Christleton Junction - 1986 - Gateway to North Wales

[61656]

I set upon modelling Christleton in September 1986 as it gave me the perfect combination of things I wanted to model, still predominantly blue and grey with lots of loco haulage, new TP and IC liveries. 33,45 and 47s on passenger, still some 25s around and even a couple of 40s. 
 

But I definitely didn’t want pacers or sprinters. It’s not that I disagree with the concept of a 45 and old coaching stock needing a more economical replacement, it’s just that the 142s and 150s were such a disappointment. In fact it’s rare that I ever think a new train is a step forward in the Uk - quite at odds with what is produced in NL, DE or FR. 
 

Some flickr research shows that Sept 1986 around Chester was already infested with pacers and sprinters. The local services to Helsby and Hooton are all 142s, as are many of the Man Vic services. Slightly longer services such as Man - Lla are 150s, or often a pair of each. 
 

Coming forward a year to 85 and everything local is in the hands of 101s and 108s, but the Crewe remodelling plays havoc with the regular timetable. 
 

A year later, in 87, and the 33s, 40s and  most of the loco hauled TP have all gone. 
 

So I think it’s 86, but the local services will be stuck in 85!

[Banger Blue]

22 hours ago, GordonC said:

that loco hauled book looks fantastic, I'd not seen that before

 

They crop up regularly on eBay.

 

I have 1980 (1H80) through to 1987 (1H87) all sourced via that way.

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Banger Blue

[61656]

Sometimes progress comes slowly, but it’s still progress! A Manchester Victoria service heading out on the Warrington lines passes an incoming service from Oxford Road. Both are enjoying the newly painted rails in readiness for the final section of ballasting. 

 

Who would want to replace these with a 142?
 

 

[St Enodoc]

28 minutes ago, 61656 said:

Who would want to replace these with a 142?

The guys who had to maintain them?

[61656]

The rarest of days where I got to spend some consecutive hours on the railway. It’s amazing how little you can achieve when you put your mind to it.

 

I thought I would quickly finish the last bit of ballasting at the scenic breaks for Chester and Warrington. “Quickly”.  
 

First of all I had to correct some poorly aligned tracks. Nominally they should be at 50mm centres, but the curve shown below was about 48mm at the lifting section joint, reducing to 40mm as it curves through the backscene. The nearest rails have been adjusted in the photo. 

 

 

Then I decided to give the surrounding board a quick coat of matt brown (heritage tudor brown to be precise!). I also “quickly” ran in some trough route. I use 3mm wide 0.5mm plasticard, topped by another layer of the same, with lids scored every 14mm. Every now and then I’ll have a lid skewed or raised. 
 

 

I also got the Chester lines ready. Mainly some touching up with brown paint and hole filling. 
 

 

Chester lines ballasted. I’ve continued the carriage siding ballasting right through, as you should be able to see there from the station. My choice of ballast is very pale grey (looks paler than it is in the photos); there’ll be quite a bit of weathering and hopefully I’ll be able to distinguish between the rust brown of braking on the approach lines with black oil on the departing lines. 

 

 

And the Warrington lines. There’s a joke here somewhere about the sideways evergreen…

 

 

So with that 60 minute job polished off in just 6 hours, time to give proper attention to sorting out the platforms.  

[61656]

End of the weekend engineering works: 2 rats await authority to exist the possession and take their empties away. 
 

[ISW]

19 minutes ago, 61656 said:

End of the weekend engineering works: 2 rats await authority to exist the possession and take their empties away. 
 

Is the ballast regulator coming through next?

 

Ian

[61656]

43 minutes ago, ISW said:

Is the ballast regulator coming through next?

 

Ian

Hopefully this is the last ballasting I’ll need to so I’m not sure it will be worth the investment!

 

I would like some yellow plant though.

[sulzer71]

On 16/06/2022 at 09:41, Banger Blue said:

They crop up regularly on eBay.

 

I have 1980 (1H80) through to 1987 (1H87) all sourced via that way.

