A return to Nantford Spinney

[AndyB]

Nantford Spinney is a tiny halt just short of Nantford Quay on the 17.5 mile meandering branch line from Northwell Junction. In truth holiday makers travelling the line tend to remember crossing the magnificent iron-girder bridge adjacent to the halt spanning the river Nant, rather than the halt itself. 

 

There's every chance you'll have missed seeing the halt altogether. After all the Sunshine Special you were on didn't stop there. And with that first whiff of sea air you'd have been too excited about the prospect of a week-long holiday at the south coast seaside.  

 

 

And so finally your train drifts into Nantford Quay, draws to a halt, and your holiday in this quaint little seaside town can begin. 

 

So. Welcome to my latest layout which reprises the idea I explored a few years ago of a simple rural branch line which filled my garage.

 

That time it was OO gauge and by keeping it simple there was a sense of a layout in a landscape. 

 

This time it's in N gauge.

 

From fiddle yard to station throat there's around 18' of track to give trains a chance to stretch their legs. Nantford Quay is deliberately simple. A station with main and bay platforms and minimal goods facilities. The main interest for me is in watching a variety of trains trundle through a landscape.  

 

Progress so far is that the baseboards are made. Track is down but needs some ironing out to ensure reliable operation with small tank engines. Scenery is underway. And there's some creative thinking going on about the fiddle yard; could this morph into Northwell Junction?

 

Now that the layout is well underway I thought it might be fun to start a thread, share progress (and set backs!). 

 

The layout has come together quite quickly - one of the advantages of lockdown being less distractions. I have to say that previously I'd have spent a lot of time pondering and getting bogged down; after all there was always "next year". The current situation has made me think carefully about that assumption and has definitely influenced the way I'm tackling this layout. 

 

Anyway thanks for reading and let me know if you'd like to see more about the layout as it progresses. 

 

Andy

 

[AndyB]

Having set the scene for my layout I wondered if it would be of interest to step back a few weeks to take a look at how the layout has come together. 

 

Part of the (internal) brief was to try some new techniques so as to learn. 

 

My previous layouts have used flat baseboards and pretty much the scenery rose up from the level of the track. The exceptions being where I'd used a flat baseboard and set it lower than adjacent boards; the valley scene in the original Nantford Spinney being an example. 

 

This time I wanted to try an open top baseboard to allow scenery both below and above the track level. Ideally the result would be lighter, too. 

 

Two long beams separated by spacers were called for. Pillars attached to these spacers would act as the foundation for the plywood trackbed.

 

The slight problem was that my carpentry skills would not run to cutting straight lines. Previous attempts to make a baseboard beam using foam separators faced with ply were not great! 

 

How best to make straight L girders, therefore. The answer for me was to take 2 lengths of skirting boards and glue/screw them together at right angles to form an L shspe. Being machined items they had straight edges making the job simple and the end result more than satisfactory.  Being quite deep they offered strength and wouldn't bend.

 

 

The photo shows the part of the layout which will turn into a valley scene. Height adjusting legs are used to level the layout - more about that another time, perhaps.  

 

The next job was to place those trackbed-supporting pillars and fashion x-sectional profile boards to act as the skeleton for the scenery.... 

 

 

[AndyB]

Before diving into the different construction techniques I'm using it'd probably help to offer the trackplan to help you orientate  

 

It's a traditional U-shape fiddle yard to terminus arrangement.  From the FY to station throat there's about 18' of track. 

 

 

The FY is yet to be designed and, with the kind help and suggestions of others on the forum, I've been exploring the idea of a scenic fiddle yard. This might end up as a representation of Northwell Junction, from which this branch line originates.

 

Thanks for reading. 

Andy

Edited June 7, 2020 by AndyB
Typo

[tomparryharry]

4 hours ago, AndyB said:

Having set the scene for my layout I wondered if it would be of interest to step back a few weeks to take a look at how the layout has come together. 

 

Part of the (internal) brief was to try some new techniques so as to learn. 

 

My previous layouts have used flat baseboards and pretty much the scenery rose up from the level of the track. The exceptions being where I'd used a flat baseboard and set it lower than adjacent boards; the valley scene in the original Nantford Spinney being an example. 

