Chawn Park

In my last post I discussed my 30 year old GF Class 43 HST set and that I would try to find a photo of the same train 30 years ago, well here it is, see below. Quality of photo is quite poor but at least I still have some photos from that period of early construction. The GF HST set contained the two power cars and one coach, these are the ones standing each side of my Chawn Park up platform just after tracklaying in 1990. After constructing the baseboards in 1988, the fiddle yard was laid with Peco code 80 track and points. The fiddle yard is the area in the rear section of this view with the parallel tracks, this area was later hidden by the backscene. The viewing side of the layout was to be laid with the then new Peco code 55 track system, the flexi-track was available towards the end of 1988 but the points followed at intervals over the next few years, hence it was not until around 1990 that most of the track on the viewing side was laid. I will finish this post by giving credit to Peco, the points on this layout have seen at lot of use, 30 plus years of service in this time only one point failed and that was my fault I damaged it when cleaning the track, all other track points and point motors are still the originals and continue to give totally reliable service. Vic

This photo shows one of my oldest Farish models, this class 43 HST set is now over 35 years old. This same HST set has been running around Chawn Park layout for 30 years, I will try and find a photo of this same train when this area was just baseboards without scenery. The layout building was delayed whilst waiting for Peco to issue the then new code 55 points, so the track in the area of this photo was laid around 30 years ago! This HST is one of the old GF Poole models so no working lights etc. Common for models of this period the gears between motor and wheels used to split, this resulted first in a clicking sound being noted during running and later sometimes complete jamming of the transmission. To be fair to GF they did issue replacement gears free of cost in exchange for split gears returned to them. Often when I attended exhibitions where Farish had a stand I would exchange my spilt gears for new ones. Anyway my old models still run very well although they look quite poor when placed next to some of the current production models. I have modified this set by removing the original couplings and closed the gaps between each coach by just using a hand made replacement. I simply used a length of fine wire linking the bogies bent into same shape as a staple which drops in small holes drilled into each bogies. Since these HST sets do not have buffers I found I can run around 9 inch radius curves and still have coaches in very close contact. Finally in this set of photos, below a view of the lower level area where a collection of locomotives gather in the sidings. The old GF HST set can been seen in the background running on the higher level main line. In this view it is just possible to also see the corridor connectors that have been added which ensure no gaps can been seen between each car in this old HST train. Down in Devon at this moment and plan to visit Pecorama today. Vic

Thanks to everyone for your positive comments about Chawn Park N scale model railway. Now the summer ends it is time to start up the model railway hobby again A visit to the International N Shown at the Warwickshire Event Centre on 10th September resulted in the purchase of some new items. It was nice to see the exhibition was quite well supported with a good balance of layouts, trade stands and experts sharing their skills. So back to news about Chawn Park N Scale layout. First photo in this set shows another couple of the excellent Dapol ICA "Silver Bullets" that i have now added to my existing rake. An interesting find was the Arch Laser range of 3D printed vehicles by Osborn's models. Photo 2 shows a Bedford TK road sweeper straight out of the box as supplied. I plan to add a few more details to this model at some stage but for now it is quite acceptable just as supplied. Photo 3 shows a Dennis Refuse Truck in Orange. This new model is shown placed on the road which runs from the steelworks complex in the background of my model and into the industrial estate area located between the high and low level main lines. Adding these extra road vehicles helps to bring the model further to life and helps set the period. Photo 4 shows a Milk Float by Arch Laser, this model carries a UD logo on the front, I assume this is United Dairy. The surface finish on this model is not as smooth as the others I purchased but it still a good model, maybe when I have time the finish can be improved by polishing the surfaces followed by a repainting. Adding crates with milk bottles will be more of a challenge in N Scale. The milk float is placed on the as yet unfinished road which runs below the low level main line running across the front of my layout. The railway overbridge can be seen in the shadows behind the milk float and further in the background one the the pillars of the higher level viaduct. I hope when this area is finally detailed to have an interesting viewpoint from the front of the layout through the arches with a canal on an even lower level to the left of this roadway and look into the steelworks plant at the back of the layout. Photo 5. This photo shows same part of the layout but from a higher viewpoint. The road with the milk float ( photo 4 ) is below the bridge which passes below the tracks from bottom left of this photo and continues under the viaduct. I have avoided posting photos of this area taken at a lower angle since some areas below these bridges are far from finished. More photos to follow soon Enjoy Vic

Tonight at Chawn Park N Gauge layout Running a class 37 with train of hopper wagons Vic

A couple more night time photos of the station buildings. These photos of my model remind me of many winter nights with a long cold wait for my train. Hoping that a seat can be found on the often overcrowded peak time commuter services. More photos in my section about buildings for Chawn Park.

