F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Something that I have neglected to do since RMweb4 got running properly is transfer across and update the thread from RMweb3 about my small O scale layout called "Withyn Reach". So here are some of the relevant posts from the old thread (here), with some updates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 First written in February 2008:- Thinking ahead to next year, and due to the inconvienient fact that British O scale stock with buffers & 3-link couplings can't cope with sharp radius curves but small US locos & 50ft cars with Kadee buckeyes can... also inspired particularly by Neil Rushby's layouts, and some of his simple plans, here's my plan for a small British layout, 6ft x 1 ft plus Fiddleyard; "Withyn Reach", set by a canal wharf... The assumption is that this is where BR & a Private Docks/Wharf railway exchange wagons, the rest of the private system offstage being accessed from the front track, BR the rear, though I plan to make the Fiddleyard either a traverser or sector plate to form a small run-round loop. The front canal-side siding is assumed to be an old loading point, now just used for storage when exchanging trains. No unloading points are envisioned onstage, a more frequent turnaround of wagons appears a bit more realistic. To throw a spanner in operating procedures, it's assumed the front siding, being by the canal, cannot take the weight of big locos- only the Private Shunter can access wagons there. scenery to be very simple, mostly overgrown scrub. I also plan to raise the level of the headshunt up a bit & drop the front siding for a slight variation in height- should make shunting interesting too!! I'm unsure how to hide the Exit; I'd like to avoid the 'usual' things like road bridges if possible!!! Time period will be late 60s/early 70s, Locos are a Heljan Hymek & brass-kit-built Barclay 0-6-0. Track Peco Code 124 bullhead . Well, that's the plan- ... how far I've got by Dec 2008 remains to be seen :oops: Don't hold your breath... The name I've actually seen before on a layout- a little 4mm British Light Railway that was for sale many years ago at a Warley Club open day... I've Googled "Withyn Reach" and got 0 Results except for the "idiot question" 'Do you mean Within Reach?' so I'd like to lay claim to the name here!!! Usually I'm not keen on names that are a pun or play on words, unless they're quite subtle & not too contrived, which I like to think "Withyn Reach" is... The board is a plank of contiboard- never recommended by any 'proper' modelling guides, but as my layouts live up in the shed I like the inherant damp-resistance of it. The bracing is by L-girders of 2"x1" wood:- substantial enough to take the not-inconsiderable weight of O scale engines, as well as just keep the board straight!!! Trackbed is a mixture of hardboard and MDF offcuts, all pinned & glued in place. I was after some cork tiles but neither B&Q or Wickes (my two nearest DIY sheds) had any... Track & points is Peco Code124 Bullhead, as yet just cut to size- wiring and fixing in place to be done soon... Photos were took in the fading light with a fading battery in the camera- if I had more time I'd try & play with them in the Imaging Studio... but you'll get the idea... Stock capacity is pretty obvious- the loop can hold 3 short wagons plus Brake Van, headshunt Hymek & Brake Van, and the front siding 4 or 5 wagons comfortably. Fiddleyard is likely to be cassettes, resting on a 4ft piece of Contiboard I have ready. I'll simply slide them into place on that- I'm not going to go lifting cassettes with rather expensive & heavy engines on them!!! Well Garden Empire it ain't, but hopefully it'll have enough operating potential to keep me occupied a-while.... As always, all comments very welcome... It took a bit of climbing to get this overall view...!! The headshunt is at a higher level than the siding in front, to try and add a bit of interest to the scenery-which there won't be much room for!!! The "inbound" loop holds a Brake Van & 3 Mineral Wagons, but clearances are a bit tight. An operating restriction I've added is that BR locos are too heavy for the siding, which can only be used by the Shunter... any excuse to justify two locos at a time on such a small layout :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 In an attempt to get away from the traditional ways of disguising exits to fiddleyards (ie bridges/tunnels etc) I'm trying out this idea of the wall of an adjacent building, and since it's the inside wall and we don't normally see inside walls when stood outside I thought I'd make it the remnants of a derelict & nearly demolished building. It's only been glued in place this weekend so is yet to be painted and heavily weathered... The retaining walls need capping stones etc on them, and the embankments have to be painted and grassed before I put various fences up the back; some will be wood, some concrete and some corrugated iron for variety, but there won't be anything else beyond them so the backscene can be photoshopped or use natural backgrounds (better than my garden fence though) for photos... There's plenty more to do but it's starting to come together now... The little hut has a detailed interior with a couple of lights to be wired up, one clear in the roof and a red one in the fireplace to keep the Station Cat warm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 The retaining walls are all in place and painted and the fences as well above the slight embankment; this needs the foliage doing- much overgrowth is planned. I've tried to break up the wall visually by having a mix of types with varying colours. This might help the layout look a bit longer too, since it could quite feasibly have been just one long uniform wall. For the capping stones on the stone wall I've tried to copy a feature often seen even today that dates from the dark days of WW2; when Invasion seemed imminent and Britain was short of steel for armaments, across the country miles and miles of fence railings were cut down to be used, leaving just the stumps in the wall... as an aside, this effort was mostly just a waste of oxy-acetylene, since the cast iron they were made from was useless for any weaponry anyway!!! The derelict building used as a view block just needs the windows doing. The 'rubble' is in fact real brick, crushed up with a lump hammer, and fixed with diluted PVA. A strip of MDF is in place as a small part of the canal itself, yet to be finished, but with a bit cut out so that the empty Joey (or Butty) boat can look like it really is 'in' the water... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Well work proceeds a-snail's pace on Withyn Reach... little jobs get done here and there, so here's a bit more progress... The Derelict building now has windows fitted... I think possibly there should really be more 'broken/missing' glass, but as this plays a major part as a view-blocker, remarkably there's just one pane broken... The windows were clear plastic sheet with microstrip frames, sprayed from behind with Testor's Dullcote and a light dusting of primer grey to give a very filthy, "never been cleaned" look to them. I've scratch-built a couple of point levers from steel rod, and balsa wood for the decks. I really should do more research as I've no idea what real point levers might look like in this situation so made it up as I went along ... Maybe it should be a Lever Frame so that both points (forming a crossover as they do) could be operated from one location, but that would mean I'd have to model point rodding etc, so as it stands the Shunter has a lot of running about to do!! I've finally got around to making one of the features I first envisaged for this layout- the canal Joey. It represents a steel-hulled version so I built it out of... well, steel, of course, with the aid of a MIG Welder and Angle Grinder... yes, really!! (and a bit of brass thrown in) ...ah, the joys of large-scale modelling... It's yet to be painted, and you'll have to ignore the background clutter in the pics; but here she is alongside the old Wharf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Here's a few more pictures of Withyn Reach with the Joey now painted and weathered... It still needs fixing in place and some ropes to tie it to the bank, but you get the idea... It's last load (however many years ago that was!!) would appear to have been a load of coal, but whoever unloaded it left a bit behind... The figure by the hut (currently Withyn's sole resident) is an S&D Models figure #OF84... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Trial operations with a single track "cassette" proved to be unsatisfactory, so I've been working on a 3-track/2 position Traverser. It's all a bit "low-tech", maybe these pictures will show the idea... The Traverser is joined to the main board with split-hinges. The brass bolt is not to hold anything in place, but sometimes is needed to bring the deck level with the lead tracks. Position 1: The deck has stops underneath so the tracks line up automatically at each 'end' of the available movement; it cannot be moved too far. Position 2: only the central track connects to both 'visible' lines. The "Viewing Side" aspect; I was trying to avoid the usual "Exit" cliches; the view is a bit open, but not too much... There is a 3-position switch, so that only one track at a time is powered on the deck. (and stop-blocks so trains can't run off the deck if powered by poor operating!!) Here's one of the drawer runners, cut down to fit the gaps in the frame. Finally, purists will be horrified by my track gauges; look away now... ... two blocks of wood with slots 32mm apart in them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 A few more pics (on my El-Cheapo phone) of the whole thing... Total length is 4ft, the deck is 3ft6in, enough for a Bo-Bo diesel, three short wagons & Brake Van. ...and my lad & I had some playtime... I mean operating practice... He likes the size of O scale; here's a study in concentration... ...though looking a bit closer you'll notice he isn't too fussed about which cars were supposedly around in 1960's Britain.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 ... which all just about brings me up-to-date; about two-and-a-half years from the first post in Feb 2008 to now, August 2010. Only some very minor detailing jobs are left to be done, and the layout itself is pretty much finished. I've also been doing jobs like weathering my Hymek; this is a recent photo of it on the layout... I hope you have enjoyed this brief re-cap of my layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi Jordan, Sure did enjoy your re-cap there, the layout looks great now! It looks as though you have done an immense amount of work last night! The view blocker looks good to me and as for the 'butty' boat, great stuff! For me, the best bit is the stone wall cappings - brilliant! I've seen all those cut off railings in many places but never knew why before! It's really nice to see modelled! Cheers, John E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D802 FORMIDABLE Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I did enjoy your re-cap mate, thats a crackin little layout!