A New Beginning (but still amateurish).

[Artless Bodger]

I have been questioning where my N gauge layout was going for a while, and getting a bit frustrated with tiny bits and pieces, needing to clean the track every time I wanted to run anything and the palaver to remove the scenery over the tunnel to clean track and recover wayward stock.

 

I bought a couple of Dapol OO kits to make and found them refreshingly handleable (the diesel crane being one of the first kits I ever bought, 3/6d in Woolworths when I got only 6d a week pocket money). A Parkside plate wagon followed bodged up to make a jib runner, then a Parkside cupboard door 'French' mineral wagon (like the internal ones we had at Aylesford*). The dockside crane kit got chopped about and married to an old Ratio wagon chassis to make a rail mounted crane, thanks to some comments read elsewhere on RMweb. This was enjoyable.

 

From other threads on RMweb I became aware just how unrealistic and cliche ridden the layout was. Mind made up, it was so easy to pull up the whole terminus, simplify the roundy roundy part and make room for a small OO layout. I still have an N layout but it is just a train set to run trains round, no fancy stuff. (See photos).

 

Things I've learned and need to keep in mind.

1. Make it all accessible.

2. Try not to glue stuff down - I'll want to change it all sooner or later, digging up stuff usually needs a paint scraper and a 1" wood chisel.

3. I don't really mind no ballast, it's a chore and a nuisance (see 2) when I change plans.

 

What I now have is approx 66" x 18", with a narrow strip 27" long across the end of the N gauge to accomodate a rudimentary fiddle yard.

 

Much of what I've done since is trying out plans in SCARM, including reliving some schemes I'd tinkered with in OO previously before going to N, though these are unlikely to be realised as it would mean blocking out access to the window once more, and thought experiments along the lines of a small independent railway serving primarily local industries.

 

*One of which was involved in the construction of a contraption which was funny at the time.

 

 

[Artless Bodger]

Not much action in 2 months, mainly trying lots of plans in SCARM. For most of this time the nice clear space I'd created has become a storage shelf while other changes were made around the house. My intention had been to keep the double track N oval for 6 months or so, then decide its fate depending on whether I'd made much use of it. However it restricted my fiddle yard to a single track 27" long so it has all be taken up, potentially reusable stuff boxed up and I have the area to tidy up and restore the lumps gouged out of the cork layer.

 

As to plans, I've concluded I'm over thinking* the new layout - it will change as I build it so I shall stick to sectional track, and start with a basic 4/5 point branch terminus + fiddle yard. The latest SCARM plan suggests I can have a 2 road FY and a single 2nd radius N oval.

 

A month or so ago Head Gardener's sister and husband visited, bring two large boxes of my nephew's OO gauge stuff, still packed from their house move a way back. Most of it is big stuff - tender locos, Lima Mk1s etc, of the smaller items, a Thomas and coaches plus oval of track may be suitable for the great-nephew on the other side of the family in a couple of years time. Some useful bits of track, and N2, J83, few wagons will feed into the new layout. The big stuff will fill empty spaces in my display case where the terriers and M7 were.

 

An advantage with the delay is that I have accumulated a couple of months' allowance, so have something to spend on track.

 

Whether what follows will be of a suitable standard to publish in RMweb I suspect not. There will be some things to tackle, notably some non-corridor passenger coaches suitable for an independant backwater line (a spare brake van chassis and 6W sausage van chassis beckon, depending on getting a suitable kit for bodies).

 

*A rather over-egged plan for the independant line, using left over N gauge track for an NG quarry line.

 

A more likely initial attempt.

 

[Clive martin]

Hi its a shame you removed your terminal as what you had done looked very neat and tidy ,you had some rather nice low relief buildings behind the station , i could not see any cliches on your layout i have seen plenty of exhibition layouts that have every cliche  in the book ,buildings on fire Del boys reliant van etc ,i think you are quite hard on your self i dont think you need to worry if you think  your work is not up to a standard to be published on RMweb i  dont think their are any standards required on this forum,i get a lot of pleasure from seeing felow modelers work and layouts ,their is always something that catches my eye when veiwing layouts,for instance your rather nice 4cor emu in the photograph of your terminal,i look forward to seeing your progress with your new oo scale venture ,

[The Johnster]

On 29/06/2023 at 17:22, Artless Bodger said:

I bought a couple of Dapol OO kits to make and found them refreshingly handleable (the diesel crane being one of the first kits I ever bought

 

The Booth Rodley diesel crane can be assembled as a very acceptable model of the diesel-electric self propelled WR PAD depot cranes but substituting the eight-wheel chassis from a Hornby, or even Triang Hornby, Gresley pacific.  By lucky coincidence, it fits perfectly.

