Eridge (P4) rebuilding

by 10800

original page on Old RMweb

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??? posted on Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:49 pm

Bye bye Eridge Mark 1 (and long live Mark 2!)

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??? posted on Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:05 am

Some progress on baseboard construction this weekend.

Templot plan cut to give 1.5" margin from the sleeper ends and used as a template for cutting the trackbed surfaces from 6mm Russian birch ply. The two further boards have already been cut (each 8ft long) - Mike is marking out the third. Simon keeps his wine rack in the garage hence the handy use of bottles as weights to hold the track plan down !

First two boards with transverse ribs in place (8" deep).

First board with side frames glued, pinned and clamped in place. This is the only one where the sides themselves are curved - the others will have rectilinear boxes (and triangles on the wider bits) with longitudinal strengtheners as well, so there will be some bits where the trackbed overhangs the box-frame sides slightly (not sure what the bottles were being used for at this stage!).

The trackbed boards will sit on wider trestles or goalpost-type supports at 4ft intervals (but with the board joins mid-way between supports to avoid any tendency to sag from that point). Scenic add-ons will plug in from the sides, probably built on super-lightweight carcasses made from foam board shaped to fit.

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Comment posted by nobby on Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:13 pm

You guys obviously like a "drink" with your layout building

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Comment posted by 7F 2-8-0 on Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:50 pm

This is now starting to get interesting, I will be keeping tabs on this one even more now

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??? posted on Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:52 pm

Current thinking is for the overall layout to be 3 ft 9 in across, the difference in width over the trackbed being made up by the plug-in scenic modules. Not hugely different in appearance from Mk1, but there will be more scenic width at the 'London' end for viewers to look across in front of the tracks, maybe up to 2 ft 6 in, down the slope to the cutting, and hopefully giving a stronger impression of trains in the landscape. We will also be 'closing the loops' at the 'country' end with the opportunity to include the station master's house, water tank and with a bit of lateral compression 'The Huntsman' pub. This will involve another short scenic section of about 2ft length which will bridge to the down fiddle yard; and there will be two additional turnouts, one more trap point, two more running signals (down starters) and one more ground signal. Should be worth it though (and it will make the fiddle yard entry more straightforward).

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Comment posted by 7F 2-8-0 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:35 am

I have been thinking about this most of the day and surely this method of baseboard construction must make the operation of the layout that much better as you are reducing the number of baseboard joins by half?

Shaun

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??? posted on Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:11 am

Well that's what really started us off Shaun, the previous boards sagged between the joins creating the familiar ski-jump effect at the joins themselves. In P4 this was a disaster, although there was never much problem with the trackwork itself. Given that we need a Luton type van to carry everything anyway - possibly because we never got round to designing carriers properly - we thought we might as well make use of the space and at the same time improve the robustness of the boards by making them deeper at the sides and having fewer of them. It also meant that there were fewer (now virtually none) constraints on the detailed track plan - turnouts over joins etc - and most of the turnouts would all be on one board. Obviously at 8ft long they couldn't all be open frame full-width construction, hence the solid boards as narrow as practicable for the track, and lightweight scenery add-ons that don't need to be as robust because they are not carrying any trains.

Here are some sectional sketches of how we think it might finally look at the moment - they go left to right from the operator side, or London to country on the prototype. The red lines are the trackbed boards, and the heavy black lines mark the supports and extent of the scenic add-ons. The grid is 1ft (overall length about 26 ft). Thanks for your interest .

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Comment posted by number6 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:55 am

Very interesting. The staggering of joins in the baseboard will also help hide them I guess - as they won't often cross the whole width of the boards. You could possibly have alternative seasonal landscape add-ons! Winter, Spring, Snow etc!

Ok maybe not...

Remind me why the baseboards are so deep? Does this add to the structural strength?

Raphael

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??? posted on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:01 am

That's the principal reason Raphael, but also they have to accommodate Tortoise motors, signal operating units and above all some lower level scenic features, especially the river crossing. It is probably a bit OTT though, something like 4 inches would probably have worked, but we just wanted to make absolutely sure! There will not be a Mk3!

