Abbotsbridge 2 - 1905 GWR BLT in EM

[BG John]

Back in my teens I had four main railway modelling ambitions, but 45 years later, I've still only partially achieved two of them. So my current aim is to achieve all four on a modest scale. One of those aims was to model the GWR in the early 1900s, and in 1975 I started building Abbotsbridge. It was exhibited quite often around the Thames Valley, but I never had enough locos and rolling stock for it, and much of what I had was too modern. So the aim with Abbotsbridge 2 is to have somewhere to run my old stock from the correct period, and build the extra stock I need, to fully achieve one of the ambitions I've only partially achieved so far.

 

This is a general view of Abbotsbridge 1. It was originally 10ft 6in x 1ft 9in, on three baseboards, two scenic and one fiddle yard. A 4ft scenic board was later added as shown in the foreground.

 

Abbotsbridge 2 has a similar track plan, and will use some  of the original buildings, but will be much smaller. Like my broad gauge "Small, Broad and Totally Pointless" it's half a station, with most of the pointwork replaced by the sector plate in the fiddle yard. Unlike SB&TP though, it actually has points, but only two! I actually started it several months ago, so it will take a few posts to catch up.

 

The first stage was to build the baseboard. This uses part of an internal door that I acquired FOC. The door was cut longways to 18 inches wide for Abbotsbridge, with the remaining 12 inches being used for my OO layout. Apart from giving it a good sanding down, the only work needed was to fill in the cut edge with timber glued and pinned in place.

 

The backscene is made from 4mm ply. When I was travelling some year ago, I built some shelves to go in my van to store "Small, Broad and Totally Pointless", and there was enough ready framed material to build the backscenes for two layouts.

 

 

 

 

The exit to the fiddle yard will be hidden by two overbridges. It's unusual for a country terminus to have bridges across the middle, but local landowner Lord Abbotsbridge was very insistent that he didn't want the road to his stately pile diverted! The loco shed has since disappeared, as it was difficult to fit it in in.

[BG John]

The only pointwork is the loco release crossover. I had two SMP kits bought years ago and never used, although they are just a pile of copper clad sleepers and rail, as I haven't used the tiebar, or the enclosed instructions and template! I haven't fitted the tiebars yet, but apart from that they're finished.

 

 

 

 

[PjKing1]

Looking good John, some nice work on the point work.

 

Cheers

[BG John]

The fiddle yard is a sector plate made from 2mm Tufnol. It's strengthened with aluminium angle from an old greenhouse frame, attached with nylon countersunk screws and nuts. It's the same design as I've used on "Small, Broad and Totally Pointless". The pivot is a good olde fashioned wood screw, screwed into the solid wood edge of the door. It pivots on a washer superglued on top of a hole in the Tufnol. It's simple, and not exactly high precision, but it seems to work pretty well. The one on SB&TP pivots on a hole in the aluminium (plus a washer), which is probably better, but I built this one first and didn't think of it at the time!

 

 

The station end of the sector plate is held down by a piece of copper clad sheet cut to (roughly!) the arc the sector plate makes. This is packed underneath so it applies light pressure to the Tufnol, and screwed down. The whole thing slides on strips of non stick baking sheet, as recommended by Shortliner, who very kindly sent me enough to do both fiddle yards. This provides a fairly low friction surface.

 

 

 

The track used on the layout is SMP. So I could adjust the track, it's not stuck down, but soldered to copper clad strips. At the end I've used the convex offcut from the curved sheet that holds down the end, superglued onto the Tufnol leaving a small gap. Spread out along the rest of the sector plate are four lengths of copper clad sleeper strip, again superglued in place. The end of the rail is insulated from the aluminium by 5thou platicard. I was thinking I'd glue the track in place when I'd got it right, but it doesn't seem to need it

 

 

 

The centre track was laid first, carefully lined up to get it centred and straight. This was then soldered firmly to the curved end strip. I laid a temporary piece of straight track on the scenic section, carefully aligned to this, and used it to align the ends of the two curved fiddle yard tracks. These were just tacked in place with solder until I was happy they were right.

 

I then started laying the track on the scenic section. I started with the rear siding, as I wanted this as far back as it could be to align with all three fiddle yard tracks. Then I laid the straight platform road, followed by the runround loop. Then I laid the second siding to the best compromise possible. Taking tracks off a sector plate positions them differently to taking them off the points that would be there in real life, so I tried my best to make what comes out of the fiddle yard as convincing as possible. Although I had a track plan, I actually laid it by trial and error, and it's come out differently. Once I'd got all the tracks lined up across the fiddle yard join, and tested thoroughly, I soldered the two out fiddle yard tracks firmly in place.

[BG John]

As mentioned in my previous post, I laid the rear siding and platform road first. As usual, the track was laid on PVA brushed onto the cork underlay. It was weighted down until dry. My hammer collection (made famous on my SB&TP topic!) wasn't enough, so more tools were needed. Well I was laying plain track!!!!!!

 

Next day, I laid the other siding and loop.

 

This is the plan I was working to. The original idea was that both sidings would go through a different bridge to the platform road and loop.

 

But when I came to lay the track, that wouldn't work very well. So there will be three tracks through the front bridge, and one through the rear.

