Hobb's Bridge Goods N Scale (Billy Bookcase Layout)

[Duncan.]

 

Hi,

A little more progress. You can see the (part) viaduct in place and painted. I picked the buffer stops up at the Doncaster show.

 

I am happy with the valley falling below the viaduct. I need to form the base of the roadway linking the sidings to the road.

 

Cheers

Duncan

[scottystitch]

Who's are the buffer stops, Duncan?

 

Best

Scott.

[Duncan.]

32 minutes ago, scottystitch said:

Who's are the buffer stops, Duncan?

 

Best

Scott.

West Hill Wagon Works ..3d print

Cheers

[scottystitch]

Thank you, most helpful 

 

Best

 

Scott.

[MarshLane]

Hi Duncan,

You're making some nice progress there - what's the plan for the end of the viaduct? I presume thats the edge of the baseboard on the right hand side of the layout?

Rich

[Duncan.]

8 minutes ago, MarshLane said:

Hi Duncan,

You're making some nice progress there - what's the plan for the end of the viaduct? I presume thats the edge of the baseboard on the right hand side of the layout?

Rich

Yes you're  correct. The model depicts a former main line, now closed except for the single track to Hobbs Bridge, where Nuclear flasks are sent for the power station (not modelled).

I know my model has taken a long time to build but I did so as I thought the plans submitted years ago were very 2d, and did not consider differing levels.

Cheers

[Andy_C]

Do ‘we’ like the buffers?🤔

[Duncan.]

13 minutes ago, Andy_C said:

Do ‘we’ like the buffers?🤔

Yes 'we' do! I think they look more in keeping than the, perhaps, over heavy Peco ones

[Duncan.]

Good Morning.

I hope you are enjoying seeing the (very late) development of this bookcase challenge layout. Thank you for all your 'Likes'. I do sometimes wish there was not a 'like' button as I would prefer to hear your remarks, ideas and questions- I mean this is a forum! I'm certain you have ideas and techniques in construction I haven't thought of.

Overall view of the model, is it hard to believe it is only 30 by 10 inches?

I certainly question myself about how to go about things... often without a complete answer.

Much as been said about the future of model railways recently, here's my thoughts.

Concentrating on N scale.... I am delighted to see the improvements in all areas of locos, rolling stock and track. These are the basic essentials of our hobby. However I do despair when I see a layout full of just out of the box items.....unmodified, un weathered stock passing similarly unchanged  out-of -the-box buildings and scenery....

i believe that Railway Modelling is a creative hobby, 'creative' being the salient point. If a ten year old child makes a house from card with glue and paint I believe that is more creative than a layouts worth of straight out of the box items..... and surely it is the making of the model that is the most satisfying part of this wonderful hobby, I guess my point is with all the wonderfully detailed products available we don't fall into the trap of arranging these in a thousand different ways to make a thousand different but also the same  layouts... we must continue to use those products with our own skill and creativity to produce unique models.

 

So in defence of my remarks.... Hobbs Bridge.  Lots to do yet and details to add. However so far...The rail tunnel is scratchbuilt from plasticard scaled from photos of Cemetery Tunnel at Sowerby Bridge, viaduct and girder road under bridge from my imagination, both built with mount board and plasticard. The road tunnel entrance is a woodlands scenics product (out-of-the-box!).

The scenery is a mix of traditional  filler and one strike light weight filler over an expanded polystyrene base currently just painted with acrylic paints.

 

The stock visible in these photos is a mix of out of the box and kit built. The class 31 has been weathered and renumbered. The flask wagon and open wagons are from Farish while the pair of blue spot fish vans are from five79 (Chivers). These are yet to be painted etc. I intend to operate the model with stock fitted with DG couplings... hand free shunting will be essential. A new product available from the 2mm Scale association gives me the opportunity to simply 'plug in' my assembled DG couplings using the NEM pockets on rtr stock.

 

Please do feel to leave comments, suggestions and questions about this little model. My next post will be about the 'control panel' and power supplies.

