Ryedale Mill

[woodyfox]

Hi all, 

Despite the cold weather I have been getting on with track laying on the new O gauge layout. 

This will be a roundy single line with a passing loop through a station very loosely based on those at Kirkby Moorside and Helmsley on the old Ryedale branches of the NER. 

There will be a mill with sidings, a fuel terminal and some coal drops to add shunting interest. 

 

Here's some photo's of progress so far:

This is a view looking west on the up line towards Pilmoor on the ECML. The points on the right will lead to the down platform (behind the photographer), the single line to the left and the shunt neck access to the mill on the right. To the right are the two mill sidings. 

A view from the west. This shows the single line from Pilmoor entering the loop line through the station. To the left are the mill sidings. On the wall, in the far corner will be the mill building. This will be a scale 75ft or so tall which is about 2ft in 7mm scale. 

The mill sidings. The near line will be embedded in 'concrete' and will be for dealing with palletised products. The far line will be against a long loading bay with some top discharge facility. The mill will be loosely based on the silo at Knapton. The near track is Peco code 100 that has been split and turned around. I'll be using the same in the storage sidings too. 

This view looks east through the station. Only the up line is laid so far. The platforms will accommodate 5 mk1 coaches and a loco with a bit to spare. 

This is looking towards the station from the east. The nearest turnout leads to the coal drops on the left and station straight on (up line). The points on the right allow access from the down platform to the fuel siding (kerosene for central heating dwellings not connected to natural gas network - common in rural Yorkshire). 

This is the turnout from the eastern end single line from Pickering/Whitby (now NYMR) into the station. The fuel siding is to the right. This will be long enough to accommodate 9 TTA's, but I'll probably only ever run 6 in a train. To the left will be a redundant goods shed, probably similar to one at Kirkby Moorside or Helmsley. 

I'm trying to achieve a look of space and openess typical of rural lines. 

 

Cheers

 

[pwr]

Lovely trackwork

 

Paul R

[55012]

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean with regard to the Peco track why you say you have split it and turned it round?

 

Regards

 

Steve

[woodyfox]

Hi Steve, 

It was a yard length of OO gauge that has had the centre part of the sleepers removed. The two rails with just the outer part of the sleepers were then turned inwards. I tacked them in place with Hornby track pins. I used roller gauges to achieve the 32mm gauge. 

Cheers

[Barnaby]

Very busy busy there Woodyfox and some great track laying too.

 

Best

[muddys-blues]

ooh Likey 

[D6775]

Looking good, looking forward to watching this develop. I am assuming its not portable being a roundy roundy?

[muddys-blues]

What is the room size & any track plans please Mr Fox ?

 

Best regards

Craig.

[woodyfox]

17 hours ago, D6775 said:

Looking good, looking forward to watching this develop. I am assuming its not portable being a roundy roundy?

Hi Al, 

Thanks. 

The baseboards are permanent. The roundy element will allow some good running in and an opportunity to watch trains trundle by. 

Normal operating will use a sliding board affair to swap trains around. 

Cheers

14 hours ago, muddys-blues said:

What is the room size & any track plans please Mr Fox ?

 

Best regards

Craig.

Hi Craig, 

I don't have a plan drawn out. It was a matter of making turnouts to my minimum radius with a general idea of a plan then laying them out in the best places with the least compromises. 

I did look at Scarborough Rd Jcn, Norton as a prototype to copy, but it just wouldn't fit with the radius allowed (5'6").

The layout is in my concrete garage. It gives a max dimension of 15'6 by 13'6. Even this size is restrictive in O gauge for a roundy. I couldn't get a double track in with good storage and a station. Junctions that have tracks diverging away are a no-no too. Everything as an allowance built in for the temperature extremes etc. 

Baseboards are 12mm ply on a 3x1 main frame and frequent 2x1 batons. It stands on legs at 48" high for good views. Everything is painted in Cupranol fence preserver. Buildings will be either very robust or over-wintered indoors as will signals. I use a Gaugemaster walkabout, so electrics will be fine too. 

I've laid the track at about 5 degrees so I've allowed decent room for summer expansion. 

 

Cheers 

[55012]

Thanks for the explanation I should have spotted that

 

steve

[woodyfox]

With warmer weather track laying has been almost completed. 

 

The above is a ceiling down view of the western end with the Mill yard. The boards are 2 feet wide on the left here, widening to 3 foot on the right through the station area. The short white strips are bits of double sided tape holding the wire in tubes point controls. These will be under scenery eventually. 

 

This is the coal drop siding that runs 'behind' the station up platform. It rises up 9mm over a 900mm length. 

This is the view looking east through the station and shows the coal drops area. The coal siding will continue through the lowered board. The coal drops will be 7ft high and will be accommodate 4 to 5 HTO/HTV's. 

This is a view from the station looking east. Coal yard on the right, with the oil siding accessed from the turnout on the left. The area to the left in this view will depict the original yard area with goods shed, livestock dock and crane base. This was closed in order to accommodate the new oil facility. This will be depicted as a new modern (for the period) facility and will supply the widely dispersed and remote communities in the area with heating oil that are not connected to the new North Sea gas network. 

