nharding99

There might be something in this collection:

 

http://sutherland.davenportstation.org.uk/

 

Although it's a while since I looked through it so I can't be sure.  On the back cover of the original edition of Foxline Publishing (now Booklaw)  Scenes from the Past 16: The Midland Route from Manchester Pt 1 there was a late 1950s colour (or coloured?) view of Didsbury goods yard showing the goods shed. 

 

Simon

Thanks, a great collection. Heaton Norris in 1969, definitely looks like a red door in the goods yard beneath the grime.

Hi,

 

Have you seen this site?

 

https://www.stationcolours.com/

 

Tony

Thanks Tony,

That's a great site. So buildings (signal boxes and station buildings, goods sheds not specifically mentioned) under the Cheshire Lines Committe were probably light stone and mid brown until 1951, thereafter LMS red (dark red) and cream until 1960 at which point gulf red and light biscuit became the official shades.

I'd still love to see a colour photo of a goods shed if anyone is aware of one.

Many thanks

Nigel H

Hi there,

I'm looking for intel on the likely colour scheme of a typical goods shed in the early 1960s in the North Cheshire/South Manchester area. I've been Google searching but of course many images from that era are in black and white.

My musings are... were shed doors and office doors religiousy painted in LMR maroon or was there variation and freedom to use other colours (if so which)? In B&W photos it looks like alot of window frames were either white or cream. You could always argue that buildings from that era were so run down that it is hard to tell but I'd like some starting point for a bit of modelling.

Same question for station buildings, were doors always maroon?

Thanks in advance for any hints, references or links to images.

Nigel H

A little bit more development, some tidying up of ballast in the 2 sidings in the centre of the image. I have created a mockup of the booking hall. It seemed a tad overscale to me (at the time of the photo) but I have since drawn on some lintels. I think the windows need to be dropped down a bit. Overall height of the structure is comparable to a Scalescenes island platform building and by my calculations scales to around 3m in 1:1 so I think it's just window placement that needs improving. I have some Brassmasters windows for the actual construction. I plan to use PECO brick sheets for the walls. I've never scratch built anything before so fingers crossed!

I hadn't run any trains since doing alot of cosmetic work, I have completed some more wiring and given one of the DMUs a run around. It's still pretty smooth after all of my ballast laying efforts so that's good news!

Looking good

On Lymebrook Yard i used blocks as you have but I’ve fastened three blocks by glue and screw to the top upper deck. On the bottom of these blocks a hole 6 mm was drilled and a sawn off threaded part of a bolt was araldited in but protruding out about 15 mm worth of thread so when passed through a corresponding hole in the baseboard it can be secured with a 6mm wing nut the other blocks that you haven’t modified can be glued screwed to the baseboard as they won’t need to be removed. When you need to remove the upper deck undo the wing nuts and lift it off. Hope the above makes sense.

 

Thanks Steve

Thanks Steve, that's very useful to know. The other thought I had was to maybe attach a small flat base to each support block (sticking out) which would have a hole in it which could then accomodate a screw and wing nut. Your method would be more compact (and possibly a stronger solution).

!

With most of the ballasting completed (though still some tidying up to be done) thoughts are turning to one of the hidden sections. I have put together an elevated section which is 3mm ply cut to approximate shape and braced with balsa strips. For now this is posed on some wooden blocks which haven't yet been squared off properly. The top needs to be semi-removable (in case of in tunnel problems). I'd welcome hints here. What does everyone else use to do this? Just some screws into wooden blocks?

The Metcalfe wall is representative, it will be used at the other side of the layout. I used it here to test the height. This section may just have a bespoke retaining wall made of matching Metcalfe brick. The height seems about right (53mm high to street level, 50mm for the blocks and 3mm for the width of the ply).

The station platform is quite narrow so I'm thinking that a bus stop style shelter will be used and we will then see steps up to a small booking hall at street level. My inspiration for that will be Small Heath station in Birmingham (see www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/small_heath.php)  although my track layout is, of course, a bit different so I'll only need one staircase.

