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Deneside - BR North Eastern Region


Brian D
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Looking really nice ! I like the shed you have done it out pretty nice inside, I am still torn on paying for a large shed and kitting that out for a railway room or do I stick with the loft. Both cost the same amount to do out but hey ho time will tell. Look forward to seeing the layout progress however !

Thanks for popping in nathan9117.  I did consider using my loft but the ridge level is too low.  Nowhere in the roof space can I stand up straight.  I measured things up and drew the attached.

post-1115-0-45047800-1415042323_thumb.jpg

Cramped, I'm sure you will agree.

Regards,

Brian.

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I have had a few hours out in the shed today along with a few more on Sunday afternoon.  Thus far, all the mdf lining is now sealed with diluted pva and the roof has had two coats of matt white emulsion.  Hopefully I'll get the first coat of sky blue matt emulsion on the walls tomorrow afternoon - going to Lakeside tomorrow morning according to SWMBO apparently, so no work in the shed until later in the day.

I have also just nipped out and had a final internal measure and appear to have a space 10 ft 6 inches by 6 ft 5 inches with which to create my layout, which is about what I was expecting having insulated and lined the nominal 11 ft by 7 ft shed.

In between all of this, I'm making slow but steady progress reinstating the laptop to the level it was before it died a few weeks back.  Among the software reinstalled is AnyRail 5 (which I had bought) and TurboCad, the computer aided drawing programme I use for drawing images like that in the above post (#76) and for drawing out card building outlines.  I used to use TurboCad for layout design as well but AnyRail is so much simpler to use.

Computers drive me nuts.  For things that are supposed to be logical they are so not-logical sometimes.  A case in point is the problem I think I have just resolved.  When the repaired laptop returned I had to reload the software for my all-in-one Canon printer/scanner/copier.  It steadfastly refused to load the drivers for the device but apparently Windows 8 had already provided the driver for the printer/copying functions but not the scanner.  Several visits to Canon.co.uk were made to download the drivers without success - kept getting the same message that the drivers were not presently available due to technical reasons and to try again later.  After a flash of inspiration, I visited the Canon USA website and I have now successfully download Windows 8 compatible drivers including the scanner function.  The scanner is important to me as I no longer retain my railway magazines for any length of time, merely keeping scanned copies of articles of interest on the laptop.

Progress on all fronts.

Regards,

Brian.

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Speaking of TurboCad, here are a couple of drawings I prepared to help me plan out the town centre back and end scenes by taking sections through the station.

post-1115-0-18564900-1415122650.jpg

The section above is transverse to the platforms and, using Scalescenes' building dimensions gives me options for the depth of scenery beyond the station fence so to speak (in this case a retaining wall) - platforms on the left and backscene on the right.

post-1115-0-38769000-1415122891.jpg

This section is at the bufferstop end of the station.  Again I have used Scalescenes' building dimensions, this time to try and help determine where the buffer stops might actually need to be placed.

These two sections have helped me to determine the size of the big grey rectangles in the earlier post (#69) and thus where tracks can be laid in AnyRail.

Regards,

Brian.

 

Edit: Just noticed that the second section has the Scalescenes' station incorrectly called up as the "medium station" when it is actually the "large station".

Edited by Brian D
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I think I have achieved another landmark point today - the painting is finished, or at least I think it is.  I am judging the paint in extremely poor light conditions today (not much sunshine and a lot of rain here today) - there is a possibility that another (third!) coat might be required of the blue.  I'll be able to tell when I get some sunshine.  Here are some dodgy phone pics which at least show the colour scheme.

post-1115-0-24783600-1415382665_thumb.jpg

post-1115-0-57304900-1415382709_thumb.jpg

I now need to summon the courage to get an electrician to give me a quote for the electrics - I hate getting tradesmen in, they always prefer payment in cash and there is always that sense of being ripped off ("How much?").  But hey ho, onwards and upwards.

In the meantime, due to the loss of some files when the laptop died, I'm back replanning the new layout.  One of the documents I lost was a list of loco, stock and train lengths that I had prepared to help plan platform, run round loop and siding lengths so I spent a happy hour or two yesterday getting stuff out of boxes and coupling them up on the existing Hawthorn Town fiddle yard and passing the measure over them.  I attach here the results of that exercise for anyone interested.

