Copenhagen Fields

[CF MRC]

Basically, 50%. Mike Randall (on my left) and myself. A lot the of the team who worked on CG & LH transferred to CF. Many are still involved with a group that is very dispersed & international. The core group who work on the layout and exhibit it are generally closer to London, but projects are outsourced, even to the far side of the world. 
 

The group is far from exclusive, but we do have some good modellers involved and play to peoples strengths and preferences. 
 

Tim

[bbishop]

I watched the video and received a jolt in seelng my late friend, Mike Hayward.  Bill

[faulcon1]

On 05/11/2023 at 23:02, CF MRC said:

Basically, 50%. Mike Randall (on my left) and myself. A lot the of the team who worked on CG & LH transferred to CF. Many are still involved with a group that is very dispersed & international. The core group who work on the layout and exhibit it are generally closer to London, but projects are outsourced, even to the far side of the world. 
 

The group is far from exclusive, but we do have some good modellers involved and play to peoples strengths and preferences. 
 

Tim

I first became aware of that exhibition layout Tim way back in 1986 watching a Railscene video No.8 of a cab ride between St Pancras and Sheffield. In Bedforshire the the producer riding in the cab of an HST said there's a very famous 2mm fine scale model railway of this area. Then the inspector says, well this is Chiltern Green and and the video producer answers, Yes that is the place. So it was that video that introduced me to Chiltern Green but it was to be many more years after that when I eventually saw it and this was of course in the pre internet age and definitely pre You Tube which has only been around since 2005. By 1986 the Chiltern Green model railway had left MRC and Copenhagen Fields had begun and I didn't hear of CF until the internet age.

In the video interview you said I come from a farming family and I used to spend my youth on a farm of 13,000 acres, quite small. My mum knew the farmer's wife and she knew her mother too. They were cockneys and the farmer's wife had a cockney accent mixed in with an Australian accent and her mother thought it was ghastly. I learnt to drive a car on the farm which was many miles from the nearest town and from the nearest bus stop. So instead of farmer's wife having to drive the kids all the way into town to go to school, the eldest of the kids who was twelve drove an unregistered car to the bus stop with all his school aged siblings. In the day time there would be a line up of unregistered cars at the bus stop. 

Other kids in very remote areas don't go to school in any town at all. They attend school of the air whereby they stay at home and do their schooling these days by the internet and Skype. One girl said that city schools don't have kids saying to teachers "excuse me Miss I have to go as dad needs my help rounding up several hundred head of sheep. I'll be back later". 

As you're in the dental profession Tim our Royal Flying Doctor Service flies city based dentists to very remote areas so that the people living there can have regular dental check ups and it's all covered under our universal healthcare.The RFDS has a fleet of planes that inside are a hospital ICU for a road ambulance is out of the question with roads being dirt and very rough a patient would likely die before reaching a hospital. So they're flown instead and once better the RFDS flies them home and that too is all covered under our universal healthcare. Many farms out there have their own dirt airstrip for the RFDS.    

[CF MRC]

I know where you are coming from as my late mother in law grew up on a farm in West Wyalong NSW and we have many relis out there. We do visit Australia from time to time and that seems a long way from nowhere.
 

One of the main reasons I went into dentistry rather than farming was that our (tenant) farm was only 246 acres which was not really enough to support two families. My father always said he was so glad I didn’t take up farming - I think he was right. That said, I have road steam engine interests that very much keep me in that world.

 

Tis a small world…

Tim

Edited November 7, 2023 by CF MRC

[VRBroadgauge]

14 minutes ago, CF MRC said:

I know where you are coming from as my late mother in law grew up on a farm in West Wyalong NSW and we have many relis out there. We do visit Australia from time to time and that seems a long way from nowhere.

 

Tis a small world…

Tim

 

West Wyalong is my neck of the woods Tim. We're about two hours south just over the Victorian border at Wodonga (soon to be Yackandandah). If you're ever down here yell out and I'll put the kettle on.

