awoodford

I wasn't so happy with how the industrial scene was coming together. It just wasn't as blatantly industrial as I wanted. So I've added an extra elevated track through the middle of the scene - the Slaghill Avoiding Line. Why anyone would want to avoid Slaghill I can't imagine, but it does at least have the effect of enclosing things a bit more. This is just a dummy track, and is there purely for looks, though I suppose it could be used to store or display spare rolling stock. The new viaduct does rather cut the scene in half from top to bottom, so its not ideal, but on the whole I think I prefer it to previously. Construction consisted of a plywood track base, with cardboard plate girder sides, paper tube supporting pillars, and Plastruct truss between the pillars, all painted with Humbrol matt enamels. It has ploughed through the middle of Slagaloid's chemical works at the right, burying or scattering parts to other areas of the layout - a couple of the tanks have now ended up at a paint factory in Grimley. The station at Slaghill is now tucked away at the left and can only be glimpsed beneath the girders. Thank goodness for auto-couplers! The whole elevated line is in one piece and removable, as is the overall roof at Slaghill station, which allows access for track cleaning at the back. With the end in sight for the layout's scenic work, I've been rushing things a bit, so the latest buildings in the low-level Grimley area have been even more 'thrown together' than before. The station building in the foreground was originally intended to be from a Selsey Tramway prototype, but in the end I just couldn't be bothered, so all they have now is a bus shelter. The conveyer at the left of the platform came from a cement works in Bangladesh (courtesy Google Maps), except the sign there said Welcome to Chittagong. As the grand entrance to a city it quite appealed to me. The ramshackle workshops at the back of Grimley also came from a waterfront in Chittagong. I find Google Maps to be a great source of inspiration, especially some of the developing countries, where areas can still be found that are reminiscent of this country in the sixties. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Thanks jonas, wenlock. I'm pleased you like it. Alan.

Development of the industrial scene has continued during the past month. The chemical works at Slaghill is now complete, and a start has been made on the lower level Grimley area. The staple diet of Tweedalers is pie and peas, and the demand is met in part by Grossman's of Grimley, whose abattoir, tannery, glue and pie factory is a major industry in the town. It has been allocated 2 siding spots out of the 6 available at Grimley, and has its own loading/unloading platform. Inward traffic comprises livestock from Upper Tweedale (Dale End and The Pits), and chemicals for the tannery from Slaghill. Outward traffic consists of regular van loads of pies for the cafe and restaurant owners' cartel in Poshington-Upon-Twee. Waste material is sent as animal feed to Upper Tweedale (this is the 50/60s before it turned cows mad), and to the chemical works at Slaghill where it is used in cosmetics. Malodorous liquid wastes pour straight from a pipe into Grimley Drain, which passes through the middle of the factory site and under the railway. The factory itself consists of a jumble of buildings that climb up to the right and act as a view blocker to the adjacent scene. Slagaloid's chemical works at Slaghill Grossman's factory at Grimley The Grossmans sign at the right was printed in greyscale using a B/W laser printer at the local library, then carefully coloured in with paint by hand. I'm a bit wary of the lightfastness of colour printers, so prefer that method. I once tried printing brickpaper with a colour printer, and left a sample in sunlight with a sample of Superquick brickpaper. While the Superquick just faded a bit, the sample from the colour printer turned green. OK, so that is rather an extreem test, the layout doesn't live in full sunlight, but it still put me off using colour printers. I have to say, that test was done a long time ago, and things have no doubt improved since then... I believe you can get 'archival' inks for computer printers these days that are lightfast. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Dave. I guess we'd all like to give our layouts atmosphere, but I think its rather an illusive property, and probably not one that a layout builder can accurately judge of their own layout. It takes others to see it. So I'm very flattered that you think this layout has atmosphere. Its a great compliment, thanks. Alan.

