Christleton Junction - 1986 - Gateway to North Wales

[61656]

So something interesting has arrived in the electronic post, which after a week of trying I have managed to print out.

 

 

I have forgotten the golden rule of iphones and taken the shot portrait...sorry. Anyway, you should be able to see the lovely lines of a templot curved double junction and a curved double slip. It’s been a while since I made my own track so this should be a gentle entry back into the business!

 

I always suspected I would have to hand build the fiddle yard throats, but hoped to put it off for a few years whilst I got on with the scenic side. The reality is that the settrack points used as a temporary measure just don’t allow enough stock to run on them. I figure I may as well have a go and see what happens, it is after all, just filing and soldering. I told you so vouchers are available in the gift shop!

 

I have also very reluctantly decided that 3 link couplings aren’t the way forward. My pin in the corridor connection is a terrible solution. But that can wait until I have sorted the track.

 

Meanwhile I have a brief little staycation to Cardiff to look forward to, with I believe 3 model shops worth investigating. Hopefully they have something nice to buy, as I am trying to limit my purchases by only buying in actual shops. Unlike Chester though, I think you need a car to get to all of them which does limit the wallet lubrication somewhat. 

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, 61656 said:

Anyway, you should be able to see the lovely lines of a templot curved double junction and a curved double slip. It’s been a while since I made my own track so this should be a gentle entry back into the business!

Build the slip first. After that, everything else will be a piece of cake...

[61656]

Time for a long overdue update! I have been somewhat distracted by various other activities. That said, there’s actually a little bit of progress to report. 
 

The new Crewe end fiddle yard points have been built and endlessly tested. After a couple of false starts I eventually ended up making the crossing noses swing. A bit of a faff but the running is much smoother. It’s temporarily worked by friction on the tie bars, however 8 new point motors are sat waiting to be fitted. The electric stabling roads may need to be shortened, or curved. The double junction is in the foreground and the curved double slip to the rear. 
 

 

I’ve also been busy painting rails, sleepers and generally getting closer to ballasting. The platform structures have been added, although they still need a lot of work doing to them. They make a huge difference to the appearance of the layout. 
 

I also bought some of the new superquick retaining arches to see how they will look. I’m quite happy with them, but they are very tedious to make and still require a lot of finishing. The brick colour is more pleasing than the Metcalfe bridge I built for comparison. Food for thought at this stage. 
 

The first proper photo sees a Peak arriving from the North East with a trans-pennine set. This rake is close coupled and it definitely improves the look. 

 

Following soon after it from the coast is a 47 on a service in the other direction. Suitably inspired by a post on Llanbourne, I swapped the FK for an aircon FO; something fairly common in my time period. 
 

 

Both locos are seen on the blocks at the other end of the station. This will be fully undercover eventually with a road and station building above to hide the fire surround. 
 

 

Meanwhile another 45 has come off shed and is seen from the platform end stood on the holding road waiting to set back onto the service for the North East. The next road to the left is the fuelling point. 

 

 

With the 45 hooked up, new addition ‘generator’ 47 (soon to be 402) is just buffering up to the set for the coast as an 85 pulls in with a Birmingham to Glasgow relief service. 
 

 

A view over the platforms into the area known locally as the quad at Bluebeck depot. I’ve knocked up a light maintenance shed from Wills sheet, based loosely on the fuelling shed at Holbeck. 
 

 

Finally, just before the 85 gets away, a look down the station throat from the junction. I’m pleased with how this is looking now!

 

 

I want to get the new fiddle yard points motorised and then it’s time to really focus on putting off ballasting! Meanwhile, I think a few trains will be running. 

[ISW]

10 hours ago, 61656 said:

 

I want to get the new fiddle yard points motorised and then it’s time to really focus on putting off ballasting!

 

On the subject of ballasting, may I ask what your plans are for the extent of the underlay? I'm in the same situation and am wondering what to do with the 'unnecessary' underlay (that not under the tracks) and when / if to cut it back to ensure it's eventually hidden.

 

Ian

[61656]

1 hour ago, ISW said:

 

On the subject of ballasting, may I ask what your plans are for the extent of the underlay? I'm in the same situation and am wondering what to do with the 'unnecessary' underlay (that not under the tracks) and when / if to cut it back to ensure it's eventually hidden.

 

Ian

In some places I’ll trim the underlay to where I want the ballast shoulder, in others I’ll spread the ballast wide. In most places the ballast will be quite wide as it’s all station area. 
 

I want to put some signalling troughing down before I ballast, so I need to layout the likely cable runs to get it in the right place. 

