“WASHBOURNE”

[Northroader]

Pushing on with trackwork, I've made a Y point for a siding at the "country" end of Washbourne. Using the principle of keep it simple, stupid, I made the station with just two lines, platform and loop, or passenger and goods, if you like. There's room for another siding in front, but I prefer to have some useful space here. The new siding does help take away some of the bareness, although it isnt long enough to have an engine shed, just parking space, or dumping ground for a few wagons. The idea came from Mrs. NR, and I really like it. I have taken her to a few shows in the past, and she has this habit of going to the end of a line, rather than viewing it square on, and looking down the length, so I'd best present in this way.

You can see all the pointwork on the line this way, even the one on the far baseboard under the bridge. (New bridge needed as well) There's a skeleton wagon chassis in use testing the track. I'm finding with the double slip that the transition from the end crossings into the array of point blades is very critical for check rail clearances, which is what I'm chasing now. There's a small switch panel for sectional switching made up (DCC, me?) and wiring going in.

"Sea tides rippled edge,

Worm furrowed, wavelet dimpled,

Sandy footprints fade".

Edited December 12, 2016 by Northroader

[ChrisN]

Pushing on with trackwork, I've made a Y point for a siding at the "country" end of Washbourne. Using the principle of keep it simple, stupid, I made the station with just two lines, platform and loop, or passenger and goods, if you like. There's room for another siding in front, but I prefer to have some useful space here. The new siding does help take away some of the bareness, although it isnt long enough to have an engine shed, just parking space, or dumping ground for a few wagons. The idea came from Mrs. NR, and I really like it. I have taken her to a few shows in the past, and she has this habit of going to the end of a line, rather than viewing it square on, and looking down the length, so I'd best present in this way.

IMG_0812.JPG

You can see all the pointwork on the line this way, even the one on the far baseboard under the bridge. (New bridge needed as well) There's a skeleton wagon chassis in use testing the track. I'm finding with the double slip that the transition from the end crossings into the array of point blades is very critical for check rail clearances, which is what I'm chasing now. There's a small switch panel for sectional switching made up (DCC, me?) and wiring going in.

"Sea tides rippled edge,

Worm furrowed, wavelet dimpled,

Sandy footprints fade".

 

Yes, that extra bit of siding does add something more than its length and apparent usefulness, if you see what I mean.

[Donw]

Looks good. Yes those double slips are tricky devils. I find with a platform and a loop extending the ends of the loop to make a siding at either end works well. As the two are in opposite directions it involves extra run rounds while shunting which is good on a small layout.

 

Don

[Northroader]

This has brought me to the buffer stop end, where I need to arrange an engine release for running round. Washbourne mk.1 had the standard way of having a point, but I'm never happy with the space they soak up. One layout I had used a sector table, which I copied from a drawing in an old book by Edward Beal, which looked like a small turntable but pivoted at one end. Three snags with this, one was the loco didn't balance on a central pivot, placing a lot of weight on the nose end which made it stiff and jerky, then if the table wasn't lined up with whatever road was being shunted, you'd soon get a wagon down in the hole, then lastly I never came across an example of this in real life. One place where there was a sector table was Birmingham Snow Hill, GWR, which had one at the end of the bays at the north end of the down island platform. This one looked like a three way point cut short at the blades. That way the central road could transfer locos across and the outside roads were always ready to catch overruns. The thing I didn't like about this was that you can't use the full length of the road for a train to stand.

Another way to save space is a turntable. The thing against this for me is that the diameter needed would make it become an overpowering feature on a small baseboard, as well as the loss of length just mentioned. In the end I took a leaf out of bg johns book, and went for a traverser. Back to the GWR in Brum, down through the tunnel to Moor St., where they had a nice one on the bays where the North Warwicks. trains came in. Similar to the sector plate, with three roads, which also allowed trains to stand for the full length.

