Horseley Fields - N Gauge layout (was Dibben Junction)

[TheSignalEngineer]

It's also the name of the canal junction at the start of the Wyrley and Essington just by the viaduct as you run into Wolverhampton, and the long gone canal depot on the Wolverhampton and Walsall line behind the rolling mills. (see here)

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Signal Engineer,

 

Thanks for the link to the Horseley Fields canal information. That's really interesting. And the photo on that page showing the disused entrance to the canal basin is very similar to the "derelict" look we are trying to achieve!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[grahame]

I must have missed this on RMweb before, although I'm aware of the layout having seen bits in Model Rail. However, it's looking very interesting and very impressive, and coming along nicely. I like the idea of nature reclaiming some old industrial development and the consequential dereliction, with the trains rushing disinterestedly past it. It's nice to see it being attempted so successfully. Well done.

 

I've got a couple of questions; is the overhead crane scratch built or a kit - it looks rather good. And from the later pics it looks like the viaduct is blue/grey brick whereas I thought I'd read at the start it was red/brown. Has there been a change or is it just the photo/colour rendition?

 

G.

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Grahame,

 

The crane is a converted Brawa kit, I believe. It was motorised by one of the other members of the group - he also built the base models of the canal narrow boats.

 

The viaduct brickwork is Scalescenes Dark Brown - but they do look a little grey in the photos. That's just my poor photography, I am afraid! The canal basin area was photographed recently for an updated article in Model Rail, so I expect these will give far better colour rendition.

 

cheers

 

Ben

[Lee m22]

Hi

 

I'm really impressed with your layout so far! I lived in Northampton most of me life, and now still on the WCML in Milton Keynes.

 

When I first saw the picture of your viaduct, it reminded me of my weekly railway walk, which would take me down through briar hill, over ther canal and under the sixfields viaduct, over into town and back along the river into the station. Good times.

 

You've definatly captured the spirit of the WCML in the midlands there

 

Will be keeping an eye on this thread for sure.

 

regards

 

Lee

[Karhedron]

Where is the 2012 AGM being held? (Sorry! Couldn't resist - I know I should B) )

How about London? Plenty of good venues there. How big would the millenium dome be at 1:148?

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

In answer to the queries about the crane, it's this one - Vollmer 7905:

 

 

As you can see, it's intended to be an intermodal crane. It was built by group member John Ruff, who added small metal wheels so it will run on tracks set into the baseboard surface. But to get it to move, beneath the surface is a long threaded rod running the length of the crane's travel, with a nut on it. The crane is fixed to the nut, and when the rod is rotated by a small 12V motor, the crane runs back and forth. Contacts at each end stop the crane "over-shooting."

 

 

The mechanism John has devised means the crane travels fairly slowly, and also stops and starts progressively, so it appears to have weight and inertia.

 

Next time we have the layout apart I'll try to take a photo to illustrate.

 

 

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Kris]

John has made a lovely job of the crane Ben.

[Tricky-CRS]

Very clever, look forward to the extra photo's.

[trisonic]

Only just caught up with this layout (and have never seen any articles). Another layout with that undefinable "good feel" to it. Brilliant.

 

Best, Pete.

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

Horseley Fields made its "big show" debut at Model Rail Live at Barrow Hill this weekend. Running was largely trouble free (at least on Saturday, when I was there) and a big thank-you to everyone who stopped by to chat.

 

As requested elsewhere, here are some photos:

 

An overview of nearly all of the scenic section of the layout. The steel terminal has been painted but needs a little weathering; the doors will also be motorised so they can open and close to allow trains to come and go. The ground area around the small industrial units needs some scenic work to finish it off.

 

 

A closer look at the steel terminal. The stacked steel sheets are painted plasticard, the coils are those supplied with the Farish SPAs. Shunting will become much easier once the much-heralded new improved N Gauge coupers are introduced! The permanent way workers are from the Bachmann Scenecraft range.

