CF MRC

Following on from various discussions on the visibility of the YR tube platform, I decided to adjust both the diorama box and the platform roof itself, cutting back about 1/2” from the top of the latter. This was achieved with a well known fine scale modelling instrument. The station track work is now much more visible and is complimented by some pleasant curves in the infrastructure. Next job will be to lay some temporary strip track so that we can get a train running for the MRC mini exhibition on 10th December at Keen House. Tim

Just that. Tim

I was very lucky to have a close look at the ‘38 stick at Warley. It really is very impressive and should be amenable to modification to make ‘35 stock for use on Copenhagen Fields. The bogies have been cleverly designed to allow the train to negotiate small radius curves and of course there is no buffer locking. N gauge tube modelling will now be a whole lot easier. Tim

In its natural environment. This will be very special. Tim

Thanks for the observations, Simon. When high layouts first became popular in the mid 80s we raised CF by 6” at one show. This was met with universal complaints that people couldn’t see the trains in the cutting - the experiment was not continued with. We have also always had a barrier with a step rail for children to be able to see the trains and of course they also get the best view of the underground railway. The use of diminishing scale and perspective on the layout is designed to work with the viewing height as it is at present. The intensity of colours is very much down to individual taste, but I think that many layouts have a much too saturated use of colour: London was undoubtedly black in our modelled era, but the reality is that black isn’t - when viewed from a distance. I work in a 30 floor tower block in London and the effect of aerial perspective is very noticeable at height - which is broadly the scene before a viewer of CF. The YR tube is low when displayed on CF because it is underground relative to the whole layout (I suppose that is somewhat a statement of the obvious!) The view of the lit tube train running along the front of the Belle Isle part of the layout will really complete the scene, when we get that far and highlight its position. . For the Cally section of the tube, the new Revolution Trains ‘38 stock (backdated to ‘35 stock) will be a godsend. For those wanting to see YR tube at a comfortable height it can be seen at high level when displayed as a diorama. The tuba-shaped box it travels in doubles as both the diorama and base when shown on a table, bringing it up to a very comfortable eye level view. We will be showing this at the MRC mini-exhibition on December 10th at Keen House. We also had a preview of another super model from Rapido Trains at Warley that will look good on the layout - especially behind the Raven 4-6-2 class 2400 on trial at KX in 1923. Finally, we have Matthew Wald’s latest lovely signal box for CF: Five Arch, which apart from the Pope-selecting chimney is scarcely visible from the front. The south end operator can see it though. Quite a lot going on, really, and we have a good list of jobs to do on CF before its next exhibition in Buxton in July ‘24. Tim

Just back home from Warley. The layout was actually given a major dusting before its previous outing. There were colours in parts of it that I had forgotten about! Tim

A mouse’s view (from the track) of York Road. That is as far as I got before Warley. Really looking forward to seeing what it looks like on the main layout. Tim

LED lighting installed. Lamp shades will be made, amongst other things. Tim

The LEDs have been installed and will need a bit more tweaking - lamp shades etc. With the body and base of the LEDs blacked out above the ceiling, the lighting can be better controlled. Making a 2D representation of the lamp shades is fairly straightforward, but it might be nice to have the correct shape. Maybe they could be 3D printed in clear resin with a 2mm hole for the LED. I’m also not sure whether or not to leave off the head wall at the western end. It would allow people to get this view. Any thoughts? Tim

The head lining and top fascia have now been completed and are nice and solid. It looks a bit like another YORK layout… I have some 2mm Lighthouse LEDs which should serve as light sources. Not sure if shades will be necessary, but that is the next job. Tim

I think the artistry of Heybridge is manifest in the very clever use of the beautifully artistic Bilteezi buildings and back-scenes Tim.

If all the LB stuff gets a bit overpowering, Tony, you could always go underground. Details, as ever, in the 2mm section. Tim

After a bit of a lull, with the station building having been completed a couple of years ago, work has resumed on the deep underground section of the model. The station uses laser cut ribs for the carcass. The curvature of the platforms complicates construction. The tile patterns are from ’Tiles of the Unexpected, Underground’ by Douglas Rose. The lift and stair lobbies have been modelled. The shaft infrastructure has also been made. More construction details are in the 2mm scale section. It has a long way to go yet… Tim