[Artless Bodger]

Some progress in the punctuated equilibrium that forms my model making. I have patched the gouges in the baseboard, touched up the base and backscene paint and have bought some track, to do this plan.

 

I had a pleasant surprise once the track was set out to find that I did not need such a long loop to run round 2 coaches (using Lima mk1s as test vehicles). I have rules of thumb for N gauge; 6" per loco or mk1, 6" per medium radius point and 3" clearance at each point to ensure no conflicts. However I had not any recent experience with OO so had erred on the big side. Set track separation and tighter radii mean I have altered the plan to this, with a few thoughts on scenic treatment added.

With track placed and power clips attached I am able to have a play and test out some of my stock. The 2721 has been cleaned of excess oil, had the rear axle springs and the traction tyres removed, and now runs a bit smoother than before. The J83 follwed suit but after just a 'there and back' of the chassis the motor was too hot to touch. Out of the loco the motor spins smoothly on low power, on close inspection it seems one winding is much darker that the others, and turnng the armature with my fingers I dont feel the cogging I'd expect, so I wonder if the magnets have lost some strength which I think I've read increases the current draw of the motor (reduced back emf?). It hasn't lost the magic smoke yet but an internet trawl suggests it is on its way, so at some point I'll have to buy a replacement. However with two terriers and the 2721 available, I've enough to keep me amused, and priority must go towards some buildings - time to start searching the availability of kits to bash. 

 

A couple of photos.

 

 

The intended N gauge 2nd radius oval looks a bit tight, so may have to be 1sr radius instead - many of my locos are old, or Union Mills, so will go round without complaint.

 

Rule one to rule them all

Rule one to find them

Rule one to bring them all

And in the darkness bind them

 

 

 

 

[The Johnster]

In the land of Model

where the ballast lies...

[Artless Bodger]

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

In the land of Model

where the ballast lies...

Nice one!

[Artless Bodger]

Sporadic activity here again, firstly I had to buy new materials - all my embossed plastic sheet and brick card was N scale. Now I have planked, brick, random stone etc embossed PS sheet appropriate to new projects and some Metcalfe brick printed card. Also a few Will's kits for small buildings. One I decided I had to have is the so called crossing keeper's cottage, this has special relevance for me as the prototype was the gate lodge to Clare Park in East Malling. Some of my relatives lived on the housing estate built post war on part of the park (the house and rest of the park is now an amenity), just round the corner from the lodge. I recognised it as the prototype for the kit some years ago when passing. Since my layout is imagined to be in Kent (most of the time anyway), a ragstone cottage seems appropriate, furthermore, the uncle who lived on Clare Park estate, worked in the ragstone quarries at Allington.

 

[Artless Bodger]

Another project started: a carriage on the 6 wheel sausage van chassis. The Ratio large grounded coach body kit seemed to offer some material to construct a coach from. The Hornby 6w chassis is a bit crude (as is my model making), having a pseudo Cleminson arrangement for the middle axle. I photocopied the side mouldings and did a few cut and shut exercises to see what I could fit. Pleasantly surrised to find on the internet a Midland Railway 6w lavatory 3rd (Slaters), which meant a minimum of hacking to the kit sides - just a bit of beading to restore at the ends. Job started at least, though I'm tussling with adapting the roof at present.

Current status:

[Artless Bodger]

A bit about the background, real and imaginary, to the layout. 

 

Our family walks on sunday afternoons encompassed much of the district surrounding Maidstone, favourites were to catch a trolley bus to Loose, walk down the valley to Tovil and then home. To me the Loose valley would have been perfect if it had a railway line, not knowing then that one had been projected in the past. Mote Park was near our house and a great playground as kids, Whatman's Turkey Mill was alongside the river Len as it exited the park and had a short siding off the up line approaching Maidstone East. Venturing beyond the park further up the Len valley to Spot Lane where there were quarries, and I later discovered once a small paper mill. There were sandpits and fullers earth pits nearer to Leeds, and Grant's cherry brandy distillery in Maidstone had orchards out near Lenham where the river Len rises. Walks along the Medway to Allington Lock and back through Little Switzerland in those days revealed more ragstone quarries, some with remnants of narrow gauge tramways leading to the river (all under housing now), and there were large sandpits around Aylesford, also with NG lines to riverside wharves.

 

From all this I have plenty of inspiration for an independant railway, built to transport stone and sand to a river wharf, inward coal, rags and woodpulp traffic to industries and some local fruit, hops and timber traffic.

