Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[JeffP]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[emt_911]

All the best for a swift recovery

[sixoh8sixoh]

Get well soon! If you'd said it was your head hurting I certainly wouldn't have been surprised from the recent posts about inclines!

[aardvark]

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[chris p bacon]

Do you want another armfull of O neg?

 

Get well soon.

[Rowsley17D]

Do you want another armfull of O neg?

 

Get well soon.

Mine was taken yesterday. Hope it helps.

[gordon s]

Hi Guys.  Many thanks for all your best wishes.  It's always great to see RMweb at it's best and the the warmth from fellow modellers on here is wonderful to experience.

 

Happy to say I'm back home now.  Thankfully the CDIFF tests came back negative, but I did test positive for Norovirus and alarms bells rang all over the hospital.  The Acute Medical Unit is not the place to be and as I had certainly improved after rehydration, the best place for all concerned was home.  Another 24 hours and I should be up and running again...

 

Thanks for all your comments of curved gradients.  I now understand.  All my illustrations are single point shots and you're right, it is the risers at a set parallel measurement that are pulling the trackbed flat and not a natural tendency.  Despite the potential problems, I will continue down my original route as I'm confident that with carefully positioned risers, I can keep critical areas on the 'flat' and hopefully get away with it.  

 

In reality, testing will provide some guidance, but you won't really know until you run full length trains with the loco's of your choice in real situations, so onward and upward into the unknown.....

[PhilH]

Go on then, get on with it.....

[Siberian Snooper]

Gordon

 

Good too see you are back home and on the mend. I am now looking forward to the next ET instalment.

 

SS

[JeffP]

My wife works in a Primary school, and they had the norovirus amongst the staff just before summer. She flew out to me...and brought it me. I thought I was dying.....trying to control projectile vomiting and diarroeha at the same time is impossible, by the way.

 

Typhoid bloody Mary indeed!

[jukebox]

My wife works in a Primary school, and they had the norovirus amongst the staff just before summer. She flew out to me...and brought it me. I thought I was dying.....trying to control projectile vomiting and diarroeha at the same time is impossible, by the way.

 

Typhoid bloody Mary indeed!

 

If it weren't breakfast time here, given the mental picture that has resulted, I'd be tempted to ask which one you forewent control over.  Curiosity, Cat killed, etc. But let's just leave that as a rhetorical one.

[trisonic]

Aye, it’s always better at home...I hope you feel even better over the next few days, Gordon.

 

 

 

 

Best, Pete.

Edited March 4, 2016 by trisonic

[gordon s]

Let it all hang out?  According to BBC News this morning, that's reserved for Donald Trump....

 

Thankfully World Peace has been declared on our plumbing system.

 

So where are we after that temporary interlude?

 

Bits are starting to resemble my drawings, so that's a relief....

 

Starting from the top, here's the pair of C10 turnouts that split off from the continuous loop to form the feed and return for the reverse loop.  I've managed to get the tracks far enough apart that they will start with grassy banks to separate the lines.  That will then go into low, then half and finally full height retaining walls as the line dives under the flying junction.  The outer tracks are the 1:100 climb up to ET terminus. Again the separator will be a mix of grassy bank, grass embankment and full height retaining wall.  I'm trying to provide as much variation as possible, otherwise it will become totally flat and boring with yard after yard of walling.  Where walling is used, I'll deliberately change the lines to accommodate recesses, safety escapes and even culverts to keep it interesting.

 

The last module on the right will probably have to be reworked to accommodate the crossover/single slip complex that provides access to the new shed layout.  Adding the additional access/headshunt proposed by Alan will mean changes to the previous module to allow an fourth track to be laid inboard of the existing ones. Hey ho, not the end of the world, but at least at this stage it's only bits of wood rather than laid, wired and ballasted track and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages....:-)

 

 

 