 

This time I wanted to try an open top baseboard to allow scenery both below and above the track level. Ideally the result would be lighter, too. 

 

Two long beams separated by spacers were called for. Pillars attached to these spacers would act as the foundation for the plywood trackbed.

 

The slight problem was that my carpentry skills would not run to cutting straight lines. Previous attempts to make a baseboard beam using foam separators faced with ply were not great! 

 

How best to make straight L girders, therefore. The answer for me was to take 2 lengths of skirting boards and glue/screw them together at right angles to form an L shspe. Being machined items they had straight edges making the job simple and the end result more than satisfactory.  Being quite deep they offered strength and wouldn't bend.

 

 

The photo shows the part of the layout which will turn into a valley scene. Height adjusting legs are used to level the layout - more about that another time, perhaps.  

 

The next job was to place those trackbed-supporting pillars and fashion x-sectional profile boards to act as the skeleton for the scenery.... 

 

 

 

I say! Nice bridge!

[AndyB]

 

3 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

 

I say! Nice bridge!

 

Thanks, Tom.

This was a laser cut kit by N-scenic and makes up as a double-track bridge. It's a nice kit to build.

Knowing that the line would be single track we did debate reducing it's width. Relatively simple - just needs the transverse spacers to be cut down. The deck, too.

However I opted to leave it as is and think of it as something akin to the Midford viaduct. 

 

The only thing to remember is that it is quite tall. So, the gradient up from near sea level by the harbour took some thinking through!  

[tomparryharry]

Their website is temporarily down due to a house move. Thus far, the Youtube videos show the bridge models to good advantage, and in 4mm as well. 

 

 

[AndyB]

From memory the kit was about £20 and comes as a flat pack in either painted or unpainted versions. I opted for unpainted and gave the finished kit a spray with grey primer.  I guess it could have some weathering in due course.

 

I left it as a grey colour, thinking that painting it in specifIc colours would tie it to a place that, alongside some of my loco choices, would raise eyebrows!

 

If you make up this kit there's a bit of brickwork on the deck, which is quite delicate and has a tendency to flake off leaving a somewhat distressed appearance. I picked the brickwork out in acrylic paint.

[AndyB]

One of the challenges in building the layout was a rather uneven surface on which the layout sits; essentially a row of kitchen cupboard base units. 

 

When first installed everything was fine and flat. But over the years the chipboard surface has sagged at the midpoint of each cupboard. That's probably down to the weight of stuff stored distorting the frames.

 

Option 1 was to rip them all out and replace the storage with a series of bays delineated by large vertical triangular brackets to support the baseboards.

All those bits and pieces we accumulate and shove in cupboards would go in stacked plastic storage boxes.  

 

Reality and practicality got in the way. Just as I was limbering up to start this - with all the attendant disruption - I found myself needing to use the same space as an office.

So taking the pragmatic approach I did a work around and used adjustable legs at the corner of each baseboard. 

 

Fashioning profile boards was also new to me. Being short of timber, and with access to diy stores not possible, I intended to rest the trackbed directly on these. 

This sort of worked but minor adjustments were needed along the way using short pieces of timber and ply offcuts.  The route rises some 3 to 4 inches and has a number of twists and turns. So the gradient was flattened when going round a curve to allow a loco with 4 coaches to negotiate the route.   

 

[AndyB]

In the original Nantford Spinney layout one of the most enjoyable parts was to create the valley and river scene; likewise with this iteration. 

 

In the original @treggyman recommended using value-pack J cloths which I've done on this occassion over the top of a net of cardboard strips. I happened to have a stock of supermarket frozen pizza boxes cut into strips. To speed the job up I used hot melt glue, rather than PVA to fix these strips down.

 

 

One downside of the Jclothes is that it's a strong colour and needs a fair bit of paint to cover it up.  

 

Searching around for a brown "terrain" paint I alighted on a bucket of leftover Ronseal fence paint. 

Hmmm.

 

Unfortunately after it had dried the J cloth pattern still showed through.

 

So I ended up mixing a green/brown paint up from children's poster paint. Better. It looked like Thames sludge and wow, pretty much smelt the same! 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by AndyB
Typo!!

