Minories on the Western Region

[chrisf]

Welcome to the madhouse, Turtlebah!

 

It was once said of the late Frank Dyer, one of the all-time great modellers, that he had modelled a real railway and not a model railway.  Infer from this, if you will, that it is much better to be inspired by what the real railway did than by what your fellow modellers have done to it!

 

While you ponder on this I will digress and comment on the photo that Karhedron has posted.  I know it well but cannot recall who took it or where it has appeared before.  The photographer is standing on a footpath which ran from opposite the entrance to North Acton station across the Central Line, past the site of Old Oak Lane Halt [just out of the picture to the left] and down some steps to come out in Old Oak Common Lane.  Where the path passed under the bridge carrying the North London line over the tracks pictured it was cantilevered out from the bridge pier.  As a little kid, approximately 60 years ago, I found it scary to say the least!  The last time I was in that neck of the woods I found the path closed and a retaining wall that looked in need of repair.  I can remember being taken to Wormwood Scrubs in my pre-teens to look at the barrage balloons, one of which can be seen in the sky.  Evocative or what?!

 

Chris

[turtlebah]

And Halifax Powell St.

 

It's a wonderful depiction of a busy terminus - if only i had the space for something similar, although i do like the way space has been maximized with the relief station building.

[turtlebah]

Welcome to the madhouse, Turtlebah!

 

It was once said of the late Frank Dyer, one of the all-time great modellers, that he had modelled a real railway and not a model railway.  Infer from this, if you will, that it is much better to be inspired by what the real railway did than by what your fellow modellers have done to it!

 

While you ponder on this I will digress and comment on the photo that Karhedron has posted.  I know it well but cannot recall who took it or where it has appeared before.  The photographer is standing on a footpath which ran from opposite the entrance to North Acton station across the Central Line, past the site of Old Oak Lane Halt [just out of the picture to the left] and down some steps to come out in Old Oak Common Lane.  Where the path passed under the bridge carrying the North London line over the tracks pictured it was cantilevered out from the bridge pier.  As a little kid, approximately 60 years ago, I found it scary to say the least!  The last time I was in that neck of the woods I found the path closed and a retaining wall that looked in need of repair.  I can remember being taken to Wormwood Scrubs in my pre-teens to look at the barrage balloons, one of which can be seen in the sky.  Evocative or what?!

 

Chris

And what a wonderful madhouse it is.

 

Frank Dyer sounds like a wise chap. I've just watched his video on Hardwick Grange - a very nice layout.

[turtlebah]

I'm very excited...

 

Friday booked off work? CHECK!

Baseboard tops ready from timber merchants? CHECK!

Track delivered? CHECK

Cabling and point motors delivered? CHECK

 

Looking forward to my first day of modelling in over 17 years. Just need a name for the project...

 

[kevblokey]

 

Did someone call? 

 

Milk is a good choice of non-passenger traffic for an urban station as the handling facilities were usually pretty compact. Unlike bulk goods, it was quite common to have bottling plants near stations (the IMS plant at Rossmore Road next to Marylebone is a favourite example). Milk trains could be fairly compact but still justify a top-link express loco. This shot shows 5014 Goodrich Castle near Wormwood Scrubs with a train of milk tanks returning to the west country from the Wood Lane bottling plant in 1957. A Castle with just 6 tankers should fit on quite a modest layout.

 

 

Someone's forgotten to winch in the barrage balloon from over a decade earlier...

[turtlebah]

So, after an intense weekend of baseboard building (in between seeing some friends get married) i'm almost ready to start laying some track.

 

As per the final track plan above I've build the 2 scenic baseboards, but haven't yet put any cross supports on. I'll wait until i know for sure where all the point motors are going to end up before adding some more structure to the underside.

 

Instead of making legs I simply bought some sturdy, adjustable trestles from B&Q which I'm actually really pleased with. Once I've got all the scenic track in place i'll work on the fiddle yard board. As you can see, I'm pretty tight for space (including all the moving boxes yet to be unpacked).

