Northwick Group

Now the final 2 points have been built. First up is the double slip, this was built by Tim and was a bit of a pain because the blades of the point are so short it made the sleeper to which they are attached for the point motor to change them virtually impossible to move, this issue was overcome by cutting the blades into 3 sections and then reconnecting them with a thin brass wire, the whole thing was then reassembled but it was found that the sleeper for the point motor was easier to move but still to stiff for the point motor. This was eventually overcome by unsoldering the blades from the sleeper which the point motor connects to and drilling a hole through the sleepers next to the blade where they join onto the sleeper and a piece of wire was then bent into a z shape, one end was then soldered onto the blade whilst the rest of the wire was passed through the hole in the sleeper and the other end was soldered to the underside of the sleeper, this resulted in the sleeper being able to move with next to no resistance so should be fine for the point motor to operate. Below is a picture of it. If any of what I have described is not too clear then let me know and I will post some better pictures to show what I've tried to describe. Onto the next and final point to be built, it is the second right handed A5 point which has been built by Steve B, below is a picture of the 2 right handed points together. All that is left to do to the points is to finish off creating the circuits on them, then they will be ready for the filler to be applied to the sleepers and then painted ready for installation.

The next point has now been built which is an asymmetrical 3-way point, this one was built by Tim and was built the same way as the 2 others. Below are some pictures of it. Still to be done are the second right hand A5 point sand the double slip.

We have been making a start on building some of the points that will be required for the modification of the track layout. Both of the points pictured below are A5 points, 1 left handed the other right handed. Both of them have been built using C&L finescale templates and we have used copper clad sleepers with code 75 bullhead rail both from the same supplier. The left handed point has been built by Tim and the right handed one by Steve B, neither of us have had any previous experience with scratch building points but we are pretty happy with how they have turned out. Below is a picture of the left handed point which Tim has built, the sleeper with the black dots on indicated where the blades of the point are connected, this sleeper will have a hole drilled in it to allow the point motor's wire to pass through to throw the point. Below is a picture of the right handed point which Steve B has built, the blades of the point have been attached in the same way.

Last Friday we had a running session with a wide variety of stock being brought down for running. Paul brought down his class 37 & 46 both of which have recently been repainted from BR blue and a class 08. BR Class 37 D6781 sits by the goods shed. BR Class 46 D163 arrives in the station. Thomas brought down the Flying Scotsman. Arriving in a busy station. Steve B brought down a selection of DMU's consisting of class Class 128 Diesel Parcels Unit, Class 110 BRCW Calder Valley unit, a Derby Lightweight unit and a Park Royal railcar. BR Park Royal railcar on its way iout of the station. BR Class 110 awaits the signal to leave the station. BR Class 128 pulls into the station. BR Derby Lightweight units sits in the bay platform whilst the Class 110 awaits to depart. And Tim brought down a LNER J50 with a Gresley suburban teak set, also running was a pre grouping freight train consisting of LSWR, SE&CR & LB&SCR Wagons with either a SE&CR C class, a pair of LSWR M7's or 4 LB&SCR terriers (it had to be 4 as the set of wagons is very heavy as most are either brass kits or white metal kits). LNER Class J50 653 pulls into the station and awaits uncoupling. A pair of LSWR M7's (252 + 245) arrive with the pre grouping train The 4 LBSCR Terriers (consisting of Whitechapel, Fulham, Earlswood & Waddon) depart with the freight train. SECR C Class 592 passes the signalbox with the freight train Here are a couple of closeups of the wagons in the freight train.

Since the last post we have been busy coming up with ideas on how to redesign the route which the locomotives take from their platforms to the turntable. We have decided to do this because at the moment it takes too long to turn the locomotives and it also causes bottlenecks within the goods yard because the locos currently use part of the goods yard on the route to the turntable. Below is a sequence of layout diagrams showing the route which the locomotives currently take once the train has arrived at the station and the loco has uncoupled and pulled forwards to the buffers. 1. The loco reverses from platform 2 to the shunt signal outside of the signal box 2. The loco goes forward from the signal outside the signal box to the goods receiving road 3. The loco reverses from the goods receiving road to the shunt signal in a goods pilot siding 4. The loco goes forward from the shunt signal in the good parts siding to the goods yard entrance 5. The loco reverses from the goods yard entrance to the turntable and gets turned. Below is a diagram of the current version that we are thinking of using the new track is highlighted in blue, the trackwork that is going to be removed is highlighted in red, during the brainstorming session we decided it would be a good idea to create a new siding for the station pilot (highlighted in green) as this will stop potential bottlenecks being created in the bay platform as the station pilot is currently stored in the carriage siding that comes off of the bay platform (location circled in red), it will also be one less manoeuvre for the station pilot to pick up the carriages in the platform. Here is a list of the points which are going to be used with corresponding numbers on the diagram. 1. Double slip - we are using this so that you still have access to all the platforms from the downline as well as the goods yard. 2. Asymmetrical three way point. 3. Right-handed A5 point. This will result in a new shorter route for the locos to be turned whilst also keeping the operations within the goods yard and the engine yard separate. Below is a set of diagrams showing the new route that the locos will take to the turntable. 1. The loco reverses from platform 2 to the shunt signal outside the signal box. 2. The loco goes forward from the shunt signal outside the signal box through the double slip and the three-way point to the engine yard entrance. 3. The loco reverses from the engine yard entrance to the turntable and gets turned. Please let us have your thoughts and ideas if we can improve this further.

