The Nutley, Crowborough and Groombridge Light Railway - Fictional Narrow Gauge in East Sussex

[Caley Jim]

1 minute ago, BlueLightning said:

Well Jim, You'll be glad to know that your description very closely matches the locomotive stock of my sons railway, although most other things are reasonably generic, but he is only 10, we can't expect everything of him just yet. His current project is restoring his Triang 123, which has seen better days, but he has taken it from having no wheels to working, just cosmetics to go!

Sounds like he has good taste!  He could be converted to The True Line yet!

 

Jim

[BlueLightning]

I'd expect you are right, he does rather like the Caley, so if he sticks with modelling, I can see it leaning that way when he gets older

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 hour ago, BlueLightning said:

I'd expect you are right, he does rather like the Caley, so if he sticks with modelling, I can see it leaning that way when he gets older

To be fair though, who doesn't in at least some regard?

[BlueLightning]

good point Red, it was a very pretty railway company

[BlueLightning]

Well it feels like it has been a little while, but some progress has happened in the background! I have now got most of the track needed for the layout (I still need a single set of points!) and with both inclines worked out with a lot of testing using all my stock, I today got all the supports for the upper level of the layout cut out.

 

 

and with that the layout was stripped down so the supports could be stuck to the baseboard properly, it looks odd seeing it so bare after having a full colour track plan stuck to it for so long!

 

 

Next job, get the trackbed cut and stuck down! (I noticed the one on the corner being slightly off it's original mark, it's fine it still supports the track! I hope to be able to send a train round before the end of the bank holiday, but that will depend on my rather limited supplies!

 

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed,

 

Gary

[BlueLightning]

Much cutting later the trackbed is done! (although not stuck to the layout yet, I need to get the track on the bottom done before I stick the top down!) this is feeling like good progress for today!

 

Suppose I had best get ready for tonight's livestream!

 

Gary

 

[BlueLightning]

1pm Monday the 25th May 2020, 2 years and 11 days after the opening of this thread, the first bits of track have been laid! Pictures later!

Edited May 25, 2020 by BlueLightning

[BlueLightning]

I return with pictures!! I mean the next day is still technically later!

 

So yes some track has gone down, and some wheels moved on it earlier! It still seems far from finished, but progress is happening! and I don't think it will take that long to get it all down!

 

So to start, a picture of the layout on my kitchen table, taken from what is actually the back of the layout with pins holding the track down while the glue dries:

 

and a shot of the underside showing how many droppers we have for that little bit of track I have gone with my usual 1 dropper per bit of rail:

 

and finally, the layout back where it lives under the stairs so that I could film a video for my YouTube channel, which will be going live at 6pm tonight!

 

It looks very close to the underside of the stairs, but there is actually a much bigger gap than it seems, and everything fits and runs on the inclines fine.

 

and before we go, following on from the lining of the locos last time there was a discussion between some friends and I about how ownership was displayed on the stock, and it was decided taht a crest would be the way to go, and @Corbs very kindly offered to put something together for me, so I did some research on appropriate symbolism for the areas the line served, and Corbs came up with this incredible crest for the line, which I will have to get made into transfers at some point.

 

 

So thanks for looking everyone! I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to go and subscribe to my YouTube channel to see tonight's video with a bit of running! because I'm sure I'll forget to post it!!

 

Gary

[RedGemAlchemist]

Very nice work as usual Gary. Very nice indeed! 

Will the track be remaining multicoloured?

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Red!

 

I'll leave the multicoloured bits there, but it might be hard to see them under the ballast, and other scenery

 

Gary

[Annie]

That is a stunningly nice crest Gary.  Corbs definitely has a rare talent for this kind of thing.

[ChrisN]

Gary,

It is good to see it finally coming together and in 3D.  It will be interesting to see how you do the scenics.

Edited May 26, 2020 by ChrisN

[Nearholmer]

That is one posh crest!

 

Very reminiscent in places of my school blazer badge. 

