PGC Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I have, today, taken ownership of Dave Tailby's layout Saxlingham. For those who don't know it, Saxlingham is a hamlet in North Norfolk, on a "sort of" straight line from Fakenham to Sheringham. Dave had a write up for the layout that gave the history of it, but I don't currently have that (I forgot to ask him for it!) so I can't give any of the rationale behind the layout. However, as a member of DEMU, Dave set the layout in the early days of dieselisation, whereas I model East Anglian BR in late 50's, so I will be setting the layout a little further back in time and using locos such as J15, J17, Class 15 etc. I have plans for the layout - I hope to extend it away from the fiddle yard with a short section of scenic track passing a small halt so that I can legitimately run typical GER branch passenger trains with my E4, W&M railcar, N7 etc., but that's in the future. For now I will be sprucing up the layout and it's pencilled in for the Bishop's Stortford Railway Circle show in September, and it may (if Ken Wilkinson can have his arm twisted!) appear at the Mid Essex show, also in September. Please don't expect this to be a thread that has daily updates - annual more like! but if anything happens, I will do my best to take pictures and write up details. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos that show the layout as it was when Dave owned, exhibited it and looked a lot younger! :-) Phil 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sf315 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Hi PGC It's good to see the layout has been sold and not scrapped. Dave is a good railway mate of mine and I have operated Saxlingham on a couple of occasions. I have built a small Micro layout in N gauge called Cross Heath and the track plan is based on Saxlingham but I have turned it around and introduced a platform for a basic DMU service. Both Dave and I are both appearing at Stafford at the end of the month where we are next to each other. He is taking Weslo Steels and I am taking Cross Heath. thanks Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungus the Fogeyman Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Right......Saxlingham; the prequel In the late 19th century, Blakeney was a port and the M & GN had designs on linking it to the railway network and developing it as a holiday resort. To this end a junction was actually built at Holt...........the GER had similar designs on the town and decided to build a line passing through Hindringham, Field Dalling, Saxlingham, and Langham to Blakeney. The line then continued through Cley and Salthouse to a junction with the M &GN near Weybourne........Sadly neither line got built, but in my fevered imagination, the GER one did actually exist and settled down to a quiet existence until the 1950s.....services usually ran from Fakeham to Cromer, ironically with running rights over the M &GN between Weybourne and Cromer.....the East Coast floods soom put paid to the lightly used Blakeney to Weybourne section which closed in 1953. Sadly Blakeney never developed as a port or a holiday resort quite as envisaged and closed to all traffic in 1964 on the same day as the Wells next the Sea branch. Saxlingham became the local railhead until total closure in 1968. Traffic was mainly coal, fertiliser, seed potatoes and sugar beet with the odd wagonload of recovered gubbins from thr Blakeney section. Although, just to muddy the waters, I did run it as a blue period layout occasionally. The thinking was that it closed at the same time as Fakenham in 1979. Traffic was much the same, except the sugar beet had gone and there was occasional military stuff for RAF Langham. In fact Phils 2nd picture is from this period. How do I know? I only ran 21 ton coal wagons when it was blue period..... So now you know!! Disgusting of Market Harborough 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 There is a stretch of no-mans-land about a foot or so long between the end of the scenic section and the start of the sector-plate fiddle yard that I always felt ought to have been made part of the scenic section. Whenever I suggested that to Miss Gusting of Darkest Harborough he always gave me a slightly odd look, shook his head and said "Nah!" in that inimitable way of his. What do you think of the idea? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Right......Saxlingham; the prequel In the late 19th century, Blakeney was a port and the M & GN had designs on linking it to the railway network and developing it as a holiday resort. To this end a junction was actually built at Holt...........the GER had similar designs on the town and decided to build a line passing through Hindringham, Field Dalling, Saxlingham, and Langham to Blakeney. The line then continued through Cley and Salthouse to a junction with the M &GN near Weybourne........Sadly neither line got built, but in my fevered imagination, the GER one did actually exist and settled down to a quiet existence until the 1950s.....services usually ran from Fakeham to Cromer, ironically with running rights over the M &GN between Weybourne and Cromer.....the East Coast floods soom put paid to the lightly used Blakeney to Weybourne section which closed in 1953. Sadly Blakeney never developed as a port or a holiday resort quite as envisaged and closed to all traffic in 1964 on the same day as the Wells next the