[faulcon1]

20 hours ago, CF MRC said:

I know where you are coming from as my late mother in law grew up on a farm in West Wyalong NSW and we have many relis out there. We do visit Australia from time to time and that seems a long way from nowhere.
 

One of the main reasons I went into dentistry rather than farming was that our (tenant) farm was only 246 acres which was not really enough to support two families. My father always said he was so glad I didn’t take up farming - I think he was right. That said, I have road steam engine interests that very much keep me in that world.

 

Tis a small world…

Tim

 

I've been to West Wyalong recently and it's actually two towns Wyalong and West Wyalong separated by a flood plain. You would notice the difference Tim in driving around the back streets and their width compared to England. I learnt to drive properly in a country town and my first attempt to do a three point turn was a failure because of the wide road I easily did a U turn instead.

I recently went out to Bourke nearly 500 miles from Sydney and Bourke received a new railway station not long before the railway line was closed altogether. I looks like a community center. However the load bank still survives in Bourke and is just before the main traffic intersection in town. The main western line of which Bourke was it's terminus now only runs as far as Nyngan and even it's station is not used by trains but is now Nyngan's museum. Part way between the two towns was Byrock a junction for the line to Brewarrina now all gone. Nyngan itself was once a railway junction for the lines to Bourke and Cobar but now only the line to Cobar remains open for rail use. Only the rail traffic is gone for unlike the UK the railway lines are all still there with the four foot slowly being reclaimed by nature. That area out there is home to the most venomous snake in the world, the Inland Taipan but the chances of seeing one are extremely remote as it's spends most of it's time underground where because of the extreme conditions out there small animals spend their time underground too. It's been said that there's enough venom in one bite to kill over 200 adults.   

I journeyed onto Cobar a distance of 165km seeing Emus and feral goats on the way, which still has it's railway station but no passenger trains now call there, only the railway bus service. The station name board is now in the station car park and the line through the station is still open because it services mines in the area. Then I journeyed onto Hillston a distance of 256km which still has an active railway line but no station. At these three places the substantial station masters house is still there but now in private ownership. Between Nyngan and Narromine is Nevertire which is a junction for the line to Warren. Nevertire's station has been swept away but like other locations the station master's house is still very much lived in.

Here's photo Tim of Cobar Station with my little car in the station car park waiting for a passenger train that will never come.        

Edited November 8, 2023 by faulcon1

[CF MRC]

We visited West Wyalong in April 2022, for a family get together (actually to inter MiL’s ashes with her parent’s graves at Barmedman) - it was a great party.  Australian railways are fascinating but I have more than enough distractions already! I expect we might go out again in the next 2-3 years. 

 

Tim

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, CF MRC said:

We visited West Wyalong in April 2022, for a family get together (actually to inter MiL’s ashes with her parent’s graves at Barmedman) - it was a great party.  Australian railways are fascinating but I have more than enough distractions already! I expect we might go out again in the next 2-3 years. 

 

Tim

If you're flying via Sydney you'd be welcome to visit Mid-Cornwall.

[MarshLane]

On 09/04/2021 at 18:09, CF MRC said:

The potato market cart road now has a solidly fixed cantilevered roof, albeit awaiting the front cast iron columns to come back from the foundry. 
Tim

 

Hi Tim,

Sorry to dredge back on an old post. But you refer to a 3D printed column, which you'd said in a previous post would be converted into a strong alloy.  Can I ask which foundry you used to do this, and (if its not impertinent) was this a special agreement for you/MRC, or do they do hobbyist work in general?

 

Rich

[CF MRC]

1 hour ago, MarshLane said:

Can I ask which foundry you used to do this, and (if its not impertinent) was this a special agreement for you/MRC, or do they do hobbyist work in general?

 

Rich

It was a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment Rob as they were cast in CoCr alloy (as used in dental & hip prosthesis). They were cast at my work by a technician colleague. 
 