 

The other local symbol is of a gate, signifying the ‘heave gates’, effectively long movable sections of paling, which were opened to allow sheep to be herded on and off the forest. Your railway will run up a side valley behind a pub called the Crow and Gate (known as the ‘bird and hurdle’) - not sure if it still does, but that used to have a really good sign, iron silhouette of the crow in black sitting on the gate in white, hanging out over the road. (Googling suggests that it’s had about five signs since the one I remember, which was perilously close to passing lorries and buses, so might have suffered)

Edited May 26, 2020 by Nearholmer

[BlueLightning]

Thanks all! I was stunned with what Corbs had managed to put together from the brief I gave him, he truely is an artist!

 

Thanks for all that info Kevin, very interesting, I feel I'll have to do some research into that and see if I can find a way of integrating some gates somewhere.

 

Also, these comments have pulled me back here and reminded me I need to post the video, so enjoy!!

 

 

[Nearholmer]

The strange thing about the  crow is that the name of the hill almost certainly has nothing to do with crows.

 

"Crowborough is referred to in historical documents as Crohbergh, Crowbergh, Croweborowghe, Crowbarrow and Crowboro. Croh is the Old English 'croh', meaning saffron and denoting a golden-yellow colour and 'bergh' means hill. The high Crowborough Beacon would have been visible for miles around for its yellow gorse flowers and so the origin of the name Crowborough is probably 'a golden coloured hill'" (my father put a huge amount of research into the etymology, and devoted an entire chapter of his book about the town to it)

 

I actually have to force myself to pronounce the "borough" part, because the local pronunciation by ordinary (non-posh) people used to be something like "Crowbruh", phrases like "He's gone up Crowbruh.", which meant "He's gone to the high street".

Edited May 26, 2020 by Nearholmer

[BlueLightning]

 

Very interesting thank Kevin, I have always been quite interested in etymology, and actually watch a few YouTubers dedicated to it!

 

30 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

the local pronunciation by ordinary (non-posh) people used to be something like "Crowbruh"

 

"used to be" he says. You might hear that pronunciation in the first 15 seconds or so of my video!

 

Gar

[BlueLightning]

and after a couple more sessions of track laying we have a loop!!! We are still missing a point for the run round, and until that arrives the section of track in the station area isn't stuck down, but it is all there, and it works! Skarloey is currently getting some exercise going round, it has been way too long since I could sit and watch the trains going round!

 

Gary

 

[BlueLightning]

A video? Oh OK then, my ERTL Duke is happy to oblige

 

 

[Annie]

 

Well done Gary.

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Annie!

 

Having it running has really made me smile! As has your Seal of Approval!!

 

Gary

[BlueLightning]

With the loop finally laid I cut up some hardboard so we could get a semblance of what the layout will be like when it's done! and then I made a video to discuss the plans!!

 

Hope you enjoy,

 

Gary

 

 

[ChrisN]

Gary,

Good to see trains running.  Will the backscene be removable so that you can get to the track behind it if there is a mishap?

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Chris,

 

Yes the idea is that when the backscene is built properly it will be fully removable to let me get in for any accidents that occur at the back.

 

Gary

[BlueLightning]

This week we took another trip to the NC&GLR as the final bits of track got laid! I also decided this would be an ideal time to do a tutorial on how I lay track so that you can't see the wires or any track pins! (hint I don't use track pins!)

 

Points will be given if anyone can spot the point I cut myself and had to pause filming!

 

Hope you enjoy,

 

Gary

 

 

[BlueLightning]

Well after a few weeks break I have returned to do some work on the NC&GLR, and I think this is the part that has the most visual impact on the layout, I have started sculpting scenery!!

 

It started last week when I wanted to get a visual idea of some photo locations, so I put some cardboard around what will one day form a chalk sandstone rock face (think ex-chalk sandstone quarry)

 

 

and from there I started fitting some more bits of cardboard to help me visualise how the layout would look

 

 

and then I got a bit carried away with trying to visualise it

 

 

Thank god for the piles of newspaper my mum gave me for the kids to do paper mache with for homework at primary school! I think we now have some idea of how the scenics will be built up! The upper sections of the backscene are removable and held on by magnets on the supports behind, they can all be removed, giving access to the rear tracks in case of derailment or stalling

 

 

I still need to work out the scenic breaks at the left hand end before finishing that off, the right hand end is planned to buried in lots of trees.

 

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed,

 

Gary

Edited August 10, 2020 by BlueLightning