Ashlands (formerly Hornby Magazine layout in a weekend challenge layout of 'Ashland')

[SRfanJV]

More progress has been made this week with the purchase of a 2 traintech modules that play out station ambience sounds etc. 

 

 

They are fully programmable within a DCC system which has made it even better to play the correct sounds as the right time. An example of this is the video below. (Ignore the 'dead' tree) 

 

[SRfanJV]

Nearly a month since the last post, so a timely update. 

Whats been happening you may ask? 

Covid happened sadly, so I had 10 days sat at home, luckily although unpleasant i got through it. I'm still waiting for my sense of taste and smell to return mind. 

 

To modelling, whilst off, i took the opportunity to do some work on the signal box. It is a proprietary Kernow LSWR type 4 signal box built using resin. Its a lovely box except that it came with the layout slightly damaged and with no interior. 

 

I decided that this needed to change so I purchased a ratio signal box interior kit and made a start. 

 

The resin floor had to be drilled out using a dremel and once cleaned up I made a box out of plasticard to represent the new floor at the correct height. 

This was then followed by making up the kit. Research showed me that typical signal boxes on the North Cornwall line had 17 levers in the frame so I went with that and cut plastic frame to the correct number. 

I then made up the block shelf and cut and shut this to the appropriate length. 

Having a good friend as a heritage and mainline signaller really helped here to advise me what should and should not be on the shelf. I have removed some bits that would have represented a double track mainline and added other bits. You'll see the changes in the photos later. 

 

The process of painting the block shelf and levers then began. I used Precision Paints enamels. There was some debate about the colour of the block shelf, varnished wood or green. I have found examples of both, so I went with the green. 

you'll also see the removal of 2 machines for the shelf for the above mentioned reasons. These are being replaced with 2 Tyers token machines from the excellent range that Modelu sell. 

I also purchased a register desk and signalman from them, which look excellent. 

 

Now, the tricky bit, as I want the option of running the layout as part of a night time scene I needed to add lights. I found a Chinese company on Ebay that did suitable examples. The best way was to use the flue of the stove as the wiring channel. I made up a brass flue with 2 arms for the 2 lights, one over the desk and one for the track diagram. These will then be fed into the wiring for the other lights underneath. 

So overall, there is still work to do and hopefully I can show you the finished product soon.

 

Finally, a Beattie Well Tank which has just been fitted with sound running past the box. It needs the chuff rate adjusting, but its a lovely file from Locoman, using the terrier file. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. 

 

The past few weeks have been hectic post Covid, but I have still been able to make progress on the layout and some big changes/ progress have taken place. 

 

The first of which has been the weathering of my model of Manston. This loco is a particular favourite of mine, being the Bulleid that I partly passed my firing exam on 4 years ago and it also goes like hell. 

The real loco has also just returned to Swanage for the final part of its overhaul.

As part of its return, rumour has it that it is not going to be repainted when it returns, and therefore will be in a work worn state. This I felt was the perfect opportunity to get my model of it weathered. I hope you like the results below. 

 

Before weathering:

 After Weathering:

The next part of the layout improvements centred around the creation of a proper lighting gantry and backscene. 

 

I decided to go for a picture frame look because it tends to draw the eye in without it getting distracted. 

 

I used two bits of metal square for the centre post which were kindly welded together for me by a good friend of mine from the Railway. 

I then cut out and fixed to the front 6.5mm birch ply to act as the presentation boards and support for the end of the lighting gantry. 

Once fitted, I then focused on the LH side backscene.I curved these at the corners so that there are no coarse right angles which I never like on layouts. This was done by scoring the back at one inch intervals and then pouring hot water over that section. 

I also built a frame using metal right angle to act as the supports for the backscene. 

 

Once complete, I repeated the procedure on the RH side and the finished results are seen below. 

Finally, I have added the screens to the fiddle yard and trial fitted the fill in sections for the base of the fiddle yard, below the traverser. This will eventually be repeated on the opposite end fiddle yard once I have built it. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Christmas goodies. 

 

My other half very kindly bought me some bits for the layout for Christmas. These included some  Peco cows and sheep. They have been temporarily fitted to the cattle dock and embankment this morning (there will be fencing to represent the field eventually. 

The cows will be toned down using some dirty thinners to represent mud etc. 

 

I was also very lucky to receive two DCC concepts levers which I am going to use as part of a new control panel when it moves from the front of the layout to the back. I'll eventually need 9 levers, but as they are expensive, ill pick those up slowly. 