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Comment posted by 7F 2-8-0 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:25 am

It does make sense, as a group if you are building an exhibition layout why stick to the time honoured tradition of 4 foot boards due to weight, as a group there will be more than 1 of you at an exhibition to help with lifting?

Shaun

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Comment posted by jim s-w on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:33 am

Hi Rod

Will be following this with interest. The solid trackbed light scenic idea is what I am using on New Street. OK it doesnt look that way ATM but its all track!

Cheers

Jim

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??? posted on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:35 am

Two usually!

We will have to be careful about access to some shows - I wouldn't want to take it in this form to Brighton Modelworld for instance! Upstairs, and only one small service lift!

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Comment posted by jim s-w on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:43 am

Exactly. When you fill a van with layout there is always wasted load space at the top. Longer boards means more efficient storage.

Cheers

Jim

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Comment posted by number6 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:50 am

I'm very impressed by your devotion to the rebuild and replace cause. I think I may have been tempted to try another subject but I can see the appeal of Eridge.

Raphael

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??? posted on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:54 am

The most work will of course be the trackwork. Other than that, we have most of the buildings, canopies etc done, and a lot of trees (not nearly enough yet!). Scenic ground cover doesn't take long, and we hadn't really started on the fine infrastructure detail anyway, so there's not as much lost as you might imagine.

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Comment posted by EM in Chelmsford on Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:00 pm

<Drool> <Dribble> Keep going!

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Comment posted by 7F 2-8-0 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:15 pm

drool? well the original Eridge has given me some ideas on what I want to achieve anyway.

Shaun

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??? posted on Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:02 am

A couple of hours with plane and spokeshave last night in Simon's garage before we retired to the convivial surroundings of the Bell in Smarden for some of Shepherd Neame's finest . The boards will probably be moved to the clubroom this weekend for setting up together on the supports - I'll try and call in and take some photos next time I'm up there (Tonbridge show weekend).

Meanwhile I called in at the real Eridge briefly this morning (viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17286) mainly to take some initial photos of the additional buildings we will need to do. The stationmaster's house (without the upper level pebbledash, back to some proper LBSCR decorative brickwork!):

Some more cottages just over the river from the goods yard:

And last but not least the Huntsman pub:

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??? posted on Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:33 pm

The mortal remains of Eridge Mk1. The old boards ended their days in the firebox of a Burrell traction engine before their ashes were blown out of the chimney - a fitting end somehow, certainly better than being thrown on the tip.

Thursday night we completed the support frames (which will also carry the lighting pelmets eventually) and here is one of the three main new boards in rough position. The means of connecting the support frames to each other for rigid support is still provisional and the subject of ongoing discussion.

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Comment posted by nevardmedia on Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:30 pm

I was in a lucky position to see this bench work yesterday whilst on a secret mission down the Cobdown clubrooms. This is one serious project and highly innovative. I can't believe that there are many layouts that are being given such a new lease of life with such a major rebuild! Local club? Top stuff

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??? posted on Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:05 am

Sorry to have missed you Chris, although I don't get there very often nowadays (a bit far from Devon) - how did you come to be passing? I hope whoever was there looked after you OK!

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??? posted on Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:29 am

My Kentish colleagues have been very busy and advanced the board construction to a point where trackbed preparation and tracklaying can commence. I will hopefully be up there next week and can take some more photos.

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Comment posted by Captain Kernow on Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:51 pm

Looking very encouraging, Rod, top class joinery there on the part of you and your colleagues!

Are you going to be constructing the houses and pub in the earlier photos yourself?

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??? posted on Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:18 pm

Ta CK, mostly colleagues to be fair! We'll probably divvy up the buildings so that we do one each - need to do another field trip to do some more detailed photos and some measuring, maybe even some drinking in one of them

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Comment posted by pinkmouse on Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:55 pm

As the newbie in the KAG, I have to say the boards so far are excellent. You can pick up the thin ones and carry them quite easily with one hand. However now they have me to cope with, progress will probably slow right down.

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