RMweb Gold Popular Post Harlequin Posted June 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted June 8, 2020 (edited) Like a lot of us, I have long been intrigued by C J Freezer's famous design for a small double-track terminus station, "Minories". I have noticed that when it is referenced in other designs it is usually modified, lengthened, bent and often changed so much that the resulting track plan really has nothing to do with Freezer's original concept. So when I was looking for a small, achievable project - something portable that I could make with the materials I had to hand - it seemed like a good idea to make a Minories layout that adheres very closely to one of the original plans. I'm going to use Plan SP35 from 60 Plans for Small Locations because it's one of the smallest, most basic versions and I've already honed the plan into a good state: (I know about the reverse curves in the top platforms and the slightly awkward joggle into the bottom Platform - they are authentic features.) I created a 3D model of the box in Sketchup and I'm using it in the workshop to guide me: The basic structure is plywood H girders with bracing underneath and timber frames at the ends to provide more solidity where the boxes need to be joined, hinged and/or handled. After a few days cutting here are all the parts ready for assembly: I have got some ideas about region and era using modern RTR locos and rolling stock that should work well. More of that later. * I'm sorry for the cheesy title! When I can think of something better I will change it, I promise! Edited January 2, 2021 by Harlequin 43 8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted June 8, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 8, 2020 (edited) I’m liking the look of the hinged baseboard Edited June 8, 2020 by chuffinghell 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 I like the original title. Then again, I like puns and Dad jokes too! I don't think you'll regret using a Minories track plan. It is adaptable if required, and can be tremendous fun to operate. 2 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 9, 2020 My version of Minories was almost the only bit of my old layout to survive the house move. It's called St. Mary Axe* and located in East London. * pronounced Simmery Axe. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 5 hours ago, BR60103 said: My version of Minories was almost the only bit of my old layout to survive the house move. It's called St. Mary Axe* and located in East London. * pronounced Simmery Axe. Like you, I salvaged my Minories boards for further use after demolishing the old layout but before I could build a new one. I used a one road fiddle yard on a temporary board to keep things running. Mine was a mirror-imaged and stretched version, with a loco shed added at the junction end, and a crssover in the platforms to allow locos to run around their trains. The operational possibilities and interest were unsurpassed as far as my own layouts have gone. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc smith Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 It's the best way to approach this design - by building the baseboards first, and making sure the hinge works, and most importantly, that the hinge aligns perfectly. This will help ensure trouble-free track alignment. A folding layout is something I've long pondered - but never quite got a design I was quite happy with. The terminus station makes that bridge in the centre look like a more convincing location IMO. Some folk mightn't bother with this, but I would be tempted to make a "plug-in" road overlay / jigsaw piece - just to finish off, and help hide the join when operating or exhibiting. I did start to build a minories layout myself, many years back. My plan was to have it as a stand-alone layout, which could be attached to a larger scheme... but that never got finished Good luck with this plan - I'd like to see it completed BTW - I like the title, it's what made me look at the thread, but then again like @SRman I'm a fan of Dad jokes too! I'll get my Snorkel Jacket... lol 3 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) 16 minutes ago, marc smith said: Good luck with this plan - I'd like to see it completed BTW - I like the title, it's what made me look at the thread, but then again like @SRman I'm a fan of Dad jokes too! I'll get my Snorkel Jacket... lol There's no hope for either of us, Marc! Edited June 9, 2020 by SRman 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post Izzy Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted June 9, 2020 I have found that with decent hinges coupled with some dowels, plus a bolt or two to keep them locked together when unfolded things work okay. This is the result with a small P4 layout I built back in the 1980's. All ply boards with 2x1 at the hinge joints (two 9mm layers on the hinge ends) and 1x1 along the lengths with 9mm tops and 6mm elsewhere. Quite sturdy and like a single board when bolted together. The track joint is where the loco dome is, you can probably see it fairly easily. But it was not too bad. Izzy 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37Oban Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 Hi, it doesn't always have to be a bridge to hide the hinge blocks. On the layout I'm just starting to build one block will be behind the backscene and the other hidden by a removable building. Roja 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ianathompson Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 9, 2020 8 minutes ago, 37Oban said: Hi, it doesn't always have to be a bridge to hide the hinge blocks. I agree that hiding the hinge blocks doesn't necessarily require a bridge. I have used the hinged baseboard form of construction lots of times and have always tried to avoid that "give away" central bridge. I would endorse the comment to take care with the hinge alignment. My carpentry skills are such that I have never yet succeeded in making one truly square and level! Usually you can get around this but it has proved a little more problematical in fussy N gauge. Heres a photo of Inverness Citadel (a third or fourth string layout in building) showing the hinge disguises. 9 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The disguise to the left is a tannery and the other hinge is under the football stand facing out onto the Moray Firth.. This is a much more open setting than Minories where it should easily be possible to contrive an excuse for a building. The bridge at the bottom disguises the entrance to the fiddle yard and a goods shed is set in front of it. Ian T 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) A good start. Those suggesting alternatives are perhaps missing the point! Part of the Minories charm is the bridge, giving a scenic divide into station throat and platforms. Getting rid of it does away with a feature that a faithful Minories ought to have. There has been a very interesting discussion on the theory, design and "What is a Minories". I think some of us have decided that the time for discussion is over and the time for building has arrived! Edited June 9, 2020 by t-b-g 3 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2020 I've sometimes wondered if you could disguise the hinges using an over the track signal box? 