The brass buffers on the Class 20 are a sign that it has been dropped and repaired!

Thanks!

Hi Nigel,

 

I love the plan - shows N gauge at its best in my opinion, small, manageable but with superb operating potential. Looks like you're making excellent progress and that ballasting looks fine to me! It is always a messy job but can be very quickly cleaned up if there are any issues and waeathering/painting of the track has helped me cover a multitude of sins in the past!

 

Keep on sharing and carry on the good work!

David

I can't take credit for the plan (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112891-lymebrook-yard/) but the idea is that I can watch trains roll by if I wish or dabble with some shunting if I fancy a different kind of operation. There is hopefully a bit of interest in having a situation where the double track becomes single line beyond the station so we will be able to see trains having to wait for others to pass. Thanks for the reassuring comments about ballasting.

Seems good to me Nigel...

 

There can't be many of us who didn't think that ballasting seemed messy to begin with, but you end up with a system that works for you and gets much tidier as you go on. The depth seems fine from here.

I notch the rear rails of the platform edging every 10-15mm on the upper and lower rails with a slitting disc, and bend each section gently.. They will sit and follow a curve easily then... ( Have still snapped a few that way as well )

 

Progress is what it is, for all sorts of reasons i suppose. I know I'll get a fair bit done in the next few weeks, and then other things will get in the way for a while. 

 

Thanks for posting 

 

Regards - Steve

Ballasting - I'm showing off the best bit here. Other bits are alot rougher with some clumps in evidence so I'll be working on those. Thanks for the comments and encouragement!

I'm not one of those modellers that seem to make very quick progress but I have moved things forward.

I have started to ballast the track. Most of the viewing side is covered though alot of tidying up and re-applying to missed parts is required. That has been a learning curve, early efforts were a bit of a mess (I think I didn't soak the ballast enough prior to dropping the glue on). I have also slightly over ballasted in the sense that I probably laid it a little bit deep. I have trying to lessen that effect by tidying and scraping away with a dentist's pick (it is both painstaking and relaxing at the same time).

The station platform is coming along. This is made from PECO brick platform sides with PECO paving on top.  I had issues bending the platform sides, they seemed quite brittle and tended to snap (even after heating them up by soaking in boiling water) but I got something resembling the right shape in the end. The sides have been pre-painted. The top still needs the filler to be tidied up with some gentle sanding and is still to be painted.

I think that's all for now!

A great choice in my opinion!

Thanks for the hints. I am now getting better results by going to the traditional 50% PVA/water and drops of washing up liquid. It's possible that the pre-liminary misting with water is what is making the difference, I can see that it seems to make the ballast heavier. But whatever the science, it's working and looking better now.

Hi there,

I have started ballasting my n gauge layout with Woodland Scenics fine ballast and the DeLuxe Materials product "Ballast Bond".

I have spread the ballast, tamped it down, done some tidying up and arranging with a brush and then added the Ballast Bond.

Ths product is supposed to "just work" right out of the bottle. However I'm finding that I.m getting a lumpy result. When I apply the product it's clear that Ballast is getting moved around (even though the product claims that it shouldn't).

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a surface tension issue and would adding some washing up liquid help?

Here is an image, the left hand side has has Ballast Bond applied (still wet), the right hand side is largely untreated.

Any advice welcomed.

Thanks

Nigel H

very nice

It's too good for that code 80 track

More of the track work has been completed. Tonight I have been soak testing (aka playing trains...)

You may notice a trio of the new class B Tanks by RevolutioN trains. These are as close to perfection in N gauge as you can get, they are beautifully crafted items.

I have also made progress on the design of the mimic panel.

Next job there will be to add the LEDs for route indication. That's something I've never done before so before too long I'll be ordering and playing with LEDs, holders and resistors.

