Riverside

[sparks]

I discovered RMweb a few years ago whilst Googling something entirely different and it has rekindled my childhood/teenage interest in model railways. More recently I realised that I haven't been doing anything practical with my hands for a while and the thought of building that small layout that I've had in my head for years started to take shape. Unfortunately I live in a tiny inner-city one bedroom apartment with no free space and all my tools and modelling bits are in storage in the UK (I came to Australia for 12 months nine years ago and forgot to leave.....)

So when the APA box appeared in this forum I was instantly struck how good an opportunity this was for someone in my situation - with a bit of thought the layout can be made to fit entirely in the box so it can 'hide' in plain view in the living room. It's small size also means that I was more likely to actually finish it! Most of my previous modelling projects have started with the rolling stock and stalled long before a suitable layout was commenced. This time I decided to base the layout around some rolling stock I already had and promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more until I had somewhere to run it!

My interest lies mainly in electric trains and EMUs, which generally, by definition, aren't really conducive to small space modelling. However, most systems usually have a backwater where the oldest (and most interesting) stock operates short trains in a branchline environment - see my earlier topic Micro Layout Ideas - Rapid Transit for a few ideas and also the marvellous St. Mary Hoo. On my first visit to Australia back in 2002 I bought a two car Sydney suburban EMU from Bergs Models in Parramatta so I decided to create a freelance layout based around that, with inspiration taken from the Carlingford and Sandown branches of the Sydney system.
  

033-04 1990-10-13 637-737 on ET Tour at Hardies by gunzel412, on Flickr

 

038-26A 1990-12-24 Y1 at Sandown by gunzel412, on Flickr

  

The APA box doesn't give you much space to play with for a two car EMU, but there is room for a short platform for the train to shuttle in and out of. For some extra operating interest I have added a freight siding to allow some shunting to take place, with the point at the edge of the board where the line exits to a sector plate fiddle yard. There would probably be room for another siding coming straight off the sector plate to make an inglenook, but I decided to go with a 'less is more' approach to avoid filling the already small baseboard with track and leave enough room for convincing scenery.



The freight siding will serve a small railway owned goods depot, as I thought this would allow a much larger variety of rolling stock than a private siding for a specific industry. It wasn't originally going to be wired (only the platform road at Sandown was ever wired) but I was seduced by a Bergs Sydney electric parcels van at the Liverpool show last year. Now I just need Santa to bring me a Victorian Railways E-class to shunt the wagons......

 

Edit: links fixed

Edited April 21, 2022 by sparks

[sparks]

An APA box was duly purchased to play with and lay out PECO point plans, and lots of research took place on the internet. I was about to start building back in October when I was sent to Singapore for a 'few' months with work. Whilst frustrating at the time lots of further research was undertaken and I was able to see what other people were up to with their APA boxes on RMweb - davidge's East Barnes Lane Depot http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66953-east-barnes-lane-depot-nse-in-an-apa-box/ was particularly helpful and led me to a brainwave that avoided a big mistake I would have made if I'd started in October! I had originally intended to use the box on it's side, so that the when the lid was on the layout would be fully enclosed, look presentable in the living room and keep the dust out. However, looking at the East Barnes Lane photos I realised that if the box was used the right way up, the front panel could be arranged to slide in and out, thus giving a much wider space to work in whilst still being able to be closed up. The photo in the previous post shows just how narrow the layout would have been if I had gone with the original plan and scenery would have been extremely low relief.

 

A month at home in March allowed construction to begin. A trip to the local DIY store procured a 600x900mm sheet of 7mm ply that was cut in-store to the basic size I required and all I had to do was notch the corners to make it fit inside the box. 7mm is probably a bit of overkill for such a small area but it was the smallest sheet available (no room at home for offcuts!) and it also gives something substantial for the catenary masts to screw into later - without catenary a piece of foam would be much lighter. Here's a mockup with the baseboard in place and some paper buildings to give an idea of the scenic treatment:-

 

 

The building in the foreground represents two Wills goods yard stores joined together to make the goods depot (partly inspired by my trip to Katoomba http://www.flickr.com/photos/cymro76/8058548641/ in the Blue Mountains) but I think it may block the view across the layout too much so further thought is required:-

 

 

The remainder of the sheet of ply was further cut at the store to make the fiddle yard. This will be attached to the inside of the lid so that the layout is as self contained as possible:-

