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Kings Tawton. North Devon line 1980s


Ramblin Rich
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Hi Rich

 

Nice pics....Half the fun is playing/testing......

Some would say that's the purpose of building the layout in the first place.....

 

All the shuffling about shunting might not be cost effective for the real railway but is much more fun for the operator of the layout.....

 

I personally would prefer the look of the station building on the far platform....

 

Good to see the layout progressing.....

 

Cheers Bill

 

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Mind if I steal your idea as just what I need in that picture. I had been wondering what to do with clay hoods and box vans for my layout which is somewhere out west as well.

 

4 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said:

Late 1970s, a class 25 (pencilled to be 25 206 when I can get transfers) on a vacuum braked freight heading for Barnstaple. Empty 'clayhoods' and opens, plus vans either loaded with fertilizer for Torrignton, or empty heading to the clay works at Meeth for loading.

IMG_0562.jpg.670f3d57422f6e6c7599e5c3a338dd58.jpg

 

Edited by pirouets
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42 minutes ago, pirouets said:

Mind if I steal your idea as just what I need in that picture. I had been wondering what to do with clay hoods and box vans for my layout which is somewhere out west as well.

 

 

Steal away! Here's some real inspiration from the Cyber heritage site:

Near Eggesford, mix of Clayhoods and sheeted opens

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/north_devon_line_okehampton_web_optimised/55 31 leaving Eggesford on freight.html

 

And Anchor Woods, between Barnstaple and Bideford

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/north_devon_line_okehampton_web_optimised/154 Along Anchor woods.html

 

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58 minutes ago, Ramblin Rich said:

Nuts, Just flicked through the site and I should have bought that class 31 & 33 that were on display when I was Alton Models earlier today. :-)

 

This one answered another question in my head, can I run phone lines over the sidings, and the answer at Lapford is yes.

 

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/north_devon_line_okehampton_web_optimised/534 Lapford station 1979.html

 

Thanks.

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I've hit a snag-ette.

I'm using Peco SR style concrete  platform edging to give an ex-SR feel (although most of the North Devon stations had stone edging).

When I set the platform edging up to check the clearances, it looked rather high compared to the coaches.

1767111744_platformwcoach.jpg.c000db538922d140e6c605704df6eecf.jpg

 

A quick measure showed they are 15mm above rail height when sat on the level of the track.

1468059145_platformcode75.jpg.af1e50b89068079d25552ce62a5ff181.jpg

 

Interestingly, code 100 track was practically the same.

1674805859_platformcode100.jpg.13ab67b52e159baf14913a5c8cdea46a.jpg

 

According to various posts here & elsewhere, the platforms should be no more than 3 feet = 12 mm above rail height. So the edging is 3mm too tall :( I assume it's been made to work with track on underlay, unfortunately I had covered the whole station area with the insulation board, thinking to build the platforms up from that. It looks like I'll have to dig out a trench for the edging to sit in :mad_mini:

The really annoying thing is, I had looked at the article in Peco's own "Guide to 00 gauge railway modelling" which built a platform up from board level as I was intending without the track on underlay. Looking at the pictures again now, it does look like their platforms are too high.... :unsure:

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26 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Thanks for that warning. My Torrington branch platform is due to have that, so I will look to measure carefully.  

Glad my experience is useful to others!

I remember mentions in the past that you were doing something based on Halwill (Beaworthy?); is that still ongoing then?

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52 minutes ago, Ramblin Rich said:

I've hit a snag-ette.

I'm using Peco SR style concrete  platform edging to give an ex-SR feel (although most of the North Devon stations had stone edging).

When I set the platform edging up to check the clearances, it looked rather high compared to the coaches.

1767111744_platformwcoach.jpg.c000db538922d140e6c605704df6eecf.jpg

 

A quick measure showed they are 15mm above rail height when sat on the level of the track.

1468059145_platformcode75.jpg.af1e50b89068079d25552ce62a5ff181.jpg

 

Interestingly, code 100 track was practically the same.

1674805859_platformcode100.jpg.13ab67b52e159baf14913a5c8cdea46a.jpg

 

According to various posts here & elsewhere, the platforms should be no more than 3 feet = 12 mm above rail height. So the edging is 3mm too tall :( I assume it's been made to work with track on underlay, unfortunately I had covered the whole station area with the insulation board, thinking to build the platforms up from that. It looks like I'll have to dig out a trench for the edging to sit in :mad_mini:

The really annoying thing is, I had looked at the article in Peco's own "Guide to 00 gauge railway modelling" which built a platform up from board level as I was intending without the track on underlay. Looking at the pictures again now, it does look like their platforms are too high.... :unsure:

 

I had exactly the same issue with the N gauge Peco platform edging on Lapford Rich. Luckily I was pre warned that they were too high by a friend so I sliced the bottom bits of moulding off them before painting and fitting.

Loving those mixed freight trains, just seeing them makes you instantly think of the line.

 

Nick

Edited by Cowley 47521
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1 hour ago, Cowley 47521 said:

I had exactly the same issue with the N gauge Peco platform edging on Lapford Rich. Luckily I was pre warned that they were too high by a friend so I sliced the bottom bits of moulding off them before painting and fitting.

Loving those mixed freight trains, just seeing them makes you instantly think of the line.

