Exeter St Davids

[bootneckbob]

Yes I was looking for some video of the building today; hoping there would be some good footage from a spotter and I found out myself that it had been knocked down. Didn't know the red building is going too; that's the old Station Masters isn't it?

 

[roundhouse]

8 hours ago, bootneckbob said:

Yes I was looking for some video of the building today; hoping there would be some good footage from a spotter and I found out myself that it had been knocked down. Didn't know the red building is going too; that's the old Station Masters isn't it?

 

I cant recall what it was originally but it was used for training at some point.

[bootneckbob]

Rather than get on with any number of buildings that need doing this morning, I was feeling like opening up the incline. Although the tunnels don't look as bad as the original plan way way back, it still looks to steep for the surrounding area; mainly due to the drop off on the left hand side of the incline.

 

Also, I like being able to see as much of the train as possible, and the workbench that covers that part of the railway isn't used so I thought I'd look at the track and if I could make a more gentle curve with the tunnel portal moved.

 

Happy that I can improve the curve I set to work and not for the first time on this board I prepped for some scenic surgery!

 

 

Cutting the scenery isn't hard for those who haven't needed to do it. It took just 3 cuts to take out all the scenery I wanted (for now).

 

 

 

 

 

Then a quick look to see roughly how it will look; wouldn't be hard to replace everything at this point if I'm not happy.

 

Finally I run a train on to the track as it is at the moment to have a better look. I think it looks much better. I've stopped for lunch now, but when I get back to it I'll lift the track and relay it with a more gentle curve. I doubt I'll get much more than that done today. I will blend the old scenery with new. The overall look will be more open, less steep and now I get the incline with a sweeping curve. It's sweeping completely the wrong way but what the hell.

 

[bootneckbob]

I didn't get all the track done yesterday, but I finished it off this morning and did some running, well lots of running to check for any issues. The upshot is the incline is more gentle; there was a bit of a tip off previously between boards, that's now gone. As the gradient and curve is more gentle it's opened the line up for some HST diversions. There wasn't much point before as the front of the train was in the tunnel before the rear left the station. 

I've attached a photo of a very quick mock up of how the slope of the terrain ought to be, and what may be obscured.

Have some other jobs around the house to get on with this afternoon, but I hope to get back in later.

 

[bootneckbob]

Amazing how long a little job takes. Had most of the day in there today but doesn't look like much has changed. Lots of time taken up with woodwork, painting, soldering, cutting, more cutting and lots of hoovering trying to keep the dust down. When I started toying with this idea the other day I knew I'd have to just do it now or the mess would be worse later.

Fortunately I had one extra pack of backscene which has now come in very handy. I'm pretty short on foam but will try and use what I have left tomorrow to shape the contour of the land. Also have plaster bandage and sculptamold all ready to go. 

I decided to cut the baseboard as I think it will make the terrain more interesting with the embankment extended beyond the viaduct and then the curve going into the hillside where it will go into a cutting then the tunnel. I think it will be very subtle when the plasters down, but better than it would be. I also need to weather and paint the  extra brickwork for the tunnel portals. The cutting should be more shallow now than it was previously which was very steep and why it never looked right.

The extra line length means I can potentially get a right hand feather signal in now too, although I've just watch a cabride video and the signal is actually further down the line just before the crossover.

 

 

On a slightly different point I recently learnt that I'm going to have to have a separate bus now for accessories (points mainly). I've had a couple of issues with the Cobalt point motors and it seems I'd be best getting them on their own bus and isolated from track shorts. I've had another 6 motors turn up so I need to fit them but also run another new bus under the board then rewire all 30 servos into it.

Edited August 31, 2023 by bootneckbob

[bootneckbob]

 

I've done the base layer landscaping with plaster bandage now. Got to let that set then I can get the Sculptamold down.

 

Had a tidy up in the shed after making so much mess and whilst rummaging through all my wood I thought I'd use the glass sheet that's been sitting on top of the workbench I've just shortened as the worktop for the bench above the fiddle yard. Makes it really nice to see the trains more clearly. Not sure I can splash out on glass to go all the way, plus its an odd shape but it would be nice.

 

 

I did some running of the trains using the live train departure/arrivals for Exeter St Davids. It's something I'd always thought about doing and tried it yesterday; forgetting there was industrial action! Today however was busy and I probably did an hour of trying to keep up with the live moves. I have the ECoS and the wireless handset for it so three controllers although they can control multiple trains on each controller. I could have done with an extra pair of hands for sure! Still, no mistakes or crashes so a good day all in all.

 

Back to work tomorrow :-( 

 

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

On 15/08/2023 at 20:54, John Besley said:

That BRS Ford Cargo brings back memories...

