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Leadenhall Market - 70's widened lines and East london line


simon b
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Hi all, after a lot of false starts I've finally got around to starting a proper layout. I've had an interest in the city widened lines for sometime now, so basing the layout as a fictitious extension somewhere to the east of Moorgate station, I've yet to come up with a name for this, but thinking of something like "St Mary's street" or "Whitecross gate". Something that sounds like it belongs in central London anyway!

 

I'm planning to build this as a run through design with a fiddle yard at either end, but also so that I can operate it as terminus with only one fiddle yard should I need to. All the scenic section will be on one central board to keep thing's nice and simple.

 

The baseboard I'm using was built for an earlier idea I had, but changed my mind and never continued. I'd been playing about with various track plans on this for a few weeks, so when I finally laid out one that worked I pinned it down before I change it again!

 

Please excuse the bad pics, these were taken with a mobile phone late in the evening...

 

This is an overview of the scenic section, trains will enter and leave from a double track tunnel at the left end of the board. Then the 2 center tracks will form two through platforms, with a third bay platform nearest to the camera at the front of the board, the bay also has a loco kick back siding. The spur heading off at the back of the pic I'm not sure what to do with, I had an idea of making it disappear into a tunnel as a link to another station (similar idea to the hotel curve) or cutting it short as another loco stabling siding.

 

20151115_164943_zpskcxdpz4i.jpg

 

 

20151115_164953_zps0b7mec4a.jpg

 

 

The track is peco code 100, with a mix of large and medium radius points.

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Here's a couple of pic's from the planning stage....

 

A class 31 wait's in the loco spur to couple onto the rear of the next terminating loco hauled service, brick retaining walls at the rear.

 

20151111_015514_zps0gljn8pc.jpg

 

 

 

Another 31 with 57ft suburbans in tow emerges from under the office block above the station, another service has terminated in the bay. The signal box will be a low level wooden structure, I've taken inspiration from Liverpool street metropolitain station here.

 

20151111_020223_zpsfiwkr2jz.jpg

 

I'd welcome your thought's on this guy's!

Edited by simon b
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Guest 40-something

Very interesting thread.

 

My own layout in gestation, Coldblow Lane SE14, is based on the East London Railway in New Cross. The fiction behind it is that the lines which terminated at Moorgate were extended to Liverpool Street thus completing another link from North to South London.

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Very interesting thread.

 

My own layout in gestation, Coldblow Lane SE14, is based on the East London Railway in New Cross. The fiction behind it is that the lines which terminated at Moorgate were extended to Liverpool Street thus completing another link from North to South London.

 

I like the sound of that, do you have a link to your layout per chance?

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That is a nice idea. Compact enclosed urban railways have a special different feeling and lend themselves to recreation in miniature.

Even your planning stage pictures capture some of that atmosphere, if you had just posted the pictures without captions I would still have guessed where it was meant to be.

 

Good luck with the project

 

cheers

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I'm glad you like the pic's guy's, doesn't look too bad for a few bit's of propped up plastic wall! 

 

And thank's for the link to the Margery street thread, I read about the layout in the Rail Express mag but didn't know there was a build thread. 

 

Leopardml2341- I'm not really sure who make's those arches, I bought some at a swapmeet and some from ebay. I cant find any names or numbers on them, but they are made of vacuum molded plastic. It's really thin stuff, but does have a nice embossed brick finish. I'll grab some better pics of them this week for you.

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I recall the last week of the GN Widened Lines trains to/from Moorgate in 1976 (about this time of year or was it late October in half term week?), riding into Moorgate on empty stock compartment trains behind 31's in the evening peak. It had to be the most atmospheric ride you could have on BR at the time.

 

So I like the idea and design of this project. Greater width would allow LT Met/Circle trains on separate tracks if you wanted.

 

I dont think anyone has modelled Hotel Curve tunnel and platform at KX suburban yet!

 

Dava

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Hi Simon,

 

The arches, made of what and by whom?

 

Looking good and added to my follow list.

 

Keep up the good work.

Rgds

 

 

 

 

Leopardml2341- I'm not really sure who make's those arches, I bought some at a swapmeet and some from ebay. I cant find any names or numbers on them, but they are made of vacuum molded plastic. It's really thin stuff, but does have a nice embossed brick finish. I'll grab some better pics of them this week for you.

 

20151118_210320_zpsyrwtrxn7.jpg

20151118_210334_zpsx6gunuml.jpg20151118_210134_zpsunv0p6oc.jpg

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I recall the last week of the GN Widened Lines trains to/from Moorgate in 1976 (about this time of year or was it late October in half term week?), riding into Moorgate on empty stock compartment trains behind 31's in the evening peak. It had to be the most atmospheric ride you could have on BR at the time.

 

So I like the idea and design of this project. Greater width would allow LT Met/Circle trains on separate tracks if you wanted.

 

I dont think anyone has modelled Hotel Curve tunnel and platform at KX suburban yet!

 

Dava

 

The Hotel curve tunnel and the suburban platforms would make a great model on their own, plenty of urban grime there. Perhaps that's a project for the future? 

 

Width is the only issue. I originally considered a model of Barbican staion with both set's of tracks, but it was lacking in operational interest for me. I thought about possibly laying 4th rail along the center through platform roads of this layout, then I can run some A60 stock really set the scene!

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If you're going to model a prototype, model it right. Is the architecture of the buildings surrounding the railway correct on the model. Do the retaining wall arches have keystones or are they plain bricks on end? Is the brickwork English or Flemish bond. What colour is the brickwork? Bear in mind that most of London's railway infrastructure was yellow brick which has turned a dirty brown over the years. Stuff like that.

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If you're going to model a prototype, model it right. Is the architecture of the buildings surrounding the railway correct on the model. Do the retaining wall arches have keystones or are they plain bricks on end? Is the brickwork English or Flemish bond. What colour is the brickwork? Bear in mind that most of London's railway infrastructure was yellow brick which has turned a dirty brown over the years. Stuff like that.

 

Absolutely spot-on advice, BUT... personally I'm always fearful of trying to model a prototype because no matter how hard you try and how much research you do... someone will always come along and say you have got something wrong. I'm all for constructive criticism... I believe it's how we learn and strive to get better. Having said that, there's nothing more soul-destroying than (say, at a show) to hear someone say to his mate "he's got THAT all wrong" which is more destructive than constructive. Maybe I need a thicker skin. And some rivet-counter repellant.

Simon, I think you've got it right by "basing" your model on the Widened Lines. If anyone can look at the end result and think "Moorgate", "Farringdon" or whatever, you're on to a winner.

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Absolutely spot-on advice, BUT... personally I'm always fearful of trying to model a prototype because no matter how hard you try and how much research you do... someone will always come along and say you have got something wrong. I'm all for constructive criticism... I believe it's how we learn and strive to get better. Having said that, there's nothing more soul-destroying than (say, at a show) to hear someone say to his mate "he's got THAT all wrong" which is more destructive than constructive. Maybe I need a thicker skin. And some rivet-counter repellant.

Simon, I think you've got it right by "basing" your model on the Widened Lines. If anyone can look at the end result and think "Moorgate", "Farringdon" or whatever, you're on to a winner.

If it captures the image of what it is, that is what counts, but there's no harm in going the extra mile just to get features of the area right. I personally would not give it the name of a real location because, as you say, Johnny Armchair and his experts will come along and offer their 'critique'. Maybe a name like Mount pleasant or something like that, on the route, but not a station. Even my layout 'Sumatra Road' isn't based on a true location' although the buildings are all prototypical of structures on the North London line or London in general.

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