 

Very excited to be laying track this week. I may even have an operational layout after next weekend!!!

 

 

[chrisf]

Someone's forgotten to winch in the barrage balloon from over a decade earlier...

 

Not so.  To judge by the standard Central Line tube stock, not replaced before 1960, and the pre-1956 crest on the Castle's tender, the photo dates from the late 1950s.   As I tried to explain in #26 above, barrage balloons were still flown over Wormwood Scrubs in the 1950s.

 

Now I don't want to be a killjoy but at the very least the photographer deserves credit for taking the picture.

 

Chris

[Clive Mortimore]

Not so.  To judge by the standard Central Line tube stock, not replaced before 1960, and the pre-1956 crest on the Castle's tender, the photo dates from the late 1950s.   As I tried to explain in #26 above, barrage balloons were still flown over Wormwood Scrubs in the 1950s.

 

Now I don't want to be a killjoy but at the very least the photographer deserves credit for taking the picture.

 

Chris

Hi Chris

 

Were the barrage balloons at Wormwood Scrubs weather balloons like the ones flown at Cardington?

 

The balloon looks like a MkVII, the most commonly used British balloon.

[Dublodad]

The barrage balloons on Scrubs Common were used for parachute training. I used to watch from afar on Jacobs Ladder at West Ealing.

 

Terry

[chrisf]

 

Now I don't want to be a killjoy but at the very least the photographer deserves credit for taking the picture.

 

Chris

 

I've found the book that contains it, whilst looking for something else entirely.  It is called "The Heyday of Old Oak Common and its Locomotives", compiled by Chris Leigh and published by Ian Allan in 1993.  The photograph was taken on 15th June 1957 by the late R C Riley.  Credit where it is due.

 

Chris 

[Dougjuk]

Out of interest where did you get the legs that you are using as i need to get something similar.

 

regards  Doug

[Danemouth]

I use the same legs on Danemouth - got mine from Screwfix

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/height-adjustable-metal-trestle/6561p

 

Dave

[Dougjuk]

I use the same legs on Danemouth - got mine from Screwfix

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/height-adjustable-metal-trestle/6561p

 

Dave

 

thanks

[BG John]

I use the same legs on Danemouth - got mine from Screwfix

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/height-adjustable-metal-trestle/6561p

 

Dave

Or two for around the same price on eBay!

[turtlebah]

Out of interest where did you get the legs that you are using as i need to get something similar.

 

regards  Doug

 Hi Doug,

 

I'm sure these are pretty similar, if not the same, as the Screwfix variety, but mine came from B&Q. They're absolutely brillo and given my carpentry skills i found them more than adequate once i'd put a few slithers of wood etc to level out the boards (unfortunately my Victorian floor is very flat).

 

http://www.diy.com/departments/foldable-trestle/1362662_BQ.prd

 

Kind regards,

Nick

[turtlebah]

I've made some solid progress over the bank holiday weekend.

 

Having never wired a layout in my life I now have 7 working points and point motors making up the station throat. By some miracle i managed to get all the track wiring spot on first time so as to avoid shorts. I must say that i'm so pleased i took the rather daunting plunge and went for electrofrog with DCC control - it might have taken a bit of time to get my head around wiring up the double and single slip, but it's totally worth it. I couldn't believe how slowly i managed to run my DJ Models 14xx over the station throat with no problems whatsoever.

 

The only bit I'm struggling with is how to get rid of those dastardly seep point motor pins. I've already ruined 1 pair of wire cutters. I've got a dremel tool, but i'm worried about overheating. Any ideas? In hindsight i should really have removed them and cut the pins, but they're already fixed in place and wired up now. Looking to get the rest of the track down this week and then on to ballasting next weekend. 

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Cutting with a carborundum disc should not over tax your Dremmel,make sure that you wear eye protection.