The start of the new panel is seen below as well. 

I'll need to build a birch ply frame to fit the the panel on including the Digitrax Zephyr controller, a new handheld controller levers and the main panel. So much work to do in this area. 

 

Im hoping that 2022 will see Ashlands 'completed' and made ready for the exhibition circuit. 

Edited December 27, 2021 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Big News: 

Ashlands subject to confirmation will make its exhibition debut at the Salisbury & South Wilts Model Railway Exhibition on the 21st and 22nd May. 

 

The layout is being brought in a a replacement for another stand that has had to withdraw from the exhibition. 

 

I now have 2 and a half months to bring the layout up to standard so that its show ready. 

 

Below are ahows some of the progress that I have been making recently. 

I have finally managed to finish of the soldering up of this LSWR barrow. This will now progress to the priming and painting stage. 

 

¹

I have also made up a couple of Southwark Bridge LSWR benches from their excellent etches. They are fiddly, but the end result is well worth it. 

Next up for use by the Provender store, I have made up a couple of scale model scenery work benches. 

 

Finally, both fiddle yards are going to have installed a monitor that shows photos and information about the construction of the layout as well as details about the society and our exhibition etc. 

 

More to follow shortly, plus some news on why there has been a long gap between posts. 

[sandwich station]

On 27/12/2021 at 04:59, SRfanJV said:

 

The first of which has been the weathering of my model of Manston. This loco is a particular favourite of mine, being the Bulleid that I partly passed my firing exam on 4 years ago and it also goes like hell. 

 

Manston is also my favourite Bulleid. I have some photos of it somewhere in a striped down state, when it was living at Richborough power station.

[SRfanJV]

Its been a while since I last posted. With RM Web beong down for a while and all of the photo content being lost, I kind of lost my motivation to post a little. In conjunction, sadly Ashlands will no longer be attending the Salisbury Model Railway Exhibition this year. This is due to Locoman Sounds who was going to be using the layout as a testbed for people to try out and potentially purchase some of his sound chips pulling out of the show. 

 

Therefore all work has stopped for now until I find some motivation to get going with it again. 

 

There has been some progress as shown below: 

 

I have made up some of the excellent Severn models brass etches, these include platform trolleys, seats and barrows. 

I have also made up 2 of their moving point levers for the yard points. 

 

Ashlands also has a new sign that was made up for me whilst visiting the Bath and West showground showcasing Heaton Lodge Junction and Bournemouth West. 

Two incredible layouts, but my favourite had to Bournemouth West by Paul Doust. It just really is Southern Region perfection. 

 

One of the fiddle yards has now had its TV screen installed which will show photos of the layout's construction and other items. 

 

Finally a shot of all the barrows lined up before hitting the paint shop.

Edited April 23, 2022 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Since the last update, a number of changes have taken place, big and small. 

 

I have finally sound fitted my Dapol BR green class 22 for use on Ashlands. The Beattie well tank has also had a speaker and is now much louder. Some new standard additions have also taken place for when running the layout to a more 60's theme. 

 

Although not for use on Ashlands, I have recently received back from Neville Grove, my original Merchant Navy, the weathering he has done on it is just superb. More loco's will be sent up for treatment in a couple of months. 

 

The big job that has occurred as a result of a group of friends being booked to have a play evening on the layout in Mid July was the installation of the wonderful DCC concepts S levers. 

They are just a wonderful bit of kit and have brought so much more realism to the layout. There is still some work to do here in terms of interlocking, fitting of the lever numbers and painting, but since installation they have been a revelation. They also proved extremely popular during the play evening. 

 

Detailing wise, I have recently received some outstanding new trees feom a company in Poland, to me they have upped the game in terms of tree production. The silver birch, pine and beech are just exquisite. 

 

 

Further work will now focus on slightly widening the layout to allow the remote control lorries to pass along the front of the layout.

 

 

I will also be building the down end new fiddle yard and finish off the new lever frame and control panel area. 

 

Finally, the stock level is building on Ashlands, both fiddle yards now boast very appropriate NCR based stock and more will be sound fitted to add to these soon. 

 

 

The overall view of the layout at this stage. 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by SRfanJV
Addition of photos

[Graham T]

Very nice.  Are the trees from MBR?  I got some from them and am very pleased.

[SRfanJV]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Very nice.  Are the trees from MBR?  I got some from them and am very pleased.

 Yes they are. Truly exceptional trees. I will be getting some more shortly. 

