The Waverley Route revisited!

[great northern]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

That WD has made a speedy journey north from Peterborough North! bet it made a hell of a clang as it zoomed down to the no man's land area that is the Waverley.

P

It is on its holidays.

[bigwordsmith]

This may not look like progress, but it is - first a little history in case you've missed my whinging on other groups....

 

As regular readers will doubtless, remember the previous Waverley Route Project had to be dismantled in something of a hurry at the end of 2017 as my dodgy lungs drove us in search of a bungalow with a nice flat garden where we could also park our caravan.

 

AS it happened we ended up buying a two-storey house, with no garage, in a hilly village, with views to the South Downs, which SWMBO has been wrestling with since we arrived. For the first year after arriving I too got involved, albeit on a small scale, but the dodgy lungs and a ruptured Achilles last Summer put paid to that!

As part of the works programme we built a garage with a rather splendid 7m x 3 metre (usable) loft, which we all thought would turn rapidly into a railway room

 

Sadly our daughter got divorced, moved into a rental, and needed somewhere to store her fragile stuff. We also brought everything back from storage and the loft rapidly  became rather full and used as a dump for the whole of 2019.

 

Then in  March this year, just as I had got back to some form of mobility from the Achilles and decided it was Time To Do Something,  I got pneumonia.

 

Five days in the COVID Ward, despite not having it, and I came home feeling wretched after being pumped full of antibiotics.

 

Two weeks of misery followed, basically feeling like I'd been run over by one of Aveling and Barford's finest. 

 

After I started to feel almost human, I had a big dose of steroids to recover lost lung capacity, which didn't work, and an awful reaction to them, which saw me in bed for another week. On top of that I got a condition called Hypokalaemia, which basically means 'not eating enough bananas' which took another week to get over and meant I couldn't do anything except sleep!

 

The whole thing left me weak and wobbly, but nearly 30lbs lighter and has meant I am no longer hypertensive, or Obese, as my BMI is now comfortably below 30 for the first time since I started dating!

 

So now I'm back in the land of the shielding, but have sod all energy and even less strength, so every movement has to be calculated. I refuse flatly to get a mobility scooter though, so will just have to keep buggering on. albeit slowly and for not very long distances!

 

Anyway enough moaning, back to the progress report.

 

While musing through PN, Over Peover, Grantham., SOSJ, Little Bytham and several other inspiring layouts that inhabit RMW, it struck me that perhaps with a little 'tidying up' I could free up enough space to set up the old Engine Shed and get some tracks on that, so I could be ready for when the time comes and daughter buys her own house again, and I can reclaim t'other side as well! 

 

I also looked at different ideas to get in a fiddle yard and lots of useful activities as well as not cover the entire board with track ( yeah right!)

 

So several iterations later I came up with this idea...

 

 It basically takes everything I had at the last railway except the fiddle yard and the reproduction of the Eastern End of Waverley and adds in a four-track mainline station along the lines of the old Cupar Angus station which had the arrangement - down slow, Down Fast, Up fast, UP slow, with the two outer roads being served by platforms. THis will allow me to have freight trains lumbering around, and you'll notice it also has a wee distillery in one corner, as well as the ability to load/ unload cassettes ( Thank you Gilbert for that bit of inspiration!)

 

THis is Cupar Angus today BTW

 

To give some scenic interest I plan to play with different levels - not sure of the best way yet, but I'm sure something will come up. It will only be +/- 1=1.5 inches, but should add some operational interest.

 

The railway should be able to comfortably host a good half a dozen trains visible at any time, not including movements, and by using the slow lines of the second station as terminal lines as well,  I can do loco swaps, turn trains around and generally enjoy a bit of playtime!

 

SO I can hear you all thinking 'Smiffy's been planning again, where's this so-called progress?"

 

Well in the style of a TV reveal - look no further.

 

As you can see I have actually tidied up enough and moved the shed baseboards enough to start to build that second side!

 

 

(Note to self - get a decent camera - iPhones have limitations)

 

Now I have a 7m x 2.8m wide length onto which I can erect baseboards. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted a couple of pics back some ready made ladder racks which were part of the old railway, so I'm hoping I might even  be able to get away with very little carpentry. 