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted June 9, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) Thankyou everyone for contributing! I am going to do the classic road bridge covering the hinges. Maybe with a horse-drawn omnibus on the road as a twist on the old cliché. I cut the two front sides of the box this morning. Not as neat as I'd like but they'll do: The frames at the ends of each section of the box will be held rigidly by being glued to the front and back side panels. The idea is and give something really solid to fix the hinges to. Hence the diagonal cuts and rounded inner corners for bracing. Edited June 9, 2020 by Harlequin 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandwell Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 Like most people, I love the Minories plan. You have some neat components there. Looking forward to seeing more! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2020 Some lovely workmanship going on with the woodwork Phil 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2020 A good few years ago (2007?) the DEMU society ran a Minories competition - what if we had another one to celebrate 65 years in 2022? You could standardise the baseboard size by arranging for one of the baseboard kit manufacturers to make a suitable template? (Really thinking that I havnt got Phil's woodwork skills!) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted June 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2020 Minories is a work of genius, Cyril Freezer’s masterpiece. The ‘giveaway’ bridge is permitted, even encouraged, by the original concept, a basement level urban commuter terminus. The back story is pretty much identifiable as the BR side of Moorgate; the main line stations are further out but railways penetrated further in during the 1870s or 80s as the first class bums in the first class seats moved out to rural villas, followed 40 years later by the Metroland brigade. But this limits it a bit. There aren’t many British cities that can support that implied backstory; Liverpool and Edinburgh have similar commuter scenarios below street level, and Birmingham has the tunnels, but the other big cities, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, don’t ‘feel right’ for it. It’s like Paul Simon’s ‘One Trick Pony‘; it turns that trick with pride! Were I building it, it would need a high or street level goods yard, and the bridge would be at a slight angle to the platforms. An essential would be a parcels lift, as my version would have a role as a parcels/mail depot overnight, maybe newspaper traffic as well. A sparser commuter service on Saturday would leave paths for excursion traffic. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold D9020 Nimbus Posted June 10, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2020 Glasgow certainly had low-level suburban sections—still does, and once some small urban termini too. Operated in the 1950s by N2s, V1/3s, Fairburn and standard 2-6-4Ts. On the Caledonian side in the 1960s as it fell into decline even Claytons could occasionally be seen… 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Half-full Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 2 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said: Glasgow certainly had low-level suburban sections—still does, and once some small urban termini too. Operated in the 1950s by N2s, V1/3s, Fairburn and standard 2-6-4Ts. On the Caledonian side in the 1960s as it fell into decline even Claytons could occasionally be seen… Top centre on this map...https://maps.nls.uk/view/82891803 is the closed Bridgeton (Brig-ton) terminus station in Glasgow, less than 2 miles from the centre of Glasgow. Although slightly bigger than Minories, its a very modellable area Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calnefoxile Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 We at Bentley Model Railway Group had a layout called Gladstone Road that was based on the Minories concept, it was supposed to based around surburban Manchester. We eventually extended it to allow through running and finally sold it last year. Extending it certainly added much operational interest for the Operators. Regards Neal. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyboy Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Like many other modellers, I also truly love the Minories layout and would like to build a N Gauge version one day, set up north (Yorkshire) with a run-down station with Pacers, Sprinter units etc... Sam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 11, 2020 On 09/06/2020 at 18:22, marc smith said: It's the best way to approach this design - by building the baseboards first, and making sure the hinge works, and most importantly, that the hinge aligns perfectly. This will help ensure trouble-free track alignment. I'd make the hinge itself slightly floppy but use dowels in the mating board ends to secure the alignment when the layout is opened up for operation. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted June 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 13 minutes ago, St Enodoc said: I'd make the hinge itself slightly floppy but use dowels in the mating board ends to secure the alignment when the layout is opened up for operation. I'm worried about using dowels at all because the ones I have used on my current test layout are very tight and really only want to move in one axis so they might be sticky or totally impossible to engage when rotated into position by a hinge. My current thinking is to just align the boards by hand and use flight-box clasps to then pull them tightly together. Friction would then prevent them from moving. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 11, 2020 1 minute ago, Harlequin said: I'm worried about using dowels at all because the ones I have used on my current test layout are very tight and really only want to move in one axis so they might be sticky or totally impossible to engage when rotated into position by a hinge. My current thinking is to just align the boards by hand and use flight-box clasps to then pull them tightly together. Friction would then prevent them from moving. I use DCC Concepts dowels (usual disclaimer) to align my lifting flap. they are quite short and have rounded ends so can move in rotation as well as pure translation. When engaged they are very rigid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Izzy Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 11, 2020 The problem with loose hinges which I have encountered is that close mating of the end surfaces can be lost at the track level. If the best quality close fitting brass hinges are used then I have now found just a bolt through the two boards underneath is sufficient to hold them firmly together. The higher the hinge position the greater the cantilever result of course. Izzy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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