Rusper Road - LBSCR Micro Layout

[choo1choo]

 

Also enjoy your thread.....just about to resurrect my circa 1905 LBSCR branch based on West Sussex/Hampshire border coast. My last effort was dismantled for a house move but buildings and track and rolling stock mostly saved....thank goodness. Agree about the back scene with building....very effective. Keep up the good work.

 

Craig.

 

[Artless Bodger]

Your layout looks very good and inspiring, especially in your use of sectional track which looks good with ballasting. I thought your experiment with the photo background really worked, the tumbledown building gave me a real feeling of depth beyond the plane of the station. I'm also envious of your self discipline in regard to period and location - if I had a fiver for every time I changed allegiance I'd be rich!

[Matloughe]

Good Evening All,

 

I hope you're all well; I am pretty good its been a fairly productive weekend - I've taken a number of photos of progress so i'll let them speak for themselves:

LB&SCR E2, number 100 paints a lonely figure as it shunts a lone Thomas Meakins wagon into the siding at Rusper Road. The backscene has been fitted to both the back end end board to give an impression of the rest of the world and the station in a fairly rural location - it was a right faff to fit it as I had to cut several millimeters off then offer it up, decide where it needed trimming more, trim it again and then offer it up until it matched quite nicely. By that time it was 1am and I stuck it down with Pritt Stick and left it to dry overnight.

Close up shots are far less favourable than the naked eye which from a normal distance it blends together quite nicely:

With a near identical comparision shot from April 2023 8 months ago showing where we where and where we are currently.

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice the new platform structure in place I painted the side walls of these today in my own brick blend of paint similar to the warehouse to hint at construction around the same time period. This is the L-Cut Creative platform, chopped about to fit in the location I had available designed originally around the Scale Model Scenery platform - not that there is anything wrong with the SMS platform - because my track isn't on a cork base the platform height for SMS was too high relative to the rolling stock by about a scale foot. Ideal for flat step free entry but it looks strange.
After painting, it was glued to the board with some appropriate weights to hold it down provided by my Partners Gin collection! The L-Cut Platforms had started to go bannana shaped so I wanted to secure them down and weight them down, after three hours I removed the weights and all seems well. Bostik Glue for the win again!

The clearances were checked with a Terrier, the E2 and E4 and all clear the platforms which are much nearer to the track now - the platform surface will need to be painted there are markings for the station building location as I am planning to paint a tile pattern to be viewed in the waiting area of the shelter and I've selected a tile to be drilled out for the base of the Water Column.

I just wanted to say thank you for the comments, kind and constructive alike
@TechnicArrow I am certainly tempted to have a go at the brick motar - I have some leftover warehouse I could paint up for a test piece and the warehouse itself is still able to be removed from its location to be worked on.
@choo1choo I'd certainly be interested to see your model and progress - I am starting to plan a replacement for Rusper Road in the future - this has been a great learning experience but it is limited in space and operations; if I were starting again I'd go for wider boards - they weren't available as a kit when I started Rusper Road but another 10cm in depth would be a godsend I do sometimes forget, especially with close up work it is only 80cm long by 20cm deep.
@Artless Bodger Thank you, the layout was just supposed to be what I had to hand and its certainly been that and more I have enjoyed working on it however and I would potentially use sectional track again - with power feeds feeding adjacent sections of track and arranging the feeds so each piece of track is fed from each end I have had zero issues aside from dirty track. I would potentially go with Peco track next time as I know the dead frogs are less obtrusive.

Well I am off to bed, its been a busy weekend of chores, modelling and family life but I've enjoyed it - I'll leave you with my new favourite photo. A recreation of one I took after the scenery was being worked on:

LBSCR A1 "Brighton" simmering in the loop, re-creating a similar picture to Leadenhall a while back.

Kind Regards,
Gary

 

 

 

[The Bandit]

Nice to see those two comparative photos - just goes to show what can be achieved in a short space of time.