 

 

The derelict former steel terminal and canal basin. This area is almost complete - all that is required is the addition of more trees to disguise the transition into the backscene, and some pipes that will be carried over the railway to provide a scenic break where the branch line disappears off layout.

 

 

Horseley Fields Station. Only three of the five platforms are still in use. All signage is based on London Midland corporate image, and we are eagerly awaiting the release of the Farish 350 units. More work is needed here; with additional fencing, platform sign boards, lighting and catenary gantries yet to be added. The car park behind also needs more work and may incorporate the new working buses from Tomix, that I was shown by Maurice Pearce (of Osborn's Models) last week at The N Gauge International Show. The tall station sign was fixed temporarily - which may explain why it's wonky!

 

 

Tornado passes the derelict terminal with a charter rake. The warehouse is a Metcalfe Models kit built by group member Nick Dibben. For the sky, we tried to use International Models photo backscenes, however we could not get them to stick well and also suffered from "bubbling" so these were stripped away (much to my chagrin!) and instead John Ruff and I painted the backscene plain blue before adding clouds with white and grey emulsion. I'm 80% happy with it.

 

 

Stone and cement: A Farish Class 66 with a rake of Lafarge tanks on the viaduct passes the Hanson aggregates terminal. These were Bachmann Scenecraft components that were repainted. The 8-wheel tipper was scratchbuilt by John Ruff.

 

 

Hope this is of interest. Horseley Fields has received a few more exhibition invites and obviously we have some more work to do!

cheers

 

Ben A.

[shanks522]

Thanks for putting some photo's up Ben, Can't quite put into words what i want to say, but it's got all the elements needed to make the perfect railway scene in my opinion, Great stuff, with a bit of luck i'l see it in the flesh one day.

 

Graham.

[bmthtrains - David]

Thanks for posting those Ben, the layout looks superb, the group must be extremely pleased with the outcome.

 

I especially like the dereliction scene by the canal, very realistic and looks to have been quite a challenge to get the level of degradation just right - which you have definitely acheived. Just that scene alone puts this up there in the top N gauge layouts in my view. The attention to detail, 'slice of life' feel to the design, the operational interest, the overall feel of the model, and the quality of modelling make this a very inspirational model.

 

I look forward to seeing it close up one day, and its prompted me to get a move on with my own layout, progress on which has been rather slow of late!

 

David

[Lee m22]

Its like going home! (with the addition of a steel terminal that is!) And the update is long overdue! Very excited to see this update:)

 

Wish I could have come and seen it this weekend.

 

Having spent most of my life in Northampton (the viaduct from far cotton into town, the canals and rough lands that were once the loco sheds, the terraced house I lived in identical to the ones in your scene), I now live in Bletchley (aggregates depot, the Virgin liveries) I could imagine walking the dogs in the scenes portrayed here

 

I find this layout really impressive and a joy to view.

 

Thanks for the new pics!!

 

Regards

Lee

[Andy Y]

I've watched this coming together Ben and I really do like it. The environment plays with the elements that surround the railway at that point very well (although those horses are far too thoroughbred for those parts - see http://www.flickr.com/photos/futurilla/2664021008/ for prototype) particularly the take on Chillington Wharf. Non-Midlanders modelling slices of the Midlands in N really seem to be setting the standards!

[branchie]

Cracking layout Ben. It's a credit to the Group.

 

Sorry if I've missed it, but what are the layout's dimensions?

[Douglas G]

I spent a very long time looking at this layout at the Model Rail Live show on Saturday. What particularly struck me was the expert, extremely realistic treatment of the vegetation around the old loco shed and on the concrete standing next to the canal. The mix of colours and texture was totally convincing. Great job!