I couldn’t resist showing this picture of the YR tube platform mounted below the lift shafts and station building. I think it will be the first time that a deep level tube model has shown the interaction of the railway, the service shafts and the overlying station building. Thankfully, everything lines up as it should, with the lift and escape stair lobbies just about visible. The spiral escape stairs will be modelled in time: I have a simple solution to these, using laser cut components. The stairs will be visible through a window in the shaft as with the lift. The platform board is firmly held on to the main baseboard by two long 8mm bolts fixing into captive T nuts. Unfortunately, I made the bolts a little too short, not taking into account the longer length required for when the platform section is displayed with the small diorama scene. Rather than make longer bolts I simply milled out the bottom of the baseboard to slightly bury the wing nuts. It makes the assembly a little less dangerous for any heads in the vicinity and there aren’t an excess number of turns to get the board in place. On CF every second counts during set up and take down. The next job will be the track and lighting. The former will be very labour intensive as the insulators were placed every other sleeper: 300 holes for pins in the station area alone. This photo shows the early style track and also an early pattern station name roundel. I have one of the team drawing that up for YR. Lighting LEDs have been sourced, so there is plenty to be getting on with. Tim

We need a Thunderbird on CF. What size replacement wheels (Association number) should we use for the Graham Farish Prototype Deltic, DP1? Thanks Tim

It was a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment Rob as they were cast in CoCr alloy (as used in dental & hip prosthesis). They were cast at my work by a technician colleague. Tim

We visited West Wyalong in April 2022, for a family get together (actually to inter MiL’s ashes with her parent’s graves at Barmedman) - it was a great party. Australian railways are fascinating but I have more than enough distractions already! I expect we might go out again in the next 2-3 years. Tim

It was an engineer relative of my wife, Manuel Hornibrook, who helped in the completion of the opera house. She’s pretty good on quality control on my models too… Tim

I know where you are coming from as my late mother in law grew up on a farm in West Wyalong NSW and we have many relis out there. We do visit Australia from time to time and that seems a long way from nowhere. One of the main reasons I went into dentistry rather than farming was that our (tenant) farm was only 246 acres which was not really enough to support two families. My father always said he was so glad I didn’t take up farming - I think he was right. That said, I have road steam engine interests that very much keep me in that world. Tis a small world… Tim

Basically, 50%. Mike Randall (on my left) and myself. A lot the of the team who worked on CG & LH transferred to CF. Many are still involved with a group that is very dispersed & international. The core group who work on the layout and exhibit it are generally closer to London, but projects are outsourced, even to the far side of the world. The group is far from exclusive, but we do have some good modellers involved and play to peoples strengths and preferences. Tim

Well actually David we might. As there is an ‘incident’ at KX the westbound trains will be stopping at YR and reversing. There might then be a queue for the lifts… I have just finished modelling the lift lobby. The signalman in the box will be very busy. Tim

That film was made around 1982. CG & LH had a relatively short, but busy exhibition life. I have no idea where it is now, it was sold by the South Devon Railway Centre two or three years ago. CF will be 40 years old next year, so maybe we should run something at Keen House for the anniversary in the autumn. York Road is currently taking 110% of my spare time. Warley is just 19 days away… Tim

After some fairly steady and tricky work the station platforms for York Road are now sketched in. The 100% accurate artwork for the tiles is courtesy of Douglas Rose, author of the superb and very rare ‘Tiles of the Unexpected, Underground’. The patterns were printed on fairly stiff 250gsm silk-faced card. The platform surface is currently unattached, just sitting passively in this photo. The whole project is complicated by the compound horizontal curvature of the station platform and the tube structure itself. The main supports consist of 2mm MDF ribs cut using the Model Railway Club’s laser cutting facility: these are strategically attached to 0.8mm thick ply sub-base. Pip is guarding the board here: last time he worked on YR he was but a puppy. The tiled card was rolled on a soft cushion with a polished steel rod. It would probably have worked better with Piccadilly Line moquette, rather than Routemaster. The adverse curvature of the station platforms is accommodated by breaking the tile run either side of the crossway entrances. These entrance sections were touched in with a red marker pen to avoid unsightly dodgy edges. The area above the dado was painted white, just in case there were any gaps showing between the card sections. The 700mm long fully tiled walls do look rather pretty (if I do say so myself) and bring a station back to life that closed 91 years ago. There is a lot more work to do… Tim

One day maybe we will see a decent model of a V2. Tim

Your view is to the SW, Tony. Highgate is to the north. The copper cupola is just visible above St Mary’s Free Catholic Church (a weird sect I hadn’t heard of). Courtesy Phil Parker Tim