Dear All Nice to see that reweb is back up and running faster and more stable. I am slowly re-loading photos which were lost when the old site server system failed. Below a couple of recent photos of Chawn Park N gauge model railway. This project is about railways in the industrial West Midlands. Along the back of the model I have scratch built a representation of the many large factory buildings typical of this area. In the foreground I have some exchange sidings which connect with the steelworks complex behind the high level main line. Vic

TMC Models recently held a flash half price sale, I noted a very nice Graham Fairish Class 31 in Network Rail Yellow. Although this locomotive does not fit into the same time period as most of my existing fleet used on this layout, the excellent weathered finish combined with half price was just to tempting .............so here it is. Well done to the team at TMC models another masterpiece Vic

Dear All I understand all photos from last year have been lost, thus I have started to re-load my photos. During next few days I hope that most of the missing photos will be back again. Hope you all continue to enjoy my N gauge / N Scale project. Look forward to your comments and feedback Vic

Today some information about the telephone boxes and ticket machines used on my N scale model station complex. The above photo shows the final effect obtained by this simple grouping of several commercially available N scale models. The same arrangement of telephone boxes and ticket machines is on each platform, the second platform can be seen in background of the above photo. The telephone boxes are part number GMKD77 by Kestrel models and available from many model retailers. The ticket machine is based upon a 3D print produced by Peedie models part number PM3D86068. I have also used some permit to travel machines also produced by Peedie models, their part number PM3D86069 In the above photo I have listed some of the key elements used to build the overall detail. 1. The scratch built arrival / departure information displays as discussed in my last post. 2. Litter bins. One can just been seen next to the blue arrow numbered 2. These are based upon 3D prints, also by Peedie models, part number PM3D86024 3. News Posters. These are just images (photos) reduced in size and printed on my home printer 4. W.H. Smith newsagents. Details inside window are all just simple colour prints cutout folded and glued in place. 5. Railways posters. Again just simple colour prints cut out and glued in place. Above a close up photo of a telephone box. After painting glazing was added by gluing strips of clear plastic to the inside of each side. Static electricity which must have formed during handling and cutting of the thin plastic made handling these very small parts a test of skill ! Next I added the internal lights using small SMD LEDs, after a few experiments I obtained the best result by fixing the LED with glue inside the roof then fixing the wires with glue to the back wall ( on inside of box ) To hide the wires on the back wall, I reduced an image of a telephone box to scale, colour printed it, cut it out and fixed it over the wires. Finally I added a person inside the box. In the above photo all is held in place with Blu Tack since without this the small electrical wires lifted the box away from my cutting mat. In the photo the telephone box internal detail cannot be seen very well, this is just due to the limits of my camera ( phone camera ) however especially when illuminated on the layout the details can be seen and all help to build the overall effect. Below, telephone boxes and ticket machine. The ticket machine was supplied by Peedie models as an unpainted 3D print. After a small amount of cleaning and filing to get the base square, the 3D prints are washed to degrease them, after drying primed with grey primer, painted and finally the buttons on the front panel picked out in paint by hand with a very fine paint brush To add lighting to the ticket machines, I wished to represent the strip light across the top of these machines. I drilled a hole very close to the top of the machine, fixed an SMD LED to the front center, passed the fine wires through the hole and ran the wires down the back face of the machine. I cut a thin strip of card and fixed it over the LED leaving a narrow slot for the light to just illuminate the machines front face. To hide the fine wires on the back of the machine I just mounted a railway poster which covered most of the back face. The card strip hiding the LED can be seen in the photo below. For fun just before taking the above photos I pushed a figure into the Blu Tack to obtain a first impression about how the finished scene would look. Mounting on the platforms ............ This scene is located under the station building canopy and due to the wires feeding the lights in each model it was necessary to mount each of these first on the platforms whilst access was still possible. During a trail fitting of the surrounding station buildings the locations for the telephone boxes and ticket machines were lightly marked on the platform surface, with the buildings removed again holes could be drilled in each location for the lighting wires. The lights were connected and testing before theses models were glued to the platform surface. Finally I positioned a few figures around the scene. Finally a few photos of the scene around the telephone boxes. More details about this layout can be found in my post " Chawn Park " Enjoy Vic

DMUs around Chawn Park A few photos showing a selection of DMUs around the layout. Enjoy Vic

A few more photos, some with the " pound coin " again just to show small size. Vic