Sea branch. Saxlingham became the local railhead until total closure in 1968. Traffic was mainly coal, fertiliser, seed potatoes and sugar beet with the odd wagonload of recovered gubbins from thr Blakeney section. Although, just to muddy the waters, I did run it as a blue period layout occasionally. The thinking was that it closed at the same time as Fakenham in 1979. Traffic was much the same, except the sugar beet had gone and there was occasional military stuff for RAF Langham. In fact Phils 2nd picture is from this period. How do I know? I only ran 21 ton coal wagons when it was blue period..... So now you know!! Disgusting of Market Harborough Thanks for this, Bungus, I seem to recall that you mentioned somewhere about the trains not being able to reverse at some sidings or other, but that's on the piece of paper I can't find (OK, I've lost it!) There is a stretch of no-mans-land about a foot or so long between the end of the scenic section and the start of the sector-plate fiddle yard that I always felt ought to have been made part of the scenic section. Whenever I suggested that to Miss Gusting of Darkest Harborough he always gave me a slightly odd look, shook his head and said "Nah!" in that inimitable way of his. What do you think of the idea? Well, if the great Bungus has looked at you oddly, woe betide me if I do different! :-) As I said, there are a few plans, and you never know what will happen with the "hidden" part of the layout (apparently, BtF called it a fiddle yard - more likely "what the h3ll do I do with that" section!) Phil Ps - Bungus - having driven through Market Harborough, I find it very difficult to believe you are the only disgusting person from that town! Edited January 17, 2015 by PGC 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 There is a stretch of no-mans-land about a foot or so long between the end of the scenic section and the start of the sector-plate fiddle yard that I always felt ought to have been made part of the scenic section. Whenever I suggested that to Miss Gusting of Darkest Harborough he always gave me a slightly odd look, shook his head and said "Nah!" in that inimitable way of his. What do you think of the idea? Having read the prequel in post #3 and looked at the map, I've just realised why there's so little scenic work on the section you're referring to. That would be where BtF modelled the station at GREAT SNORING!!!!!!!!! :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungus the Fogeyman Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Oops, forgot to mention Great Snoring in the list of stations on the line....and in the freight traffic section I forgot to mention the grain traffic from Barsham grain dries and occasional red diesel deliveries to the yard at Hindringham. Both yards lack run round loops so the full grains and empty tankers ( there's one in the consist in the 3rd photo) run via Saxlingham- something that happened a lot in reality but not often seen done on layouts. .......... Disgusting of Market Harborough Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I have, today, discovered the layout notes that Dave originally wrote for Saxlingham. The notes are basically a précis of what he wrote above, but it also has a track plan. I have scanned this in and have added it below. In time, I will create my own layout rationale, but I don't at the moment, imagine it will be vastly different from what Dave has already created. When I did a Google search for Saxlingham, I was, at first, confused by references to Saxlingham Nethergate. My partner, Sally, has relatives who used, many years ago, to own one of the big farm houses in Field Dalling, the next village from Saxlingham, and we'd been in the area several times, but I'd never heard of Saxlingham Nethergate. I did a further Google search and discovered that Saxlingham Nethergate is actually no where near Saxlingham - it's to the East of the A140 just South of Norwich. By luck, through further searching Google, I discovered the chapel of Saxlingham Nethergate. In time I will be adding a further board to the opposite end from the fiddle yard. The board will be approximately 3 to 4 feet long; it will just be a length of single track with a small GER halt like the one at White Colne or Ashdon Halt just the opposite side of the board joint. Beyond the halt, part of the scenery will be a model of the chapel. As I said in the first post, don't expect daily updates, but for the time being I am planning what to do, how to spruce up the layout and how to expand it, and this seems a good expansion that will add to the layout and make it mine rather than Dave's. Keep your fingers crossed! Phil The track plan Saxlingham Nethergate chapel Ashdon Halt (between Audley End and Saffron Walden White Colne halt 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2015 This is a similar scenario to my layout, I have based mine on the port of Cley not silting up in the sixteenth century and becoming an important port similar to Yarmouth. I have therefore assumed the GE mainline continued out to the coast which met another GE route from Lynn and the Midlands. Cley is also a big holiday destination with summer Saturday extras from the Midlands and the north Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Ive seen this before and thought it was very nice indeed.... Its kinda deceptively spacious looking? what are its dimensions? The whole layout currently measures 8ft x 2ft. Yes, it is a spacious looking layout, that's due to Dave Tailby's skill, not mine! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 This is a similar scenario to my layout, I have based mine on the port of Cley not silting up in the sixteenth century and becoming an important port similar to Yarmouth. I have therefore assumed the GE mainline continued out to the coast which met another GE route from Lynn and the Midlands. Cley is also a big holiday destination with summer Saturday extras from the Midlands and the north Yes, I've seen your thread. A big difference is that my layout was (under Dave Tailby's ownership) set in the middle 60's and I'm taking it back in time by 10 years so no blue (or any other colour than green) diesels! I like the idea the Cley may have become an important port, but I'm afraid to say that I'm so glad in reality is hasn't! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 18, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Yes, I've seen your thread. A big difference is that my layout was (under Dave Tailby's ownership) set in the middle 60's and I'm taking it back in time by 10 years so no blue (or any other colour than green) diesels! I like the idea the Cley may have become an important port, but I'm afraid to say that I'm so glad in reality is hasn't! Phil I'm also glad that Cley has stayed as it is. Just imagine if my idea was real,no doubt the line from Lynn would have closed along with the yards and depots. Would it have been electrified? Probably not. Two platforms would probably remain with sprinters and the odd visit by the short loco hauled set.flats by the harbour no trace of the bridge,car park and supermarket in the station yard for cheap supplies for all the DSS lot that live here. Yep glad it never happened!! Oh and it wouldn't be perfectly dark outside my front room window like it is now Edited January 18, 2015 by russ p Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Lovely little layout which I have admired for a long time. I spent a year down in East Anglia recently - living in Wickham Market and working in Woodbridge - so I am always interested in layouts set in the region. I will follow your extension plans with interest too. It is deceptively spacious for only being 8'x2' in size. Thanks, David Edited January 19, 2015 by south_tyne Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Last weekend I was given dispensation by the domestic authorities to erect the layout for the first time and I have now had a chance to work out what few repairs need to be made for the layout to become exhibitable again, and also what changes I want to make. The repairs are few - the disused signal needs to be re-positioned, the plate layers hut at the front of the layout needs a new roof and there's a small hole in the goods platform at the back of the layout that needs filling somehow, Dave had a hut covering it that I won't be replacing. Changes, however, will be more. Dave has wired the layout using chocolate box connectors, and personally I don’t like these. The screws can work loose, and if that happens, electrical faults can prove a nightmare to resolve, so I will be replacing these with solder tags and soldered joints that won’t work loose! In post #4, Mike Morley commented about the small length of plain double track between the layout and the sector plate. I will be making this part of the layout and making a road over bridge to disguise the entrance to the sector plate. OK, I know the idea of the road over bridge is clichéd, but I can think of at least two examples on ex GER lines within 10 minutes’ drive of where I live, so it’s not that bad a cliché for me! Once I have completed this, I will be looking at the lighting. Dave Zelly, one of the members of the Mid Essex club who also happens to work in Brentwood theatre, is a lighting guru who has given demonstrations at Expo EM and other shows about layout lighting, and he’s going to help me get the lighting right and then I will rebuild the facia to accommodate the new scenic section and the intended lighting. After that, I’m going to sit down, have a cup of tea and start getting stock ready for the first outing of Saxlingham under my ownership to the Bishop’s Stortford railway circle exhibition in September. So that’s the plans, but in the meantime here are four photographs I took at the weekend that show the layout in its current state. As work progresses, I will post further updates and photos. Phil 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Phil, I am following your improvements and chamges with interest. I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread that the layout is 8' long - if you don't mind, can I ask what the split of that is between scenic area and fiddle yard? Many thanks, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Phil, I am following your improvements and chamges with interest. I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread that the layout is 8' long - if you don't mind, can I ask what the split of that is between scenic area and fiddle yard? Many thanks, David Hi David The layout is split 50/50, so the scenic section is currently 4 feet long. Earlier I said it was 2 feet deep, which is, in reality, slightly incorrect. The left hand end, where it goes in to the fiddle yard, is about 4 inches deep and the right hand end of the scenic section is about 18 inches deep. