Castle Aching

[Nearholmer]

Indeed.

 

They were part of some sort of parade to launch or promote National Savings Stamps, and brought the engine, and the trollies for children to ride on, up from Hayling in the guards van of the train. My Great Aunt was a PT Instructor in the WRNS, based at Portsmouth, so was presumably having a welcome day off from doing star-jumps.

 

K

[Edwardian]

Excitement at Castle Aching as a Purchase Has Been Made!

 

A courier arrived a short while ago with this:

 

(no with the box, not the dog)

 

I wonder what it contains? 

[Northroader]

Is this the start of the dead parrot sketch?

[Donw]

Track Parts.  

 

When I received delivery of a large stock of C+L bits one box contained quite a lot of rail which took Mr Postie by surprise there was some muttering by Mr Postie

Don

[Nearholmer]

A very long thin zither, which your dog ordered from Amazon one night when you accidentally left the PC turned on, and cannot wait to play?

 

K

[BG John]

Some sort of communication device? The dog obviously thinks it's something for him/her, like maybe a giant bone. (Dog and bone? )

[Edwardian]

A very long thin zither, which your dog ordered from Amazon one night when you accidentally left the PC turned on, and cannot wait to play?

 

K

 

Quite correct, because he is The Third Dog

 

Some sort of communication device? The dog obviously thinks it's something for him/her, like maybe a giant bone. (Dog and bone? )

 

The dog thinks everything is for him.  He communicates chiefly via licking (ugh!), but does not require a tongue extension kit.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Edwardian

[Nearholmer]

Oh, no!

 

We're all going to be going around with the theme from The Third Dog plinky-plonking away inside our heads for days on end now!

 

K

[BG John]

My first dog since I was little would almost certainly have sung along to it, my second dog may have sung along to it, but my current Third Dog isn't into music at all so wouldn't take the slightest interest!

Edited May 26, 2016 by BG John

[mullie]

My parents had a Jack Russell who would sit on my feet whilst I practiced the piano. Really annoying when you tried to use the pedals. She used to run a mile when I practiced the clarinet and sax, what was she trying to tell me!

[Edwardian]

Me too.  Here we go then:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oEsWi88Qv0

 

Now that box; shall we see what's inside?

 

(whilst listening to the theme from The Third Man)

 

EDIT: (several times)

 

 

Edited May 27, 2016 by Edwardian

[cklammer]

I have just finished reading the complete thread up to now.

 

A very fascinating layout, possibly with a pyramid theme: maybe you can build a "pyramid fancy" station building being removable with your favourite.

 

As to your track plan, in this thread from 2014 here on rmweb you will find the track plan of Klütz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is very similar to your present plan.

 

Your village is absolutely stunning.

 

The Fleischmann carriage looks "English" now - I'd never would have thought it.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

[Edwardian]

Thank you, Christian, for your kind interest and, indeed, your perseverance in reading the topic through.  Thank you also for taking the trouble to rate the posts as you went along; it is always appreciated, and it is encouraging for me as I stumble over my first layout.

 

I followed your links with much interest.  Castle Aching is in part inspired by my own IoW-inspired Isle of Eldernell plans, only my idea is to use the TTs to turn locos, not just as a traverser.  CA is influenced by other prototypes, too, not least of which is Rothbury, the NBR terminus in Northumberland; but you know all this, of course!

 

The arrangement at Klütz, to which you link, reminds me particularly of Rothbury.

 

Generally I think you have come to a good place, because this topic is really made by the kind, interesting, helpful and knowledgeable people who frequent it (for reasons best known to themselves, I might add!).

 

They have made my modelling life a pleasure and I owe them a lot in terms of both advice and practical assistance, as well as moral support; for instance, when I started this topic I did not expect to have a line with a proper history going back to the 1850s, or to be about to build my own track, or to be attempting Silhouette or Photoshop, and drawings, photographs and information has flooded in.    

 

So, I hope you continue to find something of interest here and that you stick around.

 

All the best

 

James

[Northroader]

Track gauges? OO, EM, P4???, time you switched to a proper gauge....

[cklammer]

Hello James,

 

 every time I opened this topic I found something new, fascinating and/or funny.

 

 I really like your approach to modeling: doing the scenery/structures first and then fit the railway inside contrary to what great many persons do: they start with track plans and then shoe-horn everything and all around that specific track plan and do too much lying into their pockets make too many compromises during that process.

 

 As to Klütz (in German on buntbahn.de): here and here. The tracks are gone now but the segment turntable is still there. There is talk of Klütz station being reused as part of a narrow gauge project.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

 

Edited because English is not my first language

Edited May 27, 2016 by cklammer

[Edwardian]

Which gauge have you gone for?

 

OO, so I should have 200 PCB OO gauge sleepers, 2 OO track gauges and some Code 75 FB rail.

[Edwardian]

Hello James,

 

 every time I opened this topic I found something new, fascinating and/or funny.

 

 I really like your approach to modeling: doing the scenery/structures first and then fit the railway inside contrary to what great many persons do: they start with track plans and then shoe-horn everything and all around that specific track plan and do too much lying into their pockets make too many compromises during that process.

 

 As to Klütz (in German on buntbahn.de): here and here. The tracks are gone now but the segment turntable is still there. There is talk of Klütz station being reused as part of a narrow gauge project.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

 

Edited because English is not my first language

 

Those pictures are of a great prototype.  Thank you for the links.  I can imagine them beautifully rendered in card and paper by CourthsVeil of this Parish: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78502-pappendeckel-buildings-–-something-new/

[Edwardian]

Do you mean 16.5mm?

