Bankfield, Son of Blackmill - it lives...............

[newbryford]

"...it is not Peak Forest."

It's seeing that idiosyncratic track plan that's got me confused.

So no PF signal box or station building converted to Train Crew Office?

I don't know if I'm disappointed or pleased.

But I do know I'll still be following with great interest...

There will be a Midland box in the same spot. We're doing away with the fuelling point but retaining the siding and including platforms suitable for 2x2 dmus. One of them will be a wooden version similar to Ribblehead.

 

Cheers

Mick

[GWRPhil]

Any updates on the layout?

[newbryford]

Any updates on the layout?

 

Wow! Didn't realise it's nearly been a year since the last update.

 

Scenery is progressing and the wood has been purchased to make the 15 boards that will comprise the storage yard.

 

I will try and get some pics.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[GWRPhil]

Wow! Didn't realise it's nearly been a year since the last update.

 

Scenery is progressing and the wood has been purchased to make the 15 boards that will comprise the storage yard.

 

I will try and get some pics.

 

Cheers,

Mick

Cool. Thanks for the update. Found the layout feed this evening and had a read. Looking forward to future updates.

 

P.s. like the American feed you’ve started too

[Swifty11]

Hi Mick, 

 

Is there any updates on the layout? Looking forward to seeing it when it reaches the exhibition circuit. 

 

Best wishes, 

Tom

[newbryford]

Work has completely halted as the clubrooms are currently closed.

We were targeting 2021 for our exhibition.

[newbryford]

Work is slowly resuming on Bankfield as we all get used to a new order.

 

The storage yard boards are now complete and assembled.

32 feet long and 4 feet wide - 12 roads each way.

The initial plan is to lay 5-6 roads per side to begin with. 

 

 

 

[saxokid]

Looking good Mick

cant wait for more from this now..

[newbryford]

Tracklaying in the fiddle yard is underway.

It will eventually be 12 roads each way, but we're only laying about 1/2 of the yard for now - as we await more funds for more track!

 

[newbryford]

7 years on from first making a decision to start the layout.

 

Tracklaying on the 24 road fiddle yard is nearing completion.

Somewhere in there is a 19 wagon rake of TEA tanks.

 

The "short" roads on the inside are designed to take a minimum train length of 16 stone hoppers/boxes - i.e. HIA/HYA/HRA/MJA/IOA/MMA.

 

Still a long way to go with point motor fitting and wiring.

 

[newbryford]

A minor milestone in finishing the track laying on the outer yard tonight at the club.

 

It has been split away from the main layout for the next stages to follow.

They will be soldering of the strips across the joints and cutting the rails, followed by wiring and installation of point motors as each board is physically disconnected from the next.

Once the outer yard begins to come down one board at a time, the tracklaying on the inner yard will be finished as the outer boards are moved out of the way, one at a time.

 

 

[5BarVT]

Looking nice!

My eyes are drawn to your cross board tracks which appear to be breaking the ‘rules’ for crossing at near right angles.  I’ve done that too and think I’ve got away with it - accurate dowels are important (DCC Concepts are my favourite . . .).  Have you any experience of the long term success of cross board tracks at that angle?

Paul.

[newbryford]

53 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Looking nice!

My eyes are drawn to your cross board tracks which appear to be breaking the ‘rules’ for crossing at near right angles.  I’ve done that too and think I’ve got away with it - accurate dowels are important (DCC Concepts are my favourite . . .).  Have you any experience of the long term success of cross board tracks at that angle?

Paul.

 

We've avoided the acute angle joints as much as possible and could have started the yard ladder earlier, but we didn't and that's why there are only a couple of lines at an angle.

 

Make sure the board joints are aligned well with dowels and clamped closely together. And that the rails are firmly fixed down.

[saxokid]

Hey mick any new updates on your layout build..

cheers neil

[newbryford]

4 hours ago, saxokid said:

Hey mick any new updates on your layout build..

cheers neil

 

Soldering and cutting rails across baseboard ends for a couple of weeks now. Final tracklaying of the inner yard started two days ago.

