Walkley Goods Yard - 1920s Layout Recreated in EM

[BG John]

In the June 1926 Model Railway News, AR Walkley described his 'Portable "OO" Gauge Goods Yard'. At the time most aspects of the layout were quite revolutionary, and many of them weren't widely taken up for many years. Although described as being OO gauge, OO then covered 3.5mm and 4mm scales, and 16.5, 18 and 19mm gauges, and it was actually built to what we now know as HO. Although I'm recreating it in EM, maybe I should be describing it as OO, although it would cause a few problems if other people tried to run their OO stock on it! There have been several topics about the layout on RMweb, but the one that inspired me was this one, which is worth reading to learn more about the original layout.

 

I've thought up various ideas for versions of the layout over the last year or so, but what made me start on it was realising that I had enough plain track left from my new EM layout Abbotsbridge 2 to build another small layout. That set me thinking about building something to use up all my surplus modelling materials, and stock that wasn't suitable for my current layouts. I've got quite a lot of stuff around, mostly dating from the 1970s and 80s, with some from the 60s, that I had no future use for, including buildings from old layouts, and some EM locos and stock that are too modern for the 1905 date of Abbotsbridge. So why not use it to make a fairly close a copy of ARW's layout? It would be a practical way to get rid of some of my clutter, that wouldn't be worth a lot if I sold it, but was too good to dump.

 

The first thing to do was to see if I could produce a practical plan. I imported the layout plan from the MRN article into SCARM, as it's a quick and easy program to work with. The original layout appears to have used points that were quite close to Peco small radius, but they're too tight for EM, so I tried Peco large radius. The only way I could make them work and fit the original plan was to overlap the points to the loco shed and the first one to the sidings. This forms a single slip, but not the sort based on a diamond crossing that most modellers are familiar with. The second point in the sidings would work if I used the same radius curves as a large radius straight point in a Y. It's a good thing I was planning to make the points! This is the original plan with my track plan overlaid, and it's not a bad fit:

 

 

Jumping ahead in the story a bit, to when I'd designed the pointwork and built the baseboard, here's a view of the original plan blown up to full size, and the same plan with the new trackwork laid on it:

 

 

The plan differs from the photos of the layout, and there are differences in some of the features between the few published photos, and in the second photo I'd drawn something closer to the actual road on the plan. Buildings were mostly the surplus ones I had available, to get an idea of how it would fit together. I'm actually building it in 4mm scale on the same sized baseboard as the original 3.5mm scale layout, so mine is effectively smaller.

[class"66"]

Plans look rather good so far john..

 

 

 

cheers neil.

[BG John]

Plans look rather good so far john..

 

 

 

cheers neil.

There's lots more to come. I've been working on it for a couple of weeks already!

[class"66"]

Sounds good John,im now following this...

 

 

 

cheers neil.

[BG John]

I'm currently a couple of weeks ahead, so I'll try to describe things in a logical order, rather than in the order they happened. As this is a tale of reuse and recycling as well, I'll also say a bit about where various items came from, and what I've done to them, as it might encourage other people to see ways to reuse and adapt models and materials that might otherwise be of no use.

 

Every layout needs a baseboard, and this baseboard has seen a few attempts to build layouts on it! I originally made it in February 2013 for a EM layout I never started. It was made an odd shape to fit the room available, and was 6ft long, by 2ft at one end and 1ft at the other. It was made from 18mm ply from an old wardrobe I found in a shed when I bought my current house. It was heavy, but that didn't matter as I wasn't planning to take it anywhere. It was attached to the wall in the corner of a room, and had to reduce in width to run along a bookcase. The other end of the layout would have widened out again.

 

 

 

When I finally got back into modelling, I decided to build a OO layout based on a Timesaver and Inglenook shunting puzzle to fit on the board (Ingletyme). Having made some progress I wasn't happy with it, and started converting it to O-16.5, but wasn't happy with that either. So I took up the track. Then I tried using it for a quick simple O gauge layout (Holman's End), but I wasn't happy with that. Finally I'd found a good use for it, but it was the wrong shape, so it went back into the workshop, and appeared like this:

 

 

 

The backscene boards have had an exciting life too, having started out as part of this, the trailer I went travelling with between 2007 and 2010:

 

They're made from the rear door, and a smaller one that was in the front. It's shuttering ply, so not of the best quality, but it was well varnished, and is now well seasoned! After a fair bit of baseboard building over the last year, I'm getting very short of suitable free materials!!

