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Elsbridge Tramway Company: Elsbridge Town - NeilHB's layout


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Thanks Corbs :) 

 

Last night I started work on the station building for Ffarquhar Road. Just the basic shell has been built so far, but I’m pleased with how it’s coming along considering the last time I scratchbuilt a building was a very long time ago! 
 

The main building will house the stationmasters office and a small waiting room for passengers. There is also a small lean to extension that acts as a goods lock up as there is no goods shed at the station.

 

A378C0EC-B390-4D96-98F9-1C420AD10DA6.jpeg.1937022b185d3fd4d8681afb09856c1b.jpeg

Stationmaster Porter has arrived to check over the construction work. There may need to be some adjustment to the main doorway as he won’t fit through it in his top hat…

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Neil, - could I please 'borrow' your Elsbridge Wharf layout plan from page 9 in this thread as I would like to use it as the basis of a light railway/tramway project.

 

Elsbridge Wharf Trackplan.PNG

Edited by Annie
Um.........
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18 hours ago, Annie said:

Neil, - could I please 'borrow' your Elsbridge Wharf layout plan from page 9 in this thread as I would like to use it as the basis of a light railway/tramway project.

 

Elsbridge Wharf Trackplan.PNG

Hi Annie, of course you can, I shall look forward to seeing it in action on your digital creation. 
 

Not long returned home after a long weekend in slightly wet mid-Wales. A much needed few days away with the husband, spending a very enjoyable Saturday at the Talyllyn Railway for Edward Thomas’ 100th Birthday Gala. Jolly good fun with Corris No.7, Stanhope and Diana visiting for the weekend:

 

65159263-ED74-421E-8A93-BA8A0DEFA5D8.jpeg.a5a1cd1c2922e63955479ce50ff17cd4.jpeg

Four loco lineup at Wharf on Saturday morning. KS Sirdar “Diana”, KS Tattoo “Stanhope”, Winson Engineering Corris No.7, KS Tattoo Special “Edward Thomas”. 
 

1E177E7A-E12C-44E5-804B-A649EF21EAA2.jpeg.aef08a7e7647b0d0978964dd57bafff4.jpeg

ET and No.7 double-headed the first and third trains of the day. 
 

5FD432EB-6410-4FEB-AD83-54EEFF812B20.jpeg.df5d569b6c5858559c381c781321a5d9.jpeg

On the return at Abergynolwyn. 
 

6AAA70FE-6F9F-4EE8-9040-EC923DD18D4F.jpeg.4d3fc8a95353540a0911a1374a4c8fa3.jpeg

“Diana” and “Stanhope” doing footplate rides on the temporary 2’ gauge track at Wharf. 
 

6495DDC8-4294-41A1-B133-3B3CE2FFD130.jpeg.3df2a6786a84488c87a6e5057cf47504.jpeg

Falcon “Sir Haydn” in the afternoon sun at Wharf.

 

105FCCBA-0398-4250-B850-0A0B7D93CE89.jpeg.05043012d6fd3f74157b7de5f7ae52c5.jpeg

It was oh so quiet at Abergynolwyn this morning when we called in on our way home…

 

38D96119-9611-4384-BD70-A566E92AD1E6.jpeg.fce8c67d05470ae811cdf5dcee8e3131.jpeg

…the quiet didn’t last long though as “Edward Thomas” arrived with the first train of the day. 
 

All in all a very lovely weekend! 

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4 hours ago, NeilHB said:

Hi Annie, of course you can, I shall look forward to seeing it in action on your digital creation. 

Thanks very much Neil.  So far it's just a bundle of ideas knocking around in my brain, but we'll see how it goes.

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Made a start over the last couple of evenings on the water tower for Ffarquhar Road.

 

The tank panels are from Stoneybridge Structures, and are laser cut from Rowmark/Acrylic. They just needed glueing to a 40thou plasticard box:

24C555B8-6EDC-4053-8D60-3AD04100E537.jpeg.c54584d8b2269622bb2e0a076f250ba1.jpeg

 

Basic shell for the base completed tonight:

ECB3949B-8AB4-4D94-B7D9-C0DFF2166D55.jpeg.dd90fd5a2f4db2958d6036924559b071.jpeg

Next step is to clad it in some suitable stonework. 
 