[Irish Padre]

What a great project. One after my own heart. Very well executed 

[Artless Bodger]

Your photos display the layout very well, in particular the first of the E2 from the platform end, and especially the last of Brighton - very realistic, I can feel myself there, in the country. Almost hear the hiss of steam and the birds calling. I've seen a lot of articles about focus stacking, in the Brighton shot though the slightly out of focus foreground gives an authenticity - my interest and focus is on the loco.

 

Your choice of weights to hold things down while the glue dries is rather more classy than mine - tins of Tesco baked beans.

[Matloughe]

You're all too kind - I always feel my work is somewhat slapped together as I am impatient and want to get things finished.

The platform was weighted down for about three hours before I removed the weights and allowed the glue to cure off overnight - the next morning I was able to lift the layout by picking up the platform. At least I know its not going anywhere!

A new arrival has appeared at Rusper Road; its not LB&SCR, its not in the correct time period - being built in 1917 but I've wanted one since the project was announced - this is of course a Kerr Stuart Victory by Planet Industrials - I found late on last Wednesday they had a special offer selling them for £99 instead of the usual £150! I couldn't say no as they would never be this price again, so having done the maths I took advantage of PayPal's Buy in 3 offer.

I got a notification on Saturday that a parcel had been shipped and on Monday afternoon I had in my hands a pristine Planet Industrials white box with Wasp stripes on and a fantastic line drawing of the loco inside.

 

I wasted no time getting the locomotive on the layout and took several photos it has an impressive heft about it and run surefootedly out of the box down to 10% on the Gaugemaster COMBI controller I have considering I haven't cleaned any track. The size comparision compared to my usual fare of Terriers is impressive the roof of the Terriers not even being as tall as the top of the boiler of the Victory.

The platform has had a coat of mixed-grey applied, and then a thin free hand white painted line to mark the edge of the platform. Its remarkable that finishing off these few details the layout suddenly seems far more 'complete' than I thought it was - its now only minor detailing which is missing. People, clutter, station fence and signage. I am probably going to have a break from modelling over the christmas break - with postage alterations and the need to watch the pennies I am not planning any big purchases. I might do an operating session if I get a chance - I did practise with how the freight system works and it needs some adjustments with freight lengths and dice throws generating traffic.

I hope others get some modelling done over the Christmas Break.
Stay Safe, mines a BLT.

Kind Regards,
Gary

[Matloughe]

Virtual vs Real Modelling

A thought crossed my mind this past week, about the advantages of physical railway modelling versus some fantastic screenshots I have seen from Train Simulator from other people. It made me think about how it can be used as a digital medium for those skilled enough to work through it to achieve results - in fact for Train Sim Classic there are some maps which have been designed to be attempts at a model railway track plan and using the in sim models as scenery so you the user would be effectively a person within the model world - theres a different concept, instead of driving from London to Brighton you're in charge of the entire Brighton Mainline as a model.

I have downloaded a map made from a Model Rail plan from 2014, and it has scenery confined to effectively an 8x4 board and I am tempted to have a go at making a model within those constraints. But regardless, while I was tinkering I found an old map I had made on my own Train Sim Classic of Rusper Road as a scale 'mock-up' I thought it might be interesting to post some screenshots of my original draft of the model and see how close the real thing measures up in looks.

I should stress some of these photos are from various stages in the layout's life cycle - I went for the best 'fit' to the virtual mock-up. I will also always post the mock-up first as cannonically its the eldest version of Rusper Road.

1) Layout Overview from Footbridge.

 

2) Terrier 'Pack' at Rusper Road

 

3) View from the station entrance

 

4) Layout overview towards footbridge.

 

5) Goods Shed

 

6) Platform towards Footbridge.

