Diddington reborn

[wiggoforgold]

I retired yesterday. One of my retirement projects is the rebuilding of my layout Diddington and the branch  to Upwell Drove. I have set up this new thread to document progress.

Diddington is set on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens. The imaginary line leaves the St Ives – March loop at Needingworth Junction.  Diddington would be about where the real Bluntisham is. Upwell Drove is further out on the fen.

The track plan is unchanged from the old Diddington – the station has been extended by about 18”, but otherwise the track plan remains the same, and the track itself will be largely unchanged. The layout plan is based on an Ian Rice plan called “Downingham” which was in Modelling Railways Illustrated”  Vol1 no4  (March-April 1994).  The track is OO gauge. The original Diddington used SMP track with copper clad points. The new sections will use Peco bullhead code 75 and Finetrax points. The old head shunt will become the branch to Uppwell Drove, so Upwell Drove will be at the opposite end of the layout, which will allow me to make the overall model more compact.

The layout will be  1950,sBR (E) ex LNER(GE), with a 1960’s interlude to show some typical diesels (I like green diesels) The season will be winter – February, with mud and ice rather than snow. Such trees as there are will be devoid of leaves. I haven’t tried modelling this season before, so I am looking forward to trying some new techniques.

The original Diddington was conceived and built about 25 years ago, since when available stock and modelling techniques have moved on considerably. Since I first built Diddington many items have appeared which I will take full advantage of – examples are:

1.      The Hornby J15

2.      Static grass

3.      Peco code 75 Bullhead track and points

4.      Laser cutting

5.      3D printing

I’ve learned a lot from the construction of my BR(W) themed layout, Yelverton and Lydbrook Dean, and what I have learned will be incorporated in the new Diddington. I have toyed with the idea of DCC, but have rejected it. Operationally, I am quite happy with conventional DC control. It does all that I ask of it and I enjoy creating banks of switches to get it all to work as I want it. Sound is an attraction, but the cost of sound fitting my locs would be prohibitive, so I shall remain a luddite in this respect.

Diddington is a long term project and apart from the Upwell Drove terminus, is not intended for exhibition, so there is no pressure to get things completed, or to make things easily transportable (apart from being able to dismantle it into sections and move it to a new home if ever the need arose – there are no plans to do that in the foreseeable future.) Instead my priority will be for ease of access to the layout while it is being worked on at home. I am fortunate to have a suitable railway room for it. Wheeled chairs, diode matrices and a webcam feature in the ideas.

The initial work will be to get the baseboards fitted together in the new configuration and the lighting in place, before working up the scenery on the Upwell Drove section, which will give an opportunity to try out some new scenic ideas. One end of the railway room also functions as an alternative lounge, so I want to get the layout presentable as quickly as possible. I also want the lighting in place before starting extensive scenic works, so the scenery is built under the lighting conditions of the finished model.

Now to start building …. :)

 

[KeithHC]

Well I look forward to seeing this however…………. You have said that you have just retired. Well don’t think you will have time. Most of us who have given up the rat race find we are busier than ever and how did we fit in work.

 

Keith

[NHY 581]

Looking forward to the re-build, Alex. Your recent layouts, Upwell Drove, Yelverton and more recently Lydbrook are just fabulous. 

 

I credit your enthusiasm for all things East Anglian ( amongst a few other notable suspects ) for not only kick starting my own enthusiasm but helping to maintain it. 

 

Rob

 

 

[MrWolf]

Great stuff, I've been following your other projects for several years now, they've been an inspiration and an education.

I'll be watching out for updates.

 

Rob.

[mullie]

Another follower, been looking forward to this. 

 

Martyn 

[lmsforever]

Welcome to the retired world you can do your modelling when you want to .I have even got up really early and started to build a kit and then had a kip pm its wonderful .

[JustinDean]

Looking forward to following this Alex; I’m another fan of your other layouts!

 

Jay

[wiggoforgold]

I’ve stripped down the station board for Diddington in readiness for the rebuild. I’ve removed the solid backscene and lifted some of the track which will be realigned as a result of the lengthened board. The turnouts, motors and wiring remain in place.

I’ve built the extension to the station board and fitted it in place.

The next step is to build the new supports for the lights and proscenium so that the layout wil be presentable even in it’s unfinished form and I will be able to work under the actual light the layout will be displayed in.

For now, here are some pictures of the stripped down board. I was going to do away with the cattle dock, but it has had a reprieve, so the pictures show the full extent of the demolition.