[1977joey]

looking fantastic, my kind of era too  really looking forward to seeing it develop 

 

Cheers,

Mark

[ISW]

3 hours ago, 61656 said:

In some places I’ll trim the underlay to where I want the ballast shoulder, in others I’ll spread the ballast wide. In most places the ballast will be quite wide as it’s all station area.

 

I've been wondering if I should trim the underlay first and then lay the ballast up to the edge, but that runs the risk of some ballast dropping onto the baseboard and causing a higher noise transmission. Or, trimming it back after laying the ballast, and trying to be 'neat' about it.

 

I think the latter might be a 'better' plan. It also allows the ballast installation to be a 'natural' as possible, unconstrained by the limits of the underlay. However, I'm more than willing to be proven / shown wrong on this!

 

Ian 

[P.C.M]

If I lived closer I would happily come over and help with ballasting it's one of those things I really don't mind doing.

The layout is looking really good  love the trackwork on the station approach. 

Something worth remembering  before ballasting is depending on what signalling you are doing is to add the cable troughing or at least mark out where it needs to go as It will save digging up ballast later. 

 

Cheers Peter.

[coronach]

On 24/11/2020 at 23:15, 61656 said:

Time for a long overdue update! I have been somewhat distracted by various other activities. That said, there’s actually a little bit of progress to report. 
 

The new Crewe end fiddle yard points have been built and endlessly tested. After a couple of false starts I eventually ended up making the crossing noses swing. A bit of a faff but the running is much smoother. It’s temporarily worked by friction on the tie bars, however 8 new point motors are sat waiting to be fitted. The electric stabling roads may need to be shortened, or curved. The double junction is in the foreground and the curved double slip to the rear. 
 

 

I’ve also been busy painting rails, sleepers and generally getting closer to ballasting. The platform structures have been added, although they still need a lot of work doing to them. They make a huge difference to the appearance of the layout. 
 

I also bought some of the new superquick retaining arches to see how they will look. I’m quite happy with them, but they are very tedious to make and still require a lot of finishing. The brick colour is more pleasing than the Metcalfe bridge I built for comparison. Food for thought at this stage. 
 

The first proper photo sees a Peak arriving from the North East with a trans-pennine set. This rake is close coupled and it definitely improves the look. 

 

Following soon after it from the coast is a 47 on a service in the other direction. Suitably inspired by a post on Llanbourne, I swapped the FK for an aircon FO; something fairly common in my time period. 
 

 

Both locos are seen on the blocks at the other end of the station. This will be fully undercover eventually with a road and station building above to hide the fire surround. 
 

 

Meanwhile another 45 has come off shed and is seen from the platform end stood on the holding road waiting to set back onto the service for the North East. The next road to the left is the fuelling point. 

 

 

With the 45 hooked up, new addition ‘generator’ 47 (soon to be 402) is just buffering up to the set for the coast as an 85 pulls in with a Birmingham to Glasgow relief service. 
 

 

A view over the platforms into the area known locally as the quad at Bluebeck depot. I’ve knocked up a light maintenance shed from Wills sheet, based loosely on the fuelling shed at Holbeck. 
 

 

Finally, just before the 85 gets away, a look down the station throat from the junction. I’m pleased with how this is looking now!

 

 

I want to get the new fiddle yard points motorised and then it’s time to really focus on putting off ballasting! Meanwhile, I think a few trains will be running. 

very impressive

 

[61656]

On 26/11/2020 at 11:48, P.C.M said:

If I lived closer I would happily come over and help with ballasting it's one of those things I really don't mind doing.

The layout is looking really good  love the trackwork on the station approach. 

Something worth remembering  before ballasting is depending on what signalling you are doing is to add the cable troughing or at least mark out where it needs to go as It will save digging up ballast later. 

 

Cheers Peter.

I find the chances of me having finished the ballasting by the time you’re next over very remote!

 

Troughing route is on the list of next things to do, along with concrete around the shed. Point motors for the fiddle yard also need to happen pre ballasting as I’ll need to spin the board over.
 

Secretly, I’m quite looking forward to ballasting. 

[P.C.M]

On 29/11/2020 at 06:09, 61656 said:

I find the chances of me having finished the ballasting by the time you’re next over very remote!

 

Troughing route is on the list of next things to do, along with concrete around the shed. Point motors for the fiddle yard also need to happen pre ballasting as I’ll need to spin the board over.
 

Secretly, I’m quite looking forward to ballasting. 

Sounds like you have it all planned out. All the best with it.

[SouthernBlue80s]

Looking impressive. 

[BenW]

I'm hoping lockdown lasts long enough for ballasting to be finished before the next running session with guests...  Amazing how a few buildings changes how it looks though - are the temporary signals still around?>

 

[SparxD428]

Trackwork looks superb. A very nice layout coming along here.

