Copenhagen Fields

[CF MRC]

The tunnels will have cutaways to show the lines / trains. In the next stage this will include the northern approaches to YR station with the track shown in red in this image. (Edit: not the red lines on the floor!) 

The track height is actually about 15’ deeper than it should be, as we are constrained by the depth of our baseboards. Foolishly, when we were planning the layout 40 years ago we hadn’t thought that York Road tube would be modelled…
 

Tim

Edited October 24, 2023 by CF MRC

[east barnet andy]

Tim , if this is the penultimate CF baseboard ,  one wonders ( at least this one does . . . )  where will the last one be ???

[D-A-T]

8 hours ago, CF MRC said:

The tunnels will have cutaways to show the lines / trains. In the next stage this will include the northern approaches to YR station with the track shown in red in this image. 

The track height is actually about 15’ deeper than it should be, as we are constrained by the depth of our baseboards. Foolishly, when we were planning the layout 40 years ago we hadn’t thought that York Road tube would be modelled…
 

Tim

Won’t the Exhibition/Hall Managers have something to say about you digging up their hall floor to get your deep underground lines in??!! 🤣

[Nick Mitchell]

I'm waiting for somebody to model something like this in T gauge:

[CF MRC]

14 hours ago, D-A-T said:

Won’t the Exhibition/Hall Managers have something to say about you digging up their hall floor to get your deep underground lines in??!! 🤣

I hadn’t noted the red lines on the floor and also the out of date nature of that photo; the whole of the south end has undergone a lot of work since then.  
 

Re: Andy’s question, the last baseboard will be the one that takes the tube in front of the cemetery building under Belle Isle & the NLR.
 

Re: Nick’s complex tube tunnels and for illustrative purposes, (please do not copy and publish elsewhere) here are the plans showing the crossover at the north of YR. There was a signal cabin at the north end of the northbound platform, but this would be out of sight. I am quite tempted to flip it to the visible platform. 

 

 

 

Quite a challenge and all this will take a while to complete. 
 

Tim
 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by CF MRC

[CF MRC]

And now for something a little bit different. When CF was last being erected Justin Colson took a few pictures of the various stages involved for setting up the main ring of baseboards. I don’t think anyone has shown how layouts get assembled on RMWeb, and if they have, it is very unlikely that they are as complex as CF. Many of you will have seen all this happening at shows; please forgive me if it’s a bit boring. So here goes, with a few comments along the way. 

The first part of the layout to be made was the north end and that is where setting up begins. There are four fiddle yard boards that get bolted together as a ‘C’ laying on their side. The leg boxes that these sit on can be seen in the foreground, the redlines show the baseboard joints.

This whole assembly is lifted onto the leg boxes which are set out at the correct distance using a length of string as a gauge (at Keen House there are marks on the floor.) The leg boxes also act as storage containers and have levelling feet at the bottom.

Here, Simon Humphries is demonstrating that all bolts are equal but some are more equal than others, with Rob Stewart looking on whimsically. Very occasionally a longer bolt will be needed in a particular joint - these ought to be marked - but where’s the fun in that?

The two front Holloway Bank boards are removed from their case and bolted together, whilst resting on their sides on the floor. Our 10mm bolts are a precise fit in 8” steel tubes in each board, ensuring reasonably reliable alignment and strength. The direction the bolt is inserted can be seen by the blue arrow. The second bolt is on the floor (green circle).

The whole of the HB front is then lifted onto the open gate legs and two bolts inserted at each end from underneath. At the south end the bolts both go in the same direction.

At the north end they go in opposite directions. Our next job will be to mark up bolt direction on the layout underside. Getting these bolts in place can be quite a struggle because the floor may not be level or flat.

Once the first ring is set up, the gates are taken away from supporting the layout and it is then precisely levelled, using a bespoke spirit level on known reference marks.

Once these four feet are adjusted to make the boards absolutely level, then the gate legs are moved back under the layout to give more support, taking up the level with their own feet (yellow arrow).

The next stage is to put in place the massive Belle Isle board. This travels in its own case and is quite tricky to handle. It also travels with the NLR link board which can be seen in the top left of the box. In order to lift it out of the box there is a massive truncheon-like rod which is screwed firmly into the framework (white arrow - it also has other ruder names) as well as a steel ‘bale hook’ that engages with a hole in the RH baseboard end. Two individuals then lift the board vertically in the box whilst another two move the box away from the board. It is then rested on its back face awaiting assembly.