 

As I'm frighteningly allergic to sawdust this is probably a Very Good Thing, and as it happens I've discovered that we moved in opposite a very keen O Gauge modeller who will happily chop down any bits of 2x1 I need shortening - The joys of living in a small village with a lovely Church community!

 

This is from the other end and even though it doesn't look much, there's a railway under there bursting to get out.

More progress reports to follow.....

[AJCT]

2 hours ago, bigwordsmith said:

THis is Cupar Angus today BTW

 

 

Pleased to hear you're on the mend and planning your next layout... one can't keep a keen modeller down.

 

Sorry to be picky, but this is Cupar in Fife, on the ECML from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, between the Forth and Tay bridges.  As shown, there were only 2 platforms and no additional running lines, but until the mid/late 1960s there was a single centre road with trailing connections off the Up and Down Mains which functioned as either an Up or a Down Refuge Siding - hence the gap between the tracks shown here, and the interesting overbridge design seen in https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/3/337/ . Coupar Angus was on the now-closed Strathmore line between Perth and Kinnaber Jn, the one-time continuation of the WCML from Carlisle to Aberdeen - see https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/70/429/.  My Sectional Appendix says there was an Up Refuge Siding, and a Down Goods Loop - possibly the outer face of the island platform, which would have handled local passenger trains for the Blairgowrie branch.

 

HTH !

 

Alasdair

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by AJCT
Correction

[landscapes]

2 hours ago, bigwordsmith said:

This may not look like progress, but it is - first a little history in case you've missed my whinging on other groups....

 

As regular readers will doubtless, remember the previous Waverley Route Project had to be dismantled in something of a hurry at the end of 2017 as my dodgy lungs drove us in search of a bungalow with a nice flat garden where we could also park our caravan.

 

AS it happened we ended up buying a two-storey house, with no garage, in a hilly village, with views to the South Downs, which SWMBO has been wrestling with since we arrived. For the first year after arriving I too got involved, albeit on a small scale, but the dodgy lungs and a ruptured Achilles last Summer put paid to that!

As part of the works programme we built a garage with a rather splendid 7m x 3 metre (usable) loft, which we all thought would turn rapidly into a railway room

 

Sadly our daughter got divorced, moved into a rental, and needed somewhere to store her fragile stuff. We also brought everything back from storage and the loft rapidly  became rather full and used as a dump for the whole of 2019.

 

Then in  March this year, just as I had got back to some form of mobility from the Achilles and decided it was Time To Do Something,  I got pneumonia.

 

Five days in the COVID Ward, despite not having it, and I came home feeling wretched after being pumped full of antibiotics.

 

Two weeks of misery followed, basically feeling like I'd been run over by one of Aveling and Barford's finest. 

 

After I started to feel almost human, I had a big dose of steroids to recover lost lung capacity, which didn't work, and an awful reaction to them, which saw me in bed for another week. On top of that I got a condition called Hypokalaemia, which basically means 'not eating enough bananas' which took another week to get over and meant I couldn't do anything except sleep!

 

The whole thing left me weak and wobbly, but nearly 30lbs lighter and has meant I am no longer hypertensive, or Obese, as my BMI is now comfortably below 30 for the first time since I started dating!

 

So now I'm back in the land of the shielding, but have sod all energy and even less strength, so every movement has to be calculated. I refuse flatly to get a mobility scooter though, so will just have to keep buggering on. albeit slowly and for not very long distances!

 

Anyway enough moaning, back to the progress report.

 

While musing through PN, Over Peover, Grantham., SOSJ, Little Bytham and several other inspiring layouts that inhabit RMW, it struck me that perhaps with a little 'tidying up' I could free up enough space to set up the old Engine Shed and get some tracks on that, so I could be ready for when the time comes and daughter buys her own house again, and I can reclaim t'other side as well! 

 

I also looked at different ideas to get in a fiddle yard and lots of useful activities as well as not cover the entire board with track ( yeah right!)

 

So several iterations later I came up with this idea...

 

 It basically takes everything I had at the last railway except the fiddle yard and the reproduction of the Eastern End of Waverley and adds in a four-track mainline station along the lines of the old Cupar Angus station which had the arrangement - down slow, Down Fast, Up fast, UP slow, with the two outer roads being served by platforms. THis will allow me to have freight trains lumbering around, and you'll notice it also has a wee distillery in one corner, as well as the ability to load/ unload cassettes ( Thank you Gilbert for that bit of inspiration!)