Cheers

Duncan

[Andy_C]

Excellent progress. 
 

I would counter some of your comments, to a degree. Sometimes priorities have to be given to what time you can spend on which bit. My example, as you well know, is the diesel shed and the building that would go with it. 
 

It’s one thing to get an ‘out of the box’ building, and not alter it. But it’s another to alter its structure, colour and detail to make it ‘unique’? 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Hi @Duncan., fair point about inviting comments, not just ‘likes’ (though I do like this layout as well).  

 

Having been around at the start of the Billy bookcase discussions, it’s great to see this one coming to life - especially as it makes such good use of the ‘vertical’ space as well as the 30” x 10” footprint.  Can I ask how tall / deep it is (my apologies if it’s been mentioned and I’ve missed it)?

 

Personally, I find the ‘hanging railway arch’ a bit disconcerting, but at the same time the opportunity to include lengthwise shots of the layout from beyond the buffers is excellent and really captures the character of the model.

 

As for the state of the hobby / state of N Gauge - N has certainly come on tremendously since my first model railway in 1970s N, in terms of choice as well as quality (both running quality and detail).  I don’t have any objection to layouts just using r-t-r equipment and components if it’s what brings happiness, or even if it just enables a layout to get built (something I’m really not good at).  There can still be creativity in the composition.  However, I’d also agree that the practical, creative side of the hobby is a wonderful world it’s a shame not to explore - in my experience the worst that can happen is that I learn more, and get to try again.  There’s nothing to lose.

 

My own idea for a modular Billy bookcase micro layout faltered when I lost the use of the bookcase I was banking on - but we’re due to move house soon, so it’s a concept that may soon come back onto my radar.

 

Keep up the good work, Keith.

 

Edited February 17 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Duncan.]

25 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Can I ask how tall / deep it is (my apologies if it’s been mentioned and I’ve missed it)?

 

Hi Keith,

from the lowest part of the scenery to the highest part is 12 inches.... 14 inch overall inclusive of backscene.

Cheers

[Keith Addenbrooke]

10 minutes ago, Duncan. said:

Hi Keith,

from the lowest part of the scenery to the highest part is 12 inches.... 14 inch overall inclusive of backscene.

Cheers

So 148’ when scaled up - no wonder there’s a wow! factor, Keith.

[stivesnick]

Hi Duncan 

 

Only just come across this thread. 

 

In response to your request for comments, I have no problem with people who just use RTR products on their layouts or want to operate a Japanese bullet train along side a GWR tank engine, if that is what they want to do and feel happy with. There is a different question "would I want to see such a layout at an exhibition?" The answer is generally no, but I do recognise that having such a layout at an exhibition could be a good way to get people started in the hobby by showing what can be achieved using RTR products. 

 

With regard to your layout, I am trying to put myself in the mind of the people building the nuclear power plant or British Rail and am struggling to come up with a reason why you would end up with the situation like this. Depending on how long the approach tunnel is, it might have been easier to have the rail terminal on the other side to save the costs of maintaining the tunnel and the viaduct. During the construction of the power station, there could have been materials such as cement and steel delivered by rail, requiring a much longer loop. The same is true of the tunnel to the power station itself, it would be much cheaper to upgrade the local road. Generally you would not build a power station in a very hilly area. Perhaps a nuclear storage facility would be a better back story, although you would need an above ground building complex to service it. 

 

Regards 

 

Nick 

[MarshLane]

2 hours ago, Duncan. said:

These are the basic essentials of our hobby. However I do despair when I see a layout full of just out of the box items.....unmodified, un weathered stock passing similarly unchanged  out-of -the-box buildings and scenery....

i believe that Railway Modelling is a creative hobby, 'creative' being the salient point. If a ten year old child makes a house from card with glue and paint I believe that is more creative than a layouts worth of straight out of the box items..... and surely it is the making of the model that is the most satisfying part of this wonderful hobby, I guess my point is with all the wonderfully detailed products available we don't fall into the trap of arranging these in a thousand different ways to make a thousand different but also the same  layouts... we must continue to use those products with our own skill and creativity to produce unique models.