Prior to lifting into place the three baseboard bolts and nut closers are laid out on the floor (green circles) whilst the fixing holes are show with blue arrows. For the first ten years of construction, this was more or less the full extent of the layout.

The longitudinal position of the leg box supporting this board is located by using the important piece of string with marks on it. A team of three-four people then lift this board into place, resting a lip onto the northern boards. Meanwhile, a brave soul goes underneath and slips in the long steel bolts and does up the nut closers. It is then levelled, paying attention to its level in the L & R as well as front to back directions.

It is important to check out the central baseboard joint for all alignments on the six GNR lines that cross it as well as the hidden NLR link board. Various ‘persuading’ instruments may be called in to play.

The pace of assembly now accelerates as the Belle Isle south board is daisy-chained on to the big board. This is just about supported by another leg box and fold-out gate leg. Again it is checked for level, against known reference points.

Going round the corner (into KX) we have the Sopwith board. Why that name? Well it looks like the tail plane of a Sopwith Camel aeroplane. It is bolted in two directions to the Belle Isle south board.

Levelling is, as always, critical.

The final behemoth baseboard that completes the ring is the 10’ x 2’ Big Fiddle Yard board. This is a four person lift and slips in north end first and then the south. There are precision joiners at the north end and it’s on the ‘to-do’ list for the south.

The final operational boards to be inserted are the NLR link board (and fiddle yard) and the KX Goods board which covers a large area and locks into place next to the NLR viaduct and has three precision dowel bolts locating it to the BFB. The ruler in this view shows a 6’ length for scale.

So there we have it. The shear size of CF makes it essential that it is assembled in a totally reliable and reproducible way. It is quite hard work to set up (MRC membership is cheaper than a gym) and maybe it’s now obvious why we only attend two shows a year. Of course, this is only about 2/3rds of the story as all the scenic sections, back scenes, ‘Toblerone’ lighting proscenium, barriers and other add-ons such as the tube are there to complete the scene. 

Apologies for the exceedingly long post and a self-administered pat on the back for anyone who got to the end…

 

Tim
 

Edited October 24, 2023 by CF MRC

[Kylestrome]

3 hours ago, CF MRC said:

Various ‘persuading’ instruments may be called in to play.

 

The "Instruments of Persuasion" are wielded in the most benign way possible, I presume?

 

David

[CF MRC]

1 hour ago, Kylestrome said:

 

The "Instruments of Persuasion" are wielded in the most benign way possible, I presume?

 

David

But of course David! A sharp tap with a Mallet is sometimes useful to overcome stiction.  
 

Tim

[Grafarman]

Fascinating post for all of us who never get to see layouts being assembled prior to shows etc, particularly one as complex as this.

To me it's amazing that over the years the various boards that make up CF haven't warped or shifted but still connect so cleanly, given that some are quite a bit older than others.

I still haven't seen CF 'in the flesh' - I really must make that my goal for next year...

 

David

[Sithlord75]

On 25/10/2023 at 07:33, Kylestrome said:

 

The "Instruments of Persuasion" are wielded in the most benign way possible, I presume?

 

David

 

One of the instruments of persuasion which was deployed at the 2mmDJ expo in Derby 2022.  Attracted quite the crowd who marvelled at the skilful precision of the application.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Sithlord75
adjusting photo sizes

[CF MRC]

 

2 hours ago, Grafarman said:

 

To me it's amazing that over the years the various boards that make up CF haven't warped or shifted but still connect so cleanly, given that some are quite a bit older than others.

I still haven't seen CF 'in the flesh' - I really must make that my goal for next year...

 

David

David, our baseboards and joiners are ‘over engineered’. The main baseboard structures are based on a box beam type construction, developed by Mike Randall, using high quality thin birch ply. This has stood the test of time (40 years in 2024). 

Our upcoming exhibitions are:
Warley November 25-26th

Railex Buxton 6-7th July 2024

Ally Pally March 2025

Manchester December 2025

York Easter 2026

Swansea September 2026

 

If you want to see the layout up close then MRC Open Days sometimes feature it. Perhaps we should do a special 40th birthday do at Keen House in the Autumn of 2024. 