I also acquired a pair of bufferstops from the same company, which are rather nicely laser cut from MDF and Rowmark/Acrylic:

05906536-323A-4E02-9DB3-45D12BFF7124.jpeg.db61a1abf11f937eb4339cfdd99dbb6a.jpeg

 

Very easy to assemble in only a matter of minutes. 
 

I also managed to sort out the door into the station building so it’s of a much more accommodating height now:

E296E26D-798C-491A-ADF5-7517265F738A.jpeg.13d5cd9c49c338ee873bf1acca3a2116.jpeg

This also needs to be clad now in some suitable stonework. 
 

 

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1 hour ago, sir douglas said:

i like the frames for the buffer stop, is there a prototype for it?

 

Thanks.

 

According to the Stoneybridge Structures website they are based on North Eastern Railway examples. 

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9 hours ago, NeilHB said:

 

Thanks.

 

According to the Stoneybridge Structures website they are based on North Eastern Railway examples. 

I believe the GER used something similar as well.

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Finally some progress to report on.

 

I took the decision to order some new baseboards for the layout, as the previous folding board that I had been using needed major work doing to it, and was just a bit too small all round. 
 

I therefore ordered myself a set of three 900x400mm laser cut ply baseboards from Grainge and Hodder (previous customer when Tim and I were building Duddon Bridge), and these duly arrived a week or so ago:

 

CFE8E894-DBAD-4799-B665-65724B463D9A.jpeg.fe1dc4cbf4f749bfb7b75dbdadb6a4a6.jpeg

 

Last night I cracked on and assembled the first two boards, all very easy to do with wood glue and plenty of masking tape to hold it all in place whilst the glue set:

B8B0668D-30DE-46C1-BAFA-6785A788329C.jpeg.66dc1e366358a868af157158c2feed47.jpeg

7D72C1F0-F70B-4D19-8AD8-6E9597B6F8F2.jpeg.28e8c7b4737562e6cd4e1ddab17c835b.jpeg

 

I think that the second board has sufficient weight on it? :D 

 

02FB0642-1F3D-42FA-9FEC-9591F3960E32.jpeg.b58bccd806a978caa4f714b069e538c3.jpeg


Hopefully I can get the third board built tonight and then I can sort out the supporting structure for the boards!  

 

Oh and a new addition arrived for the tramway company fleet:

 

C02814F7-0896-44CE-82A1-42FA15C2467A.jpeg.07e02528b0e85ed6f20cbc4fa9433e55.jpeg

She’ll be getting a few alterations here and there when I build her (tramway skirts and sprung buffers for a start), and I just need to decide on a suitable name too. 

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On 11/10/2021 at 07:24, NeilHB said:

Finally some progress to report on.

 

I took the decision to order some new baseboards for the layout, as the previous folding board that I had been using needed major work doing to it, and was just a bit too small all round. 
 

I therefore ordered myself a set of three 900x400mm laser cut ply baseboards from Grainge and Hodder (previous customer when Tim and I were building Duddon Bridge), and these duly arrived a week or so ago:

 

CFE8E894-DBAD-4799-B665-65724B463D9A.jpeg.fe1dc4cbf4f749bfb7b75dbdadb6a4a6.jpeg

 

Last night I cracked on and assembled the first two boards, all very easy to do with wood glue and plenty of masking tape to hold it all in place whilst the glue set:

B8B0668D-30DE-46C1-BAFA-6785A788329C.jpeg.66dc1e366358a868af157158c2feed47.jpeg

7D72C1F0-F70B-4D19-8AD8-6E9597B6F8F2.jpeg.28e8c7b4737562e6cd4e1ddab17c835b.jpeg

 

I think that the second board has sufficient weight on it? :D 

 

02FB0642-1F3D-42FA-9FEC-9591F3960E32.jpeg.b58bccd806a978caa4f714b069e538c3.jpeg


Hopefully I can get the third board built tonight and then I can sort out the supporting structure for the boards!  