Slaghill is dominated by steel and chemical industries, which provide plenty of varied traffic for the Tweedale Railway. However it became apparent early on that there wouldn't be enough room on the layout for loading and unloading facilities for them. So it was decided to make them into 'phantom industries', situated just off the layout and supposedly fed from extensions of the two sidings. In reality the sidings just fizzle out behind buildings. Wagons for the steel works are left in the station platform. To maximise operation they are shunted into a particular order, as specified on a destination list (coking plant, ore, lime, and scrap stockpiles, rolling mill, etc). It is assumed the wagons are moved along to the appropriate loading/unloading spots and returned, magically, between operating sessions. Similarly wagons for the chemical park are shunted into the siding behind the station in a specific order (food additives, chemical fertilizers, acid, plastic pellets, toxic waste, etc). The nice thing about phantom industries is that it's so easy to change your mind about them... remove some, add others, change the order in the lists etc. It also means the backscene and modeled buildings don't need to be too specific, and can just represent a general industrial setting. Slaghill has turned out a lot different than originally intended. My earlier vision was for the railway here to be enclosed claustrophobically by tall buildings and bridges. However some tests with mocked up buildings showed that it would look rather more boxed in and cramped than I wanted. So in the end I've gone for a more open aspect. The backscene was made up from interesting looking features picked from Internet photos of steel and chemical works, which were then traced and painted onto watercolour paper. I did get rather carried away here, and added more fiddly bits than I probably should have. The scenic gurus are always telling us not to make backscenes too detailed, so just grey misty silhouettes would probably have been sufficient. There were only a couple of small areas where modeled buildings would fit. In the left corner, some low-relief conveyer sheds help to hide the exit to the short extension stick that holds the spare loco. While at Slagaloid's premises behind the viaduct, some pipework and tanks (purpose unknown) were added. More sheds and pipework are still to be put in here. Behind the placeholders for those are the miners' cottages at The Pits, which have finally been completed. They don't have much of an outlook, but I've known worse! One of the advantages of using restricted viewpoints is that it allows you to get away with quite a lot of cheating. Like most of the buildings on the layout, the miners' cottages only have two sides and a bit of bracing at the back. No ground floor windows and doors, as they'd be hidden from view anyway. From the bow in the wall, I suspect mining subsidence, surely not cowboy builders. Finally an overall view of the industrial scene so far. Nearly ready to make a start on the foreground Grimley area. Cheers, Alan.

Thanks John. The roof seems to blend in alright with a newly painted industrial backscene, so it looks like its going to stay. Photos in the next blog, towards the end of the month. Alan.

Thanks Moxy, it looks like you are right. I should have thought to consult that useful website myself. I suppose the published track plans were intended to show how the stations could be modeled in a compressed form. Alan.

Well I'm glad I took the chance and subscribed to SRI at the beginning... its a great little magazine. It was nice to see the Thunder's Hill article. I've been very impressed with Mr Bossom's modelling ever since seeing some of his 3mm wagons on a visit to the Bexhill club rooms way back in the seventies. I think better captioning of some of the photos is needed though. Just where is the location that B/W photo in the Halifax article? I thought at first it might be Pellon, but it doesn't quite correspond to the track plan given, so I'm none the wiser. Alan.

Wenlock, KH1, thanks for your comments. I've tried adding a few building mockups around the station area, to better judge how the roof fits in. I think it might be ok. Alan.

This month's blog looks at an alternative to electro-magnetic uncouplers, plus a few progress shots on the newly started scenic development of Slaghill. As a reminder, Slaghill is the high level section at the rear of the scene below, and represents Tweedale's heavy-industrial zone. As mentioned in last month's blog, I wanted to look into the feasibility of replacing the hook and bar couplings with Alex Jacksons. Tests using a couple of wagons fitted with AJs turned out more promising than expected. They negotiated the 18 inch radius curves without problems, and even coupled up on the curves, so the next step was to develop an uncoupler. I didn't want to mess around with the usual electro-magnetic uncouplers (buttons, solonoids, extra power supply, etc), so came up with a mechanical system using permanent magnets and medieval wooden technology. Door catch magnets were used (45p from the local hardware shop). The plastic casing was cut away. Inside was a magnet sandwiched between 2 metal plates. The magnet by itself didn't have enough oomph to operate the couplings from beneath the 5mm track board, but attaching one of the metal plates to the base (as in the right-hand image) concentrated the magnetic rays enough to operate them easily. Here's a sketch showing the general idea... The experimental uncoupler was installed at Slaghill. The left-hand shot shows the magnet in its default, non-activating position. The right-hand shot shows it raised against the base of the track board, by pressing down on the lever. Here are close-ups of the business end of the uncoupler and the arm beneath the baseboard. Not a pretty sight but it does the job. For uncouplers on the lower level tracks I'll probably attach the magnet directly to the arm. With the uncoupler in place I could proceed with the scenery. The railway at Slaghill is perched on a viaduct, a rickety wooden trestle affair that has been boxed in to protect the structural timbers from the town's corrosive atmosphere. At least that's the fiction. If you ask me what the prototype for this structure is, I haven't a clue - it literally came to me in a dream. It was built from scribed card and balsa framing, painted with brown/black washes of poster paint. The point control mechanism sticking out will eventually be hidden behind a building. The front parapet has an important part to play. By hiding the underframes it gives the illusion of the rolling stock being slightly smaller than it is, and so acts as a subtle kind of forced perspective. Not sure the photo shows the effect too well, as it introduces perspective distortions of its own. I decided to try the station with an overall roof, quite a luxury for Tweedale. I don't know whether I'll keep it though. As its a relatively large plain structure it may make the area look too cramped. I'll see how it fits in with later buildings. Cheers Alan.