[AndyB]

So although it's normal to get all the track down, tested and ballasted before starting on the scenery it made more sense to mix the order up a bit.

 

Basically I didn't fancy painting and varnishing the river once the bridge was in place! Careful as you intend to be, splashes of paint and varnish are going to end up where they shouldn't. 

 

The effect I'm going for is of a slow moving river with perhaps a few ripples whipped up by the breeze.

 

 

The base of the river is plywood sealed with PVA. Once dry I used a mix of green acrylic paints to represent weeds in the river and reflections from trees that'll eventually overhang the river. I used clear gloss varnish built up in about 6 thin layers to give the impression of the water's surface. 

 

 

There's still loads to do on this part of the layout to naturalise the river bank.  

 

One recent purchase were some lasercut mini bulrushes by Model Scene.

 

Anyone tried these?

 

I've not tried these before so it'll be fun experimenting. I'm guessing a tiny blob of contact glue is used to make each clump. Thereafter bed them into the river with a final layer of varnish? That's when I'll use a drinking straw to blow some ripples into the river's surface.

 

Well, that's the theory anyway!

 

Thanks for reading. 

Andy

 

 

[AndyB]

This is a recent photo of part of the layout. 

 

OK, ok its a gratuitous shot of my Dapol pannier tank and recently acquired autocoach.

 

 

That said, it shows what I'll be working on next; the river bank. 

 

Inspiration for this will come from photos of the Victoria bridge on the SVR. I think this will need some patches of longer grass - hanging basket liner glued down and trimmed back?

 

Any ideas how to make brambles and general undergrowth to go under the bridge would be appreciated? 

 

Andy

 

 

 

[AndyB]

Afternoon all. 

 

I've been adding vegetation to the area around the bridge.  Figuring that under the bridge would be in shade, so not as lush as other areas, I did an initial covering with fine earth blend, following this up with a small amount of grass blend. 

 

 

Another feature I've added is a Type 22 pillbox. After a bit of reading up on how these were made I went for a concrete finish. 

The kit is basically to pieces of resin. These need filing down to open up the gun loops. I finished the kit off with a small amount of DAS clay to remote the gap between the roof and walls.

 

In due course I'll add weeds all over it to show how nature has got a grip on it in the years since the war.

 

 

And finally for today's update some bulrushes. Making these from the laser-cut paper kit I was given is somewhat fiddly. Let's just say a green cutting mat and a green carpet aren't the way to go!  A bit of white kitchen paper does help you see what you're doing.

 

As you can see from the photo above, it'll take quite a few to make much of an impact on the layout.

 

The pack has about 18 in it with dozens of additional leaves. I've put this batch in place with a small dob of clear varnish.

 

I don't recommend trying to make them all at once unless you want a case of eye strain, though. 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading so far.

Andy

[AndyB]

Evening all. 

I've not had that much time, or energy, to do much on the layout recently. 

 

There's still much to do on the river bank; I probably sound like Kenneth Grahame's Ratty.

 

I've recently been creating reeds from garden twine by bleaching a few inches of twine at a time, teasing it out into individual strands, cutting to length and then fixing to the river with a tiny amount of contact adhesive. I need to add a lot more of these along this bank. And I've not even started on the opposing bank at call.  

 

I'm not sure who it was on here who came up with the idea of freezing colouring crayons and grating them to make flowers. But it worked a treat! A few touches of colour really does lift the scene.

 

 

Anyway, just as I was mulling this over a 5MT drifted over the bridge delivering more holiday makers to Nantford....

 

[AndyB]

So it's been around 6 weeks since I last gave an update. With work and summer holidays - and in part a lack of modelling mojo - contributing to that. 

 

Some of the running in the terminus has been a bit unreliable with pannier tanks struggling over some of the points.  I also felt there was room for improvement in terms of how the sidings were laid out. So I've partially lifted the track with the intention of putting new points in which will hopefully  improve reliability. Track laying isn't my passion and certainly not my talent.

 

So to keep progress going I've been taking a look at the town scene.

Originally my intention was that this would sit behind the station and be fairly narrow. However an area I'm keen to have a go at is scratch building buildings. So I've done a bit of a land grab and designated a whole corner over to this. 

