Timara Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Some readers will already know I have a bit of an interest in the railways in and around Glasgow. I've always had a soft spot for the class 303 EMU, of which I have three DC Kits models. I've been looking for an excuse to be able to have one in as-built condition for a while now, so it was rather by accident I found a suitable scenario to allow me to do just that. It didn't take me long to backdate my model of 303048 to have wrap-round windows. Having already started a topic for the church on here, it was rather time I got on with documenting the layout itself, seeing as I've got the baseboard (many thanks jcm@gwr) and managed a spot of track-laying on the low level lines. The general concept of the layout is a test plank for a track-building exercise (prior to the 'big project') as well as something I can use at home due to there not being much in the way of available space. A small three road good yard/shunting puzzle with a double track subterranean electrified route runs below in a stone-walled cutting. Somewhat loosely based on the Crow Road area as a "what if" expanded electrification programme on the Maryhill-Partick Central route which closed in 1960. Careful research has been made to find similar instances where large-ish buildings are built rather close to the roofs of railway tunnels, not least in Glasgow itself. The tunnel runs under only one main supporting wall of the church and may even have been given steel supporting girders where necessary, but retaining the stone portal. I may raise the church a little more if I feel it needs it. The piece of spare shelving is just to give the desired effect, rather than being actually used . This is also the viewing side. A quick snap of the track plan, which is very simple indeed. A straight-edged LH 1:8 1:6 tandem that leads to a normal B8R turnout to form a run-round loop. Finally, a view that will (hopefully) start to come into its own once I start on the stonework for the cutting. There will be some scratchbuilt 6.25kV OLE too, which will just be a couple of wall-mounted portals. Nothing lavish, but something I've not seen done before (the 6.25 bit that is). The tracks widen out to serve an off-scene island platform station, whose building serves as a convenient scenic break at that end. Cheers for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me. Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Dig the church - cool man! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark 37 Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Oooo, 304's. You've got my attention. Looking forward to more. Best regards, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 looking forward too seeing this thread develop. Dont think I have ever seen a layout based on the North Clyde line! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 12, 2012 Author Share Posted May 12, 2012 Thanks guys. I'm hoping to marry up one of the fiddleyards tomorrow with the church end of things and see how things go. More on that anon. looking forward too seeing this thread develop. Dont think I have ever seen a layout based on the North Clyde line! Funnily enough, that was one reason I decided to go with it. Having all three main forms of propulsion does give me a chance to have something completely and utterly different from the usual fare. Cue a brand spanking new EE type 1 pottering about in the yard...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom F Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Aha, the infamous St Aidan's I've been hearing a lot about! I do like the two levels you are creating...will give a lot of viewing interest, as well as operational I would think. Looking forward to watching this thread.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 I do like the two levels you are creating...will give a lot of viewing interest, as well as operational I would think. I liken it to being "not your normal shunting plank" really. What I forgot to mention were the dimensions: 4ft by 18in scenic with a 3ft fiddleyard either end. The bonus with the period modelled is that the then new AM3 units had a spot of bother in November 1960, whereby more than one had had its MBS underframe catch fire due to transformer trouble. The upshot of this being that all units were grounded and the steam stock they had replaced was brought back rather hastily. By the time October/November 1961 loomed, everything was back to how it should have been a year earlier. So, it means I can run steam and diesel hauled passenger trains (albeit shortened) down below and have the occasional rebuilt AM3 either on test or back into service to go with them. Which reminds me, I must get that V3 going sometime soon...... Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Like the split level effect. Like a miniature version of one of the views you get on the Lime Street layout. Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovex Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 As to the church over the tunnel, the tunnel could well predate the church - In Birmingham when the GWR built Snow Hill tunnel between moor St station and Snow Hall Station, it was built on the cut and cover method. lots of Birmingham city centre was then built over the top. Including the Great Western Arcade, which actually follows the line of the tunnel. Great looking layout by the way Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 As to the church over the tunnel, the tunnel could well predate the church - In Birmingham when the GWR built Snow Hill tunnel between moor St station and Snow Hall Station, it was built on the cut and cover method. lots of Birmingham city centre was then built over the top. Including the Great Western Arcade, which actually follows the line of the tunnel. You know, I'd completely forgotten about that one.... Ta for the reminder! Great looking layout by the way Thanks. It's still very early days. If the weather is kind to me tomorrow, I might just try a shot of the AM3 unit with its new power unit, courtesy of a Bachmann EPB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hello Tim, It's great to see this layout on RMweb! Having seen a few photos of your previous Scottish OLE layout this one promises to be superb and I'm really looking forward to seeing your catenary. Cheers Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Lambton58 Posted May 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hi, This is looking very promising; like it! For what it's worth, I'd raise the base for St Aidens a bit more in order to clear the tunnel roof as I'd expect an edifice like this to have some sort of crypt too. I take the point that there were close examples, but I think it would be visually better not just for the tunnel clearance, but also in relation to the lines at the side. Cheers Ralph Lambton58 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hi, This is looking very promising; like it! For what it's worth, I'd raise the base for St Aidens a bit more in order to clear the tunnel roof as I'd expect an edifice like this to have some sort of crypt too. I take the point that there were close examples, but I think it would be visually better not just for the tunnel clearance, but also in relation to the lines at the side. Cheers Ralph Lambton58 Hello Ralph, You know, I've been umming and ahhing about this for a while now and I'm still none the wiser, as you can probably tell! You see, the church is a late 19th century neo-Romanesque RC affair, most likely built after (or even contemporary with) the railway, so I'm not sure if it indeed would have had a crypt. In my time as a young organ student, I visited a fair number of churches from that period, both home and abroad and not all of them possessed one, but it probably depended on what the underlying rock strata was like. Certainly insofar as the visual aspect with the yard next door, I'd expect to run into the odd problem if I had the church (and surrounding boundary wall) any higher than an inch above the board. One of those fun/difficult ones to call! Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Lambton58 Posted May 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hi Tim Hello Ralph, You know, I've been umming and ahhing about this for a while now and I'm still none the wiser, as you can probably tell! You see, the church is a late 19th century neo-Romanesque RC affair, most likely built after (or even contemporary with) the railway, so I'm not sure if it indeed would have had a crypt. In my time as a young organ student, I visited a fair number of churches from that period, both home and abroad and not all of them possessed one, but it probably depended on what the underlying rock strata was like. Fair point, I say crypt, but a damp low roofed cellar perhaps containing a boiler room might be more likely! Certainly insofar as the visual aspect with the yard next door, I'd expect to run into the odd problem if I had the church (and surrounding boundary wall) any higher than an inch above the board. One of those fun/difficult ones to call! Must admit I wondered about that too. I suppose one option might be to cheat and make the top of the tunnel lower, but then you'd have problems fitting the overhead wires... I still like the idea of it all though Cheers Ralph Lambton58 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superb_50002 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Most RC churches in the UK don't date from before the late 19th Century, and as far as I know, the vast majority do not have a crypt (Westminster Cathedral certainly does have a crypt like basement though). There are a number of reasons for this, which in no particular order would be related to the age of the churches as crypts had mainly been used up until the 18th Century church design, and as Catholic numbers in the UK had largely been increased since the Catholic Emancipation of the early 19th Century (mainly though immigration such as from Ireland and southern Europe), it was only from the 1890s onwards did many of the larger churches start to be built. There had been many smaller structures but many of these were replaced by the mid 20th Century. As RC churches such as St. Aidans were late 19th Century to early 20th Century buildings, one of the most significant features of church design was the lack of crypts and church graveyards as a direct result of "The Burials Act 1851", which in London had banned the use of churchyards for burials. As in most building design, there are fashions and trends, and by the late 19th Century most cities in the UK had moved to using large Cemetaries for burials as opposed to churchyards. Most RC churches of this ere do not make use of churchyard burials. This is not isolated to RC churches, but many suburban Anglican churches of this era also were not built with any crypt provisioned. Given the location of St. Aidans as being within a large city, and built above a tunnel, this would almost certainly rule out any crypt, or graveyard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 reminds me of.. 40129 outside Tiviot Dale tunnel 12 March 1978 by Deadmans Handle, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 and also.. so it did happen. 40129 at what was left of Tiviot Dale - 12 March 1978 by Deadmans Handle, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 A quick couple of snaps showing the progress (or lack of) of my AM3 (or 303 to the younger generation). The bodyshells are DC Kits and they've been mated to Bachmann 2-EPB underframes. I needed to cut small recesses away to allow the rear of the sliding door areas to fit into the chassis. As for the underframe detail, the brake gear on the driving cars needs to be moved and made transverse instead of vertically mounted. The one below is due to become the BDTSO, so there are a fair few more bits of underframe equipment to add underneath. The MBSO needs a lot of work to remove the continuous step board off both sides. A dental burr in a Dremel soon sorts it out. Much swarf later, the end result is a tidy fit into the bodyshell. The buffer housings have been removed entirely and the area sanded flat. Again, underframe detail is far from what was under the real things. I have quite a number of photographs of the preserved unit up at Bo'ness, which will make my task vastly easier. I still need to sort out the bogie frames too..... More as and when! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Nice work Tim... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Seconded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D6775 Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Again, underframe detail is far from what was under the real things. I have quite a number of photographs of the preserved unit up at Bo'ness, which will make my task vastly easier. I still need to sort out the bogie frames too..... I wonder how you managed all those photos and measurements.............. Looking good fella! Will be most interesting to see when done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Looking forward to seeing this develop. Love the AM3! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Thanks all! I'm hoping to get some track sorted out up top in the next week or so, all being well. I need to get myself some brass lacemaker's pins first.... I wonder how you managed all those photos and measurements.............. Looking good fella! Will be most interesting to see when done. Mmmm, though next time I set foot there to see it, at least it'll be under cover! Very nice new shed they have there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gwinnett Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Thanks all! I'm hoping to get some track sorted out up top in the next week or so, all being well. I need to get myself some brass lacemaker's pins first.... Mmmm, though next time I set foot there to see it, at least it'll be under cover! Very nice new shed they have there Just curious - what do you use the brass pins for? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Just curious - what do you use the brass pins for? Ah yes, I wondered whether anyone would pick up on that one.... A method of building track that I am keen to try is that used by a few people, Jim S-W being one. Link here. Exactoscale point timbers with PCB sleepers in strategic places and the brass pins are used to act as droppers through the baseboard as well as allowing the rail to be at the same level as those attached to the plastic ones. It'll involve this method for building vees too, which isn't far removed from how I've done mine in the past. Hope that helps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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