Hexworthy - Narrow Gauge on Dartmoor

[mjcampbell]

Welcome to Hexworthy, the terminus of a narrow gauge line deep in the wilds of Dartmoor!
 
This is a might-have-been layout, though it has been planned to a real location, using on-line mapping data tools to check that the route and gradients are viable. 

BuckfastleighToHexworthyOS by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 

There are a number of (long disused) tin mines and some granite workings around Hexworthy, some involved significant works, such as a mill leat that runs for miles across the moor following the contour lines, to power the mine machinery. So it's not unreasonable to suppose that wanting to increase their output in such a remote location, the mine owners got together to promote a railway. The terrain is pretty hard going and the budget was limited, so inspired by developments in North Wales, narrow gauge was chosen and the line opened in the early 1870's.
 
The railway starts in the yard of the South Devon Railway (later GWR) at Buckfastleigh which had arrived in 1872, where there were a couple of exchange sidings, and immediately starts climbing to reach Buckfast. This is where the sheds and workshops were located, there being more space. From then on the line climbs through open farmland to a halt near Scorriton, and curves over the Holne Brook valley with a small viaduct, before tackling the steepest climb to a deep cutting to reach Holne. This is the main passing station, and the point where the line re-enters the Dart valley. After a short downward stretch the rest of the route follows the valley side, climbing but getting closer to the river below, which is crossed near Dartmeet. A station here serves the main road, and became a popular tourist destination, but the final terminus is the quiet hamlet of Hexworthy, where a spur back across the river serves an incline to the various quarries, high on the moor to the south.
 
BuckfastleighToHexworthyAltitude by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Now Tin was refined at the mines so unlike coal or slate, the outward traffic was low volume, high value. The remote location and the need for coal and stores for the mines, and to support and transport the workforce, made the railway necessary - rather like the Redlake Tramway built a few miles south, years later, where china clay was moved by pipeline. Anyway the point of this is that while gradients were considered steep, around 1 in 50 to 1 in 40 (2% to 2.5%) with a short section at 1 in 36 (2.75%), these were not unusual on NG lines and acceptable for the expected traffic, though in later years it limited train length as granite quarrying increased.
 
GoogleMapsView by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
This is the setting of the station at Hexworthy, as seen by Google from the North West. The station lies along the river bank by the narrow stone bridge (bottom left), some way from the village of course! The mines and quarries are scattered along the top of the ridge to the South (right and top).
 
Now I plan to set my model in the present, or recent past, as a preserved line. This railway would have made a popular tourist line and although there would be no goods traffic, the works trains seen on preserved railways offer opportunities for interesting models and operation. I also like the juxtaposition of well-kept stations, locos, and coaches, with grotty maintenance wagons, workshops, stores, and even decaying stock awaiting restoration, that is often seen on "Heritage" lines. The fact that an imaginary preserved line is a great excuse to run whatever stock I please is a happy coincidence (honest...), but preservation is an era and setting that I, and many others who never knew the steam age, can relate to.
 
Plan1 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The idea for this layout has formed over the last couple of years, with dozens of plans sketched, but this is the final design. Earlier variants tried packing more in - with a workshop or engine shed, but I settled on "less is more" as preserved or not, I want to capture the open remote feel of the location. As well as a run-round loop there is a bay platform for spare coaches or "special" trains, this is a truncation of the old goods siding as the goods shed will be the station cafe. Along the river bank the quarry exchange siding is now used for maintenance trains, with an old shipping container or similar used as a store. Of course there will be a car-park, and maybe a playground, but it will be a quiet sleepy place between trains.
 
IMG_1978 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Sketches are useful but I always like to do a full-size plan before starting work. A roll of lining paper, some downloaded plans of PECO points, and a spare length of flexi-track are the essentials. A few buildings and vehicles are used to get scale - though any suitably sized object will do - and some stock placed to check clearances and perspective. It's very easy to rub out lines and move things about until things are just right - and on a small layout like this, half an inch either way can make a big difference to the way things look, and work!
 
IMG_2028 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

[mjcampbell]

Some pictures from Geograph - just to help set the scene.
 
All Creative Commons Licence [some Rights Reserved]
 

Huccaby Bridge (Copyright Steve Harvey)
 
 

West Dart River, Hexworthy - The river viewed from Hexworthy Bridge (Copyright Maigheach-gheal)
 
 

Swollen River Dart near Hexworthy Bridge (Copyright David Gearing)
 

Above Hexworthy north west across Dart Valley (Copyright Mel Landells)

[mjcampbell]

It seems I have a strange knack of not doing things the easiest way. There is a reason (whether it is a good one we shall see), and working back from where I aim to end up, I came up with the rather unusual approach of starting back to front, or more specifically, from the outside in...
 