 

Here's some photos of the area I'll be building on and the way I'm building up the terrain in which it'll sit. Oh, and because the track does a 90deg turn under the town this whole area needs to be accessible, i.e. removable. 

 

The area I'm going to build on.

 Cardboard template I'm using.

 

Hopefully this is the first photo of what will become Nantford. 

 

Nothing is planned, as yet. But I'd like to draw on influences from Winchelsea and Rye. Of course neither are at all close to the south-west where my layout might be assumed to be. But both towns, imho, have some gorgeous buildings and vista's, so "why not". 

[AndyB]

Afternoon all,

Well rhe town of Nantford isn't going to build itself so I've set to and spent the last day or so imaginering it into life.

 

First off I replaced the cardboard template with some ply to make it more robust. It occurred to me that the town is going to take some time to create to the standard I'm hoping for, so I didn't want the thing falling apart.  

 

Next I acquired a variety of packaging boxes from around the house to create different levels, taking care to stick these down before the household authority found the former contents of these boxes shoved into cupboards. 

 

 

I then used some of the cardboard that previously made up the template to link these boxes together. Waste not, want not! Copydex and a hot glue were my friends in this so as to make quick progress.

 

I'd originally thought of this sub-baseboard as forming a tunnel to disguise the 90deg bend in the track. However, for simplicity and maintenance I've opted for a deep cutting instead. This way if a loco stalls I won't need to remove the whole of the town section to get things moving again. 

 

To be honest at this stage I wasn't overly convinced that a town was my best option.

 

But sometimes it pays to preason on. So I started to build up the scenery with clay...

 

Firstly making a slope up from the river and the beginnings of a town wall. 

 

Then adding a coating of clay to those Elastoplast inner tubes....

 

 

I'm making the assumption that once dried I'll be able to score fine lines in to give the impression of different coarses of stones. 

 

There'll be "much muttering" if this isn't the case! 

[AndyB]

So the motto of the say is...

I didn't fail, I just found a better way of succeeding.

 

The market town scene I was trying to create didn't look right. Actually it looked decidedly awful and each time I added something to rescue the situation it got worse. 

 

So with not too much ceremony I've ripped up that part and am in the process of creating a much simpler scenic treatment. 

 

The plan now is to have a simple cutting by extending the scenery that is in the foreground of this image. 

 

 

I've made a start by putting in card formers. 

 

I'll then build up a hill in the foreground of this second photo leading down to the river (bottom left). 

I envisage a road bridge helping to break up the curve of the track.

 

And finally a small group of buildings in the mid ground of this scene.

 

I was quite keen on trying out the Petite Properties church but believe this would really dominate the scene and make the area seem to shrink. Whereas the effect I'm trying to go for is to give everything room to breathe. So under scale buildings that gels force perspective is the way to go?

 

Anyway, thanks for reading this far and I'll hopefully be back with an update in a while.

[AndyB]

Modelling mojo hasn't been high recently. Partly as the corner of the layout I was developing didn't work out as originally planned. 

 

I knew I needed to hide the view of the trains as they negotiate the 90deg turn and I definitely didn't want a tunnel which would get hard to clean the track inside.

 

So this is what I came up with. 

 

 

There's obviously a lot of detail to add....a churchyard scene (no cliche wedding or funeral tbough), hedgerows, and a cluster of cottages in the foreground. 

 

I made a start on slightly modifying the standard kestrel church by adding a pointed roof on the bell tower, a St. George's flag, and making some diy stained glass for the church windows - quite effective when lit up from inside, although the building will need a lot ofor internal padding to stop light leaking out of the joins between the walls and roof. 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

4 hours ago, AndyB said:

 

 

 

There's obviously a lot of detail to add....a churchyard scene (no cliche wedding or funeral tbough), hedgerows, and a cluster of cottages in the foreground. 

 

I made a start on slightly modifying the standard kestrel church by adding a pointed roof on the bell tower, a St. George's flag, and making some diy stained glass for the church windows - quite effective when lit up from inside, although the building will need a lot ofor internal padding to stop light leaking out of the joins between the walls and roof. 