 

Oh and a new addition arrived for the tramway company fleet:

 

C02814F7-0896-44CE-82A1-42FA15C2467A.jpeg.07e02528b0e85ed6f20cbc4fa9433e55.jpeg

She’ll be getting a few alterations here and there when I build her (tramway skirts and sprung buffers for a start), and I just need to decide on a suitable name too. 

You could choose a name from here https://mega.nz/folder/kTAyQJSb#_g8SmzeaufgoLGEEwIwwFA/file/wW5m2Qob (This is a Sheet of names concerning T&F's Sister show TUGS)

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At last some progress to report on! 
 

All three boards are now built, and I’ve set up the two scenic boards so that I can sort out how I want the layout to look now that I’ve got a bit more room to play with. 
 

D680A694-1937-436A-90C4-CCFCADB30FFE.jpeg.c38cd07da7c0602153baeaf38965a29b.jpeg

 

9E17729F-81C0-4577-8480-3A4497478656.jpeg.404c022743fbc7deb2df0b6662bd7b00.jpeg

 

C4FD03A5-BD93-488C-9BB8-1F75935ED0BC.jpeg.aa83a3db368ba72bb4b5955573c48b55.jpeg

With the new boards being wider than the old ones, there’s room for a slate wharf at the front of the layout, served by part of the front siding which will enable me to have a bit of narrow gauge for added fun. 
 

The siding will be longer than this when the track is laid properly, so that there is a room for 3-4 wagons in there without it looking too cramped. As well as the slate wharf, it will also serve coal staithes etc. The loading bank will remain at the end of the headshunt as I think it works nicely there. 
 

465D1234-E4B0-410B-97C6-9D4C2F76CB47.jpeg.24f1abf6828035f439c358566e4a7170.jpeg

 

I’m tempted to add a low relief building at this end of the layout which will serve as a farmers cooperative society, enabling some added traffic variety on the layout. I’ll see how things pan out though once the track is down. 

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Various changes to the layout on and off over the last few days whilst I work out what looks right and what doesn’t.

 

I’ve done away with the narrow gauge along the front as it didn’t look right in the end, and this has allowed some more room

to be created at the rear of the layout by moving the trackwork forward.

 

This has the added bonus in that I can now fit in an extra siding at the rear which will serve the goods shed for the tramway:

6A637602-6BC2-4242-9C3A-470AFEC34FE8.jpeg.1565cb2aed374ca994718f34aac66b39.jpeg

It’ll have an open sided shelter over it, and a very low relief goods shed against the backscene. It just fits in a couple of wagons, which is all it needs to, and is accessed directly off the fiddle yard. 
 

The water tower has also moved locations, now being alongside the run round loop and opposite the platform:

0E6612C9-193D-49BF-93FD-E476190886F2.jpeg.e4955c3866e826fb3050b6c314efda14.jpeg

The exit to the fiddle yard will now be hidden by some sloping ground and a dry stone wall. The station is on the outskirts of Ffarquhar and is surrounded by moorland, so this gives me an excuse to have some scrubby moorland ground along the front edge. 
 

The water tower in its new location also acts nicely as a view blocker:

77D40502-C582-4CAC-9CEE-063A12F93269.jpeg.ff858f89884c059edad877396689ee4e.jpeg

I must admit I quite like this vantage point :) 

 

I also took the opportunity to length the front siding to hold five wagons comfortably, and to make some space for it to serve a farmers cooperative provender store (a good excuse for some corrugated iron!) as well as the coal merchants:

4B618C41-2E0C-4748-89DF-407E1FB62CE0.jpeg.00b190c1d233c1dbc4a1434e70e45ea3.jpeg

I’m trying to avoid having too much trackwork parallel to the board edge, so the front siding now has a nice curve along its length. 
 

It must be post-1915 as ETCo No.7 is seen on passenger tram duties, and an LNWR brake van has somehow made it across to the Island! 

 

 

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They were listed under Postcards on eBay Marc, thankfully a friend spotted them and sent me the link. Gives me an incentive to get on and finish off the 4-wheel one that I started building a few years ago, though I can't fit the three them plus loco in the FY! 