IMG_2626 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
So here we have a back-scene and end boards, from 3mm birch ply. I'm happy that it's ended up square - but at this stage it is rather floppy right now! 
 
IMG_2627 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
At the other end the "Super-Fiddle-Yard" I made to exhibit my previous layout, "Awngate",has been attached - I'd cunningly bought another set of split hinges at the time, so they've been aligned and attached to the frame at one end. Actually, the fiddle yard has had a softwood frame attached to the base to raise it abut 1.5", as Awngate's baseboard was very shallow and this layout's will be deeper. The frame can be unscrewed, Awngate has another show booking next year!
 
IMG_2629 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The second hinge round the back. B&Q do a very useful "hockey-stick" wood profile that is perfect for the top edge of a back-scene, and their £5 staple gun is an easy way to attach it.

[mjcampbell]

Phase 2 of the baseboard construction involved 5mm foam-core board, this is the stuff made with expanded polystyrene sheet between two layers of thin card. It's easy to cut with a knife and can be glued with PVA, or more quickly and strongly with a hot glue gun, making baseboard construction easy and flexible - and relatively quick. I've used the technique for Pen-Y-Bryn Quarry a number of years ago, and more recently Thakeham Tiles, with the former I learned it is easily damaged so needs a protective layer, with the latter I clad it in 3mm ply which worked well.
 
Hexworthy is a much bigger board, and the need to connect it to an existing fiddle yard led me to make the outer ply "skin" first as seen above, and then make the foam-board core to fit. It seemed to make sense, but maybe it was a harder way to do it...
 
IMG_2630 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Anyway, the first task was to mark out the "deck" including transferring the track plan from the paper plan, which was done with the highly technical method of using pins...
 

 
Now I forgot to photograph the construction phase, but it was pretty similar to that of building Thakeham, so here's a picture of Thakeham's board being made showing the tools and method. For Hexworthy I doubled up the foam-board under the track, not because I think it needed the strength, but to increase twist resistance and to enable cuts (e.g. drainage ditches) to be added to the top surface later. Bracing was cut and glued to the underside at about 9" intervals, interlocking where longitudinal and cross bracing met, like an egg-box. Some diagonal bracing was added too.
 
IMG_2631 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
A complication was the river along the front, which is set about 1" lower than the track bed, polystyrene sheet was glued in the gap to firmly join the two layers and will be cut to form the river-bank in due course. There's also a stream under the tracks, which has yet to be fully cut out but the base is ready underneath. The front will have a thin ply fascia, though this has yet to be cut and fitted.
 
IMG_2633 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Underneath the bracing can be seen. Due to the length of the board I was concerned about flex or twisting, being much longer and narrower than Thakeham, so I decided to box in the rear part of the frame to make a "torsion-resistant" beam. There's little track over this part, and if I need access to wires etc I can cut access holes. Once the board was glued into the ply outer shell (with PVA) it turned out to be surprisingly stiff. The strip-wood runners along the base are more to protect the foam and bear the weight onto the supports, than to add strength.
 
The resulting board seems pretty strong, there's no bending and no end-to-end twist unless significant force is used. There's a little flex in the back-scene, which is unlikely to be an issue but I plan a couple of diagonal braces. It's certainly easy to move about on my own despite it's length, at around 4 kg I think.

[mjcampbell]

Hexworthy will need a control panel, and like my last layout Awngate, the best place seemed to be the front fascia. The layout will sit on a shelf and be front operated, and the fiddle yard adjoins the end, so other than the hassle of a separate control box, it's the only logical place. The panel is a scrap of 2mm aluminium from the guillotine at work, which happens to be an ideal size, but normally I'd fit it to the rear of the fascia for neatness. Here though there wouldn't be space for it to be removed from behind for access to the switches, so it had to go in from the front - so to maintain a neat appearance I decided to recess it into the fascia.
 
2017-04-14 17.50.11 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Here's my piece of aluminium, with some trial printouts of the panel layout. These aren't yet final, but show it will all fit. The fascia (bottom) has had a suitable sized hole cut out, with two other layers cut too, one to the size of the panel, and one a little smaller.
 
2017-04-15 15.07.04 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The two layers are glued behind the fascia creating a 6mm deep recess which the panel just fits, and a support which it will eventually be screwed to. These two layers also reinforce the thin ply edges so this is not a weak point. Meanwhile, the foam-core board is cut away with a knife to make space.
 
2017-04-15 21.18.29 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Fitting it together, you can see how the foam-core structure and the timber reinforcement conspire to make access from the rear so tricky. I've also added a socket for the power connections at the same time.
 
2017-04-15 21.17.55 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
All fitted together. I need to drill the panel for the holding screws, when I drill it for the switches too. I've also cut and fitted the "wings" that frame the sides of the scene, and hide the untidy bits like split hinges and back-scene framing.
 
