Beer & Branscombe

[Gwiwer]

Cannington Viaduct.  

[cromptonnut]

I knew what I meant   Anyway whatever it's called, this thing.

 

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/39/93/399387_e57a03e7.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cannington_viaduct.jpg

 

I've walked along the top of it (before it was sealed off properly) and it's a lot bigger than it looks from the ground.

[Gwiwer]

See also here : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/57783-lyme-regis-branch/?hl=cannington

[Gwiwer]

A box arrived from Camborne today.  It contained all the point motors and accessory switches for Stage 1 of the build.  Slowly and surely the workroom is accommodating more and more "bits" which will permit a fairly quick track laying phase to go ahead during my forthcoming holidays in August.  I can now aim to get all the running track for the first two boards in place at that time with holes drilled for point motors allowing me to also finalise the cross-bracing of the boards.

 

The conductor rails will be a later job.  They require extremely precise fitting of chairs and rails which I may need to construct a jig for in order to ensure consistent and accurate (to within 0.5mm) height and alignment relative to the running rails.

 

Also in the mail today was another MLV to join the electric rolling stock fleet.  I know these didn't work in the south west but neither did the live rail ever reach Devon nor the railway itself reach Beer and beyond.  Thank goodness for Rule 1 and my Modeller's Licence  

 

The MLV is also intended to become the proof-of-concept test-bed for wiring live pick-up shoes.  This needs to be done such that all shoes on a unit are wired to the same side of the motor thus ensuring that which ever side of the running rails the conductor rail is situated the power from that rail will always flow to the same side of the motor allowing trains to move as required.

 

The intention is to form additional contacts out of copper strip which can be run across beneath the bogies connecting each pair of pick-up shoes and connected to the existing copper wiper arms on one side of the motor bogie.  I need to also adjust the position of the pick-up shoes on some vehicles as they differ in height and spacing from the frames between brands and unit classes.  It should be possible to fabricate lightly-sprung lengths of copper strip which can then be fixed as a contact surface beneath the moulded pick-up shoes allowing just a little "give" to accommodate the vagaries of scale and track laying.  

 

The arrangements also need to accommodate a temperature range of 0C to 50C in terms of expansion and reliable performance as these are the potential extremes the layout will endure in Australia.  Rolling stock doesn't stay outside but track does and will be affected by climate.  Working to tolerances of 0.5mm will be interesting and hopefully not beyond the limits of modelling in this environment.

[bazza.]

No electrics down the main line!  That will be reserved for steam and diesel traction and this will become another in the queue of layouts hoping for an Adams Radial.  The setting is factual but the railway presence fictitious.  As is the assumption that the SR managed to forge west from the original Dorchester South station as planned and found a way to come through very hilly and unstable terrain but ran out of money before finally reaching Exeter via the coast.

 

As electrics are well-suited to hilly work the third rail will be laid only on the assumed route from Dorchester (and hence back to Waterloo via Winchester) via Lyme Regis.  So hilly, in fact, is that route that some workings will be formed of Cep+MLV for additional luggage capacity to holiday destinations and a boost to the power : weight ratio over the west Dorset banks!

 

OK I'm past being amused by the spell-checker and now I'm bored with it.  "Hilly" did not need changing to "Holy" no matter how religiously the code-monkey worships the LSWR  

 

 

While I'm in edit mode I'll add a couple of views of the first weathered 4Cep coach cross-posted from my weathering thread

 

 

 

 

Hi Rick,

 

That weathering looks very convincing, just the right amount of dust and grime on the coach sides.

 

That's about the same amount of wheathing that I want like to see on all my coaching stock.

 

I can well remember waiting for a unit to arrive, when it did, opening a carrage door and getting a dirty hand from the out side door handle.

 

Regards

 

Bazza

[Gwiwer]

Bits continue to arrive in the mail and - occasionally - by car from the nearest model shop.  Five rolls of wire are the latest boring-but-essential additions to the kit of pats steadily being assembled.   A quick browse through Hattons' bargains today has also produced an order for numerous road vehicles of the 1950s and 60s at mostly £2 apiece plus a duplicate art deco station building as they are being thrown out at £24 (£29 if you pay VAT) and it will serve as a source of bits at that price.  The resin can be cut through with a slow-speed jigsaw allowing me to adapt the second one into various additional station structures; the windows can be lifted out and used elsewhere.

 

Six weeks now until the first major track laying.  

[Gwiwer]

Progress to report.

 

The boards have cork underlay laid.