Cheers,

Stu

 

[61656]

20 hours ago, BenW said:

I'm hoping lockdown lasts long enough for ballasting to be finished before the next running session with guests...  Amazing how a few buildings changes how it looks though - are the temporary signals still around?>

 

The temporary signals come out for running sessions and work well. It really helps operators work out where things are. 
 

Ballasting can’t be far off, although there are several distractions getting in the way!

[saxokid]

Track work looks great on this layout build..

[61656]

A little longer than I thought since my last update then - in my head it was just a couple of weeks back! This does mean that, even with my geological rate of progress, some progress has been made. Probably the biggest step forward is completion of the double junction and curved double slip into the Crewe fiddle yard, which is all motored and wired up. 6 seep point motors for the double slip took some patience!

 

I have also just about completed the edging pavers for the platforms. I took some measurements from photos and came up with a slab size of 3’ x 2’.  This is enormous and the kind of thing that would see you off if you tried to move it in the garden, however looking at photos shows platform edgers used to be much bigger than the modern ones.  After the first few were glued in place I decided they looked too big; they might be right, but looked wrong. I guess 00 is all about visual illusions after all. So I settled on 2’ x 18” (8mm x 6mm), of which I only needed about 800! Having curved platforms does mean you can’t have too many long strips of them and need individual slabs to fit the curves. They do nicely cover the inconsistent edges of the platform tops and will look even better for a weather. 
 

I have spent endless time sorting out small niggles, points not throwing as neatly as I’d like, suspect pick-ups, CV tweaks to acceleration etc. The layout does get a lot of running and I’m really eager to get the regular operators back. 
 

I’ve also been doing some research on the next locos and rolling stock. I think I would like another couple of rakes of coaches, another relief set and an InterCity cross country set for South Coast to Scotland service. The scarcity of mk2 second opens has had me researching declassified first class coaches, of which there were hundreds, so a good prototype solution to the problem. I have a couple of FKs on their way for down grading!

 

I have also been looking at my tourist green and cream BSO. I have a matching TSO which is probably worth selling, but the brakes are worth peanuts. One livery never released is the intercity mainline BFK, which luckily in pressure ventilated mk2 form, is the same bodyshell as the BSO, so I am currently eyeing up a respray. With the tricky red and white stripes being available as a transfer I may be brave enough to have a go. Annoyingly I can’t yet locate the intercity executive light grey in aerosol format. I’m also considering the spray option to deal with the scarcity of blue GUVs. I’ll see how that goes before even thinking about blue grey repaints of even rarer BGs, as that's a much trickier livery. 
 

Enough waffle, let’s have some photos. I would post more but I am a fairly hopeless cameraman and even Apple can’t fix that!

A view over the station, with a 37 having just arrived with the flasks, ready to be shunted on to the afternoon Speedlink trip to Warrington. The 08 will take them and add them to the waiting rake in the yard. 

 

The same scene a few minutes later, with a 25 sorting out the consist ready for onward movement. An empty loco fuel TTA and a pair of VAAs have been added from the brewery. Wider pavers (left) compare with slim ones (right). The slim ones look better I think (and are laid better).

 

After the Crewe yard was completed I took a look at sorting out the other yards, for which Peco medium radius (600mm) will be fine. I briefly toyed with the idea of loco plus 7 formations, and here we see a 7 coach transpennine set departing into the distance. 7 is just possible, but there are too many places where it doesn’t look right or is a tight fit in the fiddle yard. Loco plus 6 it is. Which also saves on about 6 TSOs...

 

 

Platform edging almost complete, just the original fat slabs to sort out. I may yet just straighten them and leave them, hardly any platforms in the 80s were uniform. An 87 at the head of an Irish Mail for Holyhead, with so far, my only Bachmann mk2 aircon. 
 

 

The 87 detaches, crosses over and runs onto the Warringtons, before coming back through platform 1 to the electric stabling. Meanwhile a 47 which was waiting on the Down Holyhead sets back on the train. They often run back in parallel and are seen here passing another 47 on the fuel point. The two station pilots are usually stabled here too. 
 

 

[61656]

And suddenly the updates are coming in like buses...

 

I’ve spent a few hours cutting plasticard into thin strips to represent cable troughing, scoring the tops to look like the lids. I’ve put a few of the lids at different angles, as they are almost never neat and flat for very long. 
 

I’m quite happy with how the station throat looks. 
 

 

In the next piece of evidence submitted to the jury to demonstrate the accused’s lack of sanity, I’ve added a short section with the lids off and some cables exposed. The lids aren’t glued down in this section so I can move them out of the way for ballasting. Hopefully the pway chaps will follow practice in real life and not fill the troughing with ballast...

