Chippenham and surrounding Wiltshire lines - A long term project in OO to watch model trains run by

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Mikkel - Your wish is my command lol;

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/150484-chippenham-my-work-bench/

[Clive Mortimore]

On 30/10/2019 at 20:27, phil_sutters said:

Chippenham to me brings back memories of a journey I made along that line in the early '60s. Passing through Box tunnel, we ground to a halt. The guard came through explaining that the communication cord had been pulled. We then started moving, but once out of the tunnel and passing through open countryside just west of Chippenham, the cord was pulled again, by a prisoner being escorted by two prison officers. and he escaped from the train and headed off across the fields. I can't remember whether the officers went after him or not. He couldn't do that now with central door locking, although I suspect that transfers are now always by road.

Sorry for the delay in replying to this post but I have just found this thread, I was enjoying what Matt is doing. Sorry to read there is a postponement in construction.

 

Anyhow back to this post, when I was a student nurse we had a prisoner on our ward with his escort. As we watched him disappear through the hospital gardens one of the prison officers said to the ward sister " Your prisoner is escaping". To which she replied "No, my patient has self discharged himself, your prisoner is escaping".

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Well I have had to come up with a new idea to ensure some sort of layout exists before my demise! And now I think I have the answer. Using the original main frame structure I can create new portable boards that anchor to the frame. This will allow removal should the need ever arise but allows me to  continue with the main line and yards. 

A positive note the new structures are 3 inches higher that the original flat lines so allows the development of some scenic embankments and gradients.

I do have to remove the boards that have the foam on though, I will try to salvage at much as possible but being self adhesive stuff this is highly unlikely.

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Fingers crossed.

[Mikkel]

The game is afoot!

 

Good to hear you've come up with plan. Removing the foam doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Don't forget to reward yourself with another kit afterwards  

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Thanks I might just do that. I seem to recall a Cambrian hopper conversion conversation in this parish and have bagged a couple so, as they say, watch this space 'my work bench' thread but I do have those siphon Cs to complete first.

 

Naughty Mikkel for tempting further starts before competing the current ones  I am trying to be good 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

I would like to say things are back on track, but they are still some what in the air.

Even though I have now managed to remove the main station and yard boards and construct more boards to now sit on top of the original framework so th can be moved if required. I am not motivated to progress at any great pace as I really do not like the idea of so many line breaks from board to board especially across main lines and varying angles. I need to be 100% happy with this before full engagement. Shame there are no shows etc to really study how to achieve faultless running from board to board across mainline.

Nonetheless I, selfishly, have really enjoyed lock down. Not the suffering of others, as I really do appreciate how desperate the situation can be but on a very personal level I have bizarrely found it mentally stimulating and has encouraged me to actively re-establish old interests and skills. The slower and more thoughtful pace of life it has brought is a real refresher to one's state of mind, as to the positive impact on the natural world and surrounding wildlife.

 

Best wishes to All and hope to meet up at coming exhibitions and events whenever these will be possible. Happy modelling and be safe my friends.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Bluemonkey presents....
spelling

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Thank you everyone appreciate your thoughts.

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Well it is sad day when you gas heating boiler dies. 25+ years of near outstanding service but needs to be replaced. The more modern and sleeker version is completely different in fixings and size, as well as flu regulations meaning the original location is now inappropriate and impossible to use so a new locations had to be determined. The only via location is that in the loft and the adjoining wall. This meant the removal of some of the baseboard structure that I had previous (over a year ago!) replaced. As the second start to my dream layout had also stalled it was not as drastic as it may have been to remove.

 

With the new boiler and pipework installed the engineer asked "What are you going to do about your railway?" I innocently and naively said "Well I will have to rebuild the end losing some of the sweeping curve." There was a short silence and then the conversation returned to the functionality of the boiler etc.

 

Funny how things pop into your head from nowhere! The penny dropped, like a £2 coin! Boiler is sited on the connecting curve side of what would be the up Swindon line. This had led to the loco shed to be based on Didcot. Full boiler access is required for servicing and maintenance meaning that I can not just rebuild with a shortened run and tighter curves the whole section (approx 4ft x 2ft) will need to be removable. As you can appreciate the shed area and entrance has numerous lines and points and all on a curve including the coaling stage and incline this will also include the curved main lines.

