Nether Madder and Green Soudley Rly

[Nick C]

4 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Hmm, interesting observations. I hadn't spotted those two options. I would imagine that at quiet times a loco running round would go beyond the home signal and be allowed back onto its train via that signal

Ah, that reminds me - you'll need a shunt or calling on signal under the home to allow that, as you can't use a running signal into an occupied line.

 

27 minutes ago, Martin S-C said:

 

Having had a couple of G&Ts and thought about this I would prefer to keep the direct access from plat 1 loop to the branch for freights. However it would be possible to add a new turnout and length of track shown in red below. To me though that feels rather unprototypical, but it would allow me to have my cake and eat it.

 

 

I think that would work, but then I'd get rid of the middle link of the three, and route trains from p3/4 to main via the bottom one.

[Martin S-C]

I see, like this:

That is going to make trains swing through some lovely sinuous curves as they arrive and depart. I'm imagining the view along the length of the station from the doorway is going to be quite attractive.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Martin S-C

[Nick C]

This of course needs a few changes to the pull list - hopefully haven't missed any...

 

1. P1 starter

2. P2 starter (pull 31)

3. P3 main starter (pull 31, 33)

4. P3 branch starter (pull nil)

5. P4 main starter (pull 29, 31, 33)

6. P4 branch starter (pull 29)

7. Main advanced starter

8. Shunt from P1 (pull nil or 35)

9. Shunt from P2 (pull 31 or 31, 35)

10. Shunt from P3 (pull 31, 33 or 31, 33, 35 or 34)

11. Shunt from P4 (pull 29, 31, 33 or or 29, 31, 33, 35 or 34)

12. Shunt east at 17 points (pull 17)

13. Shunt east at 18 points (pull 18)

14. Shunt from <name?> siding

15. Shunt from middle siding (pull 19)

16. Shunt east at 16 points (pull 19, 20)

17. P1 loop points west

18. P2 loop points west

19. Middle siding points

20. P3 loop points (pull 19)

21. Shunt west at 19 points (pull nil or 19 or 19, 20)

22. Shunt west at 17 points (pull 17)

23. Shunt east from platform loop (pull nil or 32 or 32, 35 or 36) (ringed signal I think, goods starter - or perhaps two, full size arm for starting goods and a shunt for accessing the yard)

24. Shunt east from P1 (pull nil or 35)

25. Shunt east from P2 (pull 31 or 31, 35)

26. Shunt east from middle loop (pull 30, 31 or 30, 31, 35)

27. Shunt east from P3 (pull 30 or 31, 33 or 31, 33, 35)

28. Shunt east from P4 (pull 29, 30 or 29, 31, 33 or 29, 31, 33, 35)

29. P4 points

30. P2 loop points east (pull 31)

31. P2 points

32. P1 loop points east

33. Main crossover west (pull 31)

34. Loco yard points

35. Carriage sidings points

36. Branch crossover.

37. Shunt west from inner homes (pull nil or 32 or 31 or 31, 30 or 35 or 35, 29)

38. Shunt from carriage sidings (pull 35 or 31, 31 or 35, 31, 29 or 35, 31, 29, 29)

39. Shunt from loco yard (pull 34 or 34, 29)

40. Shunt from goods yard

41. Branch P4 home. (pull 29)

42. Branch P3 home. (pull nil)

43. Branch goods home (pull 36, 32)

44. Shunt west at main home signals (pull nil or 31, 33, 29 or 31, 33 or 31 or 31, 30 or 28)

45. Main P4 home (pull 33, 29)

46. Main P3 home (pull 33)

47. Main P2 home (pull 31)

48. Main P1 home

49. Main goods home (pull 32)

50. Main outer home

[Martin S-C]

Thank you Nick. I do struggle with visualising all this so its appreciated. I wonder if it would be possible to rearrange the levers so that the most common and main movements are all close together (signals and points) and in the centre of the frame so that the least used levers are at the ends. I realise I'm asking a lot and if its too big an ask it's fine for you to say no.

[Nick C]

13 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Thank you Nick. I do struggle with visualising all this so its appreciated. I wonder if it would be possible to rearrange the levers so that the most common and main movements are all close together (signals and points) and in the centre of the frame so that the least used levers are at the ends. I realise I'm asking a lot and if its too big an ask it's fine for you to say no.

I'll have a go at drawing it up later and rearranging. It's not a problem, gives me a chance to design something I'll probably never have the space or time to build myself! Any chance you could pm me the full track diagram? 

[Martin S-C]

PM sent, and thanks again.

[Martin S-C]

Nearly finished with the dissing. It will soon be time for the mantling to begin.

 

 

[Martin S-C]

Going... going...