 

[9C85]

On 06/01/2016 at 21:14, 61656 said:

Cardiff / Crewe – Bangor / Holyhead services, mk 1s, class 33 and 47 hauled. Did these occasionally get 25 or 31 hauled

 

Sorry I am very late to the party (but as of just now, I am now a keen follower) and I suspect you may have already got the answer to this one, but from my memory the Cardiff-Crewe haulage when I started 'spotting ' in about 1978 was usually a 25, very occasionally a 24, and a 40 on a couple of notable occasions. 

The 25s were replaced by 31s (not sure of the date). I believe the 31s also did the Cardiff-Portsmouth and Weymouth routes. The 31s were replaced by 33s in the mid-80s I believe?  ...also on the routes to the south coast. I studied in Pompey 1987-88 and I loved the journey home on a Friday evening behind a 33 with a compartment to myself... happy days.

In all of the above cases, a 47 could turn up on the working. 

The formation was usually the same (for the Pompey trains at least). Four Mk1 Corridor seconds with a Mark 2a/b/c Brake (usually 1st class) in the middle, making up a 5-coach train.  I am not sure if the brake was in the middle because of the reversal at Bristol TM or if it was a standard arrangement which applied to the Crewe services also.

[cheesysmith]

Just having gone through this from page one, keep it up, very enjoyable. Also, glad you have put the bad and the mistakes along with the good in, as it helps show others that every problem has a solution if you work it through.

 

PS-At the start, you said you wanted EMU, but they would have been 304s (maybe the odd 303) as the 305 didn`t migrate up north till RR days, still being used down south in the east fens till then.

[61656]

38 minutes ago, 9C85 said:

 

Sorry I am very late to the party (but as of just now, I am now a keen follower) and I suspect you may have already got the answer to this one, but from my memory the Cardiff-Crewe haulage when I started 'spotting ' in about 1978 was usually a 25, very occasionally a 24, and a 40 on a couple of notable occasions. 

The 25s were replaced by 31s (not sure of the date). I believe the 31s also did the Cardiff-Portsmouth and Weymouth routes. The 31s were replaced by 33s in the mid-80s I believe?  ...also on the routes to the south coast. I studied in Pompey 1987-88 and I loved the journey home on a Friday evening behind a 33 with a compartment to myself... happy days.

In all of the above cases, a 47 could turn up on the working. 

The formation was usually the same (for the Pompey trains at least). Four Mk1 Corridor seconds with a Mark 2a/b/c Brake (usually 1st class) in the middle, making up a 5-coach train.  I am not sure if the brake was in the middle because of the reversal at Bristol TM or if it was a standard arrangement which applied to the Crewe services also.

Thanks! I’ve found quite a few pictures of the service, but only with mk 1s so far. September 86 is the month I use as guidance for what fits and what doesn’t. As far as I can work out the Cardiffs were either a 47 or a 33; I can’t find any photos of anything else, but the 25 and 31 will certainly get the odd turn. And the 37/4 might get upgraded from it’s current allocation to the speedlink roster!

[61656]

27 minutes ago, cheesysmith said:

Just having gone through this from page one, keep it up, very enjoyable. Also, glad you have put the bad and the mistakes along with the good in, as it helps show others that every problem has a solution if you work it through.

 

PS-At the start, you said you wanted EMU, but they would have been 304s (maybe the odd 303) as the 305 didn`t migrate up north till RR days, still being used down south in the east fens till then.

Many thanks. The EMUs remain a long term goal and I think somewhere in the last couple of years I realised they’d be 304s. As some serious kit building / bashing is involved they won’t be arriving any time soon!

[9C85]

4 minutes ago, 61656 said:

 September 86 is the month I use as guidance for what fits and what doesn’t. As far as I can work out the Cardiffs were either a 47 or a 33.

Definitely 33 and 47 by then.

 

I am using 'about 1982' for my layout's reference date - not sure which month, but it's a weekday morning 

[61656]

4 minutes ago, 9C85 said:

Definitely 33 and 47 by then.

 

I am using 'about 1982' for my layout's reference date - not sure which month, but it's a weekday morning 

September 86 is almost a unique month, the first of the transpennine liveried coaches, end of the 33s, class 40 (97) still in use and both 25s and 31s on freight. I imagine it’s the last week of the school holidays with lots of extra relief services both to the North Wales Coast and on the Inter regional services.  

[cheesysmith]

Still think you need more units. The variety of DMUs then that would have been seen, especially if it came from Manchester (NH, quality assured, what a joke).