 

THis is Cupar Angus today BTW

 

To give some scenic interest I plan to play with different levels - not sure of the best way yet, but I'm sure something will come up. It will only be +/- 1=1.5 inches, but should add some operational interest.

 

The railway should be able to comfortably host a good half a dozen trains visible at any time, not including movements, and by using the slow lines of the second station as terminal lines as well,  I can do loco swaps, turn trains around and generally enjoy a bit of playtime!

 

SO I can hear you all thinking 'Smiffy's been planning again, where's this so-called progress?"

 

Well in the style of a TV reveal - look no further.

 

As you can see I have actually tidied up enough and moved the shed baseboards enough to start to build that second side!

 

 

(Note to self - get a decent camera - iPhones have limitations)

 

Now I have a 7m x 2.8m wide length onto which I can erect baseboards. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted a couple of pics back some ready made ladder racks which were part of the old railway, so I'm hoping I might even  be able to get away with very little carpentry. 

 

As I'm frighteningly allergic to sawdust this is probably a Very Good Thing, and as it happens I've discovered that we moved in opposite a very keen O Gauge modeller who will happily chop down any bits of 2x1 I need shortening - The joys of living in a small village with a lovely Church community!

 

This is from the other end and even though it doesn't look much, there's a railway under there bursting to get out.

More progress reports to follow.....

Hi Peter

 

So glad you are feeling fitter and back into the model railway world, the room you have created looks a dream, something I will be looking for if and when we move in the not to distant future.

 

Third Grandchild is due within the next two to three weeks, so grandparent duties will be required for a few more years then hopefully a house move.

 

I am sure you have thought of it but good temperature controls, ie heating and ventilation are essential and good security to the building as well.

 

Really looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

Best Regards

 

David

[bigwordsmith]

2 hours ago, AJCT said:

 

Pleased to hear you're on the mend and planning your next layout... one can't keep a keen modeller down.

 

Sorry to be picky, but this is Cupar in Fife, on the ECML from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, between the Forth and Tay bridges.  As shown, there were only 2 platforms and no additional running lines, but until the mid/late 1960s there was a single centre road with trailing connections off the Up and Down Mains which functioned as either an Up or a Down Refuge Siding - hence the gap between the tracks shown here, and the interesting overbridge design seen in https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/3/337/ . Coupar Angus was on the now-closed Strathmore line between Perth and Kinnaber Jn, the one-time continuation of the WCML from Carlisle to Aberdeen - see https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/70/429/.  My Sectional Appendix says there was an Up Refuge Siding, and a Down Goods Loop - possibly the outer face of the island platform, which would have handled local passenger trains for the Blairgowrie branch.

 

HTH !

 

Alasdair

 

 

 

I must still be groggy - of course it’s Cupar Fife, I’ve been there for heaven’s sake!

 

thanks for the detail, looks like I may be using my modellers licence, especially as my model is theoretically set in the countryside of the ‘disputed lands’

[bigwordsmith]

1 hour ago, landscapes said:

Hi Peter

 

So glad you are feeling fitter and back into the model railway world, the room you have created looks a dream, something I will be looking for if and when we move in the not to distant future.

 

Third Grandchild is due within the next two to three weeks, so grandparent duties will be required for a few more years then hopefully a house move.

 

I am sure you have thought of it but good temperature controls, ie heating and ventilation are essential and good security to the building as well.

 

Really looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

Best Regards

 

David

Good to hear from you David. I watch your progress with envy.

Sadly the knackered pipes mean I really have far more limits than before. Having cleared the space, which took nearly a week, Them done a few box moves, I was so bushed I ended up calling it a day at 12.30!

 

as you know I’ve always been one for marathon sessions, but unless they can do something miraculous with my lungs, I fear those days are in my rear view mirror!

[bigwordsmith]

2 hours ago, AJCT said:

 

Pleased to hear you're on the mend and planning your next layout... one can't keep a keen modeller down.

