treggyman Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Hi All I've been toying with the idea of building a layout based on/inspired by the Somerset & Dorset for a few years now....Since 2011 in fact..... Well I've finally got started...... The baseboards are made....Just need legs attaching & the alignment dowels fitting.....Tomorrows job.... The signal box is nearly finished & I've built the points required.....Plus recycled some from a previous layout.... Track & point motors have been bought as have most of the loco's that I need that I didn't already own..... Coaches & wagons all in place..... The idea is to model Henstridge as a halt at one end on a single main line connecting with colliery interchange sidings inspired by Midsomer Norton & Norton Hill colliery at the other end of the layout..... The name is taken from Haydon Colliery nr. Radstock & a local sounding name ,Gurney which features in at least one local place name.... No deliberate crib from another thread on here ,the excellent Gurney Slade which I am an avid follower of The main challenge will be creating the gradient rising to the exchange sidings.... The colliery was built into the side of a hill with the railway climbing steeply to Midsomer Norton. This change in levels was one of the attractions to building the layout....I may well change my mind!!!!!!! I haven't finalised the track plan though I know what I want.... I generally find my layouts evolve as I build them around a general idea.... I will post one when done. As far as time period it will be late '63 to closure..... I haven't got room on my traverser for double headed 'Pines' or summer specials.... But three coach trains behind Standards both tender & tanks ,West Countries plus Jinties & 4F's plus (rule 1 applies) the ubiquitous 7F's with coal trains plus other freights..... I shall post pics as & when progress is achieved...... Well time to put a coat of primer on the signal box then hope the windows I've made fit.... Cheers for now, Bill 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 Hi All Just sprayed the 'box with a coat of primer.... Before & after priming For those who like track plans here is my 'back of a fag packet' (even though I don't smoke) ideas.... Hopefully it makes some kind of sense... The tracks to the right the uppermost will be the main line descending to Radstock & the other to the colliery.... I haven't decided whether or not to have a loop on the main line though I have enough points to fit one it may not look right..... On the left the single main line will either descend or be level & the decsent be on the return to the traverser.... Also I think only one headshunt/siding might look better.....& maybe a run round loop in the siding complex area sort of as the scribbled out track..... I didn't mention size...... The front viewing will be 12ft (3.66m) & it will be about8ft (2.44m) deep.... The idea is as with Penhallick & Creedyford the whole of the frontage is scenic......No big black boxes that take up space but are not of interest to the viewing public..... Thus the exit to Radstock will probably be under a twin track girder bridge....I built one ages ago (15 years) & it fell off one of the layouts baseboards I got rid of today & with a bit of work should look the part...... My only query is where girder bridges on the S&D bowed or flat top....This is bowed. At the other end the proposal is to exit under a version of the fine bridge at Henstridge..... Should really be a level crossing but I had thought of putting one in the middle to separate the halt from the yard...... We'll see what it looks like when I play with track..... Bye for nowt Cheers Bill 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 Hi All Just a brief update...... May not be able to for a while as the internet connection keeps going down..... Had the engineer out yesterday who said all was fine.....Except no line at times & very iffy internet!!!!!! Anyway,legs fitted,dowel board connectors drilled & dowels about to be fitted.... Next up this PM is to play about with track on the boards to get an idea of what looks good & will fit.... Then a track plan & hopefully track laying Cheers Bill 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Hi Bill Its good you have started another layout (it must be catching) looking forward in more progress. Keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Hi Bill Its good you have started another layout (it must be catching) looking forward in more progress. Keep up the good work. Hi Ray Thanks for the above comment.... I do enjoy building layouts but I must admit to having difficulty getting going on this project.... Mojo problem I suspect...... Anyway I have made a bit more progress & will post an update in the next day or two.... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith73 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Good start. layout plan looks interesting. look forward to more updates Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Good start. layout plan looks interesting. look forward to more updates Hi Keith Apologies for the delay in replying but my Internet connection is not good & my provider not helpful..... Thanks for the comment & as it happens an update to follow...... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) Hi Well as promised in the above post an update...... The baseboards are finished apart from some more ply removal to allow for drops in level where necessary..... At the Bath end I have built in a n Incline....The run in to Norton Hill /Midsomer Norton was steeply graded This is how I am going to join the corner boards to the main baseboards.... On Creedyford I joined the boards on a curve & as luck would have it it worked well....But as this time a gradient is involved I thought I would make the joins straight.... Also the join is supported by the baseboard which will hopefully make putting together at an exhibition easier Just a quick note on the corner board construction.... On Creedyford I used a single strip of ply cut from a sheet....VERY wasteful... On Penhallick Junction I used 25x100mm planed cut into sections & biscuit jointed together....Very difficult to get the joints flat... This time I cut 9mm ply into 95mmstrips for the top & 70mm strips for the underside glued & screwed together.... I first