 

Cheers

Duncan

 

 

Hi Duncan,

In the spirit of a 'forum', I would say that I personally agree and disagree with some of your comments.  I think the wonderful aspect of this hobby is that it is a broad church and the congregation includes those from various walks of life, meaning that the hobby of railway modelling is different things to different people.

 

I am slowly progressing with a layout personally, and now have a dislike a Peco track work - it looks to 'modelly' for my liking, so am into the field of handbill track work.  Something I would not even have considered 10 years ago. But other people say I am quite happy with Peco, thats fair enough, and each to their own.  I think the same goes for the 'out of the box' layouts.  Should such layouts be at an exhibition? In my personal view no, my opinion is that exhibitions are to exhibit layouts that people have built, such as your Shirebrook which is a superb example.  But having said that, I have friend who enjoy running trains prototypically but have no interest in scenics and layout - one friend has OO gauge model that just has yellow sticky notes to denote the stations and sidings! Yet the enjoyment that he (I would say 'we' as some of us go and run it with him on occasions) gets from it is up there with the enjoyment you get from building Hobbs Bridge, or I get from the times I have the enormous privilege of running the historic EM gauge layout Buckingham with Tony Gee.

 

So to me if people enjoy using the 'out of the box' stuff then fine, thats what the hobby is all about relaxation and enjoyment.  I think if we all had to have things the same, then there would probably be thousands of GWR branch line terminus layouts and nothing else!!!  But equally, I do agree, that layouts such as Hobbs Bridge and Shirebrook (as well as the many others out there that have had hours and hours carefully spent on them building scenics, scratch building the buildings, working with MERG electronics, weathering scratch built, kit built or RTR rolling stock, what ever the roll the modeller plays, they all encourage other people to try things.

 

Different people have different skills, different abilities, but also of course different inabilities - health, mobility, dexterity can all impact on what people can do, and if somebody is sadly falls under one of those categories, then they need to able to enjoy the hobby however they can. And good luck to them!

 

Having said all that, I think in this day and age encouraging people not to turn to out of the box modelling, but to become creative is great and we need to see more of it - of course that now covers everything from PVA glue and cardboard through to 3D printing!  Its horses for courses, and long may it continue....

 

Love the update with Hobbs Bridge, and I also think the idea of finishing the viaduct in mid-air is a genius move.  Not one I'd have considered, but it works really well.

 

Rich

[Duncan.]

3 hours ago, stivesnick said:

I am trying to put myself in the mind of the people building the nuclear power plant or British Rail and am struggling to come up with a reason why you would end up with the situation like this. Depending on how long the approach tunnel is, it might have been easier to have the rail terminal on the other side to save the costs of maintaining the tunnel and the viaduct. During the construction of the power station, there could have been materials such as cement and steel delivered by rail, requiring a much longer loop. The same is true of the tunnel to the power station itself, it would be much cheaper to upgrade the local road. Generally you would not build a power station in a very hilly area.

Thanks for your kind thoughts NIck. In response to your remarks posted above I would say that the rail alignment was existent long before the power station. Being a former 'main' line it was built to good standards and provided a reliable connection to the site. My assumption was that this was the closest point to the site. Trawsfyndd was built near Bleanau Ffestiniog high up in the hills of North Wales. The other inspiration for this layout was Devils Bridge near Aberystwyth, Hobb being another name for Devil.

Cheers

 

 

[Duncan.]

3 hours ago, MarshLane said:

I am slowly progressing with a layout personally, and now have a dislike a Peco track work - it looks to 'modelly' for my liking, so am into the field of handbill track work.  Something I would not even have considered 10 years ago. But other people say I am quite happy with Peco, thats fair enough, and each to their own.

Any photos etc of your layout with the handbuilt track Rich, I would like to see that.

Cheers

[Duncan.]

 

Morning , I had intended to upload this photo last evening , however, no matter how I tried it was upside down (uploading from phone). If anyone knows how to upload from a (samsung) phone without the photo turning upside down please pm me!