Loco & Train Lengths.pdf

The upshot of all this is that I'm tempted to move the layout into ex GE territory for the reason that 5 short Gresley bogie coaches can be accommodated instead of 4 mk1s giving a better impression of an express train in terms of length.  Food for thought.

Regards,

Brian.

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This is really coming along well Brian. Most tradesmen are quite honest, if your not sure, obtain a couple of estimates. Don't rely to much on whether he or she is a member of this or that trade organization, they are all toothless if things go wrong. When possible, use some one local and recommended by friends or relatives. Incidentally, I liked your min /max thermometer idea and purchased a similar one myself.

 

Regards. Brian.

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This is really coming along well Brian. Most tradesmen are quite honest, if your not sure, obtain a couple of estimates. Don't rely to much on whether he or she is a member of this or that trade organization, they are all toothless if things go wrong. When possible, use some one local and recommended by friends or relatives. Incidentally, I liked your min /max thermometer idea and purchased a similar one myself.

 

Regards. Brian.

Thanks wireman.  We have used a chap locally but he ain't cheap.  It seems what I could do myself electrically 20 or 30 years ago, I am no longer allowed to do under current H&S regimes - I fitted a new kitchen in our house including the electrics which included new socket outlets and under unit lighting.  SHMBO wants it done "properly" though so I'll get some quotes and take it from there.  Thanks again for you interest in my ramblings.

Regards,

Brian.

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Well, not much is happening in the shed at the moment.  I'm waiting for the quotes for the electrical work.

In the meantime I've been thinking long and hard about the new layout plan.  I've already posted a spiral layout and a U shape and thought that I better give consideration to a roundy-roundy type.

I found an interesting layout in the August 2011 Railway Modeller which suggested a possible Settle & Carlisle proposal in a 10 ft x 5 ft space.  I have turned it upside down and I have added a kick back siding to give me a bit more operational interest - this can be used to get slow goods trains out of the way of faster expresses or for parking up engineers or break down trains.  I have also stretched it to fit in my space and extended the traverser fiddle yard to 6 roads, each nearly 6 ft long.  I attach the plan below.

post-1115-0-04471100-1415897755_thumb.jpg

The thick black line shows the operating well in the middle, the shed door on the right shown as a thin rectangle, needing a lift up section at this point.  I have laid out the 6 traverser roads along with a further line showing the innermost travel of the traverser.  I have added a curved kick back siding alongside the traverser in the fiddle yard to accommodate a 4 car DMU or 3 coach local stopping train but I will add other kick backs left and right as loco spurs, etc.

This layout quite excites me giving me a good balance of near-prototypical features, acceptable curves, operational complexity and a reasonably challenging build (I still want to include a viaduct and both over and under-line bridges).

Please let me know what you think.

Regards,

Brian.

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Well, not much is happening in the shed at the moment.  I'm waiting for the quotes for the electrical work.

In the meantime I've been thinking long and hard about the new layout plan.  I've already posted a spiral layout and a U shape and thought that I better give consideration to a roundy-roundy type.

I found an interesting layout in the August 2011 Railway Modeller which suggested a possible Settle & Carlisle proposal in a 10 ft x 5 ft space.  I have turned it upside down and I have added a kick back siding to give me a bit more operational interest - this can be used to get slow goods trains out of the way of faster expresses or for parking up engineers or break down trains.  I have also stretched it to fit in my space and extended the traverser fiddle yard to 6 roads, each nearly 6 ft long.  I attach the plan below.

attachicon.gifshed basic oval 3c.jpg

The thick black line shows the operating well in the middle, the shed door on the right shown as a thin rectangle, needing a lift up section at this point.  I have laid out the 6 traverser roads along with a further line showing the innermost travel of the traverser.  I have added a curved kick back siding alongside the traverser in the fiddle yard to accommodate a 4 car DMU or 3 coach local stopping train but I will add other kick backs left and right as loco spurs, etc.

This layout quite excites me giving me a good balance of near-prototypical features, acceptable curves, operational complexity and a reasonably challenging build (I still want to include a viaduct and both over and under-line bridges).

Please let me know what you think.

Regards,

Brian.

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Well, the quotes for the electrical work are in and the chap I have selected to do the work is coming next Thursday.  I've gone for two strip lights (or battens as they are called these days), one either side of the central steel roof support, and 4 double socket outlets (one in each corner).  Thanks again emt_911, the chap I chose is one of your suggestions.

