Upper Hembury, East Devon - a GWR / SR Branch line

[BWsTrains]

I've made reasonable progress on various fronts, most importantly a loco travelled end-to-end and back on the track laid so far, testing out my frog wiring for real over various routes.

 

The Control panel gave me some headaches, mainly because my mental image of how it would go together was somewhat deficient! There is a lot going on under the hood / bonnet and to cut a long story short a major rethink or two of the plan was needed to get it all together in a form that is accessible. The photo shows it in its current state but I suspect I'll be rebuilding it at some point down the track.

 

 

Other progress can also be seen here. Cork underlay has been put down for all the station lines and the runaround while the four lines exiting into the Goods area have card ramps to bring them down 1.5mm to baseboard level.

 

Finally, the track plan has been partially relaid, now on top of the cork, the earlier version having been too long in service as a workbench top / toolbox, drinks coaster and dumping ground etc. to its general detriment.

 

 

The station building is temporary, a hand me down from Westown-Heathfield and while the setting sits at the edge presently, the plan is to have a secondary board coming forward a short way. This will need to be removable to allow for access to the rear corner. The same will apply in front of the controls panel which is shown here pushed back, it slides out for use.

 

[BWsTrains]

A short video of a test run out to the traverser and then back in using the second (Eastern) storage access line.

 

Test Run 05 Dec 2022

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by BWsTrains

[BWsTrains]

And a further run, taken closer in

 

Test Run #3 05 Dec 2022

 

Colin

[john dew]

Excellent Colin. You must be a very happy camper. The traverser was impressive.

[longchap]

As John says Colin, you must be very pleased after the long planning stage. Very slick traverser action. Well done.

 

[BWsTrains]

Today's activity, a change of focus over to the scenic side.

 

I've had some ideas for some time about how I'd handle the visual block in front of the traverser. While my configuration unashamedly draws from @nickwood's Much Murkle, imitation being.... etc., unlike that setting I cannot employ a scenic break between the main layout and the Tannery (Cider Works on MM) section. Nick used a road bridge to create a complete break and then Rancoutt's Cider sits as a delightful cameo in its own right.

 

In my case the land to the West (i.e. front) drops away to the river and with the main river crossing at the village, another substantial structure so near would be totally incongruous. Hence I needed to conceal the traverser area as best I could while maintaining a scenic flow. Tricky!

 

Again I was reminded of the beauty of using the L girder structure. Some simple but robust supports were applied to the exit area .

 

 

 

and exit plus front panels tested for how they fit

 

 

I'm planning a scenic break (embankment in front of the two exit lines to conceal the traverser entrance and maintain the illusion of a single line operation out of town.

 

 

I'm thinking to have a fixed curved corner to soften the transition, good old Papier-mâché, if only I could just find some papier now we've gone to all e-newspapers etc. I'll attach the panels with Velcro for easy on-off access.

 

In other news, I've closed out my Hattons trunk after making some interesting additions and said contents are winging their way as I write. Not wanting to risk my precious goodies to any Postal services 1) in disarray 2) approaching Christmas, I lashed out for Courier service to Oz. Scarred by past experiences disasters and trauma? What me?

 

Colin

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by BWsTrains
Corrections regarding Much Murkle details

[BWsTrains]

Having looked at the traverser section on and off for a day now I became convinced I needed to rework to plans to give more usable space at the front for the Tannery and access. This will involve increasing it by 150mm. I can do this at the expense of the planned land still to be installed sitting lower at the front (river bank), OR encroaching stealthily further into the room space?

 

Back to Templot tonight to bring this all together and should have something more concrete to offer by tomorrow.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by BWsTrains

[Graham T]

6 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

 encroaching stealthily further into the room space?

 

 

 

Go for the stealthy land grab Colin!

 

[BWsTrains]

So "Stealth" it is! You guys are a bad influence I'd say.

 

Here is my redrawn Southern end of the layout with the Purple line marking the front and side boards which conceal the Traverser, the entrance face being angled more that in my last photo to soften the facing corner. The space in front of the storage appears unchanged but now what used to be split level is a full 400mm of main area narrowing at the rail exit towards Upper Hembury.

 

 

This change required a minor tightening of the reverse curves of the line but nothing overly dramatic for what is a works line.

 

[St Enodoc]

On 07/12/2022 at 19:27, BWsTrains said:

Today's activity, a change of focus over to the scenic side.

 

I've had some ideas for some time about how I'd handle the visual block in front of the traverser. While my configuration unashamedly draws from @nickwood's Much Murkle, imitation being.... etc., unlike that setting I cannot employ a scenic break between the main layout and the Tannery (Cider Works on MM) section. Nick used a road bridge to create a complete break and then Rancoutt's Cider sits as a delightful cameo in its own right.

 

In my case the land to the West (i.e. front) drops away to the river and with the main river crossing at the village, another substantial structure so near would be totally incongruous. Hence I needed to conceal the traverser area as best I could while maintaining a scenic flow. Tricky!

