Waverley West, Princes St Gardens and Haymarket MPD

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Dave,

 

It is certainly fascinating to see Waverley west in sections especially the platforms and hidden curves that we have never seen before and I will certainly enjoy watching your progress when you get the time as your future plans for Waverley West will make it even better and that is no mean feat given the quality already seen in the space you had before - superb.

 

All the best,

Mark

[Waverley West]

Hi Dave,

Great to see you making some progress. Looking forwards to seeing it all back together.

 

Cheers Peter.

Hi Dave,

 

It is certainly fascinating to see Waverley west in sections especially the platforms and hidden curves that we have never seen before and I will certainly enjoy watching your progress when you get the time as your future plans for Waverley West will make it even better and that is no mean feat given the quality already seen in the space you had before - superb.

 

All the best,

Mark

 

Thanks guys. After a few months in the doldrums, I'm feeling a lot more positive about WW these days and am looking forward to putting the layout back together again and improving it at the same time.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Waverley West]

Hi folks,

 

Psst, fancy seeing a pic of a nice pair of legs? I'm hoping to slip this one past the mods, so keep it quiet...

 

 

Here is the first board to be resurrected, the station board, back on its own two pairs of legs again at last.

 

The new legs (nearest the camera) just slot into the frame of the board underneath, although they can be bolted into position if required. There's a bit more work needed to finish them off completely but I just thought I'd show a pic of my progress. The board still has its protective frame around it, which has proved very useful when moving it around.

 

The next job is some new legs for the other board in the pic behind it, the one with the curved platforms.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Mark 37]

Dave,

 

I'm sure along with me, there are lots of people on here watching every update with great enthusiasm.

I'm looking forward too your expansion plans.

Can't wait for more!

 

Mark

[stewartingram]

Dave,

 

I'm sure along with me, there are lots of people on here watching every update with great enthusiasm.

I'm looking forward too your expansion plans.

Can't wait for more!

 

Mark

 

Yes, and we are mighty fed up with all these bus replacements, be good to get the trains running again!

[45156]

Great news, Dave that WW is to rise from the move to becoming a better layout - no doubt it will. Most modellers are their own worst critics, and will dismantle a layout to improve on its predecessor - your house move has given you the impetus to do that as more or ess a necessity.

 

I'd be interested to know whether you plan to make the layout portable this time, with a possible view to exhibiting it in the future - or are you still planning to leave it as a stay at home project - I think that it would attract a lot of attention at the exhibitions, and would give WW a much wider audience. Just a thought.....

[Waverley West]

Great news, Dave that WW is to rise from the move to becoming a better layout - no doubt it will. Most modellers are their own worst critics, and will dismantle a layout to improve on its predecessor - your house move has given you the impetus to do that as more or ess a necessity.

 

I'd be interested to know whether you plan to make the layout portable this time, with a possible view to exhibiting it in the future - or are you still planning to leave it as a stay at home project - I think that it would attract a lot of attention at the exhibitions, and would give WW a much wider audience. Just a thought.....

 

Hi Stewart,

 

Yes, the layout is definitely to be portable this time. When I first started building the layout (back in 2003), I never imagined we'd move house. Circumstances change of course and splitting the layout up to move it proved to be a difficult job and a real headache. I'm certainly not going through that again! My future layouts will be portable, that's for sure.

 

One side-effect of this is that it may be possible to exhibit WW in the future, at least part of it anyway and maybe with a special fiddle yard. Because of the layout's bulk and the fact that I'm a "lone" modeller, appearances will have to be limited I think, but it is a possibility I have in mind as I rebuild the layout.

 

I still haven't decided on a final form for the layout, but as I have now almost got two baseboards back on their feet again, I'm getting to the stage where I need to start thinking about which of my ideas I'm actually going to adopt!

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Waverley West]

Hi folks,

 

The resurrection of WW continues apace. I've managed to find some time in the evenings recently. As a result, I thought I'd just post a few pics of my progress.

 

As you can see, I now have all boards except one back on their feet, with one board having been split into two to make it easier to handle. Each board now also has its own set of legs so that it can be worked on separately if necessary and moved around without having to worry about which board or legs it goes with.

 

The depot board is now the only board I have left to do in terms of joinery. This is to be split into two sections, each of which will have its own set of legs. It's very heavy and long as it is at the moment.

 

Once that's done, I can start thinking about where I go from here. I think the extra length I have in the room is not sufficient to make it worthwhile making the layout any longer, although I think I can make better use of the space I do have. I like being able to access all parts of the layout easily too. On the other hand, the extra width I have will enable me to add on a short board as a fiddle yard to take DMUs and other short-length trains. I also think there is space for a spur extension, leading off the far end of the layout (viewed as in the first photo) curving round and then running along the back wall. I might need to encroach on my daughter's layout (on the left in the first photo) a bit, so I may need to come up with a good argument or two as to why I need the space more than she does.

