bikes, lawn mower, etc. As a result the space beneath the baseboards is somewhat limited and this, along with cost, has dissuaded me from the point motor route. So way back at the Doncaster exhibition in February I purchased an assortment of Gem wire-in-tube parts to try out the system. With trackwork on the scenic area on hold awaiting parts I switched
Work continued at the weekend on some weathering and detailing jobs. The Jinty is now about finished with crew added and screw link couplings. Having photographed it in bright sunshine I think the chassis needs toning down as the brown/orange tones are too strong and don't match well with the body. This particular model (from the Bachmann Suburban set) doesn't feature the keyhole and I'm not sure if it should with the number I've chosen. No doubt someone will inform me of any error.
I've put turnout building on hold whilst I await some more supplies so work at the weekend involved finishing the Jinty (screw link couplings and crew painted and added), weathering another ex-PO wagon and making a start on renumbering and weathering a Fairburn tank. Pics of all these to be posted at some point. In the meantime back to the final part of the pseudo-historical mumbo-jumbo with a look at traffic, stock and a track plan.
The supposed era for Heathley Kirkgate will be around 1957
A brief interlude to the pseudo-historical mumbo-jumbo - some actual modelling!
The first turnout (a B6) has been built (apart from the stretcher bars) and temporarily placed in place.
This is my first attempt at a C&L turnout and whilst it took a while to build and I'm not 100% happy with it I can see where I can improve and I'm certainly encouraged that this is
the way forward for me. This has been built to BRMSB (DOGA Intermediate) standards for several reasons: I already had a set
Following last week's quick overview here's a more wordy synopsis of my 'what-if' scenario with a nice map.
Alternative History of the Tong Valley
Early Developments
By the 1820s Heathley was a growing settlement with the nearby resources of coal, fireclay and stone as well as wool beginning to be seriously exploited. Like most developing towns of the period, the local businessmen and traders soon demanded a railway linking it to other localities. George Hudson’s Leeds and Bradford Ra
After some deliberation I finally have a name for my 1950s Yorkshire West Riding layout. Welcome to Heathley Kirkgate or as the locals would probably say ‘Eathli Kirgit’. The name is pure Yorkshire – an amalgamation of Heathcliffe and Keighley.
Heathley and the Tong Valley Lines: A Brief Overview
I wanted a fictitious but plausible location for Heathley somewhere between Leeds and Bradford and the valleys around Tong and Pudsey seemed to fit the bill. Present day Tong is a conserva
Weathering is just too additictive. A large chunk of last weekend was spent renumbering and weathering my Jinty. A project started to kill time whilst some glue was drying quickly got out of hand and took over proceedings. Other, arguably more important jobs, such as further tracklaying and wiring have been largely sidelined. As a result progress on the layout side of things has been slow but steady with just the track laid for most of the station area and the headshunt. The Jinty has been renum