 

The layout represents (loosely) the riverside wharf on the Medway in Maidstone, at the mouth of the Len. It occupies a space which in real life was Palace Gardens, sandwiched between the Archbishop's Palace and Maidstone bridge. There was a wharf and warehouse here - Bridge Wharf. I'm imagining that the track extends off scene under the approach to the bridge to access Town Wharf, the electricity works and breweries (and maybe a mainline connection via Springfield Mill and the LCDR). Going the other way to the fiffle yard the line would cross Mill Street, run along the mill pond beside the tanyard, later Rootes motor works, crosses Lower Stone street and passes the Lower Brewery (Isherwoods) and Len Cabinet works, Padsole Mill (paper), B.L. Wood meat cannery, Primrose and Len dairy, Whatman's Turkey paper mill, Spot Lane mill and quarries then out to sand pits near Leeds etc.

 

There are some obvious problems with this imagined route, not least how to cross Mote Park, developed around 1800 by 3rd Baron Romney, Charles Marsham, sold in 1895 to 1st Viscount Bearsted, Marcus Samuel (founder of Royal Dutch Shell), and in 1929 to Maidstone Corporation. But in imagination anything is possible......

 

The flights of fantasy go much further but are not relevant here, but could be indulged with more space, time and money. 

 

The planned NG element is really inspired by systems around the Medway valley, at Tovil, Allington and Aylesford. It is a stand alone system bringing sand to the river quay. 

 

There - enough blether.

 

[Artless Bodger]

More, halting, progress. I've restored the beading on the ends of the 6 wheeled carriage sides, getting a stiff neck in the process. The magnifier is great but with a short focal length I have to bend close to the workbench, and get quite tense as a result. I managed to complete the roof to my satisfaction - if I dont look too closely I dont see the gaps. Livery? Probably plain brown.

 

Currently building the Wills goods timber goods store and small station building - what colour scheme to adopt? The current K&ESR scheme at Northiam and Bodiam (dark red and cream) looks smart, however the later stations on the Headcorn extension were more economy minded in tarred timber, so black, dry brushed in grey and brown probably.

 

What rolling stock would be appropriate? I'm thinking mainly 4/5 plank opens as the primary traffics would be coal, baled rags and woodpulp inwards, and stone outwards. Would the same wagons be used for all traffic, suitably swept out between types? Or would there have had to be specific coal, stone and general merchandise wagons? 

 

So, a few questions there and I'd be interested to hear any observations or suggestions you might make. Thanks for reading.

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Artless Bodger
Tidied up a ramble.

[Artless Bodger]

The poor weather has in some ways made it necessary to get on with some modelling. Progress so far includes:

1. Completion (almost*) of the track laying.

2. Permanent wiring - nothing special, just needed to solder some fishplates onto wires and set up just two feeds, one to the standard gauge and one to the narrow gauge / N gauge.

3. *I was unhappy with the angled loco release, having some damaged curves in my nephews old stuff I cut one down to bring the headshunt parallel to the other roads. I'm much happier now with it.

4. Made a start on the station platform - 3 layers of 5mm foamboard, Metcalfe brick card for the front and edging stones from cereal packet card scribed with a ballpoint pen. Thinking of using sandpaper to represent cinder topping.

5. Drawing up plans for a loco body to fit the Kato pocketline chassis for the narrow gauge.

 

The layout has multiple uses potentially - the main OO standard gauge terminus - fiddle yard, an N gauge roundy roundy in case I want to run some of my older stock (its 9" radius so not recomended for the newer locos) and an OO9 narrow gauge quarry branch. More than a nod to Gwiwer's Porthgarrow layout for inspiration in this direction.

 

Ideally (i.e. in some of my pipe dreams) the N gauge oval can have modular scenery - I still have some buildings from the old N gauge layout - or modules to depict the quarry / sand pit for the narrow gauge. I suspect that if I get that far the narrow gauge will win, I fancy a crane / shovel or two. Cranes were a childhood fascination (thinking of trips to Margate, passing the gravel pits at Sturry), when Mum collected me from my infant school we had to detour via local building sites to watch the cranes at work.

 

[The Johnster]

On 30/11/2023 at 16:22, Artless Bodger said:

 

What rolling stock would be appropriate? I'm thinking mainly 4/5 plank opens as the primary traffics would be coal, baled rags and woodpulp inwards, and stone outwards. Would the same wagons be used for all traffic, suitably swept out between types? Or would there have had to be specific coal, stone and general merchandise wagons? 

 

Coal & stone need to be handled in mineral wagons, 7-plankers for coal and possibly 4/5-plankers for ths stone, but they need to be dedicated to this traffic and not used for general merchandise, even for return loads after being swept out. As well as being dirt prime optimus, coal is acidic and the residue can contaminate general merch.  Gen. merch, 5-plankers & vans, are more versatile and can carry pretty much anything that is not dirty, baled or sacked, in drums, packing cases, &c.  1- or 3- plank dropsides will be for bulkier items that need to be loaded from platform level, and conflats can either have the container craned off or left on the flat to be unloaded/loaded as if they were a normal van.  Delicates need shockvans or opens, but these might be return loaded with 'normal' items for convenience; same applies to insulated and ventilated vans.

