The North Western Region (The NWR)

[WhitehouseFilms]

A few months ago I joined a Men's Shed which had formed in my nearby town and it was there that an old friend of mine had decided to set up a model railway club there. he'd been trying to find a suitable location for it to be set up but could never find the space. Here however he was given a space and so our club came to be. So we meet up for the 1st few weeks and discussed on what we were looking to do or make. It then came to one evening where one of us said, 'What we need is a layout that has 2 stations-one of them a terminal and the other a country station." I then remembered a layout that had such a feature and dashed home to find my folder of research which I brought in. 

"What do you make of this?" I asked and presented them with this track plan. 

This track plan was of the 1st ever Thomas the tank engine layout, built in the late 40's by the creator the Rev W Awdry. I explained that this layout never got finished when the Reverend moved house and suggested that we'd give it a try and complete it. Surprisingly the result was very positive and everyone was all in favour of building it and completing it. We each chipped in to pay for the timber and wood and set to work on building the baseboards. Now one item that we had to take out was the return loop, in return switch it with a revolving fiddle yard. The baseboards were 2x2 timber with 12mm plywood on top. Steel plates were secured to the bottom of each joint so that each board will be level once it is bolted together. I should also mention that we hope to exhibit this layout at various shows in the future.
So after 2-3 weeks, shown in red, is how far we've gotten with the boards. 

It is here we decided to see about getting some track down. We had chipped in enough to buy the tracks and points to make up the junction station, Knapford. Pictured shows use planning on where the track is to go and where it will run. 

Once everything was marked out, the track laying began. The track is PECO code 100 Streamline with medium points for crossovers and small turnouts for sidings. The track is laid on 3mm cork roadbed which you can get in rolls of 10M. The evening passed by so quickly that we only got as far as getting the entrance to the station laid.

The next meet up we got the main line section of Knapford Junction laid and ready to start connecting it to head towards the terminus of Tidmouth. But we've still yet to make that board so we can start that come the new year. In the mean time we're going to finish up the junction tonight with the addition of the goods yard and the start of the Ffarquhar branch line-so chances are we might see a little blue engine at some point.

Now you will note that some points are placed in areas where they don't show on the track plan, this is because we're using 2 track plans to make this layout. The other track plan shows these additional sidings and points as they were originally planned to be installed before the original got dismantled.

I was the one who in charge of laying the track out as the other members have never worked with flexible track before and so thought it best to leave it for me to work out. Once I had a section laid, I go the others to follow behind by pinning the track down with track pins, PECO 6ft way gauges and Tracksetta straight templates. We used a 21inch radius for the curve and after testing the whole thing with a set of coaches, we agreed on how smooth everything turned out to be-which is how it should be.

As mentioned more work will resume later this evening with the start of the branch line and goods sidings being installed. 

 

 

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

All looks very interesting and the best of luck with the project.

 

[Titanius Anglesmith]

Following with interest, I like the track plan 

[WhitehouseFilms]

Thanks for your comments. 

So tonight no more track was laid as we wanted to see about getting the next two boards fitted and see what way it's going to look. So the board leading for Tidmouth was the first fitted and we noticed that we were 2ft short of what we needed. So this will need to be made once we get back from the holidays. The other board is for the fiddle yard entrance and the small quarry at Knapford where Thomas' branch starts. It too is short for what we need so this too will be looked at. At the bottom of this attached photo shows the current set up of the layout from tonight.

You can see how the main line will connect with Thomas's branch which will also have a goods yard located before the curve. 

I've decided to locate our controls to the board where the Tidmouth tunnel will be built as it's just a single track. Still thinking on getting a walk about controller or have a panel one from Gaugemaster. With the walk about, we're able to...well-walkabout, but we'll need to have a holder for the controller to sit when we've finished or when we're taking a break from running. The panel one will give a nice professional look for our panel but I'm wondering if it might get in the way of our point wiring. Must think about it. Anyway that's all the updates for now until 7th January. 

 

[WhitehouseFilms]

Progress on the NWR is starting to take shape with the tracks for Knapford Junction now laid and point motors are being wired up. While this is being carried out, the beginning of Thomas' branch line is also being carried out. Following the route of the original plan, the branch curves away to where it passes a small quarry that is in operation before curving again to continue further along. We hope at some point in the future see about making up more of the branch but for now we'll stick with the main line. 

Tomorrow evening, while I'm busy working on the point motors, we're going to start and get the track painted before ballasting can commence. But we must also see about getting the platforms made up before ballasting. 

[Kumata]

I am following your development with interest. You mention that you plan to exhibit the layout and I for one would love to see the finished article 'in person' when it comes to it.

I assume you will be sticking to the era as originally designed?

[LB&SCR 337]

I am in love with this layout so far can't wait to see the finished product

[WhitehouseFilms]

Further progress had taken place during the layout's build. 

The point motors have all been fitted and tested. They just need to get the switches wired into the main panel where we will operate the layout. This is a slow process as there is quite a bit of wiring to do and a lot of connection plugs to solder to. 