I got a pair of side mounted drawer runners from B&Q, and took the lengths that attach to the drawer sides and shortened them. These were screwed under the top, gauging one from the sliding edge for reference and the other to be parallel with this. Reassemble into complete units, and then place into position. They were 14" units going into a 16" board, so they just fitted nicely between the longitudes. I could then clamp two lengths of 2x1 against the longitudes to support the runners, adjusting them to get a "float" on the table. Then it was screw it all up, and lay track. The length is 12", which will just take a 0-6-0, but one thing I have to say is the scenic back support at the end has been packed out by 1/2" for more clearance. The intention is that the road can slide under a platform in front and behind into recesses. The movement is quite sweet with the ball bearing runners.

 

"Striving for today,

Forget then tomorrow's needs,

Sleep, take stock, and aim."

Edited December 20, 2016 by Northroader

[Nearholmer]

That looks very workable - I can 'feel' that nice drawer-slide action.

 

Another example of a sector-plate in reality was at a place called Lambeth Dust Sidings, which was an extremely cramped set of sidings on top of a viaduct, feeding a wagon-lift, which conveyed wagonloads of rubbish up from the municipal tip, to be taken to Kent and buried in old brick pits. I'm not totally sure the sector-plate was used for loco runaround, though.

 

And, didn't Ventnor, on the IoW, have a sector-plate run round at some stage? Bembridge had a "micro-turntable", which I think might actually have been a centre-pivoted sector-plate.

 

K

[Donw]

I believe the 'turntable'at Ventnor was just used as a sector plate whether it could do a full turn I would have to look up. I suspect the centre pivot sorted out the balance problem with an end pivoted sector plate. That said I never had much trouble with the one on Sparrow's Wharf. About 1metre long it swung across and trains were then swapped onto cassettes. It was pivoted at one end with a bolt the moving end slid across a piece of ply well sanded and waxed.

The traverser looks good. Beware of using the full length for a standing train as it will stop you using the traverser for the other platform. I think at Moor street the ends were left clear unless the Traverser was being used.

 

Don

[Northroader]

I think Bembridge had to have the length increased (!) to 25' in SR days when 02 044T were introduced, which could have limited the full turning capability. Having two trains in parallel just means one will have to be ready to leave when t'other arrives for a runaround.

[Edwardian]

I gather the IOW tables were not fully turned, so, yes, were used as sector plates.

 

Castle Aching's will be used to turn fully, even in the case of the tank locomotives that predominate, as, in the 1870s, one of the Director's wives had pointed to the impropriety of a tank locomotive running bunker first!

 

Even more grossly indecent as bare table legs, in her considered opinion.

[Edwardian]

That looks very workable - I can 'feel' that nice drawer-slide action.

 

Another example of a sector-plate in reality was at a place called Lambeth Dust Sidings, which was an extremely cramped set of sidings on top of a viaduct, feeding a wagon-lift, which conveyed wagonloads of rubbish up from the municipal tip, to be taken to Kent and buried in old brick pits. I'm not totally sure the sector-plate was used for loco runaround, though.

 

And, didn't Ventnor, on the IoW, have a sector-plate run round at some stage? Bembridge had a "micro-turntable", which I think might actually have been a centre-pivoted sector-plate.

 

K

 

Lambeth Dust Sidings - a micro layout inspired by Our Mutual Friend.

 

Has to be done!

[Nearholmer]

I hadn't thought of that!

 

Might need a bit of history-bending, to get back to an appropriate date, but it has potential. The sidings were owned by a Dickensian sounding body called something like the court of vestry.

 

 

And I've just rememembered: it was WALWORTH dust sidings, not lambeth.

K

Edited December 21, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

I hadn't thought of that!

 

Might need a bit of history-bending, to get back to an appropriate date, but it has potential. The sidings were owned by a Dickensian sounding body called something like the court of vestry.

 

K

 

Court of Vestry?

 

Blimey, we'll be working in Bleak House too if we're not careful!

[Northroader]

It does sound like Krooks warehouse in Bleak House, you read about it and feel you need a bath. Even with the civilising influence of the railway, a bit too grotty, still, then again, he says, looking round the loft..

[Edwardian]

It does sound like Krooks warehouse in Bleak House, you read about it and feel you need a bath. Even with the civilising influence of the railway, a bit too grotty, still, then again, he says, looking round the loft..

 

Grotty could be good.  Can't let the Death Steamers have the monopoly on Grunge Modelling!