 

Again I was reminded of the beauty of using the L girder structure. Some simple but robust supports were applied to the exit area .

 

 

 

and exit plus front panels tested for how they fit

 

 

I'm planning a scenic break (embankment in front of the two exit lines to conceal the traverser entrance and maintain the illusion of a single line operation out of town.

 

 

I'm thinking to have a fixed curved corner to soften the transition, good old Papier-mâché, if only I could just find some papier now we've gone to all e-newspapers etc. I'll attach the panels with Velcro for easy on-off access.

 

In other news, I've closed out my Hattons trunk after making some interesting additions and said contents are winging their way as I write. Not wanting to risk my precious goodies to any Postal services 1) in disarray 2) approaching Christmas, I lashed out for Courier service to Oz. Scarred by past experiences disasters and trauma? What me?

 

Colin

 

 

 

 

 

Colin, forgive me if I've missed something but how are you going to work the traverser (remarshalling trains, etc.) with that tall backscene in front of it?

[BWsTrains]

9 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Colin, forgive me if I've missed something but how are you going to work the traverser (remarshalling trains, etc.) with that tall backscene in front of it?

 

Hi John,

 

I'm not totally sure what you mean here, if it is wholesale pulling a complete train apart and restructuring components then I've two solutions assuming this is not during operations but a before / after situation. The plan would be to have 7 or 8 trains available in operation at any one time, more than enough for my modest Branchline Ops on any specific day.

 

If I wanted to restructure a specific setup on the traverser, e.g. today the SR passenger service is the 58ft Maunsell but tomorrow I might choose to run a 30ft 6 wheel Brake Third configuration, I have provision to attach a cassette at the rear of the traverser and reverse a train out onto it. Replace with stock from a new cassette etc. Having already experience of using cassettes on Westown-Heathfield I know the limitations and issues but think it will meet those needs.

 

A second method, less clear in my my at present would be to shunt off/onto the Traverser. By having two entrance roads, this makes the flexibilty greater if you start out with at least one empty road on the tray. Also, short extension lines beyond the back of the traverser will allow runaround operations if a free road is available. This would be an "out of hours" activity.

 

The other main way train compositions will rotate is in the varied daily movements of the line. Mixed train bringing in a Siphon wagon with empties plus a few wagons, dropping these off and picking up whatever. I've drawn from the documented operations schedules of Hintock Junction and Much Murkle to guide me here and no doubt plans will evolve.

 

Minor alterations to stock will be by way of rear access, now it's assembled I can test that option out with the real thing in situ.

 

 

[St Enodoc]

47 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

 

Hi John,

 

I'm not totally sure what you mean here, if it is wholesale pulling a complete train apart and restructuring components then I've two solutions assuming this is not during operations but a before / after situation. The plan would be to have 7 or 8 trains available in operation at any one time, more than enough for my modest Branchline Ops on any specific day.

 

If I wanted to restructure a specific setup on the traverser, e.g. today the SR passenger service is the 58ft Maunsell but tomorrow I might choose to run a 30ft 6 wheel Brake Third configuration, I have provision to attach a cassette at the rear of the traverser and reverse a train out onto it. Replace with stock from a new cassette etc. Having already experience of using cassettes on Westown-Heathfield I know the limitations and issues but think it will meet those needs.

 

A second method, less clear in my my at present would be to shunt off/onto the Traverser. By having two entrance roads, this makes the flexibilty greater if you start out with at least one empty road on the tray. Also, short extension lines beyond the back of the traverser will allow runaround operations if a free road is available. This would be an "out of hours" activity.

 

The other main way train compositions will rotate is in the varied daily movements of the line. Mixed train bringing in a Siphon wagon with empties plus a few wagons, dropping these off and picking up whatever. I've drawn from the documented operations schedules of Hintock Junction and Much Murkle to guide me here and no doubt plans will evolve.

 

Minor alterations to stock will be by way of rear access, now it's assembled I can test that option out with the real thing in situ.

 

 

I think I understand that, Colin, although personally I think I'd find it a bit restrictive. I was thinking more about getting locos from one end to the other.

[BWsTrains]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

I think I understand that, Colin, although personally I think I'd find it a bit restrictive. I was thinking more about getting locos from one end to the other.

 

The decision was mostly constrained by space issues. I would have needed at least another metre for that in storage but only at the expense of a third of my operating space.

 

I think a mixture of "running around" as I described earlier and the occasional old Maradonna trick "Hand of G*d". I'll have to see how it works out in practice.

[St Enodoc]

28 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

 

The decision was mostly constrained by space issues. I would have needed at least another metre for that in storage but only at the expense of a third of my operating space.

 

I think a mixture of "running around" as I described earlier and the occasional old Maradonna trick "Hand of G*d". I'll have to see how it works out in practice.

Understood. Let us know how it goes!

[BWsTrains]

A Little more History is Revealed

 

For those who are more recent arrivals to the topic, below is a link to my planning topic which details some of the history of this mythical branch line and also some early planning files.

