Linton Wagon Works

[virginhst539]

Well its finally time to let the cat out of the bag as it where. A combination of getting fed up waiting on getting affordable house and having no where to run my stock has resulted in this layout plan. 

 

Those who know me would have had an easy time guessing it was going to be a wagon works with industrial shunter. While not 100% set in stone as I'm not sure if I want to add an additional line for the likes of MPV/RHTT refilling I have designed it in such away that I can run mainline locos in to pick up, drop off or for fuel/exam while still being able to shunt wagons in and out of the shed and pad area where maintenance would be carried out. Base boards have been ordered from M.R.S, three 4x2 sections and a 2x2 section for the additional storage area. The entire layout will be operated from a ECoS 50200 command center for ease of operation. I had played about with the idea of proper point levers for throwing the motors on the scenic section but my controllers touch screen has the route function anyway. 

 

The works itself will be the real center piece with full interior detailing and lighting. It will also have the advantage of not being assigned to any one operator but a fictional maintenance company which means any freight operators stock can run in and out of the yard. Another major bonus if building it as I am is that it will be 100% portable and should just about fit into the car and I do aim for it to make the odd outing once complete. Also got a little bonus addition for when it does make its first outing but there will be more on that when the time comes.

 

So that is the plan, boards have been bought just a case of waiting the approx. 4 to 5 weeks for them to arrive. Layout build is unknown territory for me as up till now i have just horded locos and rolling stock so this could be interesting! 

 

 

 

[Scott]

Looks interesting, are there any progress pics?

[Dungrange]

On 21/08/2023 at 17:15, virginhst539 said:

it will be 100% portable and should just about fit into the car

 

Could you not have designed it to actually fit in the car?  The layout that I'll hopefully start building in a similar timescale should fit in the back of my car, but I have to say that I found it particularly challenging trying to arrange a packing sequence to make everything fit, due to the presence of wheel arches and the slope of the hatchback.  Once my the baseboards have arrived and been assembled, I'll finally know whether I have all my calculations correct.  However, I couldn't fit that a layout of that size in my car.

 

10 minutes ago, Scott said:

Looks interesting, are there any progress pics?

 

If the baseboards have just been ordered but not delivered, I don't expect much progress beyond the stock on the separate Workbench thread.  However, I'll be following.

[Scott]

15 minutes ago, Dungrange said:

 

If the baseboards have just been ordered but not delivered, I don't expect much progress beyond the stock on the separate Workbench thread.  However, I'll be following.

 

The original post was August, which is why I asked. I found this via an interest in the work on his stock thread.

[Dungrange]

45 minutes ago, Scott said:

The original post was August, which is why I asked.

 

Sorry - I never noticed the date on the original post.  I did think Jake had mentioned ordering baseboards quite a few months ago.  Yes, it would be good to see some progress photographs.

[virginhst539]

Unfortunately trips to every conceivable corner of the UK with the 1/1 scale layout (work) has put a bit of a hold on this. 

 

so the idea was to have a depot in a way but not a TMD. Wagons are my main day to day interest and to be honest you don't see many wagon works layouts.  I did manage to get the smaller of the four boards together before winter and travel put it on hold. The boards I perhaps should have paid to get the frames pre built or spent a little more and got the ones that just slot together with just glue, I work far better with metal and its is far more forgiving so even that small one took a lot of work to try and get it square. it wasn't quite in the end so additional clamps have been sourced. big bonus is that ones for the fiddle yard extension so can get away with it not being pretty! 

 

So the plan is once the weather improves in say April, the three longer boards will be built up. I did measure the car and in theory they should all fit, the only iffy bit is the access panels for getting at the rear lights and where the emergency compressor/tyre weld is in lieu of a spare wheel. if it is a bit of a struggle the small additional board and rolling stock can always be moved in a second trip. I do intend to taking it to the odd show but nothing that's drastically far away, more something for me to run stock on, use for photographing finished projects on and take on the odd jolly.

 

In the mean time I'm going to buy the point work  so I can roughly put together the track plan in the shed. it looks all well and good on the computer but need to see how that translates into physically shunting stock around. The biggest issue hindering progress apart from storms, freezing temperatures and more storms is time as at the moment work is rather constant so getting a few hours a week to throw some paint around is a bit easier than major baseboards construction.

 

but in short I have not abandoned it, its just taking a little longer than expected to make any real progress with it

[virginhst539]

So been looking at the boards again and more importantly track plan. I feel the original track plan was fairly limited in terms of what can be run, I had focused it too closely to an actual location without taking into consideration that its part of a larger site and more importantly it only sees two main types of wagon which are associated with that site.

 

so I have come up with track plan number 2, idea is a fictional rail engineering firms yard similar to the likes of brodies or Hamilton works. Feel this gives me more options in terms of stock to run. While it will still mostly be various wagons I can not get away with running a couple mk2s or mk3s in for say overhaul, locos in for repairs etc.. Hamilton's is a great example of this as the royal Scotsman is based there but you have also had cement wagons in for cleaning and testing. 

 

So the next step not will be to throw some track together for both track plans and see how it all works and evaluate each plan. I have had roundy round layouts build up in the shed before but this is a bit more involved, trying to work out how to get stuff from point A to B and trying to keep points off board joints. At least with a circle you just need the two ends to meet up! The main thing I'm trying to achieve is to have a works with a good amount of operational scope but also to really go to town with the scenic which is the bit I'm most looking forward too. I want the trains to compliment the scene more than anything, main star of the show will be the depot/works, all these ideas from visiting various depots over the years and trying to incorporate little bits here and there. The idea is there, just need to try and extract it from my head and onto paper then the boards.

 

Again this will be a slow burner but I do hope to at least have it functional this year.

[ess1uk]

Sounds interesting 

[Dungrange]

On 07/02/2024 at 22:34, virginhst539 said:

Hamilton works

 

It was an idea I had in the past, hence this thread - 

 

 

[virginhst539]

Think the site has changed hands now. Its more to draw ideas from rather than a replica of the site. Ended up through the west this week and passed the empty springburn works so thats another to research for ideas.

 

Going to have a sit down and try make a more detailed plan as anyrail is ok but want to plan out various elements such as access roads, building and more accurate track plan.

 

One thing i dont want to do is end up building a TMD while yes there will be locos on shed most of it will be rolling stock repairs/overhauls. Problem is most of this type of work either happens in a massive works like donny or in a siding somewhere mobile. Im trying to build something in the middle 

[Dungrange]

12 hours ago, virginhst539 said:

Problem is most of this type of work either happens in a massive works like Donny or in a siding somewhere mobile. I'm trying to build something in the middle 

 

That's the conclusion I came to realise and shunting without a mainline locomotive wasn't what I had in mind originally.  Nonetheless, it will be good to see how your plan develops.