stivesnick

All Some work on the rolling stock. A couple of interurban lines operated sleeper services. To make a typical sleeper car, I used a Bachmann old time coach and bits of microstrip to alter the window layouts. Photos enclosed. Regards Nick

The picture of the class 47 is one of those "is this real or a model" photos. If the track in the real tunnel wasn't lifted in the early 1960's long before the large logo livery was introduced I would have been taken in. Great stuff. Nick

Some general photos to show current progress on the scenic board. Lots of wires being added underneath. Regards Nick

Some more work done on the large factory. The building is not rail served but acts as the backdrop where the trains enter the fiddle yard. Photos enclosed. Nick

Jerry Atlas locomotives in N gauge are also highly rated and perhaps the largest range as well. Regards Nick

The platform canopies are progressing - Brackets from York Modelmaking - £4.00 for a pack of 10. I found that they slot nicely into 1.5mm wide plastic channel which has helped line things up. The other development is the large factory building by the entrance to the fiddle yard. Walthers modular building components. Not totally impressed by the design of the kits and how they are packaged. The wall sections don't come with the coupler sections so have many spare wall sections left over. The track is wired up. Having not run my American stock for a little while, have been trying to coax them back to life. Photos enclosed

Hi Do you know how much space you might have - the sketch is about 5 feet / 1500mm at present? As noted in #2 the crossing needs to become a double slip to make it work. If this is done, the bottom right track could become the mainline with or without a fiddle yard. This would allow trains to arrive and depart on either of the two bottom left tracks. Once the train has arrived the colliery shunting loco would back onto the train and remove the brake van. This is then shunted to the other track. The shunter then takes the wagons a few at a time to the loading point (the two short sidings) and then returns the loaded wagons onto the brake van. When all the wagons are done, the mainline loco then couples onto the train and departs. The other siding could be used as a loading dock for stores (ie pit props, machinery etc). With this sort of layout getting the siding lengths right is important, so ideally maximise the two arrival/departure tracks to take a loco, 6 wagons and a brake van. Hope this helps Nick

Although some exhibitors were understandably unable to attend yesterday, the show went ahead, so well done to all those involved. The venue, right next to March station made it easy to get to. Nick

Steve Enjoyed the article in Continental Modeller. Look forward to see the layout in the flesh sometime. Regards Nick

Agree with other comments that this was a great one day show with a good range of layouts and useful trade support I left with a number of scenic items. Chris - Had a chat with the builders of Milton Camel - about how to make the scenery look believable - so will be interested to see how it develops Nick

A month has gone since the last update. More work done on the freight house, a wider walkway has been added along with some roof details. Construction of the platforms has started. I had a look a many photos to see how the real platforms looked and there is a wide range of options, including no platform at all. I have ended up with wooden planks supported off steel beams. My assumption is that the original wooden supports rotted away and were replaced by steel. The next stage is to add a canopy and an order for some brackets will be on its way to York Modelmaking shortly. The train in the platform is a couple of Bachmann old timer passenger cars which will be modified and repainted to look like interurban cars. Nick

Some more work done on the ropeway. Nigel has been busy making some buckets. To keep the rope balanced, the idea is to have a bucket on each section of rope between the mast, so 10 buckets in all. Buckets made from plastic sheet with a notched "C" section channel to allow it to be fixed to the rope. Each bucket will be weighted to keep it in position. Photos of similar ropeways show that they were sometimes used by the workers to get to and from the clay pits. Progress photo enclosed. Nick

David The type of industry that you use will depend on where the layout is located. Do you have any thoughts on this or what period you want to represent? One difference between modelling the UK and the USA is that nearly every branch line in the UK has had a dedicated book written about it. The Middleton Press and Oakwood Press collections have several hundred books, although some may be out of print. Even if you don't follow a particular line exactly, these books contain lots of information about the type of traffic they carried and the rolling stock used. One advantage of N gauge is that there is scope to include some non-railway scenery within the layout. With this in mind, I would not fill the entire board full of track so there is space for a bit of "town". Hope this is useful Nick

