Nickinwestwales

Hi-Nice neat plan,hints of both Bromley North & Caterham to my eye although with much increased siding space-could use the Bromley N./Grove Park/Charing X timetable as a basis-perhaps use 4 car units for the through services & a 2 set for the Grove Park shuttle with 2x2 sets for peak hour services to Holborn,Cannon street & Victoria + 2 car sets for off peak plus the odd apparently pointless meander round the south London suburbs-good luck with it-Name suggestion:- As the original 1864 station was Croydon (Addiscombe Rd) why not Bromley (Addiscombe Rd)..?

Hi Sam-for various reasons (family,2 jobs,elderly parent,re-decoration of parental house,extensive prog. of outside timber replacement et al-you know the story) have been in the sidings for the last year-delighted to see the progress made.... Guess what-its looking exactly as I was seeing it in the old minds eye back in those heady planning days -only better !! Some top notch work going on here mate-well impressed. The corner under the bridge is spot-on-I hereby renounce my petition for an industry there,the way you have it looks just right mate. Also the backscene & low relief buildings are working really well together,cant think of the right words but the scene flows away from the viewpoint without jarring ones sense of depth perception-speaking of the backscene,has a feel of the coastal plain between Cardiff & Swansea-if you wanted to make it a sub-shed of Canton,somewhere between Bridgend & Port Talbot it would take a harsh man to call you on it .... Wiring & stock building equally impressive-I shall have to look to my laurels here (in the unlikely event that I get near the train shed before next easter) You are setting a high bar here mate-especially impressive for a 1st build. All the best,Nick

Evening gentlemen all- Pete-Glad the tip was of small use RE the lighting units-RE tapered platforms,getting a flavour of Haven St on the IoW-just shooting the breeze here but given the limited space,If I was building this (yup,another do it this way post...) and bearing in mind you already have the hardware,would go for the short Y points at each end,poss. a long Y for the X-over to the goods line and lay the whole thing out as a pair of mirror image transition curves from the platform mid point,give the smoothest poss. S-curve effect at each end. Also,given the amount of compression of length involved,a little compression of width might well improve the overall proportions...Its not like the platform will be crowded to capacity ( can honestly never recall seeing a single soul waiting there)-Might complicate the platform building process but make clearances easier to manage-just idle thoughts....... On a slight digression,you mention cork-have used this on my current alternative project ( a refresher from the great monster that lurks in the top shed) -have used old floor tiles with the sealed side down,makes a lovely smooth base,about to start adding scenic material but have heard horror stories from friends on the Model Railroader site about it absorbing all & any moisture from water based glues (PVA etc) and bubbling ,rippling & generally misbehaving-had always assumed it was a fairly inert substance-would value your opinion -should I slap a coat of sealant on,just to be on the safe side ?? Malcolm-Whitgift Trinity ??-The memory fails,but would that have been the middle school ?-the infamous `Midwives`-we used to play them regularly and anything less than 60-0 down at half time was regarded as a moral victory........Used to live near the old Peckett works in Fishponds,Bristol and almost all the pubs & cafes have pictures on the wall of those lovely little tanks-is a subject of much local pride-& rightly so... Had several late night conversations with Tony BITD about the peculiar merits of Japanese 2mm modelling-sadly,never found common ground-was always an eccentric ( in the best sense of the word)-he used to ride a 550 Honda tricked out with Harley Sportster fittings,bored out to 590cc and badged as a `Hagley Duvidson`-most of the Triumph & Norton riding mouth breathers just didn't get it...at all.... Right,time to put out the bins,speak soon ATB Nick

Sympathise with the lack of track availability,but at risk of playing the martyr card too early,my nearest model shop is in Swansea-a touch under 60 miles each way......A lot of diesel for a wasted journey.. Pete:-R.E flash units & the like-just picked up latest Hornby mag-has a How to do on lighting & shoe spark units for 2-Bil-which apparently has a link to a vid clip of the same in action-havnt looked myself- is at the hornbymagazine site-might be worth a glance before you put hand to wallet..... Regards to all Nick

Dave-thanks for the update R.E Tony McD-good to know he is still about,-`Twas not me at the D.C Kits stand-was at an exhibition of the Cardi Bach ( GWR Cardigan branch) in Whitland in bracing west Wales at the time...honest guv.. Pete-Nice idea R.E the flashs-the few I`ve seen have looked effective,but would recommend some trial & error here-some strike my eye as too blue & others as too yellow-straying into the esoteric realm of scaling down light ...Delighted to find a former Selhurst man-my maternal grandfather worked there for many years until his retirement in `65 Colin-When would the goods line have been lifted ??-I have recollections of using Beddington Lane halt maybe as late as `82 and there still being a second line east of the level crossing-assume this was the goods line.?... but happy to accept it may have been earlier... Enjoying the company,ATB Nick

Well what a wonderful medium this is-I threw in a couple of off-hand notes about operating practices and within 48 hrs we have a comprehensive list of what,when & where-excellent !-plus enough local nostalgia to delight this Old Purleian,many years removed from his old stamping ground-thank you gents !! Lifeboatman-some good clean solid looking benchwork there mate,your comment about the board looking too small is a reasonable one,although I suspect not unusual when we see our 2D ideas take 3D shape and as I recall,the station was pretty tightly hemmed in and always looked slightly out of place in its environment-given your preferred time frame might I suggest that the Purley Way bridge should have a solid block of traffic on the southbound side,backed up from the Beddington lane traffic lights-I seem to recall spending endless minutes inching along from the Lombard roundabout. Another impertinent suggestion if I may-although crossing there was evidently a rarity I feel that could provide a valuable operating feature ( why have a crossing loop & not use it.....) As this topic seems to take in the C&SMRC-at least peripherally,do any of you recall a Tony McDermitt (Spelling questionable) A fellow biker who I used to see in the Railway Hotel in Purley who was a big man for Japanese Railways & actually had an almost unheard of N gauge J.R.layout built back in the late 70`s-believe he used to hang out with that crew...regards to all.