Hi Neil. I was accosted by Mr Flint at the Shipley show, who said you'd been spreading the word about Tweedale. Thanks. Spud-U-Lok, yes, I like that. I know some people hate those spuds, but I love them. I've used maybe seven or eight of them in the past in small industrial spuduloks. Only ever had one that was a bit suspect, underpowered and 'sticky', the rest have run beautifully. Alan.

Thanks John. Much appreciated. Alan.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I'll have to search out some of his stuff. The cab has now been re-glazed and the interior painted, so I'm a lot happier with that now. Alan.

Thanks jonas. Its the first time I've tried painting a loco that way, so it was a bit of an experiment, but I'm very pleased with the result. For very grimy locos I'd use the method again. By starting with a layer of muck, then 'cleaning' the loco a bit by adding more paint, seems somehow less daunting than starting with pristine paintwork then mucking it up. I think that's the reason I've never got around to weathering my Bachmann 04. Simon Dunkley, thank you. I take it you are referring to none other than the Tweedale Railway's honorary publicity officer. Alan.

Until now wagons for the facing sidings at Dale End have been rope-shunted at Slaghill, to get the engine at the correct end of the train. However the imminent scenic development of Slaghill threatens to surround the railway with tall industrial structures, making rope-shunting impractical. The simplest solution seemed to be to provide the railway with a second loco. Luckily in the spares box I had a Tenshodo SPUD (24.5mm wheelbase), which could be used as the basis for a small industrial critter. So a Knightwing Industrial Loco plastic kit was purchased, with a view to kitbashing it to resemble something like a Ruston 48DS. I must say it's only a very approximate resemblance, and probably more freelance than Ruston, but as Tweedale is an overtly freelance layout anyway, I'm not particularly concerned. Drawings for the Ruston were found on the Internet, so at least I had some basic measurements to go by. I started by making up a plasticard footplate and side frames (using the Ruston dimensions), with buffer beams cut down from those in the kit. Plasticard clips were glued underneath to hold the SPUD in place. The kit's cab was reduced in length by 2mm, which gave the roof a more Ruston-like overhang. The engine housing was cut back to fit the remaining space on the footplate. A 4 ounce lead weight was obtained from a local fishing shop for 50p, and cut up into chunks, from which I managed to squeeze about 3 ounces into the engine housing and lower half of the cab. The cab and engine housing were glued to the footplate, and details added. The loco was fitted with Alex Jackson couplings, as I wanted to test whether AJs would be a feasible replacement for the obtrusive hook and bar couplings currently in use. I'm not very optimistic, what with the amount of sideplay on the OO stock and the 18 inch radius curves, but it's worth a try. The loco was then given a base coat of 'mucky black' paint. The formula for that, using Humbrol matt enamels, was 2 parts black to 3 parts dark-earth. When dry, most of the body was dry-brushed with dark green, the buffer beams with red, and the cab roof grey, leaving me with a loco suffering from years of neglect beneath soot laden skies. Bless. Hmmm, shame about the windows... I should have painted the openings before glueing in the glazing, and the unpainted cab interior is annoying me too now. Heh, live and learn. To accommodate the new loco, the track at Slaghill was pushed through the backscene onto a short extension made from scraps of wood and card. The railway's 04 shunter can now leave wagons in the station ready for the new loco to push up to Dale End. The finished loco weighs in at about 3.5 ounces and I'm very pleased with how smoothly it runs, especially compared to the 04 which has always limped along on crutches. Cheers, Alan.

Thank you Corbs. I remember Ivor the Engine from the TV series as a child, but I'd never heard of Whimshire before and had to look it up. I was quite intrigued by the brief glimpse I had, and will have to go back and study it in more detail sometime, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. He takes things a step further than I want to go with Tweedale though... I'm not going to start bolting signals to trees for example. I wonder if anyone has actually built a layout based on his illustrations. Alan.

I quite like the idea of the line passing through the market. After all, in the Ambler article it states that after leaving the NWR station goods yard at Patiala, the PSMT passed through the walled city before heading out into the country. I can just imagine it passing through an ancient archway in the walls before entering the city. Alan.

