Hills of the North - The Last Great Project

[Clive Mortimore]

It is ANTI DIESEL people like COACHMAN that keeps an old term in use.

[TerryD1471]

It is ANTI DIESEL people like COACHMAN that keeps an old term in use.

I suspect that the issue is not as simple as that. Coachmann and I both belong to the generation that remember the steam railway as it was pre-Beeching. The serious cuts to the system were partly politically motivated and happened to coincide with the implementation of the modernization plan,so I think we tend to associate the drastic surgery to the network with the onset of diesel and electric traction, even though they were separate issues.

 

I still feel acute nostalgia for the old railway, scruffy though it may have been.

[APOLLO]

 

There's a whole thread here on rmweb about this somewhere !!

 

Brit15

[Jim Martin]

 

There's a whole thread here on rmweb about this somewhere !!

 

Brit15

So the exemplar of the modern railway is a locomotive which was withdrawn 32 years ago and scrapped 26 years ago, hauling stock introduced more than 50 years ago and withdrawn from scheduled mainline use more than a decade ago?

 

Jim

[Jim Martin]

Just because modern-image or dieselization began in earnest in 1958, it doesn't mean the term is no longer applicable a mere 58 years later. The preceding steam-era lasted for over 130 years and no one questions the use of that term.

It's not the use of a catch-all phrase to describe the entire diesel era that's the problem: that's merely flawed, since it doesn't address the profound changes in the nature of railway operation within that time span.

 

The problem is that the catch-all phrase in question is stupid. What does the word "image" represent? Hell, what does the word "modern" represent in this context? The whole expression, which works just fine as a description of a specific thing at a specific time, is just meaningless when applied more widely.

 

If you really can't countenance a more nuanced approach and absolutely must have a catch-all, what's wrong with "diesel era"?

[Barry O]

Getting back to the layout..I noted an advert on Farcebook for the May issue of Railway Modeller which has an article in it about.....well read and see but the FB ad has a picture of one of my Stanier Blue Grey coaches in it...

Edited April 12, 2018 by Barry O

[APOLLO]

So the exemplar of the modern railway is a locomotive which was withdrawn 32 years ago and scrapped 26 years ago, hauling stock introduced more than 50 years ago and withdrawn from scheduled mainline use more than a decade ago?

 

Jim

 

Yes - But in May 1964 it was dead mod and bang up to date, The Railway Modeller only cost Half a Crown also !!!!

 

Time marches on.

 

Brit15

[Jim Martin]

Yes - But in May 1964 it was dead mod and bang up to date, The Railway Modeller only cost Half a Crown also !!!!

 

Time marches on.

 

Brit15

And that's why it works as a description of what was happening in 1964, but not as a description of everything that's happened since 1964.

[lezz01]

Yep in 1964 it was cutting edge. We had that running across the bridge at Bletchley and 8Fs still running on the Oxford line which was at the end of the field that backed onto my garden. Oh yes and Vulcans flying overhead as we were on the glide path to Upper Heyford air base. In short the good old days. Now if I only had a time machine.  

Looking good in the Modeler BTW.

Regards Lez.Z

[LNER4479]

 

There's a whole thread here on rmweb about this somewhere !!

 

Brit15

Well found that man!

 

Getting back to teh layout..I noted an adverft on Farcebook for the May issue of Railway Modeller which has an article in it about.....well read and see but the FB ad has a picture of one of my Stanier Blue Grey coaches in it...

 

Looking good in the Modeler BTW.

Regards Lez.Z

Blimey - is it out already? Looking forward to seeing my comp copy plop through the letterbox...

[TerryD1471]

Really great to see the article in the Modeller. It reinforces everything I've learnt so far about this excellent project.

 

Now I know it's being presumptuous, but I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering what the next phase of this grand Carlisle scheme is? Or indeed what the ultimate grand plan is?

 

I ask because it chimes in completely with my own interests (WCML northern section, Big Uns, Scots etc.) and regrettably my own faltering progress (starved of time in "retirement") on Hest Bank. Which reminds me that I must post something about progress to date.

 

Power to your elbow!

 

Terry D

[LNER4479]

Thanks Terry!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing a copy later on today(!)

 

I do have a 'grand plan' and will to share it once there is some concrete progress of my own, hopefully later on this year.

 

To whet your appetite, it features Carlisle station itself, and three of the most dramatic routes into the city: Shap (already built), Garsdale on the S&C (part built, in store) and Riccarton Junc on the Waverley route (the ultimate in wild, remote places). I also have a 'rest of the world' terminus from my former layout which can be re-used (with some refurb and extension work).

 

Unlike the Carlisle in France project (which is dead to scale), I will apply my usual approach of consistent compression and overall compromise to fit it all into a space of roughly 35ft x 28ft. My preference will be 1950's steam but not averse to running 1930's or 1960's.

[Mallard60022]

Damn fine article and a 'bonus that follows' & that is all I am going to say for now so as not to spoil things for people.

I will say how inspired I am by the scenics though and the 'method' of production.

Ima Sloth

[Mallard60022]

Having re read the last 3/4 pages or so I realise I might not have:

sent Barry the notes re the Dapol Comet conversions (but I have sent them to leopardman);

made any sort of attempt to organise the LMS Kitchen car;

found that part finished LMS Open and passed it on........or did I?