New locomotive arrived at Chawn Park this week........... Class 47/0 number 47209 "Herbert Austin" In Railfreight triple grey livery. A very nice N scale model by Graham Farish. I noticed this one in stock at local model shop and thought it would fit with my West Midlands Industrial theme. The Austin / Rover car plant at Longbridge Birmingham with its rail connection is the type of Industry I try to represent on my layout. Sadly the "Austin" which is the local name for this car plant and its rail connection is all now gone and the site modernised and is now a retail park. So this model with its "Austin" name servers as a memory of another West Midlands rail connected industry now closed. Attached photos show the loco straight out of box without any detailing or weathering during first test running / running in. I placed a pound coin next to the loco just to show small size but still amazing detail and much better than my older Graham Farish class 47 models. Well done to the team at Bachmann from a happy customer ................. Vic

Today when making further tests with train internal lighting an unexpected issue was encountered ! I have recently installed internal lighting in a DMU controlled by a latching reed switch, ( see my recent post on this subject for details ) the system seemed to work very well with reliable activation of the lighting as the train passed a magnet. I had left one of my main lines in automatic operation mode which just cycles trains around my layout in a sequence, I noticed the DMU with newly installed internal lighting, the lights unexpectedly had switched on as another train passed on the next track. Many other trains had passed without any issues, so what happened! Investigation found that a very few locomotives from my fleet have a much stronger magnetic field sufficient to activate the latching reed switches which I have installed to control the internal lights. This was quite disappointing after such good results before. Today I been experimenting with ways to try and shield the magnetic field and prevent these few trains with stronger magnetic fields activating the latching reed switches in the DMU roof, see photo where I was trying to use some ferritic steel staples to act as a magnetic shield. So far no solution has been found, which means I need to take care to avoid close contact between the few locomotives with the stronger magnetic field such as the Dapol Class 50 in the photo and the DMU fitted with the latching reed switches controlling the internal lighting. Is this issue already well known? Does any one have a solution One step forwards ...........then another backwards ! That's life Vic

Some information about the coach ( DMU ) lighting shown in recent photos. Chawn Park DC controlled ( not DCC ) and I wished that the internal lighting remained at a constant brightness regardless of train speed including remaining on when stationary. I look at several options and concluded a latching reed switch and battery suited my needs best. The latching reed switch is activated by passing a magnet and remains in same state ( on or off ) until it is activated by a second magnetic field. Alternating between passing north and south pole magnetic fields results in switching the lights on and off. The company layouts for U was mu source for the latching reed switches. I elected to mount the latching reed switches in the roof of the rolling stock, since I already have some magnets installed between track sleepers which control other functions, so I need to avoid the existing track magnets switching the lights when trains pass such locations. I plan to mount magnets just above train height at exit and entry points from my fiddle yards, thus the LEDs will only be lit for the time trains on the viewing part of my layout. At the end of an operation session any light fitted rolling stock on the viewing part of the layout can have the lights switched off by just passing a magnet across the roof of the train. The first train I have installed this system is a Dapol N gauge 156. The task was quite simple since the roof just clips onto these models. I order ( also from layouts 4 U ) some CR1220 Battery's and holders plus 3v LED strips. I have attached photo showing where I mounted the battery just under the roof and out-of sight through the windows. To make space for the battery holder it was necessary to file down the width a little until it was just a slide fit between the carriage sides. It is quite important you file down the width of the battery holder to ensure the carriage sides remain flat and do not bend outwards around the battery location. The 3V LED light was self adhesive it was so just cut to length and fixed to underside of roof. The latching reed switches must all face in the same direction along the length of all rolling stock. The reed switches used all have small red marking which made it easy to ensure which direction to mount them. For this first install I just used "blue tack" to hold the latching reed switch against the roof underside. This was to allow experimentation with position, I expect later to glue the components in place. Final task is to adjust brightness when some resistors arrive, but overall I am pleased with this system. Conclusion. Easy to install, they work well, low cost, good result. Vic

I agree that adding internal lighting means next I must try and improve the interior detail and add some passengers. From these photos I have concluded that lights are just a little too bright, so I have just ordered some resistors. Regarding the interior, does anyone have a good photo showing the seat upholstery colour and floor colour of a CL156 in Regional Railways period ? I have quite a few external photos but not of the inside. Vic

Dear All This week I have added internal lights to a DMU to try and add another dimension to Chawn Park station at night. Enjoy Vic

