Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[Ray H]

Gordon

 

Yours and Tetleys are two threads that I check for updates on the forum on an almost daily basis. Whilst I may aspire to get even 1% of Dave's skills, your track building had egged me on to build my own and I'm doing my hardest to improve the woodwork in my baseboards as a result of seeing yours.

 

I'm sure there are plenty on here who dip in from time to time even if not daily and would miss your posts if you were to stop. Please don't desert us now.

[tom82]

Another lurker here, If I see an update I always have a read to see the progression which is always to a high standard.

 

Keep it coming!

[jukebox]

Gordon - all I can say is that with 230 followers, you are doing something right; Heck, youre doing most things right!

 

We all appreciate your skill - those of us who are layout building also know that each hour spent posting is an hour you could have been modelling.

 

Post as you see fit - but know we will always be behind you, supporting, advising, and wishing we could do the job half as well as you do.

 

Regards

 

Scott

[Alister_G]

Gordon, just to add my twopenn'orth, I too would be very sorry to see this thread die a death, I check it frequently for inspiration and ideas.

 

I think all of us with layout threads would acknowledge that the forum is so busy nowadays that when you make a post, the thread disappears downwards at an alarming rate, and as you say it soon becomes lost off the bottom of the page. However, this does not reflect a lack of interest, just a lack of time to catch up.

 

I also offer the thought that perhaps many people like myself are happy to come and look, but are quite tentative about offering you advice, as you are just so damn good at what you do!

 

All the best,

 

Al.

[trisonic]

I think I've learnt more from this particular thread than any other single thread on RMWeb. No, Gordon is not Brainiac (just a regular Egghead...) but it also attracts a lot of thoughtful answers and comments too.

 

I was thinking of using plain material and then utilising some of this companies products for details: http://www.archertransfers.com/

 

Best, Pete.

[Robert McGee]

I still read up Gordon. I find that I log myself in just to see if anything has been done, whether or not I have done any more modelling recently. It's looking good though, so keep up with it, and don't get put of by a hurdle. 

[Andrew P]

Hi Gordon, I like many it seams pops in every day or so for bit   LOT           of inspiration so please PLEASE keep the pics coming.

 

Great Stuff.

 

Andy

[gordon s]

Thanks guys for your kind comments. It's funny even though I saw there are supposedly 230 people following my ramblings, I got the impression there was just a hard core of a dozen or so, who posted a like from time to time and the broader membership here just passed ET by. Not really a problem because as I said, it's more of a diary that provides a time line and a record of all the disasters that have passed my way since the first version of RMWeb. Even this incarnation goes back the best part of four years and it really gives me great pleasure to think anyone has enjoyed my scribbles on the ups and downs of this hobby.

 

If ever there was a prize for a never ending story, we could be up there....:-)

 

Of course I will continue these ramblings around a world we love and please don't think for one minute you can't comment or offer some input. I welcome creative thoughts that will improve ET. I certainly don't have all the answers and despite your positive comments, I know where short cuts have been taken and where standards fall well short of some of the true masterpieces on here. On the plus side though, I know my own limitations but still take pleasure from seeing something that resembles a railway, even though it will never be a Pendon.

 

So onward and upward, even though I'm sick of the sight of ply strips...

Edited September 14, 2013 by gordon s

[mightbe]

I've been a lurker for ages, and only recently signed up. Your layout was perhaps the one I checked most often. Might we see the current layout plan? 

[hayfield]

Thanks guys for your kind comments. It's funny even though I saw there are supposedly 230 people following my ramblings, I got the impression there was just a hard core of a dozen or so, who posted a like from time to time and the broader membership here just passed ET by. Not really a problem because as I said, it's more of a diary that provides a time line and a record of all the disasters that have passed my way since the first version of RMWeb. Even this incarnation goes back the best part of four years and it really gives me great pleasure to think anyone has enjoyed my scribbles on the ups and downs of this hobby.