Dale End Diary 26 October. Yes, the Dale End scene is now declared to be finally complete. No more fiddling. Three months fussing over one square foot of scenery is quite long enough I reckon. Here's an overall view of the scene. Beneath the covered area at the right a chute dispenses sawdust into an open wagon, to be transported to the chemical works at Slaghill for processing into ethanol. I can't say I've ever actually heard of sawdust being transported by rail before, at least not in the UK. Anyone know if it was? If the traffic did exist then I assume the wagons would have been sheeted to stop the contents blowing away or turning into porridge in the rain. I gave up on an earlier idea of locating the ethanol plant at Dale End, after consulting Wikipedia and discovering the process of turning wood into ethanol is rather more complicated than just setting up a still in a shed in the forest. The ramp by the goods shed at the rear is for loading livestock. It came from a Canadian prototype - the layout is getting more freelance by the hour. A passenger train waits to depart. The only folk travelling are some miners, who have been moonlighting as lumberjacks. The passenger service is so basic I thought its image might be improved if it was named. After considering 'The Dalesman' and 'The Tweedale Forester', I've finally plumped for 'The Pines Express' as sufficiently outrageous for the Dale End service. Anyway, time to move on. I've had my fill of trees, and the industrial zone of Slaghill beckons. Cheers, Alan.

Well there's plenty of hiding trains on this layout, that's for sure. Most of the track between stations is hidden or at least somewhat obscured by view blockers, as a way of 'editing out' the miles of countryside assumed to lie between stations. As this is primarily a shunting layout, the action takes place at the stations. Trains arrive, indulge in a bit of shunting, then depart, and I'm not so concerned with what happens in between. Alan.

Thanks Corbs. The idea of the road dropping down and leading into the scene seemed like a good idea at the time, but it hasn't worked as well as I'd hoped. It tends to foreshorten the foreground and makes the scene look more cramped and enclosed. I think its generally better to have the scenery rising from the front towards the back... I'm sure I've read that elsewhere before. However the clearances on the tunnel beneath the foreground forced me to put the higher ground at the front. Alan.

Thank you bgman. Hopefully I'll get the scene finished this month. Alan.

According to the Day article... "The road itself, like many Indian roads in the flat country, was for the most part on a raised embankment to keep it clear of the water when the surrounding land is flooded. According to a sketch provided by Mr Bowles, the embankment was 20ft wide at road level and the centre strip, about 8ft wide, was metalled. This left soft 6ft shoulders at each side of the metalled strip. The monorail was laid on one of these shoulders so that the balancing wheels ran along the edge of the metalled surface, leaving all but six inches or so of it clear for other traffic." The Ambler article mentions there were issues with the road wheels wearing the road surface. Also he says of the closure, "The road seems to have been too good for the health of the monorail and one's guess is that the rapidly-growing competition of road traffic made it not worth while to get over these other difficulties." Alan.

September turned out to be a busy month, so I didn't get as much done to the layout as I was hoping. Still, every little helps, so here are a few more progress shots from the Dale End sawmill scene... Dale End Diary 12 September. Nearly half way through the month and about all I have to show for it is a pile of pitprops. It contains about 100 poles, cut from bamboo skewers, and was as tedious to construct as it looks. In the prototype reference photos I'd found, the stacks were about three times as high, but there are limits to my patience. 21 September. Roofs have been painted and weathered. I think I might have gone a bit over the top with the rust though. A few more stacks of timber have been made, from strips of balsa. I suspect the timber should have coloured ends - I must check up on that. Heh, it's so easy to get sidetracked with this hobby. 28 September. Talk about a glutton for punishment, as another zillion pitprops get cut for a wagon load. There's nearly a whole packet of skewers gone into those two lots. I'm quite pleased with the cyclone, which was constructed from paper cones and tubes. It's a bit fragile and has already acquired a few dents, but now it's in place on the layout it should be safe. The supports are from Evergreen strips, and the curved inlet pipe is a section cut from a plastic shower-curtain ring. I dare say there are kits for these things, but it was very satisfying building it from scratch, even if it is more hassle and probably less detailed than a kit. Some heaps of waste wood and sawdust are starting to appear. They were sanded to shape from 'oasis' flower-arranging foam, then covered in PVA glue, and sprinkled with real sawdust and wood splinters collected after sawing jobs. Thanks for looking, Alan.

No I've not found any double flanged wheels. I was intending to experiment with adding extra flanges to normal wagon wheels - possibly using metal washers or even plastic discs. The profiles will be all wrong, but so long as it stays on the track that's all I ask of it. In 4mm, I'd probably run the loco on 2 axles with (oversized) 12mm wagon wheels and no motion, hiding it all behind a skirt so it couldn't be seen anyway. A bit of a cop out, but to do it properly looks like a challenge too far for me. Alan.

I've not seen the Day article, and while I would be interested to read it, I've not made any real efforts to track down the magazine. Alan.