 

 

Edit for predictive text.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Siberian Snooper

[Hroth]

Cutting with a carborundum disc should not over tax your Dremmel,make sure that you wear eye protection.

 

 

Edit for predictive text.

A carborundum cut-off disc in a Dremel (other mini power tools are available) will go through a SEEP pin in about 3 seconds.  I usually leave the  pin overlength by a couple of mm and grind down any excess using the disc when the SEEP is in situ. Its better than cutting off too much!  When initially trimming the pin, wear eye protection and hold the free end of the pin in a pair of pliers to prevent it pinging off into the void when cut through.

 

Those metal trestles are a good idea, I've a couple of sets coming for a new project.  I'm going to bolt a length of wood (about half the depth of your framing) to the top so I can insert locating dowels into trestle top and the framing to positively locate the baseboards on top of the trestles.

[bike2steam]

 

Did someone call? 

 

Milk is a good choice of non-passenger traffic for an urban station as the handling facilities were usually pretty compact. Unlike bulk goods, it was quite common to have bottling plants near stations (the IMS plant at Rossmore Road next to Marylebone is a favourite example). Milk trains could be fairly compact but still justify a top-link express loco. This shot shows 5014 Goodrich Castle near Wormwood Scrubs with a train of milk tanks returning to the west country from the Wood Lane bottling plant in 1957. A Castle with just 6 tankers should fit on quite a modest layout.

 

Just caught up with this thread, thanks for this pic, one of my favourite spotting locations ( next to, or on top of, the left hand pill-box)  during the late 50's / early 60's, and one of the very few locations where you could see locos from all four pre-nationalization companies.

[Hroth]

Back to the trestle legs for a minute.

 

The ebay legs I ordered last week finally arrived, they'd been Yodellised, so I suppose I was lucky to get them at all!

 

For things that worked out at £11.20 each (inc delivery), they turned out better than I thought they might.  They look reasonably similar to those stocked by B&Q, the main point that indicates lower quality being the brackets on the chromed cross-bar that steadies the top of the frame (Not the variable height trestle crossbar!). These are badly formed and the tack weld on one has already given way. On the B&Q example this is a much better piece of continuous welding along the whole seam! Apart from that, they are perfectly adequate for supporting model railways and I'll probably re-engineer the brackets myself in the fullness of time!

[turtlebah]

Back to the trestle legs for a minute.

 

The ebay legs I ordered last week finally arrived, they'd been Yodellised, so I suppose I was lucky to get them at all!

 

For things that worked out at £11.20 each (inc delivery), they turned out better than I thought they might.  They look reasonably similar to those stocked by B&Q, the main point that indicates lower quality being the brackets on the chromed cross-bar that steadies the top of the frame (Not the variable height trestle crossbar!). These are badly formed and the tack weld on one has already given way. On the B&Q example this is a much better piece of continuous welding along the whole seam! Apart from that, they are perfectly adequate for supporting model railways and I'll probably re-engineer the brackets myself in the fullness of time!

 

My B&Q trestles have been great so far. Perfect for a model railway like mine that needs to put away from time to time and avoids the need to any more complicated joinery!

[turtlebah]

Hi RM Web Community,

 

It's been a while since I last posted an update. Unfortunately work commitments have meant modelling time has been very limited the last few weeks, but there's plenty to update on.

Below are the headlines:

POINT MOTOR MUDDLES
I have come to the conclusion that it was a huge mistake to use seep motors, especially given that I have some fairly complex point work (for a beginner) in the station throat. The seep motors just don't seem to work well on the code 75 double and single slips. The contacts on the bottom of the motors are far too haphazard in their connectivity and I could see big problems occurring further down the line (god forbid if i wanted to exhibit at a future point). The frog not changing polarity when the point was thrown was very frustrating and meant that my pannier tank and auto engine couldn't make it across the throat without a little push.

After reading some very helpful blogs 3 weeks ago I took the plunge and removed them all. In the post arrived 10 shiny new cobalt digital motors. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I can't speak highly enough of these motors. Dead easy to install and work like a dream. No contact issues with these beauties.

