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Mayshill - GWR


Jules
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Finally..... after a rather protracted house move and the skipping of my last layout, and some essential diy on the new abode, I have finally started on my new layout.

 

I have switched from the eastern side of the country to the western, so I can have a bit of GW tank engine action!

 

I guess my liking for these little beasties results in my late Father taking me to the DVR when I was a nipper so my first steam memories are of GW tank engines and a ride on the footplate of one of their Peckett 0-4-s in pre H&S days.

 

Anyway, the layout. As the piccies hopefully show below, it is a quite small and compact terminus, this bit is 6' * 2'. I am planning on having a fiddle yard with cassettes which will be a new experience for me. The only plan I have is what you see here, the rest is in my head! (not the best way of planning I know, but I am a bit impatient to get something running - its been 18 months since I had a play!)

 

The track is only temporarily in place, although the holes for the point motors are in so the track scheme is pretty fixed.

 

Enough waffle for the time being...

 

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Edited by Jules
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Ooops!

 

It is OO.

 

I am using Peco code 75 for the first time along with electrofrog points (except the double slip).

 

Also fitting point motors for the first time, so a bit more wiring than I am used to!

 

Progress might be slow on this one.....

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Nothing wrong with a GWR BLT icon_thumbsup2.gif, will be keen to see how it develops with the space considerations.

 

I have to admit this topic was a bit of inspiration, I am just about to start layout dismantling in light of current house move, so enthusiasim has understandably dropped for the current layout.

 

However, I remembered under the house I has some old kitchen cabinet bases, one of which is 5 foot by 16 inches - just right for a decent GWR BLT in 3mm scale (equivalent to almost 7 by 2 in 00). Now I have the track, wood, point motors, spare buidings, scenic material and everthing else from the never to be completed sections of the current layout so I might knock up something similiar over christmas..even better I can reuse the current centre fiddle yard complete.

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Ta for the comment :D

 

It will be 'interesting' to see how it pans out - i haven't ended up with quite as much space as I would have hoped, and I usually try to squeeze too much in, but I like to have a bit of fun operating rather than true prototypical fidelity...

 

I hope to get some of the wiring done this afternoon, once I've been for a walk in the snow!

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Hi Jules,

 

 

Finally..... after a rather protracted house move and the skipping of my last layout, and some essential diy on the new abode, I have finally started on my new layout.

 

 

I'm following behind in your footsteps; just got as far as doing some essential diy on the new aboderolleyes.gif . Next year I hope to start work on the 'Outbuilding' although I still have to completly strip the bathroom and fit a new suite etc ,so not much time for railway modellingsad.gif

 

Look forward to seeing your layout develop.

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Jules, no need to apologize for modelling a GWR BLT, instead congratualte yourself that you are at the cutting edge of the GWR's return to fashion smile.gif wink.gif .

 

Do you have any particular plans for how the casettes will be fashioned? I'm thinking along similar lines and on the lookout for ideas for something simple and straighforward.

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Hi Mikkel, thanks for the comment

 

The cassettes are another bit of the plan in my head! I think they will be 9mm ply to match the baseboard depth, with strip-wood along the sides. The ends I will probably block with sponges - I saw that method at an exhibition and it looked quite effective.

 

Still not quite sure how I am going to connect then electrically.....

 

Progress : I have wired in the power, so I can now play trains for the first time in 18 months!! :D

 

Just got to wire the points and build a control panel now.....

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Jules, no need to apologize for modelling a GWR BLT, instead congratualte yourself that you are at the cutting edge of the GWR's return to fashion smile.gif wink.gif .

 

 

Have to agree with this, now is the time to model the GWR, luckily most of my models were made the last time the the GWR was popular!

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit of progress...

 

On the surface not that much, track pinned down and painted underneath.

 

Test runs have taken place to check it all basically works - it does!

 

 

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What can't be seen is the spaghetti underneath, all the points are now wired to a terminal block waiting for the connection to the as yet un-built control panel.

 

This wiring hasn't been tested yet.....

 

As to a name, my current thoughts are to call it Mayshill after a place nearby. It did have a railway, although it was a colliery line that closed in 1948. I'm afraid I haven't come up with some meaningful history, but it is just a toy afterall! :D

Edited by Jules
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A bit of progress...

 

On the surface not that much, track pinned down and painted underneath.

