stivesnick

£45m - bargain! The reopening of the March to Wisbech line is costed at £200m for slightly longer route! Figures in the latest Rail magazine (issue 910) or read the full 900 page report on the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority web-site. Most of the cost is associated with dealing with the level crossings, farm and footpath crossings. Either build a bridge or close completely. If re-opened the line would have no crossings at all to improve safety and reduce running costs. The rail industry may adopt a similar approach for this line. Regards Nick

Some more work on the station building. Roof added. I found a Ratio station canopy parts and these were added to the main building, and used some different material for the canopy for the luggage store. The posters are from Sankey Scenics. Cruel close up photos show a bit of touching up still to be done. Nick

With the backscene now fitted to the town end baseboard, I couldn't resist a mock up showing how the layout might look in the not to dstant future. Some boxes to represent the missing buildings included to give the overall idea. A 45XX brings a train of empty mineral wagons back from the docks. Will likley raise the low relief buildings at the back so they have a better view over the shop roofs. Will also need to think about a better view block when the end is viewed at an angle Nick

Great idea for a layout, look forward to updates and the automatic operation. Nick

Some progress with the station building. The main building elements have been put together and the Gents toilet and the luggage store built. Looe station had a very large luggage store as holiday makers would often arrive on morning trains, but were not allowed to check into hotels until after noon. Luggage was stored at the station for a few hours. Pictures enclosed. Close up photos and an inital coat of paint, always a good way to identify what further work is required. Regards Nick

Have started work on the station building. Like the rest of the layout, the building will be Looe(ish) but not an exact copy. Cut out the windows and doors this afternoon and formed the stone walls to where the fire places will go. Designed to use the Gaugemaster/Kestrel doors and windows. Progress picture enclosed. Nick

Hi Nick Looking like an impressive N gauge layout. During the mid 1970s, I was part of a Scout summer camp next to the line, so remember the range of traffic on the line. Now all we need are some Class !20 and Class 116/7/8 DMUs in N! Nick

Hi Mat Thanks for your suggestion. The walls of the building are not flat, the lines that can be seen are small ridges that would make cladding with brick papers difficult. but will try out on the spare section to see how it works. Thanks also for the warning about the reliability of the Dapol 45XX - assuming that the Sonic model proves to be good runner, do we start the campaign for a Sonic 45XX or an enhanced Dapol model? Nick

Hi Tomj Thanks for your comments. In addition to the Porthallow on the Lizard there is another village of the same name just a few miles along the coast from Looe. I was just after a suitable name from the region rather than any speciifc location. Nick

You will have all seen many pictures of the underside of a layout with wires, so I will spare you those. The next building to be considered is the small hotel - shown yellow on the enclosed plan. A few years ago I brought a Tomytec school kit at the N Gauge show for possible use. The kit comprises a number of partially built modules that simply clip together as shown in the photo. The question is what needs to happy to make it more british? Some inital thoughts: Paint the windows white New entrance lobby as door does not look right - single door with windows either side New roof finish - Slaters sheet or Redutex tiles Front patio - possible conservatory Add chimneys Anybody got any other suggestions or think the building is so un- British I should start again. Nikc

Most of the track has been laid. A couple of minor tweeks - The loading dock siding is now straight rather than curved to following the loop. I wasn't happy with the track ending up so close to the line to the docks. It now allows 2 coaches to be stabled and space for a Dapol magnet on straight track. The point at the end of the loop has been changed to a curved point. This allows the track to the dock to be straight rather than the curve shown on the marked up plan in a previous photo. I have used the section of baseboard top removed to create the river to use a base for the platforms and loading dock. Following the track laying, the works train waits for the locomotive to return to take the workers home. Nick

HI Mat Looks a really good layout, certainly interested in hearing and seeing more. How do you operate the fiddle yard, it appears to be a bit of a reach over the layout. Nick

I have added the "river bed" on the station baseboard, made from 4mm MDF and marked out the track plan to show where the cork roadbed needs to go. The purple line on the town board shows where the backscene will go to hide the dock fiddle yard. Nick

The two main baseboards have been built today from White Rose Modelworks kits. The two boards are 1200 x 450mm each. The station board has been modified to remove the front section to allow for the river bank. As the photos show, the first board has also passed the important "mug of tea on the board test". Nick

In the first post, I mentioned that construction of the buildings had already started. Here are a few photos, a mix of scratch built and Petite Properties kits. Regards Nick