 

I haven't laid the points or track beyond them yet. I'd planned to put the crossover far enough down the loop for an 0-6-0 tender loco to run round, but when I could put some stock on the track I realised that the loop wasn't long enough to take a train that would fit in the fiddle yard! So that solves my dilemma about whether to carry on with my long stalled Mainline Dean Goods conversion, or buy and convert the new Oxford one. I won't be doing either! In 1905 the Dean Goods was still a main line goods engine, so very unlikely to have appeared on a sleepy branch line anyway.

[BG John]

I'm planning to operate both points in the crossover together, using wire in tube to a switch or lever in the fiddle yard. As the baseboard is a door, so flat underneath, I'm surface mounting everything. It's easier, and more healthy for my back, that way too! The intention at the moment is to make the tiebars from copperclad strip on it edge, with wires soldered to the rails attached to them. Each point will be connected to a single wire to the switch by a crank, set in opposite directions so one pushes and the other pulls. I've cut channels in the cork underlay for the tube, and the wires required. I need to make and fit the tiebars before laying the crossover.

 

And that's as far as I've got so far. Things will probably slow down a bit now, as I'm building rolling stock to test the track on Small, Broad and Totally Pointless, that is almost at the same stage.

[BG John]

Once I've got the layout working, I have quite a lot to do on the locos and rolling stock. This rather dusty collection is much of what I have. Some of the wagons have never run, as a friend who was fed up with seeing my unbuilt kit collection not shrinking, built some for me after Abbotsbridge 1 last ran. I have more stock, but it's been banished as being too modern. The big prairie will be joining it. That leaves me with just one suitable loco, a Wills 1854 0-6-0ST, on a bendy whitemetal Wills chassis. It used to be a nice runner, but needs some attention now. I've just bought a Perseverance pannier chassis kit, so may put that under it instead.

 

My stock has a mixture of 3 link and Spratt & Winkle couplings. The S&Ws are all the original non delayed uncoupling 4mm type, set behind the buffer beam. I'm going to be using 3mm delayed action type in the newer low position under the buffer beam, so all the couplings will need replacing. I'll need to do other work on most of the wagons too, and some will need to be repainted in what I think is now generally agreed as red pre 1904 livery. I've got quite a few unbuilt and part built wagons, and have just stocked up on Ratio 4 wheel coaches to produce a more suitable branch train. Doing much on scenery will wait until this is done, unless I have an urge to do any sooner.

 

The next loco should be an 1813 class 0-6-0PT. Panniers were a very new idea in 1905, and few locos had them. It wasn't until well after grouping that the last saddle tanks were replaced. No 1817 had panniers fitted in 1904, so is fine for my period, and would have been one of few locos to have them while in the pre 1906 livery with Indian Red paint below the footplate. With no lettering on the tanks either, it should excite plenty of misguided criticism!! Strangely, the tanks were originally made for the 2721 class, but the 1813s went into the works first, so got them instead, and it's a 2721 that I'll be chopping up to make the loco. I got this Hornby body on eBay for a good price, and was originally going to convert this chassis, that I already had, to EM, but I think I'll probably give it a new chassis.

 

I'm not sure how far I'll go with the conversion. The bunker is the most obvious change needed, which involves shortening the back end. The rest is mainly detail differences, that I may do later, after I've got it working. If I use a Perseverance chassis, it will have rear wheel drive, so I may be able to get some daylight under the boiler. I'll see how proficient I am with RTR bashing by the time I get to it.

 

Progress to date is to order the number plates from Narrow Planet.

[BG John]

These are the main buildings that I'll be reusing from Abbotsbridge 1. The station building is the Hornby kit, that was intended to have a printed paper overlay, but I covered in embossed Plasticard. This is how it appeared on the original layout, and was, typically for me, in an unfinished state!

 

This is how it is now, after I did some more work on it last year. Still unfinished, but getting there. There's more detail in my short lived blog here.

 

 

This is the goods shed. It's a model of Abbotsbury, made from the drawings in Great Western Branch Line Termini Volume 2. It's balsa covered in embossed Plasticard, and over the years the walls have warped, so it will need some surgery.

 

I hope to repaint the buildings some time, to try some of the clever techniques that have been invented since I built them.

[BG John]

I know, but the original didn't look better when I actually came to lay it. To get some space between the sidings, and to get it close enough to the back siding to go under the same bridge, it needed an even bigger S shaped curve. This way, it does look as though it's been done that way to get three tracks under one bridge.

 

When designing it in SCARM I used straight tracks radiating from the pivot point to line the tracks up with, but the reality of lining them all up with the actual fiddle yard, without it swinging outside the edges of the baseboard, was rather different. I did try!

[mightbe]

Great looking layout! I look forward to future updates.

 

It's sort of a deluxe micro in a sense, which captures the expansiveness of the real railway in a small space. Speaking of which, just how big is it?

 

Quentin

[BG John]

Great looking layout! I look forward to future updates.

 

It's sort of a deluxe micro in a sense, which captures the expansiveness of the real railway in a small space. Speaking of which, just how big is it?

 

Quentin

Thanks.

 

It's 6ft 6in x 1ft 6in overall. The scenic area is 3ft 10in long.