stivesnick

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

All Setting out the main board undertaken today as a final check that the track plan actually works and how much extra track I need to buy. Stock boxes used to recreate future buildings. The finished building at the front of the layout is the scratchbuilt fruit packing shed from a previous layout. Happy with the result. The plans provides around 90mm between the track and the backscene and 125mm at the front for some decent buildings.

All. It has been a few months since the last update. Work on the 3 brick kilns has been progressing and one of our group members, Alan has turned the chimneys on a lathe. They are just under 2 foot tall and will slot into the roof of the kiln and extend down into the baseboard for support. The top bits were part of fixing to the lathe and will be removed. Enclosed pictures show the scale of chimneys compared with typical 7 plant wagons used to move the finished product. Regards Nick

All Fiddle yard track laid today. The top 3 tracks are for freight traffic and can take a loco, 6 freight cars and caboose. The next 2 tracks double up as head shunts for the run round loops in the station but can also take a passenger train of 3 coaches. The final track will take 2 passenger trains of 3 coaches each. Enclosed photos. Regards Nick

K 59 Very nice indeed. I had heard somewhere that the steeple cab loco chassis had limited pulling power, so would be interested to see how you get on when it's up and running. Regards Nick

A few pictures of the rolling stock used on previous layouts plus so new arrivals. 1. Bachmann old time coaches make great heavyweight interurban cars and can be motorised with Greenmax or similar 17m chassis. Little work needed on the body as end windows already included. The main issue is that the bodies and chassis on the original coach are a single unit so the coach floor needs to be cut out. Managed to pick up some more coaches secondhand last week end for £6 each including some observation cars to be used as trailer parlour cars. 2. Tomeytec cars - used a more modern lightweight cars - have 4 of these, a mix of powered and trailer cars. Drive unit is to one bogie only so not the best of runners. Need to add cow catchers - any thoughts on this? 3. Kato cars - latest arrivals that come in pairs. Shown as out of the box, need work on the ventilators, ideally would like some steps for low platforms and to fit mircotrains couplers. 4. Freight Motor - formed from two Bachmann old time combine cars with a Lifelike F7 chassis. 5. Box cab electric - Microace Japanese loco with added end platforms

Thanks Flatlander A very interesting web-site Nick

Hi 298 I have decided on a firm location yet. My first interurban layout, Sandy River Junction which featured in Continental Modeller October 2006 had an interchange with the Great Northern Railway was based in Minnesota. With a city centre location, unless there are particular architectural styles in an area, I think it can be kept vague. All my existing rolling stock have pantographs so overhead masts will appear at some stage. I could omit the power to some of the sidings and assume that some locos had battery units. Again to be decided. One of the things I like about interurbans is that they became the ideal "prototype for everything" railways especially towards the end when lines snapped up second hand cars for lines that had closed down. Thanks for the interest. Nick

Hi K59 I have seen the models on the shapeways site and this might be a future development once the layout is up and running. In the short time I have a number of existing cars using the Bachmann old time coaches and various Japanese models. Regards Nick

7th Street Terminal The imaginary Sandy River Traction Company (SRTC) returns for the 3rd time but in a very different setting from the previous two layouts. This time we are at one of the line’s city terminals. The time period is the late 1940s towards the end of passenger service. The line is owned by the Great Northern Railway (GN) who have running powers into the terminal. The SRTC is lucky to have a dedicated right of way into the city which may explain why the passenger service has lasted this long. The layout is N gauge with a scenic section of 1200mm long by 450mm wide. The following describes the background to the layout and hopefully justifies the intensive service that would be needed to keep both operators and visitors happy at an exhibition. The company’s head office overlooks a 3 track passenger terminal where electric interurban cars come and go. Passenger trains on the main route tend to be 2 cars with extra trailer cars including a parlour car and possibly a sleeper car added for certain services. The “Branch” train is normally a single coach but can often have freight cars added to the formation. The main line offers an hourly service with a mix of stopping and fast trains, whilst a two hourly service operates on the branch. The terminal switcher is kept busy adding and removing the trailer cars and freight to the various trains. Adjacent to the passenger platforms are some freight sidings and the office of the Rail Express Agency. The facility is shared with the GN so their loco’s and baggage/express cars can also be seen. A couple of rail served factories complete the local area. It is assumed that the SRTC main freight yard and car barn are located close by but just off the layout. Local freight sidings are served by local trip works to/from the yard. To help develop the operating sequence, the tracks outside the scenic section have been developed. Following some crossovers, the north and south main lines and the branch line divide, whilst the third track forms a relief line to the freight yard and car barn. The developed track plan requires the GN transfer freight to reverse in the 7th Street Terminal on its way to the SRTC yard. If all goes well, a second scenic board could be added to represent part of the junction and some additional freight sidings. Come to think of it, if I win the lottery, boards 3,4 and 5 could be added to represent the wye and SRTC freight yard. For the passenger services, I intend to use some 1930’s Japanese electric units produced by Kato. I also have some motorised Bachmann American coaches plus an assortment of Japanese electric box and steeple cab locomotives. In the 1940’s many interurban lines switched to diesel power so some Bachmann 44T will appear. For the GN, diesel switchers provide the power. Baseboard kits from White Rose Baseboards are one the way so hopefully work will be starting shortly.

The same story is repeated in the "i" newspaper. As noted above is does compare stopping local services with non-stop main line services. What this and other similar articles in the press in recent days have failed to understand is that Government will generally only back schemes that: Have completed a preliminary design Have a good business case, a benefit to cost ratio of 2:1 Have a means of delivery Has outside funding Has a high level of support Are linked to new housing/ economic growth etc So Crossrail Line 2 has been under consideration for many years and manages to tick all the boxes, including a lot a local developer money. The proposed high speed line for the north is still at very early stages and no one can define what is involved, and I suspect that there is dispute between the various cities as to which route it would take. Hence Government is not able to give full support, although it can and should give money for further development of the scheme. The other issue is the scope of what is required. Many northern commuter routes still have 2-4 coach trains running in peak periods at say 30 minute frequency. Adding an extra coach or two does not normally require much investment. Once you get to the situation on some London routes with 12 coach trains running every few minutes, any extra capacity is going to get very expensive. An interesting example to watch is the case for re-opening the line to Wisbech with a train service to Cambridge. Transport Minister Chris Grayling gave some very encouraging noises when he formally opened the new Cambridge North station last week. Fenland District Council want to build thousands of houses around Wisbech but need to railway line re-opened to make it work - so that's what you need to do to try to get the investment. Nick Nick