 

I myself have managed to grab several of these from Ebay recently , hopefully eventually I'll get all the ones to cover my modelling periods

[61656]

1 hour ago, sulzer71 said:

I myself have managed to grab several of these from Ebay recently , hopefully eventually I'll get all the ones to cover my modelling periods

I’ve found the research and trying to get the trains right absolutely fascinating. Glad that my completely made up location happened to mirror a real location close enough that it allows recreation fairly closely.  
 

What’s interesting with Flickr and so on is that you get the possibility of choosing a specific data and getting all the numbers and liveries spot on. But that may just be me!

[sulzer71]

2 hours ago, 61656 said:

I’ve found the research and trying to get the trains right absolutely fascinating. Glad that my completely made up location happened to mirror a real location close enough that it allows recreation fairly closely.  
 

What’s interesting with Flickr and so on is that you get the possibility of choosing a specific data and getting all the numbers and liveries spot on. But that may just be me!

I spend many hours researching/studying , mostly locos , there's so many detail differences that I never noticed in my younger days and I now have a habit of sniffing out oddball locos to model

[61656]

Well it’s been a while… this isn’t a full update, but it is a strong hint of tools being picked up again!

 

 

A Hornby mk3 sleeper has arrived. This is important for hanging on the back of the 17.00 ex Euston and (I think) the midnight service from Holyhead. 
 

It plays a more important role in the short term in allowing me to get back on with the platforms. I decided only using mk2s for gauging could be restrictive in the future should I want to run a mk3 set. 

[EuroMST]

Good to see you back! I have missed my fix of North Wales in the 80s. Good point about the platform clearances. I am planning to refurbish one platform on the layout I rehomed a few months back, best I wait for the Pendelino I have on pre-order! I think I have a name for it as well now. Crymlyn between Bangor and Aber is gaining a station! 😃

[61656]

9 minutes ago, EuroMST said:

Good to see you back! I have missed my fix of North Wales in the 80s. Good point about the platform clearances. I am planning to refurbish one platform on the layout I rehomed a few months back, best I wait for the Pendelino I have on pre-order! I think I have a name for it as well now. Crymlyn between Bangor and Aber is gaining a station! 😃

Building a model railway is usually about how many steps backwards you’re willing to take to address an error you know you shouldn’t have made!

[61656]

Well a little progress…

 

I want to try to sort out my platform issues. The first job was to shunt a speedlink service out of the way. The new Peco concrete sides are loosely positioned. I intend to have concrete platform ends on 2/3 (shown) and platform 4 (furthest from the camera). This copies the various platform construction methods used at Wolverhampton. 

 

 

The 08 takes the wagons out of the station on the Down Holyhead, underneath the wood former for the Chester line road bridge. That will be getting brickwork soon, but there are some running issues to sort out before I make the bridge permanent. Nothing like propelling loose coupled trucks to test your track. 
 

 

One of the two issues with the platforms is that the faces haven’t stayed sufficiently curved (the other is sagging platform tops). The curve issue is due to insufficient retaining screws, so some additional wood blocks have been glued and clamped in place. Once the glue is sufficiently dry I’ll screw these blocks down. I’ll then need to repeat on platform 4. 
 

 

With all platform tops removed, attention is turned to platform 4. I’ve never been happy with the relationship between ‘not platform 5’ and the shed access road - the empty line between coaches and 08. I think the solution is to shorten and narrow the platform slightly. A trans-pennine set shows that a loco plus six will still fit in the platform. The right hand edge of the platform will be moved over a little to the left.    
 

 

I’m still not quite sure what to do at the buffer stop end of the platform. The geometry of the room and layout makes the platform really tight here. Possibly putting a canopy over the top will hide it sufficiently. 

 

 

 

[ISW]

2 hours ago, 61656 said:

One of the two issues with the platforms is that the faces haven’t stayed sufficiently curved (the other is sagging platform tops). The curve issue is due to insufficient retaining screws, so some additional wood blocks have been glued and clamped in place. Once the glue is sufficiently dry I’ll screw these blocks down. I’ll then need to repeat on platform 4.

