Rotherbank

[Alex TM]

Rotherbank

(The following fiction was updated on 27th August 2022.)

 

Rotherbank is the terminus of a short freight-only branch on the Southern Region of British Railways.  Although built approximating light railways standards it was neither conceived nor built to them.  Neither was it an independent project but a joint venture between the LB&SCR and the SE&CR.  The light standards to which it was built, coupled with an ongoing lack of investment, meant that it failed to develop.  This led to continued restrictions upon weight loadings and to the use of smaller and lighter classes of locomotive.  The line saw ever diminishing returns before finally fading and dying at the commencement of the 1960s.  Throughout its history its sole purpose was to serve the rather peculiar town that existed a short distance from its terminus.

 

All of the above is, of course, fiction.

 

The name is vague enough to allow a number of actual locations as there are several rivers named ‘Rother’ in England.  I chose to pick one of the southern options as it would allow me to run two of my favourite classes of locomotive.  These are Stroudley A1x, and Wainwright P.

The era for the layout is set immediately before closure as it allows me to use locomotives with early or late crests.

 

Following on from wise advice shared elsewhere on this forum I have opted to build this layout in short sections with a removable fiddle yard, thus offering me the potential of constructing it in manageable sections.  This may also enable me to get to ‘finishing’ something before losing interest.  Due to the current challenges in obtaining materials I have opted to use as much as possible that could be recycled from previous projects.  For track this means using up my remaining code 100 stock, while the board starts as a cut down of my last attempt at a layout build.

 

All being well I should be able to post a track plan, and some images, this weekend.

 

As ever, thanks for taking the time to read.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Alex TM
Update to reflect changes, and tidy up language.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

I spent a couple of hours today playing about with some salvaged track and a couple of pieces of typical stock.  One slight change from the first post is that it is now self-contained as a 3-2-2 inglenook.  A kickback siding is now in place for coaling and watering facilities.  It is all a little clichéd but I am hoping that it will prove fun to build and operate.  The plan continues to be to extend it via one further scenic board and a fiddle yard.

 

 

For the curious, the board is 3’6” long by 11” wide.

 

With a bit of luck Saturday will see the track laid and tested, and the point control rods fitted too.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

Today saw the track lightly fixed in place, wired, and tested.  The next steps are to properly fix it in place, and then paint the rails and sleepers.  As most of this was salvaged from my last layout I have taken the precaution of cleaning the last six millimetres or so of each rail end to increase the potential of a good electrical connection.  Points are all Peco small radius insulfrog; these have jumpers fitted to make them permanently live.  The layout is wired on the principle of one engine in steam.  That said, something must be on at the local shed because the fleet have all been moved down to the end of the line.

 

 

 

As ever, thanks for taking the time to read.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Alex TM
Correcting typos.

[Alex TM]

Hi everyone,

 

Since my previous post on this thread there has been an extended period of inactivity.  This was simply because I had lost all interest and enthusiasm for the project, and for modelling in general.  This contributed to a decision to dispose of much of my locomotives and stock.

 

With too many ideas, and a fair amount of indecision and false starts, there are now three options that I am looking to choose from; for each I have suitable motive power and rolling stock.

 

1. keep to the original plan; or

2. stick with the back-story but using my Edwardian era stock; or

3. stick with the original but make the scenics such that I may also use my late 60s East-Anglian diesels (classes 03 and 04).

 

While I endeavouring to make up my mind I have managed to fix, wire, paint, and ballast the track.  A few building kits have also been acquired.  I may simply play about with a few of the kits, and rolling stock, and come to a decision based upon what I enjoy most.

 

Some up-to-date images should appear during the next few days.

 

As ever, thanks for reading.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Alex TM
Correcting, clarifying, and tidying up text.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

As time seems to fly by, and indecision rules at the same time, it's taken longer than planned to post a few updated images.  For the time being I have decided to stick with the original plan and timeframe, though I would like to get around to the other options at some point.

 

 

 

Unballasted areas of track are where I plan to bring the ground level up to just below that of the rail top.  The kickback will probably be for a small coaling facility and water tower.  The plan is for most of the buildings to be wooden, with as little brickwork as I can get away with.  I'm hoping to keep everything fairly small and to not overcrowd the board.

