61656

It's been a little while since I posted any progress, but that's not to say there hasn't been any. The volume of empty ale bottles in the recycling bin gives only a hint of the amount of talking that has been done! The fundamental track layout has remained unchanged, although the station throat has undergone several iterations trying to get it right. I've also sketched out the fiddle yard, which was a lot more complicated than I'd anticipated - essentially I want 3 terminal fiddle yards, with sidings so locos can get on the other end of the train without the need for any manual handling, but I also want a number of roads with a through connection, to allow trains to go endlessly round. The first photo shows the revised layout, including the placement of locos and coaches to check that the platforms are long enough. The lining paper shows where the trackbed will be raised above the adjacent areas With the paper tinkering phase over, the first 4 baseboard tops have been cut, which feels like quite a momentous step. They are cut from 6mm ply using lining paper as templates. I cut each one and then fiddle with the adjacent templates to get a good fit. Once I've done the 7 which will form the scenic side, the framing will be built up. This will be fairly complicated, as having kitchen units under the baseboards rather than conventional legs means access for wiring etc. will be limited, combined with 4 of the boards being open plan. Once I have the front boards finished I will undertake a final check of the track layout and make the big order to Marcway for points - I think there are nearly 40 of them! The second shot shows the first 4 board tops; they'll eventually sit about 100mm above the sub-board, which should give clearance for whatever point motors I choose and allow the incoming lines to be raised on a viaduct, similar to Manchester Oxford Road. Away from the layout build, I've also been to see the nice folks at DCC supplies near Worcester and had a play with their comprehensive selection of DCC controllers on their test layout - the NCE power cab currently looks like a winner. The rolling stock fleet continues to grow too, another peak has found its way here and will shortly be joined by a 25/2 (doubling the fleet of locos without 16 wheels...).

There's been quite a lot of theoretical work since Kevin's (Rivercider) post, with some rework to the track plan. I briefly experimented with Templot, but decided that's for people with a lot more free time, plus I'm never likely to make my own track! I struggled to work through a number of movements on the laptop screen before deciding that I much prefer to work at 1.76 scale. I've therefore run out some lining paper and using the Marcway templates and some lengths of Peco, I've started to build up what it will really look like. The Peco will eventually form part of the fiddle yard - I have a couple of lengths of Exactoscale fast track bought by a friend - there's no doubt it looks better (although I need words with him about the '30 seconds' to assemble) and should be a better match for the Marcway points. The revised track plan has a number of alterations to it: 1. I realised I couldn't terminate a train on the Up Main, to reverse when running Warrington to Holyhead. As the terminal platforms are of limited length, any summer excursion trains will need to run round in the through platforms. This means the crossover has moved from the platform area to the station approach. 2. I wasn't happy with the loco stabling. The original plan had locos reversing 4 or 5 times to get from stabling to train, plus the electric stabling was a facing point from the Up main, which didn't really look right. Moving all the stabling to the free corner will also allow me to have the track raised above the scenic area, with a curved retaining wall at the front of the layout. The loco stabling also offers the option of some half relief engine sheds; I like the idea of the diesels being in a run down former steam shed, but with some modern stabling for the electrics. 3. I have also added some more sidings. These still need some work as I would like a speedlink yard and possibly a couple of engineers' sidings. The first picture shows the track for the 4 through roads in the station. It's important to get this curve right as it really dictates where the rest of the station fits. As ever with model railways, it's a compromise between radius and available space. Also shown in the shot is Christleton's new arrival in platform 3 - a flush fronted peak, found by amazing chance on eBay (I must have searched just seconds after it went on and luckily 'buy it now' was available). The 45 is where the platform ends of the two main bay platforms will be (3 & 4). The next shot shows an overview of the station area - the buildings are just to give a feel for size, they won't form part of the final layout. The sidings at the back are all reachable, although probably not enough for 3 link couplings to be practical. The final photo gives an overview of the station throat; I still have some work to do to get the pointwork to flow in a realistic manner. There is still a little playing around to do before I'm brave enough to order the points and cut the baseboard tops. In the meantime I'm sat by the letterbox waiting for a Howes sound chip to arrive! Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Thanks, exactly the kind of questions I was hoping for. The version of the plan shown in the original post is about iteration 5, and crucially not all my intended moves have been run through theoretically on this version, so you've highlighted some issues.. Most of my iterations have been about getting the electric to diesel loco switch to work in each direction and how to get the trans-pennines to reverse without locking up the whole layout. The current version of the plan works well for passenger and parcels workings, but is less satisfactory for engineering and speedlink trains. One thing that laying the templates out has shown me is that there is more space at the front of the layout than I thought and also in the corner opposite the station, both are now possible siding spaces. The area currently marked as parcels is something of a modeller's trap, being 1600mm from front to back corner. Only Pratchet's librarian will be reaching that far on a regular basis. Currently you could walk on the sub-boards (there's a height restriction, not a weight one), but the main boards will probably be much lighter in construction,so the back corners need some thought. Linked to this is couplings; I am probably going to go down the kadee route, which makes remote coupling possible, but I don't really think they look right on freight stock. All terminal platforms will be awkward for access to uncouple locos due to station roofing and canopies, so some form of auto-uncoupling is essential. The next version of the plan will therefore have to think about some more sidings, and take into account how I'm going to uncouple stock. I'm reluctant to lose the space at the front of the layout as I would like the running lines to be higher than their surroundings. I'd love to justify a 56, but have only seen photos in about the '83 period you mention. I remember them on MGR workings crawling through stations and then making a great noise accelerating hard when they got the road, something that should be possible at Christleton. I dare say with sound, a pair of 20s will be an acceptable substitute! Having received a sound class 40 as a present, I invested in the Bachmann sound starter set (just so I could hear the 40!), which comes with an RETB fitted 37/4. This would be seemingly inappropriate for the layout, however I have a picture of a couple of the same class running along the coast in 1986 on the Crewe test train, but I think that's the only 'regular' working of 37s in that period. It's quite hard to believe as they seemed to be absolutely everywhere at the time. Empties to red bank would be interesting, as they should reverse at Christleton. The terminal platforms being too short means that they would have to do this on the through lines, possibly picking up a couple more empties from the yard (courtesy of an 03...).

