SouthWest by Southern

[2ManySpams]

Sounds like it's a good job the controllers have emergency stop buttons!

[Oldddudders]

Sounds like it's a good job the controllers have emergency stop buttons!

True, but I have a loco - a 4-6-6-4 - with an MRC sound decoder that ignores the emergency stop command! Only turning off the whole system stops the thing. Anyway, CV4 needs to be a rather lower value than CV3 in my experience.

[Adam]

I'd somehow managed to miss this Peter, nice to see that the stock is being used though I see one of the Roxey brakes has a loose spring casting. Most vexing, I thought I'd fixed them better than that. Good to see that the layout is coming on too. Looks like you could use some buffer stops. Ragstone do some nice SR ones. I'll look out for updates now I've spotted it.

 

Adam

[Peter Bedding]

True, but I have a loco - a 4-6-6-4 - with an MRC sound decoder that ignores the emergency stop command! Only turning off the whole system stops the thing. Anyway, CV4 needs to be a rather lower value than CV3 in my experience.

 

Thanks for the tip, Ian. I had hoped to leave adjusting CVs until later, firstly to be more sure of not goofing, and secondly for consistency. However, the need arose sooner than anticipated.

 

The layout has a progamming section break on the front goods siding, marked by the screwdriver:

 

 

Power inputs for both track bus (red/black) and programming section (brown/blue) are via 3-pin XLR connectors (source Maplin).

 

 

I used T9 729 as a reference. It behaves as I wish. I fitted 729 with a TCS DP2X-UK (source Bromsgrove) and apart from CV1 left others alone. I found that CV3 and 4 were both set at zero. T9 314 is factory fitted, and I found that CV3 and 4 were both set at five. I left CV 3 alone for the time being and re-set CV4 to zero. Good result, it now stops on a sixpence!

 

I shall take Adam's tip on buffers as a priority. I plan a scenic end board to protect the three main roads, but I guess it will be sensible to protect the front goods siding with a solid running obstruction.

[Peter Bedding]

I'd somehow managed to miss this Peter, nice to see that the stock is being used though I see one of the Roxey brakes has a loose spring casting. Most vexing, I thought I'd fixed them better than that. Good to see that the layout is coming on too. Looks like you could use some buffer stops. Ragstone do some nice SR ones. I'll look out for updates now I've spotted it.

 

Adam

 

Good tip for buffers. I have to protect your creations! Your dad had spotted the spring casting when he delivered the L11.

 

I have to admit, I am quite pleased with progress, the photos are flattering.

[George Hudson]

Really neat work and some good ideas going forward. Best of luck with this one, I am sure you'll get a good following. It's certainly on my watch list now.

Andrew

[Peter Bedding]

A further development has been necessary, to accommodate a fiddle yard of respectable length. A drop-down loft-ladder limits the first baseboard, so I added a lifting flap. This flap can be lifted through 90degrees when the ladder is required, and then dropped to the horizontal position to allow the fiddle yard to operate.

 

 

I shall use simple cassettes to start with, but the rail height is sufficient to allow a traverser at a later date.

 

 

The flap half-raised

 

 

The loft trapdoor which needs occasional access.

 

Having solved that problem, I have been able to complete the rest of the track laying, and loco testing. All was fine once I had cleaned the protective oil from the track surface (surgical spirit and track rubber). I also took the chance to change the default settings ov CVs4 and 5 on some more locos. I shall have to carry out trial and error to find the best, but for the moment I have chosen "0" for CV4 (Instant braking for safety first), and "100" for CV5 (Low speed for cross-country). I can always up CV5 at a later date if needed.

 

 

The second batch of locos for CV adjustment. One Q1 (on the programming section), three "Arthurs" and two N Class moguls. All cope well with the limiting radius of 24" round the back.

 

The next tasks are completion of the operating fiddle system, and station scenery.

 

PB

[Bulleidnutter]

Peter,

 

How did you solve the problem of the track snagging on each other when you raise the fiddle yard?

I am at the stage in my layout build where I have to gain access through either lifting section or a drop down section.

[lezz01]

Hi there

Very nice work.

