Horton

[mac1960]

Well its been a while coming, but I now have some pictures of Horton and its surround casing.

As you can see the fiddle yard is to the front, and will be underneath the hill which is behind the station in reality (for those who know the area), and is therefore covered by this. This was dictated by the room into which it is going ultimately, where access to the back would be difficult. The layout is currently at White Rose Models, who have done a really excellent job of interpreting my brief for the base boards, and indeed wiring and track construction. It was difficult to explain to them what I wanted, so I used the analogy of a theatre. The idea is that you will view the layout through the upper opening, and look down onto the station and buildings at a distance, and these will be like items on a stage, with the trains playing the actors so to speak. The quarry has not been modeled due to space obviously, and only the spur to it will be visible as you can see from the control board. Otherwise the track plan is accurate. There has been some debate as to how life like we can go, and indeed there may have to be some slight changes as the scenery develops, but it will have the feel of the place..

 

Anyway White Rose are completing their works shortly, and then it is down to the scenery, which is being done by another excellent member of the Horton team. All the buildings are completed, and trees and signals like wise by other specialist in their fields. Hopefully it will come together over the next few months and I will be able to post some more progress shots as the works progress.    

[peach james]

Ah, in N gauge...which makes the curves far more reasonable than in OO !  I am liking how this looks, even in quite low resolution.  I assume the fiddle yard will normally be covered over with a cloth on the front ?  Then it is easy to access, but is off stage to the station ?  

 

The baseboard construction looks really neat, that is an advantage of using professionals to construct it.  

 

James

[mac1960]

James

I am up with White Rose later today, so will get some better photos for you. As you say White Rose have done  a great job on the boards etc. The fiddle yard is lit for ease of use and can be covered. I did not want the curves modelled as I find most layout curves far too tight when compared with reality so the layout is essentialy the straight areas. Scenic breaks will be the cutting to the south and we will be introducing a typical S&C bridge (Coal Road Dent) to the north, as there is no convenient break at that end.

Mac

[mac1960]

James

Please see clearer photos from todays visit.

Cheers

Mac

[mac1960]

James

Some locos re numbered and marked up that I got back from White Rose today, which have been up there for track testing. Feels like it is coming together like all good projects should.

Cheers

Mac

[peach james]

Interesting !  A model "of" a railway, rather than a model railway...which is quite a bit different than most.  It's not an approach I can recall seeing- the view being from behind (18" ?) of hill, and down into the station rather than the far more traditional station on the front side.  

 

I will follow this with some interest, as it it certainly should look good,

 

James

[mac1960]

James

It is meant, as you say to be "a model of a railway", and that is what we are striving for. It is being modeled in the autumn (or should I say fall as you are in BC) and the station and buildings are in the distressed state they achieved in the mid 60,s on the S&C. The time frame is Oct 1964 up to Oct 1967, and the line changed little apart from the introduction of some BR Blue stock and locos, and of course the demise of certain steam classes in that period. Ultimately in Dec 67 the end of regular steam occurred with Kingmoor closure. This allows the running of everything from A1 to Class 50, and in theory 100t tanks and Freightliners, though even though I have seen video of these very types of freight train on the S&C I will not be having these as they were not the norm.

 

You will as you said be looking down at arms length to the station, and the idea is to set the railway in the scenery rather than vice versa. Glad you like what we are about. 

Have a good weekend

Cheers

Mac      

[mac1960]

Well we finally got Horton baseboards and track delv from White Rose this last weekend and tested and set up at home The delay has been part Covid and then work / holiday commitments, but we are now in a position to start  though due to work issues this may be at least another 2 weeks off but we will see. It's just good to get it here after such a long wait, mainly as I say due to Covid 19. On the plus side WR did an absolutely wonderful job in interpreting the teams design brief  and we are very pleased with what we have, and how the delv was handled in these strange times, so full marks to WR. We will now try and make the scenery match their skills in electronics and baseboard construction. I will send some photos in another month when construction of the scenery will hopefully be underway.   

Cheers

Mac

[mac1960]

Well New Year and an old excuse's it seems,  re progress i.e. work commitments in a Covid environment.

 

Also there has had to be some changes to Horton due a room constraint. This is unfortunate as I really wanted to model it as it was, but the depth can not be achieved in the room available, so short of renting space elsewhere, or moving house there will have to be changes.

The main issue is the space behind the station running down the hill. We already limited this to 3 cottages instead of the 6 that are there, but the space still makes this seem too congested. The S&C builders were blessed with lots of space on which to put their infrastructure buildings, and I do not want it to become too compacted. Therefore after discussions it has been decided we will introduce a skewed bridge on the northern end of the model similar to those at Dent or Kirby Stephen. The road down to the station will come off this road after crossing the railway and lead down to the station. The station Master House will remain in the position it is in reality, though the railway cottages maybe introduced to this road as they are in Garsdale ie on approach road. The freight shed which we were unsure of introducing will definitely be in it as well.  With regards to the signal box having both the one at Horton (Ais Gill type) and the Ratio Settle Junction type, we feel the Ratio one is just too good not to use. So on the plus side we now have all the buildings completed, and weathered it is just placement which is still subject to a little discussion.