 

Sorry to be picky, but this is Cupar in Fife, on the ECML from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, between the Forth and Tay bridges.  As shown, there were only 2 platforms and no additional running lines, but until the mid/late 1960s there was a single centre road with trailing connections off the Up and Down Mains which functioned as either an Up or a Down Refuge Siding - hence the gap between the tracks shown here, and the interesting overbridge design seen in https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/3/337/ . Coupar Angus was on the now-closed Strathmore line between Perth and Kinnaber Jn, the one-time continuation of the WCML from Carlisle to Aberdeen - see https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/70/429/.  My Sectional Appendix says there was an Up Refuge Siding, and a Down Goods Loop - possibly the outer face of the island platform, which would have handled local passenger trains for the Blairgowrie branch.

 

HTH !

 

Alasdair

 

 

 

thanks for the Pics Alasdair, seeing the bridge in Fife is good, but seeing the platforms at Coupar Angus, especially with a Clan, make me wonder if that would not work better- it would allow me to pair the fast and slow lines well....

[AJCT]

1 hour ago, bigwordsmith said:

thanks for the Pics Alasdair, seeing the bridge in Fife is good, but seeing the platforms at Coupar Angus, especially with a Clan, make me wonder if that would not work better- it would allow me to pair the fast and slow lines well....

You're welcome... the 4-track station arrangement you suggested was rare in Scotland: Larbert is the most obvious one which springs to mind.  But, on the Waverley Route, I believe the original layout at Melrose was so (see https://www.railscot.co.uk/locations/M/Melrose/ ) - finding the date when the layout was changed would require some research, but pics in this collection show clearly that the platforms were widened at some time.  Scope for some Modellers' Licence, maybe ?

 

Cheers -

 

Alasdair

[bigwordsmith]

5 minutes ago, AJCT said:

You're welcome... the 4-track station arrangement you suggested was rare in Scotland: Larbert is the most obvious one which springs to mind.  But, on the Waverley Route, I believe the original layout at Melrose was so (see https://www.railscot.co.uk/locations/M/Melrose/ ) - finding the date when the layout was changed would require some research, but pics in this collection show clearly that the platforms were widened at some time.  Scope for some Modellers' Licence, maybe ?

 

Cheers -

 

Alasdair

That could work!

[landscapes]

1 hour ago, bigwordsmith said:

Good to hear from you David. I watch your progress with envy.

Sadly the knackered pipes mean I really have far more limits than before. Having cleared the space, which took nearly a week, Them done a few box moves, I was so bushed I ended up calling it a day at 12.30!

 

as you know I’ve always been one for marathon sessions, but unless they can do something miraculous with my lungs, I fear those days are in my rear view mirror!

Hi Peter

 

Thank you, Railway modelling is usually a long term project anyway, every little bit of work no matter how small helps, I should know I have been building Haymarket for the last eight years and still no where near completion thats if it ever does get completed.

 

As long a you enjoy what your doing and it certainly seems you do, then thats all that matters

 

Take care and stay safe.

 

Regards

 

David 

Edited April 30, 2020 by landscapes
spelling

[bigwordsmith]

OK, SWMBO went off to do a food drop today, so I got some time in the loft and set about working out how to best achieve my desires.

 

After a few minutes of that I got back to thinking about the railway again, and decided the old railway arches would no longer work - especially as I'm going to build a four road station in the space they and the carriage sidings used to occupy, so it had to come apart.

 

I know it would have been easier to just junk it and start again, but I am not allowed to cut timber, so had to re-use existing resources, and the ladder rack on which this was built is the widest one I have!

 

So in case you've forgotten what it looked like in its prime - this is it

 

 

 

 THis was it after about an hour's demolition this morning!

 

 

 

After removing all the sidings and consigning the viaduct to the waste tip pile, I'm let with the ladder rack, onto which I will put a new deck to form the station. I may need to experiment with point motors, as digging out large holes for the Peco ones calls for use of sawing kit, which i not allowed!  I mayinveftigate the potential for hiding them in railway furniture and running the rodding out for platform surfaces or plate layers' huts.

 

 

 

Next stage was to remove all the fallen ballast and other debris from the morning's work, followed by unveiling the engine shed after two years in bubble wrapped storage.

 

As you can see it has actually fared quite well. Some minor scenic damage, but given the general murkiness of the site it shouldn't be too hard to resurrect .

 

I rescued half a dozen points and about 12 metres of Code 75  from the morning's destruction, but also rediscovered that code 75 is a lot harder to lift than 100. Especially when its all ballasted in!

 

 

After that the next step was securing the baseboard to the trestles.