Tim

Edited November 8, 2023 by CF MRC

[faulcon1]

22 hours ago, CF MRC said:

We visited West Wyalong in April 2022, for a family get together (actually to inter MiL’s ashes with her parent’s graves at Barmedman) - it was a great party.  Australian railways are fascinating but I have more than enough distractions already! I expect we might go out again in the next 2-3 years. 

 

Tim

I have a female boss Tim who keeps asking me every year if I'm going back home as in the UK. But I was born in Australia of British parents who came here in the late 1950's and I worked with a Yorkshire man for fifteen years with an accent so thick you could cut it with a knife. I found out that I can pick up accents rather quickly for I was talking to a northern Irishman on the Puffing Billy railway in 1998 and in next to no time I was speaking with a Irish accent. I thought about it afterwards thinking I hope he didn't think I was taking the Mick out of him. So when I've come to the UK which has been three times so far I've made a concerted effort to talk in a broad Aussie accent which isn't my normal way of speaking. It's done simply so I don't slip into speaking to a person in their accent which they may find offensive.

I've been though Barmedman on my way to Temora. Pretty little place it is too.

If on your next visit to Australia and if you get a chance Tim, visit the Rail Transport Museum at Thirlmere near to Picton. It's now run by the state government having been run by volunteers since 1962. It was originally located at Enfield a suburb of Sydney in an old locomotive depot which was a huge place with three roundhouses. When originally built Enfield was out in the "sticks" being just open land. The third roundhouse at Enfield was only a partial roundhouse with a 120' turntable for turning the 60 class Garratts. That turntable has survived and today is at the Thirlmere railway museum as it's needed to turn the only operational Garratt 6029. There are many engines in there of English origin.

On CF you have a funeral station and we have one in Sydney near to central station known as Mortuary Station and constructed of sandstone with slate tiled roof. From there funeral trains used to run to Rookwood Cemetery where there was another Mortuary type of sandstone station to receive the coffins and mourners. Only the base of the Mortuary Station survives today in the cemetery as the sandstone building was demolished and re-erected in Canberra as a church. Today of course the stretched estate car is the preferred method of transport for coffins. There's a company in the UK called Coleman Milne who specialise in making hearses and for a number of years they imported Australian designed and built Ford Falcons right up to when local production finished in 2016. A You Tuber who lives in Wales imported an Australian Falcon into the UK having driven the car round New Zealand and he's got some spare parts for the car from Colman Milne. In New Zealand is the Mount Pleasant Railway they have a replica four wheel Rail Bus powered by a Ford Model T engine with the Model T driver controls.         

      

Edited November 9, 2023 by faulcon1

[MarshLane]

2 hours ago, CF MRC said:

It was a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment RobRich as they were cast in CoCr alloy (as used in dental & hip prosthesis). They were cast at my work by a technician colleague. 
 

Tim

 

Hi Tim,

Ah no problem. I am looking to create something similar in either white metal or some thing of that ilk, so thought I would ask.  

 

As an aside, I dont comment much, but admire CF and it provides much inspiration, especially your updates on how things have been done. Keep going!

Rich

[CF MRC]

I couldn’t resist showing this picture of the YR tube platform mounted below the lift shafts and station building. I think it will be the first time that a deep level tube model has shown the interaction of the railway, the service shafts and the overlying station building.

Thankfully, everything lines up as it should, with the lift and escape stair lobbies just about visible. 

The spiral escape stairs will be modelled in time: I have a simple solution to these, using laser cut components. The stairs will be visible through a window in the shaft as with the lift. 
The platform board is firmly held on to the main baseboard by two long 8mm bolts fixing into captive T nuts. Unfortunately, I made the bolts a little too short, not taking into account the longer length required for when the platform section is displayed with the small diorama scene. Rather than make longer bolts I simply milled out the bottom of the baseboard to slightly bury the wing nuts.
It makes the assembly a little less dangerous for any heads in the vicinity and there aren’t an excess number of turns to get the board in place. On CF every second counts during set up and take down. 
The next job will be the track and lighting. The former will be very labour intensive as the insulators were placed every other sleeper: 300 holes for pins in the station area alone.