Hi there-just a couple of points,1st-from which end of the line did the gasworks receive its traffic ?-if the Wimbledon end,surely the wagons would have been shunted in the rats nest of sidings on the power station side of the Purley Way road bridge and would first appear from `stage left` as it were-poss. powered by one of the power stations own steamers-If from the W.Croydon end,then who says the next delivery to the gas works has to be the same wagons that have just been dropped off..?..The gas works siding could have its own discreet set of loads/empties run from an entirely separate set of fiddle sidings,after all-one manky 16t mineral looks much like another...2nd-what a lovely opportunity for a bit of contrast modelling-my memories of the site are of a neat & tidy (if somewhat faded) little halt surrounded by dirt & grime-and dwarfed by the bulk of Croydon `B` across the bridge. It sticks in my memory as having retained semaphore signals longer than most-although that may just be the rose tinted specs...Lived in the area for 25 years and always had a soft spot for that station-delighted that someone is modelling it-will follow with interest ATB Nick

There we go "What If" modellers-the F.R Portmeirion branch-Is actually not a bad idea given that the village is all built to a reduced scale (is it half or third size-the memory fails...)the `Little Train` would fit perfectly-roll on the Prisoner Express !!

Derek-I first started taking the Modeller at about the time that Aire Valley Adventure was being presented (in tantalising glimpses )-Would have been about mid `72?? The combination of quality of modelling,offbeat subject matter and fully rounded backstory had me hooked from day one & was a significant factor in converting a 12 year old train set owner into a lifelong modeller -Many thanks Best wishes Nick

Leave it with me-may take a few days but have a fair idea where to start looking

Liking the plan more & more-The hillside rearing up behind the town will make a nice backdrop-stayed in the outward bound centre up there,have it in mind that it was a decomm`ed military site,but may well have mis-remembered-if so it would boost the case for a military presence-thinking of through traffic (troop trains)-could come in from the north as well-off the LMS route to Afon Wen-wholly invented,but how about gunpowder traffic south from Penryndeudraith ( !?) to Trecwn & Milford RNAD`s ??-Seem to think its a `blue` rated route which might restrict choice of visiting motive power ( although a V2 with more coaches than seems plausible should be a WW2 signature train)-but then again-rule 1....run what you like -Perhap tanks and other extra heavy loads would also come in from the north to avoid the fearsome bank ( Tallerdig ?? ) on the main line,plus regular traffic-plenty to keep you interested there -had the presence of mind to take a camera when I visited so have a few shots of the station & surrounds-was 110 point & press but might still be of use-happy to scan & send if useful... ATB Nick

First thought-reminds me of Mac Pyrke`s Berrow Branch from way back when-all looks pretty well thought out -can`t see any access issues-Although you might want to consider a perspex screen in front of the jetty track-looks like the only vulnerable area...Yup,lookin good.. Is the branch station a terminus or is that a tunnel mouth at the end?-if so,with a little juggling you should be able to tuck an auto-train out of sight in there( -could be a string of villages along the coast with seasonal trade that justifies a pass. service whilst the modelled station is the freight railhead ) Smart move putting the turntable at the front-much easier to get at underneath when something goes wrong,as it inevitably will.... Only real suggestion for ease of operation-you could use a dedicated carriage siding-even two:-perhaps move the buildings to the right(which will make the bay platform longer as well ) throw in a turnout just past the yard lead and run a siding outside the bay road-should be long enough to hold a full rake-with a catch point & a shunt disc it should satisfy regs. Will have to trim a couple of inches off of the lift-off section. Yes-the more I look at this ,the more I like it-that graphic is the way forward for track plans. Go for it mate !! ATB Nick

R.E centre roads between platform lines Haverfordwest also had one-was given to understand was a common way of using the extra space left over from the broad gauge atb

Recently been tracking down the crew from BITD and found my old mate & guitar partner firmly ensconsed in Slurred-a complete glam-rock showband-magnificently deranged and huge in North Cheam-Google them-a total gas ATB Nick

Well first,thanks to Arthur for starting this topic with your delightful Countess, a fine piece of work looking quite at home in Bridport yard. Then to Dave and many thanks for running with the ball-the pull back shots really helped fill in the gaps-have only seen the layout in the Modeller and was as impressed as I was with the original layout (also only seen in the Modeller)-that single Fairlie,in the brass,is a thing of beauty.. Have long fancied the idea of a layout where the company could afford two different loco types:- E.G B/P W & L 0-6-0`s for freight & B/P I.o.M.R 2-4-0`s for the passengers,alternatively,Hunslet R.o.D 4-4-0`s for passengers & 2-6-2`s for freight-plus a big black Baldwin 4-6-0 `cos they just look so right somehow..... Inspirational stuff gents,keep it coming ATB Nick