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Star Lane, Hooley - next show is Macclesfield in April 2024.


roundhouse
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To start off - this isn't another layout by me but a fellow operator, Mike, although  a few of us will be helping in some aspects of it along with a few others.

 

This exhibition layout is going to be a representation of the real location at Hooley,  between Cousldon and Redhill where the ex LBSCR Brighton mainline crosses over the ex SER line via Redhill. It will be modelled as it was in the sixties so the bridge will be a little bit different to how it is now.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonys-trainz/7321036844/

 

It will be a figure of 8 super imposed on itself so the two routes will actually be one on the layout with all trains doing a couple of laps but hopefully the layout will be different enough that people won't mind seeing trains actually going round the layout twice!

 

Mike has most of the boards built and in the next few weeks he will complete these ready for track laying. which should be relativley simple  with most turnouts being in the fiddleyard.

 

The layout will be capable of running 12 car electrics but there will be some diesel and steam and we will be able to run blue grey stock aswell as green stock.

 

Between us we have quite a few sets of the recent 3rd rail units by both Bachmann and Hornby including three 5 Bels, one of which is in blue grey.

 

One line will be conventional DC whilst the other direction will be capable of DCC so we can run every ones stock. Now just DC.

 

I will probably build the SER box.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/6441018731/in/photostream/

 

http://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/src/R1971.htm

 

 

Whether there is room to get the LBSCR box in, we will have to see what space is left.

 

http://www.signalbox.org/gallery/s/starlane.php

 

Luckily  the location is fairly close to me so any photos of the present day will be easy where there is public access from the over bridges using a good lens.

 

The target for completing is October 2013 and after some long discussions Saturday evening in a few good pubs in Alton we now know this is achievable. There will be plenty of static grass to add to those cutting though!

 

if any one has more photos of the signal boxes (which went in the 70's and 80's) then these will be most welcome.

 

Photos to follow in the coming weeks of the progress.

Edited by roundhouse
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Model railways are often stated to have far too frequent a train service. This layout would not reasonably be accused of such! Very busy railway in the '60s, even more so today.

 

On Sunday nights, certainly by the early '70s, Star Bridge box would be closed out, together with Merstham and, of course, Holmethorpe, so the block section would be Coulsdon North to Redhill A, which occasionally became interesting.

 

I assume the layout will not have space to include a representation of the Covered Way, long-since uncovered, in the grounds of Cane Hill Asylum Hospital?

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Ian

 

There won't be much room except for the cutting but we will research this to see if any of it can be incorporated.

 

The one good thing about this sort of layout is that we can keep trains running.

The fiddle yard won't be very large but there will be one stub roads for shorter units aswell as the longer though roads.

 

The sub station and its siding will be modelled aswell.

 

Ian

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I have a photo that Mike as emailed me over sooner than I expected, so here is the first photo of some of the layouts boards.

 

I am doing my best to get him onto RM web so he can update directly!!

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Edited by roundhouse
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Mike has been working hard over the weekend on the legs for the boards.

 

 

Nothing really exiting photo wise but here are a few he took on Sunday. I am trying to get him to join this forum so he can post direct.

 

Hopefully track laying will commence in a few weeks time. i am going to help with doing the electrical connectors as they can be done away from the layout and will speed up wiring when the time comes.

 

I keep having a look out the iwndow as we go past the location at Star Lane bridge every monring now that its getting lighter. Whne we get osme decent weather of a weekend I will try getting osem detail photos with the SLR zoom.

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Mike has now got all the boards constructed. He's taken some photos but hasn't passed them to me to post yet.

 

At the weekend he obtained a large proportion of the track.

 

We are Hoping to have a whole weekend in my parents garage as its big enough to set the layout up, laying and wiring the track between a group of us.

 

That should hopefully mean just scenics to do during the summer.

 

Hopefully we will have some more updates very soon.

 

Ian

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The overall diameter is 12 feet so with the super imposed figure of eight track plan, that will give us quite a run.

The track plan is fairly simple so a whole weekend should make it easy to get it all in place.

 

I will be building the SER box. Mike is building the fly over and we are twisting some one else's arm to do the LBSCR box. There is Also the sub station and Star Lane bridge to build but the rest of the scenery will be fairly straight forward with plenty of foliage and static grass so shouldn't take too long.

 

Ian

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Just a short update.

 

Mike is nearing completion of the upper level on the boards to take the track over the top of the lower level at the Star Lane flyover. Unfortunately no photos at the moment.

 

However, we have pencilled in a whole weekend  in May to set the layout up in my parents garage then lay the track which Mike has now purchased 

 

The plan is to get all the track down and wiring in enough to be able to run trains on the Sunday afternoon if all goes well. Then it will be the scenics to work on.

 

As soon as I have some photos of the progress I will put them on here.

 

Ian

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Mike has been busy working on the boards ready for our Mid may track laying weekend.

