AireValley1962

So, went out to get some nice pine to finish up the woodwork for the layout. 18 feet each of 1x2 & 1x4 provided ample strength yet still light enough construction of the fiddle yard, and I added some framework on the main baseboard to bring it up to snuff as well. The fiddle yard is going to be traverser style using some drawer runners I purchased for a decent price, and has a 30 inch deck. Hopefully I can get all the track laid by tonight. Then I have to wait for some switches from eBay before finishing the wiring. Finally, for wire-in-tube point control, does anyone care to share what they've used before? I've found some 22 gauge piano wire and flexible tube from a radio controlled aeroplanes shop in the UK, but shipping is rather expensive for £15 worth of wire and tube. Pictures below illustrate progress made today.

Makes sense, then! Perhaps it would be helpful to post a plan showing what you're not modelling to put everything in perspective. I had to do that with my new layout, and it helped me make sense of what I was trying to do. Cheers, Will

Hopefully I don't sound too pedantic here, but more than likely there wouldn't be a signal box for a set of sidings like this - unless you made it appear that the bottom-most left siding continued on somewhere, or used to, but now has been truncated. But it is your layout, and if you like a signal box, go for it!

That look is quite suitable. Any ideas for scenic development- cityscape, industrial, countryside?

A large inglenook sounds lovely - why not swap out the point feeding the two short sidings for a double slip: then when you aren't doing the puzzle itself you can have a little fun with a kickback siding. Would you be using DC or DCC control? Cheers, Will

If I was in your position, I'd probably keep what I have and make it a might-have-been. So, keep the name if you like it, but don't model the prototype down to perfection, but rather model the atmosphere you recollect and want to experience. I've found that what I am more comfortable with is the atmosphere I create rather than a perfectly prototypical recreation. Especially considering the parameters you have to deal with in terms of space. Cheers, Will

Meaning you could back date to late Southern BR steam era if you wished once in a while, methinks?

So, landforms out of ½" insulation board have been roughly cut to shape. They are larger than they will be due to the fact that I shall cut them down to a nice smoothly curved landform. The idea is that the line to the terminus slopes down to about 10 - 15 feet below the surrounding town - enabling a main road to be carried on a bridge over the line, and a small road to come down to the little yard from the right hand side. Beer is an excellent British imported ale called Lancaster Bomber that I find quite nice, and is half a quid less than local so-called craft stuff at the liquor store. Cheers, Will

That looks like an excellent little modification project, Brian. May have to find a SR CCT to do something similar with for my Hayling Island might-have-been.

Close up of how the droppers are fixed under the baseboard, and also the copper clad joint at the end of the baseboard - a bit messy, but there are droppers soldered there too.

Alright, I got the track all cut and pinned down, and all the droppers soldered to the rails. Tomorrow, cut the landforms out of foam and, totally unrelated, pick up a brand new, old stock WWII Mk. II Canadian Brodie helmet(that's one of my other hobbies - military collecting).

That's a nice set up with the curtain etc. How high are your trestles off the ground? Will

Thanks old chap. Yes, I figured out that 3 home signals and 3 ground signals will do the job admirably - I'll post a signalling diagram soon enough. The signals regulating entry to the station are off scene, up the line a ways. Cheers, Will

Thanks for sharing, gc4946. Unfortunately anything over 2 coaches won't fit, but as you say, plenty of opportunity for passengers, so lots of trains.

One hundred percent agree. So will I - kindly let us know when it's out, Mike. And thanks for the informative comments on your workshop visit. Cheers, Will

Looking good, Luke. All the best for the exhibition. (By the by, I finally started a topic for my smallish layout that I'm building, if you care to look in). Cheers, Will

The track is now all measured and cut, and I have cut out the cork underlay and glued it down - weighted, of course, with many copies of Hornby Magazine, Railway Modeller, and RAF Yearbooks. Now to cut and solder all the droppers to the track whilst waiting for the glue to dry. Then I can fix the track down. Cheers, Will

Alright, scenic board built - track fits nicely, cork to be purchased tonight, and a long weekend coming up, so I hope to have all the track laid, and droppers fitted, and the landforms started by Tuesday.

Well, I cut most of the wood for the layout tonight. 4'x1½' scenic board top and 3'x1½' fiddle yard top. ½" ply may be a bit overkill for a baseboard top, but I didn't spend any money for it, so there! 2x1 framing underneath - nothing special, but I actually managed to measure and cut everything the right length - for me, that's an amazing feat. Tomorrow I shall bring my drill and driver home from work and pilot drill the holes, and then screw the main scenic board together. Now to buy some cork underlay for the track and to get everything at the right height.

Thanks for the information, Nearholmer. I may indeed include a pub at the station end. Unfortunately I will only have room for 2-car units, but both platforms will be long enough for them. My mother has said 7 feet is long enough. Considering my brother has multiple radio controlled aeroplanes measuring in each at over 4ft wingspans, it's reasonable. We both share a modelling room in the basement measuring 10'x11', so we do with what we can. Cheers.