To construct the station roof lights I found a novel solution. I used some laser cut parts which are intended for OO gauge models. Scalemodelscenery produce a kit ( part number kit LX395-OO Engine Shed / Factory Roof-light & Weathered Glazing ) Photo 19 shows a close up of the finished roof windows, the weathered wired glass seems to be acceptable when incorporated into an N scale model. When the station lights are in use all the detail of the roof structure can be clearly seen making all the construction effort worthwhile I also noted that during the period being modelled, many of the West Midlands area stations had large information displays, these seemed to be a large steel box holding a large TV screen. I mean the type used before the current flat screen LED type displays. Next photo shows my attempts to scratch building something to represent these display screens These are quite small parts that are simply formed from cardboard with the support tube being a match stick painted black. I printed an image of a station display screen, the prints have been mounted inside the cardboard display screen, it is just possible to read the information on the screens ! Photo shows a display screen resting on a two pence coin. I also used some very fine wire to represent the power cables and added some live electricity warning panels on the rear of these displays. A total of 16 of these displays are mounted around the island platform roof structure, The next photo was taken when the building was standing on its temporary plywood platform template. Two sets of the information displays can be seen hanging from the roof structure. Finally another night time photo with the displays hanging from the roof. At one moment I did think about adding backlighting using SMD LEDs to these information displays, maybe at some future time I will make new ones with backlighting ! With N scale modelling many of the small errors which are clear in these photos are not so noticeable ................... Anyway most important, I am pleased with results to-date and hope to improve a little with each project. Vic

Chawn Park N gauge project is all about my memories of trains passing through typical West Midlands Industrial landscapes. This weeks update .............. a few more photos The first photos in this small set shows a DMU passing along the high level lines with the steelworks building forming the background. I wished to avoid the flat baseboard effect so a complex arrangement of many different levels have been used. The bridges and viaduct forming the high level route is intermixed with the industrial buildings. Most are scratch built expect for the modern factory unit which is a ready to plant building. Below the tracks under the bridge arch a Mothers Pride bakery van passes a ready mixed concrete truck, A close up photo of some wagons in the loop running along the front of the layout. At the point where the wagons stand I laid the loop trackwork slightly lower than the main line tracks, from the angle of this photo the loop trackwork cannot be seen, but I think it looks much better than having all tracks totally flat Next photo. A small gathering of BR blue locos in the sidings The sidings tracks are laid at a slightly lower level than the main tracks in the foreground. Areas of long grass and shrubs represent the slightly rundown look. Trackwork is just standard Peco N gauge code 55 but with careful ballasting and painting gives acceptable results. In the background the high level lines cross the bridge behind the stabled locos and the steelworks buildings dominate the skyline. Finally a more general view over the left hand end of my layout. This photo was taken just before the station buildings were installed on the platforms. Details about the construction of the buildings can be found in section " Chawn Park Buildings - N gauge" . Thanks to everyone who have posted nice comments about the layout. Vic

Dear All A few trains operating on Chawn Park layout. Enjoy Vic

Dear All Photo 18 Main parts of one of the island planform buildings laid out before assembly, with the other building in a more advanced stage of construction in the background. Note the rear building is standing on its temporary plywood platform which will also become the template for marking out and drilling the mounting holes into the actual platforms which are already installed on the model. The glazed sections in the station roof allow all the details of the roof steelwork beams to be seen, this is why I invested quite some time adding so much detail in the platform canopy / roof inside. When lit the model looks fantastic, but photos in this small scale with my phone camera are not always best quality.

Dear All Next steps in building construction Photo 21. During a trail fitting of the roof onto platform buildings I placed this 50 pence coin to help illustrate the dimensions of these buildings. Small details like just leaving the waiting room door part open just help make the model more interesting Fine wire bent and fitting via some drilled holes suggests some of the buildings pipework. I also just drilled some holes pressed in short lengths of wire to represent toilet overflows Posters are just prints from photos, maybe many are overscale, however I just try to catch the atmosphere of the station and accept that all details may not be totally correct, Final comment, the more small details you add, the more lifelike the building becomes. All my small construction errors are clear to see in these close up photos but in the finished model most do not notice. I have learnt that taking photos helps me see errors and try to improve with each new building project. Anyway hope you enjoy looking at the development of this station Vic

Dear All Tonight when shunting the exchange sidings one of my GF 08`s stalled a few times. After all the normal track and wheel cleaning plus checking pickup on back of wheels, with no improvement in smooth running loco was moved onto shed for an internal examination. Body was removed, 4 small screws, one in each corner of the body, then body just lifts away. Investigation found the motor contacts are just a press fit, these had worked loose so intermittent contact. Removed motor, cleaned contacts, re-tested all works totally smooth again. See Photo 1. Green arrow marks location of contact that gave the issue. I have posted this since this is first time I have had this issue and it may save time for others facing same issue. Shunting operations in the exchange sidings are now back in operation. Vic