 

And Victorian grot is the best kind for a model railway.

 

Topic Hi-jack, again, but this is what I would like to do as a London riverside micro-layout in 4mm:  The gruesome Alfred Hunt's Bone Works, Upper Fore Street, Lambeth, which, apparently but stank!

 

Trouble is, I just see in my mind little Victorian tank engines passing left and right between these buildings ....

[Nearholmer]

Remaining OT, Walworth Road had not only the dust sidings, but almost next door the midland coal depot. IIIRC the area is described in Charlie Chaplin's biography, because I think was born there, but then moved nearer to 'The Brick' (Bricklayers Arms) with his mother. A rich, middle-class district this was not! But, as you say, the ideal sort of inspiration for modelling.

 

K

[Northroader]

Like, stick a line and some wagons in the middle of this:

Could be fun, he says, wrinkling his nose.

[sir douglas]

im wanting a little victorian street with the same feel as above for my layout, one of my inspirations is a drawing of Caledonia street crossing in Bradford i came across ages ago

[Edwardian]

im wanting a little victorian street with the same feel as above for my layout, one of my inspirations is a drawing of Caledonia street crossing in Bradford i came across ages ago

 

That is wonderful.  I can just see myself attempting a Durham version of that, similar thoughts having crossed my mind about adapting certain local townscapes! 

[Northroader]

Now that's much better, a busy industrial townscape, none too clean, but much better than the rubbish dumps we've been on about. That's a reworked sketch of this photo, isn't it? The addition of the little family helps it on. Good luck with that, Sam, it would make a nice job.

Edit: thinking about this job overnight, the good thing about the crossing is there's a footbridge alongside. In pregroup times the crossing would just see occasional horsedrawn traffic, bales of textile raw material or coal merchants, everybody else would be coming out of the terraced houses and hastening over the footbridge before the mill hooter went, so you're still able to use it as a screen to a fiddle siding entry. Looking at Kettlewell, the example I gave in post#180, the crossing and footbridge would go in for the road bridge. You'd need to skew the road with the terrace behind the station for more space rather than having it square on. Maybe a kickback from the goods yard under the footbridge to a mill building screening the fiddle yard, maybe a warehouse at the end of the goods yard, and a generally Pennine mill-town feel. Legislate enough space for a small 060 tender engine, and you can get any number of attractive pregroup lines for it, GNR, GCR/CLC, NER, MR, L&Y, LNWR, even the Knotty. Loads of different po wagons, passenger trains 4w or 6w, one comp, one brake third. How's that sound?

Edited December 22, 2016 by Northroader

[Shadow]

Some pictures in this PDF file I just found.

 

http://www.semgonline.com/RlyMag/ForeignDepotsofSthLondon.pdf

 

Looks like it's come up before . (By "Nearholmer" no less!)

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102925-lmslner-coal-depots-in-south-london/

Edited December 21, 2016 by Shadow

[Northroader]

Christmas is approaching fast, so it's seasonal to thank all the folks who've been following this thread, particularly all the contributors for bringing their thoughts and humour to the posts, which have made it far better than if I'd tried to do it all on my own. I hope you all have a merry Christmas with your friends and families, and next year brings plenty of progress with satisfying modelling.

Here's the Orpheans with their best wishes:

[Nearholmer]

And, the lads at Paltry Intermodal Logistics would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas in return.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Northroader]

(Edit: younger readers will have to google "mr.chad" for the background to this)

Edited December 22, 2016 by Northroader

[Mikkel]

Younger readers and poorly informed Danes  . I get Mr Chad, but the broom cupboards threw me!

 

Best wishes for 2017! 

[Nearholmer]

'Need to know', Old Chap, 'need to know'.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Nearholmer

[Northroader]

Mikkel, you'll have to be really desperate in your thirst for knowledge, but you can have a look at post 114, page 5, which is where the "broom cupboards" job kicked off, one of the more surreal parts of this thread, so I'm very proud of it. I'm sure we can reach even better flights of er, ??, in 2017, though. Just don't mention "pantiles".

Edit: as I typed that, I happened to be watching the spelling checker. Another mystery solved!

Edited December 30, 2016 by Northroader