Ruthfordton Colliery - A Freelance, Pre-grouping, Industrial Layout

[11AJinty]

Hi, everyone!

 

Well, I finally decided to open up a topic for my new layout I'm building!

 

Here's a bit of backstory on the 100% fictional layout:

 

In a small town by the name of Ruthfordton in the middle of the countryside, about 18 miles West of Travelwyn's limits, lay a little colliery run by the Dominic Coal & Mineral Company Ltd. There aren't any decent collieries in the large city of Travelwyn (in the southeast of Nowhere Isle), thus making Ruthfordton one of the most popular suppliers of coal to the area. When the colliery was first built, the coal obviously needed to be transported to the city, so a railway was formed. The Ruthfordton & West Travelwyn Light Railway operated coal trains between the colliery and Travelwyn. The dominant railway of the southeast, the Travelwyn & South Eastern Railway, was the largest customer of the colliery (they supplied good loco-grade coal) and sought to purchase the line and all of its assets. Thus, the pair of locos that ran the line ('Flirt' for the coal trains, 'Charlotte' for goods and passengers) and all the rolling stock were transferred into the T&SER's ownership. However, they still carry their native liveries. Dominic operated two locomotives: A Peckett, 'Delilah', and and a large 0-6-0T named 'Azariah', which was recently purchased brand new. 

 

Now that you know a bit more about the layout's lore, here is its current trackplan:

Note: A lot of this is subject to change, i.e. the narrow gauge bit. I'm thinking of using that siding as an incline for a wagon tipper, to transfer coal from the wagons into the steam lorries on the layout.

 

 

 

I've purchased all the track I need (I hope) and the current process is, believe it or not, hunting down fishplates and tracknails which I don't have. 

 

 

 

 

So far I've been working on the locos. 'Delilah' and 'Charlotte' are on pre-order, so I'll have to wait for them.

 

I started off with Flirt, the line's prime coal hauler:

Woah! I ought to be burned at the stake for 'ruining' a brand new engine such as Bachmann's Coal Tank with such an atrocious paint job. I apologize for the picture quality, as it's the only one I have of the loco in this stage.

 

 

 

 

This engine is named 'Siren'. Technically the engine wouldn't fit on the layout as it's the one that picks up 'Flirt's wagons at Travelwyn, but the loco was on sale and I like the livery. However, as you can tell the lining was very disagreeable. 

 

 

 

Now, those were just the WIP photos. This is what the two locos look like now!

Alas the lighting wasn't adequate for decent photo quality, but you can tell just how much of a difference some lining, a matte coat and some weathering makes on a brush-painted engine!

 

(I sadly broke the smokebox dart off of 'Siren' because the door was stuck shut from the several layers of clear-coat; I glued the dart back on but the glue ran all over the door, giving an appearance of the loco having a runny nose! I'll have to fix that, one of these days...)

 

 

 

 

Just yesterday I started on 'Azariah', an interesting bash between a Hornby 0-4-0 and an Electrotren chassis, producing a very Dowlais-esque (i.e. Sandyford) loco:

Obviously I have a lot of sanding to do (thanks, fingers!), but I'm really excited with just how good-looking this engine is. I need to find a pugbash thread for the loco to bask in! 

 

 

 

Well that's all I have to offer for now I'm afraid, but I've started to lay track down to give a general idea of what the layout'll be like. Hint: it's massive!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for future updates!

Edited March 23, 2018 by 11AJinty

[11AJinty]

Here are some updates on 'Azariah':

 

 

 

Here's the loco before weathering. I chose this shade of green to mimic the livery Dowlais used on their engines. I originally planned for it to be lined, but I seem to have misplaced the lining decals...

 

 

 

 

And here's the loco after weathering. I had many issues with the clearcoat washing away the powders, so it took more than one layer of weathering (plus more powder on top) to achieve this look. I absolutely hate how it looks though, I really liked how the green looked, but it's just gone to black. I understand many locos were like this, but this photo makes it look even greener than in person... I think I might take some rubbing alcohol and try and wipe some of it off, give it a 'wiped down' look. In terms of the body, it was a massive success! I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

And that's the end of this update. Stay tuned for more! 

[luke the train spotter]

Looking forward to see this layout develop more.

[11AJinty]

Update on 'Azariah': 

I'm... not happy with how the paint turned out. I tried to wipe as much weathering away as I could, but it's still way too dark for my liking. I mean, the layout takes place around the mid 1900's, so I highly doubt that any company, even a colliery, could take such poor care of an engine, especially a new one like 'Azariah'. 

I think I've decided to just repaint the loco altogether. Thankfully I only really need to sand down the sides of the tanks, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

 

In the meantime, 'Charlotte', the loco for the Colonel Stephens-esque mixed trains has arrived from Hatton's. No photos yet - the loco is one of their brand new P classes that I've had on pre-order since around September of last year. Still waiting for the nameplates to arrive, but the loco has been detailed with a few modifications (painted brass safety valve, lettering removed as well in preparation for the plates). One last thing that needs to be done is to have wire coupling loops fitted and then I would consider it ready for a coat of matte clear-coat (varnish) for an early weathering - I just can't be patient, can I? 