This photo shows the early style track and also an early pattern station name roundel. I have one of the team drawing that up for YR.  

Lighting LEDs have been sourced, so there is plenty to be getting on with. 
 

Tim

 

 

 

 

[CF MRC]

The head lining and top fascia have now been completed and are nice and solid. It looks a bit like another YORK layout…

I have some 2mm Lighthouse LEDs which should serve as light sources. Not sure if shades will be necessary, but that is the next job. 
 

Tim

[CF MRC]

The LEDs have been installed and will need a bit more tweaking - lamp shades etc. 

With the body and base of the LEDs blacked out above the ceiling, the lighting can be better controlled. 

 

Making a 2D representation of the lamp shades is fairly straightforward, but it might be nice to have the correct shape. Maybe they could be 3D printed in clear resin with a 2mm hole for the LED.  I’m also not sure whether or not to leave off the head wall at the western end. It would allow people to get this view.  Any thoughts?

 

Tim

Edited November 16, 2023 by CF MRC

[VRBroadgauge]

That view up the platform is gold Tim. I think people would appreciate it as they would identify with it. Just like catching a train!

[Sithlord75]

4 hours ago, CF MRC said:

The LEDs have been installed and will need a bit more tweaking - lamp shades etc. 

With the body and base of the LEDs blacked out above the ceiling, the lighting can be better controlled. 

 

Making a 2D representation of the lamp shades is fairly straightforward, but it might be nice to have the correct shape. Maybe they could be 3D printed in clear resin with a 2mm hole for the LED.  I’m also not sure whether or not to leave off the head wall at the western end. It would allow people to get this view.  Any thoughts?

 

Tim

A 3D lamp shade is possible - it really depends on the print settings and the printer.  And having a suitable set of dimensions to draw said lamp shade...

[bécasse]

I was glad to see from your FB post - and the second photo above - that you are getting on top of the problem of depicting the prototypical "pools of light" along tube platforms of that era. Photos of the real thing are rare for obvious reasons (photography used to be banned underground without a permit and supervision) and most of those that exist had much of the pooling effect washed out by their necessarily long exposure (shots with trains were almost always posed even if the train's position might suggest it was moving). However, the shot reproduced below shows the effect well - it is actually of the Central London Railway terminal platform at Liverpool Street c1920 (and long out of copyright). but all the Underground group stations would have had similar lighting effects.

Edited November 17, 2023 by bécasse

[Ian Morgan]

1 hour ago, bécasse said:

 (photography used to be banned underground without a permit and supervision)

 

 

In theory it still is, I believe, but unenforcable now that almost everyone carries a camera in their phone. However, 'flash' photography is frowned upon in most underground networks, for obvious reasons of potentially 'blinding' drivers.

 

I think TFL only concern themselves with 'commercial' photography and filming nowadays

 

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/filming-and-photography/filming-and-photography-on-tfl?intcmp=1594

 

[Simon D.]

A privilege to see CF at Warley again yesterday.  The depth of people in front - more than any other layout - indicate just how special it is.

 

A couple of perhaps controversial (and hopefully not too unwelcome) observations:

 

York Road is brilliant, but very low down.  Does CF need to raised up a foot or so?  I always think most layouts are too low, and steps or periscopes are available for the vertically challenged.  I did also see Mr W. struggling a little on one knee showing it off to a visitor. I know YORK is much different to CF, but the height works very well indeed for that.  We perceive trains more realistically at eye level or slightly above from the side, rather than a 'drone's eye' view.  Iain Rice talked about this in some of his books. (Yes, I know CF is a hugely intricate jigsaw, and raising it up is probably a logistical nightmare, but I bet a lot of people missed such a magnificent piece of modelling).

 

There was a comment on the N Gauge Forum after CF's last outing that it seems a little 'dusty', and certainly the building roofs do look a little grey - not unexpected after about 30+ years in some cases - and I wonder of they could be  'blackened up' a bit, perhaps with some weathering powder or similar.  30's London must have been very sooty, or were the mostly slate roofs actually that colour?  It's so hard to tell from photos of the time.  

