tractionman

Hi Peter, I've been checking this thread for a while as I am bound for Vic in November and am hoping to spend some of the time out and about with my camera. Those photos you've posted above are of just the kind of traction I was hoping to see! Can you give me any pointers, eg locations - where I ought to head to see some of the older locos still working? I am going to be based in Melbourne/Weribee for most of my two weeks. cheers, Keith

Love the scenery there 60091 - looks fantastic seeing those locos and proper freights in the landscape. They really look the part. cheers, Keith

Many thanks for the encouragement Adrian and Andrew - much appreciated. Since I first posted on the project earlier this week I have - unbelievably - made a stab at clearing the loft and actually making some progress. Can't quite believe it myself! So a few more pics below of the main boards now both in their proper place, and for the first time joined end-to-end, so I can get a sense of the size and what's possible. (Even the spider webs have been vacuumed up). The Hymek and five Mark Is sit where the station will be sited. The assorted - and rather off-patch - group of BR Blue locos sit in what will be the yard, while at one end is the Peco Shed I originally made for Spencer Park SP, but left out because it was too big for my 4 by 1 plank. It still looks too big even now! This will be the loco servicing area. I did plan - many moons ago - to try an AC electrics layout, and bought a fair few 86s/87s, but over the years got a tad frustrated with the general lack of British-type catenary etc to do anything about starting it. I do really admire those who model British AC traction (and DC for that matter!). So the AC project will have to wait - but well spotted Adrian! Having looked again at the trackwork I had set out back in 2008 I think much of the Setrack will be replaced by my flexitrack to give a bit more curvature here and there. I am also now thinking I could extend one of the yard lines through - as an avoider - to link up again with the main lines. I can then run through-freights and L/E moves while passenger trains are sitting at the station. I hope to get the rest of the boards sorted soon and then able to put some more track down to cpmplete the whole circuit and test it out - that'll be a momentous day! I'll update with any progress - thanks for looking. cheers, Keith

**Update** this thread relates to a former layout project I had begun, now usurped by another.... A 1970-80s / 1930-40s 'combo'? How's that going to work then? Well, til I try I am not too sure but I am going to give it a go! Having dabbled a bit with a 1970s Midland theme ('Spencer Park SP': see http://www.rmweb.co....n-the-midlands/) and with a loft-clearance currently in progress, I am moving forward with the 'big one', a roundy-roundy measuring around 12 foot by 6 in my converted attic: As I was sorting things out I came across an invoice for the track and was somewhat shocked to see it was bought as long ago as Autumn 2008. All Peco OO Code 100 with insulfrog points. I used AnyRail to plot out a track plan, loosely based on Westbury. This is how far I got (excuse the spider webs): While Spencer Park SP harks back to my own Midlands stomping grounds as a 70s / 80s spotter, I don't think I have ever set foot on Westbury station, yet the West Country has lots of great memories for me as a destination (like many Midlanders) for holidays in my youth, and that meant 'spotting! So basing a layout on Westbury offers me the potential to run the kinds of locos I remember, plus a few I don't, but which all feature in my collection of BR Blue diesels, particularly Westerns, Hymeks, Warships, 50s and Peaks. (None of which really fit the bill for Spencer Park, except perhaps the Peaks). Plus there are so many great photos of Westbury in recent books, like the ones published by Strathwood and also in Chris Chapman's lovely little book, Western Glory. This is the kind of scene I want to recreate: http://www.flickr.co...tos/4403904191/ http://www.railbrit....e2.php?id=13178 That's the '70-80s aspect of what I have planned, so what of the 1930s-40s? Well I have a great liking for the Southern and as well as amassing Blue diesels over the past few years I have been stockpiling various Hornby releases in Maunsell Green. That's what you see in this pile of boxes in the middle of the loft floor! The plan then is to have a layout that can allow me to switch periods by having one station/yard set in the BR Blue period and another in the Southern. I remember reading in one model railway book (Peco trackplans?) that with layouts with a central operating well (like this one) you can really only face one way at a time (logical enough!), so in my case one way I'll face onto the 70-80s station and then turning around will be a 30-40s station - best of both worlds! I hope so. I do want a layout that is - in its various parts - plausible and which looks right for the two periods. The BR Blue station and yard trackwork has sat gathering dust in my untidy loft ever since it was bought in 2008, with occasional 'sessions' over the intervening years when I tested out my locos. I now have the flexitrack bought that I need to complete the circuit. The 12 foot by 6 circuit I have measured out to fit the loft, running around 3 walls and then across the room: The boards I have already are two reinforced Sundeala-topped frames, one 6 foot by 2 foot and a second that is 4 foot by 2. These will be bolted together to form a 10 by 2 scenic area for the 1970s station and yard - the main focus for my initial project. This section is in the top part of the above sketch. I see there is an N gauge model of Westbury with a useful track plan: http://www.countrysi...ry/westplan.htm However, I can't be so precise with what I am planning to do I am afraid - so Westburnham will be more a flavour of Westbury rather than a facsimile. The station (two platforms) will sit on the left-hand side of the board below, with the yard on the right - the trackwork will continue across onto the 4 by 2 board and have a facing crossover on the through-lines (ie. beyond the buffer stop). This addtional board will also allow me to extend the yard. To make the complete circuit I plan to use 9mm plywood board cut into one foot wide strips. This will form the baseboards (supported and strengthened using 2 by 1 frames). The longer (12 foot) side of the circuit will be occupied by the Southern station. I don't have the track for that part yet but will leave points in place (off the 'mainline') to allow work on it when I am ready - probably in ten years' time! Anyway, that's the plan - I'll update as and when I make progress on this but in the meantime I would be interested to hear of others' experiences of similar 'combo' layouts like the one I am trying to build. Cheers, Keith

