Enanjay

It's been 18 months since I last posted here ! Progress has been steady with work now completed on ballasting the main station area (goods yard excepted). Point motors operational on 60 out of the 80 points too. Main area of concentration will now turn to detailing the background and the two bridges over the river Axe. I need to think about creating a realistic looking river too. Some updated pictures attached ....

The last entry I can see to this topic was 2012 - has there been any updates elswhere? I moved to the area 2 years ago and live about a mile from the proposed site of Beaminster Junction. Now that I have the house sorted, I've time for modelling. I've decided to model the same site, but with a slightly larger scope - with the station being joint SR / GW and a branch northwards towards Somerton as well as south to Bridport via Broadwindsor. I'm especially interested in the Tite station building - and if anyone knows of any models that might be adapted to suit (I'm a lousy scratch builder!) Nick

Well, a month on and we've made more progress. All the track (approx 180 metres) for the lower level is now down, electrified and tested. In addition to the existing Guagemaster cased twin track unit, a new Gaugemaster twin track UDS controller has been bought to replace the old Duette (which I'm using to run the slow action point motors and to motorise the turntable). 4 trains can now run simultaneously which will please the younger family members! The layout is currently divided into 43 electrical sections, with any one of the 4 controllers able to run any section. Apart from the time it's taken (plus over 500 metres of wire) it's a very simple system. The picture makes it look much more complex than it actually is and any faults are quickly identifiable. The west end of Clapton station (Clapton West box) has also had point motors fitted to the 22 points it controls. Next step is to ensure "resilience" to the sections that will be below the high level baseboards. This includes 9 road and 2 road storage sections, plus a further 30+ points. The track has multiple feeds per section and all points will include polarity switching. The higher level baseboards will be designed to be removable in case of serious issues. I've also been very aware of the need to lay track carefully to ensure smooth running and I'm pleased to say that 30-40 wagon goods trains pass over all the junctions very well (so far....). No scenery yet..... I'm not intending to do much on that front until all the basics (track, wiring and point motors) are installed and working correctly. Following that, it's down to installing point motors in the storage yards and other sections that will ultimately become hidden.

Another update in the next day or two.....

This is my first attempt at blogging of any sort - so you'll have to excuse typos, poor quality photos and lack of track plan for the time being... Having finally moved to a house where there's sufficient space to build a layout in a dry and warm space (last one was in a garage and suffered from damp, mice and nesting birds), I've spent the summer doing all the right things for my other half, so can now get started. I'm fortunate that the available space is reasonably large (28ft x 19ft) and will allow various configurations - station to fiddle yard for serious operating and various options for a 4 track "roundy" for the grandchildren or friends who just want to play trains. My last two layouts have always had a Southern theme and as I've build up a large amount of SR related stock, I'm continuing with that. My plan is to create a fictitious station at Clapton on the old LSWR Salisbury to Exeter main line. The village of Clapton exists and is situated between Crewkerne and Chard Junction (it's actually just a mile from where we're now living). Added modellers licence will be provided by a fictitious GWR branch between Somerton and Bridport which crosses the LSWR at Clapton. This will allow a sizeable station - not the size of Yeovil Junction but not far off. There's also a plan to create a single line scenic section as part of the Clapton to Bridport line. This will be situated above the non-scenic storage lines, but won't be started until I'm 100% sure that everything beneath is working as it should! Gauge is OO and track will be a mix of C&L (scenic sections) and Peco 75 on the non scenic part. Pointwork will be Peco at the more complex east end of Clapton station with Marcway and some handmade C&L at the west end. Careful ballasting should allow it all to fit together well. Baseboards are now complete and track laying's progressing well. I've stuck with analogue rather than moving to DCC, which will give me a major headache with wiring up 50 sections to operate with any one of 4 controllers...and then there's 80+ point motors to fit. So, I'll be grateful for help, advice (especially on late 1950's operating practice on this section) .... even criticism! A couple of initial pictures here. More to follow as things move on...

Thanks for your replies everyone - I've fiddled around a bit more with Fulgarex, Tortoise and Tillig motors over the last couple of days and I've decided to go with Tillig - mainly because (as Anthony says above) the throw with the Tillig motor is that bit better and shallower - which is ideal because my fiddle yard will be below the main boards. It's now onto some serious track planning... somewhere in the Crewkerne area - a mainline LSWR junction station with an imaginary GWR branch north towards to the GWR mainline and southwards to Bridport. I have about 27 x 20ft to play with, so I'll post some initial plans as soon as the builders have finished the garage conversion !

I'll be using Tillig Elite points on my next OO gauge layout. I've tested both Fulgarex and Tillig slow action point motors recently. The Fulgarex don't seem to be strong enough to create a strong bond between the point blade and stock rail, whilst the Tillig motor (even with adjustment) only just gets there. Is there another make I should try before committing to buy 20+ motors ? I'm not using DCC so no complications there. There is an option to use some of my old Seep solenoid spring latching motors with Tillig points, but I'm worried that the strong solenoid "thump" would destroy the tie bar on the Tillig point... Anyone have any ideas or experiences ? Nick