2017-04-15 21.21.47 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Talking of the back-scene, I've used some offcuts of the thin timber strip to brace it. These are screwed to the lower reinforcement, glued to the ply back-scene, and stapled through from the front. The ply back-scene is much stiffer now, with no tendency to bow.
 
 
2017-04-15 21.22.34 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
So there we have it, one tidy looking, solid, yet surprisingly lightweight base-board. I do need to add a lighting beam - when I've decided what lighting to use - but for now I can proceed to track-laying!

[Stubby47]

Very neatly done.

 

I like the split hinges idea, are they strong enough on their own to hold up the fiddle yard ?

 

Stu

[mjcampbell]

Yes. You can lift one end of layout and the whole assembly will lift with no flex at all. You'll see that they are offset vertically which helps, I don't think there is a more rigid way to join two boards. Alignment is perfect every time too.

[mjcampbell]

IMG_2805 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Track laying started at the join to the fiddle yard - which I connected with the split hinges, and aligned the track to. A piece of copper-clad PCB was stuck firmly down and the rails soldered to it to keep them aligned to the FY track.
 
IMG_2799 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Tools of the job. I use Xuron track cutters which are quick, quiet, and clean. Do watch for flying off-cuts though, and a file is used to clean up the end of the rail so a fish-plate fits. A razor saw is useful to mark the rails where to cut them with  the cutters, the scalpel is for trimming or separating sleepers, or opening up the chair to take a fish-plate. It's also used to cut holes in the foam-core board. The 12" radius tracksetta is a useful guide that curves are no sharper, though there are few curves on this layout, for bits that should be straight a steel ruler along the rail is a useful check.

 

The track is the new "Mainline" type with 18" radius points, the first time I've used this. It should represent the neat track of a preserved line well. However the front siding is laid with a length of "Crazy" track with the irregular, worn sleepers, representing a less well maintained siding. You can see the difference below.
 
IMG_2806 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Track is glued down but first all the pieces are cut to size and laid "dry", held in place with track-pins beside the rails and sleepers - this is enough to hold the curves and position. You can just see the pins either side of the curves here. These pins are Gaugemaster or Hornby and are reasonably chunky - not the flimsy Peco ones. Track laying starts with the "main" line and loop, with sidings positioned later. Much time was spent carefully checking and adjusting the position of the points and curves so there is sufficient clearance, the loop is just long enough for 3 Peco L&B coaches (not that all trains will be that long), while at 5 inches the release should take any loco I anticipate.
 
IMG_2803 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
With the track cut and positioned holes were cut for point motor actuator rods, and for the point vee/frog wire that comes pre-attached to these new Peco points. The track was then inverted and PVA glue run along under the rails (keeping clear of moving point parts), then carefully positioned on the marks and between the pins, being weighted down (tins of beans did the job) while the glue sets. The pins can then be removed.
 
IMG_2802 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
While most of the track is the neater "mainline" style, the front siding uses the older "crazy" irregular track for an older less well-kept effect.
Track feeds (arrows) and rail gaps (orange lines) were marked out before sticking the track down. Where gaps were at a join - such as at the loop release point - insulating rail joiners were used. However where gaps fall in plain track I prefer to cut them later.
 
 
IMG_2809 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
I used to use a slitting disc, but having found these useful disc saws at Squires I've found that, with practice, they can make a neater cut, and with less risk of shattering. I'll probably run some epoxy glue into the gap at some point to make sure it doesn't close up if it gets warm.

[mjcampbell]

I gave some thought as to which point motors to use. Slow-acting motors have become popular, and we're using Tortoise motors on the latest club layout, which seem well designed and made. However they are very deep, and even the 3.5" depth of the Hexworthy base-board is insufficient, so they don't suit shelf layouts. They are also pricey, and I've heard mixed reviews of cheaper versions, even though I only need four I find it tricky to justify £10-20 per point. The thing is, I don't really see the need for slow acting motors - whenever I've seen a real point move it's with a "clang" that takes less than a second. OK, so solenoids go faster and with a "Thunk", is that worse than a 2-3 second "whrrrrrr"? It's never bothered me.
 
Servos have become popular in recent years. They are cheap, but need a mounting arrangement, and a circuit to drive them - while there are various options for this (including from PECO) they do push the cost up and they aren't simple. I've also heard reports of them "jittering" or moving due to voltage spikes or noise from motors. These things can be resolved, but...
 
Solenoids are relatively cheap, reliable, and simple. My choice are SEEP motors, they are easy to fit under the baseboard with no extra fittings, and have the necessary built in switch for frog polarity switching. Those on Awngate were salvaged from a previous layout and so are probably over 20 years old, I admit they're not used intensively but I've only ever had one failure - and that was repaired. I already have the Capacitor Discharge Unit (CDU) in my power-pack to drive them, and a simple passing contact switch or push button is all that's needed to operate them.
 
