Bishop Auckland: A layout that was. (Now dismantled)

[The Black Hat]

Engine shed wired and lit up last night. Just needs some of the wiring tidying up so its out of sight and the area tidied up. Its a lot lighter than the previous bulbs that were used with scaledale, so anyone looking at the shed should be able to make out whats in the shed easily.

[The Black Hat]

Home again:

 

The layout has returned from being sent through to Shildon. Overall the main parts of interest were the way in which to set it up and take it apart for transport and how this could be done. The layout came apart easily and was quickly loaded into the van. Moving it with two people is possible, but requires a bit of effort. The more people for the task, the easier it is. Given its size the layout essencially needs a full transit van, with possibly a car to take the stock. Stock could be put into a van but boards might need to be tied down.

 

One of the easy parts of the move was that the legs are no longer attached. As a result the layout could be moved onto the legs that were lifted into the display hall first, before the boards were then brought in and placed on top. The difference between the two methods, was significant, with no need now for two to hold the layout while legs were screwed in underneath. The combined weight of the layout when fastened together also made it heavy and didnt move off the supports underneath. One area of concern was the fact that placing the legs apart needs further work as they were more spaced out than at home in the garage. It led one board to dip due to its weight occasionally causing derailments.

 

Further issues were found on the morning with a loose wire from one board to the traverser on the that was fixed with a temporary repair. However, there was a large issue that remained with the track from the traverser to the main board. Each of these has a bit of what we call a 'ski jump' where the traverser track then goes to a piece of fixed track on the traverser board, which then moves to the next scenic board and the rest of the layout. The main problems manifested themselves at the network rail end more, which I believe was not filed down on the approach like the preserved end - so that could be a factor. At both ends of the layout the ski jumps caused issues, with derailments and forcing trains to move on and off slowly. This will need to be resolved as I try to figure out how best to get the trains off the traverser and onto the rail that joins the two areas before then onto the scenic boards. Three rails at over three inches with gaps is causing the problems and while its been known of, this weekend showed it needed sorting.

 

Will update soon with pictures and how it operated. A massive thanks to Chris Simpson and John Bradley for joining the family crew to run the layout.

[The Black Hat]

So, while everything was running, operation was an issue.

 

Saturday morning got off to a bump start with a few technical difficulties causing trouble, but after this things settled down. Some of the trackwork needs to be checked, namely the shed approach having been redone and the double slip where its need inserted into relaid track, as the class 66 did not like it there. The issues with the ski-jumps also caused some problems with operation as overall some trains needed to be re-railed when they came off.

 

Once things settled down the layout was largely run in fun mode. Trains were brought on and entertained the crowds while we all enjoyed being at the controls. The downside to this was two fold away from running a timetable. Firstly, it does not vary the trains coming on as much, as when trains are brought off, popular engines tend to make it straight back on. This was the case with one 66 that sounded good and the class 20 as Chris had this and liked the variety, instead of different trains being taken off and then rested when something else comes on instead, being different to the other ones that came on before. So in some ways we lacked the variety, but then having looked around at some layouts where the same trains went round over and over and over and over and over again (normally the same ones at this event) we thought that we still did a good job and the feedback from the viewers and spectators was good.

 

Secondly, the operation itself was not quite normal. When running in fun mode, action follows the train that was brought on. The train arrives and then shunts. Another engine might help, but with the timetable a service train might arrive and need access to the platform. At this point the shunt move stops as the train moves in off the branch. That makes the whole operation appear more natural as trains move and counter move with each other, rather than all action being focused on one train before another arrives. While fun mode gets you to concertrate on a train and moving it to give the crowd something to watch, the time table forces a change and brings on others while things like the freight trains wait and provide action in quiter spots.

 

Some of this did actually happen. As when operating with Andrew and Chris working on wireless, it was better to control what was moving and when which gave a better feel and continued when being run afterwards. However the entertainment between us all having fun clearly was enjoyed by those watching, especially when they realised that Andrew and Chris were driving off TouchCab on their phone and even more so, when Andrew was stood on a stand for access to one of the trains in the musuem. Seeing them watch as trains moved yet I was doing nothing acting as a signal man was interesting to say the last as engines moved off moved off and I was doing nothing. The banter between the crew over the weekend also had many people enjoying their time around the layout.

 

So, while we had fun now its a case of timetabled and operation. Getting the layout fully crewed will be a help with this and having spoken to David and Edward Farms its possible help will be coming there as we start to rotate our layouts when attending this show at least.

 

Still, its all going in the right direction. More pictures and descriptions to follow.

[The Black Hat]

Some photos of the various line ups taken at the Shildon Exhibition. 

 

Class 68, No. 68002 and 68019

 

Class 68s and Class 37, 37423. 

 

The old order... Class 37/4's, 37405, 37424/558 and 37423

 

Enjoy!

[The Black Hat]

One of the things that everyone enjoys at an exhibition, is peering over into the fiddle yard to see what other stock is there and what is about to run on. 

 

These two in black both got quite a few looks, especially when one was taken time to figure out what it could be, the other recognised as a Q6 with modifications. Both are actually very accurate to the prototype, although one could be confused with some of the fictitious engines on the layout. 

 

 

 

Anyone recognise the mystery engine? 

[The Black Hat]

Hello all, 

 

Some pictures here of the NMT making a return to the layout, instead of the usual Structural Gauging Train. 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.

[The Black Hat]

Hello all, 

 

More pictures from the 2017 Shildon event. This time featuring some of the new members of the branch fleet - the pair of J94/Austerity's, 68023 and Wilbert. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come soon. Feedback on this is always welcome.. 

[The Black Hat]

Hello all,

 

Due to a number of reasons, I am thinking of putting this layout up for sale. It would be the main boards with the scenery as well as the the traverser boards and their surrounds and backboards too. Trackwork, signals and wiring would all be left in place, pending on price depends whether accessory decoders are removed. Signals are wired independently so would be working.

 

Some of the buildings could be retained, while others such as the new build station can be left.

 

Offers of interest are welcome. It would need a full size van for collection.