 

Some interesting vantage shots; what impresses me is how close the mock-up on Train Sim Classic is towards the actual model I have created. Some things I have noted - the wide gap on the model between the tracks caused by using Set-Track has permitted the coaling stage which would be impossible in its location with scale track distances.
The virtual model suffers by being constrained by minimum radius which are far more generous than the model - which is good and it does look more realistic but does result in a stretched out virtual model - but it is constrained by the same constraints of headshunt length, run-around loop maximum size etc. The virtual model is connected to a balloon loop so I can set a train to leave the station, it'll run around the loop and return - its interesting to watch.

I am tempted to built onto the virtual model another station plan I am proposing to use for the next project and run them end-to-end as per my plans to link two station boards together - I'll have a ponder on this one.

Not much actual modelling, I'll post when I have more. I thought this find would be interesting comparing the prototype to the actual result.
Stay Safe, Happy Modelling.

Kind Regards,
Gary

 

[Matloughe]

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year from here at Rusper Road!

 

12 Months ago Rusper Road didn't exist; and here it is now and part of that is the support and advice you guys have offered over the past year - so I want you all to have a Happy New Year. You are all appriciated, stay safe, have fun and be merry.

 

Here is to 2024! 🍻 🎉
Please enjoy this last photo from 2023.

Kind Regards,
Gary

 

[SteveyDee68]

Happy New Year to you, too!

 

Thank you for posting your micro layout up on this thread - I finished 2023 by re-reading it all from the start!

 

What you have demonstrated to me personally, more than anything else, is that all of my projects have started too complicated - I should learn to walk before I run, so to speak!

 

Congratulations on your purchase of a Victory tank loco, too - they really are beasts of a model, and you took advantage of a brilliant offer from Planet Industrial linked with PayPal’s Pay-in-3 (my favourite purchasing method!); thankfully I refrained from buying yet another (as their offer was extended until midnight last night!)

 

Looking forward to seeing what you do next in 2024!

 

Steve S

[Matloughe]

On 01/01/2024 at 10:56, SteveyDee68 said:

Happy New Year to you, too!

 

Thank you for posting your micro layout up on this thread - I finished 2023 by re-reading it all from the start!

 

What you have demonstrated to me personally, more than anything else, is that all of my projects have started too complicated - I should learn to walk before I run, so to speak!

 

Congratulations on your purchase of a Victory tank loco, too - they really are beasts of a model, and you took advantage of a brilliant offer from Planet Industrial linked with PayPal’s Pay-in-3 (my favourite purchasing method!); thankfully I refrained from buying yet another (as their offer was extended until midnight last night!)

 

Looking forward to seeing what you do next in 2024!

 

Steve S

Thats very kind words Steve - This project really started in Lockdown and was in danger of killing itself off more than once. I am fairly impressed (if I say so myself) that I have completed it to the standard it is so far, and I am still tweaking it to get it to a more finished state - the only downside is from where I am sitting now all the projects I have are minor ones so there wont be sweeping changes like when I built the hills or ballasted the track.

You will get there, I'd suggest (and I am in no position to offer advice really) is just go for it; I was admiring all these pre-grouping layouts and thinking "I'll never make one like that" and eventually one day I just decided so have a go; I took stock of what I had, came up with a plan and just ploughed head-long into it. Its by no means perfect, I've had the track up several times, the platform has been replaced with a better one, my footbridge was too small for anything to pass through it! All of these challenges have been overcome and I have to my own eyes a nice looking micro layout with the Pre-Grouping theme I wanted and have researched for years.
If others don't like it thats on them and they can scroll past, don't be disheartened I'd say have a good crack at it and if there are problems - reachout, others have most likely had the same or similar issues and can offer advice.

The smaller changes left to make on Rusper Road are something I am looking forwards to, the limited budget means it is very slow burning - but here is something for you all to whet your tastebuds on:

The current project is working on the station and platform finishings, please excuse the close-up image it looks a lot better in person. But here is a custom running board I have had created in the LBSCR 'Mid-Sussex' style, and I have painted it in the style of Sheffield Park from the Bluebell Railway I think I need to go over the white a little more and get some of the maroon on a cock-tail stick or needlepoint and touch up but I am fairly impressed with my painting.