Hi Andy, I particularly like this shot.

 

A common churchyard scene in many places would be to have someone cutting the grass (or taking a break from cutting the grass if you prefer not to have ‘action poses’).  Someone sitting on a bench (perhaps a cyclist) or a couple resting on a walk are also common - but all tend to be daytime more than evening of course.  Someone reading the notice board?  Just ideas.

 

Of course, a ‘leaking roof’ would be prototypical for many Church buildings these days, but maybe less so in the era modelled, and it doesn’t tend to be leaking light that that’s our problem!  

[AndyB]

Thanks @Keith Addenbrooke some nice ideas. I think the lytch gate, notice board and crucifix will be on my Christmas list. 

 

I like the idea of someone mowing the grass. I think this chap may be moving down from "The Smoke" to Nantford, but he seems to be lost in transit on his way to the west country. In fact a search party has been out looking for him all afternoon! 

 

Meanwhile the grass has started to grow in the church yard....so he better not take too long! 

 

 

I'm also wondering if there might be a vicarage on the other side of the road?

 

(these internal building blocks that were part of a graham farish card kit ae great for testing out whee buildings might go).

 

I'm thinking if this was a vicarage it'd be a lucky parson that got toI've that there. "Fine sea views with the added advantage of a regular steam service."

 

 

Meanwhile, whilst time and tide wait for no man I've got a bit of time to kill before this modelling clay dries and is ready for painting. 

 

So time to adjourn to The Nantford Arms for a swift half, methinks.

 

Thanks for reading.

[AndyB]

Evenin' all.

 

Managed to grab a couple of days off this week so I've carried on working on this little estuary scene.

 

Having grown up in close proximity to a marshy, muddy estuary this is what I wanted to recreate. Apart from the smell (and taste if you fell in the stuff) I've achieved what I wanted. 

 

[AndyB]

Evenin', again.

 

At last the gardener turned up, spookily he was just where I'd put him when dismantling the last layout. 

By extrapolation maybe a lot of other things I can't remember putting down may be exactly where I left them! 

 

Anyway today has mostly been abut hedges. The base was a strip of green scouring pad, fixed in place with contact adhesive and scatter applied with PVA. 

I've left a gap for the lytch gate that Keith suggested in an earlier post.  

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

16 minutes ago, AndyB said:

Evenin', again.

 

At last the gardener turned up, spookily he was just where I'd put him when dismantling the last layout. 

By extrapolation maybe a lot of other things I can't remember putting down may be exactly where I left them! 

 

Anyway today has mostly been abut hedges. The base was a strip of green scouring pad, fixed in place with contact adhesive and scatter applied with PVA. 

I've left a gap for the lytch gate that Keith suggested in an earlier post.  

 

Hi Andy: you should take the credit for the Lychgate - and a Church like this probably did have one (I just suggested a notice board).  Technically, I think you should have a graveyard around the Church if you have a lychgate, which again a Church like this would usually have (not always: I have been Vicar of a Church near a country railway line that didn’t have a graveyard or a lychgate).

[AndyB]

Well, Keith, I never knew the actual purpose of a lych gate until you commented that they go hand-in-hand with a grave yard.

 

And so headstones are going on my Christmas list (along with a noticeboard).  

 

Strangely swmbo said she'd already ordered one for me - how many more did I need?!   

[AndyB]

Back in June I posted a sketch of the track plan. Based on feedback in the Layout Design part of the forum I've modified my original idea, taking out a kick-back siding.

 

The result I think, whilst simpler, flows nicer. 

 

I don't think it needs much explanation, nevertheless....

 

A bay platform for an auto train and departure platform for a B set. The main platform will take a 3-coach train. Siding on the RHS for goods. Headshunt for the run-round loop across a level crossing. 

 

 

Now for many this will provide precious little in the way of operational potential. However over the years I've come to realise that I get more enjoyment out of building layouts than playing with them.

 

So, provided the end result is pleasing on the eye abd helped me practixe sone new skills then it'll have done it's job. 

[treggyman]

Hi

 

Just caught up with this & enjoyed the read...

 

Will look forward to seeing your project unfold....

 

Cheers Bill