Happy new year to you all, hope you had a good one. Last Friday was the first club meeting of the year, Northwick was up for us to run our locomotives including some new ones that santa kindly brought us for Christmas Here are some pictures of what was running. Ex SR Bulleid West Country's 34001 "Exeter" & 34090 "Sir Eustace Missenden"double head a Mk1 set. Ex LMS Class 2P 40610 arrives at the station BR Class 25 D5185 passes Bob who is busy catching butterflies SR Z Class 952 poses in the goods yard SR Class S15 834 & Class N15 771 "Sir Sagramore" pull out of the station, on their way to the engine shed & turntable. And finally in celebration of the fact that it looks like the overhaul of the Flying Scotsman is finally nearing completion and is now moving again! We decided to run it on Northwick, here it is pulling into the station.

As promised here are some more pictures from Warley. Meet the team from left to right: Steve B, Frank, Thomas, Tim & Paul - there is one more (Steve W) but he is behind the camera taking the picture. A general view of the station from the fiddle yard end of the layout. Mini Steve B awaits his next duty. Jim climbs up the rope to the tree house. A delivery is made to The Flying Swan. Ex GWR class 57xx no 7717 shunts the goods yard. Ex LSWR Class M7 30056 pulls onto the layout as farmer Giles tries to outrun the angry bull. Ex SR West Country Class "Tavistock" awaits its next duty. Ex Midland class 1f 41671 is busy shunting. The transformer train sits in the back siding awaiting collection. BR Class 105 departs from the bay platform. BR standard class 4MT tank 80038 runs back in preparation for coupling up to it's train in the station. A busy scene in the station. Ex Midland class 1f assembles the next goods train.

This weekend we where exhibiting at the Warley national model railway exhibition (stand C47). We had a very enjoyable weekend and the layout was well received with lots of positive comments being made, in particular the new additions that have been added to the town scene. We even got filmed and interviewed by BRM (British Railway Modeller) to feature on one of their future DVD's so watch this space! If you came to the exhibition and saw us, we hope that you enjoyed what you saw. Here are a selection of pictures of the layout from the weekend. The layout set up and ready to go. Ex SR Q1 class 33009 arrives with a bullied 2 car set 69. Ex LMS Patriot class "Home Guard" passes the transformer train with a rake of Stanier stock. The scouts pause to allow the British Railways lorry through. Ex SR West Country class "Tavistock" passes the scouts. Ex GWR class 61xx 6167 pulls onto the turntable with a brake van to be turned. Ex LSWR M7 class 30056 arrives with the gate stock set 373. Ex GWR class 61xx 6167 arrives with the breakdown train. Ex LMS Class 3F 43257 waits to depart with a goods train as Tavistock leaves with an express. Ex Midland Railway class 1F 41671 pauses between shunting duties. More pictures to follow.....

We have been doing more work to the recently installed pub with the yard round the back being made to look as though it's been used, complete with basement and the barrel delivery being brought down the side. This weekend we will be at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition so why not come and see the layout in person.

The blackout that Northwick town has suffered for so long is finally over with all of the lights being wired up and are now working. Below are some pictures. And some with the room light out. A special thanks goes to Steve W for getting this done in time for our trip to Warley.

We have now started to install the pub. Below are some pictures of before and after Here we have the before in the foreground Here is the after There is still some more work to be done but it will be completed in time for Warley.

This Friday saw the new pub built by Steve B being placed on the layout for the first time and in addition the new pub sign post built by Tim was brought down complete with a swinging sign; both of them will light up once they have been installed. We also had a running session with the newly painted gate stock running with class O2 30182. and a newly weathered Ivatt class 4 43083, complete with graffiti on the tender! Don't forget that we will be attending the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition, which is being held at the NEC in Birmingham on the 28th & 29th November 2015. Why not come along and meet the team.

