Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Annie]

I believe so Northroader.

[Annie]

Eastlingwold & Great Mulling branchline.

 

 

On the GER single track line that serves a few small towns and villages out on the edges of the layout.  This portion of the layout is built around a slice taken from the old Valleyfields layout and it's been a bit neglected.  I've been doing some work on the towns and generally improving the scenery.  This line is well known for its wild hedgerows and I'm sure the darn things grow as I always seem to have to regularly patrol the line and deal to rampant vegetation that's getting too close to the track.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by Annie
Added a picture

[Annie]

Map.  I need a cup of tea and a lie down now.

Definitely not accurate to scale.  I tried doing that and gave up.  Possibly if the map was stretched 50% sideways it might be more accurate.  Edit:  Map now changed for stretched version.  Further Edit:  Service line to lighthouse now added.

However this is my little empire with all stations present and correct.  I left off the line to Hunstanton since it's already a known quantity.

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by Annie
More words needed. And map revised

[Annie]

Bother!  I left off the service line to the lighthouse at Winkle Bay.  Bother! Bother! Bother!

 

Edit: Now fixed.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Annie
more to say

[Edwardian]

33 minutes ago, Annie said:

Map.  I need a cup of tea and a lie down now.

Definitely not accurate to scale.  I tried doing that and gave up.  Possibly if the map was stretched 50% sideways it might be more accurate.  Edit:  Map now changed for stretched version.

However this is my little empire with all stations present and correct.  I left off the line to Hunstanton since it's already a known quantity.

 

 

Excellent, Annie.

 

From my/Achingverse perspective, I see that this will not come into contact with the West Norfolk.

 

It seems to me that your network occupies the Wash coast between the canalised Nene/Sutton Bridge and King's Lynn.

 

I mention the Isle of Eldernell & Mereport Railway.

 

Mereport, a sort of mirror-Wisbech - is an inland port to which ships come via a canalised river that outflows into the Wash.  The likely location of the outflow is, I reckon, somewhat to the west of your map, but it might well cross the line of the NG Sumwheir District Ry.

 

It just makes the edge of the recent WNR map. 

 

 

Mereport, being at the other end of the canalised river, means that the IoE&MR's railhead, the end of the late 1880s Mereport Extension linking the port to the Isle of Eldernell (1860s inland island system), is some distance from your lines. 

 

Hopefully, therefore, it all fits!

[Annie]

Yes the only point of contact is where the W.N.R. crosses over my G.E.R. double track mainline on it's way to Lynn.

Um...... I did move Lynn a bit.  And I did look at all the other lines running into Lynn and my brain threatened to blue screen so I decided to leave them off.  But essentially my lines occupy a widened band of land between the Nene and Kings Lynn. 

Most probably the Nene is on the other side of Bishops Tenpenny which is the big cathedral town on my 3ft gauge Sumwheir District Railway.  I don't mention the S.D.R. much because it's a stand alone system and being 3ft gauge more than likely not of great interest to a pre-grouping forum.  It does have an interchange yard with the Windweather Tramway though which is still a bit WIP at the moment.

 

Yes I remember the discussions on the forum about the Isle of Eldernell and was quite fascinated by it.  Good to know that I haven't planted my little empire in the way of anything that's going to cause a conflict.

[RedGemAlchemist]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Excellent, Annie.

 

From my/Achingverse perspective, I see that this will not come into contact with the West Norfolk.

 

It seems to me that your network occupies the Wash coast between the canalised Nene/Sutton Bridge and King's Lynn.

 

I mention the Isle of Eldernell & Mereport Railway.

 

Mereport, a sort of mirror-Wisbech - is an inland port to which ships come via a canalised river that outflows into the Wash.  The likely location of the outflow is, I reckon, somewhat to the west of your map, but it might well cross the line of the NG Sumwheir District Ry.

 

It just makes the edge of the recent WNR map. 

 

 

Mereport, being at the other end of the canalised river, means that the IoE&MR's railhead, the end of the late 1880s Mereport Extension linking the port to the Isle of Eldernell (1860s inland island system), is some distance from your lines. 

 

Hopefully, therefore, it all fits!

Version with the KLR added.

[Edwardian]

12 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Version with the KLR added.

 

Perfect!

[Annie]

Well this is about as good as I can get a W.N.R. version of an E.B.Wilson 2-4-0T.  The 4 wheel tender is a Beyer-Peacock one and its body mesh has a different colour effect on its textures as compared with the engine's body mesh.  I fudged around with mesh settings and colour shades for a while, but this is about as close as I could get for the two to match.

 

 

In other news I thought I'd try out a varnished teak finish on one of the 1970s 4 wheel coaches.

Looks nice doesn't it?  But it was just sooooooo much work to get it to look like that.  The painted versions are relatively simple to do, but as soon as I tried wood grain textures on that brake 3rd I knew it wasn't going to be easy.  I had to adjust the ambient, diffuse and specular colour settings on the body mesh for every single part of that coach body to get the wood grain to look right and for a little coach it has lots of mesh parts. 

So for the moment that's the only varnished wooden coach that the Barrow Hills & Foxwater Extension Railway is going to get.  I could just paint the others brown I suppose...........