 

Minor cavils for what remains the greatest layout of them all.

 

 

[D-A-T]

GLOAT!

I like that.

To me it is a genuine toss up between Copenhagen Fields and Buckingham Great Central.

[Chris Higgs]

6 hours ago, Simon D. said:

A privilege to see CF at Warley again yesterday.  The depth of people in front - more than any other layout - indicate just how special it is.

 

A couple of perhaps controversial (and hopefully not too unwelcome) observations:

 

York Road is brilliant, but very low down.  Does CF need to raised up a foot or so?  I always think most layouts are too low, and steps or periscopes are available for the vertically challenged.  I did also see Mr W. struggling a little on one knee showing it off to a visitor. I know YORK is much different to CF, but the height works very well indeed for that.  We perceive trains more realistically at eye level or slightly above from the side, rather than a 'drone's eye' view.  Iain Rice talked about this in some of his books. (Yes, I know CF is a hugely intricate jigsaw, and raising it up is probably a logistical nightmare, but I bet a lot of people missed such a magnificent piece of modelling).

 

There was a comment on the N Gauge Forum after CF's last outing that it seems a little 'dusty', and certainly the building roofs do look a little grey - not unexpected after about 30+ years in some cases - and I wonder of they could be  'blackened up' a bit, perhaps with some weathering powder or similar.  30's London must have been very sooty, or were the mostly slate roofs actually that colour?  It's so hard to tell from photos of the time.  

 

Minor cavils for what remains the greatest layout of them all.

 

 

 

Personally I think you ned the drone's eye view for CF. The fact most of it runs basically in a cutting and it is a scenic masterpiece of considerable depth means you would miss a lot if it were at eye level.

 

Years ago my then young children were with me at Wells are were greatly impressed by CF as a layout they could actually see.

 

Chris

[RobinofLoxley]

My first view of CF today at Warley and was absolutely blown away, when i got to the front!!

 

The view is correct, its devised to be displayed at the height it is. 

 

The track plan of this layout is beyond belief ingenious, fiddle yards especially included, and as for the model building, well what is there to say.

[2mmMark]

12 hours ago, Simon D. said:

There was a comment on the N Gauge Forum after CF's last outing that it seems a little 'dusty', and certainly the building roofs do look a little grey - not unexpected after about 30+ years in some cases - and I wonder of they could be  'blackened up' a bit, perhaps with some weathering powder or similar.  30's London must have been very sooty, or were the mostly slate roofs actually that colour?  It's so hard to tell from photos of the time.  

 

Minor cavils for what remains the greatest layout of them all.

 

 

It's a grave mistake to make 2mm/N models too dark.  If anything, it's better to make a them bit lighter.

Keith Armes reckoned to aim for a pastel-type approach to scenery colour and I think he was right.

Copenhagen Fields does get dusted from time to time but as you can imagine, it's quite a task.  When not being worked on at Keen House, the scenic sections live in sealed boxes. This keeps them in pretty good condition.

Tim posted this image on his Facebook page yesterday. It's the amount of fluff collected after a days running at Warley

 

[CF MRC]

30 minutes ago, 2mmMark said:

It's a grave mistake to make 2mm/N models too dark.  If anything, it's better to make a them bit lighter.

Keith Armes reckoned to aim for a pastel-type approach to scenery colour and I think he was right.

Copenhagen Fields does get dusted from time to time but as you can imagine, it's quite a task.  When not being worked on at Keen House, the scenic sections live in sealed boxes. This keeps them in pretty good condition.

Tim posted this image on his Facebook page yesterday. It's the amount of fluff collected after a days running at Warley

 

Just back home from Warley. The layout was actually given a major dusting before its previous outing. There were colours in parts of it that I had forgotten about!

 

Tim

Edited November 27, 2023 by CF MRC