Here is another throwback for you, the boards Rusper Road currently uses had an N Gauge layout on previously that didn't develop - however before that it also held an O Gauge micro as well and I have a couple of photos here:

This scene was literally the very end of two sidings dominated by this warehouse style building. I really quite liked it - the problem I had was this was the very first iteration in 2020 and I struggled to get my hands on materials to progress this layout further - which is why I ended up trying both N and returning to 00 beause I had vast quantities of these items already to hand and wasn't relying on the overstretched and disrupted supplychain for modelling.
Its quite interesting how things have developed when you look at them closely.

I do have an idea for an O Gauge Micro; I am going to let my Guild membership lapse however as I haven't really done anything with it in favour of the Brighton Circle and maybe the N Gauge Society as I still have an idea for an N Gauge layout and you need to be a member of that society to be able to purchase from them. Who knows what the future brings.

Kind Regards,
Gary

Edited January 5 by Matloughe

[Northroader]

Pre group 0 gauge micro… you have my full attention - and support.

[Matloughe]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

Pre group 0 gauge micro… you have my full attention - and support.

I wouldn't get too excited, the problem with the boards that Rusper Road sits on is they are only 200mm (8 inches) wide - if th deeper board had been available at 300mm wide (12 inches) I would've selected that.

 

I have two conflicting plans for O Gauge, a 900x300 (3 feet by 1 foot) very small plan consisting of siding ends - effectively duplicating what I tried before, or a 2,100mm x 300mm (7 feet by 1 foot) very small station, bay road and sliding similar to Halstead which I believe was the flagship O Gauge micro for a while. I could use two Y points and have a Fiddleyard board so would have more space to work with.

Or I could use the 7 foot boards for a larger 00 gauge micro. Equally I have a plan in 00 that will fit on the 3 foot boards too!

 

Too many decisions to make and model and not enough time or money to satisfy everything.

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Northroader]

I’m quite sold on doing a version of Lyddlow Goods with passenger accommodation added:

 

https://micromodelrailwaydispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Issue204_finished-compressed.pdf

 

 

[Matloughe]

2 hours ago, Northroader said:

I’m quite sold on doing a version of Lyddlow Goods with passenger accommodation added:

 

https://micromodelrailwaydispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Issue204_finished-compressed.pdf

 

 

Lyddlow Goods was a heavy inspiration for the end of sidings good yard the boards I used weren't long enough or deep enough really.

Halstead is what I am thinking of doing on the larger boards.

 

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Northroader]

Nice set of pictures here:

 

https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/halstead.12154/

 

 

[Irish Padre]

Built a version myself - ‘Winslade’ - now sold. https://yourmodelrailway.net//forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=members-personal%2Fo-gauge-micro
 

But back doing another 7mm micro now! 

Edited January 5 by Irish Padre

[Matloughe]

11 hours ago, Irish Padre said:

Built a version myself - ‘Winslade’ - now sold. https://yourmodelrailway.net//forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=members-personal%2Fo-gauge-micro
 

But back doing another 7mm micro now! 

I have a folder on my Dropbox for inspiration, Halstead and Winslade are in there with lots of photos - it's a good looking layout!!

 

I'm going to have to go to the garage later and have a size up. I love that G6!

 

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Matloughe]

Welcome to Rusper Road!!!

Terrier #40 "Brighton" is sitting at the buffer stops simmering away having arrived with the local service.

So I mentioned previously that I was painting up some station signage, well hand-in-hand with that I have also been working on some fencing for the station as well. I know concerns were raised previously about the safety of my platform for my passengers. I am keen to avoid litigation and have provided the requisite platform fencing - this photo here is through the open gate onto the platform.