 

Test runs have taken place to check it all basically works - it does!

 

 

post-148-12622591716988_thumb.jpg

 

What can't be seen is the spaghetti underneath, all the points are now wired to a terminal block waiting for the connection to the as yet un-built control panel.

 

This wiring hasn't been tested yet.....

 

As to a name, my current thoughts are to call it Mayshill after a place nearby. It did have a railway, although it was a colliery line that closed in 1948. I'm afraid I haven't come up with some meaningful history, but it is just a toy afterall! :D

A Toy! A toy, its a GWR BLT, not a toy, it is a piece of history, a slice of nostalgia, a model of superior engineering. What I mean is it is yours to build and play with! ;) ;)

 

Have fun, you have overtaken my layout already, I have only laid half the track and am now building a loco and wagons to test it with.

 

Happy New Year

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biggrin.gif Nice one Jules, good name for a layoutbiggrin.gif

Great progress and I do like the track plan, very usable and a lot of fun wink.gif . A significant bonus I discovered from the small layout option is your enthusiasm stays high, opportunities for shortcuts are low and there is always the option to extend the layout if/when you have the space/time/resources....

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little bit of progress, but not much!

 

I have been playing trains a bit before continuing too much just to make sure it mainly works. Haven't built the control panel yet as I am still trying to find the right power socket for the plug of my transformer, so in the meantime I am using my trusty old H&M Duette. It still gives surprisingly good control.

 

Also I have been testing out my fiddle yard cassettes. I think I might have made them a bit narrow! I think any more I make will be a bit wider to help with putting rolling stock in position. I am currently applying power using croc clips which appears to work pretty well so I will probably stick with this method for now.

 

Any building shown are purely temporary just to break up the bareness!

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Those casettes look beautiful Jules :icon_thumbsup2:

 

I can see what you mean about making sure they're not too narrow, that's something to keep in mind for me too, thanks for sharing the experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little bit of progress... the control panel is (almost) finished. Seemed to take a long time to get to this stage, just to control seven points!

 

The only thing left to do is mark out the track schematic on it. Remarkable, it all worked correctly with no faults when powered : my 'back of an envelope' cable numbering and layout was obviously up to the job! Now I think I will make it a bit more formal for future reference.

 

Anyway, a couple of really exciting pics to show my hard work....more details on request if anyone is interested.

 

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Now the fun stuff can begin...

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit of progress :

- Balsa for the platform in approx position and shape, now need to construct the front walls and surface

- scenic break bridge constructed and placed in place to

- allow a start to be made on the landscape.

 

The cutting sides are made with polystyrene as the basic shape with newspaper soaked in wallpaper paste over the top. It will be finished off with a skim of plastery type stuff to give the final surface. Never tried this method before so should be interesting!

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Ta for looking

Edited by Jules
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Have to agree with this, now is the time to model the GWR, luckily most of my models were made the last time the the GWR was popular!

 

I think you are quite right the GWR did have the 'contempt through overfamiliarity' aspect last time I was modelling (1980's?) but you dont see as much about of it now, as everyone else gets 'their turn' with RTR products ;)

 

-looks like it will be a charming little layout!- is the station a wills craftsman kit, lasst time I looked at one of these it looked harder than scratchbuilding!

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It is indeed a Wills Craftsman kit. It was made for my previous layout, and I made it harder by reversing the plans! (the plans have the house on the right and the station bit on the left).

It is only temporarily placed to fill in the blank space. I intend to make something a bit more GW.

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Hi Jules :)

I like the concept of your layout it looks really neat and tidy! I too will be using Code 75 and electrofrog points for the first time for my next layout. I like the idea of the cassettes.

Keep us posted.

Bill (Dunmar)

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Thanks for the kind words chaps biggrin.gif

 

Progress will be slow.......

 

The cassettes are quite good, although the next ones I make will be a bit wider - with the current ones it is very difficult to place stock on the track. I'm also not too sure about the long term use of croc clips to transfer power to the cassettes, but it will do for now.

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  • 1 month later...

Righto - a bit of an update. I don't appear to have achieved a great deal recently, so I think since the last update I have :

1. painted the track

2. done most of the ballast

3. painted the bridge

4. started the yard crane base

5. built a wagon

6. shunted some wagons about!

 

Hopefully the pics below illustrate the progress....

 

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