Castle Aching

[Edwardian]

Interestingly complex pointwork on the station throat for a branchline, but it looks like it should have good operating value. Does it look a tad like the upper middle fold of Norfolk? I can see a small tankie wandering around here.

 

Whats the dimensions of that sweeping curve?

 

Andy G

 

Well, this is the winning entry in the competition to find "What's the most fun you can have for £20?"

 

It was on the Bay of Fleas, listed at 99p, having been found abandoned in an attic. 

 

The pictures on the listing were not that great, as you see, but it looked to me as if there was some reasonable hand-built track.  It looked OO to me, and I canvassed a couple of views on that.  Later the measurement of 17mm was posted, along with another picture with Vernier callipers between the rails.  It looked 16.7mm, which, I am told, is the old Peco Universal HO/OO standard.

 

The owner wanted it gone and the days rolled by with no bids.  I thought that this might end with the whole thing being skipped if no one bid on it, so I put in a modest late bid and ended up with it.  I imposed (I really did) on Kevin, and so the boards are now in safe hands. 

 

It looks like quite a project, but as Kevin's rather better picture shows, the track looks quite well built; better than I'd hoped.  The track and the boards appeared sound to Kevin on his initial inspection, so, I am hopeful that they can form the basis of a layout in due course.

 

Kevin has yet to have the chance to give it a proper going over, so we must await a more realistic assessment.

 

It is a little old school.  It comprises a sharp angle into a straight platform parallel to the baseboard edge, which is not what we now think of as a natural look (well, you can see how differently CA was conceived in that regard), so none of DonW's graceful Templotting here, but it looks like the basics of a decent little layout might be present.

 

I am guessing that the platform and loop should accommodate a tank engine and at least 3 4/6-wheel coaches, or, indeed, a single bogie coach.

 

 

Psst, James...

 

If yer make it Brighton, I'll buy it off yer when yer don' wanit no more...

 

 

Would make a nice LBSCR Layout, or is this Bishop's Lyn? Not big enough for Achingham!

 

 

Is this going to become 'Castle Aching to Castle Aching Road'?

 

 

Yes, it is too small for Achingham, and was not acquired with the West Norfolk in mind.  If CA works out, any extensions or satellite boards will need to follow the developing West Norfolk house style, starting with the appearance of the track.

 

On 'Umber is the new Black' we talked of halts and railmotors and motor trains.  I see this as a potential home for such.  My first thought was to have a modular station building, allowing me to evolve the station through LB&SC, SE&C, LSW, GW etc incarnations.  My second thought was to build this as a very basic line with, say, a corrugated iron station building, which could have been built by an independent company, and either (i) was run from the first by a mainline company and later taken over by it [insert railway company of choice here], or, )ii), surviving as an independent Light Railway or similar. This would suffice to explain the non-company standard infrastructure for any particular company, yet allow almost any small tank and short train to feature.

 

Of course, as with Castle Aching did, it may evolve a specific and detailed back-story not at first anticipated! 

 

But, I rush way, way, ahead here.

 

In short, I saw it going almost begging and, like Tom Hardy, said to myself "I have a use for you!"

 

We shall see how viable this thing is when Kevin has a chance to give it the once over. 

 

Based on what he reckons, I will be guided by the parishioners regarding what might be done with it.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Edwardian

[Nearholmer]

Well, since everyone has now seen it, brief condition report:

 

- track overall not too bad. Some failed solder joints, but not many, and a fair bit of damage/twisting of rail-ends at baseboard interfaces;

 

- I think it’s Code 80 Rail, and I wonder if the bits of N gauge track were some of what was used as source of rail;

 

- points throw OK;

 

- the check-rail gap is quite large. I’m far out of practice with 00, but it looks set for a coarse wheel standard, say r-t-r mid-70s, possibly even earlier;

 

- boards are Sunderland on 2”x1” and seem sound;

 

- scenery (long dead) polystyrene and plaster bandage:

 

- H&M point motors, which probably still work, given how good they were;

 

- this must have been a very good little layout c40 years ago, and someone clearly put a lot of work into it.

 

Worth saving, but by gosh is it going to need some work!

 

Kevin

 

PS: it was clearly GWR. But, the signals are beyond repair in most cases.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

Thank you, Kevin.