The one problem I have had is that the motor requires enough movement to switch the switch properly, but on Awngate with a 6mm baseboard the movement of the 009 point tie-bar was barely enough, requiring some careful set-up. It struck me that the solenoid motor travels further than the tie bar as the pin invariably flexes a little, so if the motor was further from the point the excess movement would increase, and the need to site the motor perfectly would be reduced.
 
IMG_2811 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Firstly a ruler was set along the tie-bar and a pin pushed through the foam an inch or two from either end. Underneath the board the pin holes were joined with a pencil line marking the line of the tie-bar, the point motor should align with this to work effectively. Next the hole for the actuator pin was opened up from below with a scalpel, wider at the underside than above, ensuring the pin cannot foul on the foam-core (which is double-thickness, so 10mm deep here) even if the motor travels further than the point tie-bar. The hole was later painted black. Note the wire in the centre of the picture, which is the dropper from the point crossing vee/frog.
 
IMG_2810 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Previously I've glued the SEEP point motor base directly to the underside of the baseboard. I figured it would make them easier to change in the event of a failure if they were screwed in place, so I made some mounts from 9 mm ply. The big hole clears the actuator pin and the motor is attached with a couple of small screws, a couple of pencil lines mark the centre-lines. 
 
IMG_2928 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
From above the points were wedged to the centre position with a couple of strips of plastic behind each blade, I think they were about 30 thou but it was whatever fitted. The blu-tak holds the wedges while I invert the baseboard.
 
IMG_2927 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The motors were held centrally by a piece of plastic cut to fit between the coils, and a hole for the pin. The pin was pushed into the tie-bar hole and the ply stuck in place (PVA is fine), aligning the centre-lines as it sets. After the glue is dry the plastic pieces are removed, the excess pin is marked, the screws were removed to release the motor, and the pin cut down. They're tough steel so a slitting disc in a mini-drill is best for the job.
 
IMG_2944 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
While the motors were out I soldered wire tails to the contacts - much easier on the bench. I've added these the same to all the motors, long enough to reach a 6-way terminal block connector, which you will note is sited so that the wire dropper from the point frog connects straight in. The grey wire is the switched (frog) output, the white pair are for the stock rails, the green pair are the switched motor feeds to the solenoids, and the black is the return from the solenoids.

In theory I'll be able to change a motor with 8 screws - two holding it, and 6 wires - provided it has the same length pin and wires pre-attached, so I may prepare a spare for exhibitions.

 

If you are paying attention you may have noticed that the motor is now about 19 mm below the point, which gives plenty of movement to the solenoid. As expected this means the switch is thrown all the way reliably, in fact the actuator pin hits the coils, so is moving much further than the tie-bar. 

[mjcampbell]

Next, the control panel. The schematic is laid out on the computer - I use Word, which has simple drawing tools that allows objects to be drawn to a measured size so the printed size is known. The drawing is duplicated, one has the switches drawn in place - ensuring there is space between them, and marking the centres. This print-out is stuck on the aluminium panel, and the centres of the switches punched.
 
IMG_2940 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
I then took the panel into work and used a pillar drill for the switch holes, and not forgetting the screw holes in each corner. These took a bit of cleaning up with various files.
 
IMG_2941 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
On the back of the panel I also drilled a small hole part-way through above each hole, this is to locate the tab on the keyed washer that stops the switch from rotating. The second print-out (without the switches drawn on) is cut to fit, including switch holes, as is a piece of clear plastic. I used a piece of packaging, but anything clear, stiff, and about 10 thou thick will do. The switches are mounted through the three layers.
 
IMG_2942 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
With the panel screwed in place the result is a neat, easy to follow panel for surprisingly little effort. Recessing the panel means the edge of the plastic and paper layers aren't seen or vulnerable. I've added coloured rubber grips to the section switches to match the diagram, while point motor switches are left silver.
 
IMG_2992 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

[mjcampbell]

I don't do a wiring diagram, but I do plan out the wiring before I start. The key is the track plan, with track feeds marked, and a "code" given to each feed, point, and indeed each wire. The wires are connected from switches to track and point motors, via terminal blocks, following the codes to label each wire.
 
Hexworthy has just four points, I've labelled A to D. Each has a feed to it's frog (in this case, the wire dropper from the PECO points) which is switched by the point motor, and I've labelled them Af, Bf, etc. There are 5 switched track sections labelled 1-5, I put the feed into the rear rail (as the wire is less visible) and only gap that rail, so fewer "common return" feeds (labelled R) are required. Because of the live frog points breaks are required in both rails of both joins between the red and green sections.
 