drew out a scale drawing to work ot the strip sizes & the angle to cut for the joins... The finished article...It will have a plastic strip on the edges to catch any errant stock..... & the joint to the traverser... Finally the signal box is now glazed & has had a couple of coats of paint....More to add yet & painting to finis plus interior if I get round to it..... Well that's all for now....Hopefully get more done tomorrow.... Cheers Bill Edit :due to accidentally posting before finishing post Edited February 19, 2016 by treggyman 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Hi A brief update but no pics... The track is laid on the corner boards.... I had laid the track on the incline but had to lift it as in my haste I realised I'd forgotten to put the cork underlay down.... I have fitted the copper clad sleepers on the board edges & fixed most of the jumper wires between boards.... Played about with putting track & points loose laid to get a feel of if what I have drawn out & what is in my head looks right.... Think I'm getting there..... Never tried Templot....Very good I'm told....But I like just plonking track & points down to give a real sense of what it will look like..... Work tomorrow so maybe have time in the evening to play about with the plan more..... & fit the cork underlay!!!!! Cheers Bill 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Hi Done a bit over the last couple of days. Fitted the plastic retaining sides to the curved end boards.... Now have a complete circle of track so I can run trains...... Am at present running in a Jinty....Was a bit sticky to start so hopefully will smooth out with a good run in as it will be used to shunt the colliery sidings..... The corners board at the Bath end.... The first train had to be hauled by my 7F..... First up running through the mess of construction materials..... & then tackling the gradient with 9xempty 16 Tonners,3xempty 21 Tonners & a brake van....No problem hauling the train up a short stretch of 1 in 24 gradient..... The max load will be 15 x 16Tonners & a brake van up the hill......In real life I think I read somewhere the max load was 19 x 16 Tonners Finally a poor picture of the Jinty....... It came from Ebay & has been repainted & renumbered..... Just a quick query....Did they have grey cab roofs....I know they'd soon get grubby & it does need weathering....But is grey right as a base colour? Hopefully get a bit more done over the next few days..... Cheers Bill 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 An even grey is too light. A dirty black would be better. Gordon A Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 An even grey is too light. A dirty black would be better. Gordon A Hi Gordon A Thanks for the reply.... I shall probably tone it down when I weather the loco.....It's a sort of mid to dark grey...... Some of the pics I have in my book collection show them very work weary.... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Hi Managed a bit more today..... After much deep thought I've come up with the 'final' track plan !!!!!!!! This should give me an opportunity to run trains ,shunt trains or a mix of both. The loading screen may well end up flush to the baseboard end so that I can make some loading facility for the wagons to be filled with coal...... Alternatively I may use the bottom most storage track for this. In the original plan I was going to bring wagons to the exchange sidings by means of a 'branch' to the colliery using the innermost siding. There will be a few mine buildings in half relief & a backscene showing colliery type structures...... Well that's the plan !!!!! I loose laid points & track sections on the baseboard 'till I ended up with something I was happy with.... I then cut & stuck down the cork underlay drawing a rough plan so I didn't forget what I was aiming at..... I then replaced the track loosely on the cork to make sure I was still happy with the plan...... I've also been running in my Christmas present...A standard 4 2-6-0 76069 with a BRIB tender (shedded at Eastleigh so could have ventured on to the line) I also found that I had previously bought 76109 ( a Scottish based loco) with a BR2 tender... this will be renumbered to one that ran on the line.... Both will be weathered in time.... Well that's all for now Cheers Bill 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Hi Had a day off yesterday & couldn't do other jobs so got the track down.... I have slightly altered the yard track plan.... There are now three reception sidings fed by the three way point & two loading sidings where the loading screen is shown on the track plan.... These sidings have been shortened as only 4 wagons at a time will be loaded..... All three reception sidings will hold 8 x 16tonners each, so as the max length coal train will be 16 wagons & brake van there is plenty of storage. The other end is much as the plan..... A side on view of the yard.... & finally a shot of a passenger train roughly where the platform will be.... Quite pleased with the end product.... I don't think it 'flows' as well as the other version but I think it is more as it would have been built... The yard is quite compact & I am planning to put a plug at the front as well as the back so the yard can be operated from front or the rear.... There will be some sort of working loading gear & it might make refilling the coal supply easier by being able to operate from the front.... Next job will be the wiring & then testing to make sure all works....... Sadly no time off for the next 6days so may not get much done........ Cheers Bill 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Hi A bit of a delay in updating but too much to do around the house & garden so no time.... However had a bit of time today ..... So wiring (spaghetti) was the order of the day....... At the end of the session I was able to change one point by the point switch on the control panel...... by doing the most complicated board first hopefully it shouldn't take too much longer to finish & get trains running.... Anyway all the sections on two boards are wired in & the first point is wired in... Three more fitted & tested but not wired in to the panel...... I was going to use Tortoise motors as I had bought a job lot of second hand ones cheaply but in one position I couldn't fit them in (on the three way point ) so I have used DCC Concepts Cobalt Point motors instead..... A couple of pics of 'progress'.....Purists look away now.... Well back to work for a few days so won't get any time or Ooomph for more progress for a day or two.... Cheers Bill 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 It is a tedious work wiring a layout but there is the satisfaction when it all works with out a problem. Keep up with the good work Bill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 It is a tedious work wiring a layout but there is the satisfaction when it all works with out a problem. Keep up with the good work Bill. Hi Ray You're quite right....The key part is the phrase 'when it all works without a problem '..... Anyway the board with the sidings is just about finished now.....Just the frogs on the 3 way point to be wired up & it's done.... That's the worst one.....The others should be much easier... The trouble is finding the time !!!!!! Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Hi Bill, Looks like a great start to an interesting layout! I shall enjoy keeping up with your work. Cheers, John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hi Bill, Looks like a great start to an interesting layout! I shall enjoy keeping up with your work. Cheers, John Hi John Thanks for the comment.....Greatly appreciated.... It's going to be a slow & steady going in fits & starts as I've so much else to fit in at the moment... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hi A frustrating day today..... Finally geared up to wire up the three way point..... I thought that this time I'd check the wiring with the power on & use a multimeter to check progress..... After finally getting my head around what I needed to do I found I had a short circuit... In fact two...... After much checking & double checking I narrowed the problem down to a small setion which contained two copper clad points...... Checked all the sleepers had been correctly insulated,the wires were all correctly wired up & finally resorted to taking up one of the points.... The solution was then obvious.....Double sided copperclad sleepers... Correctly insulated on the top but because I'd pinned the track down with two pins on the same sleeper the unbroken copper on the underside caused a short....Obvious really..... Any way sorted now (the second short was the same problem) but a lot of wasted time..... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Hi A bit of a rethink......Consequently some track ripped up & relaid to hopefully improve things..... First how it was.... Then the removal of track.... Then this evening I finished relaying the new track layout..... There were two main reasons for the change..... The main one was that the three storage sidings although adequate ( 24 16 tonners) will now hold 36 no 16 tonners....I'll have to build some more!!!!! Also the area looked cramped....My impression of these sort of sites is that they sprawled over a large area..... The second was that as a long run round loop isn't vital it now means that all the sidings are accessible from the loop that feeds the loading area... There will be a weighbridge on the exit of the two loading sidings & I have put in provision for an extra siding on the edge of the board to the right.... It occurred to me that stores would probably be rail delivered so this will become the stores siding.... The good thing is that virtually all the wiring I had done will stay as it was....The three way point obviously has now to be rewired & the extra point wired in but the sections stay the same....& the same applies to the control panel diagram....Minimal change..... Thats all for now but I've a dasy off tomorrow so hopefully get more wiring done as the forecast isn't too clever.... Cheers Bill 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 Hi Not much progress on the layout due to SWMBO being poorly...... However did a bit more to the wiring today & as I'm on lates al next week hope to finish wiring the layout..... Then down to some serious checking /running to iron out any faults. Normally when wiring I check each section as I go by running a loco on the track but this time I've got the layout on it's edge & am checking using a multimeter.... We'll soon see if it's a better way.... I think it would be but the nature of the stop start way I've had to do the work may mean I forget where I'm up to & miss out something.... Any way we'll see.... As an aside I built the Ratio weighbridge kit tonight.....Needs painting & the 'bridge installing under the track.... The kit is actually a road version but the principal of weighbridges is the same. I haven't yet decided how to represent the chairs...Either cut down the existing sleepers or add cosmetic chairs...The height difference under the rail will determine that..... Any way lot's to do & SWMBO is on the mend so hopefully more time.... Hopefully have more time to get on .....But the good weather means lot's of other outdoor jobs to get on with.... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted May 26, 2016 Author Share Posted May 26, 2016 Hi A brief update....With one thing & another not much time to work on the layout....But... The spaghetti (wiring) is now finished.....A couple of dead spots which hopefully I can quickly sort out but I have been able to run the Jinty over all the layout & run a 16 wagon & brake into the yard & reverse it in to the holding sidings !!!!!! A couple of pics of the 'spaghetti'....Including where I'd not only positioned a point tie bar over a baseboard crossmember but also where the crossmembers crossed over & the remedy..... Hopefully I shall have a bit of time tomorrow to sort out the dead spots . Then next week it's setting up Creedyford for the show at Carn Brea next weekend... Cheers Bill 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Looking good Bill. Wiring is a long and tedeous job but very satisfying when it is all done and working ok. Keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 Hi Ray Thanks for the comment..... YOU'RE SO RIGHT.... Especially as it has had to be done a bit at a time when I've time to spare & can't quite remember what has & has not been done..... Cheers Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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