Now I see why you were looking for 'methods' to curve plywood ...

 

That's quite a lot of work to get your curved platforms. It's not the method I'd use as I'm not very good at working with small pieces over/beside existing track and other trackside furniture. I end up breaking things faster than I'm fixing them! Hence my decision to use the 'Westerham' method of 18mm plywood, cut to the correct plan profile. It does have the advantage of being removeable but is very hard to modify, unlike your method that is much easier to change. Horses, courses, and all that.

 

I can see that it's going to look rather nice once finished though. What are you using for the platform surface?

 

In my case, I need to add a 2mm 'shim' to my platforms to get them up to the final height, and am considering 2mm cardboard that I can then easily cut into to 'sink' the platform buildings into the surface to 'hide the joint'.

 

Ian

[5BarVT]

6 hours ago, 61656 said:

One of the two issues with the platforms is that the faces haven’t stayed sufficiently curved

I feel your pain as I’m having similar issues with a curved (or rather, a won’t curve) backscene.

Paul.

[61656]

6 hours ago, ISW said:

Now I see why you were looking for 'methods' to curve plywood ...

 

I can see that it's going to look rather nice once finished though. What are you using for the platform surface?

1mm plasticard for the surface, because it’s not too hard to cut and will get them to the right height. 
 

The 18mm x 4mm pine curves really nicely into place, I just didn’t use enough anchor points. Once I cut the platforms at the baseboard joints they had less support so pulled fractionally, but significantly, straighter. We live and occasionally learn. 

[61656]

2 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

I feel your pain as I’m having similar issues with a curved (or rather, a won’t curve) backscene.

Paul.

I think I used bendy mdf for my curved ones. 

[5BarVT]

3 minutes ago, 61656 said:

I think I used bendy mdf for my curved ones. 

I should have used bendy MDF fir my curved one!

Paul.

[61656]

A long overdue visit from the major saw the long awaited trial of the new timetable. After nearly an hour running trains to their starting position we managed to run through 9am to 10am. This is mainly DMU’s shuttling back and forth, but at 9.30 1D34, the RM&EE service, booked for up to 595tonnes behind a type 4 comes through. I suspect this would be the Crewe test train - boarded up mk1s (in chocolate and cream?). Today though it looks like a spare parcels set was pushed into service. 

 

The only half decent shot I took, mainly owing to the brewery’s excellent output!
 

[61656]

Sometimes it just doesn’t look pretty…

 

 

The platform faces have all been realigned and screwed into place. I’ve part filled the platforms with wood blocks to help support the tops better and give more structure to them. The various tools are helping the first concrete section glue in place. Probably. 
 

I have a couple of tubs of about to go off decorating filler that I plan to fill the gaps with. I’ll then lay the coping stones to get the edge curved correctly, before finishing with a top skim of filler. That’s the plan today, but it may yet change!

 

Meanwhile a blue 47 hammers through on a parcels set. I need to find a way of hiding the under-the-layout part for these reverse angle shots. I guess some black paint on the woodwork and a black curtain would be a start.  
 

[5BarVT]

35 minutes ago, 61656 said:

I guess some black paint on the woodwork and a black curtain would be a start.

Black can look stark - hence why I use grey, but then curtains wouldn’t match.

Alternatively, try the Andy P method of running through Paint and adding a blocking colour.

Paul.

P.S. Hadn’t realised that my adjustable plumbing spanner was a model railway tool too!

Edited October 23, 2022 by 5BarVT
Added P.S.

[mallaig1983]

Good to see you back in full flow again. I’m really enjoying this project. Look forward to seeing the finished platforms and further development. 👍

[ISW]

16 hours ago, 61656 said:

Sometimes it just doesn’t look pretty…

I reckon you've now used almost as wood as my solid 18mm plywood platforms. Mind you, I'll bet those offcuts were much cheaper. Plywood is ridiculously priced these days.

 

Ian