IanLister Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Hi. After a lot of thinking about it I've decided to share the progress on my first model railway, a possibly overambitious foray into 2mm FS by a new railway modeller. If it achieves nothing else, it should highlight some of the issues beginners face......of course I'm hoping that I'll benefit enormously from the wisdom and help on offer on this site, without which I wouldn't have got this far, to be honest. The layout is a U shaped 15'x8' on 6 boards built in a spare room, so I guess I'm lucky. It's an attempt to create what might have been had the NER and NBR been a little more sensible back in the 1850s, and developed the infrastructure on the Tweed estuary a little more systematically. I can go into more detail of this if anyone's interested; I've discussed my hypothesis with local historians and long established businesses, and their view is supportive. I think it makes the railway possibilities more interesting, and that's enough for me. My layout starts in a fiddle yard which represents a connection with the Berwick-Kelso branch about 3 miles from Berwick, giving access to the ECML. The branch passes under the Royal Border bridge and enters a small terminus at Tweedmouth, from where a goods-only line passes through Tweed Dock along the waterfront and finishes in a small goods yard by the fish quay in Spittal. It's set in the 1950s. There'll be a local connection to Berwick, the Berwick-Kelso branch train will reverse here, and there'll be a lot of very varied goods traffic; Spittal was a hub of local industry and with a better rail link would have developed more successfully. One thing I like about the plan is its modular nature...the 3 elements of the design could each be standalone layouts; in fact I've decided to build Spittal yard and fish quay first, follwed by Tweed Dock. This way, if I decide it's all too ambitious I can scale it back a bit. Board one has all the track and wiring completed: To the left of the photo is the quayside and waterfront, with the goods yard to the right. There are one or two slight level changes; they fit the topography of the place, and I've always found goods yards on slopes interesting! The plain track is Easitrac. The turnouts are hybrid Easitrac/soldered construction, blatantly copied from the work of others on here, I'm afraid. TOUs are homemade, using Cobalt motors with an adaptor plate to connect to wires attatched to the turnout blades. They're controlled by the NCE Powercab at the moment, but I might change to switches if it gets too fiddly to operate. There are 10 uncoupling magnets for the DG couplings. Amazingly it all works, which I still can't quite believe. Board 2 has most of its track and is also wired, so I can use it as a temporary fiddle yard. I'm doing things back to front, I guess...layout first, even though there's nothing to run on it. The way I see it, there's no point in having the locos and stock without somewhere to play with it, so I'm limited to one converted diesel and 15 wagons; it'll stay that way till I'm well down the road with the layout. Then I'll find out whether I can build locos and other stuff; I'm not a model engineer, by any means. As I've not done any of this before, I've decide to complete one scenic area totally, so that I can develop techniques with buildings, landscape etc before I find out I'm no good at it, if that makes sense. So here's the first finished bit, except for the detailing which will bring it to life. It's all home made, so be gentle with me....... I've gleaned a lot of knowledge from this forum over the last few months, so thanks for posting all the stuff you do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 It looks magnificent Ian! An incredible piece of work for a first time layout. Keep it up... All the best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Madog Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Incredible! You have done an excellent job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom F Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Echoing the words of others, what a lovely scenic layout you have created, that last photo is a real beauty! I look forward to seeing more Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieb Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Looking very good,especially the scenic section.Even though you're setting it in the 50's,I hope your going to populate it with some nice pre-group engines,like J27 and J37 classes. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Lewis Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 This looks excellent, and an interesting 'might-have-been' story. Once you've finished the current boards, maybe you could think about extending to include the steeply graded lines up to Tweedmouth station?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted November 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 13, 2011 seriously inpressed more pictures please and good luck :victory: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted November 13, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 13, 2011 Yes, definitely need more photos, nice work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2mm Andy Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 That looks absolutely fantastic Ian! I do like the idea of producing a 'what might have been' layout. Are you intending to exhibit it when it's complete? I'll agree with Pete - more photographs please! Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Hi, and thanks for the encouragement. When you're scratching your head at 1 a.m. wondering why you can't get something to work, it helps to have a little support!! Jamie: we'll have to see about the steam locos. They are the reason I'm interested, and I would love to think the branch will be shunted by J72s and worked by J21s and J25s and so on, but I'm going to approach loco building in 2mm very slowly indeed. If I get there successfully I'll be very happy. In the meantime, converted diesels will have to do.....possibly a rewheeled Farish J39 when it appears, and if it's possible. Tim: the line up to Tweedmouth station doesn't exist in my hypothesis. Let me explain (this is where it could get very boring unless you're particularly interested in the railway history of this area) Reality: When the Newcastle and Berwick railway was built it made an end-on junction with the NBR which had built to Berwick from Edinburgh. Politics led to stupidity...as it tends to. George Hudson had tried to take over the NBR but they resisted, so in a huff he became unco-operative. Instead of sharing Berwick station, he had Tweedmouth station built just a mile south of Berwick, and very grand in design - the classic 'my station's better than yours' approach. This was in the 1850s. The Kelso branch then left the mainline north of Tweedmouth, so trains left Berwick, reversed at Tweedmouth and set off up the valley. Not very bright. In 1873-ish the docks opened at Tweedmouth, to serve Berwick. Why not Berwick? The deep water channel is on the south side, and the salmon fishing needed protection as well. Tweed Dock should have been a real benefit to the area; it's a rich agricultural basin, and there was potential to import and export all sorts of stuff. It never really took off, and the Tweed Dock branch was one reason. Built in about 1878, it ran from Tweedmouth down to the harbour. Cramped by the geography of the area, it was extremely steep and needed 3 reversals to get down to sea level Even with this rather quaint track layout, the average gradient was something like 1 in 40 or so. Limited to J77 tanks and about 4 wagons max, it was massively hamstrung from the start, and never really did the docks justice. It also made no attempt to serve Spittal Point, just a mile or so down the coast, where there was a growing industrial area including gasworks, 2 chemical works, 4 fertiliser works and 2 foundries, in addition to smaller industries as well. The maltings opened in 1904 never really benefitted from the railway, and the mill on the dockside suffered in the same way. The NER had originally wanted to build the branch in a different way, but were prevented by local opposition. That's where I sensed an opportunity. My rewriting of history: Firstly, George Hudson was sensible. OK, OK, it's a bit far fetched, but I think it makes for a better model, so it's happening! The NER successfully negotiated with the NBR. Result: shared use of Berwick station, Tweedmouth station not built, and the Kelso branch leaving the mainline at a south facing junction and heading up the valley. Much cheaper, much more efficient and generally sensible. Secondly, the dock branch. A view is taken that this enterprise has a lot of potential for the area, so is built appropriately. The dock line branches from the Kelso branch about a mile along it, descends slowly while doubling back to pass under the Royal Border bridge. It enters Tweedmouth along the south bank of the Tweed, serves a small passenger terminus and continues through the docks and on to Spittal, goods only. My layout will ultimately model the route from the entry into Tweedmouth. Gradients are not a problem, and there is direct and straightforward access to Berwick, the main line and the Tweed Valley branch. No restrictions on locos or capacity, and the whole area benefitting from a proper railway connection. Interestingly, I've discussed this with the chairman of Simpsons Malt in Tweedmouth and his view is that if it had been done 'my' way the local industries would have been much more valuable. Maybe his dad's maltings wouldn't have been burnt to the ground by a passing loco in 1933 if the railway had been a little better designed.......... Incidentally Tim, I live about a mile from Berwick and have bridge number 7 on the Kelso branch in my garden. If you need photos of relics or whatever for your Coldstream project, I'll help if I can. Coldstream is a few miles away, and Cornhill, where the station was, is only about ten minutes in the car. One or two archive photos, to give a flavour of what I'm after with the waterside design: The dockyard track layout will be an exact replica of the original, except for the added through route to the south. There were 2 wagon turntables, one to the dock edge to load coal, and one into Shorts grain mill; the latter will be on ny model, though to have it working in the fifties is a bit far fetched. It's just visible in the shot above. Next an artist's impression of the maltings south of the dock: This will be be about 16 inches long on the model and will be accurate; I have a copy of the original architectural drawings to work from. It was built in 1904, and burned down in 1933, partly it would appear as a result of the cramped location and its proximity to the railway. In my world, there was more space, and it still exists!!! Because I like the building, basically. It's great, owning your own world, isn't it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted November 13, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 13, 2011 I find it hard to believe this is a first attempt. Have you been modelling something else? You would have to look hard to find better scenic work. Interesting concept too. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Very nice - echo the comments re the scenic work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Andy: it's a U shape with the operating/viewing area on the inside so it might be tricky to exhibit, and the boards are 5ftx 2-3ft in size, so not so easy. I've designed it to be moveable in case it has to move home or whatever. I guess it may be possible, but it's not something I've thought about; I've no idea how well it's going to turn out! Don: definitely a first go. I've built toys for the kids and a few plastic models and stuff over the years, and a few buildings for military dioramas, but nothing really. I'm interested in the subject, the area and the local nature and landscape. I'm not modelling models, if you know what I mean, so I can just go and see what's there. Not sure that makes a lot of sense, but I know what I mean....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 A few more pics as requested; sorry if it's a bit repetitive but I haven't done that much to take photos of! Apparently there were over 120 horses working the dock road in Tweedmouth in the thirties; my coal merchant now has a lorry (or he will have when I make one) so he's keeping his two retired horses on the fenced off bit of rough grass behind the weighbridge office; which is incidentally a copy of the one at Alnwick. Next job is to extend the scenery along the back of the board, together with some low relief buildings and then I'll start on the quay wall. I'm still trying to work out how to build fishing boats, if anyone has any ideas........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Ian, this is top class in both concept and modelling. This is my favourite railway location after the Waverley and it's a place I visit whenever I can following many happy visits as a boy! Your coal bins look like they're standing near the 'Goody Patchy'! If you're not careful, I'll pay you a visit next time I'm over for the day! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Thank you Max. I've just been looking at your latest blog entry and I'm extremely jealous! You're right about the location of the coal yard, but a little further towards Spittal. You're more than welcome to visit. I have several interesting unpublished photos of the dock branch you might like to see and our house is 5 metres away from the Kelso branch route. The bridge in the garden is rather good for tea and biscuits...... Interesting to think it had East Coast expresses going under it, after the mainline was cut by floods...a little noisy perhaps. This is how it looked in 1957, with our house behind the signal: Welcome any time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Thanks Ian. How could I refuse a brew in such wonderful surroundings? I really need to pay a visit to Norham Station again soon. I was last there in 1981 as a 17 year old in the company of locals Bob Oliver and erstwhile stationmaster, Peter Short! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwinewt Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Wow that looks like it has a lot of potential and a lot of skill behind it! Can't wait to see more (and please share your experiences with it!) Nate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Trials and tribulations...and a helping hand from RMWEB! I'm posting this as an example of a new modeller's approach, and in the hope of some good advice....... When researching the layout, it became clear I would need to create cobbled areas, mainly fairly rough and cheaply done. A lot of the track in the fish quay area will be cobbled (19th c hygiene!) and quite a lot of streets and junctions. I also discovered that most of the dock area and local goods yards were surfaced with a quaint mix of fine ash, mud and general gunge - no clean granite ballast here, I'm afraid. Having spent most of my youth and a fair bit of my adult life living in the Yorkshire Dales and in the High Pennines, I'm a great believer in surface texture. To try and recreate the things mentioned above with texture that was believable (to me anyway - it's my railway) was quite a challenge, particularly in 2mm scale, where stuff is so small. It's a great help to me to remember 'normal viewing distance' even though when I'm trying something out my eyes are about a centimetre away! I tried and discarded lots of ways of approaching things, and then chanced on a thread on here in which someone mentioned using lightweight filler. I investigated, found the Polycell version, and gave it a try. Easy to apply, mixed with acrylic paint or without, and easy to work with your fingers once it's dried a little. It seems to adhere well, and once fully dry can be carved, indented etc. The photos below show it in use for coalyard cobbles, a fairly small road crossing the coalyard siding, a yorkstone pavement and the gungy, worn out ash ballast on the coal siding. Most of the work on the cobbles and pavement simply involved pressing the tip of a small screwdriver into the filler. No scribing, ridges or plastic sheen. It nee's precoloured, and weathered with Modelmates dyes brushed on. Still needs a bit more work to fill in the 'pointing' a little. Please remember these pics were taken with the lens resting on the surface, so they're cruelly close up. The track in the last image still needs the painting finishing. I'm sure loads of others will have found better ways of doing these things, but I'm on a learning curve and the practice is making me better at it. Thanks for the tip, RMWEB, and keep them coming please........ . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted November 15, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 15, 2011 Nice work. Those look more like setts. Cobble were usually natural stones rounded by water whereas setts were quarried with granite being the favourite and were more regular in size. Setts generally gave a smoother ride for carts so are probably more suited to railway yards. The other possibilities are paviors in areas were natural stone was not common but clay was. For your area setts and cobble are more likely. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Nice work. Those look more like setts. Cobble were usually natural stones rounded by water whereas setts were quarried with granite being the favourite and were more regular in size. Setts generally gave a smoother ride for carts so are probably more suited to railway yards. The other possibilities are paviors in areas were natural stone was not common but clay was. For your area setts and cobble are more likely. Don Setts definitely...it's just that we always used to call them cobbles when I was a kid. There are still a lot in various places round here, which is good for photos. And some cobbles as well....but not many! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Whatever you want to call them, they are lovely - very impressive! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rothbury125 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Good grief!! Very inspiring, very impressive and a boatload of amazing work! It's great to see an interest in the railways around my home turf - what with Morpeth, Scots Gap and Rothbury; Alnwick to Cornhill, Berwick to Cornhill etc etc etc, Northumberland was pretty well covered, so it's great to see some of these old lines coming back to life in model form. May well be picking your brains about some of your techniques! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Hi Ian, Just come across this layout of yours. If this is your first effort then all I can say is: gosh! Looking forward to seeing more photos of your modelling, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanLister Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Hi. Two more photos to share, which may give some idea of the operating potential, which is what, if I'm honest, I'm most interested in. I want to play with it: This shows the extent of construction to date. Boards 1 and 2 are each 5ft long, board 1 being Spittal Goods, the south end of the line. Board 2, the nearer in the photo, shows the south end of Tweed Dock and the Maltings siding. Photo gives a good idea of how bad my use of Templot has been, printing lots of A4 bits, cutting oout and trying to line them up! It helps a beginner to make trackwork though...indispesable, I would say. Once you've learned how to use it........The board construction methods have all been gleaned from the good advice on here; I just hope the people whose ideas I've so blatantly copied are right! Board 3 is built but that's all. It will extend the layout to 15ft and contains the bulk of the Tweed Dock track, the mill and warehouses and the line heading north towards the junction. The topography becomes more urban, in a quaint kind of way, as you move north. The river bank runs the entire length to the left as you look at the photo; I'll need some tips on making the water look right, and anyone who has built 2mm fishing boats would be good to know. I've just ordered an Artitec trawler to see what modifications need to be made to make it fit the designs in use in this area; I have plans to work from. Boards 4, 5 and 6 are only on paper at the moment, but will extend the branch through a small passenger station to the fiddleyard beneath the arches of the Royal Border Bridge. That's the plan anyway, but sufficiently far in the future to be open to change. Next, the track layout at Spittal: Weird to photo a trackplan, but I couldn't work out how to use the Templot file to put something worthwhile on here, so I swung from the lightfitting instead. The quay runs along the bottom and up the left side of the pic, the whole area being built out from the bank to take advantage of the deep water channel. The real Spittal Fish Quay was just here, but not rail-linked. From the top: goods arrival road with coalyard spur, run round loop and short parking space. The goods yard has a warehouse, short end dock and a long loading bank siding with crane. Most of the traffic would be either agricultural (lots of it) or linked to local industries; chemical, fertiliser, iron foundries, timber yard and others. Interestingly in a gruesome kind of way, bones from horses and soldiers killed during Napoleons retreat from Moscow were exhumed and shipped to Tweedmouth for fertiliser manufacture during the 19th c. Business opportunities, eh? Hmmm, I won't be modelling the smell. Below the goods yard are 2 sidings serving the fish market which will be at the left hand end, spanning the ends of the 2 tracks, and at the very bottom is a general quayside siding, with a kickback to some coal stacks where fishing boats etc, would refuel. Most of the general import/export stuff would take place at Tweed Dock to the north; next years project! I'm just starting construction of the buildings for the dock area; it's the bit of the whole project I'm most looking forward to. Getting the trackwork to date done and running properly has been a bit nerve racking given that I've not done it before, and so crucially important that I was kind of hanging from it for a while, if you know what I mean. It was actually easier than I expected, thanks to good advice and fantastic support from the 2mm assn and several of its members. I think the fact that I've got this far with it is evidence of the benefits of reading this forum and the 2mm VAG, and having got this far, at least now I know it'll get finished!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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