 

 

 

 

Alex

Edited August 7 by wiggoforgold

[mullie]

Great to see progress but at the moment it looks like a scene from the disused stations site.

 

Martyn

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, mullie said:

Great to see progress but at the moment it looks like a scene from the disused stations site.

 

Martyn

 

It reminds me of dismantling the layout I had at my parents house when I left home at 19. 

 

There are a few bits of it incorporated into the current layout though.

[wiggoforgold]

The dismantling of the old Diddington is complete and I have started work on the rebuild. The old solid backscene has gone and will be replaced by one made from a continuous strip of wall paper ling paper It will be curved at the corners, so I have kept the curved parts of the old fixed backscene and this will provide support for the curved parts of the new backscene.

I want to get the layout lights installed at an early stage so I can work under the lighting conditions the layout will be viewed in, so I’ve made a start on the new lighting rig. There will be LED strips behind the proscenium and on battens running the length of the layout in the middle, and possibly strips at the top of the backscene as well.

The rig follows the construction I have used with success on “Yelverton” and “Lydbrook Dean”. Support brackets made from timber are bolted to the rear of the layout, and the horizontal part will sup[port the proscenium and the central lighting battens which are bolted to the supports.

The drivers for the LED strips will be fitted to the bearers beneath the layout.

The pictures show the present state of play. I’ve fitted the supports and all but one of the battens. The next step will be to bolt the three boards together, before making the final holes for the bolts to retain the lighting battens and making the last of the battens themselves. The it will be on to wiring up the lights and refitting the proscenium.

In the pictures the strip of wood on the layout beneath the “Diddington” sign is the first stage of the new extended platform.

 

Edited August 16 by wiggoforgold

[mullie]

Will the river scene be part of new layout? If not, I think I may have to start a protest group!

[wiggoforgold]

4 minutes ago, mullie said:

Will the river scene be part of new layout? If not, I think I may have to start a protest group!

Not immediately but it will be coming back. The boathouse and bridge both hold particular childhood memories that I want to keep. They are currently in careful storage.

There will be .ots of water on the new layout though, the layout will be rising out of the soggy fen and I had as useful discussion with @Gedward at SWAG about the benefits of perspex sheet :)

 

[mullie]

It was a superb scene and definitely one to be reinstated if possible.

[wiggoforgold]

The new lighting set up is nearly complete. More details in the next day or so. In the meantime, here’s some pictures of the an Ivatt 4mt shunting in Diddington yard under the new lights

 

 

 

Edited August 24 by wiggoforgold

[wiggoforgold]

The main boards have all now been bolted together with the extension piece fitted in. The proscenium has been rebuilt  and fitted and the proscenium. Wings and front edge have been painted with Wickes dark grey. The proscenium was then given a coat of satin spray lacquer so it now looks very smart.

For  the lights I have used flexible LED strips. The drivers for these are fixed to the bearers beneath the layout.

The lights are supported by a wooden framework, fixed together with bolts to allow quick dismantling.

There are currently two rows of lights, one behind the proscenium and one on an “L” girder above the middle of the layout. In due course there will be a further strip fitted at the top of the backscene to give a down wash over the back scene.

The backscene hasn’t been fitted yet, but will be my usual roll of wallpaper lining paper, painted a mixture of white, grey and blue to give the impression of an open Fenland winter sky.

I haven’t yet finalised the positions of the lights. At the moment, the lighting effects of Upwell Drove and Diddington appear different, but I think this is due to the current lack of backscene, as the walls of the layout room are different shades \and the backscene will tie everything together.

I also think more light is needed at the engine shed end of Diddington, and am considering repositioning the existing centre light strip in that area and introducing an additional light above the turntable.

 

 

Next steps are to do the backscene and complete the fitting of Upwell Drove to the Diddington board.

 

Edited August 25 by wiggoforgold

[stewartingram]

That mill looks very like Sinclair's Mill in St. Ives - the one where Clive Sinclair made his first calculators. (No idea whose mill it was when it was a real mill).

[wiggoforgold]

1 hour ago, stewartingram said:

That mill looks very like Sinclair's Mill in St. Ives - the one where Clive Sinclair made his first calculators. (No idea whose mill it was when it was a real mill).

Thanks Stuart. It was done from photos of St Ives Mill, apart from the loading arrangements which are from Godmanchester.

The  building behind is the gasworks manager's office from Huntingdon.

Edited August 25 by wiggoforgold