[Artless Bodger]

Thank you Johnster, that is useful information, particularly regarding coal. I had originally wondered if - for my putative independant minor railway - that the wagon stock would be limited. To deal with an incoming coaster / lighter loaded with coal for the up line industries then all available wagons might be pushed into service to clear the load as quickly as possible (mindful of some of your posts regarding the desire of ships' captains to minimise unprofitable time in port). Empties returning down line might then be used for stone traffic to the wharf for loading into lighters / barges.

 

It just means I need to source extra wagons - a good excuse for a few kits I think ;-)

 

Though I've no fixed era in mind (very rule 1), when were shock vans introduced - I'm only familiar with the BR type (which looks as though it is based on a GWR design)? 

[Artless Bodger]

Today was a day of highs and lows. I've lost interest in my original conceit. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 10 by Artless Bodger

[Artless Bodger]

Going round in circles - a severe case of coupling incompatability amongst my stock led to many derailments. Somehwat disheartened I sorted stock into two groups. 1. Stock with more modern narrow couplings or ones I could easily swap. 2. Old Triang type long hook / old Dapol and Lima.

 

Group 1 now converted or still on short hook Bachmann seem to work togethe rok and I've released some locos from the display case, cleaned the sticky grease (12+ years old and little used sonce I went over to N) and reoiled. 

 

Group 2 kept as an alternative stud, old Hornby / Dapol / Mainline and Lima from the nephews.

 

Then, not happy with the short platform which though uncompleted had developed an anticline, I decided to make a new one. Started to cut the foamboard, then opted to extend and remake the exisiting one - it has sandpaper glued to the top, when painted grey two things happened, the anticline became a severe syncline and the sand paper bubbled. To cap it all the extra length caused some stock to foul the ramps when entering the loop - BAH!

 

Back to rethinking the new platform - this time a 1mm card top and front wall with a 3x5mm foam board support. Coming on ok at present but still risks going banana shaped when painted.

 

As a stop gap I've cut out part of the extension to the old platform and have to accept the lumpy surface for the time being.

 

As an aside, everything I paint ends up worse than before I start - the loco shed is going that way unfortunately. Loco shed made from bits-box items some OO some N. At least it is partly modular to allow me to paint it without too much contortion.

 

I had made a scenic end piece to represent the approach slope to the bridge, supposedly passing behind the warehouse. Cobbled from bits including some N gauge bridge arches it made the end look too enclosed so it has gone for the time being and I prefer the idea of a closed level crossing, hinting at an original continuation of the branch, now disused - will need a 'gap in the buildings' type backscene.

 

Had some issues with my Rapido 6w SECR brake van derailing but luckily the appropriate thread on here provided the answer, now it runs ok, if at the expense of some of the delicate hidden brake rigging detailing.

 

Lastly the NG battery loco body for the Kato N chassis is under construction - going as well as I could expect at present, but the opportunity to mess it up looms - need to work out sequence of construction and modules so I can paint the inside and glase and detail it. 

 

 

 

 

[Artless Bodger]

Progress with the narrow gauge side of things. My first attempts at scratch building for a long while. The loco is intended to represent a battery electric loco, inspired by various standard and narrow gauge examples, notably the 3rd rail electric locos used at Highstead chalk pits as photographed by Gordon Edgar ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/12a_kingmoor_klickr/5752243793 ). It sits on a Kato pocket line N gauge chassis (which also fits under a Dapol N gauge Fruit D body to power a demotored GF pannier). I've learned a few things in its construction, as usually I put a model together then wonder how I can paint or glaze it.  In this case the body is 20 thou (60 thou bonnet tops), 2 sheets glued at the edge, marked out, window corners drilled then cut and filed to shape before cutting the body side out. It has a false floor above the motor to hold the body square. The driver is a cut off Dapol workman on a drop in base. By luck I had left over N gauge factory kit glazing - thick crystal PS rectangles, which with a bit of sanding was just about the right size for side and end glazing. It makes a box which pushes down into the painted body. The roof just sort of plugs in. 

So, I've learned to make things in modules so they can be painted separately before final assembly.

One lesson to carry forward is to drill holes for handrails while the sides are in the flat state - I decided not to try drilling the completed body and use wire, so it has glued on plastic rod handrails - sufficient considering some of my RTR locos are no better, and I'm not dissatisfied with them.

I want to buy some of the PECO V skip wagons, but until the budget is up to that I've made the first attempt at scratchbuilding on a spare N gauge wagon chassis. Based loosely on the side tip wagons used at Scaldwell ironstone quarries, I used the drawings on the IRS website as a base.

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by Artless Bodger
Spelling, as ever....