So moving round over the stairwell, the ascending/descending tracks are starting to separate from the continuous loops and provide access to the reverse loop.  Here the separation widens out sufficiently for a grassy slope, particularly on the left hand (ascending) line.  As you can see a 1:100 gradient takes up a lot of room, with the descent running around three sides of the room before reaching the lower storage.  That was one of the problems that caused me so much grief at the front end.  Generating a gradient from a datum point is fairly straightforward, but once you introduce an under crossing to a line that is already descending it changes the issue completely.  You get into a Catch 22 situation because you are passing under a line that has already dropped 30-40mm.  You still need 82mm clearance (70mm + 12mm trackbed) which has now increased to say 112mm.  That needs a longer gradient slope and so it continues.  I must have spent hours and hours trying to resolve that one, but did finally appear to have resolved it without then having storage sidings on a slope.  Not an ideal solution for a rake of coaches with no loco to hold them in place...:-)

 

 

And onto the flying junction area.  Those of you who know the Wood Green area well will have fond memories of the Khyber Pass.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/3502444862/in/album-72157617526193082/

 

Edit:  Once you've opened the Khyber Pass pic, use the side arrows to see a lot more ECML pics from the Wood Green area.  Here's another couple of links to some great pics.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/4288985338/in/set-72157617700495966/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/3133757250/in/set-72157611599199008/

 

This was a goods relief line that crossed around and under the Hertford North flyover to allow trains to continue up the ECML.  It never occurred to me at the time, but Martin's suggestion of a flying junction has brought back memories of the Khyber Pass and I will take immense pleasure seeing a 9F with 40 odd wagons behind trundling around this part of ET.

 

I still have some work to do in this area before starting to tackle the plate girder bridge, but for once I'm not in a rush and it will take as long as it takes.

 

 

The last pic is to show just what an untidy worker I really am.  Close cropped pics never really tell the whole story, so this is my pit, warts and all.  No wonder my wife is horrified every time she ventures into my railway room....

 

 

You may well ask what is the vertical piece of timber clamped to the side of the baseboard frames.  That's my datum board for using a laser level on a tripod.  Have a good chuckle, but I've had so many problems laying gradients out in the past with spirit levels, gauges, floors not level, boards not level etc, etc, my solution was to build the frames, put them in position and level them.  Once they were set up, I could then set up all the gradients using a laser level on a tripod and take measurements from one central datum position.  I have a complete plan of the layout with all the gradient measurements mapped out for each foot of run.  These are shown as plus or minus numbers in millimetres from the datum level set by the continuous loops.  So far, so good.  It has worked and proven remarkably easy to use and is certainly a reliable method when working around the four sides of an 18' square room and expecting ends of trackbeds to come together after travelling 25' in each direction from a starting point.

 

At my age, I still use feet for large measurements and mm for small ones.  Those of us born in the baby boomer years have spent our whole lives in transition periods.  Steam to diesel, currency decimalisation and imperial to metric, so I'm quite comfortable using either.

 

I'm not sure if that's a blessing or not re measurements, but I'm certainly blessed to have lived with steam through the 50's and 60's....

 

Thanks again for all your contributions and best wishes.  Good to have you on board....

Edited March 4, 2016 by gordon s

[gordon s]

Flicking through some of the pics above, this one stopped me in my tracks again.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/3267486222/in/album-72157617526193082/

 

Could have been me standing there.  1962.  The home and distant signals up on the left of the gantry.  A sure sign of something on it's way from Hornsey in the distance.  A plume of smoke before anything, then a chime whistle and the hairs are up on the back of your neck.  You know it's an A4 and you're praying for Willie Whitelaw or Kingfisher....

 

Nothing like an A4 at speed with 10 or 12 coaches behind.  Sadly just a memory, but one that will keep me smiling today....

Edited March 4, 2016 by gordon s

[Buhar]

Good to have you back delivering more useful updates on ET.

[PhilH]

Let it all hang out?  According to BBC News this morning, that's reserved for Donald Trump....

 

Thankfully World Peace has been declared on our plumbing system.

 

So where are we after that temporary interlude?

 

Bits are starting to resemble my drawings, so that's a relief....

 

Starting from the top, here's the pair of C10 turnouts that split off from the continuous loop to form the feed and return for the reverse loop.  I've managed to get the tracks far enough apart that they will start with grassy banks to separate the lines.  That will then go into low, then half and finally full height retaining walls as the line dives under the flying junction.  The outer tracks are the 1:100 climb up to ET terminus. Again the separator will be a mix of grassy bank, grass embankment and full height retaining wall.  I'm trying to provide as much variation as possible, otherwise it will become totally flat and boring with yard after yard of walling.  Where walling is used, I'll deliberately change the lines to accommodate recesses, safety escapes and even culverts to keep it interesting.