Next steps in construction of the island platform buildings Photo 12 and Photo 13. First trial of roof base structure resting on top of platform buildings. Photo 14. Platform roof structure at a more advanced stage with roof trusses in place on rear platform. Island platform buildings on other platform have now becoming more finished. Windows and doors are mounted, interior painted and some detail added. Photo 15 This photo shows the LED lights mounted on the lower roof steel beams. I used 26 LEDs in each platform roof to ensure even light distribution. Experimentation showed that use of more LEDs with lower light output gave better effect than a few bright LEDs Photo 16 This shows the interior of the platform buildings and how the roof structure is supported on the platform building. Supports pillars between the platform and the roof will support the structure in areas away from the buildings Photo 17 A close up which shows all the small construction errors, but most cannot be seen in the finished building. Note the very fine wires used to connected all LED lights. The building interiors, platform canopy lights, station wall clocks are all on different circuits to allow switching to form different lighting effects. Hope these explain a little more about how these buildings have been created from simple materials. Vic

The next key step was to find a solution for roof trusses. Photo 8 Roof truss sections are formed using "canopy brackets" produced by York Modelmaking for O gauge buildings but they seem to work OK for my needs in this N Gauge building project ! Photo 9 View from underside with first roof trusses mounted. The structure was starting to become ridged, quite surprising when only such small parts cut from cardboard and plastic are used. Photo 10 End view showing the York Modelmaking brackets forming the main roof trusses. Photo 11 Another view from the underside. The blue arrows show where I plan to support the roof by pillars from the platform A copy of the hole locations was transferred into the plywood template of the platform shape. The plywood template will act as both a temporary platform / model base during next stages of construction and will finally be used to ensure the pillar holes can be drilled into the existing platforms at the exact same position as the corresponding holes to accept the pillars in the roof structure.

Dear All The RMWeb administrator helped by moving my content into two groups, in this location I will continue to share information about construction of the buildings used on my N gauge model railway Chawn Park. If you are interested in the layout and its operation then that can be found at Home / Modelling Zone / Layout & Workbench Content / Layout topics / Chawn Park. N gauge model railway So back to the subject of construction of buildings Photo1 shows Chawn Park station model before construction of the island platform buildings. The main station buildings and town scene in the foreground being at a higher level hide the Sharpe track curves at this end of the layout. My vision for this freelance layout was to add two sets of island platform buildings based around some typical GWR constructions in the West Midlands. Many features of these buildings are based upon my observations of platform buildings at Birmingham Moor Street station (Photo 5) and mainly Stourbridge Junction (Photo 4 ) Photo 2 shows Chawn Park, which is the hill behind Stourbridge Junction station, from which this model takes its name. Today the hill is covered by a large housing estate arranged around Chawn Park Drive. Hence on my model I have formed a hill behind the platforms with some modern houses on the hillside. Photo 3. This shows a general view over my two island platform buildings. The roof structure formed using off the shelf laser cut parts, more about that later , can been seen through the roof windows is very similar to the construction used by the GWR on many West Midland stations and it was quite interesting to try and make a reasonably detailed representation to fit this N gauge model. Photo 4. Stourbridge Junction station. West Midlands. Many ideas for the design came from this site. The island platform waiting rooms and general steelwork structure. However the original GWR roof as been replaced with more modern type cladding. Photo 5. Birmingham Moor Street. Selection of images showing lots of roof details copied into my model steelwork structure. Photo 6. The first challenge was that since the station platforms already existed on my model, with the platforms firmly glued into place and not possible to be removed without major damage, how to construct and add the platform buildings and canopy structure. First step was to make a tracing of the platforms since they are not straight, well not straight seemed like a good idea when I built them but it made this later construction of the platform building system more complex. From the tracing I made a copy of the platforms shape in plywood to act as a temporary base during construction. I found some laser cut girders on scalemodelscenery website and thought these could form basis of the main roof structure. Photo 6 shows first experiments with the girders. I cut a cardboard template of the platform shape, then removed most of the material leaving a mainly open area. Photo 6 also shows the stairs down from the main station buildings and some of the surrounding buildings which had already been constructed. The platform at this stage is just faced with Metcalfe models paving as supplied, this was later painted which resulted in a more realistic surface. Photo 7 Roof starts to take shape. Laser cut roof beams now trial mounted above and below the card template. Design look acceptable, so next need to find other parts to build the structure. Based upon the experiments shown in the above photo I now had a vision about how to build the island platform roof ...................more details in next post Vic