Timara Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 I do have a soft spot for layouts on two levels, even though I've never built one yet, possibly an idea for the next layout? It's a thought, maybe? As it happens, I was rather close to a spot today where there are actually three main levels in question; the middle of which being a road capable of taking double-deck buses! It used to be the site of a station too (Highgate Road), but both closed around the time of WW1. Always a prototype for everything I say! Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 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. AM3_build_20483-4a.jpg 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. AM3 MBSO_build_20494-5a.jpg 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! First time I have come across this thread. Always found the Glasgow Suburban fascinating - so much better than the EPBs at home. One small point though, you seem to have a full bulkhead behind the driver. As I recall, one of the joys of the 303 was a glazed bulkhead so that you could look forward along the tracks (unless driver pulled the blinds down). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Another thought - which one of our ex-BR members might be able to answer - why did we get the 309s/310s/312s for the London Outer Suburban routes? The 303 was a much more suitable design. In some ways, we have gone back to it now with the 395 "Javelin". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 To attempt an answer to Joseph's second question, modernisation projects were originated in the Regions. Someone in the Scottish Region clearly felt that sliding door stock - possibly inspired by the 306s working out of Liverpool Street - would allow the easier boarding and alighting and consequent reduced dwell times that go with such stock. Most BR-originated suburban units had the common ancestry of the compartment coach - 4-EPBs on the Southern, replacement electric stock for Euston - Watford, Manchester - Bury and South Tyneside and the new units for the electrification out of Liverpool St and Fenchurch St. Other examples of regional variation were found in dmus - the Western chose three car sets and bubble cars with doors to every bay while nearly everyone else chose, or had wished on them, the various designs of two car set. The Southern went its own way with demus. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2013 Going slightly OT, a good example of a large building over a cut-and-cover tunnel is Victoria Coach Station. Why they never thought to put some platforms on the railway at the same time is one of the great mysteries. Further up in the thread, on the subject of RC churches and crypts, I would point out that the crypt at Westminster Cathedral is not a true crypt in the sense that it is not below ground level (although it is a crypt in the sense that there are graves) below a nave. It sits below the raised choir (apse) at the east (actually south-west) end of the church. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 First time I have come across this thread. Always found the Glasgow Suburban fascinating - so much better than the EPBs at home. One small point though, you seem to have a full bulkhead behind the driver. As I recall, one of the joys of the 303 was a glazed bulkhead so that you could look forward along the tracks (unless driver pulled the blinds down). Thankyou Joseph . My excuse for still having the full bulkheads in view is merely down to my not having opened out any holes in them (yet). They're on my "to-do" list, which will include sorting out the interiors as they're unchanged from the Bachmann EPB originals at present. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flubrush Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Tim, Seeing this thread pop up again reminded me that I found a picture recently on Hidden Glasgow which might be of interest to you. http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/download/file.php?id=61&mode=view It looks not unlike the situation under your church. Jim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 That's a fantastic find there Jim! It's much like a lot of the surface lines of the Metropolitan and District railways closer to my neck of the woods where there isn't much ground level between roof and building above. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollieholmes Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Lovely modelling and it may have given me some ideas for a layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 An update on proceedings... I've been busy with building the trackwork on the main level and some pics are below. The majority of the yard track is inlaid cobbles/tarmac, so I've built it mainly from copperclad as it's going to be covered over. Nothing has been gapped thus far, but that will happen once I've finished the covered point. Capacity of the two main roads in the yard is 6 standard 17'6" box vans each, so I couldn't resist a quick check to see how things looked with a "busy" yard. Please excuse the appearance of a Holyhead 'Black 5'; it was the nearest one to hand! I might just be able to get away with a 6B one though, seeing as they made it as far as Law Junction on a daily basis. More to come as and when I get a chance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldlugger Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Ah ha! Things are really starting to happen on St. Aidan's! Nice work Tim. It's now possible to see the scheme of things and how the two levels will work... All the best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Ah ha! Things are really starting to happen on St. Aidan's! Nice work Tim. It's now possible to see the scheme of things and how the two levels will work... All the best Simon Thanks Simon. Yes, it's good to finally get a feel of what it'll eventually look like. All that time with the plan being just in my head and on scraps of paper and it's coming to life, slowly. One thing I've not illustrated before is the course of the footpath that will run between the top of the retaining wall and the yard. The black line gives a rough idea... Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Tim. Any updates on St Aidan's to add please? Andy N. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Nothing much yet Andy, though there are some point blades to be installed over the rest of the weekend, plus I'll be starting laying the sleepering for the tandem too. I need to get on with doing the driving wheels on 76102 as well..... So much to do! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Nothing much yet Andy, though there are some point blades to be installed over the rest of the weekend, plus I'll be starting laying the sleepering for the tandem too. I need to get on with doing the driving wheels on 76102 as well..... So much to do! Can you let us know if there are any pitfalls with the 76xxx as I have three to do at some stage. Two with Scottish numbers and one Eastern for Clatterford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Nothing much yet Andy, though there are some point blades to be installed over the rest of the weekend, plus I'll be starting laying the sleepering for the tandem too. I need to get on with doing the driving wheels on 76102 as well..... So much to do! Can you let us know if there are any pitfalls with the 76xxx as I have three to do at some stage. Two with Scottish numbers and one Eastern for Clatterford. The main pitfall I can see will be the leading axle's crankpins and making sure they don't clout the rear of the crosshead. I've managed it on a Fairburn tank and it just about behaves. I know roughly where I went wrong last time round....thank goodness for spares! You'll certainly require 1/8" axles though (standard Gibson wheels, not a conversion pack) as the Standard 4 is one of six chassis that has sloppy axles from new. A chassis jig to make sure everything is square first of all is a must. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The main pitfall I can see will be the leading axle's crankpins and making sure they don't clout the rear of the crosshead. I've managed it on a Fairburn tank and it just about behaves. I know roughly where I went wrong last time round....thank goodness for spares! You'll certainly require 1/8" axles though (standard Gibson wheels, not a conversion pack) as the Standard 4 is one of six chassis that has sloppy axles from new. A chassis jig to make sure everything is square first of all is a must. Does the thing about the 1/8" axles apply to all Bachmann steam locos or just some? I'd better get saving for a chassis jig then!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Does the thing about the 1/8" axles apply to all Bachmann steam locos or just some?Only the following locos: Ivatt class 2&4 moguls, Fairburn, Riddles 4 mogul, K3 and Crab (the last one is marginal). It's a swine, but it does result in a much nicer (not to mention tighter, in the non-sloppy way) running chassis.I'd better get saving for a chassis jig then!!I can highly recommend the Avonside one. Makes it a walk in the park! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 A bit of an update on something I've not really tried before. Up until now, I've not had much of a need for tunnels. Over the years, I've had more than a passing interest in them, both disused and indeed those still open. The chance to model something with a bit of character (ie: not just a plain brick "hole in the ground") wasn't to be passed up. Armed with a highly useful "how to" from John (Old Gringo) in his thread in the BCB area, I set to work on my own! Mine is loosely based on that at Crow Road, on the former Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway. Thankfully, quite a few photographs exist of it, from both legal and not-so-legal vantage points! The ends aren't entirely the same, so mine is based on the south portal. The best one of that is here: crow road railway tunnel by Thomas S Cook, on Flickr Here is my hand-drawn version, based entirely on photographs and a lovely set of dimensional diagrams on this superb resource. The black lines signify where the cutting side walls go, as per the image above. To make the portal, a sheet of 80 thou plasticard was used and two concentric semicircles drawn out, at 55mm and 60mm radii, giving a main scale diameter of 28 feet. A further set of three radii were drawn on another area of the same thickness of plasticard for the voussoir ring, the extra being 64mm radius. This helps for the furthest point of the stonework when cutting back each voussoir to shape. Having since found a lovely image taken from inside the same portal, I was able to get a good idea of the size of each of the voussoirs, being 5 brick stretcher edges across (5mm in model terms). I'm afraid I haven't any step-by-step images of the process as I was rather keen to get on with things and then clean up the resulting mess of plastic shavings afterwards! A set of finished (but unpainted) images will have to suffice..... For the infill stonework, I've used Wills Coarse Stone, but cut into rows and random blocks in order to get it all to fit. In John's thread (linked above), he shows a similar process to mine, but with every block done singly. I'm happy with the fit of these, given I had to do some serious surgery to one or two in order to get them to fit into places! A plastic skrawker makes short work of this, thankfully. A couple of closeups to show both the infilling and also the carving out of the voussoirs, especially the beveled edges. I used a combination of 10A scalpel, triangular file and scraperboard knife to get the desired effect. Most of that work was done before fixing the ring securely to the main backing piece. Once everything had sufficiently hardened, I blended the two layers together in order to continue the beveled edges to the inside of the arch. I do plan to have a short section of the tunnel lining modelled, mainly in order to complete the stone voussoirs and how they integrate with the brick lining. The long ones are some 4ft long, with the shorter ones being 18 inches shorter. I still need to add the decorative stonework to the top row of stone in order for the parapet support stonework to sit on them. That's a job for when the portal is put in place. Cheers for now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jason T Posted May 10, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 10, 2013 Lovely work there Tim, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh next weekend Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Gringo Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Very nice Tim, Great prototype inspiration and some super modelling. All the best, John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Lovely work there Tim, looking forward to seeing it in the flesh next weekend Thanks Jason! It'll be good to catch up with you next weekend . Very nice Tim, Great prototype inspiration and some super modelling. All the best, John. Thanks John! I'm still grateful to your work on the BCB tunnel, which I'm very much looking forward to seeing finished. Peterborough maybe? Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 A quick pic showing the portal "in situ". Couldn't resist posing some suitable stock on the lower level line too..... The view will be much changed by the addition of the cutting side walls, which do give a nice hemmed-in feel to it all. In advance of ExpoEM next weekend, I'll have a mockup of the walls done in thin cardboard as a place-keeper. For the permanent ones, I shall be spending my time wisely on those as I want to get them just right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Tim. Looking good. See you next weekend. Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Tim. Is there any update on St Aidens. Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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