rob74

Evening All! Stockport & District Railway Modellers is a small club which has been in existence for over 40 years. After a rather stressful 2015 which saw the club nearly fold, we emerged from the wreckage with 8 full time members, a new commitee, a new constitution, and a new home. We also now have a new 12ft x 2ft OO Gauge dc exhibition layout "Middleton Road", based in the Manchester area which debuted at this years Warrington exhibition, performing well despite one or two niggles. We are now about to start planning our next layout, which will be OO DCC, and smaller than "Middleton Road", reflecting our tight storage space. We held an open day at our new club room in 2017 and 2018, and, although we haven't held one this year, the open day will be returning in 2020 on a date to be finalised. We will have "Middleton Road" on show along with a guest layout (or 2), trade stands, club sales stand and demos. Refreshments will also be available. We have no plans to hold an annual exhibition, however we may extend the open day concept to multiple events per year. For anyone who would like to come down to our club room for a nose around and a chat, we meet every Wednesday, 7.30-10.00pm at 3rd Newton Scout Hut, Cartwright Street, Hyde SK14 4FH. We'll be happy to answer any questions, we're a really friendly bunch! Cheers Rob

Hi all, Some early pics of the layout:- Original Bettyhill (Port Pennan) track plan Box file scenic section constructed Mock-up of track plan Mock-up of track plan (with Dapol 26 and two Minitrix coaches for scale) Rob

Stu I like the build, but the name Portwey reminds me of a steam era layout seen some time ago in one of the modelling magazines, probably Hornby Mag? I think it was the same name. Rob

Oldham King Street is still on the circuit. A couple of members of Stockport & District Railway Modellers help operate it. Rob

Hi Alex, Yes, I've taken a short ride along the A836 main road to Thurso via Google Earth and it's pretty challenging even for road builders I would think! However, my imagination didn't extend much beyond the railway following the general line of the road. Looking south, any line towards Kyle would be similarly, if not more, challenging! Rob

Hi Chris, At the moment, no. The reason being my skills aren't up to scratchbuilding. Ideally, I'd love it, but for the time being, I'll have to make do with either the Metcalfe kit I've built or get someone to scratchbuild it for me. Cheers Rob

Hi Jerry Well I had a look around on the net and could only find reference to class 37 hauled 3 coach formations on the West Highland line running BCK, SK, SK on the N Gauge forum. Port Pennan photos show a single coach with a CCT or a van between loco and coach. Cheers Rob

Hi all, I can't remember posting on here about it but I am currently building a boxfile layout as a test piece for my rather new found modelling skills bought about by my membership of Stockport & DIstrict Railway Modellers. It's fictional, based on a rather fanciful and ambitious scheme to build an alternative route to Kyle and Mallaig via a more coastal route from Thurso (for the record, I've found no reference anywhere to such a scheme!!). In my imagination the scheme got off the ground and got as far as the small fishing village of Bettyhill, on the far north coast, at which point the money ran out due to problems encountered including the inclement weather. Bettyhill became a terminus for what remained of the single track line. Facilities are limited to the small single platform station with passing loop with a small goods siding and shed. Fast forward to the late 1950's BR, and services include a passenger service provided by (then pretty new) Class 26/27 locomotives hauling either a 2 coach formation (about as much as the track plan can handle), or a single coach with CCT. Goods services are mixed, with fuel, mixed goods (foodstuffs etc), coal and minerals being shipped in and a regular train taking the local produce (fish in the main) back to Thurso and on to Inverness and beyond. Bettyhill by this time has grown to a small town, similar in size to Scrabster, near Thurso. The track plan is based on Port Pennan, by Ken Gibbons. As my skills are limited, I will be using Metcalfe kits to populate it. So far, I have built the scenic section using two box files, with an extra box file providing a two road fiddle yard. I have glued a section of 3mm lite ply to the bottom of the scenic boxfiles to provide extra rigidity, and another piece inside to form the base for the track to be laid. On top of this I have glued 2mm A4 foam sheets for quieter running. The track plan is down, using Peco code 55 rail and electrofrog points. Electrically, it's a simple DC setup, with track feeds in relevant places and isolation provided by insulated fishplates. Point control is manual via piano wire in brass tube. This has been tested with a borrowed Gaugemaster controller and my only loco (at the moment), Dapols class 26 D5326. It worked without a problem from the fiddle yard. Aside from having built the Metcalfe platform kit and wayside station, this is about as far as I've got mainly due to work and health issues. As I'm not skillful enough to scratchbuild a train shed, I'm using the Metcalfe building for now. I do, however, have one question that I would like to open up to the forum regarding coach formations. I have two Minitrix Mk1's both of which won't run well on code 55 track due to their wheel flanges being too deep and contacting the sleepers. Also, I have no idea what type they are and they were probably produced to replicate 70's/80's coaching stock (blue/white). I've been trying to research correct 2 coach formations for West Highland or FNoS line trains (Pennan being near Fraserburgh) with not much luck. So I'm wondering if anyone can provide any info for late 50's formations, probably blood & custard or crimson I'd guess, 2 coach formations which may have run in these areas? I'll post some pics up of track plan and progress so far when I've found them Cheers Rob