Thanks

Most of the track-laying has now been completed...

Since last time I have adjusted some of the curves. On the viewing side I felt that track was too close to the baseboard edge and didn't look right. I'm happier with it now. I've been doing lots of track testing with all locos. The only one that has problems is my new Farish class 40 which derails at some of the frogs (it seems to be the outer bogie wheels that slip off. I haven't measured the B2Bs yet, there is alot of play in those wheels. Apart from that everything is running pretty smoothly.

In parallel (and because it's starting to be a pain to change the points which are fitted with Cobalt motors but no switches yet) I have started to build a control panel. It's a bit OTT for such a small layout, I could have used some much smaller switches but I've always wanted to try a signal lever arrangement so I'm using Cobalt S lever switches. The wiring needs to be tidied up a bit, rest assured that I have documented what goes in/out of the baseboard connector. The wiring was quite a challenge for this beginner. Eventually I want to add LEDs to a control panel diagram.

It's always reassuring (and a relief!) when you complete a circuit... Track laying has begun.

I have used electrofrog points (rather than your suggested set track points Steve) because I had a couple of small wheel base locos that stalled on the insul frogs. In the long run that would irritate me so I'm reasonably happy to sacrifice a bit of space.

I am actually a small R/H point short so that will be added to the fiddle yard in due course. There are a few niggles to sort out, there's a distinct dip in the middle of the code 55 point and it causes my class 40 to derail. I think I'd like to ease out the station curve slightly, it looks a little bit flat and eventually ends up as quite a sharp curve. There's space to nudge it out by a cm or two and I'll have a resulting hidden curve that isn't quite so much on the limits of tightness. I did sort out another derailment spot where a fishplate hadn't engaged properly. Had plenty of fun testing it. The fiddle yard really needs a lip (crash barrier) on the outer edge of the board as the track is quite close to the edge!

On 18/05/2018 at 22:56, sf315 said:

Hello Nigel

Firstly how flattered I am that you want to copy Lymebrook Yard. It would be interesting to see another persons take on it especially if your going to add the wires.

I did think about electrifying Lymebrook so could run my 309 and my 323 that I ran on shaweport. But settled for backdating it to the 70s.

Don’t know if your going to DEMU Showcase but the week after at Armitage near Stafford there’s the Midland Small layout show and Lymebrook is going to be there. Your welcome to come and have a go to get the feel of how it works and you could poke your head underneath to see how the brook was let in and I can show you that you don’t need to be a whizz at the elevated sections carpentry wise.

If your going to do some 304 units I would love one as I used to enjoy riding about in them between Manchester and Stafford.

Thanks Steve.

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement Steve. I'm more of a Southerner these days so Burton and Stafford would be a bit of a hike for me. I'm really looking forward to seeing Lymebrook Yard in the flesh though, I'm sure it will happen, I'm sure you'll be invited to TINGS or Warley before too long. Thank you for your kind offer of letting me have a look in detail. For now, perhaps you can let me know how high your high level roads are above the baseboard, just to give me an idea? I assume that the backscene is flexible MDF or similar. I think the next stage is for me to try out some cardboard templates to get an idea of fit.

I have got as far as trying out a full size version of the trackplan on the baseboard as below.

I probably won't slavishly reproduce the goods yard. I may have a traditional goods building with track serving it and maybe ayard crane vehicle to load/unload conflats on one of the other sidings and I'm thinking of maybe a furniture factory building somewhere to justify the conflat traffic.

Thanks again

Nigel H

So what does one do on the eve of a royal wedding with the wife and daughter out and setting up a celebration tea party? One reveals one's plans for a small N gauge layout.

I have never managed to complete a layout, my attempts have always been somewhat half-hearted or over-ambitious. Without further ado, the plan is below.

This is unashamedly based upon/inspired by Steve Farmer's excellent Lymebrook Yard. The track plan is pretty much identical. His layout is beautifully executed and if I can come up with a first layout that is 50% as good then I'll be happy. There will be some differences though...