 

 

With the front panel slid back in, and the fiddle yard/lid replaced, the box becomes a box again:-

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by sparks

[shortliner]

Sparks - just a suggestion - if you can lengthen the 2 car road a bit Perhaps by shortening the bit of straight track exiting the box, and putting it on the end of the siding, it will leave you enough clearance to get into the other road - you are just a wee bit tight at the moment do do that

Best

Jack aka Shortliner

Edited July 8, 2013 by shortliner

[Saddletank]

Looking promising mate, something a bit different on this sub-forum to see modelling not from the UK or US. I can see why you never left Melbourne, I visited last year and was smitten, think it might be the best place I visited all holiday (QLD is just brutal to a jock!)

 

You're guilt tripping me into thinking about that APA box I bought 9 months ago and neglected at the back of a cupboard!

[DaminKeenan]

I have an IKEA right down the road from me that I've been to several times.  How in the heck did I miss this concept!

 

I'll be following this topic with interest.  Thanks for posting it.

 

- Damin.

[sparks]

Thanks for looking guys.

 

Shortliner - The short straight is there to avoid having the joint and power feeds on the point itself. Not being able to run into the siding when the platform is occupied is not really a problem, as I envisage the siding ground frame being unlocked by the singe line token, so you wouldn't ever have two trains there together.

 

Sandletank and DaminKeenan - One thing I'm really liking about this project is that it moves along very quickly. If you can spend an hour each evening after dinner, then you can usually complete the task and move onto something else the next day. Go on, you know you want to....!

[Job's Modelling]

Great idea to use the lid  for the fiddle yard.

Will use that one in the future for an APA-box Northall micro layout in the future.

 

.

[shortliner]

Sparks - feed the layout in the box from the fiddle yard??

[mjcampbell]

Nice idea. And shows you don't have to have a lot of space to build a layout!

 

I'd have used the straight route for the platform, and the curved for the siding - I think it would look better, but I'd slew the track to a slight angle so the platform is not parallel to the board. You can cross the board at a small angle if you solder the rails to brass screws. Alternatively, a Y point is much shorter!

 

You can get away with 1/2" of track at the board edge, the feeds can be soldered to that. Or just follow the rails.... you can attach the feeds to the outer rails of the two sidings, they are the same rails!

[sparks]

Job - Thanks, it was a bit of a brainwave! I have room for the box, but not an additional fiddle yard board. The backdrop will be various industrial buildings and warehouses, but I doubt they will be up to your standard!

 

shortliner an mjcampbell - As the fiddle yard will not butt up to the main board due to the shape of the lid, a bridging piece is required and therefore all three will have their own feed to avoid relying on rail joiners. "you can attach the feeds to the outer rails of the two sidings, they are the same rails!" - good point, I had considered that!

 

These first few posts are retrospective so I am further on than it looks - the track has already been laid and wired.

Edited July 14, 2013 by sparks

[sparks]

Time for a bit of supposed history:-

 

Although operationally inspired by the Sandown branch in Sydney as mentioned above, Riverside owes a lot (including it's name!) to the GWR Riverside branch and adjacent Glamorganshire Canal Railway in Cardiff (see posts here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/28737-south-wales-industrial-railways/page-8&do=findComment&comment=378302 and here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/27247-any-1940s-urbanindustrial-layouts/?hl=%2Bglamorganshire+%2Bcanal&do=findComment&comment=285113). Basically, the line is assumed to have originated in Victorian times as a freight branch serving the many industries and wharves along the inner-city reaches of the river, together with a small railway owned goods depot for the many parcels and small items that these industries would have received and sent. During the railmotor fad at the turn of the century a few timber halts were constructed along the line and a railmotor/autotrain service was provided from the central station to Riverside halt, situated on the yard headshunt at the very end of the line (the main yard is assumed to be just offstage). During the 1920s the city's suburban lines were electrified at 1500V DC in the then current fashion and the branch was eventually wired. As part of this work the platforms were lengthened and rebuilt with precast concrete facings to take two car trains (just!). This was the last attention the line received and by the post-war period things are looking a little tired.

