Making a new start - on the Cambrian system

[Robert Shrives]

Hi just rereading your first post and I can recommend a peek at : 

https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/1073-patricks-

 

This is an Irish single line built in US and is a walk around system line and I would think that it will inspire a similar solution, even if  you built on a gentle continuous visible grade with hidden steeper sections you could get two loops around the room - albeit end to end, a asecond portable board with an oval might be good for testing etc.   

The Fairbourne- Ffriog - Tywyn section  or Penrhyn - Harlech-  Hint of Barmouth would give good sections  Fairbourne with climb and avalance shelter and Tywyn to give a freight focus plus NG interest. 

Penrhyn as freight focus with explosive travel and gradient to Minffordd- scenic end  could be bridge over for NG FfR and road, Harlech as passing loop and castle as centre feature and hint of Barmouth to give station for loco hauled passenger activities.  Both give opportunity for the short lived steam specials or lots of rats on freights.  Good range of dmus and later sprinters if going current scene.

 

Just a few pence of thoughts from the grey matter, but as ever it is yours and enjoy all it gives.

Robert   

           

[Adrock]

On 05/11/2023 at 07:49, Nearholmer said:

A plan would be useful, and might overcome a question/concern I’ve got: going “round the edges and across the middle” in that space could leave things very tight for access and operating space, especially if a pal is there to help. It might also suggest the best form of baseboards; I’m thinking something based on light L-girders and risers to cope with the verticality of the Cambrian Coast, but that’s not a great method for removability/modularity.

 

If you can escape from your half, and put part of the route on an enclosed shelf on the other side of the wall, in the former pram parking zone, that might help a lot; it would be a good place to put a “train store” consisting of a couple of loops off of the main line. Donkey’s years ago a friend of mine expanded his shed layout by building a weatherproof “box” containing storage tracks along the exterior of one wall, and that transformed things inside the shed, made it all a lot less cramped.

 

PS: I’m hoping this is set in the 70s or early-80s.

I can’t locate my original schematic so I’m going to start a new detailed plan.

To assist me, I’ve located the section of line that a photo from 1963 was taken on which @rwcaroll has (I wont reproduce it here but if he looks in on the thread he may!). I’ve used google maps to measure the distance which scales to 11ft, which is fine for the middle section. It’s nice that this there will be no compression in the length. I will obviously need to compress the width of the scene but through use of the back scene and trees I am hoping I can recreate the look. There is a bridge over the river Carno at one end and a road over bridge at the other (bonus - I assume both still exist in their same form as in 1963!); two features that will be nice to model. Plus the embankment on a sweeping curve, with line side fencing following. What will be a first for me and an attraction of modelling a prototype is that I can use the photo to recreate the location of telegraph poles etc. - I can literally just follow the picture! I’m also going to pay close attention to the track and ballast formation and colouring, thereby creating a sort of diorama but within the context of a bigger layout (eventually). Should be a great spot to photograph trains from!

 

 

The layout is to be late 50s / early 60s steam but I will “tip-toe” into early 70s blue diesels as well as I reckon infrastructure wise very little changes to that point. I could do what they do on Shap and run trains through this section from different eras - I’ve already got a green (with SYP) 101 with Shrewsbury- Pwlellli destination blinds in anticipation! 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Adrock

[Adrock]

1 hour ago, Robert Shrives said:

Hi just rereading your first post and I can recommend a peek at : 

https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/1073-patricks-

 

This is an Irish single line built in US and is a walk around system line and I would think that it will inspire a similar solution, even if  you built on a gentle continuous visible grade with hidden steeper sections you could get two loops around the room - albeit end to end, a asecond portable board with an oval might be good for testing etc.   

The Fairbourne- Ffriog - Tywyn section  or Penrhyn - Harlech-  Hint of Barmouth would give good sections  Fairbourne with climb and avalance shelter and Tywyn to give a freight focus plus NG interest. 

Penrhyn as freight focus with explosive travel and gradient to Minffordd- scenic end  could be bridge over for NG FfR and road, Harlech as passing loop and castle as centre feature and hint of Barmouth to give station for loco hauled passenger activities.  Both give opportunity for the short lived steam specials or lots of rats on freights.  Good range of dmus and later sprinters if going current scene.

 

Just a few pence of thoughts from the grey matter, but as ever it is yours and enjoy all it gives.

Robert   

           

Thanks @Robert Shrives for your input and recommendations. I will certainly have a look at the layout you have linked to. 
 

I also like your suggestions for the other section(s) of the line, which I will look into in more detail during planning. I am thinking true coast line - the only slight challenge is that trains at Pontdollgoch would be pre-Dovey junction and therefore the CCE would need splitting before hitting the coast section. All good fun though working these things out!

[Nearholmer]

Ah, you’re here, a long way inland.

 

 

I thought you were along the coast, which is why I was thinking of a baseboard format to cope with “a railway on a shelf half way up a cliff”.

[Adrock]

8 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Ah, you’re here, a long way inland.

 

 

I thought you were along the coast, which is why I was thinking of a baseboard format to cope with “a railway on a shelf half way up a cliff”.

for this part, yes. Hopefully the next section will be located on the coast. I’ll edit the title to say “Cambrian” rather than Cambrian coast!

Edited November 7, 2023 by Adrock

[big jim]

That area is known as ‘squirrel wood’ if I remember right from when I used to go down there 

 

 

 

 

[Adrock]

For various reasons, my layout planning has been delayed recently. However, it has given me the opportunity to resolve the poor lighting issue that I’ve been running with ever since I built the half wall. 
 

I had thought about installing mains track lighting, but this was expensive and so the solution I settled on was LED tape. It has been installed over the area where the baseboards will eventually sit. The advantage with this is that I can change both the brightness and also the white colour depending upon the need in the future. I also took the opportunity to paint the ceiling, to get rid of the original, awful mat white paint used by the builders (the type that if you wipe, the paint comes off completely showing the plaster below).  Finally, I’ve replaced the patch work of carpets with ones single piece. 
 

 

 

 

 

Another thing I’ve started planning is the timetable, and looking at the number of train sets that I’ll need. I’ve finally conceded 4/5 coach (rather than 7 coach) sets will have to be the standard, both for space and sheer number of coaches! It’s amazing how many you need just to run a fraction of a WTT. I’ve set up 6 sets of an eventual 9 - the main purpose being to identify the gaps in the coach types that I can now start to plug. 
 

 

from rear to front:

 

Set 1: Down CCE, Aberystwyth portion, 1962 & 63 (can be re-used for Up)

Set 2: Up CCE, Pwllheli / Coast portion, 1958-1961

Set 3: Down CCE, Pwllheli / Coast portion, 1958-1961

Set 4: Barmouth-Mcy (also to be re-used for Aberystwyth-Shrewsbury)

Set 5: Birmingham-Barmouth (and return)

Set 6: Paddington-Pwllheli (and return)

Set 7: pwllheli-Manchester (and return)

Set 8: York mails

 

Sets 6 & 7 don’t exist yet; set 3 is missing 1 coach and set 8 is missing 2. This finally gives me the focus i've been needing.

Edited April 11 by Adrock