Our joiner, who helped make us our baseboards, was in the process of moving house so until he gets himself sorted out with his new workshop, we'll have to wait a bit for Tidmouth's boards to be made up. In the mean time, ballasting has begun. Before ballasting we painted the track with kamiya spray paint and rusted the rails with Humbrol Rust. Best we did that then rather than later.  

We had different ideas as to what ballast we were going to use. One member wanted to use some ballast that he got, but it was too coarse for what we wanted. We decided to use PECO's PW medium weathered brown ballast as it had a nice colour to it once laid. We applied the ballast using a small balaster jig that I bought from Amazon, which made quick work of laying it in place, and then used a spoon to tap any loose ballast in to place in the sleepers. Then using two spry bottles that I got from Boots Chemist, a fine mist of Isol Alcohol was sprayed before Deluxe Materials' Ballast Bond was sprayed on afterwards. I found later on that spraying the glue on rather than using an eyedropper gives a better finish because the eyedropper method causes the ballast to swell up. With the mist spray, you get a better coverage and the ballast doesn't swell up. 

We got the ballasting for Knapford junction all laid but that was when the Cop-19 lockdown happened and we had to leave the layout till it was safe for us to go back. However I went down to the layout as I needed to check that everything was fine and that nothing was damaged while we were away. They layout looked fine, ballast had set really well however some points have stuck fast from the glue but with a small bit of Isol along the areas where the glue has stuck, they work themselves back into motion

 

[WhitehouseFilms]

I must apologies for the lack of updates on this layout as a lot of things have been happening that have prevented me from updating. 

So I'll have to start from where we at before the pandemic happened. We had just finished ballasting the last section of Knapford before we all had to go into lock down. Only on very rare occasions would I venture down to see how the layout was since we'd left it. The months passed and we didn't form back until June 2021, with precautions taken of corse. We did form for a small period to start work on some scenery, but we soon had to go back into a 2nd lockdown. 

Before then I had been making several trips down to where the layout was based and on most of these occasions would have to clean the boards of saw dust. You see while we, the club, were not back yet, the woodworking workshop that we were sharing the Men Shed hall with, was. I tell you there was that much sawdust flying through the air, you'd think it was snowing. The head of the Men Shed noticed how bad our layout was and both he and the committee decided that it was best that we moved to a different part of the building where the layout and all our things would be safe. Behind the wall that the layout is up against is a room that was originally to be a reading/relaxation room. But seeing as everyone at the shed seemed to be spending more time in the room where the small fire stove was, it was really used for storing old junk and books that nobody reads. The Men Shed committee took a vote and all bar one, a member who never liked the model railway club to begin with (He wanted a Scalextric club formed), agreed to have the model railway moved into that spare room. Myself and a member of the club came down and helped clear the room and move the club layout in. You could say the room was made for the layout. It suited it perfectly. Once we'd all the boards and our tools in I sorted out on cleaning the room up and doing it up that would make it feel a bit more like a  railway room. A gas heater was given to us by the Shed to keep the older members warm during Winter, something that caused an issue in our first year formed. 

So the first thing we did once we'd gotten everything in and settled was to take up part of the track at Knapford. this was because we'd forgotten to install Copper Clad Board under the rails for alignment when we take the layout to shows. Some of the rails were already miss aligned and we all thought this was the best thing to do. So only removing the tracks that were near the baseboard joint, we set about relaying those rails and soldering them to the clad boards. 

We did the same with the tracks for the tunnel, quarry and the line leading towards Tidmouth. Once that was sorted, we started on gathering what we need to start Tidmouth. The baseboard was built, cut to size and the dock cut out as well. 

It took some time to sort out the track as there were quite a few sidings that needed juggling about. But once we had a suitable set up the track bed was laid and track pinned down. Holes for point motors were pre drilled before laying track so that we could install them without issue. 

The turntable BTW is a PECO 16.5mm narrow gauge turntable kit from PECO with Dapol turntable sides glued on. I choose this instead of the 00/H0 PECO kit because the wheels are lower down and there is more room to install the sides and walkway. We were originally planning on operating it with the PECO motor but after seeing a video of it being used on a layout, we decided to go with a more practical approach. A Meccano set was bought off eBay and was installed under the board. Not only is this approach more old school, but it also makes alignment more easier for us. 

ATM we're undergoing the installation of the point motors. We're using both PL-10E and PL-11 motors due to the limited room in areas where the points are on top of the board edges. We've also wired in dropper wires for the controller to access certain parts of the layout as well as soldering wires for isolating sections. A laser cut kit for the control panel was supposed to arrive a few weeks ago but we're told it won't arrive until the 20th so we'll just have to wait till then. To work the points we're going to be using the stud and probe method to make things easier for the club members to set a route. Signals will be the Ratio kit versions and will be operated with point motors under the board. 

So far things are progressing well and I hope to have more updates in the coming weeks.