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Lynmouth to Combe Martin L&B modular 009


PaulRhB
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Combe Martin
These are the initial doodles for a layout using the Heljan, Peco and Bachmann rtr 009 range to see what’s possible in a very small space so I can have something to set up quickly and just play trains.

Primarily built to serve the Lead and Silver mines on the Downs North East of the village the railway took the opportunity to promote the village as a tourist destination. The remains of the mines still dot the hillside today. (I found the mines while looking for mineral deposits to justify freight traffic).

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I downloaded the OS maps for the area and followed the contour lines as closely as possible to keep a reasonably gentle gradient. I ended up with a line roughly 5 miles long that drops just under 100ft so an average overall gradient of 1 in 270. The L&B’s grand engineering on the main line to Lynton was followed for the branch too with small viaducts in a couple of places to ease the corners as it crosses gullies in the side of the Down.
The terminus ends up on Knap Down half a mile from the village and a mile from the sea. The line is approximately 430ft above the village so the Challacombe Cliff Railway Company built a funicular to take tourists down to the sea and across to old hill fort known as the Castle.

These were the initial ideas.
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I decided to make the ends a symmetrical profile so the modules could be arranged either way round and I've asked G&H for a quote to cut a batch of them.

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This reversible module means I can arrange it in several combinations and view from either side.

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This is how it will usually be set up in the spare room.

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So just need some points and track! oh and the locos ;)

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Mmmm a Saxon 2-10-2 would be good on the mineral trains . . . ;)

It keeps me busy and I can set up a Railway with this, Lulworth and one of the Süd Harz stations can be set up but I can't have the scenic run boards up without major obstructions to getting around the flat so that will be very occasional ;)
I think just dismantling the G layout meant balance needed to be restored in number of layouts Zen or somet' :)

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I got out the kato track to mock up Combe Martin but somehow made a RhB station afterwards, oh dear more ideas in Nm ;)

I'll be using the Peco mainline 009 track for the real thing.

 

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A second Scenecraft L&B station has been snaffled for a good price along with two of Paul Levy's rather nice resin kits. (All found on eBay)

Each station is a different way round so they don't look too much the same ;)

 

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Ok end profiles ordered from Grainge & Hodder at a very reasonable price and now a couple of others on NGRM are also interested so we might be going modular!

Freem009 micros ;)

One thing is I'm probably going to have to lose the alignment dowels if we make it a modular standard as there's little chance without a jig of aligning the tracks accurately enough when various people are building the modules. But on the plus side the holes will be perfect for bolts with a little slop to allow adjustment before tightening up.

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Grainge & Hodder have done a cracking job on the end profiles. Perfectly symmetrical.

 

It'll be next week before I can experiment further but the service is highly recommended.

 

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It was for £40 for setup, post & material for the initial batch. I sent the diagram above and they just created a cad version which I approved.

They quoted £15 for subsequent batches of 10 incl post. (Naturally price increases with size due to material and cutting time)

Overall fast, friendly and efficient :)

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Latest moves have been trying out the plans full size with unitrack as the points are the same length as the 12in rad Peco ones.

It's shown I really need to push them out to 3ft 8in length to get my standard passenger train runround in.

I can use the longer mainline points on Combe Martin but Lynmouth needs to save the extra 2 1/4inches.

Combe Martin

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Lynmouth

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Ok things are moving on, Points have been ordered, there's a pile of cut timber in the car and I've had a chat with Grainge & Hodder about the profiles if anyone else wants a go. It's only really practical to do them in batches supplied to me and then me post them on for one pair. So if anyone is interested they will be £5.20 a pair including post, more would get cheaper as post can be combined. Obviously if someone wanted 10 profiles or more, (5 pairs just to be clear), I could give them the details to order direct and save a bit of money as it just cost £22.50 for 12.

I'm just finalising the module details, (based on the Martyn's Freemo HO standard), and will post it here soon before I offer the ends for others. Unlike the huge discussion that started on the OO module idea this is my standard that others are welcome to join but it's not going to change unless I've made a goof somewhere ;)
Others are welcome to borrow parts of it for their own ends though :)

Like the US Freemo my idea is to have realistic style operation with wagons serving a source and destination and passenger trains running around too. The idea is that each siding' spot' will have a wagon and the layout planner will then choose a spot on another module as the other destination. Each owner supplies one wagon and those two work back and forth as part of a train.
To that end I'll be using a simple card system based on real wagon labels.
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Anyway here are a couple of possible modular set ups for a bit of light operation. The first one showing two destinations for each wagon using the coloured spots.
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Edited by PaulRhB
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I really like your concept Paul and have always been more interested in the operations of the railway than anything else. The cards really make for operational interest and a simple way to organise it. Great work and looking forward to seeing this develop.

T.

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I've been working out platform clearances to accommodate some of the larger colonial and Irish models that people might run on it in a modular set up.

Scale is 35mm but I've stretched it to 40mm centres.

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I've also changed the Lynmouth goods shed to one door, I was trying too hard to do a compact Lynton ;)

Combe Martin will remain all rtr & rtp models but Lynmouth will be a mix as an example of the next step on from rtr.

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Track is finished on Lynmouth and points wired so the blades are live and not relying on the contact with the stock rail. Wiring next and some point motors.

 

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Another little mini project was to repaint a L&B van into Blue Circle livery to carry bagged cement traffic.

It's numbered differently on both sides for a bit of variety ;)

 

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Hi

I live a stones throw from the L&B trackbed at Parracombe so your layout topic has been of great interest.

Without wishing to find fault in your project or the fine work you are doing, it does raise the question of realism in our hobby. How far should we take into account actual landscape factors and history?

I am struggling with the idea of a Lynmouth Terminus when Lynton had a perfectly good one and a link to Lynmouth by cliff railway; albeit the station and cliff railway are a distance apart., the ability to physically take the railway to Lynmouth is very questionable and it would have surely disrupted the tourists  'little switzerland that prompted the opening  of the line in the first place?

 

On a more helpful note: Combe Martin, like Lynton, has a very good small museum which could help with background; I think you would find that your Combe Martin station would have been very useful to the market gardeners  who had a very important early strawberry trade etc also there was a good trade in rabbit meat pre myxamatosis ! There was also a busy Bristol Channel trade with ships beaching in the harbour , including an ex Clyde Puffer, possibilities there?

.

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