 

I have quite a few ideas for this extension, including Oban, the Fife coast, or an extra fiddle yard (or a combination). More of that later though. It will basically represent the route to Dundee and Aberdeen though on the WW part of the layout and instead of combining the tracks after the Princes St. section to continue as a roundy-roundy layout, they will now split, representing the junction of the route to Glasgow and the route to the north. That, combined with the extra fiddle yard space will enable me to simulate the timetable at Waverley much more prototypically.

 

The junction will be located before Haymarket depot, instead of after it, but hey you can't have everything! It will still be much better than it was.

 

 

 

 

Better go.

 

Hope to be back soon with some more updates.

 

Cheers,

Dave

Edited April 20, 2012 by Waverley West

[ThaneofFife]

you ought to hook up with the chap modelling Glasgow QS with a long stretch in the middle !

 

i like the idea of an extension particularly one based on Oban.

 

look forward to more updates.

[Waverley West]

you ought to hook up with the chap modelling Glasgow QS with a long stretch in the middle !

 

 

Now that would be fun.

[45156]

you ought to hook up with the chap modelling Glasgow QS with a long stretch in the middle !

 

With a branch to Caolisport as well, perhaps.

 

Looking very good, Dave - keep us posted.

[Grimleygrid]

Nice train room Dave, would love one like that! Good to see Waverley West back up again.

 

Looking forward to more updates.

[DavidM]

Now that would be fun.

 

Count us in, although i'm sure the gap between us is a bit more than the real life Glas-Edin route...!

 

Dave

[Waverley West]

<p>Hi folks,

 

Just thought I'd post a quick update on my progress. I've managed to find quite a bit of time in the evenings this week, abandoning my interior decorating duties without any reprimand from the domestic authorities.

 

All the boards are now back on their own four feet, which are adjustable. All the legs either fold or remove reasonably easily.

 

The next job is to join the boards together. For this, I have some alignment dowels from All Components.

 

I've also been thinking over the multipound track remodelling project, particularly the making of Platform 11 into a through platform, as per the prototype. I've got out a 2+6 HST to use as a length guide. I'd like to have 2+6 HSTs or 7-coach loco-hauled trains in this platform, which is used by KX-Aberdeen/Inverness trains in particular. 8+ coach trains would be nice but they may be limited to the rest of the station, where there is plenty of room on the outer tracks.

 

I am also planning to widen Haymarket depot to squeeze in another siding. This will enable me to model the 3-road main depot building plus the smaller building "round the back". At the moment the main shed on WW is a 2-road depot but I think that's too much of a compromise to produce a reasonably realistic model of the depot.

 

I also reckon I can squeeze in a compressed model of Oban as a sort of scenic fiddle yard. Width is the problem rather than length but I reckon some sort of add-on mini-layout/scenic fiddle yard should be possible in the space I have. That's a bit further down the line though I think. There is also space in a corner for a short extra fiddle yard for DMUs and other short trains.

 

I've also been talking with a builder friend about ways to make the room brighter and better insulated, as it's a cold place in the winter and a bit dark (darker than it looks in the photos).

 

Anyway, here are some piccies of my progress so far...

[P.C.M]

Hi Dave,

Looks like a good train room, I like your idea of doing Oban too. I thought you were going to redo the depot to get it more like Haymarket?

Would it be worth making the layout wider, you could ease out the curves a bit and get more tracks in the fiddleyard, and it should give you a bit more room for the depot. Though I suppose this would limit your room for doing Oban.

 

Cheers Peter.

[kaiwhara]

Looking excellent!

[Waverley West]

Hi Peter,

 

Yes, I am going to redo the depot. But the track layout itself doesn't actually need much work in order to do this. An extra siding on the inside should be enough to enable me to model the three main sheds at Haymarket (the 2-road, 3-road and, err, 1-road sheds I think). The depot buildings will virtually all be new or extensively modified but the depot track layout was originally designed to be similar to Haymarket anyway (though horribly compressed of course).

 

Widening the layout is a definite possibility, but then as you say I'd lose the option of doing Oban and annoy my younger daughter at the same time by encroaching on her layout. Not to be advised, although negotiation and carrot-dangling in the form of a possible exhibition layout may be one way forward. I like the idea of an add-on layout/scenic fiddle yard. I'm still mulling over ideas and measuring up options but that's my preferred route forward at the moment.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[P.C.M]

Hi Dave,

No worries, the depot as you say already has the look of Haymarket, New sheds I think would give you what you want. As for the rest I am sure you will work it out. I think if you are planning to push the layout up against the wall you might find you have room to go wider, though doing a branch will give a bit more play value plus a couple of trains up the branch will leave room in the fiddleyard.