 

Yes

 

EDIT: Actually, is that a trick question?

Edited May 27, 2016 by Edwardian

[Edwardian]

No. You might have gone for 16.2mm.

 

Not in this universe!

[Edwardian]

Right-Ho.

 

This morning I have found time to drill through the chassis block of the 14XX and now have lead poisoning and about a month's worth of filing to do, all so that I will be able to see daylight under the boiler of my Not-Quite-A-T7 tank engine. Of course, whether the chassis still works after my assault upon it with power tools is anyone's guess.

 

I have now proceeded to finish unpacking the box.  Underneath the Code 75 FB and the PCB sleepers was a box of SMP's "Scaleway" Flexi-track. 

 

For those, like me, not hitherto having first-hand knowledge of this product, see picture below.  I note that it represents BH rail with 3-bolt chairs, so that is obviously what the WNR must have used.

 

You will recall that the chaired BH was for the running lines and the If-I-Can-Make-It FB was for sidings. I now have the plain track.  Turnouts are a nightmare for another time.

 

The main reason I purchased the flexi-track at this stage was so that I could take the sleeper spacings from this track for the FB.  Note that the SMP PCB "OO" Gauge are the same size as the plastic ones.

 

One of the problems is that I cannot exactly manufacture the FB track as flexi-track, so I need to know the path my sidings will follow before construction is attempted. At present I might struggle to find space to lay out the track plan for the station, but we'll see.

 

Pictured below are the FB rails, below that the Code 75 OO SMP flexi-track and below that some Code 100 childhood train-set track that had oddly found itself in one of the boxes when we moved.

 

Not wishing to court controversy, but the picture to my mind illustrates the false dichotomy that I have seen "Gauge" societies present to Ignoramuses like me, whereby a horrible bit of Code 100 OO set-track is nailed on a plank next to a graceful piece of EM, or whatever, gauge track and the punter is invited to accept the superiority of the latter.

 

On looking at my two lengths of track in the flesh, my brain would not accept that the SMP track was the same gauge as the set-track.  I had to get a piece of rolling stock out to place on it before I finally accepted that they had sent me OO track.

 

The point of compromise - Peco Code 75 - SMP/C&L OO track, EM or P4 - is a very subjective area and must be left to personal preference and I feel we should respect each other's choices, however, I find my first sight of SMP OO track reassuringly persuasive.

[BlueLightning]

Hi James,

 

Looking good. This is all getting very exciting

 

 

Gary

[Nearholmer]

The "trad" way of making "flexitrack" is to solder one rail to all the sleepers, at correct spacing (make-up a board, with bits of card glued to it as spacers, to act as a jig), the position it, then solder-on the other rail using the gauges. It is really quick.

 

K

[Edwardian]

Hi James,

 

Looking good. This is all getting very exciting

 

 

Gary

Thanks, Gary.  Oak Hill is getting quite exciting too, what with signalling.

 

It was suggested to me that I was being all modern with a semaphore signal!  However, the one I have in mind is of 1850 vintage, and is also slot in post, so we are embarking upon similar journeys it seems!

 

The "trad" way of making "flexitrack" is to solder one rail to all the sleepers, at correct spacing (make-up a board, with bits of card glued to it as spacers, to act as a jig), the position it, then solder-on the other rail using the gauges. It is really quick.

 

K

 

Excellent tip!

 

 

Build "half-track", I.e. solder just one rail (should be the outer rail for curves), lay this down and then solder the second rail in place.

For plain track at least, if you used 1:87 scale for the sleeper size and spacing, it would look even more convincing.

However this all fails when you get to the flange ways.

Yes. Surprising, isn't it.

At the age of about 12, I was shown some SMP track and told it had scale sized sleepers. It was some months before I realised that this didn't include the depth of the material - I went around thinking that track was laid on 1/2" thick planks...

 

Well done 00 can be all but indistinguishable from EM (depending on which of the several standards of 00 and EM* one chooses!) but to achieve this without narrowing the gauge requires new wheels, in which case EM makes better sense as full compatibility with "Universal 00" has already been lost.

 

* I know some will find this contentious, but there are two different schools of thought in EM, at least historically. There is "00 with a wider gauge" (essentially what the Buckingham Branch used) and then there is the Manchester/Pendon/Ultrascale/EM Fine standard, designed from the outset to be a practical near-scale definition with properly balanced tolerances. Both work, but the latter standard looks and runs better, using a single matched set of wheel and track standards. (The former was created a bit on the fly, and evolved rather than was designed from the outset.) This is a personal observation rather than a criticism.

 

Excellent tip!

 

As ever, Simon, much knowledge and wisdom.

 

My rather make do and mend philosophy is to try to keep things relatively simple at this stage.  For a first layout, the aim of which was to learn some absolute basics, I am already heading for a fall with track that has to be built and rolling stock that requires mastery of advanced software!

 

So, I will stick with universal OO and see how it looks.  Frankly, as I have a fairly catholic collection of stuff, all OO, future layouts are also likely to be to this gauge.

 

I know the Dark Side of Finescale is more powerful than I can possibly imagine, but it's still the Dark Side!

[Donw]

One of the reasons for choosing finer standards is that apart from the look it also tends to reduce bumping at crossing where the finer wheels drop slightly into the wider crossing gaps needed to accommodate the coarser wheels. However on a light railway this may not look so out of place as on a mainline express. 

Don

[Northroader]

Looks like you're succeeding in moving the great Peco track controversy on to your thread?