 

Peter,

 

How did you solve the problem of the track snagging on each other when you raise the fiddle yard?

I am at the stage in my layout build where I have to gain access through either lifting section or a drop down section.

 

If you raise the hinges on blocks above the rail hight they won't snag when you lift the flap.

Regards Lez.Z.

[Peter Bedding]

Hi there

Very nice work.

 

 

 

If you raise the hinges on blocks above the rail height they won't snag when you lift the flap.

Regards Lez.Z.

 

Thanks for the interest, chaps. On this layout, the single track line terminates where seen. From then on the track will run on free-standing (is that the right word?) cassettes, of which I intend a half dozen. The cassettes will be 1130mm x 100mm x 9mm birch ply, sitting on spacer blocks to bring the track up to matching height. That way I can dodge the issue of snagging at the hinge line, but the suggestion to raise the hinge pin centre line would have been the way to go. I chose the 1130mm because that is a good length to accommodate my standard train length: Tender loco plus three bogie coaches. Ideally, and in the future, I will try to make and fit a small traverser, but at this stage I am keeping to the simple solution as I wish to concentrate on the scenic challenges. Firstly the station and goods yard, and then secondly the approach round the back.

 

Again, to get an early effect I shall make best use of any r-t-p that looks good, and overlook slight anomalies like the brick built single-storey LSWR station

alongside the Type 4 stone-built signal box. The day will dawn though, and soon, when I shall have to try my hand at scratchbuilding station buildings; the short list to copy are Topsham, Whimple, Sidmouth Junction, and Seaton Junction. All very similar 1859 Tite designs which, to me, without any label, just shout LSWR. There are many photos of these online, and I had immense fun running them to ground. Then there will be the standard Salisbury and Yeovil goods shed in the back corner, with the northlight extension, to simulate a creamery.

 

So with that little lot to get stuck into, I have gone for the simplest interim spec for the fiddle yard! The timber for these should arrive this week, and then they will appear on a future update.

 

Onwards and upwards,

 

PB

[Peter Bedding]

A small update.

 

Having settled eventually on a believable and working trackplan, I want to turn to the scenery. Trying out the sky, I have placed two mdf boards at the rear of the station (eventually to be attached to the garage wall). White primer first and covered with one coat of pale azure. I will need to apply a lighter shade towards the "horizon", and blend it in with some thin cloud impressions. Very experimental. Then more boards to continue across the back.

 

 

I have started the platform, and added a shallow end board to prevent runaway stock from launching into space. I have been given some good ideas for LSWR buffers, but not yet started them. The resin r-t-p station is rather nice, and is certainly LSWR, but I would prefer something with more style, and right for the location and time of building (mid 1850s). Matching architecture to the storyline is a challenge!

 

 

The provender store is almost right. Ideally I should choose one with timber facing, but the concrete version just might have appeared before the end of my 1938-1947 timeline, so it will stay. The two nissen huts are perfect for my purpose, though I would prefer them to have side blisters. Military management of wartime military traffic led to an outbreak of such works; some still survive albeit a little moth eaten.

 

The Type 4 signal boxes were mostly brick (from c 1890), replacing older installations as well as new works at that time. I bought the KMRC stone version, and will replace it with their brick one as soon as it becomes available. I am very conscious of the vastly improved appearance that can be achieved by scratchbuilt buildings, or even adapted kit builds, but when accurate and suitable r-t-p is available then there is every chance that each interim choice will become permanent.

 

 

I referred earlier to the additional "sixth" board, attached on hinges. Ideally I would prefer a traverser for the various storage roads, but I am hoping that cassettes will do the trick. Since first intallation the board has grown boundary walls to contain runaways.

 

 

 

As always, I greatly underestimate the time required, but I hope the project is still of interest.

 

PB

[George Hudson]

............."As allways, I greatly underestimate the time required, but I hope the project is still of interest".

 

It certainly is Peter!

 

Still following progress

 

Andrew

[tender]

Hi Peter.

Just stumbbled into this topic from our exchanges on the Beatie Well Tank thread.