HexworthyWiring by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The switch wiring schedule is pretty straightforward, the table above shows the wire codes for the input and output of each switch. "T" is the controller track output, and "P" is the point motor power from the capacitor discharge unit (CDU). Note that the sections may be fed from the adjacent track, so for example section 5 is only live if section 4 is switched on and point C is set to the siding, as well as switch 5 being on.
 
Wiring to and from the switches is via screw terminal blocks that make the wiring easier to follow, make joining wires easier, and providing a point to de-bug if needed. There are terminal blocks for the incoming power supplies (from a 6-pin DIN socket), the connections to the panel, and as shown previously - one for each point motor which includes the frog switching as well as the motor connections. From the track plan it can be seen which rails are being switched, so the inputs come from the section, return, or previous frog feed - this saves extra wires to the rails. Example terminal block connections are shown above, the colours indicate the wire colour used.
 
IMG_2990 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
This is the result with all the wiring in place - surprisingly complex for such a simple track plan! At the top of the picture the control panel is lifted out to access the switches at the rear, below it the terminal block feeding the switches can be seen. On the right are the connections to the power socket, note that the return wires are linked over two terminals to make room for multiple connections. Below and left can be seen two of the point motor connections. All terminals are labelled with the wire code denoting the connection to switch, point motor, or track, so wiring up is simply joining the dots.
 
IMG_2991 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The other end of the board is a little less busy. All that remains is to tidy the cables, bundling together with tie wraps or a twist of wire, and securing where necessary.
 
You can see I've cut a slot in the foam-core, that's a hand-hole. I was finding it difficult to find places to grip when moving the layout around!
 
IMG_2989 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Up top the markings for the feed wires can be seen - and if you look closely, the wires can be seen soldered to the rails. I feed the wire through a hole in the board and form the end into a "7" shape, tin the end, and hold it against the rail web while pressing a soldering iron against it until the solder flows - hopefully giving a neat and secure join.
 
The loco is on a test run. I'm pleased to report it all worked first time! The careful planning has paid off.

[mjcampbell]

I've been building a "domestic" fiddle yard for Hexworthy. If I exhibit it I'll use the large 5-track traverser/turntable I built for Awngate, but while ideal at exhibitions it is big (and frankly, ugly), and the Household Authority has made clear it is not welcome as a permanent addition to the lounge!

All I need at home is a couple of sidings, as I don't really do serious operation. The layout fills the bookcase so the sidings need to overhang (over the printer and hamster cage!). A slimline, low-profile design was needed.
 
IMG_3380 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
This is the result - a discrete tapering shelf, which attaches to the layout using the same split hinges. OK, the shelves need tidying, but the layout is reasonably neat. But if that is still too intrusive, simply lift the end up...
 
IMG_3383 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
By use of some paste-table type hinges (left over from a previous incarnation of my son's trainset) the fiddle yard swings up, and over...
 
IMG_3379 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Until it is stowed over the layout. When I've made a lighting pelmet for the front of the layout the stowed fiddle yard will be largely hidden.
 
OK, I'm going to get a reputation for over-complex fiddle yards. And that's not all.
 
I had planned to make this a simple deck for a point and a couple of tracks, however this would have meant very short trains if the board was not to hit the ceiling! (yes, I did check). The front edge track entry position, and tapering front edge, also made a useful arrangement of tracks tricky. However I realised a sector plate would work well - albeit, is more complex to make, especially as it has to hang upside down!
 
IMG_3382 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
The deck of the fiddle yard is a double thickness of PVC foamboard, the top layer forming the sector plate supported on the lower deck. As seen here a lip was fitted to the rotating edge of the plate in a slot in the deck, supporting it when upside down - and hopefully ensuring no vertical movement of the deck tracks relative to the entry track.

[mjcampbell]

So the idea was to make a slimline, low-profile shelf with a couple of sidings, enough to run the layout at home but being much less intrusive (that is, suitable for the lounge) than the large exhibition-friendly fiddle yard I'd built for my previous layout, and will use with this one if it ever gets exhibited. As is often the way with my projects though it got a bit... fiddly. So as you've seen it folds up and over the layout - but to clear the ceiling when doing so it's length would be limited, which mean using a point would have meant shorter trains than I'd like. So I've ended up with a traverser, the bonus being there was space to squeeze in a third siding, but at the cost of more complexity in construction.
 
IMG_3573 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
I recently came up with a design for a latching fiddle yard and built a mock-up for a club layout. For various reasons a different approach is to be used there, but it seemed ideal to use the idea here.

 

At the end of each track a 2.5mm brass tube "pin" was pushed through a slightly undersized hole in the deck (PVC foamboard in this case) on the track centreline, and a piece of PCB with a matching hole fitted over it with enough proud to solder them together.
 