To facilitate connecting the two battens together, I have drilled an 8 mm hole (well, eventually - it started with a 2 mm pilot hole and went up in steps) through the steel roof support so a connecting cable can pass through.

When the electrics are done, I need to do some more work on the shed door (insulation and lining as the rest of the shed and add some draft proofing), lay the carpet and underlay (former bedroom carpet replaced a couple of months back currently rolled up in the garage) and buy a small heater.  Then, my current layout will be set up in the shed for a while to test out the shed environment and experience  :imsohappy:

I doubt whether I will start on the new layout until the new year.

Regards,

Brian.

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Just a thought- I have 6 double sockets in the workshop and STILL have two multi-outlets and two extension bars........

 

Against that I'm not forever plugging and unplugging from hard-to-reach wall points.

 

TWO double sockets in each corner?

 

Les

Edited by Les1952
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Just a thought- I have 6 double sockets in the workshop and STILL have two multi-outlets and two extension bars........

 

Against that I'm not forever plugging and unplugging from hard-to-reach wall points.

 

TWO double sockets in each corner?

 

Les

Thanks for the advice Les.  I'll see how I go.  I can always add more if needed.

Regards,

Brian.

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Good to see the progress on here Brian - yes you are a few months ahead of me.... must get out and start more insulation work...

Hi Neal,

It took me a couple of months, on and off with two weeks in Crete thrown in, to fully insulate and line the shed, although the door is still not done.  Don't delay, start today  :)

Regards,

Brian

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I think I have achieved another landmark point today - the painting is finished, or at least I think it is.  I am judging the paint in extremely poor light conditions today (not much sunshine and a lot of rain here today) - there is a possibility that another (third!) coat might be required of the blue.  I'll be able to tell when I get some sunshine.  Here are some dodgy phone pics which at least show the colour scheme.

attachicon.gif2014-11-07 09.28.50.jpg

attachicon.gif2014-11-07 09.29.15.jpg

I now need to summon the courage to get an electrician to give me a quote for the electrics - I hate getting tradesmen in, they always prefer payment in cash and there is always that sense of being ripped off ("How much?").  But hey ho, onwards and upwards.

In the meantime, due to the loss of some files when the laptop died, I'm back replanning the new layout.  One of the documents I lost was a list of loco, stock and train lengths that I had prepared to help plan platform, run round loop and siding lengths so I spent a happy hour or two yesterday getting stuff out of boxes and coupling them up on the existing Hawthorn Town fiddle yard and passing the measure over them.  I attach here the results of that exercise for anyone interested.

attachicon.gifLoco & Train Lengths.pdf

The upshot of all this is that I'm tempted to move the layout into ex GE territory for the reason that 5 short Gresley bogie coaches can be accommodated instead of 4 mk1s giving a better impression of an express train in terms of length.  Food for thought.

Regards,

Brian.

Brian, my Electrician is due back on Wednesday and to wire in the Shed / Lights / Sockets, fit an external Neon lamp to let me know that all sockets are off when I leave the Shed and transfere the feed from the House Ring Main to a seperate Garage Fuse, plus a Certificate comes out at an earth shattering £285 inc vat.

 

nuff said,

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Brian, my Electrician is due back on Wednesday and to wire in the Shed / Lights / Sockets, fit an external Neon lamp to let me know that all sockets are off when I leave the Shed and transfere the feed from the House Ring Main to a seperate Garage Fuse, plus a Certificate comes out at an earth shattering £285 inc vat.

 

nuff said,

That is really cheap Andy.  I won't tell you have much I'm paying.  Needless to say it is quite a bit more than you based as I am in Essex, not a stone's throw from London.  Tradesmen ain't cheap down here I can tell you.  Still when its done the whole link out to the garage and shed will be certificated.

I hope you enjoyed your break.

Best regards,

Brian.

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That is really cheap Andy.  I won't tell you have much I'm paying.  Needless to say it is quite a bit more than you based as I am in Essex, not a stone's throw from London.  Tradesmen ain't cheap down here I can tell you.  Still when its done the whole link out to the garage and shed will be certificated.

I hope you enjoyed your break.

Best regards,

Brian.

HAHHAHA I asked him for a DISCOUNT and he laughed at me, no wonder.

 

Great break thanks, but nice to be back.