This is due to the wrong sort of leaves on the brain and I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Please submit requests for any of the above to be sorted ASAP.

P

Edited April 12, 2018 by Mallard60022

[LNER4479]

Damn fine article and a 'bonus that follows' & that is all I am going to say for now so as not to spoil things for people.

I will say how inspired I am by the scenics though and the 'method' of production.

Ima Sloth

Thanks Ducky

 

It should always be for others to judge how relatively good or indifferent a model is. All I'll say is that it is undeniably satisfying to have something in print and I hope you'll agree that Tony's lovely photos show the layout off in its very best light.

 

[Barry O]

Is that a picture of a model or of the train researched to provide the composition of the train for the model???

 

Baz

[Joseph_Pestell]

I don't often buy RM these days. But I will this month.

[Mallard60022]

Is that a picture of a model or of the train researched to provide the composition of the train for the model???

 

Baz

Probably, but that Blue/Grey Porthole is a beauty........

A. Stanier.

[coronach]

Great article and fantastic pictures. I will watch developments on this layout with great interest

[Barry O]

Probably, but that Blue/Grey Porthole is a beauty........

A. Stanier.

There is another Stanier blue/grey one on the layout,

Best regards

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Called in to see the layout yesterday with her indoors. So Mrs LNER4479 now knows her indoors. Her indoors liked the layout, it's setting and the company.(as well as a good cup of tea made by LNER4479.)

Good day had by all and nice mention in RM.

Baz

[ikks]

I think Tom almost certainly supplied the sheep (Graham?), in which case they will be correct. He takes his sheep seriously.

New Zealander then,of Welsh origin???!!!!!      

 

Oops! off I go.........

[LNER4479]

Well, enough laurel resting; I'm in the middle of telling you a story. We'll speed things up a bit, otherwise this is gonna take forever 

 

Similar treatment as has already been described was applied to the rest of the sections along the main scenic length. This field is loosely described as 'Salterwath', although we're starting to lose the true representation of the prototype by the time we get to the bottom end.

 

An aerial view with all such sections completed and further drystone walling undertaken. The rear of each board had also been done by this time but I'll describe that separately

 

Hear, the ground plaster cover is being applied. For later sections, I applied it somewhat darker (ie a dark 'mud' colour as that doesn't show the chips and knocks as easily as a lighter 'grass' colour).

 

This then allowed the scenic team to move in! At this stage, they were enjoying the relatively rare luxury of applying scenic treatment BEFORE any track had been laid!

 

As always, a cuppa is never very far away. At least it allows pondering time...

 

For the fields, we used these Peco individual grass tufts to represent ... well ... grass tufts(!) as often encountered on windswept, open fields. Well manicured, bowling greens are NOT what one generally sees high on the fells so a degree of randomness and unevenness was I felt an essential to try and convey the impression. Note how they are clustered in some places and isolated in others. Pictures of the real location were used to guide us in this respect.

 

Now we glue and flock around them so as to bed and blend them into the scenery.

 

Ta-daa! Well, at least not bad for a first effort and gave some encouragement at this stage. Warley was 7-and-a-half months away when this picture was taken...

Edited April 20, 2018 by LNER4479

[Mallard60022]

I like the f###king around. I do a lot of that.........oh, sorry, you said flocking.  Again, a timely and inspired set of pics just as I am tackling the Incline down West. If it looks half as good as this then I'll be happy.

Phil of SOSJ

[TerryD1471]

 

 

Interesting to reflect that there doesn't seem to be too many 'watch the trains go by' WCML layouts, least not in the steam era. Settle & Carlisle seems a more popular subject matter in that respect, LMR-wise. Arrowmouth was at Warley and had a nice collection of WCML steam/diesel stock.

 

I think Tony (Wright) quotes 40 trains in total on Stoke Summit. We had 23 at Warley, so some way to go! That having been said, we are - currently - making use of Grantham's fiddle yard for Shap, which is not ideal (but practical given self-imposed short timescale to put the layout together for Warley). With a purpose designed fiddle yard that makes better use of space and an easier flow of trains we could certainly get north of 30 trains in time.

 

I think you are helping put right that deficit of WCML layouts, although there have been some notable layouts around in recent times; Tebay comes to mind and Iain 92220 clearly has a serious model of Camden on the stocks. There was a certain Mr Worthington with a stonking model of the Camden area and also a New Zealand model of (LMS era) WCML practice in P4, not to mention the gargantuan model of Carlisle by David Johnson. Obviously the majority of these were not exhibitable, being fixed "at home" layouts, but you also mentioned the Redditch club's Arrowmouth which helped inspire my own layout (Hest Bank) by being a fictionalised version of this location.

 

Had life taken a different turn and we had remained living in Wolverhampton, Hest Bank would almost certainly have been exhibited on a similar basis to Stoke Summit, because it was designed as a transportable layout and there would have been a team of members available to take it to shows. However this did not happen and we (and the layout) are now happily ensconced in rural west Wales. No prospect now of this being exhibited as ready access and a team of operators are not available.

 

However I am thoroughly enjoying tales of Shap!