The exit to the south is the other thing which we have to reconcile. In reality the line crosses over the road to the quarry and enters a shallow cutting, as this was where we had to reduce the space that bridge has been removed, and the cutting will have to be more abrupt though we are looking at options. The area behind the railway at this point comprises 2nr waste ponds from the Quarry and fields so not great features but it is reality.

 

If anybody has some suggestions they would be welcome for the south end exit.

 

The next big task is to get this bridge built on the north end, and once that is done it dictates the land scape and then it will hopefully come together. One of my co conspirator's suggested a change in the name from Horton to Horton But Not ,which tickled me, and I may use it when we get that far. I will post some photos of the buildings and bridge when  completed.    

 

Cheers

Mac

[mac1960]

Well here are some photos of recently weathered and renumbered 8F,s and a representation of a south bound Anhydrite train. Also you can see some of the recently completed and weathered station buildings and associated structures. Platform's are underway, as is bridge construction, though  unfortunately that thing called work keeps intervening. Will post some more when I have further to show.   

[mac1960]

Well its been a while, and progress unfortunately has been glacial  on Horton. The reasons being partly the following in any order, change of job  (me) , sale and change of house (my scenic gentleman Richard) that needs extensive renovation, Prostrate Cancer (Me), so all in all not a good year for me, or progress on Horton. However on the plus side my Cancer has been treated, hopefully successfully , new job is going well, and the refurb of the house bought by Richard is in hand, and all buildings are completed along with a lot of drystone walling  for Horton. So we are now knocking on the door of 2022, and we hope to maybe get Horton somewhere near ready by August, but we will have to see. So may I take this opportunity to wish you the compliments of the season, and I look forward to being able to show more progress during the coming year. 

 

Mac  

[Physicsman]

5 hours ago, mac1960 said:

Well its been a while, and progress unfortunately has been glacial  on Horton. The reasons being partly the following in any order, change of job  (me) , sale and change of house (my scenic gentleman Richard) that needs extensive renovation, Prostrate Cancer (Me), so all in all not a good year for me, or progress on Horton. However on the plus side my Cancer has been treated, hopefully successfully , new job is going well, and the refurb of the house bought by Richard is in hand, and all buildings are completed along with a lot of drystone walling  for Horton. So we are now knocking on the door of 2022, and we hope to maybe get Horton somewhere near ready by August, but we will have to see. So may I take this opportunity to wish you the compliments of the season, and I look forward to being able to show more progress during the coming year. 

 

Mac  

 

All the best to you, Mac.

 

I hope 2022 is a lot more successful for you than the present year has been.

 

Jeff

[mac1960]

Well another year, and more excuses for lack of progress, all work related which is good in away, as the health issues I had have been successfully resolved, and all in all I have had one of the best years of my life in many perspectives, however Horton has not been one of these successes unfortunately. However the layout is now re erected and scenic work will be commencing in the New Year, so we maybe able to show something in the summer, but we will have to see, but all buildings, trees and walls are ready and bridge nearly completed. All stock has been weathered, and I just await the arrival of a Firth of Clyde Brit to complete locos. I did think about doing the Conder freight although the Metrovicks, had gone by my period, and the train was running with double headed CL24 but I baulked at the north of £500 for 27 wagons !!  Anyway watch this space as they say !!

 

Happy New Year to you all.

Cheers

Mac   

[mac1960]

Well another update in the same year which is a recent record ! Horton is now re-erected and scenic work due to begin in the next week or so !!! I will post photos when there is something tangible to show,

 

Cheers

Mac

[mac1960]

We have had to make some changes due to space constraints so Horton will not be able to be Horton as originally planned. The track plane will be Horton, and it will be on a valley side but we are unable to get the depth required to run the houses down the street away from the station and into the valley bottom, so will have to change this and will be introducing a road bridge on the northern side, and an occupation green lane bridge to the south. But the room into which it is going is not deep enough, so compromises have to be made as always with railway modeling it seems. However on the plus the landforms are laid out and progress being made. We are looking to build a run down barn in 3mm closer to the viewing area to perspective as well. I will get some photos next time I am buy the layout so you can see progress hopefully.

Incidentally the gentleman doing the scenic modelling is Richard Stott who has done a lot of work on the Mills Bridge N / 2mm gauge layout with Huddersfield Railway Modelers, but also did Staly Vegas which was featured in the N Gauge magazine, and will be at York this year. I will be there on Monday at York to help him with this as well, so may see some of you there. Another thing is that we will have to come up with a new project name, as it will not be like Horton. Richard said we could have called it Horton but Not if it was GWR ! so suggestions welcome !       