 

By a near total coincidence I actually spaced the trestles almost to the inch apart from each other as last time, but one was the wrong way round. As you can see there is a lot of timber stored there, so turning it would have been a lengthy option - instead I just screwed  the hinge into the other side!

 

So now it sits upright - which it didn't in the last loft, meaning I can re-fettle it when needed without having to crawl around upside down.Its origins as a smaller shed with a big angle on one end from its early days are clear when you see beneath it.  The carpentry may be crude, but it ain't half solid! I also make no apologies for my wiring - it has improved with age!

 

 

Next step is building the new station so it can be dropped into a new frame to be built off the trestles - there's no way I could lean across the shed to lay and wire up track, so a protective layer will have to go across the engine shed base so the new station can be built thereupon before being dropped into place. One challenge is to ensure the engine shed layout can lift up - I may be tempted to run a lift out able canal between the two - I've got 55mm between the two boards, which should be enough?

 

I think I might end up regretting that last idea!

 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by bigwordsmith

[pH]

On 30/04/2020 at 14:01, AJCT said:

You're welcome... the 4-track station arrangement you suggested was rare in Scotland: Larbert is the most obvious one which springs to mind. 

 

The Glasgow and Paisley Joint was 4-track all the way - supposedly the longest stretch of 4-track in Scotland. Slow lines to the outside and fast lines in the middle as far as Arkleston Junction, then 'Caledonian' and 'G&SW' pairs from there to Gilmour Street. That means Ibrox, Cardonald, Hillington East and Hillington West stations all had 4 tracks through them.

[37403]

Kilmarnock was four through

['CHARD]

On 30/04/2020 at 22:01, AJCT said:

  But, on the Waverley Route, I believe the original layout at Melrose was so (see https://www.railscot.co.uk/locations/M/Melrose/ ) - finding the date when the layout was changed would require some research, but pics in this collection show clearly that the platforms were widened at some time.  Scope for some Modellers' Licence, maybe ?

 

Cheers -

 

Alasdair

 

I never dreamed that was the case.  In fact I had typed a rebuttal based on the double track bridges at either side of the station as evidence, then I decided to check on the Old Maps site.

 

Well now - check this link to a 1:2500 map of the station in 1860, and lo and behold the witness marks on the latterday platforms do indeed bear testimony to a later widening.

 

Every day is a school day - Alasdair, thank you so much for triggering another nugget of research.

 

https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/353500/634500/12/101295

 

Disused Stations clearly shows that the station was four tracked as late as the 1890s but was reduced to a two track through layout by early in the 20th century.  As one note of caution, I would point out that the four track layout appears to be up and down lines, some sort of central loop and a dead-end road, but confirmation would require closer scrutiny.  It's a bit more obvious to me now why the remaining station platform seems to offer sufficient space for a single line despite the presence of the by-pass.

http://disused-stations.org.uk/m/melrose/index.shtml

[AJCT]

35 minutes ago, pH said:

 

The Glasgow and Paisley Joint was 4-track all the way - supposedly the longest stretch of 4-track in Scotland. Slow lines to the outside and fast lines in the middle as far as Arkleston Junction, then 'Caledonian' and 'G&SW' pairs from there to Gilmour Street. That means Ibrox, Cardonald, Hillington East and Hillington West stations all had 4 tracks through them.

 

Quite so... but I was looking for examples of double-track main lines splitting into 4 tracks through the station as per Peter's plan above.  Forgot about Kilmarnock, though: Stannergate on the D&A Joint is another possibility.  But given Peter's Waverley Route preference I thought the original layout at Melrose with the application of a little Modeller's Licence or Rule One might be a way forward !

 

Alasdair

[AJCT]

1 hour ago, 'CHARD said:

Every day is a school day - Alasdair, thank you so much for triggering another nugget of research.

 

You're welcome...

 

Alasdair

[St Enodoc]

Would Dunbar count?

[bigwordsmith]

Fascinating discussion in stations I seem to have started here, but the point is that there were four track stations in Scotland with only two platforms, just none on the Waverley Route!

Although I did start out with visions of modelling the East end of Waverley Station, there’s no way in the current space that could be achieved. At least not without going to N gauge, which my eyes would not support.

 

So the end result is going to be freelance, and while I’d like to make it realistic, it’s never going to be in the same league of accuracy as Peterborough North, Little Bytham, Waverley West and so on.
 