I did, and isn't it? Me and a 2 year old very happy with them. He'd worked out it was trains even before opening the package. He's going to have to learn to keep his excitement levels quieter if we're not going to give the whole game away to Mrs 61656!

This weekend I hope to get chance to do some more work with the Marcway templates to see if I can get them to provide the smooth flowing trackwork that I'm hoping for. I will probably roll out some lining paper to sketch the plain line sections to see how it fits. One of the challenges is that I want the sharply curved section in the 4 tracks of the station to be hidden by an overall roof and to then gently curve through the station throat area, however I'm not sure how achievable this is going to be with set track. The main issue is the curved crossover between the through lines; really the crossover needs to be a on a transitional curve. The alternative is to use templot and build my own pointwork. I have no real issue with this, having previously built SMP and C&L, aside from time. There are around 30 points in the visible area and that could take me a lifetime to finish! It's hard to balance my desire for perfection with an equal desire to have a working railway. It may be easier to move the crossover! Also today, the postman brought 2 GUVs with him. There's something satisfying about the postal service delivering the postal service. The 2 GUVs were immediately pressed into service on the Christleton test track. My original intention had been to have a small layout and slowly build up some rolling stock whilst planning the main railway. 3 months after construction began and already the rolling stock is too numerous to all fit on the test layout, plus the size of it means it is always in the way. Plan 2 was to simply discard the test layout and crack on. The Head of Operations (2 years old) has decreed that he's not happy with this plan and demands that continuing operations are maintained. It looks like the test track will have a reprieve for a short while yet! This photo shows that, if nothing else, an iphone and a few halogens aren't really sufficient for decent pictures!