 

The last module on the right will probably have to be reworked to accommodate the crossover/single slip complex that provides access to the new shed layout.  Adding the additional access/headshunt proposed by Alan will mean changes to the previous module to allow an fourth track to be laid inboard of the existing ones. Hey ho, not the end of the world, but at least at this stage it's only bits of wood rather than laid, wired and ballasted track and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages....:-)

 

DSCF7971.jpg

 

DSCF7977 (1).jpg

 

So moving round over the stairwell, the ascending/descending tracks are starting to separate from the continuous loops and provide access to the reverse loop.  Here the separation widens out sufficiently for a grassy slope, particularly on the left hand (ascending) line.  As you can see a 1:100 gradient takes up a lot of room, with the descent running around three sides of the room before reaching the lower storage.  That was one of the problems that caused me so much grief at the front end.  Generating a gradient from a datum point is fairly straightforward, but once you introduce an under crossing to a line that is already descending it changes the issue completely.  You get into a Catch 22 situation because you are passing under a line that has already dropped 30-40mm.  You still need 82mm clearance (70mm + 12mm trackbed) which has now increased to say 112mm.  That needs a longer gradient slope and so it continues.  I must have spent hours and hours trying to resolve that one, but did finally appear to have resolved it without then having storage sidings on a slope.  Not an ideal solution for a rake of coaches with no loco to hold them in place...:-)

 

DSCF7980 (1).jpg

 

And onto the flying junction area.  Those of you who know the Wood Green area well will have fond memories of the Khyber Pass.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/3502444862/in/album-72157617526193082/

 

Edit:  Once you've opened the Khyber Pass pic, use the side arrows to see a lot more ECML pics from the Wood Green area.  Here's another couple of links to some great pics.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/4288985338/in/set-72157617700495966/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31514768@N05/3133757250/in/set-72157611599199008/

 

This was a goods relief line that crossed around and under the Hertford North flyover to allow trains to continue up the ECML.  It never occurred to me at the time, but Martin's suggestion of a flying junction has brought back memories of the Khyber Pass and I will take immense pleasure seeing a 9F with 40 odd wagons behind trundling around this part of ET.

 

I still have some work to do in this area before starting to tackle the plate girder bridge, but for once I'm not in a rush and it will take as long as it takes.

 

DSCF7979.jpg

 

The last pic is to show just what an untidy worker I really am.  Close cropped pics never really tell the whole story, so this is my pit, warts and all.  No wonder my wife is horrified every time she ventures into my railway room....

 

DSCF7975.jpg

 

You may well ask what is the vertical piece of timber clamped to the side of the baseboard frames.  That's my datum board for using a laser level on a tripod.  Have a good chuckle, but I've had so many problems laying gradients out in the past with spirit levels, gauges, floors not level, boards not level etc, etc, my solution was to build the frames, put them in position and level them.  Once they were set up, I could then set up all the gradients using a laser level on a tripod and take measurements from one central datum position.  I have a complete plan of the layout with all the gradient measurements mapped out for each foot of run.  These are shown as plus or minus numbers in millimetres from the datum level set by the continuous loops.  So far, so good.  It has worked and proven remarkably easy to use and is certainly a reliable method when working around the four sides of an 18' square room and expecting ends of trackbeds to come together after travelling 25' in each direction from a starting point.

 

At my age, I still use feet for large measurements and mm for small ones.  Those of us born in the baby boomer years have spent our whole lives in transition periods.  Steam to diesel, currency decimalisation and imperial to metric, so I'm quite comfortable using either.

 

I'm not sure if that's a blessing or not re measurements, but I'm certainly blessed to have lived with steam through the 50's and 60's....

 

Thanks again for all your contributions and best wishes.  Good to have you on board....

Disappointed. I understood most of that.

[Ray H]

Gordon

 

You sound so upbeat about the current plan that I truly hope that it achieves all you hope it will. You deserve it after all the variations you've been through including those involving the latest overall scheme.

 

I just can't wait to see some track down, some scenery in place and you at peace with the world simply watching the trains go by.

 

All the best.