 

Cheers

Mac     

[mac1960]

After a break for house decorating, Horton is back underway as you can see. The hill side has been constructed, and the setting out of some buildings has been tentatively agreed. As you can see we have had to come away from the original scheme of building Horton in reality, as there just is not the depth available in the room into which it will finally live. The cattle dock will move further to the left away from the signal box and the barns will move around the hill side a little yet, until we are happy with them. However the Station buildings, Station Masters House, Railway cottages and Goods shed will be in these positions as shown on the photos. The next big test is dry stone walling. I have some samples on the way from Osbourne in 2mm and 4mm. The reason for the two scales is to give perspective. The Barn in the foreground is OO and we are experimenting with this currently. It maybe we will have to build on in HO scale as OO maybe a tad big but we will see. Anyway just glad to have work underway as this model has been in the planning stage for around 14 years, HS2 was quicker !!! 

 

Cheers

Mac 

[mac1960]

Laser cut Drystone wall arrived today in 00 and N Gauge for trial works. I have to say they look really well, but a bit daunting as to how many meters will be required as basically the models main ingredients are Grass, Drystone walling, Barns, and Victorian Gothic Railway Architecture and some Sycamore trees as every Yorkshire Farm house has one !
 

Cheers

Mac

[mac1960]

A little more progress this week. Decision time on how we exit the scenic area was agreed. So we are going for two slew bridges. I know in reality you would probably  not get a slew bridge built for an occupation bridge, but there are some slew road bridges on the S&C , and its far better than a hole in the sky. We did look at the possibility of an Aqueduct, but thought a slew bridge would be better, and the symmetry would be quite pleasing to the eye.

We are moving rapidly away from the original idea of a model of Horton in Ribblesdale, but it will have the feel of the place, and the S&C in general we hope. The hill side to the right on the first picture will have a lot of drystone walling and a Barn, the later being in 3mm probably with a sheep enclosure and Sycamore tree with a slight lean to it maybe. The drystone walling in this location will be in 00 scale, the rest in N Gauge. So a large order for Osbournes / Laser cut on Tuesday !

 

Cheers

Mac          

[mac1960]

Orders placed with Osborne’s for walling and gates etc. I have to say nice people to do business with and our wind-blasted Sycamore is ordered with Treemendous another supplier I would strongly recommend from the work they did on the N gauge trees 18 months ago.

[mac1960]

 

A bit more progress on Land forms this week. Just got some indicative bridge profile in for slew bridges. The walling has not yet arrived from Osbourne's but could have been disrupted with  the snow we had up here on Friday. The HO Sycamore is ordered with Treemendouse, and looking to have that in early April all being well. We have identified a suitable barn and enclosure to model for the hillside to build in HO, the existing 00 one was just to prove the concept  and will not be on the layout as it is just a tad too large. Anyway all going the right way.   

[mac1960]

There has been a glitch in wall delv as it had not arrived from Osborne’s as they had not got enough in for my order. They have sent it but unfortunately I have left for the Middle East so that part of the build will be on hold pending my return in early April.

[mac1960]

 

Well a quick update as just had these sent to me on progress as still away. As you can see first Slew Bridge in position, and the first tree and a bit of wall making an appearance.  I hope to be back in UK this weekend so maybe able to get some more photos, though Richard is tinkering with Stalyvegas as it is at the York Show this coming weekend, as indeed am I on the Monday giving him a hand, so dont expect much more progress. So if you are there you can ask me on Monday or Richard about this project or indeed Stalyvegas.

[mac1960]

Well after a interesting weekend its back to work. Anyway on the plus side the walls have arrived, and Richard has those, as well as picking up some stuff from the York show when I was there on Monday helping out with Staly Vegas. As many of you may not have seen this model I have attached some photos below taken yesterday. Horton is basically Staly Vegas on steroids, or at least we hope so !!  

[mac1960]

Well I have some more photos of Horton progress for you. Basically we have been playing with the positioning of barns and trees and scales thereof, and it is critical that we get this right to pull the whole thing off. You can see from some of the photos the idea behind what we are about, and also the picture looking down the line shows how wrong the scale is but the model will never be viewed from that side. You will be constrained to look into the model by the staging, which will make it look like you are viewing a stage or maybe peering through a letter box so to speak. Also w have extended the cattle dock by a further section which was a little drama in itself and worth a bit of a chat about. Also I should point out that the camera does lie as the trees as are not as big in reality as they appear on the screen below, and also we will be cutting down the size of the lateral moraine in the foreground.

 

We all know that N Gauge detailing on locomotives and stock is getting ever more detailed and life like, so why are some of the buildings, (and this cattle dock is  a case in point) becoming chunkier and less life like. The original cattle docks I purchased had copper railings as you can see, and look reasonably life like. These have been substituted for some heavy gauge plastic none fencing in current models and is undoubtedly a step backwards. The result was a frantic e-bay trawl for one of the earlier types which thankfully I managed to find. We are building up a stock of surplus buildings as there is  a farm, and cattle dock in N Gauge and also a barn in 00 now !! Anyway I am away again so it will be after the coronation before there will be any further updates, so enjoy the Bank Holidays you lucky devils.  

 

[mac1960]

Just had these sent to me. As we discussed we are moving the HO tree further up slope as discussed previously and it really works rather well we think. We ae going to move it out of the Limestone Moraine as you would not get trees of that size growing in that environment but we have definitely found where we want to use it 👍