Note for new readers: It's worth reading just the first post on this page to get the background, and then skipping to half way down page 7. That's because I moved house in 2018 and the layout had to be started again. If you're the kind of person that likes to read everything in a thread, then get a cuppa and crack on, for everyone else the development of the current layout starts on page 7. See you there! 'The Reality' Christleton would have been a relatively inconspicuous village south east of Chester, had it not been for an anti-railway landowner on the outskirts of Chester in the late 1840’s. Lord George Scott unintentionally created a future mecca for train spotters in the North West. Following the completion of the Crewe to Chester Railway and the onward link to Holyhead, the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway sought to decrease the Manchester to Chester journey time and cut out the need to travel via Crewe. The original intention was to run directly from Warrington to Chester, and many current maps incorrectly reflect that route. Lord Scott’s refusal to sell land, and his influence with the city council, led the BL&CR to build the route and join the Crewe lines just south of Chester. Despite numerous proposals, the connection could not be made to get a direct lead into Chester station and so they settled for a Warrington to Crewe connection, leading to the creation of a station at Christleton with reversal platforms to allow trains to run from Manchester to Holyhead. Of course in the early days of railways, a loco change half way between Manchester and Holyhead was positively welcomed and only in later days did it become something of a nuisance. In the Heyday of steam it became a must visit spot for school boys keen to see black 5s, patriots and jubilees coming and going, particularly on the summer holiday trains from Yorkshire and the North East. The South to North connection had another advantage; the Christleton loop became a diversionary route for the West Coast mainline and was often used to relieve pressure on the main line. Cross country services from the South coast to Scotland became regular callers at Christleton to allow better connections from Holyhead to the North. In the late 60’s the loop was included in the West Coast electrification programme, although the mooted wiring onward to Holyhead never happened, so the terminal platforms and yard were never electrified. In the summer of 1986, Christleton was still a favourite with enthusiasts keen to see the last days of the Peaks reversing on the trans-pennine services, watching the electric to diesel loco changes on the Euston – Holyheads, the varied traction heading for the North Wales coast and the plethora of trains diverted off the West Coast. Reduced to being a sub-shed of Crewe at this stage, the stabling points for both diesel and electric were nevertheless still firm favourites for loco fans, being just off the platform ends. The real surprise is that it hasn’t been modelled before… The Model The layout has been a long time coming and is the result of several years of being a background rmweb reader. Having renovated a Victorian house over the last 10 years, planning permission was received last year for a railway in the cellar, which put an end to 20 plus years of model railway wilderness. They say plagiarism is the highest form of complement, so there should be a number of flattered authors on rmweb. Essentially I’ve stolen all the bits I like about other people’s railways and combined them into my own plan. I want to model the transitional years from blue and grey to sectorisation, running the diesels and electrics I remember from my youth. An 85 on intercity and a 45 on trans-pennine wasn’t an easy combination to mix, but eventually the idea for Christleton Junction formed into a sort of believable concept. With the cellar renovated and the sub-boards built, I decided it was finally time to open the rmweb closet door and step into the light. Before I move on to the next stage, which I think is to start cutting wood for baseboards, I thought it would be useful to gather some views from the rmweb community and gain from the benefit of the combined experience of others. I have drafted the first track plan using Anyrail based on Peco pointwork, although it is my intention to use Marcway or handbuilt track for the scenic areas. I’m currently thinking templot may be required. The backstory has been developed to allow me to have a continuous run and a terminus in one. The station is entirely fictional although I have tried to design it in keeping with LNWR practice as subsequently modified by BR for electrification. I originally started with Huddersfield in mind, and some parts may well end up along those lines, although I’m not sure Yorkshire stone is right for Cheshire. I’ve designed the layout against the following operating possibilities, with a specific period of September 1986: Euston – Holyhead intercity services. Aircon mk 2s in blue grey and intercity, with traction changing from electric (85, 86, 87) to diesel (47) and vice versa. Some services may change traction at Crewe to allow testing of locos from Crewe works. Anglo – Scottish interregional services, mixed mk 2 con blue grey rakes, with the odd intercity coach, hauled by 85s and 86s. Transpennine services, reversing in the terminal platforms, hauled by 45s and 47s. Mk 2 non-air con, with the first of the trans pennine livery coaches appearing, plus the other random liveries that Heaton used to put out. And a first real modelling challenge to create some sealed beam class 45s! Cardiff / Crewe – Bangor / Holyhead services, mk 1s, class 33 and 47 hauled. Did these occasionally get 25 or 31 hauled? Manchester – Holyhead loco hauled relief services, mk 1s, 47 hauled. Reversing in the terminal platforms. Stoke – Llandudno loco hauled, mk 1s, 47s and maybe D200! Crewe – Warrington EMU local service, a chance to build some 305 / 310 kits. Parcels trains have various options and can be 25, 31 or 47 hauled. I’m not sure if Newspaper trains would be an option in 86? A couple of DMUs should also be able to potter around. On the freight side there are a number of through freights, including MGR, steel, tanks and freightliner with haulage by 20, 25, 31, 45, 47 plus some electrics. I’m not sure 37s or 56s would be appropriate? The layout allows for some speedlink and permanent way train shunting, so 25, 31 and 47 again, with the bonus of an ex 40 in the shape of a 97. As well as an 08 or two, I think the Chester area was one of the last to have 03s – it is certainly going to be! My draft layout plan is below, together with a few iphone shots of the room. The sub-boards go most of the way around, no additional legs should be needed. On the future station site, the first rolling stock and some Marcway templates are laid out to give me an impression of how it will look. I welcome your thoughts before I make any regrettable mistakes! Andy General view of the station area. The station, with a class 40 in the bay and the 37 on the down main. The station area again. The BG sits in what will be platform 5, with some speedlink wagons in the yard. An overview of the fiddle yard area, where the Warrington and Holyhead lines come in. The other end of the fiddle yard. The area where the through lines will be. I may need a couple of baseboard legs here.