Seeing as this is my first layout project I guess that there will always be bumps in the road.

TRACK WORK AHOY!
With fully functioning and pinned down point work in the station throat now completed I've now (finally) started laying the remaining track, namely the track in platforms 1 and 2 and the two remaining points for the run around.

Hopefully this should be finished this week. I'm leaving the fiddle hard section until most of the scenic section is fully completed. We're having some building work on the house completed soon, which may provide the opportunity for a slightly expanded "modelling room". This in turn will mean I actually have the space for a functioning fiddle yard as supposed to a couple of tracks on a board resulting in a lot of stock handling.

 

A modified hall waits in Platform 3 to depart with a rake of mk1s to Cardiff. A classmate waits in Platform 2 for instructions to return to the shed for turning. A rake of 5 mk1s sit in Platform 1 awaiting their loco for a return working to Taunton. A few ale vans sit in the warehouse siding.

 

A view of the station throat point work with loco spur, water tower and coaling stage (use your imagination) on the left.

BRISTOL BROAD ST, ALL CHANGE PLEASE
I have finally decided on a name for the station - all change at Bristol Broad Street. The back story is a small urban terminus situated right in the heart of Bristol (Broad Street is a real street) with the line branching off from the mainline just before Bristol Temple Meads. Services from Bath, Taunton, Cardiff, Bedminster branch line to Frome and further afield provide leverage for some interesting operations. The imaginary station was built to ease Western Region commuter and local traffic in and around Bristol Temple Meads. With a bit of modelers license and given the location you might even see the odd S&D or Southern loco (coming up from Weymouth, Yeovil or Bournemouth.

 

PLATFORM 3 FOR THE 10.20AM TO BATH SPA
Once he track is down I've got the arduous (and slightly daunting task) of building the platforms to look forward to. I've got to get these down before balls sting can commence. The plan of action was to go with stiff card as a base covered in scale scenes platform print outs.

 

If anyone has any words of wisdom regarding platforms they would be greatly appreciated!

GREAT CENTRAL MODEL BONANZA
Finally, I've just returned from a great weekend up at Loughborough and the GCR Model Rail event. What a wonderful show! So many exciting layouts to provide inspiration. Despite the sweltering conditions inside the main tents I had a fabulous time, but spent far too much on bits and bobs. It was particularly great to see Bath Green Park in the flesh and I always struggle not pick something up from any TMC stand at an exhibition (I love that place).

The real treat for me was Bradford City Road. A urban terminus setting after my own heart.

Was anyone else there this weekend?

 

   

-----------

That's it for now. I'm gagging to get on with the scenery. All this track work and electrics really isn't my bag at all.

Thanks for all your comments and help on the journey thus far. I hope to be able to show you some more scenic photos of Bristol Broad Street at some point in the not too distant future.

Kind regards,
Nick

[John Rich]

Nick,

 

I am building a small 6 x 1 terminus to keep my hand in whilst attempting a house move. I installed SEEP motors to try them out,they are just about ok but knowing now what I do I wouldn't use them again.

 

I thought it was my wiring at fault but I now believe one or two of the point motors weren't working very well. Having installed lots of Cobalts on a friends layout and found them vey user friendly that is the way I will go when I get a chance to start on a larger layout again.

 

John

[Karhedron]

My experience has been that for smaller layouts, point motors seem to be overkill. I am thinking of going for wire-in-tube next time as it is both cheaper and more reliable.

[John Rich]

My experience has been that for smaller layouts, point motors seem to be overkill. I am thinking of going for wire-in-tube next time as it is both cheaper and more reliable.

A good point, I was just trying them out but with an aversion to electrics maybe wire in tube will be worth looking into when the time comes.

 

Even the Cobalts on my mates layout are not infallible and he has had a couple of failures, trying to reduce what can go wrong will be my target.

 

John