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Fryers Lane - Speedlink in the '80s (P4)


Mark Forrest
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14 hours ago, Grampus said:

Very nice - that looks spot on.  it oozes atmosphere with nothing to detract!

Thanks, very kind of you to say so.

 

For a while now whenever I looked at the layout I found that I only saw its faults. Tackling a little job like this to rectify one of those faults has made a big difference to how I feel about the layout.

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3 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

Thanks, very kind of you to say so.

 

For a while now whenever I looked at the layout I found that I only saw its faults. Tackling a little job like this to rectify one of those faults has made a big difference to how I feel about the layout.

 

I know what you mean! In golf I always judge myself by how bad my (many) bad shots are and thats my focus. Same for modelling and my many mistakes are what I notice! 

 

A great scene btw that I've got filed away in my modelling inspiration folder.

 

Cheers

Will 

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'For a while now whenever I looked at the layout I found that I only saw its faults. Tackling a little job like this to rectify one of those faults has made a big difference to how I feel about the layout'.

 

That resonates.  So often I have found myself 85% of the way through a project, only to become dissatisfied or disappointed with whatever aspect I have been concentrating on, only to come back some time later with fresh eyes and go again.  Little victories: it's a journey, not a destination!  Keep doing what you're doing...I am looking forward to seeing more pictures, as and when. 

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul

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When I started out building Fryers it was intended to be a layout that I could operate at home, that would also be exhibitable.  However, unless I set it up out on the patio (which I have done on a couple of occasions) there isn't anywhere at home that I can fit the whole layout with both fiddle yards attached, which means the left hand fiddle yard might get used once, maybe twice a year (pre-pandemic).  The layout can't operate without the right hand fiddle yard, as this forms the other end of the loop.  At exhibitions, I've always been conscious that the footprint of the layout with both fiddle yards attached ends up being over 60% fiddle yard, less than 40% scenic.

 

The wall that the layout occupies is 3350mm long; with the right fiddle and scenic board, I'm using 2700mm of that.  A temporary "shorty" fiddle (650mm) was added to the left end of the layout last year for home use, although I've only loosely placed track on it so far - does at least stop wagons falling off the end of the layout and onto the workbench below it!

 

Thinking about how to make best use of the space I have available and make the layout more enjoyable to operate within the space available at home has (inevitably?) lead to me considering extending the layout with two additional boards.  Firstly a front extension 150mm deep along the front of the existing board, taking the total depth to 600mm.  This will allow some more scenic foreground.  This might end up being a curved frontage similar to what I'm planning for MVM.  The second new board is a deeper version of my shorty fiddle yard measuring 650mm x 600mm and fitting in the place of the left fiddle yard (which is (confusingly) on the right in the diagrams below).

 

1860989391_Templot-baseboardoutlines.JPG.344cf3587421d184e288cb12436ce6a7.JPG

 

With addition of one extra turnout (there is a spare output on the servo drive board and an unused wire to the control panel) and slewing the (current) mainline and siding towards the front of the layout, I could end up with some thing like this...

224506002_FryersLaneextrasiding.JPG.fc8beee7ba95e4ad315c8ff1b62a66d1.JPG

 

What was the main through line now forms a headshunt which is about the same length as the fiddle yard, that's important because the fiddle yard is configured in such a way that all arrivals and departures need to be on the front track, the track leading the the tandem turnout only aligns with the loop track in the fiddle yard (that's entirely intentional, but has caught out a few guest operators who tried to depart into the loop line on the fiddle yard).  Shunting operations would start with an arrival in the headshunt setting back into the loop to run round before shunting the three (Inglenook?) sidings.  The current warehouse building could be relocated to the new board, situated between the between the middle and rear siding; the rear siding would be (at least partly) hidden behind a building out other view blocker.  Of course there is always the temptation to add more; I could for example add another turnout to split the rear siding into two, but I want to avoid it looking overcrowded which I think this modest increase in track does reasonably well.

 

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First step on this extension project needs to be to remove and relocate the point and uncoupling magnet controls that currently live within the lighting fascia.  There plug into the main board through a 15 way connector.

20210222_221158.jpg.c5b7dad79c44cd3d5796fb0fe39f4aea.jpg

 

As I'll now need three switches I've dug out three of these which were reclaimed from my Dad's layout when he dismantled it.

20210222_221228.jpg.9ba5c9148b1ecc9167d02f9d8ea2e736.jpg

To save space, I've removed the circuit board and I'll solder directly to the pins.  The switches have a nice solid feel to them.  Here they are mounted in what will become the new control panel.  They are drilled to take piano wire to manually operate points, but here they will be switching the servos.

20210222_221254.jpg.4c3859e1b512ecd86573e0200a0d2a71.jpg

 

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It's good to see this reawakening Mark. The extension will certainly give more play - I mean operating features.

The idea of hiding the rear most track behind a building almost gets you back to the original Bloxwich plan with the road crossing the line to the smelter...!

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8 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said:

It's good to see this reawakening Mark. The extension will certainly give more play - I mean operating features.

The idea of hiding the rear most track behind a building almost gets you back to the original Bloxwich plan with the road crossing the line to the smelter...!

Thanks Rich.

 

Looking back through earlier posts in the thread I was reminded that I had originally hoped to include the road crossing but there wasn't enough space, I may now be able to include it to provide access to the yard.

 

The other advantage of the the rear siding remaining partly hidden is that it can represent various different industries depending on which wagons I've got out to play with.

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Another layout and another scale were both things I considered.  At one point I thought about removing the trackbed from the Fryers board, then reusing its outer “box” but with a completely new scene within; that might still happen one day.  Not forgetting this is all going on alongside my Manifold Valley Minerals project.  While I’m enjoying taking my time over the MVM build, there is something about a relatively quick turnaround on the planned changes to Fryers that appeals.  

While I look enviously at the efficient use of space on 2mm layouts and the added detail and atmosphere of 7mm, for the foreseeable future I’ve got more than enough 4mm stock including several years worth of unbuilt kits.

 

The reality is that, while I am adding an extra board and increasing the scenic section of the layout, the overall length will be reduced by about 600mm ;)

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Time to get a little destructive, firstly making a gap for the road crossing.

20210224_072205.jpg.22596965f6e8fd8545d0a64fbe5ec156.jpg

 

Then, the warehouse needed to go...

20210225_180426.jpg.ac0231cfa036d7479ec7d0acc97188c7.jpg

Im keeping everything I remove for possible reuse.  A new trackbed will be needed for the new siding as the area under the warehouse is only made of foamboard.

 

Overall view with all the buildings gone and the fascia removed.  Hours to make, seconds to break!

 

20210225_180332.jpg.66efdce8a4810e4b8397aac3caa04e2e.jpg

 

 

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34 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

Time to get a little destructive, firstly making a gap for the road crossing.

20210224_072205.jpg.22596965f6e8fd8545d0a64fbe5ec156.jpg

 

Then, the warehouse needed to go...

20210225_180426.jpg.ac0231cfa036d7479ec7d0acc97188c7.jpg

Im keeping everything I remove for possible reuse.  A new trackbed will be needed for the new siding as the area under the warehouse is only made of foamboard.

 

Overall view with all the buildings gone and the fascia removed.  Hours to make, seconds to break!

 

20210225_180332.jpg.66efdce8a4810e4b8397aac3caa04e2e.jpg

 

 


Where’s the chip shop going?

 

 

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9 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Just thought, Stubby has been awfully quiet of late, I do hope he's not succumbed to the plague.

 

 

Yes, I was thinking the same just the other day.  Maybe if we mention caravans and grotty outhouses three times he'll appear

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