 

A key feature of the layout will be the catenary which is not something I've done before, although always wanted to, and a small layout like this is the ideal place to try it. Sommerfeldt is the obvious option, but reading showed that to get the finescale appearance soldering is required, something which is not my forte. I then discovered the Viessmann system (https://viessmann-modell.com/en/product-range/gauge-h0/catenary/?p=2) which sits somewhere between the 'toy' systems and Sommerfeldt, in that it clips together but still looks great. The range includes a 1920s German lattice mast which fits the theme of the layout perfectly - both Melbourne (1919) and Sydney (1926) were early users of 1500V DC and have their own distinctive catenary designs which are unfortunately not available in model form. I acquired a few masts and some experimentation showed (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/62728-using-viessmann-catenary-with-peco-track/) that when used with Peco track cork underlay was required to lift track slightly to ensure the contact wire was at the correct height. I bought some of the usual cork strips but realised that these would give a mainline-style ballast shoulder, so instead I found some 3mm cork sheets in the craft section of my local $2 shop and glued these over the whole baseboard area with PVA which should hopefully give a more track-in-the-dirt branchline feel. The catenary masts can then be 'sunk' into the ground by removing a small section of cork and fixing the masts directly to the baseboard. Once dry the cork was painted a base black colour and the track was laid; I went with Peco Code 100 for safety as most of my rolling stock is rather old. The point is manually operated via a piano wire rod under the baseboard so I have shortened the sleepers and tiebar to remove the point motor mountings and improve the appearance.

 

Once the track was laid and tested, I started looking at the layout of the catenary. In the end it was a balance between prototypical construction and using the standard Viessmann masts and wire lengths in such a small space but eventually I hit upon an arrangement I was happy with. The masts were planted and the main wires hooked into place in a surprisingly short amount of time and before long the parcels van was happily running around with the pan up producing some very lifelike singing in the wires which I wasn't expecting!

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by sparks
links fixed

[47137]

 

These first few posts are retrospective so I am further on than it looks - the track has already been laid and wired.

I too have an APA box, though mine has got only as far as a mock up. Could we have a photo of the track where it crosses from the box to the lid, ideally before the details are hidden under ballast and landscaping? I think this could get my project going again - Richard.

[sparks]

On 18/07/2013 at 21:01, 47137 said:

I too have an APA box, though mine has got only as far as a mock up. Could we have a photo of the track where it crosses from the box to the lid, ideally before the details are hidden under ballast and landscaping? I think this could get my project going again - Richard.

 

See below - nothing terribly exciting to see though! I am experimenting with a short Setrack straight here as these grip the rails firmly. I know it's not the done thing, but I'm starting from scratch in terms of tools and materials so went for the simplest and most easily available option. Time will tell if it stands up! Brass screws would be the next mostly likely, although you would have to position them carefully to allow the bridge section to be attached with rail-joiners, something which the Setrack allows without cutting away any chairs at the join. The short straight also brings the point out from under the scenic break; originally intended to be a footbridge for access to the platform, but I'm not so sure now. The exit in the box side was cut by drilling four holes in the corners and joining them up with a specially bought saw. Unfortunately I had marked it out wrong and had to extend it down to the baseboard - during this I discovered that 2-3 strokes of a Stanley knife will cut the hardboard cleanly and is probably a neater way to make the hole.

 

Things have stalled a bit since the last post, as I have been experimenting with various combinations of Humbrol and different ballasts to find a believable track colour. One thing I would recommend however, is to try and do all your wiring, soldering, track painting etc *before* you fix the board to the box. I screwed it down to attach the point mechanism and it was very awkward to solder the feeds onto the Setrack straight up against the side afterwards.

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by sparks

[47137]

Simplicity is usually the best approach ... I was imagining a fiendish mechanism with one or two folds in it to get the rails clear of the edges of the box and the lid.

 

Yesteday evening I sat my current micro on my lap while I painted the sides of the rails - much nicer than bending down over a fixed layout! It might be worth trying to build most of the model outside the box, and then sliding it in and securing it near the end. Perhaps with just a few buildings remaining to fix down. It all seems too confined to work in there to me.

 

- Richard.

[hartleymartin]

I submitted something to Carl Arendt's website back in 2009. Although I designed it as a T-gauge super-minimum space layout.

http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page82/#carlingford

[sparks]

I submitted something to Carl Arendt's website back in 2009. Although I designed it as a T-gauge super-minimum space layout.

http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page82/#carlingford

 

Thanks Martin

 

Carl Arendt's site was one of the inspirations for this project and I do remember reading your post!