 

Well, then, we have another project for the near, if not immediate, future.

 

All suggestions on the back of a virtual postcard, please.

[uax6]

Could the front be slightly revamped into a sort of gravelly mix, and then become Wolferingham, and the gravel beds?

 

Otherwise it could certainly become a light railway terminus. I've got a picture of Selsey in my head for some reason. I can just see a pair of Model T ford railbuses clattering along, and a terrier in the yard shunting two wagons...

 

At least you'll have something to run stock on....

 

Andy G

 

Edit: My only concern would be the radius of that curve...

Edited January 15, 2018 by uax6

[Edwardian]

A bit like this then!

 

CA mk2.png

 

And with highlights

 

CA mk2 Highlight.png

 

Now, depending upon the gauge of that loose track at the top,

if it's N Gauge, then this an 00 Layout, or

if it's OO track, then this is an O Layout!

 

Sorry, didn't see this post before posting mine. 

 

So, once Great Western ? Mawahahahahah!  Don't worry, I think that I should use this flexibly, as I suggest earlier.

 

That is a relative ample headshunt.

 

I am thinking that this may be operationally much more sophisticated than CA.

 

How would the station be shunted, I wonder?

[nick_bastable]

Sorry, didn't see this post before posting mine. 

 

So, once Great Western ? Mawahahahahah!  Don't worry, I think that I should use this flexibly, as I suggest earlier.

 

That is a relative ample headshunt.

 

I am thinking that this may be operationally much more sophisticated than CA.

 

How would the station be shunted, I wonder?

 

I feel this may see some use on this topic

 

stop procrastinating and get some basic wiring done     the parishioners are anxious to see the first train 

 

Nick 

[Edwardian]

Could the front be slightly revamped into a sort of gravelly mix, and then become Wolferingham, and the gravel beds?

 

Otherwise it could certainly become a light railway terminus. I've got a picture of Selsey in my head for some reason. I can just see a pair of Model T ford railbuses clattering along, and a terrier in the yard shunting two wagons...

 

At least you'll have something to run stock on....

 

Andy G

 

I particularly like the second suggestion.

[Nearholmer]

The siding inside the angle of the L seems a bit strange, purposeless, to me, but with a re-scenic you could probably give it some purpose. The trouble with it is that there is no obvious reason why a railway company would have used two points, and an awkward shunt, rather than one and a trap, to serve something there.

[uax6]

Maybe its the remains of a branch line? I'm guessing in reality there was some sort of engine shed there in its hayday...

 

Andy G

[Talltim]

 

- boards are Sunderland on 2”x1” and seem sound;

.

Don’t you just love autocorrect?

[Edwardian]

 

I feel this may see some use on this topic

 

stop procrastinating and get some basic wiring done     the parishioners are anxious to see the first train 

 

Nick 

 

Fear not!  I shall progress the track-building as quickly as time allows.

 

I will not be distracted by these new boards.  Clearly the layout will need work to become operational, but first there is the little logistical matter of moving them north.

 

 

The siding inside the angle of the L seems a bit strange, purposeless, to me, but with a re-scenic you could probably give it some purpose. The trouble with it is that there is no obvious reason why a railway company would have used two points, and an awkward shunt, rather than one and a trap, to serve something there.

 

As it is a terminus, I was wondering if a through engine shed could be located on the front siding.  Something wooden and insubstantial!

 

 

Maybe its the remains of a branch line? I'm guessing in reality there was some sort of engine shed there in its hayday...

 

Andy G

 

Ah, I see you interpreted it as a possible shed site, too.

 

 

BE23C9E8-762C-4052-B05D-BB522E97C7DC.jpeg

Don’t you just love autocorrect?

 

Very much used in the hobby 40 years or so ago, Sunderland board.

 

Anyway, I see Kevin has added a picture.

 

That looks b00dy good to me:

Edited January 15, 2018 by Edwardian

[sem34090]

Wish I'd seen that listing!

[Nearholmer]

The camera lies.

 

That photo makes it look much less moth-eaten than it really is.

[Edwardian]

The camera lies.

 

That photo makes it look much less moth-eaten than it really is.