 

Link to Back Story for Upper Hembury

 

Now, delving deep into Upper Hembury Town records, now filed away in a dusty corner of Devon County Hall, more of the various negotiations which accompanied the arrival of the Railway back in the 1880s have been revealed. Local Merchants were strong advocates for the service and threw their support behind conceding prime and valuable town land and river frontage for use as the Station precinct in exchange for gaining Goods Yard operating access.

 

Apparently less fortunate were Mssrs RFD Barker and Sons, operators of the local tannery which was located a little out of town but near the proposed rail route and the adjacent Tale river. Mr Barker (known by those in the trade as D Barker) turned out to hold a key card, his ownership of the land stretching between his Factory and the road, land which the tracks needed to cross.

 

In exchange for granting this access, he negotiated from the GWR, a spur off the main as far as the factory gate , and from the Burghers of the Town, rights to encroach onto the riverbank, much used for good fishing. The land to be conceded was little more than 11 yards but the tendency of the river to flood its banks required that a retaining protective wall be installed. The land required for this was granted to Mr Barker in an Extraordinary Meeting of the Town Seniors in March 1, thus enabling full access to the Tannery by rail.

 

This previously unknown little historical gem has added further to the accuracy of modelling of the rail services. The area in front of the Factory has been increased in a few simple steps in light of these new findings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[longchap]

The last photo in the above sequence looks as if the the traverser is boxed into a corner with access only possible through the staircase balusters. I'm sure there is a cunning plan 😎

[BWsTrains]

46 minutes ago, longchap said:

The last photo in the above sequence looks as if the the traverser is boxed into a corner with access only possible through the staircase balusters. I'm sure there is a cunning plan 😎

 

Round these parts that's known as a "Dorothy Dixer" (see Wikipedia)..

 

Cunning Plan revealed!

 

 

A 300 mm gap which I can easily fit into for my attempts at a Maradona emulation. I'm thinking it'll be easy enough to have the front (exit) panel removable in case access at the entrance proves necessary.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by BWsTrains

[St Enodoc]

4 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

I'm thinking it'll be easy enough to have the front (exit) panel removable in case access at the entrance prove necessary.

I think that would be a wise move!

[longchap]

13 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I think that would be a wise move!

Much better for safer stock placement, including moving  locos from one end of the train to the other. Phew!

[BWsTrains]

My preference for loco run around activities to be done without removing from the tracks whenever posible, especially anything bigger than 0-6-0.

 

Firstly, locos needing relocating will be heading a train onto the traverser and so will be at the back end of the storage.

 

I'll have a removable 300 mm section beyond the storage which locos can run onto, then return by a free lane to the front for repositioning. This can happen after a scheduled movement off the traverser when a free lane has become available. 

 

This is something I can test out fairly soon now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[longchap]

40 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

My preference for loco run around activities to be done without removing from the tracks whenever posible, especially anything bigger than 0-6-0.

 

Firstly, locos needing relocating will be heading a train onto the traverser and so will be at the back end of the storage.

 

I'll have a removable 300 mm section beyond the storage which locos can run onto, then return by a free lane to the front for repositioning. This can happen after a scheduled movement off the traverser when a free lane has become available. 

 

This is something I can test out fairly soon now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, good point and I also try not to handle larger locos too much. I'll be looking to use a version of the drive on 'loco lift' as derived by Peco, now emulated by DCC Concepts.

Edited December 10, 2022 by longchap
Predictive text!

[Graham T]

1 minute ago, longchap said:

 

Yes, good point and I also try not to handle larger locos too much. I'll be looking to use a version of the drive on 'loco lift' as derived by Peco, now emulated by DVD Concepts.

 

I plan to have a traverser on CR Mk II, so must remember the loco lift idea as well when I advance the planning a bit further.

 

[BWsTrains]

10 minutes ago, longchap said:

 

Yes, good point and I also try not to handle larger locos too much. I'll be looking to use a version of the drive on 'loco lift' as derived by Peco, now emulated by DVD Concepts.

 

I found it easy to knock powered versions together very inexpensively. I wired mine so you could power the rails either way which makes rotating a loco easy. I should write it up on here, another job to do.

 

The Steps: Powered run on, disconnect, rotate cassette ("handomatically"), reconnect power on opposite side of cassette and run off.

[Graham T]

15 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

 

I found it easy to knock powered versions together very inexpensively. I wired mine so you could power the rails either way which makes rotating a loco easy. I should write it up on here, another job to do.

 

The Steps: Powered run on, disconnect, rotate cassette ("handomatically"), reconnect power on opposite side of cassette and run off.

 

A write-up would certainly be appreciated by me.  Inexpensive is always good!

 

[Fishplate]

2 hours ago, Graham T said:

A write-up would certainly be appreciated by me.  Inexpensive is always good!

 

Me too please. All stock on/ off of my layout will be via a 'scenic cassette' that will be replaced by non scenic ones. So I'm also after an unobtrusive power method as well if anyone has any ideas ?