 

The board is still quite heavy, but not as cumbersome as it used to be, and it's certainly strong.

[BG John]

The next step was to stick down the cork underlay. I normally cover the whole baseboard, but as I was using leftovers from my other layouts, I just covered the areas where track was to be laid, and immediately surrounding areas. I painted the baseboard with PVA, pressed down the cork and rolled it flat, then weighted it down with a selection of elderly books.

 

[dhjgreen]

I will now be following this thread, thanks for posting

Edit to say I heve found your inspiration thread hence all the likes

If you still need any bullhead track I have several lengths of EM C&L going spare

Edited July 25, 2016 by dhjgreen

[BG John]

I will now be following this thread, thanks for posting

Edit to say I heve found your inspiration thread hence all the likes

If you still need any bullhead track I have several lengths of EM C&L going spare

Thanks David. The plan is to run out of rail just as I finish it, as I don't have plans for any further layouts that need it at the moment, but if things don't go to plan.......!

[dhjgreen]

Thanks David. The plan is to run out of rail just as I finish it, as I don't have plans for any further layouts that need it at the moment, but if things don't go to plan.......!

John, just ask there will be no charge

[BG John]

The pointwork is at the centre of this layout. As I mentioned earlier, the original layout used three points similar to Peco small radius, but for EM gauge that's too tight. I drew my plan in SCARM using Peco large radius, and they wouldn't fit without drastically altering the plan, or needing a longer baseboard. Overlapping the points into the loco shed and the rear siding, to form a single slip, resolved the length problem, and a Y point using about the same radius curves as the straight Peco large radius made the front two sidings almost a perfect fit, but with a gentler curve on the front one. I've built a number of points before, including mixed gauge to P4 standards, but this would be my first slip, and it's an odd one.

 

Once I was satisfied the plan would work, I redrew it in Templot. I used a template that closely matches Peco large radius, found on the Templot forum, and overlapped a left and right hand until none of the important bits conflicted with each other. Then I created the Y point using the same parameters. I then added the plain track to give me a complete track plan. I can do the basics in Templot, but shifting sleepers around, and especially adding in the extra crossings and other bits, is still beyond me. So I printed out the slip without sleepers, and worked out the crossings and extra check rails by adding them in with a pen. I was a bit concerned that the crossings were opposite each other, where the opposite one really needed a check rail, but was up for the challenge. I've never yet failed to built pointwork that doesn't work nicely!

 

I printed out the slip without sleepers, and the Y point with them, and stuck the templates to a piece of board with double sided tape. Then I worked out where the important sleepers needed to go on the slip with a pencil, and filled in the gaps.

 

I used an SMP 3-way point kit, but as most of it consists of a pile of rail and copper clad sleeper strip I was just using up surplus stuff I had no other use for. I cut the sleepers to length, filed insulating gaps, tested them with a multimeter, and stuck them in place with double sided tape. I hadn't decided how to operate them, so left a sleeper out where the tiebars needed to go. Then I started cutting rail and soldering.

 

 

I worked on it gradually over about a week, adding a few bits of rail at a time. I tested it as best I could with a wagon as I went, but it was difficult as the rails I needed to run the wagon on never seemed to be there yet! Notice that I only tacked the stock rails and other longer rails in place with a few solder joints. It was a good thing that I did, as they needed quite a bit of adjustment later on. After each session, I cleaned up my work with a good spray of IPA (of the non beer kind!), and didn't get any problems with corrosion from the flux.

 

 

I decided to make the tiebars from sleeper strip, and just solder the switch rails to them. The switches are quite light and don't need a lot of movement, and I think I've got pretty strong joints. I made the tiebars almost the full length of the sleepers I'd left out, so they're not obvious from normal viewing distances. Can you spot them?

 

 

 

Having planned the pointwork carefully so I could build it in one piece, when I put it on the layout I realised that the spacing of the two rear sidings was too wide, and didn't leave enough scenic space between the front two. So I chopped out some rail at the toe of the Y, and rejoined it. This reduced the siding spacing from 60mm to 50mm, and everything fitted nicely.