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask! Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi David The layout is split 50/50, so the scenic section is currently 4 feet long. Earlier I said it was 2 feet deep, which is, in reality, slightly incorrect. The left hand end, where it goes in to the fiddle yard, is about 4 inches deep and the right hand end of the scenic section is about 18 inches deep. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask! Phil Hi Phil, Thanks for the speedy response - that is great! It is very helpful in helping to gauge what you can fit in that kind of space as I currently have a max of 6' by 15", so not too dissimilar. Actually that 4' length and the fact that it is less than 2' in width make the spaciousness of the scene all the more remarkable! Thanks again, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 It's been a little while since an update, but that's really only because the little work I've done on the layout doesn't merit much in the way of a write up. As bought, Dave had used chocolate box connectors for the wiring, and I don't like them! So I've taken these off and replaced them with tag strips and soldered joints. I've also got a single panel made to replace the two that Dave had made to accommodate point and section switches, but that's yet to be installed. At the moment I've been concentrating on getting stock ready for the St. Neots show next weekend so Saxlingham hasn't been worked on, although while waiting for an engineer to come and fix our boiler, I've been creating a template for an over bridge.When Dave built the layout it was in two halves, the scenic section and the sector plate. There is a section of plain double track on the fiddle yard board, and my intention is to make this scenic. To disguise the exit from layout to sector plate, I will build a bridge based on the prototype at Takeley, and I've created a template so I can now start building the bridge itself. I'm not exactly sure how I'll do this, I suspect embossed plasticard, but that's yet to be decided for definite. So, a little further forward, and I will post more as it happens. Earlier in the post I mention getting stock ready for St. Neots, and one of the locos is my Lima Class 20. As you can read in this thread, I have modified the loco with the worm and final gear that Ultrascale have produced, and now the running is slow and smooth, as I like it, I'm working on back dating and detailing the loco, which is why the front of the loco is in the state it is. However, by the weekend, it will be detailed, painted and weathered. Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
exmoordave Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 "Saxlingham" was always one of my favourite of Dave's layouts, so I'll be interested to see developments in the furure. Still at least he's bringing "Weslo Steels" to our show - EXMOOR RAIL - in Minehead on 1st August. I tried to stop him, but he's blackmailing me - he still has the negatives.......... best to all exmoordave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks exmoordave - I hope my alterations will do justice to Dave's work, I think the layout's one of his best and I'm very pleased he's sold it to me. Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted March 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2015 The repairs are few - the disused signal needs to be re-positioned, the plate layers hut at the front of the layout needs a new roof and there's a small hole in the goods platform at the back of the layout that needs filling somehow, Dave had a hut covering it that I won't be replacing. Knowing Dave's prodigous point building skills, I'd rebuild them first! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Knowing Dave's prodigous point building skills, I'd rebuild them first! Mike. I haven't yet tried running locos on the layout, so I won't say for certain that the pointwork's perfect, but it certainly looks good (have to say that in case Dave finds me and does a Jeremy Clarkson on me!!!!! ) For the last 10 days we've had no central heating in the house so it's sometimes been quite cold at the modelling bench, and today was one of those days. So, rather than doing any work on stock, I spent time in the lounge (where we had a couple of halogen heaters, so it was warm!) I finished off the template for the new bridge to disguise the fiddle yard entrance. Once I'd got the dimensions right, I got out my supply of plasticard, chose some plain 40 thou and cut the two sides and some stretchers to create the basic frame you can see in the photos. The next bits I'll build will be the wing walls, after which I'll use embossed plasticard to put a finish on. I'm hoping that I can buy 40 thou brick embossed so single layers either side of the 40 thou plain make a wall 3mm thick which is the scale equivalent of a real 9" wall. If I can't get 40 thou, I'll use a layer of 20 thou either side of the 40 thou and then embossed brick; either way, I'll get what I want! Until next week, however, no more work will be done on the layout as the boilers been fixed, the office where the modelling bench lives is no longer an ice box and I've got the finishing touches to put to stock for the St Neots exhibition at the weekend. Phil 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 In case anyone's wondering whether any more work has taken place on the layout, the