Great to see the well documented progress you're making. Unfortunatly my layout is still at the baseboard stage and all packed up awaiting new windows in the spare room. I'm hoping to have them up by the end of the month so i can get some track down and test out my ideas which uncannily are not too dissimlar from your layout. I guess with Padstow as an inspiration that is bound to happen.

Wiil keep watching with interest.

 

Ray.

[Peter Bedding]

Hi Peter.

Just stumbbled into this topic from our exchanges on the Beatie Well Tank thread.

Great to see the well documented progress you're making. Unfortunatly my layout is still at the baseboard stage and all packed up awaiting new windows in the spare room. I'm hoping to have them up by the end of the month so i can get some track down and test out my ideas which uncannily are not too dissimlar from your layout. I guess with Padstow as an inspiration that is bound to happen.

Wiil keep watching with interest.

 

Ray.

 

Hello Ray

 

Thanks for your interest. As regards exact prototypical location for the model, I wish to avoid being too precise. I like to keep my rolling stock options as varied as possible, and not completely turn history upside down. Hornby's King Arthurs are superb runners (and lookers), and so with those in view, they rather rule out a model location on the Withered Arm. (This would also apply if one of the manufacturers should produce an S15). East of Exeter permits almost anything from the ex-LSW stables, so I have concocted a might-have-been had the Coastal Route been chosen as well as the Central Route into Exeter in 1856. Axminster (Minster on Fosse) could have had as many changes of mind and priority as, say, Chard or Yeovil, and a by-passed terminus could almost be explained.

 

As regards my timeline, my initial choice of 1946 became unsustainable as superb r-t-r products appeared in Maunsell liveries, thus a ten-year period (1938-1947) is attempted. Some anachronisms will still survive.

 

Chippy work at present is aimed at producing a working selection of cassettes "at the London end". More photos in due course!

[Peter Bedding]

Don't the hours fly when you turn away for a minute.

 

Time though, for another brief update, and hint at some near-disasters. The first attempt at the lifting flap was rushed, and it started to warp. The second attempt has been acceptable.

 

To ensure physical location of the cassettes, I have used the ends of setrack, and plug the moveable cassette into the matching end of the fixed track. Electrical connection is ensured with free XLR plugs and fixed sockets.

 

Last but not least, today I took delivery of the r-t-p Type 4 signal box in brick, which is perfect for this location and period in every way.

[Peter Bedding]

Time for another progress report; always better when assorted mistakes have been corrected.

 

I tried various designs for the fiddle yard. Cassettes, then sector plate, traverser and back to cassettes again. Yet again, I rediscovered that I get best results when things are simple.

 

The secret on this occasion was the adaptation of setrack ends to join the movable cassette to the fixed track. The picture is better than words.

 

 

This solution then enabled reliable end to end running, with a limited amount of fiddle storage. Enough, at any rate, to allow me to turn to scenery.

 

Trains can now depart "London/Salisbury",

 

And arrive at Minster-on-Fosse,

 

The first attempt at sky has been a bit disappointing. I need to find a better way to hide the screwheads that fasten the backdrops to the garage wall. But in the mean time I wish to focus on the "artistic" way in which I can incorporate the various scenic components that will tell the story. Hopefully, Forum readers will have some good ideas.

 

I wish to hint at a small military airfield, a Relief or Satellite Landing Ground close to the South Coast. A temporary home to the occasional detachment or visiting unit like one of the Air Sea Rescue Flights.

 

 

A creamery at the back of the station site:

 

 

And some rural landscape in the space between:

 

 

Last but not least the station yard, where at least one Tilling green OWB will be making the connection.

 

 

PB

[Peter Bedding]

It has taken since last summer to end up with a fiddle system that works reliably. Like politicians, I had to try every wrong option before settling on the obvious.

 

 

There are just two small size cassettes here, the left hand one "connected". Mechanical alignment is assured by the use of Setrack ends. Electrical continuity is assured by using Maplin's XLR system. Future scenery (to be invented) will hide the XLR plug. The blue plastic cocktail swizzle stick is a perfect uncoupling pole!

 

I thought that it was high time to have an operating session, and see if any further "bugs" were waiting. This time, all was well. The greatest operating risks are:

 

- Electrical interruption from the Insulfrog points. Fortunately modern r-t-r has multi-axle pickup and even at DCC slow speed, the 0-4-4T and 2-4-0WT all behave themselves.