 

If ever there was a prize for a never ending story, we could be up there....:-)

 

Of course I will continue these ramblings around a world we love and please don't think for one minute you can't comment or offer some input. I welcome creative thoughts that will improve ET. I certainly don't have all the answers and despite your positive comments, I know where short cuts have been taken and where standards fall well short of some of the true masterpieces on here. On the plus side though, I know my own limitations but still take pleasure from seeing something that resembles a railway, even though it will never be a Pendon.

 

So onward and upward, even though I'm sick of the sight of ply strips...

 

Thanks guys for your kind comments. It's funny even though I saw there are supposedly 230 people following my ramblings, I got the impression there was just a hard core of a dozen or so, who posted a like from time to time and the broader membership here just passed ET by. Not really a problem because as I said, it's more of a diary that provides a time line and a record of all the disasters that have passed my way since the first version of RMWeb. Even this incarnation goes back the best part of four years and it really gives me great pleasure to think anyone has enjoyed my scribbles on the ups and downs of this hobby.

 

If ever there was a prize for a never ending story, we could be up there....:-)

 

Of course I will continue these ramblings around a world we love and please don't think for one minute you can't comment or offer some input. I welcome creative thoughts that will improve ET. I certainly don't have all the answers and despite your positive comments, I know where short cuts have been taken and where standards fall well short of some of the true masterpieces on here. On the plus side though, I know my own limitations but still take pleasure from seeing something that resembles a railway, even though it will never be a Pendon.

 

So onward and upward, even though I'm sick of the sight of ply strips...

 

 

Gordon

 

I think there are far more than 230 people watching, I guess there are many like me who wave not pressed the follow me button. Keep up the great work. I am looking forward to seeing the trackwork finished on the bridge

[trustytrev]

Gordon

 

I think there are far more than 230 people watching, I guess there are many like me who wave not pressed the follow me button. Keep up the great work. I am looking forward to seeing the trackwork finished on the bridge

Hello,

         Where does one find this button?

trustytrev.

[gordon s]

Once you open a topic, at the top of the page under 'View new Content' should be a button that says 'Follow this Topic'.....

 

OK, here is the current track plan with some guidance notes.

 

The design brief was to simplify everything yet have the capability to run several trains at once with at least 7/8 coaches or 30 wagons.  

 

No gradients.

 

No complex pointwork.

 

A railway primarily to watch trains go by.

 

A shed area to house numerous locomotives.

 

To be built in phases.  First the loops, then the storage and finally the MPD/shed.

 

The goal is to get something running asap whilst work continues on the build.

 

ET is on two levels with no connection between them.  The freight lines run around the outside 82mm above the lower levels.

 

ET station is a simple through station with no dedicated MPD/shed, although there is a stand alone shed area.

 

No hidden pointwork.

 

Simple track formations in all hidden/tunnelled areas.

 

Can be operated by one person or several operators.

 

Set in BR Eastern Region during the crossover period to diesel although anything and everything may run when no one is looking...:-)

 

The industrial area is still to be designed.

 

No country scenes or thatched cottages.  Urban grot will rule.

 

Easy access to all areas of the layout for cleaning and maintenance.

 

.....and here it is.....

 

Each square equals one foot.  The room is 18' x 18'

 

Edit:  I recognise there will have to be some wrong way running to get passenger trains back into the storage area, but I can turn a blind eye to that occasionally...:-)

 

.....or use a shunter for empty stock.

 

Edited September 14, 2013 by gordon s

[Type2]

this is my first post, but I have been watching, Eastwood Town, Peterborough North, and Tetley town, this is the sort of modelling that I can only dream of.

[Andrew P]

Good Evening Gordon, That is such a simple and FOOL PROOF plan I like the simple Station idea. 

 

I love seeing new ideas ready for when I start my new build after the House move, I have just seen a couple of tricks that I might be able to modify to fit my room.

 

Cheers Andy

[mightbe]

Wonderful plan--simple, but functional. 

 

I don't know how far along you are with staging construction, but might I make one suggestion: make the upper storage tracks on a removable board and put 5-6 passenger ones directly underneath. That way you get a wider aisle along the maintenance area, without compromising storage capacity or accessibility. 