[sparks]

Time for an update. After spending a few weeks mixing various brown and black Humbrols together to try and get a believable rail colour I gave up and painted it with two coats of Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown acrylic. Sleepers are the same household flat Black acyrlic that I used for the baseboard which gives a reasonable dark creosote type colour. Paired with Bluestone ballast from a local supplier (Chuck's Ballast) I'm actually quite happy with the result. One of the biggest problems I had was every time I found a mix for the rails that I liked it looked awful in natural light the next day!

 

 

With that sorted out, thoughts have moved to Structures. I'm thinking of a generic mix of old Victorian structures with a few C20th infill and redevelopments; in the latter category I found the DPM #10600 Laube's Linen Mill (http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/243-10600) in my local shop. This is basically what you get:-

 

 

Rearranging the parts designed for a full-relief building into a half-relief building gives two options: either long and shallow to fit behind the skinny end of the platform:-

 

 

or a shorter, fatter building to fit behind the wide end of the platform:-

 

 

Obviously it all depends on what goes the other end to balance it out but I'm leaning towards the long skinny option as it gives a nice background to the platform, plus the fat option creates a pinch point in the middle of the platform.

 

 

The other end would probably then be an old three-storey stone warehouse in the style of the Baltic Oil Works in Newport. I visited the site last time I was 'home' to take some suitable photos but I was thwarted by a large yellow lorry! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/28737-south-wales-industrial-railways/page-11&do=findComment&comment=1106387

Edited April 21, 2022 by sparks

[hartleymartin]

Are there similar building kits in O scale? I would like to build a mill/factory of some sort, but the thought of acres of brick-paper/brick plastikard is putting me off.

[47137]

I like the long skinny option, it looks better with the platform and it gives you more choices to obscure the track exit e.g. trees (if appropriate) both sides of the railway or an industrial gantry of some kind.

 

- Richard.

[Ian Holmes]

Good Stuff. Lately pressures of work and other things have taken me away from modelling. It's always somewhat humbling to come back and see what people are still doing with the APA box..

This is coming along very nicely. Look forward to seeing more.

 

Ian

[sparks]

Martin - see here for the full DPM range:- http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?manu=243&split=300

 

Richard - I agree, and the building went together nicely in a few hours on a spare Saturday night. Disaster was narrowly averted when I managed to tip the whole bottle of solvent over the desk though!

 

Ian - Thanks for looking

[Ian Holmes]

I'm really interested to see how your fiddleyard/sector plate develops

[sparks]

I'm really interested to see how your fiddleyard/sector plate develops

 

The fiddle yard will be last, to prevent me from getting distracted playing trains! I have been pondering it though. My initial thought was to cut an arc in the 7mm ply but I'm not confident enough in my woodworking skills to get that right first time, plus it would require several extra supports to make it work. Lately I've have been thinking of using the ply as a solid base - if you screw it directly to the lid the top will be lower than the main baseboard, so the sector plate could be something thin that slides on top. The loose end will need to be restrained though so it doesn't flop when the lid is upside down on the box.

[sparks]

Here's the completed (but unpainted) factory block. I've also made a start on the end building, a stone victorian workshop extended by adding a corrugated iron upper storey. The train-sized doorway is only there to break up the blank wall and will be bricked up. I've not used Wills sheets before and so far I've been pleasantly surprised how easily they cut and go together.

 

 

This shot also illustrates something else I've been pondering - the platform height. As the Peco sides are 'OO/HO' I assumed that they would be overheight for HO and would need sinking into the cork; but they are the perfect height for the Sydney stock on top of the cork. It could be a quirk of the stock, but this SNCF Z5100 unit on an 'outer' surburban working(!) also looks OK, if too high for the steps.

 

 

Clearly some research into correct platform height is needed, but I want the layout to be usable with all types of stock so I may end up sinking the platforms anyway.

Edited April 21, 2022 by sparks

[hartleymartin]

The NSWGR did originally have lower platforms. The platforms were raised when electric stock were introduced, although on many country stations they still have the lower platform height. There is a photo in a 1974 ARHS Bulletin showing Dundas Station with a partially-raised platform.

 

The platform surface should be ever so slightly lower than the step of the door (about 1mm lower in HO scale)