 

- Buffer locking on the tight curves. Fortunately Hornby and Bachmann have made overscale couplings which hold adjacent vehicles a safe distance apart. The only problems come from the etched brass r-t-r stock which is built with a near scale clearance. I have started to fix this with Bachmanns replacement couplings which I can attach to the bogie with increased "throw". I make sure that the pressure surface of the coupling bar is about 1.5mm proud of the buffer surfaces.

 

 

In use, the cassettes can pass as carriage sidings. Here pull-push M7 number 49 has just arrived with Set 734, whilst Set 20 waits to depart!

 

 

I played around with odd ideas for scenic backdrop, and have settled on flat boards (mix of MDF and foamboard), with a thin wash of Dulux Azure over white. I shall create some sort of thin montage for the scenery to the horizon. Wessex rural.

 

 

Goods facilities at the terminus are limited by space. One road (foreground) for vans to/from the goods shed, and in the background there is room for the creamery and up to 1/2 dozen milk tanks (Express and United Dairies were the two main ones in this part of Wessex, though Aplin and Barrett had some facilities as well.

 

 

Pull-push model operations will get a boost later this year, from Hornby (Maunsell R4) and Kernow MRC (ex LSWR Vestibule (or "Gate") Stock. Here Set 734 is one of a small number of 46ft 6in rebuilds, two of which (734 and 735) spent many Era 3 years on inner suburban services from Plymouth Friary.

 

 

M7 Number 35 was another Friary regular, here with 2-set 20 strengthened with a non corridor "loose".

 

I have at last been able to turn to filling in the bare spaces on the baseboards. With the maxim "Less is More" I shall have to sacrifice a number of my cherished plans. I guess the finished result will be achieved by placing various buildings (r-t-r, cardboard mock-up etc) on the board until I am satisfied with the outcome.

 

There will have to be some more running sessions to aid the thinking process.

 

PB

[Jack P]

Hey Peter,

 

I absolutely love this layout, it has brought me back from the brink of going BR(S) I especailly like the coaches, where abouts do you get them? I Love the M7's, The wartime black was rather Nice I think! What was the shorter looking T9 on the first page?

 

- Jack

[Adam]

The 'short looking T9', assuming that you mean no. 170, is an L11 (a smaller Drummond 4-4-0) which, aside from being a smaller machine, lacked the superheating, and associated extended smokebox, of its larger cousin. The loco is an etched kit from Martin Finney built by my dad for Peter, albeit with a Hornby tender. This is easily as good as the Finney tender, but, even with the loco' bought with the tender(!) somewhat cheaper, allowing for factors such as additional parts, time, etc. The L11 is a lovely kit and makes a change from the range of Hornby loco's we SR and BR(S) types have benefited from in recent years: there was more to the SR that T9s, Q1s and M7s. Some of the coaches, at least are from Roxey kits, and again, I know this because I built them and dad painted them. The pull-push set, I think, is a limited run item from Northstar, and very nice it is too.

 

Adam

[Peter Bedding]

Hey Peter,

 

I absolutely love this layout, it has brought me back from the brink of going BR(S) I especailly like the coaches, where abouts do you get them? I Love the M7's, The wartime black was rather Nice I think! What was the shorter looking T9 on the first page?

 

- Jack

 

Hello Jack,

 

I can't improve on the answers from Adam!

 

I set out to recreate a modelling date of 1946, (Bulleid) but with r-t-r of Maunsell pedigree, I adopted a wider timeline. Now I settle for the 10 years before Nationalisation (1938-1946). It seemed that the manufacturers were happy to oblige with some of their products, but I looked for more options.

 

Adam very kindly accepted my request to construct my collection of Roxey kits, including a salvage operation on the one that I had started but fortunately set to one side before I had done irreparable damage. In 1938 malachite green they look the business, and my ambitions were enlarged. The O2 (182 for Plymouth pull-push operation) followed and Adam's Dad constructed the Finney L11, which is every bit as

good as one could wish for.