I started at BRS in Marsh Barton as an HGV apprentice mechanic in 1989. I really need to get one of those!

[Rugd1022]

On 28/08/2023 at 22:01, bootneckbob said:

Yes I was looking for some video of the building today; hoping there would be some good footage from a spotter and I found out myself that it had been knocked down. Didn't know the red building is going too; that's the old Station Masters isn't it?

 

 

For several years it was the train crew block, I remember when we worked down to Exeter from Padd in the '80s we'd go upstairs to the top floor to have our snap, the walls of the mess room had photos and nameplates on them. Such a shame it's going / gone now.

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

On 04/09/2023 at 12:50, Rugd1022 said:

 

For several years it was the train crew block, I remember when we worked down to Exeter from Padd in the '80s we'd go upstairs to the top floor to have our snap, the walls of the mess room had photos and nameplates on them. Such a shame it's going / gone now.

 

 

I think a lot of that stuff might have ended up in the new panel box Rugd. I had a look around there a few years ago and there were all kinds of wonderful photos on various boards on display.

 

I’ve got some photos somewhere, I’ll try and dig them out.

[LBRJ]

On 04/09/2023 at 12:50, Rugd1022 said:

 

For several years it was the train crew block, I remember when we worked down to Exeter from Padd in the '80s we'd go upstairs to the top floor to have our snap, the walls of the mess room had photos and nameplates on them. Such a shame it's going / gone now.

 

 

I had my short interview for a move to Wales & West, as was, somewhere in that building...

I say somewhere 'cos I got a bit lost and managed to be not on time.... :)

 

Some weeks later I discovered that their depot and mess room was in the giant portakabin units on the bay platforms.

[bootneckbob]

So I got a few hours on the railway today. I should have been prioritising running the accessory bus but it was to nice to be under the baseboard today, I also had an itch to scratch after getting some new GPS signals from rusty rails. These are true to scale; the last ones I bought off the Bay are pretty big. Anyway, in due course I will be making the signals for the station and a couple of the outlying ones. The reason being I haven't seen anything remotely similar off the shelf so a scratch build is order for some, modification of some off the shelf for others. Part way through a first draft of one for Platform 3 going West. 

 

 

I also got some paint down on the new landscape. 

 

[bootneckbob]

I've just realised as I'm writing this that the signal isn't finished yet as there's another display box to add. Not sure what it does if I'm honest and all I will be doing is putting a static black box in, not illuminated. So, here's a quick photo of the almost finished article!

 

Plus what additional bits I used attached to the Train Tech signal. Credit card, very thin plastic sheet, left over right angle styrene from the iron bridge build, Rusty rails GPS ground signal, a huge oversize point heater (supposed to be OO), scalpel, ruler, and file. Glued together with super glue, and painted weathered black.

 

Finally, a photo showing the type of signal I'm emulating at St Davids. All 3 in the photo are slightly different. I can have a pretty good stab at them I think, but as I'm using the Train Tech as the base the post will always be under the 3 aspect lights. I can live with that.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by bootneckbob

[5BarVT]

24 minutes ago, bootneckbob said:

there's another display box to add. Not sure what it does if I'm honest and all I will be doing is putting a static black box in, not illuminated.

It’s an RA box for train despatch.  (Plan says R but back in my day WR used RA to avoid confusion with Relief line route indications. I would have thought that Exeter retained that style, but can’t be sure.

Paul.

[bootneckbob]

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

It’s an RA box for train despatch.  (Plan says R but back in my day WR used RA to avoid confusion with Relief line route indications. I would have thought that Exeter retained that style, but can’t be sure.

Paul.

 RA sounds right Paul; I'm sure I've seen that in some photos along the way. Thanks. Still not sure what it does :-) Is that instead of a whistle??

[Mike_Walker]

It's to indicate to the driver when he can start the train not simply when the signal is showing a proceed aspect.

[bootneckbob]

24 minutes ago, Mike_Walker said:

It's to indicate to the driver when he can start the train not simply when the signal is showing a proceed aspect.

Cheers Mike, that's what I thought as I'd fairly recently been watching the last HST Plymouth to Paddington (again) for the bit in Exeter as it helps me with details, and I noticed the signal was green for minutes before the train departed. I liked that as a little detail as it means I won't be switching a signal in quick succession (from red to green and back) whilst driving the train out of the platform.

[bootneckbob]

Not much to report, lots of recce work under the board before I do the rewire and add an accessory bus and have the track power bus on a separate bus. I'm also planning to add a 3V bus in to for LED lighting later on. 

The new scenic section has had its base layer done. I'm waiting on a West Hill Wagon Works super elevation kit to turn up so I can add that to the curve on the incline. If its as good as I expect I'll redo the massive curves at the other end of the layout. They were done by me adding bits of plasti card to get the banking right. It's not bad, but I've thought about relaying the tracks there to tidy things up.