Thanks Brian. I'm looking forward to developing it too - been too long since I actually wired up some track and made something run.

Lads, I just started a new thread for a new layout I'm building. If you would like to check it out, here's a link: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/151537-eastoke-1969-a-hayling-island-might-have-been/

Thanks Geep - I actually just found your thread by the suggestion of Nearholmer after asking a question about signals and the like elsewhere on this forum. I had an enjoyable read through the other day. Selsley had interested me, but I like finding and making up the story for might-have-been lines, and fell for this Hayling Island one. Will

Thanks a million, Tim. If you find the idea suitable for a project as well, go for it! I found it quite fun doing the research for the history and plan. Hayling East does have a nice ring to it too.....shall have to mull it over before getting a sign made up. Will

EASTOKE - A terminus station on the Hayling Island branch - if it never closed. So, the real history behind the line is this: The Hayling Island line was opened by the LBSCR for goods on 19 January 1865, and for passengers on 16 July 1867, running from Havant, across Langstone Harbour, to Hayling Island station. SR was handed over operations by the LBSCR at Grouping, and BR took over the line from the SR in 1948. In late 1962 BR decided that the wooden swing bridge over Langstone Harbour would need replacement sooner than later, and despite the line operating at a profit, took measures to close the line by the winter of 1963. The last train left the Hayling Island terminus for Havant on 2 November 1963. Now, what if the SR had extended the line to the southeast, towards Eastoke? What if holiday maker traffic increased to the beach and caravan park on the southeast corner of the island? What if, instead of closing the line, BR replaced the bridge, and upgraded the PW infrastructure? And [a very big "what if"], what if the MoD had built housing for the families of Royal Navy personnel on the east side of Hayling Island? Well, plenty of passengers would travel the line. There would be some goods traffic for the shops and households too, along with a bit of a parcels service as well. So let's say that BR kept the line south to the Hayling Island terminus, and also onwards to the fictional station at Eastoke. Thus we come to the period of 1968 - 1972. BR green is beginning to give way to BR blue, older 2-HAL's and 2-BIL's take the passengers, and Class 33's alongside Class 73's grumble along with the goods traffic. The line should give decent profit for another 5 or 10 years. The older steam infrastructure still lingers here and there, but third rail rules(bearing in mind of course, that the original line was run only by A1x and the like due to loading restrictions - Rule One applies here). Here's a quickly marked up screenshot of Google maps with my idea - original LBSCR line in orange, fictional BR(SR) line in red. (railmaponline.com has a much better view of the original line, if anyone cares to look). We shall imagine it's a sunny summer Friday, a few goods trains are being shunted together, the MLV arrives with some parcels, and the EMU's are starting to bring people out from the city to their homes and holiday caravans for the weekend and bank holiday. An electro diesel may be stabled overnight, ready to take an early morning train back to Havant and the main line. That's the picture I'm trying to create, with plenty of Rule One invoked, but enough prototypical basis to prevent it from seeming too far fetched. On to the practical side of things: I was planning on building a small 38"x16" BR(SR) diorama to showcase my collection of Southern Region stock, but then somehow the track plan morphed into a terminus station, and the baseboard grew! So, I am going to have a 48"x18" scenic board with a 30"x18" fiddle yard - dictated by the sizes of plywood and lumber in my garage. Track is Peco Code 75 for the scenic section, with electrofrog points, and code 100 for the Fiddle Yard, left over from my previous layout's FY. The fiddle yard style will be either traverser or turntable type. Track plan is pictured below, and is set in stone, so to speak, because those are the only points I have, and I'm not buying any more! Point operation will be by wire-in-tube with SPDT switches to change frog polarity. Control will be traditional analogue with a Gaugemaster panel mounted controller, partly to keep costs down, and partly because DC common return wiring is what I'm most familiar around and enjoy messing with, even in my day job. (Plan not to scale, but a good idea of what I want to achieve - the other end of the run round loop is off-stage). Of course, this is all purely an excuse to use up my remaining scenic materials, ballast, wire, already-built-kits, bridge, platform pieces, a random SR signal I had, etc., etc.. My parents are actually quite pleased I can get rid of stuff from both the garage and basement by building it into a layout. I've already sold off a fair bit of my London Midland Region stock, whilst keeping my favourites, to fund the extra bits and pieces needed(as well as another, non-railway project, but that's another story). There won't be much in the way of updates yet, at least until I get the baseboards built(this week, hopefully), but I'd already asked for some advice regarding signalling elsewhere on here, so thought a new thread would be a good way to get the axles rolling - no pun intended, of course. Here's a planning picture or two to get a feel for the idea. Obviously, I won't be using this baseboard - too small! Cheers, Will P. S. Does just "Eastoke" sound alright, or should it be something like Eastoke Road, or East Oak, or Hayling East or something?