[Graham_Muz]

I am really enjoying seeing the further developments and progress made on Ashland, it really is taking the layout to another level.

[SRfanJV]

28 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

I am really enjoying seeing the further developments and progress made on Ashland, it really is taking the layout to another level.

Hi Graham, 

Many thanks, I really appreciate your kind comments, especially as one of the original creators of the layout. 

I hope to do it justice when it finally makes its debut next May. 

Thanks, 

Josh. 

[Graham_Muz]

8 minutes ago, SRfanJV said:

Hi Graham, 

Many thanks, I really appreciate your kind comments, especially as one of the original creators of the layout. 

I hope to do it justice when it finally makes its debut next May. 

Thanks, 

Josh. 

 

I look forward to seeing it in person again.

[SRfanJV]

Not much has happened to Ashlands recently as I have been busy with another 2mm project. However, I have just sounded fitted my weathered model of Manston for use on the layout. 

 

The sound file is the original Merchant Navy from Locoman Sounds. An absolutely excellent file on a D&H SD16A chip. 

 

 

 

[SRfanJV]

Again, not much to report on Ashlands as my priorities have been taken up by our N gauge model of Wadebridge. 

 

One job I have done is to paint the chalk boards on my BY, 50ft bogie B and PMV's and then add these railtec transfers. 

 

 

 

Its a small addition that I think makes a big difference. 

 

The other benefit of going to Warley was the mass purchase of more Hunt couplings. All of my coaching stock apart from loose coaches now have these. The close coupling makes such as difference. 

 

 

Hopefully there will be more to report in the new year. As there will only be 5 months until its first show by that stage. 

[SRfanJV]

Small but important progress being made with Ashlands. The backscenes have now been primed on the front so that they are ready for my other half to start painting them. 

 

They have also been painted black and varnished on the back. 

 

 

Stock accumulation is continuing too with the acquisition of the last Beattie Well tank. Therefore, I now have the trio. 

 

 

Some of my loco's also got a run out on a very good friend of mine' layout Redacre. A southern Region Layout that will be making its exhibition debut at the Wimborne show in April. We hope to one day join the 2 layouts together and make then operate as a pair. 

 

 

 

[SRfanJV]

The start of the modifications to turn Ashlands into a tailchaser layout have begun. The reason behind this is that with DCC sound used in every loco, I did not have enough distance to get the loco's up to speed before arriving on scene. It just sounded and looked wrong. Therefore, the next best option was to make it a tailchaser which provides other obvious advantages as well. 

I have managed to keep it all to 6 feet wide with ample room in the middle so Im quite pleased with how things are moving along. 

 

The boards tops are being ordered tomorrow so hopefully construction can start next week. 

 

In other news, I have finally refitted sound to 34061 73 Squadron using the Locoman Sounds original Merchant Navy file. It has a Rail Exclusive boom box in the tender and a Lais dcc stay alive. 

I have added You choos connectors between the loco and tender to ease maintenance. It also means that I can swap the tenders if I wish to which was common practice in BR days.

 

 

finally, I managed to pick up 4 dogfish wagons at Ally Pally last weekend, with Meldon quarry close by, this was an absolute must for the layout. In due course I will change the 'return to Tintern' to 'Return to Meldon' for which I already have the transfers in stock. 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

The new baseboard tops for Ashlands are starting to take shape. One has been cut to the 

I have also been playing around with the track formation slightly. 

 

Hopefully over the next 2-3 weeks the boards will be fully built up, track laid and legs sorted. Then I'll make a start on the wiring and installation of the point motors. 

I'm also looking at using route setting for the fiddle yard. 

 

The curves are no tighter than 4th radius as I want smooth running, plus it allows me to keep more detail on the front of loco's if the bogie/pony doesn't swing out too much. 

[PeterBB]

Found you at last - interesting evening last Friday.

 

[SRfanJV]

On 13/08/2023 at 12:29, PeterBB said:

Found you at last - interesting evening last Friday.

 

You certainly have Peter, next update is incoming.

 

Look out for the update on the Bournemouth West thread too.

Edited August 25, 2023 by SRfanJV

[SRfanJV]

Lots has happened since the last update a few months ago. Ashlands is now a tail chaser (roundy roundy) layout! 

 

The main reason for this is that the layout uses DCC sound operated locos and there wasn't enough space to realistically have trains get up to speed before coming on to the viewing scene. This ruined the effect for me.