This weekend progress; roads smoothed, coping stones added, buffers painted, concrete hard standing formed and painted, platform started.

Cheers

[DavidLong]

If I recall correctly, either in this thread or elsewhere, you did some musing about Finetrax or Peco and I am still slightly disappointed that you didn't take the Finetrax option. As James Hilton has shown it really adds something to go with the quality of modern N scale products.

Having said that this is wonderfully original take on layout design and delightfully executed as well as being a complete contrast to Shirebrook!

Finally well done on the DGs, if only more N modellers would use them.

 

David

[Duncan.]

16 minutes ago, DavidLong said:

If I recall correctly, either in this thread or elsewhere, you did some musing about Finetrax or Peco and I am still slightly disappointed that you didn't take the Finetrax option. As James Hilton has shown it really adds something to go with the quality of modern N scale products.

Hi David,

You are correct. If I can ask you to check recent posts in the Shirebrook thread you will see that Shirebrook is being retired this year from exhibitions... last one at TINGS, and you will see a brief peak at my new project using Briish finescale track. Tell me your thoughts! That will also use DGs.... 

Cheers

[Keith Addenbrooke]

On my Samsung phone (and sometimes other devices too), I find it helps to slightly edit each photo once I’ve taken it - this can include rotating it as well.  Once “re-saved” they usually seem to load OK.  Not sure why - I guess the editing process ‘breaks’ any auto-assumptions the device is making for me.  Just a thought, Keith.

[Duncan.]

14 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

On my Samsung phone (and sometimes other devices too), I find it helps to slightly edit each photo once I’ve taken it - this can include rotating it as well.  Once “re-saved” they usually seem to load OK.  Not sure why - I guess the editing process ‘breaks’ any auto-assumptions the device is making for me.  Just a thought, Keith.

Thanks Keith, tried that didn't work!

[MarshLane]

Hi Duncan,

Simple answer get an Apple phone, I never have a problem!! Sorry sarcasm mode off :)

 

I have never used Samsung, but somewhere you should be able to export or send images and within the options for either there should be an option to remove EXIF data. If you clear that, then two things:

 

a) firstly the image rotation fields with IPTC should be cleared so the forum software will have assume it was taken right way up because there is nothing there to tell it otherwise!

 

b) it will also remove any GPS data which would pin point where you live, and hence where the photo was taken, and the obvious security concerns that brings.  I always make sure I select that from my iPad or iPhone before sending pictures over to the Mac to go on the web.  Its about time all of the forum software (for all forums and all forum type software, not just rmWeb) presented an option to users to automatically remove location data, which the individual user could switch on or off at his/her choosing.

 

For Mac Users

If anyone has a Mac and a phone or camera that includes GPS data, a quick way of removing it, is to open the image in Preview, go to Tools > Show Inspector, click on GPS, and click the 'Remove Location Info' button, then just close the image. Preview will automatically save it and remove all the GPS data.

 

I assume there is something similar in Windows, but as I have not used a Windows PC in 22 years, I have no idea about where or how you would do that!

 

Hope the above helps..

Rich

[DavidLong]

On 18/02/2024 at 12:51, Duncan. said:

Hi David,

You are correct. If I can ask you to check recent posts in the Shirebrook thread you will see that Shirebrook is being retired this year from exhibitions... last one at TINGS, and you will see a brief peak at my new project using Briish finescale track. Tell me your thoughts! That will also use DGs.... 

Cheers

 

And a very interesting project it looks! As you may gather from my location, Daubhill is only a matter of 3-4 miles away. The point where the line crossed St Helens Road is still very obvious even after so many years. Bolton had many interesting locations and they have been well covered by the volumes from Triangle Publications.

I shall certainly be following the story of its construction with interest.

 

David

[Duncan.]

Hi David,

The intended model will use Daubhill as inspiration in the architecture etc, it won't be a direct copy, but I hope to capture the 'feel' of the area.

I won't be starting construction  before the Autumn. Collecting materials  and making plans for now.

Cheers

Duncan