Reddibus

The following pictures show the latest progress with Norgrove

Another project we are working on are the oil storage tanks for the oil terminal we are creating for the layout. The tank on the left is the raw plastic pipe and the one on the right has been clad in plasikard to for the tank detail. Getting information on how these tanks are constructed is proving difficult and we would welcome any detail readers might have

With all of the track laid we are now staring to look at some of the key structures. The station will have a single island platform with a subway at each end to access it. We have made a start on one of the subways We have made the stairs from strips of MDF that have been cut to size as shown in picture 1. Picture 2 shows the hole in the baseboard where the stairs fit on the platform end Picture 3 - the hole in the front of the baseboard where the subway from the stairs will end up

The platforms start to take shape. On the left is the one for the parcels depot. This modelled with concrete sides and tops. Whereas the one on the right is the main station platform. As yet to gain a top and sides. With both platforms we have used the peco platform sides. We file the back of them flat and glue them to a timber frame

more tains

more trains

A few trains that will run on Norgrove

We have now reached a significant milestone with Norgrove - we have now laid all the track

Layout update

Picture update of progress

Picture update

Another update picture

Latest progress on the layout with around 85% of the track laid

Hi Micheal Yes there will be no physical connection between the up and down lines. At exhibitions we have found with our other exhibition layouts having on operator in each direction means they are effectively running two self contained layouts. Both our Chilcompton and Oakenshaw layouts use Midland Railway practise of having a trailing cross over where freight trains were reversed into the goods yards. At exhibitions most of the spectators just want to see trains running and are not interested in movements that bring the rest of the layout to a stand. There will be a single island platform just like Northfield used to be in the mid 70s pre Cross City line with a bus shelter on the platform. On our layout the end with the station building will look more like a mirror image of the arrangement at Bournville. The plan is for a Midland Railway building like the one that used to be at Bournville not like the current 1970s rebuild

We have now got all the cork underlay down which can be seen on this view down the layout ready for the track

We have moved on significantly with the layout and have now made the permanent boards out of plywood and are preparing to do some track laying.These two views show recent progress. As we gone along we have painted everything in a grey base coat though the white areas in the pictures are the roads which we have formed from hardboard

The following pictures show a journey down the layout

To start the process of constructing the new layout we had the opportunity to make use of some 8ft x 4ft sheets of otherwise scrap 12mm MDF to construct a full sized mock up of the layout in terms of baseboard design. This has allowed us to refine the layout design. The picture shows a view down the layout

The industrial 04 came about as I decided to get the 03 we use as the station pilot sound chipped. I thought the easiest way was to buy one of the latest Bachmann class 03 models which has sound and swap the bodies. What I did not realise is the hole in the metal chassis where the drive unit fits through is a totally different shape to accommodate the sound chip. This resulted in more work on the 03 to reuse the chassis block off of the sound chipped loco and transfer all the body from the existing loco. With a surplus 03 chassis with a dcc decoder I modified and repainted the 04 body to create the industrial shunter. The pictures show the finished locos

Hi Rob thanks for comments on the layout. All being well we will be at the NEC show in December with the layout

Hi Phil - We are keeping well in at Redditch been allot of stop start with modelling projects over the last year for obvious reasons - How is the new Abbottswood coming on

Attached is a picture of the latest lockdown loco project for Smallwood. The lower sidings connect with a number of private sidings that are off stage. To haul the trains to and from the oil terminal this loco has been created. It started life as an early Bachmann class 04 that is now running on a more recent class 03 chassis. The loco has been sold out of BR service and is in an industrial red livery

We have spent the last few months refining the design for our Norgrove layout. We started with an eight board configuration that would have been very similar to what we have previously used for our Chilcompton and Oakenshaw exhibition layouts. This arrangement gives boards three feet long which makes it difficult to fit self contained folding legs to them to support the layout. We revised the board design to use four boards two 5ft x 21/2 ft and two that are 4ft square. This also cuts down the numbers of baseboard track joints to hopefully make the eventual layout operate more reliably. The attached shows the differences in the baseboard design and how much extra scenery we will be able to create layout configuration.pdf

The layout is set in the mid 1970s so will be blue diesels class 25s, 47s, 50s, Westerns and Peaks on a mixture of passenger and freight workings. All will be DCC fitted with as much with sound as possible. Some of the more relevent locos and stock on our Smallwood layout will also see service at Norgrove

Welcome to Norgrove the new exhibition layout Redditch Model Railway Club members are now constructing. This new project builds on the experience we have gained from constructing our other exhibition layouts. Norgrove is set in the same mid 1970’s era that our Smallwood layout is. This new 4mm scale layout is based in south Birmingham where the real station of Northfield is. It will feature an island platform, a parcel depot and oil terminal. All this will be in an urban setting with many planned buildings for our club members to scratch build. This concept is very similar to our existing Oakenshaw and Dagnell End exhibition layouts though they are both set in the 1960s steam/diesel era. Covid has slowed progress down but we are currently at the baseboard construction stage and we will bring you progress over the next few years whilst we construct this exhibition layout, Attached is a track plan for the layout Norgrove Plan.pdf