 

The points are all motored and wiring up is in progress.  This is taking a while because, despite being a DC build, they are electrofrogs and have to be frog-switched which requires many more solders per switch than for simple DC using insulfrogs.

 

This time next week I should be into the first major tracklaying session.

 

Within two weeks from now the first train should have run under its own power over the first sections of track on this new layout.

 

Excitement - much.

[Gwiwer]

A teaser from the workbench.  Can you guess what it is and why?

 

[roundhouse]

Creating electric sparks?

[Gwiwer]

Creating motion which should include occasional sparks

[br-nse-fan]

You'll be powering the unit from a live 3rd rail?

[Gwiwer]

Indeed I will.  This is a "first-fix" to see what works and what doesn't.  So far so good. 

[Gwiwer]

We are under way!

The cork underlay was glued down a couple of weeks ago.  Today the wired and motored points were introduced to the boards



A rough placement of track based on the drawn-up plan.  It all seems to match up.



Using a spade bit I drilled out holes for the point motors and have determined that the reference point (pun intended) for the layout shall be the double-slip.  

With daylight fading I had just time to fit this one piece and tap home the first "spike"; the track pin in the centre of the crossing currently secures it.

At 6.00pm tonight with that first pin driven home I can announce that tracklaying for Beer station has begun!

[autocoach]

Trackwork from Beer too...

[Gwiwer]

Trackwork from Beer too...

 

Plus point motors, accessory switches and numerous other components

 

The Peco premises and their rather fine garden railway will not feature on the layout however.

[Gwiwer]

The simple act of knocking in one track pin felt like a moment in history.  A new project has been born.  I know it's been in gestation for many months but the first permanent part of the jig-saw has been laid in place.

Flying along now ..... a couple of hours today saw rather more track laid.

Moving on from the reference datum of the double-slip the next turnout was duly installed and then the track for platform 1 in the station.  The Agent's Siding is a short spur off this platform road.  Here is the first bore for the trap point motor to this siding.  I am using a 25mm spade for motor-only holes but a 32mm is required where the motors are also fitted with accessory switches due to the slightly larger space these require.



Two holes are bored side by side with the second overlapping the first.  Once complete I tidy up the edges with the jig-saw but a file could also be used.



Next I dropped in the trap point, motor and all, and pinned the track in place.



I confirmed the tracks will hold my intended length of train with a 5-car electric on platform 1 and a couple of vans plus a shunter on the agent's siding.  As this is Beer station we might imagine that Peco, whose home is in the village, are loading their goodies into these vans!

The yellow spirit level marks the approximate position of the platform which will extend as far as possible towards the pointwork at the throat.  Its dead-straight edge is also handy as a guide when laying straight "flexi" track to ensure nothing is so much as a millimetre off line.



Finally the "spark" is posed across the double-slip departing eastwards towards Dorchester on the assumed (and intended but never built) coastal route through south Dorset.  The adjacent board is ready and waiting to receive its track but the station area will be completed first - with the exception of platform 4 from whence the through track (onto boards not due for construction for a year or so) will rise to a higher level as that requires additional structural works for the track once everything else is done on top and beneath the board.

The track ends will all be clipped back to the edge of the board with electrical continuity to be provided by copper contacts and plug-in bus lines.

 

At the end of today's session the track for platform 2 was also laid up to the position of the loco-release crossover as marked by the position of the loosely-placed point in the penultimate view above.  More tracklaying is scheduled for tomorrow and will hopefully see track work for platforms 2 and 3 plus the first short length towards platform 4 completed.

 

[Gwiwer]

A couple of hours today and the track for Beer station was all down apart from the high level line - that has been clipped to its trap point but is only placed loosely on the board for the pictures below.



With trains placed in position: left to right a 2H "thumper" diesel unit at platform 4 which will form a service to Brancombe and Sidmouth; a van at the buffers of platform 3 which will mostly be used a parcels dock and loco run-round; a rebuilt "West Country" light Pacific runs round its train which is on platform 2 having arrived as a portion from Waterloo detached at Seaton Junction and on platform 1 a 4Cep electric unit awaits departure for the coastal route towards Dorchester and Bournemouth.  A 45-foot van now awaits Peco merchandise on the agent's siding coupled to an 08 shunter.



The weekend project!  Board 1 (Beer station is board 2 on my plans) with the track loosely placed in its intended position.   The two running lines loop towards what will be the viewing side and will then curve away into a tunnel - this curve looks more realistic than straight track and allows the greatest possible radius for the run-off.  The two sidings are to be a 3-coach carriage siding (not for electrified stock despite the presence for photographic purposes of a 2Bil EMU) and a loco coaling / watering road with a kick-back (not yet illustrated) for washout and ash disposal.