IMG_3567 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
You can also see (as shown in the last post) that the end of the traverser has a strip of foamboard underneath it forming a reinforcing lip, it fits under the fixed deck preventing the traverser rising - or in this case, falling when upside down. This means the brass pins go through 10mm of foamboard, then protrude about 4mm below.

From underneath the curved strip attached under the lip of the traverser is clear (helped by the printed face of the foamboard - it came from the marketing department at work!), with the three pins protruding. The latch lever is on the left not yet fitted.  A piece of aluminium about 3mm thick has been cut and shaped to a "D" with a notch in the centre of the curve and fixed to the end of the wooden lever, note the red wire attached to the aluminium. Also visible is the spring (from an old pen I think), the bolt for the release lever, and the paperclip that joins the release lever to the latch lever. High tech stuff you know.
 
IMG_3568 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Here's the lever in place, bolt pivot at the bottom (with locking nut), and held by a piece of foamboard at the free end so it can slide. The foam wedge attached to the lever presses on the spring so the aluminium latch is pressed against a brass pin or the end stop, the screws allow some tension adjustment.
 
IMG_3569 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
A close-up of the latch, here it's being held just clear of the brass pin compressing the spring, by holding the release lever (pivoted by the bolt seen on the left) which pulls the latch away.
 
IMG_3570 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
Above the board with the traverser swung clear the latch can be seen beneath. The traverser is simply moved until the latch catches a pin, and a track is aligned. The release lever is next to the track, pushing it left pulls the latch away from the pin so the traverser can move without jerking (it can be moved away from the latched position with a little force, the release makes it smooth). The PCB not only retains the track at the end of the traverser, but as seen from the position of the isolating break, feeds the near rail, the far rails being connected together via a flexible cable at the pivot end of the deck.
 
IMG_3572 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
With all track laid a works train prepares to leave the centre track. I reused some track recovered from a fiddle yard years ago, though after spending time removing unwanted solder connections and cutting various bits to length I wished I'd just used a couple of new lengths!
 
IMG_3571 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr
 
So another over-complicated fiddle yard is complete, but it should work well and does meet the aim of being compact and discrete.

[mjcampbell]

After a few doodles, I spent some time this afternoon with some of Kellog's best quality cardboard and a pair of scissors, creating a mock-up for Hexworthy's station building. It may be the only significant building on the layout so it has to look right, and it has to fit the constrained and odd shape site.

 

IMG_3861 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

As the end of the line the station building looks relatively large for a narrow gauge line, I imagine it would need living accommodation for the station master (who was probably also booking and goods clerk, and possibly signal man too). It's not grand though, and I've used dormer windows to keep the height moderate and give a Dartmoor style. The line near the bottom marks the approximate platform height.

 

IMG_3862 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

At one end is a small goods shed, in the preservation era setting this will become the cafe with a glass french door in place of the wooden sliding one, hence the siding stopping well short. I'm also planning to add a canopy to the front of the station building.

 

IMG_3863 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

From above it fits the site quite well, though I wonder if it is a little long. I may see if I can shorten it about 10%.

 

IMG_3864 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

This view shows most of the layout with the building sitting in place - quite comfortably I think.

IMG_3861 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

[Marly51]

Enjoying reading about your layout - how is it progressing?

 

Marlyn

[mjcampbell]

Ah, good question. I did paint the rails:

IMG_3867 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

Got some magnets for the Microtrains couplings - these are cupboard catches from a DIY store:

 

IMG_3899 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

Cut some holes to stick them in below the track:

 

IMG_3900 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

So here we have a Microtrains magnet (broken in half - 2 for 1 and they are easier to site and less obvious!) front left, and an under-track cupboard catch magnet rear right:

 

IMG_3902 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

However the last couple of months I've been slowly building the station building. I'll post some photos shortly. The layout is stored in the garage as I still have my other/previous layout on display on the bookcase, in due course Hexworthy will replace it. In the meantime I'm in no great hurry!

[Marly51]

That’s the way to do it - you have a nice pace to your modelling. I’ve agreed to help with two layouts for a project and trying to fit in some personal modelling in between! I like seeing the different approaches folk have to the hobby.

[mjcampbell]

You saw the cardboard mock-up of the station building, I'd also done a drawing to get the dimensions spot on. I decided to build it from foam, so laid the drawing over the foam and poked the scalpel through to transfer the dimensions. You can't draw and foam and certainly can't rub out!

 

IMG_4256 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

After laboriously recessing behind every window opening so the windows were not set too deep, I assembled the walls around a foam-board core of floors and walls

 

IMG_4360 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

The windows will be these nice laser cut ones from Smart Models - some modified to be open.

 

IMG_4355 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

The next job took me the best part of 3 weeks. I said I was in no hurry, but I'll admit this got tedious! Using photos of Dartmoor stone buildings as a guide each stone was drawn in with a 0.5mm pencil. I was given a tip: draw the stones, not the lines. I found this worked, it means the stones look like stones, and not like squashed pillows, or wonky graph paper. 