However, I do want it to feel right for a Scottish main line layout, and all your thoughts and suggestions have been hugely helpful!

 

Many thanks

[great northern]

Good morning Peter, though it isn't very good up here. It's great to see that you can get going on things again, and some progress in your new railway home.

 

I hope you won't mind a few words of caution though, based on personal experience. Your first preference has always been the Waverley route, that is very clear, but now you are looking at a four track through station, and it seems that however creative the suggestions may be, it is hard to get that to fit in. I appreciate that you are not such a stickler for accuracy as TW and myself, and others too, and why should you be? We all have the right to do what is going to give personal satisfaction.

 

I think two factors need to be taken into account here, the first being your health, and what that does and does not allow you to do. It would be a great shame if your desire and intentions were to be frustrated by finding out that you have bitten off  more than you can chew. That's one factor, the other being that I presume that most of the time you will be the only operator of the layout. If that is the case, there will be limits as to how many trains you can deal with at any given time. How do I know that? Well. PN despite it size is really a two track main line, and yet, unless I just want to see things going roundy round, I normally only have one train running at a time. So four tracks may mean that three are underused a lot of the time.

 

For those reasons, I suggest you look closer at your first preference, the Waverley route, and see what you can find there that would give some interesting operation possibilities on a single handed basis. without a great deal of complication. There are some good possibilities, are there not?  St Boswells comes to mind straight away, but the are others, and if none exactly suits your room and your preferences you could do, as you considered before, something with the flavour of that wonderful line.

 

What you actually run on it would be entirely a matter for you. There we are, feel free to ignore all this, but it is offered as I really do want to see your dream layout come true.

[bigwordsmith]

Thanks Gilbert - I alway appreciate your wisdom as it is based on much more experience of actual running than I have. 

 

The idea of the 4-track is actually a disguised fiddle yard - as you rightly say a lot of the time trains will be standing in stations doing 'nowt, but I realised that with my restrictions, and insistence upon keeping my rather large engine shed, the smaller room meant I wouldn't be able to fit in station, fiddle yard, running length, return loop  and engine shed without a compromise.

 

So the idea of the 'South side  station is to give me two 'parking ' platforms, one of which has the cassette facility, the other runs into a potential distillery - offering room for some goods movement. The theory i that trains can terminate there - allowing loco run arounds, or as it is just next door, substitutions, so a lot could go on in that space. The same applies to thebans and extra roads on the North side - I could lose two tracks, but it would reduce the availability of train running.

 

Of course it could be that I don't need so much, and no doubt will dwell on that thought as construciton inches along!

 

I agree it will have a lot of scope, but my inner belief has always been that I will get better - I've lasted 28 years with a condition whose 10 year survival rate is 50% so theoretically I'm already on borrowed time. 

 

Perhaps the biggest mistake health wise was putting it in a first floor room above the garage - bit that will give me the incentive ti sleep climbing stairs!

[bigwordsmith]

After an interesting few hours looking at the opportunities for a canal, it now looks like the only way I could even get close to justifying it is if I relocated the railway to Central Scotland. Even then, my allowed space of 3" isn't wide enough for the Caledonian Canal, so back to the drawing board I think!

 

However, I can still feed the distillery by rail...

[luckymucklebackit]

Hi - Another example of a four track station in the configuration you are looking for was Hamilton Central, hard to believe looking at the station today but there used to be an overall roof and two through tracks.  https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PEKiTv5Au6g/VFeTDMBfj3I/AAAAAAACFoI/-ZW1UmBEVRk/s1600/Old%2BPhotograph%2BRailway%2BStation%2BHamilton%2BScotland.JPG

 

These lasted to the 1950s before the middle tracks were lifted, the platforms were then moved closer together for electrification in the 1970s

 

More photographs here https://www.railscot.co.uk/locations/H/Hamilton_Central/

 

Jim

Edited May 11, 2020 by luckymucklebackit

[great northern]

Me again Peter. I'm doing a rethink on my sequence, which means quite a lot of analysis, and that in turn means a lot of counting of various things. Among the things I have counted is the number of carriages I now have stored off layout in cassettes. The answer rather startled me, as it came to over 100. Of course I have a large fiddle yard full of stuff too, but then I'm trying to do something very large and complex indeed.