[islandbridgejct]

Gordon

 

You sound so upbeat about the current plan that I truly hope that it achieves all you hope it will. You deserve it after all the variations you've been through including those involving the latest overall scheme.

 

I just can't wait to see some track down, some scenery in place and you at peace with the world simply watching the trains go by.

 

All the best.

I think this one's going to be a cracker!

:locomotive:

[45156]

I just can't wait to see some track down, some scenery in place and you at peace with the world simply watching the trains go by.

 

Not forgetting that your nephew also wants to see some trains if I recall.

[60012 Commonwealth of Australia]

Just spent about a dozen hours reading through the thread!

Not sure what Gordon will think, logging in to find that he has 700+ notifications

(sorry )

Looks great. Hopefully we will see some trains!!!

I thought I was bad, and I only tore up a third of the layout, once, and did other minor notifications! Then again, I did just tear it all up to go P4...

 

Looks great! If only my woodworking skills were anywhere near your standards... Maybe I'd have decent baseboards!!

 

Keep up the good work and I'm waiting for the first trains to run!

 

Peter

[gordon s]

Many thanks C of A for your kind words.  This pic goes back a long way, but saw your name and couldn't resist pulling this one out of the archive from some years ago...

 

 

Well it's been an interesting few weeks.  Managed to get over Norovirus, but that blew a big hole in my immune system and a wonderful chest infection said many thanks for leaving the door open and wiped me out for another three weeks.  I was barely out of bed for two weeks until a third of a course of antibiotics finally got to grips with the bug that was attacking me and causing a very healthy cough 24 hours a day. Thankfully I've turned the corner at last and even managed to do a little work on ET over the last couple of days. 

 

Funny how things cross your mind when you are laid up in bed and have little to think about.  The first thought I had was one relating to Euston underground station and memories I had as a kid.  I started a thread on that one and RMwebber's stepped forward to confirm what I recalled as a child.

 

The second one was one of total panic.  When I was working I was lucky enough to have a decent job which allowed me to have several DJH loco's professionally built by Graham Varley of Ely.  Over a period of several years I had numerous locos built, all of which have been stored away.  Having been retired for over eight years now, the loco's have been in storage for probably 12 years now and barely turned a wheel. I recall they were all carefully wrapped in tissue paper and kitchen roll and whilst laying in bed I suddenly had this thought that just suppose they had been wrapped in tissue/kitchen roll that wasn't acid free and it had attacked the paintwork.

 

I feared the worst, but thankfully all was OK.  Despite a slight covering in dust the paintwork was fine and all will make an appearance on ET later this year if all goes to plan.

 

Long before Bachmann released their RTR loco's, you were left with kit or scratch built loco's.  Here's Graham's take on a K3.  Still in good shape and waiting for a half decent run with 30-40 wagons in tow.

 

 

The final shot was taken this morning.  Woodwork all but complete with just the flying junction bridge to build, but trackbed starting to go down and waiting for some SMP to be laid.  Getting nearer.....

 

 

 

 

 

[aardvark]

Sure glad you're back with us again.

[PhilH]

Many thanks C of A for your kind words.  This pic goes back a long way, but saw your name and couldn't resist pulling this one out of the archive from some years ago...

 

IMG_8490-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Which was when the local tip operator was driving a Yugo instead of the Roller he drives today....

 

To me, that photo looks fantastic, you should have stuck instead of twisting.....

[G.M.R.]

Which was when the local tip operator was driving a Yugo instead of the Roller he drives today....

 

To me, that photo looks fantastic, you should have stuck instead of twisting.....

I agree that and many other old photos of Gordon's look fantastic. I'm going to dare to raise a criticism though in the hope that Gordon might appreciate the feedback. Here goes. He (and others) have made, and make some terrific looking hand built point work for which I am very jealous. But then I think they are spoiled by the use of a Dremel disc run up the centre of the sleepers leaving a groove. I know the copper needs to be cleared, but why not take the time to carefully remove with a file or emery paper so that no mark remains? I think it would turn an already super track model into a totally perfect one which might be hard to distinguish from the prototype when photographed with Gordon's photography skills.

 

There, I said it. Hope we are still friends!

[Rowsley17D]

I quite agree Geoff. A few swipes with a half-rounded diamond file soon does the trick and no gaps to hide or fill in.