I am toying with painting the second sign and positioning it thusly to act as a welcome sign of sorts to the station for the passengers - the fence is a 3D print from an eBay seller and the signs themselves came from an eBay seller and were painted up into my LBSCR colour scheme I have researched. Previously in April 2023, the area looked like this:


So as I've said before I am now moving towards more fine details which I think will make less of an impact overall compared to Ballasting or building the hills - however you do get the opportunity to get some great photos:

You do suddenly start getting these photogenic angles and shots to take advantage of - lets face it we all like to arrive at the station and find our train patiently waiting for us!! Although not my photo this is a fantastic period poster from the LBSCR using the same type of coaches as shown above - anyone fancy an excursion to Brighton? Any takers?

 

I've still got some more work to-do, so I hope you have enjoyed your brief visit here to Rusper Road - I will be continuing to work on the safety of the platform; I need to add some drainage for the water crane which is awaiting cleaning up and installing; I also have a much nicer job of installing some Poster Boards from Sankey and period advertisements as well so the next time you visit it may not look quite as 'uniform' as it does now.

"Rightaway Guard"

I'll see you next time here at Rusper Road, stay safe and as always mines a BLT!
Kind Regards,
Gary

[Ben B]

Amazing the difference made by the fence, and the open gate provides such a natural, welcome point of focus onto the platform :)

[Matloughe]

On 07/01/2024 at 10:13, Ben B said:

Amazing the difference made by the fence, and the open gate provides such a natural, welcome point of focus onto the platform :)

Thank you Ben, I am finding that smaller changes are definately focusing my views on getting outstanding jobs finished.

A job that has been bugging me for about nine months has been the station office, I just initially covered it in some whitewash paint to hide the horrid yellow plastic of the Hornby R500 Shelter:

Its very roughly painted, but there is currently no interior lighting and having checked - you cannot actually see much of the inside apart from the stove against the much lighter walls. The floor has had a coat of very dark, brown - almost black to the naked eye - I was anticipating this representing some sort of Linoleum, the stove and chimney I have painted black - and where it passes through the roof of the building I've painted some silver to represent lead flashing. The walls I've just painted an Ochre colour in honour of Mr Stroudley and for the desk I was attempting to represent (not that you can see it) one of those old Victorian Walnut desks with the green leather pad - secretly I just wanted to see what this Orc green looked like!

Sadly, with the back of the building facing outwards - you cannot really see inside at all! But at least I know there is a representation of some detail there - I can always go back and refine it later on down the line.

Another task I have started is working on the signalbox, so over the Christmas period I recieved a Bachmann 44-182G Withyham Signal box like the one at Sheffield Park - you can see this on my Christmas day post - I also got a lamp hut and shack building. In keeping with normal railway practice I placed the Lamp Hut near the signalbox but away from the station and other buildings in case of a conflaguration.

This is more or less the configuration I am looking at; some changes are going to occur - firstly the Signalbox will be repainted into LBSCR Colours (see next photo) and it will move, so it s tight up against the boards at the foot of the platform. I will also trim the hedge back and bring the back of the box much closer to the edge of the board and I will then replace board crossing duck boards infront of the signalbox - the space between the box and the lamp hut will have a bracket signal for the starter.

You can make out the gap where the existing signalbox was located where there is no scatter - once I've settled everything in-place and its set I feel like I need to hoover the excess scatter up as its gone everywhere!! You can also see the Station Lamps and new Benches for the platform - there is a set on either side of the station building glued down, and the station sign is also glued down and onto the fence.

I should stress the signal box is halfway through a repaint, I was too tired to finish hence the green is still in need of covering up/touching up.

 

Stay safe, mines a BLT.

Kind Regards,
Gary

 

 

 

Edited January 16 by Matloughe

[Matloughe]

Good Evening all!