Here's a map showing how Ryedale Mill sits in the railway geography of the area:

Most of the lines shown were closed by about 1964/5. I will model them as remaining open with basic DMU services of 4 trains per day each way between Malton and Thirsk and the same for Whitby/Pickering to York. These will cross paths at Ryedale Mill to allow connections. There will be an extra train to/from Malton on Thursdays as it's market day. 

There will also be summer timetable loco-hauled services to/from Whitby to KX the portion joining/dividing with a Scarborough portion at York (the original 'Scarborough Flyer') on FSO. There will also be Sat and SuO trains to/from Glasgow and Newcastle to Filey Holiday Camp via Driffield and Bridlington. 

A daily pick-up goods will visit the coal yard and Mill sidings as required. The oil train will run once a week in the summer and upto 3 days a week in autumn/winter as demand rises. The winters on the Norh Yorkshire Moors used to quite severe most years. 

A regular daily train will run through carrying limestone from the Yorkshire Wolds at Burdale Quarry to Teeside for the steel industry. This was a regular occurance upto around 1958. Apparently the contract ended when the quarry owner retired following a failure to respond to the steel maker to move from a rock size of 6" to 2". Two years notice of the change was given but was not responded to and the last reason to keep the line open faded away. 

The limestone trains will use 27t tipplers hauled by Thornaby 37's but will be limited in length due to heavy gradients between Malton and Burdale. 

This is the view of the oil siding and commencement of the single line to Pickering and Malton in the foreground. The single lines will be signalled using electric token block. 

 

Next, finish the storage sidings, wiring and testing. 

 

Cheers 

[Mike Storey]

Following this with interest, as I lived in Pickering for about ten years.

[pwr]

I didn't think there was a west to north curve at Malton or does Rule 1 apply

 

Paul R

[woodyfox]

Just now, pwr said:

I didn't think there was a west to north curve at Malton or does Rule 1 apply

 

Paul R

There wasn't. My sketch error! 

[pwr]

15 minutes ago, woodyfox said:

There wasn't. My sketch error! 

 

I have a few books covering this area. am I correct in recalling trains from Malton went up the south curve and reversed?

 

Paul R

[woodyfox]

Yes, Scarborough Rd jcn. That was my first choice layout but it wouldn't fit in the space.

[Baggies1961]

Hi,

Love this and following with interest since moving up north in 1990 spent more than a few  a hours reading up on the really interesting railway history around the East/North Yorkshire regions.

I live near Burdale and think the line from Driffield to Malton had a really interesting history with the stock and stations.

Nice to see at least a stretch has some track on it again at Fimber.

Regards

Julian.

[woodyfox]

12 hours ago, Baggies1961 said:

Hi,

Love this and following with interest since moving up north in 1990 spent more than a few  a hours reading up on the really interesting railway history around the East/North Yorkshire regions.

I live near Burdale and think the line from Driffield to Malton had a really interesting history with the stock and stations.

Nice to see at least a stretch has some track on it again at Fimber.

Regards

Julian.

There's a photo of one of the Burdale quarry workings from the early 50's in a book i have that shows a rake of around 8 ex-LNER 21t steel hoppers being used. I wanted to go for the 27t tipplers to add some variety (and it's feasible). It's a shame the tunnel at Burdale is in such a poor state. That has prevented any chance of an extension westwards. 

[Baggies1961]

Thanks for that, what book is that picture in? I watched a recent video on YT of some chaps walking up to the first collapse from the Burdale end!

[Daddyman]

19 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

Following this with interest, as I lived in Pickering for about ten years.

Where? I grew up there. Also following this with interest. 

[woodyfox]

4 hours ago, Baggies1961 said:

Thanks for that, what book is that picture in? I watched a recent video on YT of some chaps walking up to the first collapse from the Burdale end!

This one - pp 18. Thirsk to Burdale empties in 1958 hauled by J39 64938 according to the caption. It's accredited to the Ken Hoole archive. 

 

Cheers 

Edited February 19, 2021 by woodyfox
Forgot image!!

[pwr]

I've got that - very good book

 

Paul R

[Mike Storey]

5 hours ago, Daddyman said:

Where? I grew up there. Also following this with interest. 

 

First up Burgate then later on Eastgate.

[Daddyman]

2 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

 

First up Burgate 

I was on the opposite side of the valley from you. 

 

[woodyfox]

Activity in the Ryedale Mill area is stepping up! Local trainspotters report seeing 3 TTA's appearing overnight in the oil siding and a BR  brake van being left in the coal yard. 

 

Wiring and snagging is complete. 31103 was used as the key testing loco. This is the heaviest and least tolerant of irregularities in the permanent way. A few issues were found that have been overcome and all runs well. Tomorrow will see more test running in order to satisfy Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate. 

I 'll post some pics of events.. 

 

Lastly, a view not readily available due to poor access is this one from the blocks on the Mill shunt neck looking back towards the Mill sidings and station west end:

 

Cheers