 

[BG John]

With the points made, it was time to start track laying. First step was to draw a line the length of the layout to mark the position of the back rail, to give the correct clearance for the low-relief buildings. Then I placed the points in position, cut the plain track to a bit over length, and placed it roughly in position.

 

 

Once happy, I temporarily fixed the pointwork down with screws and washers. I wanted to test it thoroughly before sticking it down, so it can be easily lifted for tweaking (or major surgery!).

 

 

Then I cut the plain track exactly to length, and stuck it down. I normally paint PVA onto the cork underlay to cover the whole area of each track, but this time I tried Tacky Glue on just some of the sleepers. I'm normally slow to get round to ballasting, which will hold the track down firmly, but this time I want to do it ASAP. If I do need to make any changes to the track layout, I stand a better change of lifting the delicate SMP sleepers without wrecking all of them. As normal, I held the track down with strips of chipboard weighted with heavy tools while it was setting.

 

 

I'm almost out of code 75 bullhead rail, and want to keep a few pieces available for now in case I need them, so have only laid the track the the doorway of the loco shed, and just into the tunnel mouth. If I run out of rail, I can use code 75 flatbottom for the hidden bits.

 

 

 

With the plain track laid, I could start testing the points by giving rolling stock a good run up to them. Going through the slip straight is fine, but going round the bend isn't! Things are falling off as they hit the crossings in the middle. This may just require a bit of tweaking, or a major rebuild, and further examination is needed. At the moment I'm on a roll with the buildings, so I'll come back to this later. It will run perfectly, eventually!

[BG John]

No time for any big posts tonight, but here are a couple of views of where I've got to now. Most of the buildings are largely done and almost ready to prepare for painting. I'll post some more views of the layout as it is now very soon, and start writing up what I've done to create the buildings.

 

 

[BG John]

More views of the layout as it is now. The only building I haven't made yet is the goods shed, that so far just has a roof that can be seen resting on a plastic box in the last photo. None of them are copies of the originals, but they are in the same place, and serve the same function. The only extra building is the low-relief water tank. The original had a combined water crane and round tank, but I didn't have one, so this is the nearest I could get. All the buildings need a bit more work before painting, but I'll do that later. I want to sort out the problem with the slip, and start on the scenery first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThePurplePrimer]

Starting to look really great now John

 

It's a bit too good actually - I might not bother doing my one now ;-)

[BG John]

Starting to look really great now John

 

It's a bit too good actually - I might not bother doing my one now ;-)

It's supposed to inspire people to have a go, not put them off!!

[Nearholmer]

Cracking along!

 

Mr Walkley would be flattered.

 

The bridge does slightly hide the extra-special pointwork, though. Could the bridge shift an inch or two, so that the clever workmanship is on display?

 

K

Edited July 27, 2016 by Nearholmer

[BG John]

Cracking along!

 

Mr Walkley would be flattered.

 

The bridge does slightly hide the extra-special pointwork, though. Could the bridge shift an inch or two, so that the clever workmanship is on display?

 

K

Not really, as it affects the position of the road, and either the cottage or the office. I'm hoping to hide the join in the backscene board with a tree growing on the disused trackbed! I'm not sure an inch or two would be enough to show more of it anyway.

 

I'm not sure the pointwork is clever yet, until I've solved the problem with it!

[BG John]

On second thoughts, I could do this, which would still let me hide the backscene join with a tree, and put the buildings in roughly the right place, but it seems to make the overall scene look a bit unbalanced. I'll leave the bridge in that position for a while and see if it grows on me.

 

[Nearholmer]

Things usually look better if you can divide them in a ratio 1:1.6, or even 1:2, rather than 1:1.

 

Anyway, at least you've got your slip showing now.

 

K

[BG John]

Things usually look better if you can divide them in a ratio 1:1.6, or even 1:2, rather than 1:1.

 

Anyway, at least you've got your slip showing now.

 

K

True, but on the original the bridge covers the baseboard join, and is right in the middle of the two points, so ought to be in the middle of the slip.

 

Anyway, how did you know I wear a sl.... Oh, I see what you mean!