 

636255459_ETC2.jpg.10c23bb790895e343cd9324d3a9f13d3.jpg

 

But it does mean that I can now make up three distinct passenger sets for Ffarquhar Road.

 

Set 1 with my current scratchbuilt 4-wheel tramcars (All Third, First/Third Composite and Luggage Van)

Set 2 with the Bogie and 1x4-wheel W&U tramcars, plus a van as tail traffic (or a milk van if space permits)

Set 3 with 1x W&U 4-wheel tramcar, W&U luggage van and an ex-Furness Railway 4-wheel All Third: 

305220244_ETC1.jpg.2a99586e1cddf392af5d6c37e9fac690.jpg

The FR All Third will get a second set of lower footboards and possibly some longer grabrails to modify it for use on the tramway. 

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10 hours ago, NeilHB said:

Some new additions arrived today…

 

F7F2C36C-558A-4BC9-9EB5-1541CBDCF149.jpeg.4eff9490d26886a9f8a72a03e9501ded.jpeg

 

89D5A1C1-C46C-4B83-8BAD-B10FD4F11BF4.jpeg.9a7fc644ad754d19a90bd3ad0effb8a6.jpeg

 

3298CC5F-F1AD-41C2-9868-3E079209F6D0.jpeg.e6477a52994efa68a7c93ebf9d8efe77.jpeg

 

FFF0B27E-53DC-4704-AD0E-D0E6F8A7B2E6.jpeg.d07a3cc4df1550947bf0c3a75596305e.jpeg

 

A most excellent eBay bargain! 

Very nice, - those were lucky finds.  Listed under Postcards though that's certainly odd.

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I’ve had it happen a few times Annie - eBay can be a strange place when listing stuff. The last time I listed a couple of 7mm scale wagons it decided that they should go under photographs…:banghead:

Luckily I spotted it before I submitted the item for listing! 

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Some good progress this week in that I’ve now got the pattern makers dowels fitted to two out of the three boards (thanks to Andrew Young for the loan of the necessary drill bit to open the holes out in the board ends). I just need to remove the last pair of pattern makers dowels from the old Duddon Bridge boards and then they can be fitted to Ffarquhar Road. 
 

As that’s not exactly photo worthy, have a couple of photos from earlier in the week when it was market day in Ffarquhar:

 

DC39A484-8AFF-4FB4-9204-A62317C67886.jpeg.c98015f8496c769f6308ccee4f0c1bc6.jpeg

 

4CC92D2F-A1C7-4640-8984-B616E1886125.jpeg.a616b1e75684a1be6a959099235708c3.jpeg

 

29A0CEBB-6218-4EBB-978A-3CFFCBE61C58.jpeg.a5584750329b3d28efe529dea37ee386.jpeg


I would not want to be the crew on market day, when a full three car set plus luggage van is required, particularly with one of the four-coupled vertical boiler trams as motive power. Let’s just say the journey up the valley would have been interesting, particularly on the steep gradients up to Ffarquhar Road! 

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The modelling mojo has been decidedly absent the last few weeks, but it seems to have returned in force tonight. 
 

I’ve managed to get the first coat of ETC blue on the ex W&Y luggage van and bogie tramcar:

6F49555F-7C18-4732-9914-2CEE9402B2B7.jpeg.c9844549c053fcf3b0cde242f2dcc5a4.jpeg

 

And made a start on painting the interiors of the ETC open wagons:

378931A6-68D9-4AB2-A256-4897BA68FEB8.jpeg.47bcca44d4f357216664741db97bc3fc.jpeg
 

54EA4EDD-C259-4AE3-A233-410AD4C6176C.jpeg.a73066fc8446956760f0b56c0ff43592.jpeg

 

Hopefully the modelling mojo is here to stay for a while, as I’ve got track to lay! 

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The waist and upper body panels on the ex W&U bogie Tramcar have now had their first coat of ETC coaching stock white:

C05C5C17-51D3-4523-8F0E-EB647B856409.jpeg.e99ce7393759ade4ceee0712949e52bd.jpeg

Plenty of touching up to do, and I need to decide what colour to paint the droplights. Current thinking is Indian Red which would tie in nicely with the tram locos.

 

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