answer is "sort of!". What Dave did with the layout when building it was satisfactory for him, but there were one or two areas I wanted to change to suit my way of thinking about how layouts should be built. One of these was to replace the two panels Dave had built for the point and section switches with just one panel. Sounds easy? Dave, very cleverly, used slide switches to change the polarity of the point frogs, and he connected these with wire in the tube to the point stretcher bars so that when the point was changed, the frog polarity changed as well. Simple and very effective. In the course of replacing the panel, I had to bend one of the "wire in tube" wires which suddenly produced an unwanted "ping" sound. Needless to say, the wire had boekn which resulted in a few expletives leaving my lips, after which I set to and replaced said wire. It wasn't the easiest of jobs, but in the end stubbornness won! At the same time that the panel was replaced, I also undertook such seemingly unimportant tasks as replacing the single core wire between the switches and point frogs with multi core. All works fine and I've now run locos over the layout, and it all works as expected. In addition, I have bought some adjustable feet for the legs of the layout, and I hope to get these attached over the Easter weekend. As you can see, there has been work done that I believe necessary, but none of it worth photographing, and very little of excitement. However, the future does hold some major possibilities. From previous posts, you can see that I am building a model of the Takeley station bridge to re-design the disguise of the entrance from the layout to the fiddle yard. One of the members at the Mid Essex club has access to CAD software, and the skills to use it, and he has already drawn up the brickwork for the arch, and also believes he can get the brickwork cut for me in plain plasticard. He also thinks he can cut away the embossed facing brickwork so the arch brickwork just slots in. I hope that in the next few weeks I will have this completed. and I will post pictures. If this works as I think it will, I have an idea of expanding the layout by making the entrance to the sector plate removable, with the alternative board being scenic rather than fiddle yard and allowing the layout to expand beyond the eight feet in which Dave built it. So, a lot of words, a lot of work but no pictures. Sorry about that, but keep watching, you may seem something visual soon! Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungus the Fogeyman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 All coming along nicely then Phil. Glad the old girl is in safe hands! As they say I shall be following this with interest! Disgusting of Market Harborough Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 A further update on progress (I was going to say “behind the scenes” progress, but in reality it's making the fiddle yard board part of the main layout, so it's not really “behind”, more “in front” of the scenes!), with some pictures. In the first and last pictures of post 15, you can see how Dave built the layout so that the exit to the fiddle yard was through the backscene at the end of the scenic board. Before I bought the layout, Dave mentioned the join between the two boards as being "dodgy!" (well, I think that's what he said!) and this is one area that I have been looking at. As I mentioned in earlier posts, Dave had built the layout with plain track on the fiddle yard board between the layout and the sector plate, and I was looking at making this part of the scenic area of the layout, as had been suggested by one or two “friends” of Dave. For a little while I’ve been wondering what to do; last week I decided that the best way to get what I wanted was to start afresh, so I carefully took the original baseboard material off the framing along with the sector plate that Dave had built. I’ve now replaced the track base with some new ply and glued down some cork, but have yet to deal with the sector plate. Bear with me! One of the earlier jobs I decided to do was cut down the legs slightly and put adjustable feet on the legs to allow for uneven floors (the layout’s going to the East Anglian Railway Museum exhibition in October, and I’m suspecting it will be in Chappel good shed – the floor is definitely not even!). I bought these from Station Baseboards of Norfolk and at the same time bought some pattern makers dowels to be used for aligning the boards of another layout. Having replaced the fiddle yard board with new ply and cork, the boards no longer aligned correctly using the dowels that Dave had fitted; guess where I’ve now used the new dowels. I reckon I’ll now have to buy some more for the other layout! So I’ve now got a new track bed, a newly aligned baseboard and some work to do laying track, wiring and ballasting it, building the bridge to hide the exit to the sector plate, build the sector plate and adding scenery, but isn’t that the joy of modelling! My original plan was to have the bridge that disguises the exit to the sector plate perpendicular to the track, but how often does a bridge cross a railway at 90 degrees? With this in mind, I’ve moved the road to a slight angle. So that’s the latest that I’ve done so far – I will add another progress report as things develop. Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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