[BG John]

I had a look at the slip last night, and have found the source of the problems with it. A bit of filing has cured two of the bits that were causing derailments, and I've run wagons and bogie vehicles through it at the highest speed I could get them up to, without the slightest judder. It was getting a bit late to fix the other one, so I'll do it today. So it turned out that it was just a bit a tweaking needed, fortunately,

 

Now I need to decide how I'm going to operate them. I want to be able to operate from both sides, and want something really simple. It takes a while for my brain to amble through various solutions, to find the best one I have suitable materials for.

[BG John]

It looks as though the slip is sorted. It just needed a bit of filing to open up a couple of flangeways, and remove a bump where two rails joined. I'm not convinced it should work at all, but it does, so far! I'll have to see what it's like when I can run locos through it. Anyway, the pointwork is stuck down now, so I can't do any more testing until the glue is set.

 

 

I've also stuck a bit of cork down to support the front of the bridge. After the discussion about where to put it the other day, it will have to go back in the middle covering the complicated part of the slip, to avoid the point operating switches. I have a plan for operating the points mechanically from both sides of the layout, but the bits I need won't be here for a few days.

 

My original plan for inside the tunnel was a two track sector plate or traverser, but I'm now just going to lay a single track. It will have a removable extension off the edge of the layout, so I can run something a bit longer if I want to. So I've stuck down a piece of cork to take the track.

 

 

I haven't quite got enough bullhead rail to finish the track, so I'll have to use a bit of code 75 flatbottom in hidden places, but there's more than enough for the visible areas.

 

I've also made some progress on the retaining wall. Both buttresses are fitted, and the next stage is to add a wall and railings to the top. Once that's done, I've got to build some walls to go under the goods shed roof.

 

[BG John]

I've done a bit more on the retaining wall today, adding capping stones and started making a wall to go along part of the top. The rest of the top will have the railings.

 

 

Most of the time has been spent track laying and soldering. I've now laid all the track, except a few inches in the tunnel that I can't do until I've made a hole in the end backscene. I didn't have quite enough rail, so I've used code 75 flatbottom inside the loco shed. I've made a pit, although it's not very deep as I just cut away the cork underlay between the track. It can only be seen through the loco shed windows, or by bending over the layout and looking through the doorway. I've also added a few copper clad sleepers to fill in gaps, and either side of the two insulated breaks. I've put in all the electrical connections to the track (one track feed, three to the point crossings, and two insulated breaks), but not installed or wired up the switches yet. I'm waiting for some aluminium strip to make the point operating mechanism, and when that arrives I'll take the layout down to the workshop and make all the necessary holes for mechanical and electrical bits.

 

 

I've also laid leftover SMP sleepers on the bridge for the disused railway. I've got about 6 inches of rail left, so I've put that there. The rest of the rail has been removed, just leaving sleepers and chairs disappearing into the undergrowth. If I need a bit of rail in the future, I'll know where to find it!

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by BG John

[BG John]

Back to buildings today. Most of the retaining wall is now done. I'm going to have a session of finishing off little bits and pieces on all the buildings later, so will add the final few bits then. I'm not sure a builder or a structural engineer would approve, but it's a model railway, not a model of a real one! It's fun making it up as I go along using whatever bits I've got around, without having to worry about researching the subject first!!

 

 

What to put behind the rear siding seems to have taken ARW a while to decide. The layout plan shows just a fence, some photos show a low-relief goods shed, and others show a platform that appears to be a cattle dock. I had a goods platform from my first broad gauge layout, and have a couple of cattle wagons, so I'm going for the cattle dock option. I've slightly cut down the depth to fit, and sanded down the top surface, as it was intended to be well worn mud originally. I've also added a ramp, as on ARW's original. I'll leave the fencing for now, as I have one or two Ratio Cattle Dock kits. I'll probably need some of it for Abbotsbridge 2, so will see what will be left over when I've decided if it will fit.

 

 

I've started on the goods shed between the front sidings. This appears to have been intended to be a concrete or asbestos structure, so I'm thinking I'll give it a concrete like finish, but haven't decided yet. I made the roof from the Dapol Petrol Station kit a week or two ago, and it's been standing on a plastic box ever since while I decide how to build it. Today it struck me that I could use the box! So I've shortened it, and when the new join has set I'll decide what to do next.

 

[georgeT]

Really like the track building John, spot on...