 

 

 

I need to pipe it for the vacuum brake as well, but at least that's relatively easy to do.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Annie
More words needed.

[Edwardian]

Wow, Annie, that's a really great job you've done bring an original WNR engine to life.  The teaking of the coach is also very impressive and suits it well. 

[Annie]

Thanks James.  On test 'Wyton' is proving to be a very good engine indeed so I'm glad I persisted with it.

 

 

As for the B.H.& F.E.R. teak brake 3rd it might end up being lonely since the B.H.& F.E.R. always had pretensions of mainline grandeur so not many of their older 1870's coaches would have survived.  (More than likely the H.T.Co. purchased them second hand when they were withdrawn and painted them in their dusty red livery).

I may do a 1st class coach in teak though since 1st class coaches often had longer service lives due to their posh interior trimmings. 

The 1870's coaches that I'm using have no continuous braking system and they are manually braked on one side only.  That's why the H.T.Co. aren't allowed to take their ones off the tramway and onto the mainline.  So that the B.H.& F.E.R. could still be using one on the main line I had to fit it up as a 'piped' coach since fitting actual vacuum brake gubbins was out of the question.  (Note my use of technical language, - 'gubbins'.  I have digital model parts for vacuum brake gubbins, but they wouldn't be suitable for this coach.)

 

Fitting up the vacuum pipe standards was a fiddle as always since I had to create the attachment points on the coach's body mesh and then micro adjust them into the correct position.

The van part of the coach also now has luggage inside it which was a whole lot more simple to do.  Since the coach portion has slatted wooden seats it would only be passengers who feel they are in need of a penance who would willingly ride in this old Brake 3rd especially since it would be more than likely be coupled up to something that actually had cushions on the seats.

 

 

The W.N.R. brake 3rds also now have luggage.  The H.T.Co.'s brake 3rds have much less posh luggage in the form of a few battered looking suitcases and a bicycle which seemed to be more appropriate.

 

 

And another job done on the 1870's coaches was providing better seating in the 1st class coaches.  Originally these coaches had cloth covered seats the same as the 2nd and 3rd class coaches, but I felt something better was needed.

 

 

 

[Edwardian]

The West Norfolk lives, virtually if not yet actually!

 

Thank you, Annie

[Annie]

Blasting about on the Cornish mainline just for a change.

 

 

 

 

 

[Martin S-C]

Super loco but not entirely sure about the choice of LSWR lime green for the polished dome and safety valve bonnet!

 

That's an awesome bridge in the last but one pic.

[RedGemAlchemist]

16 minutes ago, Martin S-C said:

That's an awesome bridge in the last but one pic.

Indeed. The model is beautiful.

[Northroader]

Looks nice, but Atlantic’s past Newton Abbot? Naah.

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Super loco but not entirely sure about the choice of LSWR lime green for the polished dome and safety valve bonnet!

 

That's an awesome bridge in the last but one pic.

That's me putting too much green in the ambient lighting effects in the TS2019 simulator Martin.  Makes the landscape look nice, but it also gave the brass work an unavoidable  green tinge.

 

The bridge is by a French content creator for Trainz and he makes some really good models.

 

4 hours ago, Northroader said:

Looks nice, but Atlantic’s past Newton Abbot? Naah.

Yes I know Northroader, but I really wanted to give my De Glenn Atlantic a good dust off and since the Cornish Mainline and Branches route in TS2019 is accurately modelled with true scale distances it was the only GWR layout I had that was up to the task.

 

[Annie]

I got myself mentioned in dispatches again in the N3V Trainz newsletter with this screenshot.  Seems I'm flying the flag for Uk light railways and minor railways when it comes to submitting screenshots into the monthly screenshot competition.  Certainly makes a change from all the American dismal pictures.

 

[Northroader]

Congratulations, it is a very good picture, and well deserved.

[NeilHB]

Annie, I really do like the 1870s four wheel coaches, especially the teak brake coach belonging to the Barrow Hills & Foxwater Extension Railway. Though they really do look delightful in West Norfolk livery too!

 

I think one or two of them may have to find their way to the Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway, as suitable cast off coaching stock for haulage by the Coffee Pots on Elsbridge (Wharf). 

 

Not being particularly au fait with train simulators - does it give details of wheelbase and length/height of body please? Judging from the look of them, I’m guessing that they are somewhat lower in height than later stock? 

 

Edited April 28, 2019 by NeilHB

[Annie]

Thanks Northroader.  The screenshot was taken on the Winter version of the K&ESR layout that I converted over to the latest TS2019 simulator.  The engine is of course 'Northiam' and I fitted it up with a snowplow since it's Winter and the line is modelled as if after a heavy snowfall.

 

Yes those 1870's coaches are nice little digital models Neil and as you can see I mod them about in all kind of ways.  I don't actually have any dimensions for the coaches unfortunately as working with digital models is a bit different to regular modelling since the body mesh is a fixed quantity that I can repaint and attach other parts to without having to actually measure anything as such.  