[gordon s]

Nice idea, but a non starter as that would break two rules.  

 

Even with a removable section, you couldn't see in practice what you were doing on the lower level with the upper level in use.  You could not uncouple locos manually and auto uncoupling is fine if you can see exactly where the loco is.  Once hidden it would be nigh on impossible.

 

Of more importance though and I should have said this in the notes, I have a minimum radius rule of 3' and there is insufficient room to accommodate the pointwork.  You cannot take the pointwork off the access curve and taking the pointwork off the straight section would end up with storage roads only a few feet long under the upper level.

 

As it is, each road is a minimum of 8' to take 7 coach trains or 20+ wagons.

 

I cannot go wider as I have a minimum gangway of 2' on the MPD side and the stairwell on the other.

Edited September 14, 2013 by gordon s

[Ray H]

Gordon

 

Looking at the passenger part of the plan, how do you plan to reverse trains on the main part of the layout and are you envisaging wrong road running in a number of places or are there a few turnouts missing from the plan?

[Southernboy]

Just to wave my hand in the air and say 'hello' - I'm another that follows your thread regularly

 

Thanks for posting the layout plan, I'd sort of lost track of the overview, but now feel more familiar with proceedings.

[gordon s]

Gordon

 

Looking at the passenger part of the plan, how do you plan to reverse trains on the main part of the layout and are you envisaging wrong road running in a number of places or are there a few turnouts missing from the plan?

 

Apologies Ray, I added this to the plan notes...

 

"Edit:  I recognise there will have to be some wrong way running to get passenger trains back into the storage area, but I can turn a blind eye to that occasionally...:-)

 

.....or use a shunter for empty stock".

 

It has to be that way as there is no room to add a reverse curve similar to that of the goods loops.  In order to keep things simple, I vowed not to add complex pointwork or any form of slip.  I did look at the possibility of adding access to the storage from the other end and create a reversing loop at the same time, but that meant a duck under and at 65 and getting older by the day, that was also a no no.

 

Ultimately it was a compromise that had to be made.  It won't worry me as I can turn a blind eye to that and if you don't photograph those movements, no one will be any wiser...:-)

 

There is one change that I will make though.  The crossover on the goods loops in the top right of the plan will be probably be moved down towards ET station as the industrial area may well extend into that corner and the main lines tunnel underneath.  That will hide the 'train setty' appearance of the overall plan and help disguise the very basic configuration.  It may well be I will break one of my own rules and add a single slip to the release from the industrial area at the top of the plan as without one it would then mean wrong road running through the tunnel until the crossover is reached.

 

The alternative would be to add a headshunt down the left hand side of the plan between the goods loops and MPD so that trains run out of the industrial area and reverse in the headshunt before continuing in a clockwise direction.  That would possibly mean pointwork on the flyover bridge and I'm not keen on that.

 

These are all possible changes that I am thinking about, but sooner or later you have to start to build something or nothing will happen.  The stairwell board was finalised, so a start has been made.

Edited September 15, 2013 by gordon s

[Rowsley17D]

Hi Gordon, another of the 230 followers here. It was your turnout building skills that got me interested in what you are up to as I want to go down this route with my own layout. So keep up the good work and keep posting.

[gordon s]

Apologies for the lack of updates, guys, but one way or another it's been a bit of a rough few weeks for our family.  First was the diagnosis of my BiL with lung cancer resulting in the removal of around 3/4 of one of his lungs.  He had his op and is making good progress.  Then it was my other SiL's turn.  They came over from Spain to have a holiday with us in the UK and she felt unwell towards the end of the break.  Got back to Spain and within 24 hours was in hospital with pancreatic cancer.  Had her op a week or so ago and is now without her pancreas, spleen and part of her stomach.  Currently out of intensive care and again making good progress, thanks to the talent of the surgeons and medical staff in Malaga hospital.  All of that took it's toll on my wife and meant ET went out of the window completely.  My only escape was the odd game of golf where a combination of male banter and fresh air did me the world of good.  Shot my best ever score with Eldavo and GMR of this parish, so thanks guys for lifting the doom and gloom at that time.