Ahh now I understand the engineer's question fully, not only am I losing the physical 2ft (ish) from the installation but either another 2-3ft to allow for access or to make the entire section removable or hinged requiring a huge amount of sectional cuts through main running lines and points (risky for me and something I wanted to avoid) being a permanent layout).

 

In short;

• Good news discussions had be taking place for the loft area to be converted to a proper room and one for my railway!
• Bad news; boiler died and a replacement required.
• Great news the new boiler is more efficient, quieter etc etc and all the floor pipework is now relocated away from feet.
• Bad news they are expensive.
• Good news the boiler is removed from the kitchen allow more space and relocated in the loft space.
• Bad news need to redecorate the kitchen.
• Great news not too much modelling or layout construction damage has taken place to site the new boiler and pipework.
• Bad news I now do not have enough space for my layout as too much has been lost from the end of the main boards to allow the station to be modelled. I had already made considerable adjustment to reduce to the length required for the station and yards and to allow the sensible curved ends for a roundy roundy.
• Good news considerable savings made as the loft now does not need a conversion and can remain a loft.
• Bad news no layout.

I need to have a long think about what is now possible. Whilst I appreciate I still have and I am very lucky to have a considerable space to make a layout of which I am very grateful, this is not my dream nor plans. This was my single and only layout focus. Should I model another layout/location this will only be and always be second best. All my modelling and stock collection has been for this one single goal. My options now require serious considerations.

[Nick Gough]

Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

 

When we had to replace our back boiler we were given two options for siting the new combi - in the loft or the first floor airing cupboard.

 

Since, at that time, I had a loft layout I was fortunate to convince my wife that a small loss of airing space wouldn't be a problem!

 

Of course we have to empty the cupboard every time there's a service, and I had to rebuild the shelves to fit, then rebuild the shelves again when that boiler was replaced in turn.

 

I hope you can find a workaround to get the layout in somewhere.

 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

@Nick Gough Thank you. I have a bungalow and due to the hoped loft conversion and the neighbours very poorly locate flu the positioning of our flu was restricted immensely so unfortunately left us just two options; The loft or badly standing out in the kitchen with a chimney through the middle of the roof (old boiler style). This is the best fit that we could get but not for the proposed layout.

 

I am working on the idea of flipping the layout around so when the chimney is removed this becomes the location for the wider board and station area. The left hand side as looking at the forecourt of the station is a double main line with a central siding giving me less line to have cut throughs and also a little more flexibility with the curves (hopefully). I need to do some measurements and sit and stare at the whole thing for a few hours to work out if this is plausible. If it is that will be great although probably adding a couple more years on to the restart time.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Good luck on the redesign.

[Nick Gough]

Frustrating, but hopefully you can get it how you want in the end.

 

I couldn't understand why they don't make a new boiler to fit the space the old one was in - it's not as if most houses have a spare empty space waiting for something to fill it!

 

Still, the old fireplace, where our gas fire and back boiler were, has a new life - as a wines and spirits store!

[Mikkel]

Sorry to hear about the disruption, Matt. 

 

On 17/09/2021 at 09:46, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

All my modelling and stock collection has been for this one single goal.

 

A wise strategy, which avoids many detours and much expensive retail therapy (or at least some of it!).

 

With much stock already done and your dedication to Chippenham, it sounds to me as if the best strategy is to adjust the original plans rather than come up with a whole new subject for the layout. I hope your experiments work out.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Mikkel

[Bluemonkey presents....]

 I believe that I have two choices now. The original design is still possible with a little tighter curves to the East End or flip the layout around in the room meaning the West End will face up the new boiler and this is the easier side as the town bridge (known as 'the arches') can face up the boiler and can easily accommodate a removable section. Before all this happen though a loft conversion is required to create a purpose railway spare room. Stay with me folks this is going to be a long development and one to test the stamina of not only a part time modeller but RMWeb itself!

[MoonMonkey]

Hi BlueMonkey, I did some google-based research into that kind of area and found this to be an interesting piccie of Chippenham goods yard, may be useful for you, if only for inspiration:

 

If you hadn't already found it, there is a book called The GWR Swindon to Bath Line by Colin G Maggs, which has at least one one photo of Chippenham, specifically of a line of SR cattle wagons.  It has the same photo as the link in this message. 

I'm sure you've already found the book titled The Calne Branch by Colin G Maggs.

Hopefully those pointers are useful.