The West Mersea Branch - 1946 Essex in ScaleSeven

by buckjumper

original page on Old RMweb

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Comment posted by 3 link on Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:14 pm

Thanks for that info Adrian , that's got the old brain ticking ( could be expensive ).

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Comment posted by flubrush on Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:18 am

It's quite easy to make them yourself and it doesn't take too long to amass a small pile. I use 1.5mm ply sheet and use a carpenter's marking gauge to score a sleeper width strip down the edge of the sheet, then follow up with a Stanley knife along the score line to cut off the strip. The strip can then be cut to the sleeper lengths.

If you are doing 8' 6" or 9' 0" sleepers, you can score heavily across the sheet with the Stanley knife using the length of your sleepers as the measure. Then when you score and cut off along the sheet, it's just a matter of breaking off the sleepers from the strip at the score lines.

I think I remember making about 1000 sleepers in a morning and the cost of the ply sheet and the marking gauge was much less than the cost of the ready made product.

You have to watch out for cumulative errors using the marking gauge which start to give you an edge that looks like a roller coaster. If this starts to happen, then it's quite easy to remake the straight edge with a long rule and the Stanley knife. I found that with a bit of experience you can avoid this problem happening. It is usually caused by a not too clean edge left when you cut off a strip and you soon learn to notice when this happens, and clean up the edge before marking off.

Jim.

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Comment posted by invercloy on Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:15 am

That's a beautiful layout! I don't think I've seen a 7mm one which looks so spacious before.

Can't afford S7, don't have the space or time to do that as well as 009. Maybe when I'm older. But still...

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Comment posted by 3 link on Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:14 am

Hi Jim,

That sounds a good way to go, and also you are not kept waiting for your orders either. What does help is Squires shop is about a mile from were I live , so I know where I'll be heading later.

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Comment posted by invercloy on Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:54 pm

I've read this thread about 3 times today, and i have to keep stopping myself from drooling

I'm going to have to try and do some mock buildings like those for my next layout ,i'll have quite a few to build, and they really give you a great idea of what the finished product will look like overall.

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??? posted on Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:41 pm

Some You Tube footage this month. I've already posted these on OgaugeJB's workbench thread, but thought a bit of cross-posting wouldn't harm. I've some photos of Colin's finished, and rather magnificent Stanier tank to edit before posting - perhaps tomorrow.

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=VI4uiiLfGBg

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=qFGASR6I5vY

http://uk.youtube.co...h?v=Fyfjri6yE6E

The quality is awful due to the horrible YT compression. Any advice on compression codecs to use to use before uploading would be useful.

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Comment posted by jazz on Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:18 pm

Hey Adrian. Just looked at the posting. Wonderful stuff!!!

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Comment posted by OgaugeJB on Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:35 pm

I cant wait to get the 20ft extension in.... can we bring it forward a year ?

Did I hear correctly that West Mersea will eventually be joined up with someone else's East Mersea layout ?

Jonathan.

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Comment posted by invercloy on Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:46 pm

Still drooling

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Comment posted by pirouets on Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:44 am

Can somebody please pass Invercloy some paper towels to mop up the drool puddles he is leaving in this thread

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Comment posted by invercloy on Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:02 am

Sorry...

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Comment posted by Pigs on Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:16 pm

Will that be via some kind of bridge, or will it be a.... (wait for it)

Ferry across the Mersea?

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??? posted on Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:33 pm

Oooh...groaner! I wonder if I can chuck rotten fruits from here to Rutland?

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Comment posted by westrerner on Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:41 pm

Not seen any updates lately. Is the project still going or like me have things stopped for the sailing season.

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??? posted on Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:43 pm

I missed a couple of the meetings since the last update, and since then there have been some wiring (and re-wiring) sessions with little visible change, though some undergrowth has sprouted on the embankments and some of the sleepers/rail has had it's first taste of colouring. The foul-smelling brew clogged up the points and the temporary wire-in-tube (it wasn't me!) so some remedial work and much muttering has been the order of the day since.

There's a meeting on Sunday so should be trotting along and I'll take the camera so I can make an update.

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??? posted on Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:56 am

A few photos of progress on West Mersea.

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Comment posted by OgaugeJB on Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:29 am

The layout looks so much better from this side. I think we should spin it around next month. The extension will just have to go to Marks Tey through the front window!

JB.

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??? posted on Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:46 am

After you...

Also at the meeting was David Rayner's layout "Lumpy Sidings" for wagons and critters. It's a self contained 7mm test track with some killer pointwork all in about 10' x 18"-ish (that'll get you posting on here if I'm wrong David ) and folds up in a rather ingenious manner, legs an' all, with it's own skateboard for transport to fits into a Clio sized car.

Bob Essery came along with Don (but without Dempster the dog who, according to Peter, is partial to the iced buns). I don't remember having met Bob before, though he thought we had. He was just leaving as I turned up - I'd have like to have talked a little more with him about matters Midland. Next time, hopefully.

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Comment posted by westrerner on Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:58 pm

Thanks for the new pix.

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Comment posted by OgaugeJB on Tue Oct 28, 2008 9:23 pm

Oh I saw Lumpy sidings a few months back when it was in the shop. An awesome bit of kit that's for sure...! Be good to have a play with it sometime, and exactly what I would like in S7.

Is Bob Essery any relation to Terry Essery ? He (Terry) was a fireman on the Link from around the early 50's onwards. He wrote a book that I am reading at the moment. He mentions his brother who was also a fireman who worked on the link too.

I can't put the damn thing down...!! Seriously!!

Link to Volume 2 of 'Saltley firing days' http://www.nostalgia...ection.com/page ... gdays2.php

JB.

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Comment posted by OgaugeJB on Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:46 pm

Just checked the book, and Terry does have "...brother Bob".

Be great to meet him, a real living hero !

JB.

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Comment posted by Dave R on Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:11 pm

Just for you Ade...

LS is actually 2400 by 600 French units (that's not quite 8 by 2 in British numbers!) and made use of spare timber that was available at the time.

See http://homepages.tes...umpy/index.html for some of the thinking behind the project. Must find some time to upload more pictures and words to bring the site a bit more up-to-date -- when I've finished trying to design the point rodding runs for West Mersea.

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Comment posted by Dave R on Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:20 pm

Ade,

So how many of these http://www.modelhobb...052-p-6582.html do we need to hang from the ceiling at the Xmas bash in Sudbury?

Not sure if we could get away with one partly buried in the embankment allotments as the kit is only 1:48 scale; and the 830kg Amolite warhead caused a 600yd diameter blast zone in Lewisham which would wipe out most of the West Mersea station area!

Dave

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