 

Tim

Edited October 25, 2023 by CF MRC

[Caley Jim]

17 hours ago, CF MRC said:

But of course David! A sharp tap with a Mallet is sometimes useful to overcome stiction.  
 

Tim

Engineering is 90% knowing which hammer to use and 10% knowing where to hit it. Tim will have had plenty practice removing impacted teeth with a bone chisel and mallet! 😃

Jim 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Caley Jim
correcting auto correct!

[CF MRC]

Not really my specialty knocking out wizzies, Jim, but I did use that technique when I was an assistant house surgeon. 
 

Tim

[Kylestrome]

9 minutes ago, CF MRC said:

Not really my specialty knocking out wizzies, Jim

 

When dental practitioners get together ... 😧

[figworthy]

7 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

Engineering is 90% knowing which hammer to use and 10% knowing where to hit it. Tim will have had plenty practice removing impacted teeth with a bone chisel and mallet! 😃

Jim 

 

You forgot knowing how hard to hit it.

 

Adrian

[Caley Jim]

3 minutes ago, figworthy said:

You forgot knowing how hard to hit it.

Isn't that implied by the size of the hammer?

 

Jim

[figworthy]

8 minutes ago, Caley Jim said:

Isn't that implied by the size of the hammer?

 

Jim

 

Not always.  There are places that a toffee hammer will reach that a sledge hammer won't.  A good wallop with a toffee hammer could get the same result as a gentle tap with a sledge hammer.

 

Adrian

[Doncaster Green]

Speaking as one who had 4 wisdom teeth extracted under GA, TMI !!!

[CF MRC]

After some fairly steady and tricky work the station platforms for York Road are now sketched in.  The 100% accurate artwork for the tiles is courtesy of Douglas Rose, author of the superb and very rare ‘Tiles  of the Unexpected, Underground’. The patterns were printed on fairly stiff 250gsm silk-faced card.

The platform surface is currently unattached, just sitting passively in this photo.
 

The whole project is complicated by the compound horizontal curvature of the station platform and the tube structure itself. The main supports consist of 2mm MDF ribs cut using the Model Railway Club’s laser cutting facility: these are strategically attached to 0.8mm thick ply sub-base. 
Pip is guarding the board here: last time he worked on YR he was but a puppy. 
 

The tiled card was rolled on a soft cushion with a polished steel rod. It would probably have worked better with Piccadilly Line moquette, rather than Routemaster. 
The adverse curvature of the station platforms is accommodated by breaking the tile run either side of the crossway entrances. These entrance sections were touched in with a red marker pen to avoid unsightly dodgy edges.

The area above the dado was painted white, just in case there were any gaps showing between the card sections. 

The 700mm long fully tiled walls do look rather pretty (if I do say so myself) and bring a station back to life that closed 91 years ago. 

There is a lot more work to do…

 

Tim

[faulcon1]

Someone on YT has uploaded the TV program "A Line Side Look at Model Railways and Tim is interviewed by the late Bob Symes for the layout Chiltern Green. Tim is or was one of those gentleman modellers for he's wearing a tie. I've seen the Chiltern Green layout at the South Devon Railway center although it was not running at the time being housed in a Mk1 coach. But that was twenty three years ago now.  

[Klaus ojo]

Thanks for that hint.

I did enjoy it very much.

(For me without British background this is all quite new)

for easier access:

 beginning at 8:45 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Klaus ojo

[CF MRC]

That film was made around 1982. CG & LH had a relatively short, but busy exhibition life. I have no idea where it is now, it was sold by the South Devon Railway Centre two or three years ago. 
 

CF will be 40 years old next year, so maybe we should run something at Keen House for the anniversary in the autumn. 
 

York Road is currently taking 110% of my spare time. 

 

Warley is just 19 days away…

 

Tim

 

[bécasse]

At least with York Road you won't need to put many people on the platform!

[CF MRC]

Well actually David we might. As there is an ‘incident’ at KX the westbound trains will be stopping at YR and reversing. There might then be a queue for the lifts…

 

I have just finished modelling the lift lobby. The signalman in the box will be very busy. 

 

Tim 

[faulcon1]

17 hours ago, Klaus ojo said:

Thanks for that hint.

I did enjoy it very much.

(For me without British background this is all quite new)

for easier access:

 beginning at 8:45 

Tim, how many people in this still from the program are in the MRC of London today and working on and operating CF.