The coach the B.H.& F.E.R. brake 3rd is coupled to is a NER 6 wheeler in a dark teak finish so that should give you some idea of the brake 3rd's height.  They're actually not too far away from each other in overall height, - though the NER did have a smaller loading gauge than some of the other pre-grouping railways.

[NeilHB]

Annie, many thanks. I did wonder if that was the case with them being digital models. I shall do some doodling and see what looks right before putting scalpel to plasticard.

[Edwardian]

I have found it difficult to scale from your virtual coaches, Annie.

 

Those lovely WNR Third Saloons, for instance, persistently come out as around 25', and, thus, make better 4-wheelers than 6. 

[Annie]

When the 6 wheel coach body mesh was made for me I was told it was based on a late 19th century GWR 6 wheel coach, but I don't know which one. and yes it's not especially long and I have some 4 wheel coaches that aren't far away from being the same length.  The underframe is based on one for a Highland Railway 6 wheel perishables traffic van and again was adapted for me as a favour by a member of the creator group I belong to.  So yes compared with some other pre-grouping 6 wheel coaches I have it's not especially long and I have wondered more than once about asking if it could be further modified to give me a 4w coach mesh as well.

 

[Annie]

Moxbury.  A mysterious town sometimes mentioned in my trainset ramblings lying somewhere beyond a portal on my layout.  Well my project for the past week has been to create Moxbury as a tangible (if such a thing is possible on a digital model railway) part of my rambling little railway empire.

 

I knew  already from my creative imaginings on the subject that Moxbury was a railway hub of modest importance and not just a mere through station set in my version of a rural English landscape so it was always going to be a substantial undertaking.  I'd hesitated often over making a beginning on Moxbury, then I discovered an older layout built on four standard Trainz board sections.  It had been built by a worshipper of a certain blue engine and mistakes on the railway side of things were considerable and numerous.  It also had a few missing buildings & etc due to the bloody TtTE wars of recent memory where a maker of TtTE content shut down his website and all its contents and went off in a state of considerable dudgeon. 

 

BUT it had a beautifully modelled town which made up for all its other deficiencies.  Building English towns has always been my Achilles heel.  I just seem to be unable to capture their organic nature of having grown up over a lengthy period time.  So to cut a long story short I stole the town, repaired all the deficiencies and errors on the railway side of things and then set in all down as a part of my layout which involved a great deal of scenic blending and making a new background scenic layout board.

 

Some snaps.  Some parts are still a work in progress, but it the railway side of things does all work properly now.

I give you Moxbury.

 

 

 

The beach beside the town.  I had a fit of doubt as to whether Moxbury is beside a narrow bay or a large lake.  If it's a large lake it fits perfectly with the modelled landscape on my layout. if it's beside a narrow bay then massive shifts in geology are needed.  In the end I decided I didn't care and it is what it is. 

In practical terms though if I'd made up about six open countryside layout boards and put Moxbury at the end of it all it could indeed be beside a bay.  However there was no way I was going to model six such boards from scratch (soooooo much work! - doing just the one background scenic board was enough.) and I decided that the line into Moxbury traverses such a distance even though it doesn't really and since the way the surrounding landscape is shaped causes Moxbury to be effectively hidden from view from the rest of my railway my distance compression fudge works fine.

 

 

The tearooms above the beach.  This is sited right at the edge of my existing layout boards.  There was a stray road from my existing layout going nowhere so I decided to make it end at a gravelled area with the tearooms and a set of wrought iron stairs down to the beach. (Thank you wrought iron footbridge kit you are soooooo useful).

 

Part of the town by the station.  Even though the holy inquisition has been active in the town there are still a few stray bits of modernity that need to be corrected.

 

The station building is a fudge up made from something else and will be replaced when I can find something better.  Being a local railways kind of modeller all the station buildings I had weren't suitable and I even went searching on my old HUGE Uk layout, but the large stations there had buildings that were too large and magnificent for Moxbury.  The original station building for the layout was a horrid modern post WW2 thing and while the station had an overoof that looked appealing at first glance it had been put together all wrong and was a total mess.  Its replacement is a far better model and while it was a bit of a fiddle to assemble I'm much happier with it.

 

Track testing with my new Hawthorne 0-6-0 engine from Paulz Trainz.

 

 

View from the footplate.

 

No.4 takes the first test passenger train.

 

The new station at Moxbury has two platform tracks that run towards the rest of my rambling litte railway and there are five platforms that can send trains in the other direction to the now re-sited portals.  Of course I now have to put my imagination to work and decide what lies beyond Moxbury.  What or wherever it is though I won't be trying to make a model  landscape to represent it since it is likely to be a very big town indeed and I'm not so keen on modelling big towns and their stations and all the enormous railway infrastructure and trackwork that would be needed.  So wherever it is it will remain 'beyond the portal'.

 

Otherwise  Moxbury has a now usefully repaired and rearranged goods yard that is large enough to be useful, but not so large as to be terrifying to try and work trains in and out of.  The original layout's MPD was a total mess due to many missing parts as well as being laid out all wrong so I'm still working on that.  The big thing though is that trains can now be successfully worked in and out of Moxbury and I'm very pleased with how everything is turning out after sooooooo many hours of work.