Fat Lieutenant Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 As the proverbial returnee, I am planning a first layout. A passing station, combining local passenger and goods traffic with express workings would be what I would like to see. Further thoughts are: 4mm OO gauge - let's keep it simple Make a circuit, so I have the mug of tea and watching the trains go by option Simple track plan. Having looked at proprietary track, I am vaguely surprised at the longevity of the quasi-HO flat bottom range, so was thinking of SMP flexi-track for a finer and better proportioned look. The points are relatively expensive, however, so the fewer of them the better! To balance the simplicity, a station that is visually interesting/attractive. I was very taken with the original appearance of Hampton in Arden on the LNWR Rugby to Wolverhampton route: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/hamptoninarden.htm For period, well, as a Seventies kid, I don't remember the last decades of steam, so have no nostalgia for its fading glories. My childhood railway scene seemed pretty un-inspiring at the time and has since failed to inspire any nostalgia. I do find steam outline is more inspiring - sorry to the D&E Boys - but kettles are my personal preference. In theory this gives me a great deal of choice (the first station was opened in 1838!). As a beginner I feel the need for the crutch of RTR but I find that its support for pre-Nationalisation tails off very rapidly. That said, the LNWR seems relatively well supported by traditional white metal kits and I was pleased to see that the old GEM range seems to be alive and kicking. Looking at the pictures of train services on the line on the excellent Warwickshire Railways website, I see that there were a cluster taken in 1921 and another in 1927-1928. These are truly inspiring and I could flit between the two and include some Midland/LMS crimson along with that gorgeous plum and spilt milk. Concentrating on 1921, it seemed to me that a basic representative service might not be too much of a stretch: - An express service with a GEM Prince of Wales or George V, perhaps hauling modern 57' toplights. The coaches will be a challenge with PC Kits defunct and brass kits not really appealing as a beginner. - A local service with a GEM Cauliflower, with 4 Non corridors. What my be suitable coaches for this? 50' cove roof? - A goods services with a G1. Can the G1 be derived from the RTR Super D? Fortunately Ratio still produce a number of LNWR wagons and Cambrian a number of late pre-grouping wagon designs. These are tentative conclusion and I am still finding my way. If anyone has any pertinent advice or information, please do chip in. My ignorance is virtually endless. Images are reproduced from the Warwickshire Railways site. They do not appear to assert any copyright, so I hope I do not offend. Please go to this site and donate, it is truly impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassey Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 London Road Models would be an excellent source for most of your LNWR requirements should you aspire to etched kits though the PC models do still occasionally appear on ebay. Stevensons Carriages have a number of the later coaches. David Geen provides a number of later LNWR wagons in white metal too plus 6 wheel stock in etched brass. The LNWR Society may well have timetables and carriage workings for your line so it would be worth paying a visit to their Study Centre which is open to non-members. I did this and acquired a wealth of information. Your layout is similar to mine but be aware that such a station would probably only have one or two stopping goods trains a day so the potential for shunting is limited if you want to stick to a realistic timetable. But the potential for watching trains go by is the compensation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted October 16, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2016 Welcome back! The Warwickshire Railways website is a great resource - I have been using it recently to look at pictures of Winson Green and Monument Lane, as inspiration for my 1930s LMS themed layout. The inner suburban stations, brick-lined cuttings, and industrial scene of this part of Birmingham all appeals to me, and I am keen on the ex-LNWR LMS lines in the Midlands, being a Coventry lad myself. Anyway, for your station buildings I'd recommend the LNWR panels available from: http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/acatalog/GRAND_JUNCTION.html They are nicely moulded and I think very good value. I'm using them to scratch-build my station buildings. Looking at the pictures of Hampton in Arden (and also Berkswell nearby), the Grand Junction panels look appropriate. Hope all goes well with the planning and build. all the best, Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Lieutenant Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 London Road Models would be an excellent source for most of your LNWR requirements should you aspire to etched kits though the PC models do still occasionally appear on ebay. Stevensons Carriages have a number of the later coaches. David Geen provides a number of later LNWR wagons in white metal too plus 6 wheel stock in etched brass. The LNWR Society may well have timetables and carriage workings for your line so it would be worth paying a visit to their Study Centre which is open to non-members. I did this and acquired a wealth of information. Your layout