I set myself the target of having the tracks laid on these two boards during my two weeks holiday which ends on Sunday and it looks as though I shall meet that target.

The next steps will be adding the bracing, a coat or two of protective paint then a lot of wiring up underneath.  The control panel will be concealed behind hillside to the right (as you view the first image above) of the double slip so all wiring will be fed back to that area.  Then I can turn the boards back over and work on installing the third "live" rails and test my modifications to the electric units.

[P.C.M]

Hi Rick,

Had a quick look last night then the laptop died. Anyway it's looking good, whats the go with the double slip being slightly over the edge of the board? Are you planning to cut it?

 

Cheers Peter.

[Gwiwer]

Spot on Peter - the double-slip will be trimmed back to the edge of the board and likewise the adjacent track which stops just short of that edge will have a short extension.  There's no way I could find of having all track ends parallel across the join with the pointwork required.  Just need a couple of locating lugs now and I can mate the two and continue track laying.  Once that's done I can plug in the spare controller and the first train can run under power

 

Next month I predict will see me outside after work swearing some more at the soldering iron with all those wires to sort out!

[Gwiwer]

The tracklaying is at 75% complete.  

I have managed to erect the two boards on a metal trestle and the "controller's chair" which is a higher than normal seat I use when operating the Penhayle Bay layout.  They have been temporarily joined with long screws through the woodwork.  The holes bored for these may later be used for easily removed bolts as the layout is intended to be separate and transportable sections which then quickly assemble for use.

Tracks are not joined across the board gap but are aligned and pinned.  That is sufficient for now.  In due course they will be firmly fixed at the ends with plug-in electrics and copper contacts across the gap.  Trial running of unpowered rolling stock was satisfactory on all routes with not so much as a hint of rock and roll over the ends and nothing approaching a derailment.

How it all performs when the weather really warms up is of course as yet an unknown.

So - looking east over the Beer station are towards the latest work which has the up track fully laid, the down track laid back to the start of the exit curve (and is awaiting more cork before being pinned down through the curve) and the points and tracks for the various sidings positioned where they will be laid.



The new view looking west along Board 1 showing that I have managed to lay the main lines to a fairly easy curve across the viewing area which then tightens leading to the run-off.  

At one stage I doubted whether I could achieve the run-off where I have it and thought that additional space might be needed on a small side board.  That will not be the case.  The tunnel will disguise the sharpest curvature just as it does at Penhayle Bay and the two tracks will eventually lead right around onto a small storage / fiddle panel to be built at a later date.  Rather conveniently the land in the actual village of Beer rises exactly where I have the tunnel portal so the scenic modelling here will be closely based on reality.



Finally for now the 2EPB unit which is being used for clearance testing is shown departing from platform 2 towards the up line with the holes cut for point motors clearly visible (two bores with the 32mm spade bit and a trim with the jig saw in each case) and some markings to indicate the future position of ground features and roads.

The motor holes will be capped with card before ballasting but that is a long way off yet.  I'm not even at the stage of testing the electrics which has to be done before the final pin-down of the track.  There's a lot of work to be done yet before trains run under power despite rapid progress these past couple of weeks.
 

[Gwiwer]

This project is currently around three months ahead of my anticipated schedule.  As of today all the running track on boards 1 and 2 which represents phase 1 of the layout is laid with the exception of the graded line which will become platform 4.  This remains temporarily positioned due to the need to invert the boards before building any land mass or gradients.

I have now placed trains, structures and road vehicles for photographic purposes where I intend they shall go  I'm not convinced about the engine shed (which was intended to be a carriage shed) as it looks a little recent for the 1950s to my eyes.  It may yet revert to being a carriage shed of a style used by the SR from the 1930s in places such as Addiscombe (Croydon), West Worthing and many others.  In that case it would be placed over the carriage road leaving the engine road open air.

The two sidings are in place and the loco washout road (kick-back siding) likewise and here with an M7 on it.  The cars are positioned where the road will be built leading down towards the centre of Beer village and with the single Morris Traveller positioned at the approach to what will be a road overbridge.  Those who know the village will know there is a hairpin bend at the top and it is here that the railway will pass beneath the road.  The markings above the two vehicles are not in the final place for the roadway - it will now cross the railway as I always intended at its narrowest point



An electric unit arrives at platform 1 while a King Arthur simmers awaiting departure from platform 2.  A piece of scrap board has been positioned to show how the land will rise up to the elevated station building which sits astride the end of platform 1 and will have ramps coming down to the platforms from a raised walkway.   Here some road vehicles are positioned ready to cross the future bridge and others are placed where actual and fictitious roads will be modelled.



