Kallaroonian

Greetings. I'm in Perth WA.

The actual results on the gradient as built have been ok so I think I should be able to run 8 coach trains without major trouble. If you refer to the pdf track plans on pg 1 the max length is about 10m with the station about 8m long. The width of the visible area is a little under 3m but aroudn the storage tracks - if this ever gets buitl - it's about 7m.

Here are some photos then. I should lower your expectations before reading on because although I've made progress there really isn't that much to see. Apart from the general issue of finding time to keep things moving along there have also been some specific issues : constructing the incline, difficulties building a bridging section between two support types, a need to reinforce the styrofoam and a decision to sort of seal the styrofoam with undercoat have all slowed things down to varying degrees. Support struts Point motor cut-out - it is so easy to mark-up point locations and cut holes or pass cable through the styrofoam. For dropper cables I'm simply using a meat skewer that can easily been driven through the foam This shot shows all of the construction methods/issues at work. The gradient portion of the line is built out of composite baseboards made from styrofoam encased in thinnish plywood. These boards are very rigid and very light. The station portion of the line needed a levelling mechanism and this is built into the main spars that are then located via glued support stays and the whole lot mounted on top of some IKEA shelving units. The biggest difficulty to date has been building the bridge - both literal and cosmetic - between the two sections. The station section is comprised of sheets of styrofoam laid on the primary spars and overlapping by virtue of the T&G built into the styrofoam sheets Start of the bridge section. The bridge is made from aluminium spars that location in slots on either side of the abyss. 3mm aluminium sheets is then used to form a deck and the whole lot is finished off with the closed cell foam I am using for underlay and the cosmetic Peco bridge girder sides Bridge Deck A low shot taken from where the track will emerge from the tunnel before climbing and circling back to the station at the higher level. The two down tracks are laid but I have run out of track and the up lines are pending a further track order. White Knight A3 and Airfix Brush 2 on the tracks for test purposes. Pleased to report that 8 carriage trains get up the incline OK.There is some super elevation on these tracks. A shot of part of the incline A view of the southern station throat roughly laid out with XtrkCAD 1:1 sheets The finished bridge The finished bridge in situ The most recent shot showing the current overall status - two boards have underlay at the southern end of the station and two further boards have been positioned in the foreground so that now about 2/3 of the station is cut and ready for further work. The next steps include : - order further track and lay remaining lines on the inclined section - install main power cable and connect dropper cables on the inclined section - cut remaining station sections - add reinforcing spars to further station sections, secure main support spars - start to lay the station track - possibly get the DCC unit and hook-up the points on the incline to test Rgds

I have various photos to post but once again I am running out of time this evening. Just to set you expectations I suppose the two key topics are that a) the down track has been laid from the tunnel to more or less the station entrance and B) many challenges have arisen that have delayed progress. With regard to a) this work involved getting the gradient correct over an 8m length and this was quite time-consuming With regard to B) I have found that the styrofoam boards need a little extra rigidity in the station area and this has necessitated rebating an aluminium spar into their undersides. I have also found that building the bridge from one support area to another has been very time consuming indeed. On the plus side the use of the styrofoam boards with the closed cell foam trackbed is proving to be very easy to work with. I will post the photos in the next couple of days rgds

Dave Thanks for the interest. There has been some progress and a train did run before Christmas. I had intended to post some updates on here but I've been very slack.I'll try to get to it in the next couple of days rgds

Thanks

Is there going to be any way to get some of these if you are not going to be able to attend Warley?

Yes I agree. I think they look fairly accurate and it's the full yellow end creating an opticla illusion

I thought it was time to post a couple of pictures of the limited progress to date. Well, it looks a little limited but there is actually a lot more work involved than appearances suggest. This one is a view from the London end of the station : And this one is a view from the North end looking back over where the station will be : The above photo is also the location of the operators position. I'm quite pleased about that because I hadn't realised what a great view there would be down the length of the station. The plan was to have something running by Christmas. I'm not sure how that will go at this point Regards

So they are imminent..... or Christmas..... ???

So, ...any news on the availability of the first batch ? September has practically been and gone. Rgds

There has been some progress with the initial baseboards – see here http://www.rmweb.co....__gopid__471183 I have also been running some gradient tests and it was a slightly sorry outcome. The tests were run with two of the boards providing a 3.7m running length and propped up to achieve different inclines. I then ran some traction tests using various available locos and a varying number of coaches. Here's the little bloke with the old H&M Duette helping out : The original layout plan called for a 15cm rise over about 8.5m which is a 1.8% gradient. I’ve now decided I need to revisit that because the results from the steam locos were fairly poor. The following results show the number of carriages that the loco could pull up gradients of 1.8%, 1.5% and 1%. A small amount of wheel slip was allowable given that it depended how you drove the train but anything above minimal was considered a fail 30yr old Flying Scotsman : 5, 5, 6- Bachmann 9F : 9-, X, X Bachmann 08 : 6, 6, 8- Hornby A3 White Knight : 6, 7-, 8- Bachmann Cl20 : 9, X, X Bachmann Deltic : 9+, X, X Heljan Lion : 9+, X, X Bachmann V2 : not tested, 6, 7- 30 yr old Airfix 31 : not tested, not tested, 9 A result like 7- indicates it just managed 7 coaches but the wheel slip was not really acceptable. The goal was 8 coaches so the conclusion is that really the steam locos other than 9F can’t meet the goal. I thought White Knight was a distinct let-down. So I am now expecting to design to a 1% gradient and make other arrangements regarding the reduced hand of God access for the storage areas The other thing I will want to look at is weighting the steam locos. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks

I think I saw an advert for these new books in RM ? I might seek them out. I already have : KX to Potters Bar Middleton Press PB to Cambridge Middleton Press The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead Rly Oakwood Press not really relevant The Hatfield Luton and Dunstable Rly Oakwood Press Welwyn Railways Castlemead Publications and the one that started it all off : Great Northern Rly Engine Sheds Southern Area Irwell Press Plus a copy of some pages from Oakwood Press #168 The Hatfield and St Albans Branch of the GNR I never have managed to find a publication relevant to the Hertford Branch More information is always useful though. Snippets of things sneak up on you- in the last RM letters page there was someone listing the records of a loco type count taken at Brookmans Park (where we used to live in the UK !!) in 1961 or something. Great info to consider when you are building up rolling stock Rgds

Thanks. Appreciate the thought. You are right that RMWeb is a God-send for sharing ideas with like-minded souls

I've amended the trackplan a little bit since and there are now six tracks running to the North. The original I based the plan on was a 1948 copy or something so hence the complexity I'll post some more the next time there is some progress to tell. It shouldn't be too long.........

Things are finally starting to move slowly forward. The loft space is ready - boarded, partly lined and lit. I have also been experimenting with baseboard construction options and have just built - in the last week or so - a couple of prototype styrofoam baseboards.Assuming all is good when I rig these up then I will have established the easiest method by which to build heat-proof, damp-proof and lightweight boards and I'll be able to really get stuck into it. It was always going to be a long time coming........ and it will be a long time before it is anywhere near complete. The current plan is to build the section from the storage area south of the station and most of the station itself. Then at least some trains can run providing extra motivation and some variety in terms of the work - for example there could then be anything from new baseboards to scenery underway on different sections. I'm also contemplating whether I can build the viaduct out of styrofoam...!

Hi McGomez. I see you are another expat ! I grew up in Potters Bar, went to Hatfield Poly as it then was and then lived in Brookmans Park. I can't say I was ever a big fan of some parts of Hatfield - particularly the pedestrianised town centre - and it was always a huge pain how far the station is located away from both the town centre but more especially the Poly/Uni. However old Hatfield has a wealth of character and the station is just a great candidate for a model. The other key elements that will exist in the model - if it sees the light of day - will be the photo opportunity spot just Nth of Potters Bar station opposite the golf course, the bridge before Brookmans Park, the mutli track to the Welwyn area and the Digswell viaduct. Hence the desire for modular construction !!! I have the Dunstable-Hatfield book and there are a couple of useful photos there. I've also been pointed at the HMRS which it appears may have a number of prints available. I'll keep posting stuff here periodically Regards Mark

Sure raise as many points as you want, that's the idea :-) Yes I've retained one up bay platform. I think the line to St A went under the first bridge to the north and then turned away between there and Wrestlers Bridge. On my version there will be no Wrestlers Bridge (!!) so a non issue. I've also economised on the tracks running North and currently have "only" five such that the Down Slow is also the Luton and Dunstable line. I might think about changing this if space allows but really it's crazy already ........... I do have the Hertford line running separately to form up the five lines in total and this will allow both the Hertford branch and the Welwyn Shunt to operate without affecting the main lines Regards

I will post up a few bits and pieces on the progress as things move along. Some pictures of the lft space in due course. You are right about the rolling stock - just lately a whole series of items have become due that will all be very relevant. Specifically the Craven DMUs, L1 and Baby Deltic. Regards

When this site was in it's previous incarnation I started a thread called Hatfield : Part the First where I was talking about building a large layout in my loft space based around Hatfield station and set in the early 60's. I've been asking some questiosn about DCC in other threads and it seemed time to post up the finished trackplan. See the attached. The general gist is Hatfield on the ECML at the end of steam but with the artistic licence of allowing the three branch lines also terminating at the station to not only still be in existence but actually thriving to the extent that the loco stabling facilities have grown somewhat. Any comments welcome. The status right now is : - loft space boarded - loft space 80% lined - early order of track on it's way from the UK for experimentation purposes - investigating a modular approach to construction to speed things up (eg some baseboards using internal doors, fully pre-assembled points/motors enabling drop-in on layout, spacing templates to speed up track-laying) - investigating DCC options Early days still. Much work remains.............. Hatfield Junction storage.pdf Hatfield Junction main.pdf