 

Douglas

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Douglas

 

Thanks for your comments. In the area you mention, scenic tufts by MiniNatur were particularly useful. They are here: http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Original_Grast_Tufts__Long.html but I prefer buying them at shows rather than online, as I can clearly see the colours then.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Douglas G]

Thanks for the link, Ben. Having seen the Horseley Fields layout and what you have achieved with foliage clumps, I had a good look round the traders at the show to see what was available. Gaugemaster had Faller and Noch foliage tufts but they were not nearly so fine or suitable for N scale. These MiniNatur products are in a different class. I am currently planning a model of Dulverton which will have large areas of grass, and I think the combination of a good quality flock and these tufts is the best way to go for a realistic effect, rather than static grass, which can be too long except for rough grass in N scale.

 

Cheers,

Douglas

 

PS I was the person who asked you about the provenance of the "bubblecar" I spotted among the stock

[jackrob]

 

 

 

Lovelly layout. Where did you get those wagons?

[Revolution Ben]

 

Lovelly layout. Where did you get those wagons?

 

Hi Jackrob,

 

They're not mine - they belong to Nick, who is the group coordinator. I believe they are continental wagons that he has repainted in Freightliner green and added labelling produced on the computer printer. The scrap loads are aluminium shavings (bought in a bag from a show) that have been glued to a card floor. I think they are very effective!

 

...although those horses are far too thoroughbred for those parts - see http://www.flickr.co...lla/2664021008/ for prototype...

 

Non-Midlanders modelling slices of the Midlands in N really seem to be setting the standards!

 

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for the comments! You're right about the ponies - maybe I will experiment with static grass to get a suitably hirsute and "pikey pony" look!

 

And while I now live in Cambridgeshire, I am a Midlander at heart - grew up in Northampton and lived in Nottingham for a while - and recall happy days watching blue 87s and 86s on WCML expresses at Roade in the early 80s!!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Ramblin Rich]

Have to say this does capture the atmosphere of the "Stour Valley" line - the steel terminal & canal basin certainly tick my memory boxes, although when I used the line for commuting in the late 1980s the steel terminal was still open air!

[Stoker]

I find it interesting how this layout has been made a "good" layout in so many people's eyes by avoiding the obvious and perhaps overdone themes for layouts, and instead taking a look at reality, no matter how grisly it might be, and saying right, that's what is going to be here. Take dereliction for instance - it's easy to forget just how fascinating the abandoned landscape is, because most people focus on recreating what was once there. And don't get me wrong, I think that's great too, particularly from a historic point of view.

 

Personally though, from my point of view, there's nothing more prototypical on a modern image layout than "railway wasteland". I define that as just acres of flat, barren land full of weeds and lumps or rubble where structures once stood. We've got some 200 years of railway built on top of railway, land has been repurposed so many times in some places that it's become a rich tapestry of old buildings, ruins, structures, etc.

 

On that note I sincerely applaud the efforts of those working on this layout. Very nice work in it's own, grim, depressing way!

 

Best,

Scott.

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

Following a couple of requests, here are some shots showing the mechanism that drives the working crane that runs alongside the steel terminal. It was built by NGS Northants and Cambs area group member John Ruff; and he also was kind enough to take the photos and send them to me.

 

The crane is fixed on its own sub-board, that drops into a hole in the main baseboard. The motor mechanism turns the long threaded shaft that runs the length of the sidings.

 

As can be seen, the crane is fixed either side, and a captive nut causes it to move slowly when the threaded shaft rotates. Small contacts at each end operate a cut out switch that ensure the crane never reaches the end of its travel.

 

John also built a large number of scratchbuilt, or heavily modified, road vehicles and decorated them in Hanson colours to go with our cement terminal:

 

I've also used Japanese Tomix container trailers fitted with scratchbuilt flat-beds to provide some steel lorries for the terminal. The fork lift trucks are from Kato.

 

 

 

Hope these are of interest!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Steven B]

I saw this layout at the NGS AGM earlier this year and it's great to see it progressing to a completed layout.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to park a canal boat under that roof though - it looks like it might collapse at any time. Turning a boat to park at the warfe looks to be a bit tight. Is there an under cut below the disused loco shed?

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.