The overview of Phase 1 with the use of styrene blocks at the far end to indicate where high land will be created.



With track now laid for the loco and carriage sidings this is the arrangement on the "departure" side of the station leading towards a large hillside.  The loco road as well as the dead end of the carriage siding will feature deep cuttings into chalk similar to the former Pullman shed and the current Lover's Walk depot buildings in Brighton - though on a much smaller scale!  The carriage road happily takes a 3-set and small loco as seen while the almost diagonal sweep of the running lines allows me to then curve them through the tunnel to come off the back of the board at right angles to its long side rather than off the end.



So - fairly sharp curvature unseen by the viewing public but with generous clearances between overhanging trains.  I have yet to test every locomotive over this curve but it's no tighter than anything on Penhayle Bay which everything copes with already.



The sidings here will end in a near-vertical chalk face into which the tunnel portal will also be built.  The walkway nearest to the running line may get trimmed a little or if the shed goes back over this road then the walkway will vanish altogether.



Later in the day with both main line trains now departed the berthed stock has been shunted to form a 2-coach train for Seaton Junction behind small Standard tank and a single coach plus the van from platform 3 have been attached to the M7 for a Sidmouth working waiting at platform 4.



I reckon it's got the makings of an SR semi-terminus with one line going through (in the future) onto Phase 2 and Branscombe.  Sweeping curves feature (as they do on Penhayle Bay) on the running lines where there is very little straight track other than half the length of the platforms.  Even the points are curved to both tracks in several cases.  I'm getting excited now!





 

[DougN]

Wow rick I didn't realise you had started your new project with such gusto and speed. I look forward to seeing the progress over the next few months.... The way your going Christmas could be very busy... And with all the good weather at the moment things can really crack on.

[Gwiwer]

Thanks Doug.  It's made a few very visible leaps forward but may appear to stop there for some time while I connect wires underneath and start to lay in the runs back to a (not yet sourced) panel.  A Modratec frame remains the preferred option as I want to fit WIT signalling and with trains driven by  Gaugemaster or Morley unit but having wired up every set of points "by the book" I now find that Modratec requires them wired differently for electric operation with two common wires not one across two terminals.  Hmmmm. 

[Gwiwer]

I've been wiring up steadily over recent days and have both the Phase 1 boards now at a stage of readiness to construct the panel.  Point wiring is virtually complete and track power likewise though with the conductor rails to be fitted later their power feeds are only taped ends of installed wire for now.  With no signalling or structural work planned for some time there is as yet no provision other than some bored-out cable holes for the control and illumination of those items.  Work in progress on the points wiring:

 

I laid in the power feed beneath the baseboard and remembered to include a separate feed for the future conductor rails in order to correctly power trains off the third rail.  The main track feeds can just be seen soldered to the rails to the right of the yellow tape.  This curve is on the run-off area, will be in a tunnel when completed and will not be visible to the viewing public.



Surface wiring is recessed into cable ducts cut into the cork

 

Point motor holes are closed over with pairs of L-shaped pieces of card. 

 

 

Cue fanfare.  Without the aid of computers or anything more fancy than a few wires, a scalpel, a pot of glue and a jury-rigged length of wire back to the Penhayle Bay panel this morning saw the momentous first operation of a train under its own power on the Beer & Branscombe layout.

 

Click on the video image below to make it move.  You will then see things exactly as I did. Nothing was pre-checked.  What you see is the actual first move captured as I saw it - one hand on the controller, the other on the camera.  Followed by manual intervention to change the points which currently don't have a control panel and a check of alternate routes.  I wasn't actually sure which direction the train would move but wired to the same polarity as the Penhayle circuit I expected it to move in the direction it did!  



I then wired both tracks to the same feed with opposing polarity and filmed the first parallel arrival and departure under power.  Again - click on the image.



The other board has also been out for wiring up and is "work in progress" for the moment.  I have however managed to apply power to the rail ends and have also run test movements up and down what will become Beer station.  So far everything seems OK; a couple of stalls were soon traced to the double-slip and the station loco release being insulated at all joints.  Easily overlooked in the moment, eh?
 

[QRModeller]

Well done Rick.

 

Always exciting when the first train runs under its' own power on a new project!!

 

 

 

Matt.