Having unloaded the transformer from the wagon, it heads off by road to the new power station which is currently being built on the outskirts of town.

Recently on the layout we had a running session and Steve B brought down a recent purchase - Ex-LSWR Class O2 30182. The opportunity was taken to run a 2 coach rake of Ex-LSWR gate stock that is currently being built by Tim. Here are a few pictures

Further to the transformer wagon you can see the built wagon awaiting painting in the background of this picture. We have also been weathering more stock, this time a class 20. Before After

Great video, thanks for posting it.

Last weekend we were at the Folkestone exhibition, we had a very enjoyable and successful weekend. The layout was well received by both the other exhibitors and the general public alike with the parents and kids picking up on and appreciating different details on the layout for example the parents picking up on the scout climbing the rope and the kids pointing out to them that the scout is going to the tree house. There was a wide variety of stock which ran over the weekend, including a train delivering a new transformer for the new power station which is being built near by. Below are some pictures from the weekend. The layout set up and ready to go. Ex midland 1f 41661 shunts the goods after they have arrived complete with a local kid having a cab ride. Ex GWR ROD 3036 is poised ready to depart with the parcels train. Newly out shopped BR Crosti boiler 9F 92023 is reversing having just come off the turntable and is running to the engine shed. As the farmer desperately runs for the fence the class 101 3 car DMU pulls into the station. The ex LMS push-pull set passes the scouts. Ex GWR Grange class 6816 "Frankton Grange" emerges from the bridge. Ex GWR Collett goods 2217 arrives with a long freight train. Ex midland 1f 41671 pauses between shunting duties. The church yard complete with the church and open grave. A busy town scene - Northwick now has its own bus service! BR class 20 D8000 arrives with the transformer train. A side view of the train. A close up of the wagon which carries the transformer. The next exhibition that we will be attending is the Warley exhibition which is held at the NEC in Birmingham on the 28/29 November.

Last Friday we where busy getting the layout ready for the Folkestone exhibition which included installing the new scenic break, below is a before and after shot ] The empty patch in the foreground of the second picture is where the church stands

During the August brake we decided to extend the platforms by approximately 15cm, we decided to do this so that we can run 5 coach trains into and out of the 2 main platforms with out either blocking the points that the loco needs to use to run round the train or having the last coach blocking the barrow crossing at the end of the platforms. Below is a set of pictures showing how we extended it. 1. Here is a picture showing what we started with 2. The slopes at the ends of the platform where cut off and the barrow crossing, lamp hut and signal post removed. 3. A set of five coaches where positioned in the platform to confirm the length of the extension, the screw driver is there to stop the coaches from rolling away as the baseboard wasn't level. 4. A mixture of balsa wood and plasticard was used to form the basic structure for the extensions, this was glued and screwed to the baseboard to ensure that it wouldn't move. 5. The top of the balsa wood was then sanded to make the surface slightly lower than the existing platform. 6. New paving stones where installed using plasticard that has been scored to create individual slabs. 7. The central part of the extension was filled with plaster of Paris and then a sponge was dabbed across the top to create a textured surface. 8. The platforms where then painted a dark grey close to the existing colour, the walls of the platform where then covered with printed paper to give the effect of weathered sandstone, the platform fencing added and painted & the platform lights where installed. Also the barrow crossing, lamp hut and signal post that where removed earlier where reinstated. 9. The White lines for the edge of the platform where then painted on. The extension still needs to be weathered in but that will happen before our next exhibition which is the Folkestone exhibition on the 3/4 October held at Leas Cliff Hall, if you're coming then please say hello.

The Northwick group have volunteered the layout as a last minute replacement for a withdrawn exhibit at the upcoming Folkstone exhibition on the 3rd and 4th October. Why not come along and say hello.

We have been continuing with applying the static grass to the fields. Mainly with the field that is in the middle of the layout, this has included making the dirt roadway into a grassy trackway complete with grass down the middle. Below are some pictures showing the progress so far. Before After

We have now decided to improve some of the fields on the layout by using static grass Below is a is a picture showing the before (right side) and after (left side) static grass. Blow is a set of pictures of another field that has had this treatment.

We've also had a go at doing a ripple effect for the water in the water tower, we also took the opportunity to add some wildlife. Here is a before and after.

Below is a set of pictures showing a wagon before weathering and after.

On the theme of the last post here are 2 short clips. The first one is of the camp fire working. https://youtu.be/ydZqYMqvFpU The second is of the welder at work in the engine shed. https://youtu.be/MiSJLe2zxso