 

IMG_4367 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

The roof proved tricky to make too. Especially those dormers!

 

IMG_4387 by Michael Campbell, on Flickr

 

I think that's pretty much me up to date now, I've started painting the station so perhaps there will be another update before too long.

[mjcampbell]

That’s the way to do it - you have a nice pace to your modelling. I’ve agreed to help with two layouts for a project and trying to fit in some personal modelling in between! I like seeing the different approaches folk have to the hobby.

 

A slow pace you mean! I used to knock out layouts much faster, however work, family, and domestic chores get in the way, and I often don't have the energy if I find the time! I also have another project I'm helping with, and occasional projects for the club layout too. But there's no point in stressing, it's a hobby!

[Marly51]

The stonework detail is great! I have some Foamex board and would like to try this technique sometime. I took part in a workshop run by David Wright where we applied DAS modelling clay onto the wall surface area, then scribed the stonework with the back of a Stanley knife blade - there’s no getting away from this being a time consuming process, but well worth it for the results. I also agree with you about dormer windows, sometimes it takes me couple of goes before I get the right angle between the main roof and the dormer. I had forgotten how much I loved modelmaking and glad to be getting into it after many years.

Edited March 2, 2018 by Marly51

[mjcampbell]

After a break of about a year while other projects have intervened, I've finally got back to working on Hexworthy. However I've forgotten to update this thread.  I had been working on the station building, I'd painted the stonework but a mortar wash hadn't worked well. Then it struck me, would weathering powder work? After some experimentation I settled on talcum powder, with some beige weathering powder mixed in. This was brushed over the stonework, into the mortar courses and off the faces of the stones.

As well as providing the mortar the powder tones down the stone colours and gives a pleasing matt finish. I pondered using a varnish (dullcote) to seal the powder, but that can dull the effect, and I'm not sure if it would affect the foam. Anyway, I'm happy with the effect, and it was quick and easy to do.

The other job that had stalled was the roof. I'd made the carcass from black plasticard, and started applying York Modelmaking laser-cut slates. These are self-adhesive strips with the slates cut into one side, and are laid overlapping to form the roof. The paper material is self-coloured, and looks just the right thickness, so it is pretty easy to use. However, the dormer windows made cutting them and fitting them somewhat more involved than for a plain roof - so it did take me some time!

 

The ridge tiles are folded over and stuck down, but they are reluctant to stay folded and are lifting slightly in places, I'm not sure how best to fix this without leaving visible glue. The roof is also rather uniform, and I'm not sure how best to weather it. Will it take a paint wash or will that damage them? Weathering powder might be too effective on the paper surface.

 

I realise I should have fixed barge-boards before the slates, so the slates could go over the barge-boards, they will now have to go on the outside of the ends. As you can see above, there is a rather large gap under the roof above the goods shed that needs a barge-board to hide it. The dormer windows need lead flashing too, again I'm not sure how best to do that. Then there is finishing the tops of the chimneys. You can see that I have pained and fitted the window frames, but there is still lots to do, and lots to figure out as I go.

[south_tyne]

Michael, 

 

I can't believe I haven't stumbled upon this before, but what a cracking little project. It is really developing well and there is nothing wrong in taking your time - it's better to get things right rather than rush! I loved your Awngate layout so, based on that, I'm really look forward to seeing this one develop. 

 

I'm highly impressed with the baseboard and that's a very neat arrangement for the fiddle yard. The buildings are wonderful too - some interesting and very skillful techniques on display, so thanks for sharing the approach taken 

 

I think you've really captured the classic 'loop and two sidings' approach that characterises a narrow gauge/light railway terminus. 

 

Looking forward to seeing progress in due course. Thanks for sharing. 

 

David

[mjcampbell]

Thanks David. Early plans had another siding, but eventually less-is-more won out and I think it will be better for it. The scene is a preserved line, so with a siding for engineering trains and a bay for spare stock or specials, I think it has enough.

 

Awngate has just departed for pastures new, so Hexworthy has migrated to the dining room, which might mean faster progress (or it might not). I've a few updates to add shortly on the backscene and lighting, I've been a bit tardy at keeping this thread up to date.

[mjcampbell]

As the model Hexworthy is set in a real location it seemed that the backscene should show that location. Dartmoor is quite distinctive, and the rolling moors and valley fields should really set the scene. So last summer while passing through Devon a detour was made to take some photographs from the small road up the opposite side of the valley from where the model is set, where there is a convenient spot on the side of the hill with a low wall and no trees. The detour may also have involved a cream tea at the nearby Badger's Holt, Dartmeet, a particular favourite in our family!