 

So, over the past 2 months I have been busy building 8 new baseboards. The 4 boards on the fiddle yard side of the layout are 18 inches wide, the two at the ends are 13 inches wide and the two on the viewing side and 24 inches wide. 

 

The fiddle yard has been designed to have 8 roads which are a minimum of 10feet long each road. This allows for 16 scale length North Cornwall Railway trains 

Each board is made out of 5.6mm ply that is 73mm in height. They are made in a geo-deck style subframe design. 

Once complete, the fiddle frames were joined together and aligned using metal dowels.

The tops were then glued on using 6.5mm birch ply and any adjustments necessary made.

Cork laying and track could then be added to make the right alignment. 

 

As the layout is going out on the exhibition circuit, I needed a system that allows me to move the boards around regularly and still have consistent track heights. Using a design that a good friend of mine and I designed for use on our 2mm layouts where track height at joints is even more important I set to work on the next phase. 

Using 22mm copper clad strips laid right across the baseboard ends, I placed 9mm springs underneath the clad between where the rails sit and then a screw is put in further into the wood which allows the clad to spring up and down in relation to turning the screws. 

Track was then fully laid to give the current view.

 

More to follow shortly 

[SRfanJV]

Great progress has been made and I can now officially say that Ashlands is a 'Roundy Roundy'! 

 

There is still work to do in order to finish of the wiring and I currently I don't have the point motors working whilst we work out a solution with James from DCC Automation to allow route setting to used. However, all of the track is now allow and I can easily change the points my hand until a solution is found. 

 

The since the last update, the been wired up, albeit temporarily on some boards to allow a running day to take place. All of the point motors and Gaugemaster autofrogs have been fitted as well as the Yamorc boards to control the point motors. 

 

I got out all of my stock that is appropriate for the layout in the period between 1956 and 1964. It's scary that my collecting over the past few years only just provides enough rakes to fill up the 16 spaces on the fiddle yard. 

 

The next jobs will be to tidy everything up, add the fiddle yard side boards on the inside of the layout and install the control panel once we have a route setting solution. So, plenty to be getting on with. 

 

Away from the layout, I have renumbered one of my Original Bulleid Pacifics. I bought 2 examples of 34078 222 Squadron, one to stay as is because that loco was a regular on the NCR and the other to renumber to 34072 257 Squadron which was another well photographed on the route.

It is also a favourite of mine for various reasons, but mainly because I had my first driving turn on her at Swanage after passing out in 2022 before she sadly left the railway. 

 

To do this, I used my usual method of using a fiber castell pencil to gently rub off the old numbers. I then applied the new fox transfers numbers with some water and Johnsons floor polish. 

 

The crests and name plates are also etched examples for Fox and these were applied with Deluxe Materials Roket card glue which does not damage the paint like super glue does. It also gives more time to get them into the right place. 

The finished product which I am very happy with! I had better sound fit it now. 

 

Finally, I have been working on a good friend of mines DJH SR U class model. It has been sound fitted with the excellent Locoman Sounds SR Q class soundfile on a DJH chip. To fit the chip, speaker and stay alive, I needed to cut out the coal and brass on the top of the tender. Now that the sound installation is complete, I have started the process of 'boxing' it back up. A new removable brass sheet has been made and painted. I will shortly be adding the coal, fire irons, buckets and a shovel for the tender. 

 

Other detailing work in progress is the fitting of lamp irons, discs, wheel rim painting, draw hooks and the fitting of couplings, which it currently does not have. The last addition will be the fitting of a Modelu crew. 

[wainwright1]

Looking good.

 

Have you been test running ?

I only ask that as I note that you have a number of three way points in the fiddle yard and some locos get a bit tetchy on the curved roads out of them.

 

All the best

Ray

Edited September 16, 2023 by wainwright1

[woodenhead]

So the operation is a series of matched pairs of trains that cross in the station to end up back in the same place they began?

[SRfanJV]

22 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

Looking good.

 

Have you been test running ?

I only ask that as I note that you have a number of three way points in the fiddle yard and some locos get a bit tetchy on the curved roads out of them.

 

All the best

Ray

 

Hi Ray, 

 

Yes I have done a decent amount of testing now. A couple of the locos jumped slightly, I have have adjusted the back to backs on them and all seems to be well now. 

 

I have two roads out of the 8 that I can't fully test until the control panel is installed because they are only part/ temporarily wired, but all of the signs show that they shouldn't be a problem. 

 

Thanks, 

 

Josh.