Hi David The track plan you have drawn is a typical branch station but you will have trouble fitting into 3 foot 6 inches ( I assume the fiddle yard is extra). A small radius Peco code 55 point is about 5 inches long and you have 6 of them in a line. There is not much space left for an engine at the end of the run round loop or between the station and the fiddle yard. You could save some space by putting either the loco shed or creamery on the platform side of the loop. How much space do you have for the fiddle yard? Trains are unlikely to be more than 18 inches long. so would it be possible to make the scenic section bigger to say 4 foot? The other option would be to make the crossover at the fiddle yard end part of the fiddle yard itself. Hope this helps Nick

Les Thanks for the comments, we will take these into account as we develop the idea further. We did consider a separate board but were worried about getting a longer board into a car to take to exhibitions. Our ropeway also has to cross the railway line so and a river which would add to the complication of a removable section. Will likely see you and Hawthorne Dene at Ally Pally - to give you an update. Regards Nick

More building work on the layout - the interurban company freight house. The building is based around the DPM #510 Trackside transfer. However I noticed that the trackside doors would not line up with the doors on a 40 foot box car. Rather than use the brick loading dock supplied with the kit for the lorry side of the building, I have used a KS Laser carriage siding platform to create a narrow walkway. The building has also been reduced in width to fit the space available. Work in progress photos enclosed. Regards Nick

End of year update. The group have been investigating a working aerial ropeway to carry the clay from the pits to the brickworks as the prototype. We have obtained a secondhand Brawa cable car kit and some extra pylons. One issue we had to address is how does the ropeway cross the baseboard joints. The enclosed picture shows a mock up of the ropeway around 5 feet long. The end pulley wheels have been modified to allow for a horizontal ropeway and it appears easy enough to add and remove the rope for each session. The ropeway will be at this height as it needs to cross the railway tracks and a local road before passing through the backscene. The next task is to replace the cable cars with some clay buckets. Regards Nick

Work on the new buildings has started. There are some advantages to being stuck indoors when it is snowing outside. A couple of Walthers Parkview Tenements underway - gutters and steps will be added. I need to play around with the spacing between the buildings - will be a balance of getting something that looks reflects real life against not having too much backscene visible. Picture below. The kits are low relief buildings and the model is often shown on layouts close to the railway tracks. Is that correct or would there normally be some minor road access between the building and the railway? I may have enough space for a narrow road which would assist deliveries. Any thoughts on this welcome. Regards Nick

Like the track plan, always good to see a decent sized terminus station. One question, have you thought about carriage sidings? There would likely be several rakes of stock stabled overnight and the parcels stock would need somewhere during the day. Or you keep then in the platforms or the release road and disrupt the general operation. Regards Nick

Hi Brian I had developed plans to two layouts, this one and an American one. The American scheme is being built first - see 7th street terminal in the overseas section. My GWR branch line will follow hopefully later this year. Nick

Track laying on the scenic board is complete with a small change from the original design. I have moved the point to the fruit processing plant to enable a loco and a couple of cars to be shunted whilst still having space for two cars at the printing works. This also allows a service yard in front of the fruit processing plant to be included. Hopefully the enclosed photos will make things clear. Next, its time to attack the wiring and the start the buildings. Regards Nick

As a exhibitor at the show, I felt it was a well organised show and I really enjoyed the weekend. Thank you Thomas. Yes the hall was busy, but it was still possible to move around at all times, and the very busy period lasted perhaps an hour late morning each day. The show already lets disabled visitors in 30 minutes early, which is a good thing. Perhaps this concept could be extended by offering a premium entry ( at extra cost) an hour before the general public. For my part, I would remove the elephants from the back garden of one the houses as a mark of respect to these experts. One issue arose at the start of the two minute silence on Sunday, although layouts generally stopped operating, there was a period of perhaps 20 second whilst those layouts with sound locos went through their shut down routine. Very noticeable in a quiet hall, but not sure what can be done in the future. Nick

Molinnis will be at the Spalding Show this weekend. Some new rolling stock, details, and as I am in the small dark hall, some LED lighting. One of a number of modern N gauge layouts that will be on display. Regards Nick

Nik One issue to consider for any exhibition layout is how it would be viewed by the public. In the exhibition section of this site, a frequent comment is the lack of activity on many exhibition layouts. At 31 feet this would be an expensive layout for many organisers, many would therefore expect it to be entertaining with a steady flow of through trains whilst shunting is taking place. The number of operators needed and design of the fiddle yard will be critical issues to be addressed. Hope these comments are useful. Regards Nick

The first exhibition invite has arrived. Kettering in September 2018. No pressure on the layout building then. Nick