 

Also: I've finished laying the track down for the layout. I still need to make the embankment for the tipper and two of the sidings are acting up, but I'm pretty happy with it and I'm looking forward to sharing some photos.

 

For now, the next updates this page will be seeing should be about Charlotte and general progress on the layout!

[sem34090]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing more on this. I particularly like the livery on your Coal Tank... my K's one (motorised tonight) needs a pre-grouping livery and I had been aiming for LNWR Black, but your livery suits the loco so well that I may change my mind...

 

One word with the 0-8-0 though: that particular class of LNWR 0-8-0 only just makes it into the pre-grouping period, so you may want to modify it somewhat to backdate it. 

 

I too have a colliery layout in the early planning stages, the aim for it to be able to switch between regions (Wales, the North West or Co. Durham/Northumberland) and eras (Pre-Grouping and 1950 - 1970). The latter era is currently set to be served by my two Hunslet 'Austerities', my Hornby 'Sentinel' 4wDH, Hornby Class 08 and my soon-to-arrive Hattons Barclay. The pre-grouping era version of the layout is currently set to be served by the Coal Tank, Taff Vale U1, Peckett W4, NER E1 and a whole raft of early private-owner wagons.

 

It is so nice to see a colliery layout that isn't  set in the NCB era, and isn't even set between the wars, but pre-grouping.

[11AJinty]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing more on this. I particularly like the livery on your Coal Tank... my K's one (motorised tonight) needs a pre-grouping livery and I had been aiming for LNWR Black, but your livery suits the loco so well that I may change my mind...

 

One word with the 0-8-0 though: that particular class of LNWR 0-8-0 only just makes it into the pre-grouping period, so you may want to modify it somewhat to backdate it. 

 

I too have a colliery layout in the early planning stages, the aim for it to be able to switch between regions (Wales, the North West or Co. Durham/Northumberland) and eras (Pre-Grouping and 1950 - 1970). The latter era is currently set to be served by my two Hunslet 'Austerities', my Hornby 'Sentinel' 4wDH, Hornby Class 08 and my soon-to-arrive Hattons Barclay. The pre-grouping era version of the layout is currently set to be served by the Coal Tank, Taff Vale U1, Peckett W4, NER E1 and a whole raft of early private-owner wagons.

 

It is so nice to see a colliery layout that isn't  set in the NCB era, and isn't even set between the wars, but pre-grouping.

 

 

Thanks!

I'm personally very happy with how the Coal Tank turned out. It looked pretty bad in its first stage as you can tell by the photos, but after a matte finish it's greatly improved the look of the loco to a point where you can barely tell it was hand-painted; the photos just aren't high enough quality to do it justice. I'm not quite sure what the livery reminds me of though, perhaps North British?

I actually once had a K's kit of one: Sadly it was incomplete, but it was very cheap and provided several fittings for my other projects. 

 

About the G2A: one thing I'd like to say for basically all my locos is that they aren't supposed to be the exact loco the model represents. For instance, 'Charlotte' is a P class in model form, whereas 'canonically', so-to-speak, the loco would be more of a mixture of a P and Terrier; mostly a P, but with a Stroudley chimney, less 'definitive' cab roof, etc. Basically, the locos should just be inspired by real ones, but not actually 

For the G2A, 'Siren', I'm fully aware that the G2As were first built around 1919, so it would be more likely that the loco was a rebuild of an earlier design. The LNWR G Class were all rebuilds of the earlier B Class, the rebuilds starting in 1906, thus fitting in my layout's setting rather well. 

 

Your layout sounds very interesting! If you ever start a topic on it, I'd quite like to see how it progresses.

[11AJinty]

Here are some (out of focus) pictures of 'Charlotte' as of now and 'Flirt'.

 

 

And for those who want to see Charlotte in decent quality, here's one with Bluebell:

What's next for Charlotte are:

-Brake pipes

-Red rods

-Nameplate (and later numberplate)

-Crew in cab

-Wire couplings

Edited April 11, 2018 by 11AJinty

[Lu4472ke]

​You wanted a pugbash thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/120431-show-us-your-pugbashes-nellieboshes-desmondifications-jintysteins/

[11AJinty]

​You wanted a pugbash thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/120431-show-us-your-pugbashes-nellieboshes-desmondifications-jintysteins/

Thanks, I was already planning on posting in that thread, Azariah just isn't finished yet.

[ScottishRailFanatic]

Wow. Just, wow. This looks like such an interesting project! Your locomotive repaints are amazing- I got your same 0-8-0 for Christmas. It’s a great model. I’m only 12 and need some inspiration for some future liveries, and the livery you applied to the 0-8-0 suits it perfectly. I will be watching intently!