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MLR (My Light Railway)


Rowsley17D

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  • RMweb Gold

The rectory I shall be moving to in March has a large bedroom 6.1m x 3.8m which we will not be using, so I thought: model railway. I have a developing 4mm scale permanent layout at our "proper" home in N Yorks and want something different for the temporary home. A few years ago I had some baseboards made for a narrow gauge layout, one 1600mm x 600mm and four 1200mm x 400mm. I also built some stock and buildings based on those of the long-gone Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway. I did not want to copy the L&M per se, so the locomotives do not have the distinctive headlamp and the chimney is moved forward. The carriages are built from Ratio 6-wheeler sides and goods stock is from cut-down Dundas Parkside kits. I also had a go at building a transporter wagon for standard gauge stock.

 

Hulme End, at one end of the L&M, is going to be adopted for the track plan. I outlined this in Templot with turnouts set at 1 in 6.25. These will be hand-built using rail from Peco Crazy track and copper-clad sleepers. Plain track will be Peco 00-9 "Mainline". The track will follow sinuous curves to a fiddle-yard. There will be one river crossing. The track-bed will be on risers above the baseboard level, so that part of the river valley can be modelled.

 

Here is the Templot plan, the fiddle-yard will be more comprehensive.

 

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  • RMweb Gold

I started building stuff for MLR sometime ago. I got the box out of the loft from under Derwent and here are a few photos. Some in need of TLC to bring them up to scratch.

 

The station building, from Plasticard.

 

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Just the odd glazing bar missing.

 

The carriage shed from the Ratio kit.

 

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The engine shed from same source.

 

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  • RMweb Gold

Now some stock.

 

Carriages are from Ratio 6-wheeler sides on scratch-built chassis with 00-9 gauge bogies.

 

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I also have a brake third and another all third.

 

Goods stock was in the process of building when I left-off some three years ago. Most are from cut down Parkside Dundas kits. The covered van was finished.

 

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Large open wagon in progress.

 

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One plank open.

 

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My go at a transporter wagon.

 

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And an engine. From a Meridan body kit and a very bashed Backwoods L&B kit for the chassis. A proper valve gear is now available and I might try and get Brian Madge to make me two proper chassis for No 1 and No 2.

 

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  • RMweb Gold

The L&M had a large loading gauge to accommodate standard gauge wagons, vans and milk tankers on transporters. Calthrop went in for making the stock as large as possible to the maximum of the axle weight so cut down 00 gauge kits seemed ideal.

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  • RMweb Gold

Yes they were big, a friend does the whole range of stock in O16.5 if your eyesight moves you up a scale later ;)

 

I doubt I will have the funds to go to 7mm to the foot or the space. Rectories are not for life and my 00 gauge layout takes up the available room in the home we own. We can but dream though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Re the transporter wagon, I've built one and have been trying it for a few months on and off and will shortly be putting it on my layout Avyn-A-Llyin. Like a post mentioned above I've used 18.83mm gauge wheels and motorised the wagon using the High Level shunters kit. I've used inside frame bogies for the transporter wagon with as much side play taken out as possible. This has helped with clearances between the wheel and the inside of teh framework for the transporter wagon. The body is one I've drawn then had 3d printed. a View on You tube is shown during trial

Hoping to get it on my layout for the Cotgrave show in April, if not then Perth in June.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

The baseboards have now arrived at the Slaidburn Rectory and are in the large bedroom that will become the railway room. It will all have to wait until we are officially moved in but should not be too long now.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

A couple of shots of the baseboards.

 

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Fiddle yard at this end, but the board will go end-on. There are boxes in the way at the moment - see below.

 

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Station at this end.

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  • 6 months later...

Brilliant! (bit of a shame with the rolling stock though :nea: oh well.) I look forward to the future!

There are some books on the subject, so I think research would be great.

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  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Gold

Not much progress with the layout, but I have begun the second loco. I am using a Bachmann 08 for the chassis and RT Models bits and bobs he produces for the L&M locos. To reduce weight and get it in the right place, I have made the footplate, boiler and side tank tops in 30 thou plasticard. A new footplate was needed as the Meridian one was too short for the RT frames, and it was easier hacking a plastic tube to get it to go over the 08 motor.

 

I built one set of valve gear and it is now in place and works! I have to fabricate a new radius rod as the RT one would not let the footplate sit on the cylinders. The new one is straight. The combination lever would have been better if it had been a little longer too.

 

I'll get some photos up after my post Christmas break.

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  • RMweb Gold

I have loaded some photos to Goggle Photos.
 
The first shows the body and its replacement plastic parts. The boiler is a tube split up the middle as it has to go over the 08 motor, so no daylight under the boiler/side tanks I'm afraid.

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The next shows the brass RT Models' frames fixed to the 30 thou plasticard footplate. The white metal one was a fraction too short. The side tanks are loaded with white metal to bring weight over the driving wheels.

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Next is the back-head awaiting decoration. No back-head comes with the kit.

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The next photo shows that valve rod while being accurate would not let the body sit down on top of the cylinders.

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Fabricating the new rod.

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New rod completed.

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Valve gear in place. Okay this is the other side of the loco.

 

 post-16241-0-25753300-1484671330_thumb.jpg     

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