M.R.P.G

A good day at the Wirksworth show. Here's a few pictures .

Depot Lane will be appearing at the Wirksworth model railway show. Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October 2019.

Hi to all Westfield has been progressing steadily with the track wiring to the three boards now completed. We've had a few operating sessions and all works fine. Boards have been fitted to the sides of the traverser and also at both ends underneath the frame. Cheers Shaun .

Depot Lane will be attending the Nottingham Woodthorpe Railway Club's Annual Model Railway Show. Sherwood Community Centre Mansfield Road Sherwood Nottingham NG5 3FN Saturday 27th October. 10am - 5pm. http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/17470-NottinghamWoodthorpeRailwayClubExhibition We shall be operating Depot Lane in various era's throughout the day. See you there. M.R.P.G

Hi to all These two pictures show there's just one more track to lay in the station area. Preparing for the final piece. And views of the completed trackwork. We could not resist placing some stock on for the first time M.R.P.G

Hi to all. Sorry we have not updated for a while but we have been busy laying the track. Here are some progress pictures. Station throat point work Station platform area Thanks for looking Shaun. M.R.P.G

Track laying is steadily progressing well, with the traverser now complete we are now onto the second board. The photo showing the first two points in position, marking out for drilling holes for the point motors. Thanks for looking Shaun.

NEWS Mark, the newest member of the group, is taking his "Welby Lane" layout to Railex NE this weekend (28th/29th July 2018). Shaun and I will be there to help him set-up and operate it. No progress on "Westfield" this week due to Shaun and I spending the Monday erecting his concrete sectional garage - Not the coolest day to have been building it! See you there! Simon

LOCO ANTI-CRASH DEVICE! This week we concentrated on stopping stock falling on the floor - This Loco Anti-Crash (LAC) device is likely be a two part solution... Part one will be in the form of a barrier across the tracks - similar to that used on the end of a rotating fiddle-yard. This will be put in place when construction has moved further on. Part two is a piece of board fixed to the underside of the frame to 'catch' any stray stock moving when the traverser is not aligned (The photos also show the traverser's extremes of movement) Below is an illustration of my solution to prevent stock moving off the traverser if it is on the tracks nearest to the operators - it is an 'L' shaped block bolted to the outside of the frame to prevent movement off the end. The block can be bolted under the board for transportation. Both of the above LACs will also be fitted on the other end of the fiddle-yard board. Cheers Simon

Hi Paul and Lez, Thanks for the comments and suggestions On Monday night, I will have to have a look at the frame and see what can be accommodated in the available space. Simon

Hi muddy water, Photos will have to follow (the boards are at Shaun's house) I had an idea to build the traverser with no runners to keep the costs down. From testing, with heavy weights on the traverser, the friction doesn't seem to be an issue (so far!). The movement is limited towards the viewing side as there will be a fascia on it but towards the operators it will extend a few tracks over. We will be fitting a locking mechanism but it will need to be a tight fit because any slack will cause misalignment - this is still being though about! The back-scene boards and the 'sides' for the traverser etc were cut when we bought the timber for the baseboard frames, tops and legs. These will be fitted after track laying, wiring and testing. I have had two ideas to solve the 'loco lemming connundrum' (LLC) pointed out by Stu and a 'board under' is one of them - but it cannot foul the folding of the legs and wouldn't stop the locos until they leave the track! A solution will also need to be found to stop trains leaving the traverser tracks that 'overhang' the operating area. Cheers Simon

Fair point... I hadn't thought of that, but now you've mentioned it, we will try and think of a solution (i like the golf tee idea as a starting point though!) Cheers Simon Not all of us are that good at operating, mentioning no names...

Hi Stu All of the above is spot-on! We didn't want to handle the locos other than setting up and taking down the layout and, as you stated, we also wanted to avoid DCC sound restarts. There will be two tracks under the warehouse for housing locos ready to be reattached on the 'front' of a set of coaches. All of the traverser tracks will not reach these tracks - the bottom track will probable used as a way of returning locos to/from the layout via the "loco depot" track (lowest track exiting the scenic section) also providing more movements. Cheers Simon

TRACK LAYING BEGINS! We started with the two central tracks and after removing the sleepers, where the track sits over the copper clad strip, it was glued down using UHU. The tracks were then soldered to the copper clad and once solid, cut through with a slitting disc in a mini-drill. The two "traverser" tracks were then used to align the rest of the loco storage tracks at the end of the fiddle-yard. Once these were complete we added the other tracks to the traverser. Note: The copper still need to be slit through to prevent "shorts" when wired up! Starting at the "far end" of the fiddle-yard The tracks at this end of the traverser and the loco storage tracks are now complete Thanks for reading Simon

We meet at Shaun's house on Monday nights and are usually there until midnight. I then get home at 12:30am, upload any pictures taken and then make the posts on RMweb. I am not in work then until 7:00pm Tuesday nights, so I don't need to go to bed early. (Even thought this weekend we were exhibiting at Ruddington all weekend, I still managed to stay awake! ) Cheers Simon

TRACK LAYING SOON... This week we have fitted copper clad strip to the fiddle-yard baseboard at the board joins. The track ends will be soldered to this to secure them to ensure reliable alignment every time. The thicker strip, nearest to the camera, is the for the one inch board alignment tracks that will connect with the first scenic board (The full one inch lengths of rail will be soldered to the copper clad board) Cheers Simon

Yep, just about! It's 12ft 1in x 2ft. We wanted the fiddle-yard to have a 4ft traverser with a row of 1ft tracks to release the locos when they return. These sizes mean any stock from any period should fit. The extra 1 inch is used for the track pieces that line up with the next board - there are multiple connecting tracks to enable us to use it on future layouts without being limited to a couple of connections. Cheers Simon

Hi Peter, The fiddle-yard is 5ft 1in x 2ft (with a 4ft traverser), both of the scenic boards are 3ft 6in x 2ft, (The squares on the plan are 1ft x 1ft but they aren't that clear unless you click on the plan to view it bigger) Cheers Simon

Hi Luke, Yes, we are intending running it as 1970-1980s or present day (although we do have some stock for other periods, we don't have enough for a full roster). it does mean that we can't detail it 100% as either period but allowing the change of period will keep us interested in operating it (and give show organizers the option of period) Thanks Simon

Hi Stubby47, DMU and DPU arrivals can arrive into platform 4 directly, it is assumed there is a crossover the other side of the bridge. Parcels coaching stock would arrive in platform 3 and be shunted into platform 4 by the station pilot, releasing the train loco. Cheers Simon

NEW M.R.P.G LAYOUT! We have just started our new layout thread, Westfield. Depot Lane will continue to appear at exhibitions and we will keep you posted and hopefully all of our followers will be interested in our new project. Cheers Simon

"WESTFIELD" IS BORN - New name, the layout is now called "MIDDLETON CENTRAL" (21/08/2022) After the success of our first layout, Depot Lane, we have embarked on a larger project, Westfield. We wanted to have a station layout that... allowed plenty of movements, looked good and didn't cost the earth - I started with C J Freezer's "Minories" plan and after a few adjustments, I came up with the current plan. The fiddle yard was designed so it can be used on future projects as well ! Boards have been completed and are now painted ready for track laying We wanted the boards to be self contained so, when attending shows, the layout can be set up and packed away quickly. Note: The outside of the frames haven't been painted because backscene boards will be fitted after track laying is complete. Cheers Simon