Molinnis is no more, welcome to my new layout Porthallow. Not so far away geographically, but set 50 years earlier. Many years ago, it appeared that model railway exhibition shows were dominated by GW branch line terminus layouts. At that time my intent was to do something different. Times have changed, there is more variety of layouts and the release of some new N gauge GWR goodies have resulted in a modelling U turn – so here is my Great Western branch line terminus set in the 1950’s. The intent is to create a layout that is not too cramped and also has space to represent the edge of the coastal town that the railway serves. The original idea was to base the layout around Looe in Cornwall. The track plan is distinctive with the platform on the “main line” leading to a separate run round loop and yard. In N, the station and goods yard would have fitted into a 8 foot scenic section. However, I wanted to assume that the dock was still in use for both stone and fish traffic. Even if treated as another fiddle yard, it still adds length. The layout was getting too long, so a re-think was needed. The Looe track plan does not lend itself to compression. I wanted to keep the 4/5 coach platform length, so the only option was to put the run round loop adjacent to the platform with the goods yard beyond. Although there were plans, never implemented to provide a loop adjacent to the platform, the layout is no longer Looe, hence the name Porthallow (the next town around the coast). The other main change to the original Looe plan is that line to the docks will run inland rather than along the river edge. Gerry Beale’s excellent book “The Liskard and Looe Branch” was used as the basis for the layout to understand how such a route operated and the different types of traffic handled. The layout keeps a number of feature of Looe, these include: 1. No engine shed – the line was served from Moorswater shed (also considered as a basis of a model) 2. Class 45xx locos rule –the pictures in the book after the mid 1920’s show that 45xx locos were used on all passenger and freight services. The train service required 2 locos – the retained mineral traffic mentioned above would justify a 3rd. On the model, I suspect that the odd pannier tank or the new Sonic models 56xx will appear on special workings. 3. Mainline tender locomotives were not allowed on the line. 4. Two sets of coaches are needed for the passenger service. The first set does one return trip in the morning, then the loco works the daily freight. The second set and second loco work the rest of the passenger trains. Many trains had an extra coach or two added during the summer. Non-corridor stock will be used for the passenger service. 5. Pictures show some mixed trains so a fish or parcels van will be added to some passenger trains. 6. Although the goods yard was by the river, it was not used as a quay as the yard was upstream from the town bridge. 7. The operational procedures meant it was possible to have a locomotive “locked” in the goods yard, whilst a passenger service arrived and departed. Proposed rolling stock for the layout includes: 1. Passenger Train 1 2. Passenger Train 2 3. Excursion Train (corridor stock) 4. General goods train 5. Mineral Train 6. PW Train Scenically, the steep hillside behind the station is retained to justify the long thin railway land between the hill and the river. Buildings will be freelance rather than try to copy local prototypes and will be located into the hillside with lots of steps between the road and the front doors. A key building will be a large hotel that overlooks the river and station. Beyond the buffer stops the start of the town centre will be included which also acts as a scenic break to hide the line heading off to the docks. The proposed plan is shown below. The overall length of the layout will be 3300mm x450mm (11 feet x 1 foot 6 inches). The scenic section being around 2000mm. Behind the railway, the road rises around 50mm from the town to the church at the left hand end of the layout. In front of the tracks, the land drops down to the river. The dark grey lines represent rock faces with the houses behind the town at around +60mm. The current lockdown has meant that many of the buildings are already completed. Baseboard kits from White Rose Modelworks have just arrived and construction is about to start. Any comments welcome Nick Porthallow 2 final.pdf

Hi Nicholas. Does your 6 foot length include space for a fiddle yard or other storage or is this just the scenic section? Also I assume you are thinking OO gauge rather than N. Are you thinking about this Bleakhouse Road layout as inspiration? https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/model-railways/bleakhouse-road-in-oo-gauge/ That layout is 8 foot long for the scenic section. You could have a smaller layout, but the sidings and runaround loop would get smaller so would restrict the length of train that you run. Hope this helps. Nick

How about the Looe branch in Cornwall? From the mid 1920s to 1959 when the first diesel unit appeared - the line was worked by 2 x 45XX class locomotives based at Moorswater shed. Information from Gerry Beale' book The Liskard and Looe Branch. Nick

Adam Comments and questions about your initial track plan. Does the engine use the water tower and coaling from the platform headshunt or does it travel to the adjacent siding? Have you any idea how to deal with the joint between the layout and fiddle yard? Having three tracks disappear and the goods shed close to the edge may make this difficult. You could move the goods shed over a bit and try to fit a bridge in to disguise the end of the layout. Or will there be a further scenic board? In your first post you mention a MOD depot - will this again be off-stage? Finally, I would consider omitting one of the front sidings to make that area look less crowded and allow a bit more space for scenic treatment along the front of the layout. Hope this is helpful Nick

Hi Simon On my 7th Street Terminal layout, refer separate thread on this page. The platform on the left in the photo below was used for mail traffic, whilst I had a separate track and building (bottom right on photo) for express/ less than car load freight cars that were added to the passenger trains. Hope this is useful. Nick

Like the idea for this this layout and the station is a good one to model with good operational interest. The idea of the a 1980s what if layout also has appeal. Enclosed some basic mark ups of the track plan to show a reduced layout suitable for the 1980s. In Option A - A single platform remains - so two passenger trains can not pass - this could have happened if the cost of repairs to the island platform building or to provide disabled access became too expensive. The branch remains as a freight only line, the goods still has a few sidings perhaps for stone or grain traffic. The engine shed has become a CE siding. In Option B - the island platform remains, perhaps with a new footbridge /lifts but the track through the main platform and goods loop are removed as a cost saving. Otherwise as option A. In both options the main passenger service is by sprinter DMUs but with 1 or 2 through London trains still running. Speedlink freight but intermodal, and block trains to reflect individual taste. Hope this is useful to someone Nick 1980s Port Road.pdf

Hi Simon The layout is looking really good. How will the layout operate? Will it be simply through trains or will there be a bit of shunting of passenger trains? Regards Nick

Hi Booking Hall Another source of pictures is "First Generation Diesels in East Anglia" by Alan Butcher - published just a few weeks back. The book also has pictures of the railways around Lowestoft and Ipswich docks. Nick

Hi Booking Hall If you look on the UK Prototype Discussion pages on the RMweb site: There are some great pictures of the Swan Coal Yard at Great Yarmouth - hope that will provide suitable inspiration Nick

Greater Anglia have announced reduced services from next week - basically a Sunday service. Hourly on most routes. One of the points raised was to ensure that the trains that did run were cleaned properly each day. Nick