is similar to mine but be aware that such a station would probably only have one or two stopping goods trains a day so the potential for shunting is limited if you want to stick to a realistic timetable. But the potential for watching trains go by is the compensation. Brassey, many thanks for the response. Mainly thinking in terms of watching the trains go by. Because the goods yard and passenger stations are staggered, the set-up could be enormously long, so the yard might have to be on a curve, and, of course, some compression of the length would probably be a good idea. A trip to Kenilworth should be possible, thanks for the tip. A couple of trip goods a day, with associated shunting. That sounds about ideal for me! Welcome back! The Warwickshire Railways website is a great resource - I have been using it recently to look at pictures of Winson Green and Monument Lane, as inspiration for my 1930s LMS themed layout. The inner suburban stations, brick-lined cuttings, and industrial scene of this part of Birmingham all appeals to me, and I am keen on the ex-LNWR LMS lines in the Midlands, being a Coventry lad myself. Anyway, for your station buildings I'd recommend the LNWR panels available from: http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/acatalog/GRAND_JUNCTION.html They are nicely moulded and I think very good value. I'm using them to scratch-build my station buildings. Looking at the pictures of Hampton in Arden (and also Berkswell nearby), the Grand Junction panels look appropriate. Hope all goes well with the planning and build. all the best, Keith Keith, many thanks. I am impressed with those Grand Junction panels, that looks like a great tip. If the layout says LNWR, I'll be happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Also being from Coventry and an avid fan of anything L & NWR, I will be watching with interest. Good luck with your build! Trev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CovDriver Posted October 17, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 17, 2016 Same here I'm a Coventry man born an bred also I'll be keeping an eye on this one seen as I regularly stop at Hampton in Arden and also speeding through at 100mph on occasions. Cheers Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Not sure I can add anything but encouragement, as my knowledge of your prototype is pretty minimal, but it is an attractive concept and I hope to see it take shape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted October 17, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 17, 2016 hi again, I have also sourced an LNWR water crane from here: http://www.holtmodelrailways.com/photo.php?code=MM24 as well as LNWR buffer stops: http://www.holtmodelrailways.com/photo.php?code=MM78 hope that helps! all the best, Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemusson Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Hi Fat Lieutenant Thanks for the kind comments about the Warwickshire Railways website and your suggestion that donations should be made. Donations would be very welcome as the operational costs are not cheap. Regarding copyright. We do exert assert copyright on behalf of the photographers whose work we feature. Having said that we/they have no objection to sharing the images for non commercial purposes as this is one of the reasons the website was created. You might be interested to know that the HMRS have agreed to be the website's long term custodians thereby ensuring this resource will be available for generations to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNWR lives on Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hi Fat Lieutenant, If you go onto the link below, I think part 2 has the working timetables in it http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/archive01.php The next few open days at Kenilworth are the 26th November, 10th December (Which also doubles up as Christmas members social day), 28th January and 25th February Regards the local carriage set in 1921, the local stock tends to consist more of 30'1" and 42" carriages (see https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/carriages/lnwr-carriages/) than the 50ft stock, such as the ratio coaches, but that said seeing as this is Coventry area and not somewhere out in the sticks I think it needs a bit more research to be sure. Very much looking forward to seeing your layout develop Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Lieutenant Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hi Fat Lieutenant, If you go onto the link below, I think part 2 has the working timetables in it http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/archive01.php The next few open days at Kenilworth are the 26th November, 10th December (Which also doubles up as Christmas members social day), 28th January and 25th February Regards the local carriage set in 1921, the local stock tends to consist more of 30'1" and 42" carriages (see https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/carriages/lnwr-carriages/) than the 50ft stock, such as the ratio coaches, but that said seeing as this is Coventry area and not somewhere out in the sticks I think it needs a bit more research to be sure. Very much looking forward to seeing your layout develop Dave Dave, Very many thanks. I am still firmly in the research phase. This is fun, but time consuming. This will be a great help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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