• The layout will be set in the transition era ca 1961-1966
• The layout will not be based upon an actual location but the intention is to have a cross-city branch line feel, hinting at a south Manchester location without ever explicitly being so.
• I'm toying with the idea of using overhead catenary for the mainline to add some interest with "Electric trains stop here" signs and as an excuse for diesel traffic (to access the non-electrified goods yard).
• Alot of the traffic will be cross city DMUs and, whenever my ambitions and skills grow, I'd like to try to represent some class 304 EMUs.
• On the electric front, a couple of Class 86s will be backdated and will manage cross city empty coaching stock or parcels services (it's probably a bit unrealistic to have a class 86 pulling a 3 coach express).
• Steam locos will be lingering with a Fairburn 2-6-4 tank, couple of 3MTs and a few others.
• There will be plenty of green diesels making an appearance too.

Why does building this layout appeal to me?

• I grew up in south Cheshire where a train ride to Manchester was the ultimate excitement!
• The layout will be a manageable size and hopefully it won't be too daunting.
• I already have a fair amount of rolling stock that will be suitable

Things I'm a bit worried about

• Carpentry! I have the baseboard assembled but adding the elevated sections and backscene will be a challenge for me
• The stream. How easy is it to countersink a stream into a flat baseboard? Will it be worth the effort?
• Drilling accurate holes for Cobalt point motors. I know, I should get one of their template kits.

The name?

I'm thinking about calling the layout 'Trinity Road' (to me it just sounds like every city should have a Trinity Road and for some reason the quasi religious feel appeals to me).

Any comments or questions are welcome!

Thanks

Nigel H

Issue 1/18 has been printed, packed and posted out. It should be dropping through members letterboxes about now.

 

G.

Arrived today. Really enjoyed this edition so far. A special shout out for the research article on West Wycombe station by Tim Cooney. Very well written and researched and, as someone who lives less than a mile away from the subject matter, I really appreciated it! Who is going to build the layout? :-)

I'd reckon a certain number of them are pretty inevitable at any event that draws over 15,000 attendees over two days.

 

I wonder if everybody at the Bike show today will be fully fragrant.

 

John

I think I only whiffed something slightly sour just the once. Which leads me to the following possible conclusions...

1. Perhaps the RMweb campaigns for greater personal hygiene are really starting to take effect.

or

2. Perhaps my sense of smell is starting to falter. They do say that smell is the first of the 5 senses to wane as you get older and I am getting older.

or

3. Perhaps my own personal environment is starting to fail and my own odours are combatting those of any opponents. I don't think so though because I did shower before I left home!

OK thanks, I get it now. The 2 speaker wire are soldered to the locomotive PCB (it's a Farish Castle which has been setup for this). Thanks

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for information as to where I need to solder the 2 wires that will connect to a speaker. Have tried finding this in the Zimo mx-kleine-decoder manual that I found online. Maybe I'm missing something.

As I look at the decoder there's the side with the pin, this has 5 solder pads. On the other side there are 2 solder pads (my hunch is that these might be the ones),

Can anyone help?

Thanks

Nigel H

I presume you’ve set your flash to maximum dazzle? Also I believe it’s quite form to snap away without ever checking with owners and that the best pictures result when you’ve shooed an enthusiastic child out of shot!

Don't forget your tripod and/or selfie stick too :-)

CJL must have written scores of articles about DMUs over the years and I found the latest one about detailing/personalising the class 122 as informative as ever

Ok so to answer my own question... putting some insulating tape between the pcb connectors and the speaker resolves the directional lighting issue. Just for info, F0 controls forward marker lights, F1 controls the rear lights and F2 controls the cab lighting. There are 2 undocumented switches on the PCB that completely switch off all lighting at either end. I'm curious to know, what happens for a sound decoder? Are these lighting channels retained?