I hope all is well, I realise that its been nearly a month since the last post - however I have been focusing a lot more on smaller details since the turn of the new year. My club - Ilfracombe MRS has its annual show on Easter weekend, and its been my intention to get Rusper Road up to a standard in which it could be showed if it is called upon to deputise for a layout that pulls out if needed.
I have bought and been working on some 3D prints of some crates, barrels and conical milk churns:

A very! close up here larger than I had intended. All three are 3D prints, the barrels and crates need to be cleaned up, painted brown and detailed/dirtied up and stacked around the goods platform. The milkchurns however have had a coat of silver paint and have been positioned around the layout:

One is holding the gate open as a gatestop at the entrance to the station; as you can see I opted for the earlier 'conical' churns of the Edwardian era rather than the differently shaped later ones.

If you'll excuse the background - this isn't an angle I photo from often because of where the layout is positioned - but I actually quite like the slightly gloomy lighting here it was a miserable afternoon outside and the level of lighting almost seems totally appropriate. A couple more churns (soon to be joined by a third) are positioned under the station name board - the proposed area was no-longer a massive dairy farming area in my time period so I assumed a couple of churns would suffice. You can also see the Gas Lamps and station benches - both Hornby products normally obscured by the platform fencing.

 

I also recieved two of the newer pattern churns and decided to paint one up in silver paint and place it at the foot of the new Signal box stairs - this is to represent water that is delivered by churn to the signal box. You can also see the lamp hut near the signalbox here as well.

 

Now for something a little different, see if you can spot the difference between the following three photos:

April 2023

 

December 2023

 

Feburary 2024

 

Its quite interesting to see how things have developed and changed; I have a few more of these photos but the changes are so minute I didn't think it worth sharing.
I also have some oddities I thought I'd share:

Something Green arrived at Rusper Road - I was told it needed something called 'Electrickity'? something like this, currently we're puzzling over where the coal at water goes to service it!

A small box arrived and some merriment was had with trying to fit some things in it:
4mm/00

 

7mm / O-16.5?


4mm / 009?

 

If its any interest the wooden crate is made entirely of ply, it cost £6 from The Works and is 31cm x 25cm and 13cm tall - and I have it here on its side so the footprint is 31cm x 13 cm. Just something to dabble with in my mind but probably not entirely practical!

And lastly something for @Northroader & @Irish Padre. I spent some time in my Garage over the past weekend tidying up the boards I have out there; tidying up the boards out there and I got some track, stock and locos out and dabbled with 7mm Pre-Grouping:

It takes some imagination, but we're looking at a trackplan identical to Halstead and Winslade. The Red Ixion Box is standing in for a station building as a roughly proportioned 'lump' for want of a better term! The Gaugemaster Box in the background is representing some sort of Goods Facility that will help mask the off-scene exit behind. And for those counting the scenic boards are 7' x 1' or 2,100mm x 300mm which in 7mm/O Gauge is still well within the 'micro' category.

Any excuse to get Fenchurch out and test - this represents the majority of my 7mm stock except the Ixion Hudswell Clarke and a very beat-up GWR Toad this will be a nice sized bay platform.

Equally a nice-sized Goods siding, the station platform is effectively the full length of one of the boards at 3' 6" long (1,066mm) which is good as I have a 3' 6" fiddleyard seperate to the layout so will allow a nice length train for shunting purposes.

But enough of that for now, further updates from Rusper Road as/when I have something. Maybe from the exhibition!
Stay safe!

Mines a BLT!

Kind Regards,
Gary

[Irish Padre]

Lovely stuff. Had a few runs behind the real Fenchurch last week - and saw Withyham box ! 

[burgundy]

The wooden crate looks ideal for a stock box, if you are taking the layout to an exhibition. Get a big piece of thinnish foam, line the inside and cut some strips to go between the rows of rolling stock. 

The layout looks good and what a difference a backscene makes! The milk churns are a nice touch but might look best as a group, opposite the point where the guards/luggage van would stop, ready to be loaded.

Best wishes 

Eric 

[Artless Bodger]

I do like the EMU view - shades of the Ardingly line. That and the O gauge progress induce pangs of longing in me. BUT, must get on with the project in hand, no side tracking!