 

Do you reckon the scenic sub-surface is perished and knackered, or is it just a case of recovering with scenic material?

 

I ask because, if the land-forming, is junk, we have the option of designing a different landscape. 

[Nearholmer]

Personally, I would junk both the backscenes and the land-form. The former are badly bowed, and the latter were clearly never that good in the first place and have got a bit squashed in storage. Whoever built it was strong on track, less so on scenery and structures.

[Regularity]

If aligned, might not the gaps represent the trail of damage left by a derailed wagon that ran amok on this lightly-constructed pointwork? After all, in such situations the prototype was sometimes less perfect than the model.

 

Amazing rapid progress!

Have a look at pictures of pcb track where the gap has not been filled, and you will see gaps that are far too deep for that - anything capable of something that deep would probably have dug itself into the ballast and ripped up the track in a spectacular fashion, or ripped the wagon apart (more likely). Damage from a derailed wagon would create a mild score in comparison.

 

But let’s ignore that. Are you seriously suggesting that a real railway would let wagons repeatedly derail on both routes of all turnouts?

 

The only excuse for leaving the gaps unfilled is that be hasn’t looked at (photos of real) point and crossings with a discerning eye. The only reason is laziness. Neither of these are attributes of a good railway modeller. After all, if we can’t model the track even halfway decently, we haven’t actually modelled (as opposed to sketchily represented) the railway at all.

 

A tube of filler, and something to smooth it down, won’t take long to apply.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Regularity

[Edwardian]

Whoever built it was strong on track, less so on scenery and structures.

 

Sounds like I'm the perfect match for him then!

[Northroader]

Ok, then, next question, wheres it going?

[Edwardian]

Ok, then, next question, wheres it going?

 

 

The other end of the shed to CA, probably.  Once there, it won't become homeless until the WNR extends round the room.  Who knows if we'll still be here by then!

[Regularity]

That layout plan looks like Portreath, with an extra couple of sidings - engine shed in front of the controls, and a headshunt to access it.

[Caley Jim]

That layout plan looks like Portreath, with an extra couple of sidings - engine shed in front of the controls, and a headshunt to access it.

Or put a small industry (dairy or agricultural merchant?) there.   The headshunt could also double up as a carriage siding.  The more complex track layout means that the siding can be shunted without interfering with passenger arrivals and departures.

 

Jim

[Hroth]

Looks good, providing the "Sunderland" board isn't suffering from mining subsidence......

[Compound2632]

Looks good, providing the "Sunderland" board isn't suffering from mining subsidence......

 

We were recently discussing a friend's project for a First World War western front layout - exchange between Baldwin steam and Simplex petrol motive power. He was chewing over ideas for the baseboards; I remarked that my very first layout - on a 6' x 4' Sundela board supported by 2" x 1" timber on a 12" grid - acquired some rather good representations of shell blast craters as a result of being leaned on too heavily.

[robmcg]

As has become my habit of late, I have ventured here with a warming cup of coffee and find that discussion has turned to actual modelling.

 

This, Sir, is a shock.

 

Carry on.

 

I have still to unpack the last of three SECR Birdcage carriages, and exhume my SECR N class No.810 of 1917 for a photo of same, and it is hard work in the heat of this antipodean summer. Should anything come of it, I will advise.  Somehow there is a disjunct between the austere grey engine and the clean fully-lined carriages, but I shall avoid the simple solution of using my SECR H class, altogether too cliched   where's the acute on this keyboard?   

 

In any event I find the atmosphere of an Edwardian engine shed most intriguing, probably something to do with my upbringing.

 

Here is a 1960s class just to illustrate what may be relevant, but probably not.  

 

 

Cheers to all,

 

edit p.s. 31408 was not withdrawn until 6/1966 from Guildford 70C a town where my mother was born in 1921, so there is almost n Edwardian connection....almost.

Edited January 15, 2018 by robmcg

[nick_bastable]

As has become my habit of late, I have ventured here with a warming cup of coffee and find that discussion has turned to actual modelling.

 

This, Sir, is a shock.

 

  

 

31408_N_class_shed_2abcde_r1200.jpg

 

Cheers to all,

Good God man do colonials no longer drink Tea ?

 

Nick