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So, while I'm waiting for things electrical to happen, I have printed the oval plan off and sketched on some buildings, roads and landscape including the viaduct and bridges I mentioned in an earlier post.  Here it is.

post-1115-0-21754600-1416079364_thumb.jpg

You will notice an empty space in the left hand top corner.  I thought of perhaps calling the station "Hawthorn Abbey" (a totally fictitious location) and placing a church or ruined church there.  This is a hark back to my love of Durham (city not county) and the juxtaposition of the east coast main line viaduct over the town and the fantastically located cathedral.  What do you think?  Any alternative suggestions are welcome and will be given serious consideration.

Regards,

Brian.

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Nothing too constructive I'm afraid, but I've always liked it it, considered shoehorning it into a 6'x10' room when we were in Bristol and using it as a not quite "Binegar" on the Somerset and Dorset (Boiland).

It lent itself to mimicking the operations of the actual station quite well (Bankers returning wrong line, Local terminating etc.).

IIRC I looked into moving the the crossover at top right of the plan away from the platforms a little, I think with peco track at my radii it took a little bit of jiggery pokery to make it flow but the extra length you have may help.

 

Which ever way you go finding the updates for your project most interesting, keep em coming.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

Edited by slow8dirty
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So, while I'm waiting for things electrical to happen, I have printed the oval plan off and sketched on some buildings, roads and landscape including the viaduct and bridges I mentioned in an earlier post.  Here it is.

attachicon.gifshed basic oval 3c sketched on.jpg

You will notice an empty space in the left hand top corner.  I thought of perhaps calling the station "Hawthorn Abbey" (a totally fictitious location) and placing a church or ruined church there.  This is a hark back to my love of Durham (city not county) and the juxtaposition of the east coast main line viaduct over the town and the fantastically located cathedral.  What do you think?  Any alternative suggestions are welcome and will be given serious consideration.

Regards,

Brian.

Brian

 

One of the reasons for contemplating moving my layout to the garage is so that I can replace my ten road traverser with something more akin to what Andy has shown latterly on his Bitton thread - before the banger brigade took over!

 

I've tried a traverser with both a continuous layout and the proverbial BLT and am convinced that it is the prime reason for me not operating my layout except when pressed to do so if I have visitors.

 

It may sound silly but I find that the constant unlocking, moving, locking of the traverser rather than simply setting up a route using a couple of (point operating) switches is what is putting me off. Unless I run one train at a time - the layout basically comprises a single line passing station - I set the traverser for train 1 to depart, run that to the station, return to the traverser and set it for train 2 to depart and then run that to the station. I then send one train back to the fiddle yard, reset the traverser and then send the next train back before re-setting the traverser again before the next move (and there are two more traverser moves in this short sequence if I want to keep trains on the same traverser track).

 

Your traverser is double track and the practical operation may be different, mine also feeds a separate (single track) branch but you will either have to run trains individually or always run the same pair together.

 

I know they're space savers but I'm not convinced that they're the best thing for a predominantly one person operation layout, especially a continuous one (and I want that facility so that I can let trains run round (and round occasionally, primarily for testing). The logistics of having three separate traverser tables in the same space doesn't bear thinking about!

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Morning Brian,

Like the plan although, like Ray, I'm not a fan of traversers. I really like the solution AndyP has come up with for 'Bitton'.

Love the idea of a large ruin in the corner - worth looking at Shaun's (Sasquatch) 'Goathland and Grim up North' layout on here as he has a very fine model of a ruin which actually exists! You will also find a great deal of inspiration from looking through his thread!

Getting close to the really interesting bit now,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Edited by Jock67B
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Nothing too constructive I'm afraid, but I've always liked it it, considered shoehorning it into a 6'x10' room when we were in Bristol and using it as a not quite "Binegar" on the Somerset and Dorset (Boiland).

It lent itself to mimicking the operations of the actual station quite well (Bankers returning wrong line, Local terminating etc.).

IIRC I looked into moving the the crossover at top right of the plan away from the platforms a little, I think with peco track at my radii it took a little bit of jiggery pokery to make it flow but the extra length you have may help.

 

Which ever way you go finding the updates for your project most interesting, keep em coming.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your comments.  I too have thought that branch line trains could arrive clockwise into the station, run around, and depart anti-clockwise back to the branch line off scene.  This prompted me to check the length of track between the cross-overs which come out at 30 inches according to AnyRail.  My train length "ready reckoner" attached in an earlier post tells me that 3 short gresleys is a tad over 26 inches so OK for a branch line train, at least for me in this instance.  But thanks for that which made me double check everything.  I really couldn't get my head around moving the left hand crossover further left without all sorts of unwanted side effects so I;m pleased that I don't have to do that.