 

The point I want to make is that if I were starting again now, I'd be seriously considering if I needed a fiddle yard at all. I probably would actually, but only because I have to store stock to cover most trains on the ECML between 7.15am and 1000pm. If I were to lower my sights somewhat, I reckon I could do the whole thing with no on layout storage at all.

 

I don't think you are anywhere near as crazy as me, so I seriously wonder whether you could do the whole thing with cassettes. Waverley route expresses weren't that long, apart from a couple, and there weren't that may either, and I can assure you that cassettes are a doddle for shorter trains.

[bigwordsmith]

13 minutes ago, great northern said:

Me again Peter. I'm doing a rethink on my sequence, which means quite a lot of analysis, and that in turn means a lot of counting of various things. Among the things I have counted is the number of carriages I now have stored off layout in cassettes. The answer rather startled me, as it came to over 100. Of course I have a large fiddle yard full of stuff too, but then I'm trying to do something very large and complex indeed.

 

The point I want to make is that if I were starting again now, I'd be seriously considering if I needed a fiddle yard at all. I probably would actually, but only because I have to store stock to cover most trains on the ECML between 7.15am and 1000pm. If I were to lower my sights somewhat, I reckon I could do the whole thing with no on layout storage at all.

 

I don't think you are anywhere near as crazy as me, so I seriously wonder whether you could do the whole thing with cassettes. Waverley route expresses weren't that long, apart from a couple, and there weren't that may either, and I can assure you that cassettes are a doddle for shorter trains.

 

I do often wonder how you keep track of it all Gilbert. I know from my own perspective I've got about 12 different trains I'd like to run:, all fo which are freelance.

 

Sleeper - either a direct or divert.

Car carrier ( poss with sleeper) - there are some iconic shots of the Halewood origin Ford trains

2 x passenger trains using Mk1s, Thomson/ Gresley mix

2x Local passenger trains - tank engine plus 2-3 coaches and a couple of vans

DMUs ( I have lots) 

Parcels using bogie stock

Vans - fish/ whiskey/ general goods

Mixed goods

Coal

Bogie freight ( I have about 14 bolsters!

Pullman - diverted Queen of Scots

 

Of course I also have light engine movements and the occasional sortie for the breakdown train to add in to the mix!

 

As we discussed and agreed not to proceed before, a hidden fiddle yard would allow me to run them all without having to remove anything from the board, but I don't think that will be practical.

 

So it then comes down to deciding whether to have a roundy-round session - always fun with one of Mr. Peppercon's finest at the head, or to treat the South Station as a fiddle yard with scenery!

 

No doubt it will all work out one way or another - I may even totally rethink when I get access to the north side of the room!

Edited May 12, 2020 by bigwordsmith

[bigwordsmith]

OK I've been up in the loft again and doing some rethinking.

 

Following Gilbert's very sensible advice about One Man Operation I've re-thought the South end - it's probably a better idea to create a fiddle yard and keep the opes simple.

 

So this morning I resurrected the track bed from the old viaduct and cleared as much of the corrugated base off it, together with ballast and general carp so as to put it into service with the new line. This followed deep and detailed thought ( no Whisky wasn't involved) last night about how together maximum trains onto minimum line, and the conclusion that in 15" I should be able to squeeze seven tracks, if only I could work out how...

 

SO the plan that hatched was to create a five-road fiddle yard, and cantilever a pair of running lines over the gap I need between the engine shed board and the fiddle yard board, so that the shed can still lift without fouling the fiddle yard.

 

This is what the design looks like

 

 

It isn't to scale, but you get the idea! probably easier to see in this pic using stuff salvaged from the old viaduct...

 

 

The track bed is actually about 1.25" above that of the fiddle yard, which will be covered ( don't wince Gilbert) by a removable townscape based on sheets of polystyrene resting on battens on the timber behind the arches and onto the main wall.

 

OK now we turn to the track plan....

 

 

 

So this gets a five road fiddle yard, each of which can hold a 9 coach train plus loco, or two locals/ DMUs. You'll also notice it is reversible- I know that's a recipe for trouble, but if I went for one way traffic I'd have to have a pair of double crossovers rather than double slips ( which I do hate in fairness)  to let the up and down lines get full access

 

Which then got me thinking about this....

 

 

Its actually a lot simpler and will orbablygieme more flexibility...