 

I am not sure how old your daughter is but mine quite like playing with the cars on Llabourne and having a dive now and then but she is 14 now and hasn't had any interest for about 4 years now. So you never know you might get some room back in a few years.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Waverley West]

Hi Dave,

No worries, the depot as you say already has the look of Haymarket, New sheds I think would give you what you want. As for the rest I am sure you will work it out. I think if you are planning to push the layout up against the wall you might find you have room to go wider, though doing a branch will give a bit more play value plus a couple of trains up the branch will leave room in the fiddleyard.

 

I am not sure how old your daughter is but mine quite like playing with the cars on Llabourne and having a dive now and then but she is 14 now and hasn't had any interest for about 4 years now. So you never know you might get some room back in a few years.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

 

Hi Peter,

 

She's 8 and still as keen as ever on trains. I can quite understand that her interest might wane in the future. I'm sure trains aren't exactly the trendiest of hobbies for a teenage girl!

 

Anyway, I'm just enjoying her being interested while it lasts. Long may it continue!

 

Cheers,

Dave

Edited April 26, 2012 by Waverley West

[lmsforever]

Seems odd to see a naked Waverley without the roof ,good luck with the extension to Oban ,I have a dvd on the route to Oban from 225 Studios its both ways so you see the views in detail.The grade out of Oban is realy steep can you replicate this?Looking forward to seeing pics of your brilliant stock on the layout,oh by the way that room is fantastic.

[Waverley West]

Hi folks,

 

Progress on WW was interrupted over the bank holiday weekend with the visit of the out-laws, sorry I mean in-laws.

 

I have managed to squeeze in a couple of sessions since though and have made some decent progress. Although the layout looks much the same as it did at the time of my last update, I have now joined together four of the boards with alignment dowels and bolts. That just leaves two more boards to add on to complete the circuit. Unfortunately, they will be the most difficult ones, as they are the main station board and the Princes St. section and they have a lot of tracks crossing the joins!

 

I have also installed a couple of ceiling lights in the room so that I can see what I'm doing now. These will only be temporary, as over the summer I'm hoping to get the room lined with insulating board and some extra Velux windows put in, as well as new flush ceiling lights.

 

A limited shuttle service is now operating between Haymarket depot and the middle of nowhere (the edge of the country board). Loadings are reported to be good despite the lack of any station platforms along the route. This service is currently being operated by an HST, although plans are afoot to introduce a 150 in order to alleviate overcrowding and reduce operating boredom.

 

Here are a couple of shots of the current state of play...

 

 

 

Finally, a quick shot of a new kid on the block, my Christmas present. This is 37417, which is currently operating as a test loco for the baseboard joints. As you can see, it is in ex-works condition, having just emerged from Crewe works after the fitting of ETS. No doubt it won't stay that way for long.

 

 

My two Mk 2ds are also progressing and are now ready for the BR grey to be sprayed. More on that later.

 

Hope to be back soon with some more updates.

 

Cheers for now,

Dave

[Grimleygrid]

Hi Dave, good to see WW getting put back together again. Nice loco to test the boards!

[Waverley West]

Thanks Alex.

 

I spent all last night slaving away on The Mound Tunnel joint without any success whatsoever, as the boards just would not line up, with the result that the baseboard frame ends were so mangled they had to be replaced.

 

Some overnight thought enabled me to come up with the idea of making new ends with the alignment dowels already fitted and aligned. I fitted them to the boards over a slightly longer lunchtime break than normal and it's all fixed. Sometimes it really pays to take a step backwards for a moment and think about the best way to do something.

 

One baseboard joint to go now!

 

The next stage will be to join all the track up. For simplicity, I thought I would use screws screwed into the baseboard beneath the rails, rather than making copper-clad sleepers. Any views anyone has on this aspect would be greatly appreciated before I start!

 

I have now also ordered various connectors to connect up the boards electrically.

 

I have also decided to move the layout a little so that the station area will be in front of the window. That will make the lighting around the station better and give me more room for my future extension plans.

 

I'm getting there!

 

Cheers,

Dave

[bluefredie]

Hi Dave

Nice to see the layout comming back together I am sorry that I am living so far away

as I would so much like to see it in the flesh so to speak

My Parents used to live at South Tce Gt Broughton until the both passed away in1986/7

and I was a regular visitor both to Cockermouth and of course to Workington Station

doing some spotting class 25/40 etc Keep up the good work

any exhibitions planned

David

[Waverley West]

Thanks David.

 

No exhibitions planned as yet, but I am developing a modular idea for the layout, including a "WW Lite" version which will be much more portable, so exhibitions may be a possibility in the future.

 

Cheers,

Dave