 

Pics soon.

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 13/07/2022 at 08:35, 5BarVT said:

Looking nice!

My eyes are drawn to your cross board tracks which appear to be breaking the ‘rules’ for crossing at near right angles.  I’ve done that too and think I’ve got away with it - accurate dowels are important (DCC Concepts are my favourite . . .).  Have you any experience of the long term success of cross board tracks at that angle?

Paul.

 

On 13/07/2022 at 09:35, newbryford said:

 

We've avoided the acute angle joints as much as possible and could have started the yard ladder earlier, but we didn't and that's why there are only a couple of lines at an angle.

 

Make sure the board joints are aligned well with dowels and clamped closely together. And that the rails are firmly fixed down.

 

From years (!!) of experience, I'm not convinced baseboard dowels are the panacea everyone believes. Over time, even with soldered rail ends, there is a bit of linear drift in both planes which you cannot edit out when you have dowels.

Although Wibdenshaw is built correctly in this respect I've had to remove a few dowels to give me a bit of wiggle room here and there, but considering the layout is "old" in model railway terms and is now suffering temperatures considerably above what it encountered in the UK comes into it. Although ensuring rails run across tightly clamped baseboard joints before soldering and cutting is de rigeur whatever system is used.

 

Mike.

[newbryford]

25 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

From years (!!) of experience, I'm not convinced baseboard dowels are the panacea everyone believes. Over time, even with soldered rail ends, there is a bit of linear drift in both planes which you cannot edit out when you have dowels.

Although Wibdenshaw is built correctly in this respect I've had to remove a few dowels to give me a bit of wiggle room here and there, but considering the layout is "old" in model railway terms and is now suffering temperatures considerably above what it encountered in the UK comes into it. Although ensuring rails run across tightly clamped baseboard joints before soldering and cutting is de rigeur whatever system is used.

 

Mike.

 

Joints do move over time, but by using soldered rail ends, they can be moved if necessary, without having to resort to altering the dowels.

[Steve Hewitt]

Just an observation from exhibiting Lime Street Station:

 

The baseboards are many years old, but quite substantial (heavy).

Great care is taken getting the height of the boards correct, using a rotating lazer, during erection.

The boards are located by dowels, and after assembly they do NOT need eyeballing. The stock just runs.

 

Track across baseboard joints, Lime street has many which are extremely shallow angles, several inches long in cases.

Chris Hewitt who built the track many years ago added "check rails" to the rails opposite a baseboard joint.

They do not give any problems.

 

You can just make out some of the baseboard joints.

A shot taken during "chairing" the track. The base board edge protector shows how shallow the crossing is on the two tracks leading off the the left. You can just see the check rail at the very bottom of the picture.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Steve.

 

[newbryford]

Another hurdle - all the track is now laid.

 

The inner yard is now complete.

(The outer yard boards are in a disassembled state leaning up on the right)

Next step will be to solder the rails at the joints and cut them through.

(The outer yard board wiring is coming along in the background - lots of repetitive soldering and linking up)

 

Point motor installation will be the next "item of interest" a month or two away at best.

 

 

[newbryford]

It's been awhile since the last update.

Wiring is progressing well, with the first two of many point motors fited this week.

Scenery work is beginning to gather pace with a couple of new "helpers" to the team.

Taking advantage of 3d printing - this is the culvert are - using 3D printed formers.

 

 

 

 

It has since been painted and will be installed fully quite soon.

 

I'll try and get a few more updates as work gathers pace.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by newbryford

[newbryford]

An update...

The first train ran under power on the fiddle yard last night - full length of all roads and all points operated via DCC. See video link below.

The points were operated from a handset, but they will be route controlled with a single button to set a route (maximum of seven points will move).

 

Need to straighten a couple of roads!

 

 

 

 

 

Small side pieces will be added to the outer edges to prevent any "earth fault" issues"

 

Should have an update on the front scenics soon.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by newbryford