 

Not visible in the above images are the point control mechanisms.  These are piano wire in plastic tube buried in the cork underlay, and relying on the Peco over-centre springing to hold the blades in position.  The track was wired with DCC in mind, though I may now introduce a couple of very short isolating sections to facilitate DC usage instead.

 

As ever, thanks for reading.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Nobby]

Alex this sounds like a nice layout build. I must admit I have a soft spot for the little southern locos.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

Various things have got in the way of modelling so no progress to report beyond now having the materials for the planned buildings.  That said, I got some time to play today.  Going by the number of foreign wagons, something is clearly going on at the local army depot.

 

 

Somehow the Rotherbank authorities have managed to draft in help from the KESR to assist the usual SECR power.

 

The foreign wagons (GNS, MR, NB, and a PO from Manchester):

 

 

As ever, thanks for reading.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Alex TM]

Hi again,

 

The KESR loco is 'Rolvenden'; there's a rumour that 'Bodiam' may soon be joining it along with a some LNW, GW, LSW and LBSC wagons.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[Alex TM]

Hi everyone,

 

I hadn't realised until now that it had been over a year since I posted anything here.  In the intervening period there have been many distractions ranging from my ever-changing interests to a complete abandonment of any modelling activity whatsoever.  The latter was brought on by an ongoing sight problem that is being treated by a series of medical procedures.  The layout, itself, has also suffered.  Not long after the last post I noticed that the baseboard was beginning to twist; it wasn't by much but it was enough to make the stock run erratically.  Eventually the board was scrapped.  That's all the bad news.

 

The good news is that I am now in a position to start again with this project as it is one that I really want to see through to completion.  This time around I intend to use some commercially available kit baseboards, probably made of plywood.  The time period will also be fixed as around 1956/7.  This will allow me to focus on an a period that I find fascinating, as well as allow the use of both early and late British Railways logos.

 

Hoping to have some photos of material progress by the end of September.

 

As ever, thanks for reading.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

 

 

[Alex TM]

Hi everyone,

 

As a certain poet once wrote, "the best laid plans of mice an' men gang aft a-gley."

 

Setbacks:
Despite hoping to have begun some work so that trains could run by the end of next month both work and other circumstances have conspired to intervene.  Work has become exceptionally busy as we reach the point of publishing a plan for corporate restructuring; the other circumstances revolve around my increasing dissatisfaction with a certain manufacturer's quality control.  I have now had to strip and rebuild the chassis of three brand new locos from the same company.  All had suffered from short-cuts or carelessness in the factory.  Mostly they were assembled just enough friction to run a couple of yards on a test-track; run them for longer and they would seize up or throw a connecting rod.  Closer inspection found screws that were popped into place but not tightened; parts fitted upside down; and some parts just not correctly fitted.  A couple of shops were good enough to replace the models that were readily available, however a few were now back-catalogue items.  All the locos were brought up to a good working order before I came to the decision to dispose of the lot!  This means that the fiction behind the layout now has to change ...

 

 

History revision:
I took the above setbacks as an opportunity to reflect upon what really interested me that I also seldom saw modelled.  This resulted in a decision to move the layout forward in time to the middle 1970s.  Blue diesels now rule the day.  This, though, required a rewrite of history.

 

During WWI the line was heavily upgraded to cope with additional loadings courtesy of the War Department.  Although easing back during the interwar period, the onset of WWII saw even greater increases in both traffic levels and loading.  These, unsurprisingly, began to slip during the latter fifties although it was not until the middle seventies that the future of the line came seriously under threat.  With little traffic to what is now the MoD, and the severe curtailment of wagonload services, it will not be long before all traffic is lost forever to road haulage.

 

 

The layout:
The plan is to continue as before but in the new history.  Diesels are now the providers of motive power and rolling stock is now mostly in fitted bauxite livery, though a few unfitted grey wagons remain.  Working hours permitting the plan is still to have trains running on the first board by the end of September.

 

As ever, thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

Regards,,

Alex.