 

As the photo shows, hes nearly there with the timber works. Hopefully most of the electrical connections between baseboards will be assembled ready to fit as we lay the track so we can wire straight to the terminal strips already soldered to the connector wiring.

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While we have been enjoying ourselves in the West of England, Mike has been getting sun burnt outside working on the layout.

 

These photos were taken today showing track laying progress in the fiddleyard. The cosches give an idea of the layouts size.

 

Ian

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I drove by, and went through on the train, this location twice yesterday and thought of you guys.

 

Why I went past, well that's a long story but all a result of the fragmented messed up modern railway system.

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Just passed Star Lane on the lower lines.

 

Despite Redhill being our local station we have been on the Quarry lines numerous times, often when there has been signalling problems in the Redhill area and they have re routed our train!

 

Ian

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Looking forward to this one. My (old) neck of the woods. Definitely a case of familiarity breeding respect, not contempt. Excellent idea to model an earlier era. Just not a huge fan of present-day ops, me. It's that nostalgia thing again, isn't it!? Good luck with this one. Pete.

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At the weekend Mike obtained more track, switches, connectors for the baseboard electric connections wire etc.

 

I am tasked with wiring up some of the D type electrical connectors ready for installation this weekend when we have the big push all wekend to get the track down, wired and run some trains. Luckily we are using my parents double garage to leave it set up Saturday and Sunday so the rain wont get in the way of work on the layout.

 

Looking forward to running some of my emus for the first time since buying them. Most of mine are blue/ grey so we will be running anyhting from 1950's through to early 80's but mainly 1960's green stock with a few steamers and diesels for variety. 

 

The layouot is being wired as 2 completely independant running lines, so we can run DCC on one and DC on the other and swap about as we decide which track is best for each system.

 

WIll post some photos of the progress this coming weekend.

 

Ian

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Tomorrow we set up Star Lane for a two day working possession to lay as much track and wire up as much of it as we can.

 

In preparation, a few of us have been wiring up D connectors including the tag strips so that they can be screwed to the underside of the boards tomorrow ready for running the track feeds to them on each baseboard.

 

There are three 37 way and the rest are 9 way connectors. The 37 way ones are done so tonight its will be finishing off the smaller ones.

 

The power supply connector will also be wired up tonight. This will have our standard wiring diagram as it allows us to use each others power packs should a fault occur in one of them. My power pack will get used over the weekend allowing Mike to build his later.

 

This morning I took some more shots of Star Lane from the train for the arch details of the bridge for the Quarry lines over the Redhill lines. Not very good shots but it will give us a bot more info for building the bridge. Really need to be on a train that has been slowed by a train in front to get soem better close up shots.

 

If I hadnt been messing about editing these photos I might have got a shot of the DBS liveried 59 at Purley unloading the aggregate train!!

 

The concrete arches wont be modelled as these were added when the bridge was rebuilt in the 70's.

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A few more more photos showing where we have got to tonight.

 

All the fiddle yard track is laid and one track (up line) nearly laid all the way round. Part of the other track (down line) is also in place.

Tomorrow should see all track down and a substantial part of the wiring in place.

 

However we will have a running session at some point during the day

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Edited by roundhouse
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Just a short update

 

We have had trains running this morning all the way round except into the fiddle yard.

 

The down line is currently being laid and wiring is underway..

 

More photos to follow later.

 

Ian

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By 6 pm tonight we had trains running the full way round the layout. In all we laid about 180 feet of track, did the track baseboard joints and started on the wiring in the two days this weekend, so well worth the our of us working on it to push the layout on for a completion by October this year.

Mike will now spend the next couple of months completing the wiring of each board and getting the basic scenery foemation in place along with the bridges that are required. I will lbe constructing the South Eastern signal box on the Redhill lines.

We hope to have another full weekend working on the layout and fully testing the electric in August plus completing the main scenery works leaving Mike the final few months to add the detail and fettle any other parts of the layout.

Here is a video of the Kernow Thumper with sound and also a Brighton Bell without sound doing a full circuit each.



Ian Edited by roundhouse
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A few still shots fro the weekends work.

 

This shot gives an idea on the size of the fiddleyard.

The two centre roads can handle a 12 car EMU. The rest can take 10 - 11 cars so will taken a 2 x 5BEL.

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A 5BEL in action. Between us we have more 5BELs than there really were so we can run two 10 car rakes and in both Pullman and Blue/grey liveries!!

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The last thing yesterday was to load the layout back into Mikes car. Its surprising that this 12 foot diameter layout will fit in with spare space. However once the scenery goes on and the boards are boxed up to allow space for such then it will be touch and go if it all goes in. A second car will be needed for stock in any case for all the stock a number of us have acrued over recent years.

post-1557-0-81825600-1369042460_thumb.jpg

 

We wil run frieghts with steam / diesel aswell as the electric units and dpeneding where the show is we can have stock from other operators  who are based in other parts of the country.

 

Ian

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