[Martin S-C]

In today's news, engineers dismantling a disused railway in Peterborough unearthed several containers of chocolates and toffees said to date from the Christmas of 2018/2019. There were theories that they had been placed there as a time capsule. A leading archaeologist who inspected the find stated that the sweetmeats "really ought to be kept well enclosed in human stomach acids in order to preserve them properly" and was seen to take them away to his private lab for testing.

It has also been speculated that Britain's strategic reserve of steam locomotives may be down there as well, mothballed inside cardboard boxes and bubble-wrap.

 

[Martin S-C]

All dismantled. The next task is to clear and clean the room which, with this nice weather, should be tomorrow, put as much stuff as I can in the garden shed with only electrical items and rolling stock going into the house for safe keeping, then lay out the old frames on the floor to see how best to cut them to fit the new baseboard dimensions. Learning an important lesson from before, this layout's entire framework is going to be on one level with only small raised areas in two locations - the branch terminus and the colliery.

 

Once that's done the next stage is to print a 1:1 scale drawing of the track plan and lay this on top of the frames. Where the locations of point motors intersect with frame spacers the frame spacers will all be moved. No above-board point motors this time around. This is lesson #2: the baseboard framing will be changed to fit the layout's pointwork and not vice-versa.

 

Once we've done that the adjusted frames will be refixed to the top of the existing legs and a new 9mm ply top surface screwed on. I was going to lower all the legs by a few inches but having thought this through its a lot of work for a small gain so we'll stay with the current layout's height which will be mostly lower than before as almost everything will be at 0" datum and not raised up - before the highest point was 8" above datum and that was just a little too high for comfort. Lesson #3.

 

(Lesson #4 is no pointwork in tunnels).

The altered frames as well as the leg units will all have their open end grain sealed with PVA to reduce as much as possible the tendency for the timber to breathe and thus change dimensions.

 

After that will be to build the raised areas for the colliery and the branch plus the long 1:67 branch incline which might be quite a challenge. This is almost 28 feet long and is going to be technically tricky as it turns through 180 degrees around the east end of the room.
 

And then... lay track, wire it up, place engines on and play trains. Easy. I hope to have trains running by Christmas!

Last frame comes down. Last leg unit still standing.
 

Now we have a big stack of frame units...
 

A big stack of legs units...
 

And a huge bag of track.

Its a bit like a Jidenco kit if Jidenco had made whole layout constructor packs. And not included any instructions.

[Harlequin]

Remember the other important thing: Engineer the lifting flap to be easy to use and 100% reliable, unaffected by temperature or humidity...

 

 

[Martin S-C]

Yes, that's the biggie. It won't have a hinge this time and will use 3x DCC Concepts electrical alignment spigots/plugs, so no wiring around the door frame this time either. It will fully lift out as well as being smaller and simpler. My main concern is as its across the door and one of the windows, and one of the wall vents is nearby it is still about the most moist places in the room. I wonder if construction entirely from ply would be better?

[Stubby47]

Could you use angled aluminium instead?

[Martin S-C]

I don't see why not. Of course the other issue is the timber framework either side of it... though I'm going to do my best to make that stable.

[Nearholmer]

Make life simple: don’t have a flap, or even a door, just build yourself into the middle of the layout, and stay there, subsisting on out-of-date tins of Christmas treats.

[Martin S-C]

Interesting plan. I can see it incurring additional expense though such as a fridge for beer and curries, a microwave, a potty and a sleeping bag, but the basic concept is sound.

[Nick C]

Just have the beer and curries delivered through the window.

[Nearholmer]

On the way to the fiddle-yard to get the 05:32 milk train ready for its run.

 

 

 

 

[Martin S-C]

If doing that gives me muscles like his and long luxurious hair again, I'll try anything.

[Regularity]

8 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

On the way to the fiddle-yard to get the 05:32 milk train ready for its run.

 

 

 

 

<sigh> Not the self-portrait again...

[Compound2632]

This is the rather more usual layout builder's self-image:

 

[Nearholmer]

And, here we have his other famous work: 

 

“It’s no good wailing and moaning to me if your husbands aren’t doing anything useful round the house - you know as well as I do they’re all down that bl@@dy model railway club again.”

 

[Martin S-C]

I don't reckon that backscene very highly. Much too abstract.

[St Enodoc]

14 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

On the way to the fiddle-yard to get the 05:32 milk train ready for its run.

 

 

 

 

That's how I feel after a session fitting and wiring up point motors.

[Edwardian]

Where has this Blake thing come from? I've clearly not been paying sufficient attention.

 

Many modellers, myself included, and perhaps Martin in light of the Great Dismemberment, might fairly sum up their activity as Songs of Innocence and Experience!