 

So this is the real view across the West Dart valley at Hexworthy. I remembered to take a tripod, set the image size to maximum, use a little optical zoom, and take lots of overlapping photos. Actually this was my second attempt - I'd done the same thing the previous year, but the 5 photos didn't make a wide enough picture to a high enough resolution. This time I took 12 pictures with more zoom to make a wider, less tall combined image.

 

I found a program called Hugin which did a great job of combining the 12 photos into a complete panorama image. The result looked good and should work well, but at this point I got a bit stuck, as I didn't have suitable software or knowledge to do further editing or the means to print out such a large image, even on multiple sheets. So I will pick up that story in the next installment...

Now I wanted the backscene to wrap-around the internal corners of the layout in a curve to avoid corners and shadows. I know you can get bendy MDF and thin ply, but adding more wood to the layout means adding much more weight, and seemed overkill. So I cut some formers from foam-core board, cutting round a metal cake-tin lid to get the curvature (the picture shows the layout lying on it's back). I then cut a shallow slot into the ply just beyond the end of the formers, with a shallow chamfer back towards the formers.

 

The backscene support was then simply made from a piece of 20-thou plasticard cut to fit into the slots - which both force the plastic into the curved corner, and recess the edge to hopefully give a smooth transition from flat to curve without a step. I glued it to the formers with contact adhesive, although my formers were not entirely consistent, so maybe something with more gap-filling properties (no more nails, silicone caulk) would have been better. Anyway it seems to hold fine.

 

The last preparation step was to make the layout presentable. Although the ply outer skin could have been varnished, after a discussion with the wife (the layout will sit in the dining room) we decided on the grey paint used for my son's little layout, Slugworth & Co. This is actually Wilkinson's primer, so goes straight onto the wood, although visible areas got a rub-down with fine emery then a second coat, which gives a nice smooth satin finish. I also painted the rear of the layout, the lighting bar, the domestic fiddle yard, and even the backscene boards as it should give a better surface to stick the backscene to when sealed.

Edited June 11, 2019 by mjcampbell

[mjcampbell]

In my previous post I'd described how I'd taken the back-scene photos and created a panorama.

 

I'd come across https://www.art-printers.com/ through members of the NGRM forum, who do custom back-scenes as well as a range of standard ones, so I contacted them with my big picture and carefully measured dimensions. John at Art Printers was most helpful, discussing the best way to crop/stretch the panorama to fit the layout and other edits (he could have created the panorama too if I hadn't already). We ended up with a little cropped from the ends, and a slight vertical stretch to the final image. When I was happy the back-scene was printed and dispatched immediately. I chose the premium option which is more hard-wearing, and I thought the price was very reasonable and the service excellent.

 

The back-scene was printed to the dimensions I requested, but with a small margin, which I trimmed easily with a scalpel, using books to keep the rolled paper flat while I did so. Because my scene went over one roll of paper I needed a join, which I had arranged to be towards the right-hand end where I expect to use more trees. It did give me an off-cut of blank back-scene paper for a trial run, so I found an off-cut of board in the garage, took it outside, sprayed the glue on, and stuck the blank paper on. I know that sounds weird, but it prepared me for how the real thing would go!

 

The next step was to dry-run the back-scene, and check it fitted. I needed to trim where it fits under the bracing at the ends, and figure out exactly where the two pieces joined. I marked the join with a pencil line. The next thing to think about was how to stick it on straight and in the right place... the dummy run had showed that the glue was strong, and although the paper could be pulled away gently if not firmly stuck, there wasn't much hope if it had been pushed firmly down.

I decided to hold the back-scene like a scroll, holding against the baseboard so it is level over the back-scene (layout on it's back) , line it up to a mark, and press down. So I put a clear mark in a place that would later be hidden, about a foot from the end.
 

The dummy run had also showed that the spray glue got everywhere, so the rest of the layout not already masked up from painting was masked up, including the top edge of the back-scene board, and the layout set outside on it's back on the trestles - also masked as best I could. Then a last check the board is clear of lumps and debris! The glue is simply Wilkinson's own brand as that's all they had. It was sprayed liberally over the back-scene board, including up the end boards right up to where they meet the "wings" at the ends. The glue instructions say to cover both surfaces, but that would't be practical so I just sprayed the wood, and to wait 5 minutes before sticking together - but I had a lot to stick, so gave it just a couple of minutes before starting with the longer back-scene.

 

And a few minutes later the job is done. Despite my best efforts the longer scene is very slightly skew, and has risen about 3 mm by the far end, but it fits and looks fine, the gap at the bottom will be hidden by scenery. Wit hindsight a second pair of hands might be helpful here, to ensure it is held in line with the baseboard and pushed down at the same time. There's a very slight bulge which isn't that visible, but overall it has come out very well. The shorter piece was butted up to the first piece and fortunately the join is quite neat.