Same here! Though for me it was cars rather than bikes, but yes - I kick myself for not pointing my 18th birthday present (in 1986, a Pentax camera) at trains instead of taking zillions of 'arty' shots of trees and stuff - oh well. Mind you, what I regret more in some ways is not realising in the late 1990s what massive motive power changes were afoot on Britain's railways, as our beloved old locos were decimated in a matter of years. Fortunately I finally did realise - albeit a bit too late (in around 2003) - what was going on, so got my camera out and started roaming the rails, getting into the modern railway scene all over again. Lesson learned! cheers, Keith

Interesting stuff - funny how a number of us have common ground - literally - in being local to the Nuneaton area! Was there something in the water?! The WCML through Brinklow was a regular haunt for me - as well as the metal bridge over the railway and canal at Nettle Hill. I could get there from home on my bike in around twenty minutes (back then, probably not now!). Anyway, do keep the comments coming. cheers, Keith PS - nice work Adam!

Cor, that trackwork is terrific! Lovely stuff. cheers, Keith

Thought I'd give it a go on 'Layout Topics' - do take a look if you get a mo! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/49742-spencer-park-sp-1970s-br-in-the-midlands/ cheers, Keith

Nice to read the replies to this. I guess childhood memories of how railways were as we knew them is a strong recurring theme in much railway modelling - recreating what we have lost. And the music we played then helps bring it back too, so I like putting on some OMD, Magazine, U2, etc from c.1980 - it helps recreate the lost scene too. Yes, 'one colour but a variety of shapes and sounds' hits the nail on the head with our D&E period. I've never really liked multi-colour! At least a visit to a diesel gala nowadays can also help bring a bit of the magic back... as well as modelling. cheers, Keith

hi folks, I'm curious about why folks choose to model 'BR Blue', particularly since it is seen by many as a dull period of British railway history! Obviously we don't see it that way, so what's the draw? For me it represents that period of my life, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, when I was young and carefree(ish), out and about on my bike and train spotting around the Midlands, especially in and around Rugby, Coventry and Leamington Spa - as well as venturing further afield too, while on family holidays in our caravan, such as Yorkshire and Dorset. From my bedroom window I could watch trains passing on the London-Birmingham line. Happy days! My first Ian Allan Locoshed book was 1976. Two years earlier my mum, sisters, and grandma, together with my aunt and her daughters, all took a day-trip by train from Coventry down to Weymouth. That was August 1974. My love of railways started then and has stuck with me ever since. By the later 1980s, in fact just as BR Blue was itself in decline, my interest in the general BR scene withered, however - so 1974-1986 is the period for me! I look back on it fondly and still have my old 'spotting books and some dodgy photos taken with a Boots 126 camera. Now, 30 years on, my little layout (Spencer Park SP) is an attempt to create a small slice of those good old days. How about others then? Similar experiences to mine or different? cheers, Keith

hi folks, A bit of an update on Spencer Park SP - since I posted back in October (doesn't time fly?). Since then I have got the backscene sorted, depot lamps assembled and planted, and ballast more weathered (all thanks to some very helpful advice over the past few months from various RMWeb folk), so my 'plank' now looks like this: and this: Still lots to do but getting there... I might even start a Layout Topics post! cheers, Keith

Wow! That roof is absolutely amazing - what a thing of beauty. Great to see this. cheers, Keith

Here's another one still in the making, my 00 plank, 'Spencer Park SP', set somewhere in the Midlands c.1979. Once I've a bit more time I'll create a layout topic thread on this, but some pics of the current state of play are inserted below. I've just completed the ballasting - first time ever I have done this - it needs more toning down. The brick retaining wall sections shown here have since been stuck together (and so now a bit more complete than in the pics). A backscene will go behind this whole length in due course, possibly a Gaugemaster N-gauge Into the Town one to force some perspective. There's a single-road Bachmann shed to go onto the hard-standing area at one end too, and two fiddle yards (with scenic breaks) should help towards getting a bit of operational variety to run those locos (and a few wagons)! The printed out track plan visible on the table was the original draft I came up with but I didn't like the 2 by 4 size of the board - the proportions didn't seem right to me - so I used a 4 by 1 piece of chipboard left over from my son's roundy-roundy instead. Really the whole thing is a bit of a test-bed for me to try out a few new skills, and hopefully one day it will slot into a (planned...) larger layout upstairs in the loft-room. Meanwhile, as can be seen, Spencer Park sits on my dining room table and consequently sees more regular day-to-day modelling, even so it's taken me over a year to get this far so don't hold your breath folks... cheers, Keith

Yes, groups specialising in particular lines or companies are a great resource - for example the Midland Railway Society has a library - details on their web-site. Then there's the NRM of course! For online searches I would recommend using British History Online which has historic large-scale Ordnance Survey maps and plans to access (not great resolution but they're ok for free!), as well as all sorts of other materials, such as the Victoria County Histories that in some cases are very useful for aspects of transport history. My main recommendation though is to use your local/county/city archives, or record office as they used to be called - it's free to do so, and they'll have loads of books, maps, and photographs to help do your research, plus staff who know their stuff and who'll guide you through what you need. You can also get photocopies or scans of photos and maps, to take home. Good luck! all the best, Keith