 

At much the same time, Adrian Rowland and a colleague of his (also a member of this Forum!) turned their skills to batch production of ex-LSWR coaches, under the Northstar label. I could not resist, and several of these coaches have appeared on the layout. They are exactly right in period and character for my purposes. Sad to say, that Northstar have now closed their order book.

 

Hornby added to my shopping list with their R4 coaching stock in Maunsell livery, (I don't think their Bulleid livery is quite right, so I have refrained from these), and current r-t-p diecast vehicles and resin buildings also look good to me.

 

Hope this helps!

 

PB

[Southernboy]

I've enjoyed watching your slow-but-sure development of this layout and am glad to see this latest update.

 

"With the maxim "Less is More" I shall have to sacrifice a number of my cherished plans. I guess the finished result will be achieved by placing various buildings (r-t-r, cardboard mock-up etc) on the board until I am satisfied with the outcome."

 

I'm a great believer in this approach: It's sometimes difficult to cross things off the wish-list of features we'd love to include on our railways, but I do think that ultimately layouts tend to look more believable for it. Similarly, I'm glad to read you are taking time to consider the positioning/size/type of buildings you eventually settle on. In my view achieving a 'natural' balance/relationship between structures/the scenery/railway can make-or-break a layout.

 

It would be nice to see some close-ups of your ex LSWR stock at some point if that's ok? It's an area where my knowledge is sadly lacking. I have the G.R Weddell book 'LSWR carriages 1838 - 1900' - but the following volume (which is of most interest to me) is long out of print and it seems difficult to obtain except at a great premium.

 

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to your next update and good luck with progress!

[Peter Bedding]

Thank you gentlemen, for your interest and kind comments.

 

Jack expressed interest in the L11.

 

 

This close up captures some of the Drummond elegance which I like.

 

 

And this indicates one of the uses by the late 1940s. I believe that Yeovil Town was allocated an L11 for the morning milk train. The first duty was to trundle down the mainline to Seaton Junction, and collect the Express Dairy tanks. Then returning via Chard Junction to collect the United Dairies tanks, the duty continued to Templecombe, where the tanks would be transferred to a London working, possibly to Vauxhall. The return empties were less urgent, and the empty tanks would hitch a ride behind a passenger working to their point of origin.

 

"Southern Boy" expressed interest in my coaching stock.

 

 

This first is by Northstar. The prototype was a 52ft Composite D280 (Gordon Weddell's reference 9.20)

 

 

This second is a Roxey kit as referred to by Adam. The prototype was one of the several "workhorse" designs inherited from the LSWR by the Southern. This one was D139, and Gordon Weddell's reference is 9.1

 

I keep meaning to undertake a proper photoshoot for each of the vehicles in the toybox. It's getting closer!

 

PB

[Jack P]

Peter, any new updates?

[Peter Bedding]

Peter, any new updates?

Hello Jack.

 

Please accept my apologies for the tardy reply to your request, which I had completely missed.

 

Yes, there has been some progress. I originally titled this thread "An experiment with baseboards". Well, the experimental spirit continues - trial and error - and my fair share of error.

 

Firstly, I spent a lot of time faffing around with the fiddle yard, which as explained earlier, had to be removable to gain loft access. Eventually, I settled for this:

 

 

Quite simply, four tracks, reducing to one, on a portable cassette, and leading onto the start of the scenic section.

 

Then I experimented with an idea for backdrops. Being more skilled with scissors than a paintbrush, I tried cutting pre-coloured card to shape, and sticking the shapes onto a backdrop made from pieces of MDF and foamboard (whatever came to hand) that I had previously painted with azure matt emulsion. All fixed to the garage wall.

 

I hope these pictures give some idea of how it has started to look:

 

 

The image that I am trying to depict is a section of the Jurassic Coast, close to where I live, and close to where my fictional LSWR line would have been built on its uncompleted way to Exeter. And just to be a little different, I am trying to capture the Art Deco style that was fashionable in the 1930s.

 

Its all work in progress still, and progress was halted when I took delivery of some new rolling stock, and I stopped work to play trains.

 

Tomorrow might see a little more progress, and some camera work for the record.

 

PB

[DLT]

Looking very nice Peter,

Cheers, Dave.