Edited January 20 by bootneckbob

[eatus-maximus]

On 10/09/2023 at 20:26, bootneckbob said:

Cheers Mike, that's what I thought as I'd fairly recently been watching the last HST Plymouth to Paddington (again) for the bit in Exeter as it helps me with details, and I noticed the signal was green for minutes before the train departed. I liked that as a little detail as it means I won't be switching a signal in quick succession (from red to green and back) whilst driving the train out of the platform.

 

R and RA ("Right Away") signify that platform duties are complete. This is a local system operated by dispatch staff and not connected to the signalling system. I believe the instruction to station staff is not to illuminate the indicator until the main signal has a proceed aspect (to reduce the chances of a SPAD).

 

So typically the signaller will set the route and release the signal, then the dispatch duties will be completed, and the R/RA indicator is illuminated, before the train can depart.

[bootneckbob]

I did mention I'd changed the fiddle yard. Here is the before and after picture. This is a cropped section of the layout, the top is before, bottom after. Now every road (10 of them) is long enough for my HSTs. The green and yellow lines (far left) are the main up and down that enter the fiddle just after Cowley Bridge. The two orange sidings above are just that, and the are in the hidden area behind the backscene. The grey line at the bottom is the incline which is mainly used by the DMUs for the Barnstaple Exeter illusion. They disappear just after Cowley Bridge and can reappear as either the Exmouth to Exeter, Paignton to Exeter or Barnstaple to Exeter. The train looks like its off to Barnstaple but has the option to go up the incline and reappear coming out of the tunnel as the Exmouth to Exeter train. If it doesnt go up the incline it can go through the fiddle and re appear as the Paington to Exeter just before the iron bridge over the river Exe. Or it can reverse on the crossover and come back as the returning Barnstaple to Exeter train. Those lines on the right end up as the main up and down again with a cross over. The little bit of orange track visible in the bottom pic is a dead end siding which again is long enough for a HST. The little change in that area helped with manual switching of the points and again just made the siding a bit bigger. The upper orange siding on the left hand side holds 3 Mk3 sleeper coaches which can now easily be attached to a day train to make a sleeper service. The lower orange siding houses the track cleaning vehicles. The upper fiddle yard (which is half the width) and has 5 full length HST sidings, and is accessible by trains going up the scenic incline  (Exmouth and London Waterloo trains).

Edited January 20 by bootneckbob
More detail.

[5BarVT]

On 20/09/2023 at 08:18, eatus-maximus said:

 

R and RA ("Right Away") signify that platform duties are complete. This is a local system operated by dispatch staff and not connected to the signalling system. I believe the instruction to station staff is not to illuminate the indicator until the main signal has a proceed aspect (to reduce the chances of a SPAD).

 

So typically the signaller will set the route and release the signal, then the dispatch duties will be completed, and the R/RA indicator is illuminated, before the train can depart.

Not quite right - it is linked to the signalling system so that platform staff can’t give RA until the signal has cleared.  So order of operation is as you say, but the instruction is enforced by the signalling.

Paul.

[John Besley]

Something that I've been meaning to mention, I think in the era you are modeling there was still the remains of a GWR water column in the old loco shed area which became part of the diesel dept

 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by John Besley
Correction

[bootneckbob]

Yes John, it will sit behind the loco sheds as you said. That will be the very last part of the layout to be detailed. 

[bootneckbob]

New addition to the fleet. I wanted 50 044 Exeter when it came out but I already had Glorious and Indomitable still unpacked brand new in their boxes. Needless to say they are still packed away! I probably should get them on the layout or sold. I doubt it can be good for them to be stored for years on end?

I've lost count of the 50s now but this one has DCC coastal sound which is a first as the others comprise SWD, Howes and TTS.

 

Got to say the 21 pin on the 50, what's that for?? The light plugs to remove the body are a right PITA too.

 

Anyway, here's a little glimpse of the newest 50 crossing Red Cow with the return coaching stock for the Exeter Waterloo service.

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Edited October 31, 2023 by bootneckbob

[bootneckbob]

Happy New year and all that. Been a while since I posted anything but this little project has taken a long time and rather than post a little bit here and there here's the almost finished article. 

 

More to follow but it's New Years eve and I just jumped on here while the Mrs gets pudding; wow what happened to those crazy nights out?? 

 

 

Here's my reference picture albeit this is a fairly recent one and not from the 80's. Given the shed is about 150 years old I guess it's close enough.

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by bootneckbob

[GWRPhil]

Nice to see some more updates. 
 

the shed looks really good. 

happy new year.