Thanks again for your interest.

Kind Regards,

Brian.

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Brian

 

One of the reasons for contemplating moving my layout to the garage is so that I can replace my ten road traverser with something more akin to what Andy has shown latterly on his Bitton thread - before the banger brigade took over!

 

I've tried a traverser with both a continuous layout and the proverbial BLT and am convinced that it is the prime reason for me not operating my layout except when pressed to do so if I have visitors.

 

It may sound silly but I find that the constant unlocking, moving, locking of the traverser rather than simply setting up a route using a couple of (point operating) switches is what is putting me off. Unless I run one train at a time - the layout basically comprises a single line passing station - I set the traverser for train 1 to depart, run that to the station, return to the traverser and set it for train 2 to depart and then run that to the station. I then send one train back to the fiddle yard, reset the traverser and then send the next train back before re-setting the traverser again before the next move (and there are two more traverser moves in this short sequence if I want to keep trains on the same traverser track).

 

Your traverser is double track and the practical operation may be different, mine also feeds a separate (single track) branch but you will either have to run trains individually or always run the same pair together.

 

I know they're space savers but I'm not convinced that they're the best thing for a predominantly one person operation layout, especially a continuous one (and I want that facility so that I can let trains run round (and round occasionally, primarily for testing). The logistics of having three separate traverser tables in the same space doesn't bear thinking about!

Thanks for your detailed comments Ray.

I hear what you are saying but I just don't have the room for a ladder of points without resorting to short radius fiddle yard points (trying to avoid 24 inch radius if possible because some of my existing stock is close coupled) and extremely short train lengths (I'm already looking at say a Gresley pacific with 4 mk1s or a Britannia with 5 short Gresley corridor coaches as my through express - these trains measure about 54 inches, according to my ready reckoner, and the traverser, according to AnyRail, turns out at 58 inches).  I want the traverser roads to act as pairs and part of the main line so that, if the mood takes me or for running in purposes, two trains can circulate, 1 up and 1 down, at the same time.  But generally, I will try and operate some sort of semi-prototypical time table or sequence, setting points and signals as required (I am not going DCC with this layout - too many loco chips required and quite a few not-ready locos).  I enjoy the operational side of things as you may have guessed perhaps more than any other aspect of modelling.

The operating space is quite narrow so an easy swing from the main control panel back to the traverser.

Thanks again for the time you have taken to look over my ramblings - much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Brian.

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Morning Brian,

Like the plan although, like Ray, I'm not a fan of traversers. I really like the solution AndyP has come up with for 'Bitton'.

Love the idea of a large ruin in the corner - worth looking at Shaun's (Sasquatch) 'Goathland and Grim up North' layout on here as he has a very fine model of a ruin which actually exists! You will also find a great deal of inspiration from looking through his thread!

Getting close to the really interesting bit now,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Hi Jock.  I hope you are well today.  Great news the other day for you!

Thanks very much for the time you have taken to look over my ramblings.  It is greatly appreciated.

Re traversers - I trust you will read my response to Ray above which explains my predicament.  In addition I would add that I've put the biggest shed I could (get away with) in my small postage stamp garden which leaves me with about 10.5 x 6.5 ft for the railway which limits my options space wise but is still great to have my own railway room, albeit not as big as big as some - I just love Tony Wright's "shed" showing an actual location on the East Coast Main Line.  The space I have does not let me model an actual location, or at least not one that would interest me.

Yes, I'm aware of Shaun's thread and I think it is probably Whitby Abbey ruin he has modeled I'll have another look there.

Once the shed building work is completed (electrics, work to the door, other home comforts like putting a small 19 inch (erstwhile kitchen) TV/DVD in there and some superseded stereo equipment (to complete the "Man Cave" elements of the project - house full of women this end!), I'll set up my existing layout in there for a while (my 4 year old grandson can't wait) while planning out the carpentry involved in the new layout build.  I would love to mate the existing layout scenic section to the lhs curve and fiddle yard of the new one temorarily to keep trains running as long as possible but I'm not sure whether this is feasible at present.

All the best to you Jock.  Thanks again for your interest.

Kind Regards.

Brian.

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