 

Nick

Thanks Nick, it's that mixture of freight, (mostly) short loco hauled trains and DMUs that's always been the attraction.

I'm concerned if I cut off the bottom of the edging that it will be difficult to position, plus I've already glued the sections together before priming them!  There's a couple of spare sections, I'll experiment with them first....

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Slow progress continues.

I've managed to overcome the platform height problem by removing 'trench' of the underlay alongside the tracks. Placing the platform edges directly on the baseboards would be too low, so 2 layers of card were glued in place before fixing the edging.

The Peco edging has small tabs with slots to put pins in, I opened up some of these slots slightly and used pins with larger heads to grip the tabs but allow a bit of adjustment. To ensure the correct spacing to the tracks is maintained, I gauged the distance using a single piece of edging alongside various items of stock (inside & outside the tracks), then drew lines to follow along each track. I marked where the 'opened up' tabs would be and placed pins at each position, a line of Uhu glue, then slot the edging under the pin heads & adjust if needed. A few 'wedges' of card were needed to ease the curvature at strategic points.

Much better height platforms now :)

IMG_20200712_120511.jpg.14adfd606b4ad0d58383ff956af69b12.jpg

 

Closer view, note the pins in the tabs:

IMG_20200712_120757.jpg.e5cc58fbc4b2bcdb3692507d2d5fe7f0.jpg

 

A class 153 checks the down platform position:

IMG_20200712_120825.jpg.f36772f009caf5048b6834ce09ecd2a8.jpg

 

Incidentally, I have decided to place the main station building on the far side as shown above. It's less like Eggesford but more open viewing. It also means I can re-instate a second siding in the goods yard as per the original plan. ;)

Today I've made a step towards adopting DCC as I've blown the dust off a Multimaus and dug out a Hornby TTS class 31 which I've had for 18 months without using :O  Much fun with that, although Nathan stopped me playing took over for an hour or so. :locomotive:Now I need to fit decoders in other locos & DMUs...

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Really nice to see you progressing, Rich. The track work has a nice flow to it and I think you made the right decision only having a singular siding. Less is more. 

 

Best wishes,

 

Nick.

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Those platforms look great Rich.

Out of interest how far are you going to go with recreating the station building at Eggesford?
I’ve been looking at pictures of it and gathering up odds and ends to make a start but it’s ever so frilly and complicated...

It’s making my head hurt to be honest!

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Hi Nick. I have to admit it's definitely not Eggesford! Much as I'd like to attempt the real thing, my building is using the Peco 'Manyways' station and house, at least for now. Maybe I'll have a bash at something more like it at some stage, but for now there's a whole heap of other things to do and I only seem to get a few hours here & there...

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On 28/06/2020 at 15:19, Ramblin Rich said:

Glad my experience is useful to others!

I remember mentions in the past that you were doing something based on Halwill (Beaworthy?); is that still ongoing then?

It is, thanks, and has had a lot more attention during lockdown, albeit adapting the fiddle yard to suit Halwill/Beaworthy, rather than the station area itself. Operation is now rather more slick. A thread of sorts may appear later this year.

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Hi Rich, just came across your thread this morning - despite growing up (allegedly) in the 70s and 80s when trains looked like these, I always think of the West Country in terms of the steam era first, so it’s nice to see a layout I can learn from.  Looks to me like you’ve passed the first two tests I apply to a layout:

1.  You’ve got trains running.

2.  You’ve achieved a sense of spaciousness on a compact layout - the photos could be from any sized room.

My only problem with my past two layout attempts was that I never got any further - my ‘testing‘ stage became my final stage each time (I could make a living out of crastination - being a pro).  Have signed up with interest, looking forwards to seeing more.   Keith.

 

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Thanks Keith. Appreciate the comment about space, I did want to keep things 'uncramped' if that's a real word. Yes, it's very easy to just sit & watch trains now, especially with the added play factor of sounds making the driving more interesting :) I will try to keep toddling along with things... Promise!

I do like the notion of being a professional crastinator too :D

 

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Oh look, that's another 4 months gone by.... :O I am still here!

A little progress, the 2nd siding in the goods yard has been installed, the points w-i-t set up and tested.

A Bachmann Scenecraft 'Midsomer Norton' signal box was a birthday present & fits in nicely as a good LSWR representation.

Still playing with my minimal DCC fleet, but now have a few non-sound chips to fit in the class 101 DMU and class 33.

IMG_20201207_143317.jpg.2b878d2b1068a325032251a23c7b1cd4.jpg

 

 

IMG_20201207_143556.jpg.5a8f6b8c025cbf813abe50f3d3218cc7.jpg

 

Now the track is well played with tested, I can contemplate ballasting. I've ordered a bottle of Pledge 'Revive it' which I understand is a direct replacement for 'Klear', so will experiment with that to secure my 'Meldon mountain' in place.

I've gained a tired Lima class 117 plus Silver Fox conversion kit to correct the 2nd DMBS into a DMS. Really cannot contemplate the Bachmann model; lovely as it is, the cost is somewhat over budget! Lima wheels really don't work on the track though, so I intend to replace the motor bogie with  Hornby version and replace the trailer wheels with Peter's Spares versions.

As always, when these intended actions will take place is open to other influences ;)

IMG_20201207_143500.jpg

Edited by Ramblin Rich
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