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi I like the last image of the weathered 'Hymek'. B) Looks good,the half demolished warehouse is a nice feature,gives the layout a typical late 60s feel of decline and dereliction.I never realised how big 0 gauge is,even a 'small' layout like yours takes up 6ft x 1ft! Regards Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Excellent! That scenic break is really elegant and a real change for the rather inevitable bridge to nowhere - but I think you are right it requires more broken windows - especially with that great lump of a Hymek trundling past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Or board up some of the broken panes to keep the building as a scenic break,do you plan to include anything else to separate the fiddleyard from the scenic section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Thanks for the replies and interest! Re the scenic break, I intend to extend the retaining wall (but painted very dark) onto the traverser board to hide the switch, and I might put a flat sheet of board across too, a bit like a tunnel mouth, but painted black to disguise it a bit. It's a bit difficult to describe what I have in mind, really; I'll have to post it up when I actually do it.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binesrail Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 small but perfectly formed, nice job! im thinking about going back in to 0 gauge and may build a layout like this one. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted August 23, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 23, 2010 A real pleasure to stumble upon this and read it as I must have missed it on RMWeb 3. Neat and compact and great attention to detail - the cut down railings and disused building are nice touches and it looks fun to operate too. Keep posting some more photos please...just when I keep trying to put a small 7mm shelf layout to the back of my mind...this comes along Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted August 23, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 23, 2010 What a great layout! You, as have a few others here on RMWeb, proved that you don't need a large space for a very good 'O' gauge layout. I do like this a lot and even with a 'simple' track plan, I'm sure that this could keep you and your son occupied for a good many hours. Of course, with 7mm there are plenty of details that can be added over time. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 FUnitmad - Is that Class 22 a Steve Beattie kit? regards Paul R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Russ (mines a pint) Posted August 25, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 25, 2010 Superb to see this again and in a more complete form, have enjoyed following it right from the start! - Its certainly looking very excellent now, as mentioned boarded up windows might look good and preserve the 'view block' - thing is would it be pointless as no roof?!! so the building hardly needs to be weather proofed. Anyway very nicely done, the large scale emphasises all the bits light slightly differing track levels, board crossings etc, all looks better in the bigger scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Siddall Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Hi Jordan, Sorry I missed this layout on the last RMweb, I really like what you have managed to achieve in such a small space, who said O gauge required oodles of room? Just reading through the last couple of posts about the windows in the demolished building but have you considered a judiciously placed sapling or two growing out of the rubble left when the earlier part was knocked down? It would be a nice way to block the windows although the rubble pile may have to be made deeper. Keep up the great modelling and I am sure that you'll have a lot of fun with this one. Cheers Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave777 Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Very nice indeed, and of interest to myself particularly as I recently bought that very same Heljan Hymek for a similar O gauge dabble in a few year's time. Can I ask what controller you're using to power the layout with? Excellent modelling though, I'll be well happy if my effort turns out this good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northpoint Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Jordan - you've never mentioned this one before when we met. I thought you were Soo Line through and through. Looks very good - would love to see it in the flesh (unlikely to be in October, though). I particularly like the shot of the Hymek. Heljan, I presume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 27, 2010 Author Share Posted August 27, 2010 Covered on the previous incarnation of RMweb. Mention is also made of it here. Glad someone is keeping watch..!! The blogs aren't much (not a fan I'm afraid) but yes the Class 22 is a Steve Beattie kit. I also have a PRMRP Class 14 under construction, although progress has stalled recently I'm afraid, while I've tried to concentrate on completing all those "nearly finished" projects that accumulate over time... Nick; sorry, I thought you knew about it - I'm sure I mentioned the Class 22 (at RMweb Chasewater IIRC) as you looked at me sideways and said "That'll look funny in white and red.!" :D Yes the Hymek is Heljan. It was going to be at Chris's show; hopefully still will be, whenever it happens!?! Dave777; The controller/s are: An obscure make, 2-Amp job I got off Ebay; (will go & refresh my memory of it's name when I'm home.. ) It can power the layout itself, but is usually used as a 16vAC supply for a 1&quarter Amp Hand-held controller made by tim@dy of this Parish. My lad's H&M Duette (1Amp per outlet) can also power it. These outputs may seem low for O scale but I'm only running the locos rather slowly, so I doubt they draw the same Amps they could at top speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunborn Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 Hello i love it small and neat with good workmanship and a class 22,35 just cant get any better than that top marks and your lad is interested to wish mine where but then id have to share the controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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