 

So here we are a few weeks later and funnily enough it was seeing Pete Waterman on Piers Morgan's chat show that started me off again.  Seeing a few brief images of Leamington Spa made me want to get up and get going again, so first step was to fit the board over the stairwell and start the next bit round the loops.  Even though this first board will have to come out again for final finishing, it has renewed my enthusiasm for starting the next bit.  Those of you who have followed this tale for years will know I'm a good starter but lousy finisher, so starting a new board will give me lift.  My view is that they all have to be done at some time or another and a change of scenery can do you the world of good.

 

So first stage was to enlist the help of my dear lady wife and for her to use all the strength her 5'2" can muster to lift the stairwell board into place.  I'm very pleased to say and even more relieved to see that it fitted almost first time.  It's all very well measuring and measuring but you never really know it's correct until finally lifted into place.

 

 

The overbridge is far from finished, but at least it's heading in the right direction.  The two stair finials will be removed to allow access to the elevated goods loops, but left to one side so they can be replaced should we ever move..:-)

 

I managed to secure a few more boards from Brilliant Baseboards before they shut down, so decided to use them on the sides of the layout and then fill in all the odd shapes with 75 x 25 timber with legs cut from 45 x 45.  It was easier to do this in one piece so here's both boards bolted together and shunted into position.

 

 

The final stage of this update was to print off all the A4's from Templot and sit patiently and tape them together.  It's one of those jobs I quite enjoy as the layout starts to take shape and you can see the flow in full size form.  I just wish the rest of track laying was equally simple.

 

 

 

That's about it really.  The events of the last few weeks have once again made me aware of our fragile existence on this planet, but in the end family are so much more important.  

 

After all said and done, it's only a train set….:-)

 

Hopefully progress will continue.

 

 

 

 

[Pete Harvey]

The bridge looks great Gordon I'm glad I could of been of help.

 

Pete

[trisonic]

I have to say that I got a real feeling of deja vu seeing that stairwell again!

 

It's true what you say about families/train sets but I do believe that it is important for one's sanity to have a break from real life and do something completely different. It satisfies part of the Soul that is otherwise out of reach.

I'm lucky in that, if necessary I can wail away on one of my guitars which does the same for me (because my lack of modelling talent just gets me more frustrated)!

 

So, don't feel bad about it is what I'm saying...

 

Looking forward to more.

 

Best, Pete.

[gordon s]

That was the week that was….and most definitely unplanned!

 

Spent all of Tuesday night in the bathroom and finally lost 6lbs of weight in 8 hours, so next port of call was an ambulance with blues and two going full tilt to be taken into the Royal Berks Hospital, severely dehydrated. Finally managed to escape last night, having spent a the best part of a week on various drips etc whilst they rebalanced my whole system.  Many thanks to the doctors and nurses at the RBH.  You guys did a grand job...

 

Golf has taken a back seat for 24 hours and so I have returned to my other love, trackbuilding.  How I wish I could have had a work station in the hospital as laying around in bed all day is not my idea of fun…

 

What seemed an easily attainable 36" radius minimum, has started to stretch turnouts way beyond anything I envisaged at the outset and this E14 turnout to the shed area is physically 2' long, so will take a while to get together.  The principles of course are just the same, just a few more joints and a slightly longer crossing area.  Glad to say that the first pass with my virtually rigid 0-6-0 chassis has been OK and hopefully this will be completed in an hour or so.

 

A couple more turnouts to complete for this corner board and then I can get back to tracklaying.  

 

These must be happy days, I'm still breathing…:-)

 

 

 

[hayfield]

Gordon

 

Glad you are OK now and know how you feel being stuck in hospital for a week. Pity you did not tell us on this thread, we could have corresponded with you in hospital. Also I am starting to get my interest back in Golf, played a lovely 9 hole course 2 weeks ago whilst on a midweek break "Leckford Old Course" designed by Harry Cole in the 30's. Its just north of Winchester and well worth a visit.

 

Given the size of the turnout I guess a 2-10-0 would glide through it. Interesting to see your build approach to the turnout.