RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted October 11, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 11, 2021 (edited) Yesterday while at Aldershot Model Railway Show, I decided to have a moment of madness and buy Terry Metcalfe’s old Neely layout from some chaps at Scunthorpe Club. I’ve long been an admirer of the layout and often wondered what had happened to it, so here it is... As some of you may know, I model (almost present day) GWR in 4mm, and for my sins, that’s what most of my N Gauge stock is too, so after hatching a cunning plan, Neely will become Neelbury (on the Berks and Hants), and with a few subtle changes, we’ll see some nice HSTs & 800s a-la Oak Road style looking right at home. The OLE portals are removable which means I have a choice, leave them off, or continue to use them....and here’s the clever bit. By modelling the newer style portal, and imagining this as Newbury(ish), I actually don’t need to have physical wires because at the time, only the gantries and portals were in situ. The fiddle yard needs some attention to make it more useable and I may look to narrow the whole thing and remove the well in the middle. Just one thing......we got it home and realised it’s too big for where it was going! Edited May 15, 2022 by Revolution Mike B 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 2 hours ago, scoobyra said: Yesterday while at Aldershot Model Railway Show, I decided to have a moment of madness and buy Terry Metcalfe’s old Neely layout from some chaps at Scunthorpe Club. I’ve long been an admirer of the layout and often wondered what had happened to it, so here it is... As some of you may know, I model (almost present day) GWR in 4mm, and for my sins, that’s what most of my N Gauge stock is too, so after hatching a cunning plan, Neely will become Neelbury (on the Berks and Hants), and with a few subtle changes, we’ll see some nice HSTs & 800s a-la Oak Road style looking right at home. The OLE portals are removable which means I have a choice, leave them off, or continue to use them....and here’s the clever bit. By modelling the newer style portal, and imagining this as Newbury(ish), I actually don’t need to have physical wires because at the time, only the gantries and portals were in situ. The fiddle yard needs some attention to make it more useable and I may look to narrow the whole thing and remove the well in the middle. Just one thing......we got it home and realised it’s too big for where it was going! SO, Young Mike, all very good, BUT where does your O Gauge fit into this Grand Scheme of things? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted October 11, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 11, 2021 And.....we’re off!! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 What's the final decision on the Masts and Wire Mike? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted October 13, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2021 (edited) On 12/10/2021 at 08:35, Andrew P said: What's the final decision on the Masts and Wire Mike? I’ll more than likely add the masts and portals but without wires as per the original Neely, and also the real Newbury at the time period I’m going to model - they didn’t have the wires up, only the infrastructure. Edited November 8, 2021 by scoobyra 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted October 13, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2021 I did a little bit of work on Neelbury (which may become West Neelbury - I’ll explain later) this evening which involves hand painting the rail sides on the sidings and adding some toning to the ballast and greenery. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything in N Gauge and I’m struggling to see it.... I also had a little go at the mainline but this needs to be done in stages... This could take a while! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted October 13, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2021 (edited) So here’s a few ideas going forward. Newbury was originally a good location to base everything on but by using Westbury, I have an advantage of mixing the diagrams up a bit so that I can use my 158s and 159s due to the lack of 165/6s in N Gauge. It also means I can run some ex EWS freight stock, along with some Colas stuff. This can be overcome by combining the two and just creating West Neelbury and throwing the rule book out of the window! At present, all lines are bi- directional which isn’t really needed for what I need to do, so therefore I’m going to revert the main running lines to single direction. The track disappears through holes in the backs scene at each end so I’ll make some bridges to sit in front of these - it’ll just tidy things up a bit. I’m also going to lose the bridge (even though it’s a nice feature) because it’s very ‘Fen like’ and I need to make everything look more Western than Eastern. The station island platform canopy will be made to look like Westbury and I’ll put up the newer style OHLE without the wires with maybe a couple of bases minus the portals and gantries to denote the fact that they’re still being installed. Other than that, it’ll just be enhancing the scenery and bringing everything to Berkshire / Wiltshire. I have a year until GETS 22..... Edited November 8, 2021 by scoobyra 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium GWRPhil Posted October 14, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 14, 2021 16 hours ago, scoobyra said: So here’s a few ideas going forward. Newbury was originally a good location to base everything on but by using Westbury, I have an advantage of mixing the diagrams up a bit so that I can use my 158s and 159s due to the lack of 165/6s in N Gauge. It also means I can run some ex EWS freight stock, along with some Colas stuff. This can be overcome by combining the two and just creating West Neelbury and throwing the role book out of the window! At present, all lines are by directional which isn’t really needed for what I need to do, so therefore I’m going to revert the main running lines to single direction. The track disappears through holes in the backs scene at each end so I’ll make some bridges to sit in front of these - it’ll just tidy things up a bit. I’m also going to lose the bridge (even though it’s a nice feature) because it’s very ‘Fen like’ and I need to make everything look more Western than Eastern. The station island platform canopy will be made to look like Westbury and I’ll put up the newer style OHLE without the wires with maybe a couple of bases minus the portals and gantries to denote the fact that they’re still being installed. Other than that, it’ll just be enhancing the scenery and bringing everything to Berkshire / Wiltshire. I have a year until GETS 22..... Sounds like a good plan. Plus would allow for merehead quarry trains as well 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 5BarVT Posted October 14, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 14, 2021 And the track layout is closer to Westbury than Newbury. Paul. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium GWRPhil Posted October 14, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 14, 2021 22 hours ago, scoobyra said: So here’s a few ideas going forward. Newbury was originally a good location to base everything on but by using Westbury, I have an advantage of mixing the diagrams up a bit so that I can use my 158s and 159s due to the lack of 165/6s in N Gauge. It also means I can run some ex EWS freight stock, along with some Colas stuff. This can be overcome by combining the two and just creating West Neelbury and throwing the role book out of the window! At present, all lines are by directional which isn’t really needed for what I need to do, so therefore I’m going to revert the main running lines to single direction. The track disappears through holes in the backs scene at each end so I’ll make some bridges to sit in front of these - it’ll just tidy things up a bit. I’m also going to lose the bridge (even though it’s a nice feature) because it’s very ‘Fen like’ and I need to make everything look more Western than Eastern. The station island platform canopy will be made to look like Westbury and I’ll put up the newer style OHLE without the wires with maybe a couple of bases minus the portals and gantries to denote the fact that they’re still being installed. Other than that, it’ll just be enhancing the scenery and bringing everything to Berkshire / Wiltshire. I have a year until GETS 22..... From the track diagram it looks like there’s a lot of potential to expand the storage in the fiddle yard too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 8, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 8, 2021 In between unpacking the container, decorating rooms and trying to do the day job, I’ve started work on transforming Neely in the Fens, to (West) Neelbury in the West Country (or possibly Berkshire). The first bit to get Buick’d was the sidings to the front of the station, followed by the main line.. Unfortunately, the station just wasn’t going to work for the new location, and the paper surface had bubbled, so there’s was only one thing for it.......take it up! This didn’t go too well as the structure was made of MDF covered in filler (or similar), so up that came too! I’ll use the old platform as a template and make a new one with brick facings, and a building similar to Didcot. The main building doesn’t look like it will be so easy to remove as the base forms most of the car park. I’ll tackle that when the time comes. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 A sad end to my local station........... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 8, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 8, 2021 55 minutes ago, stewartingram said: A sad end to my local station........... Unfortunately, needs must due to it not looking very GWR. Rest assured, it will look equally as impressive. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 Having see the original a couple of times at Shows, and of course the day you bought it, I'm looking forward to seeing it transformed into a West of England masterpiece Mike. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 9, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 9, 2021 I started drawing up the Furrer+Frey OHLE this evening - there’s quite a few different types of gantry, mast and boom configurations but having looked in to it in greater detail, it all looks fairly modular. This will really make a difference to the overall appearance of the layout so I’m looking forward to seeing how they print. 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 9, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 9, 2021 And here’s the test print. It needs tweaking slightly but it’s almost there. 4 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 Hi Mike, I like the 3D printed Masts, how about doing half wired half unwired and ending in a half built overlap in an illogical place, that would be very GWML! I got all the details you want on the Power Change-Over signage if you want it! Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 10, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 10, 2021 11 hours ago, St. Simon said: Hi Mike, I like the 3D printed Masts, how about doing half wired half unwired and ending in a half built overlap in an illogical place, that would be very GWML! I got all the details you want on the Power Change-Over signage if you want it! Simon Cheers Simon....maybe right in the middle of the main junction....hahaha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 21 minutes ago, scoobyra said: Cheers Simon....maybe right in the middle of the main junction....hahaha Yes, you should have been a Project Engineer on it, you'd have fitted right in with those thoughts! Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 18, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 18, 2021 Well the OHLE is starting to take shape. I finished off the drawing earlier this evening.... ...and then printed it out... ...to say it’s tiny is an understatement! I'm not sure how long they’ll last but I’ll have spares of everything just in case. Right, on with the next one... 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium GWRPhil Posted November 19, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 19, 2021 10 hours ago, scoobyra said: Well the OHLE is starting to take shape. I finished off the drawing earlier this evening.... ...and then printed it out... ...to say it’s tiny is an understatement! I'm not sure how long they’ll last but I’ll have spares of everything just in case. Right, on with the next one... How many you got to print in total? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted November 19, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 19, 2021 Good to see you at Tolworth and to hear of you purchase of the layout as hadnt seen this thread till now. Will follow your progress. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melangoose Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 10 hours ago, scoobyra said: Well the OHLE is starting to take shape. I finished off the drawing earlier this evening.... ...and then printed it out... ...to say it’s tiny is an understatement! I'm not sure how long they’ll last but I’ll have spares of everything just in case. Right, on with the next one... They do look good Mike, I think that you could sell those to anyone with a GWR Kato 800 that wants to represent a current day scene. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 20, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 20, 2021 On 19/11/2021 at 08:49, GWRPhil said: How many you got to print in total? About 20, but all different! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike B Posted November 20, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 20, 2021 On 19/11/2021 at 09:02, roundhouse said: Good to see you at Tolworth and to hear of you purchase of the layout as hadnt seen this thread till now. Will follow your progress. Cheers Ian, and likewise, seems a long time ago now....Taunton to be exact! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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