TT100 Diesels

Absolutely love it. Modeling of the highest standards. Stone walling is mega, screams white peak to me. The most stand out feature of the whole model to me is the gap stile. Never, ever seen that modelled before. Total genius. I look again now at my wills and slaters embossed plasticard stone walling...... I have a long way to go and still so much to learn. And who would have thought, a cable drum eh ? Following PS - I would love to see you model an exact copy of how Cromford Wharf really was, all that intricate stone walling and stuff, a J94 pottering about.......... I am in no doubt, it would be stunning.

I have been enjoying this thread, some very well observed modelling and some cracking T&RS weathering, I particularly like the 59 and 47 back up on page 12. But for me, the absolute signature stand out feature of this layout are the reddy brown ish bare areas of the bank sides, with patches of undergrowth in between. I don't know if it is representing sandstone or crumbly clay / shale? But it looks like you have copied this topographical feature from a real place. It is top notch scenic modeling to me.

A quick drop back into loco modelling again, this time a look at the Baby Deltic. This was a Lincoln Loco's resin body moulding, pre dating the 3d print stuff. It has my scratched up chassis and underframe module and extra body detailing. It sits on a pair of LL 3d print power bogies. So, the main "kit" of parts, Class 20 power bogies (robbed off my cl 20 build), resin body, scratched up chassis with liquid lead hoppers filled up for tractive effort and my scratched up u/f module. I did some cab interiors as well but dont have a pic. Water, fuel tanks and reservoir tanks and piping module in place. Had to trawl through a lot of pics to get to grips with what to build. Starting to come together now, detailed up buffer beams, toy triang coupler on the other end, screw shackle on the cosmetic end in view. Horn grill, lamp irons, nose hand rails, headcode panel packed out to correct a deep recess moulding, front windscreens opened out to corect size to improve the look. Cab doorway moulded hand rails scraped off and wire ones added. Solebar footsteps added. Opposite side of u/f module showing the battery box side is shown to advantage. All done ! Copied pics of the real loco on both sides, first time I had to do faded paintwork weathering plus the usual road grime. Hand cut flush glazing was fun, 26 on here, ended up actually doing 32 with 6 losses. Warping history ! D5901 was modelled specifically to backdate operation of my tribometer test train to 1975. 97201 is in 1980 painted livery, so they never came together like this in real life. Of note, I also modelled another COV-AB in freight brown to properly backdate to 1975, see 3mm scale what's on my 3mm workbench thread for pics etc. Apologies, this pic showing the 23 before being flushed glazed. Once again, thank you to everyone who is enjoying this thread and to the kind folk liking etc. I hope this remains interesting.

Some more recent workbench activity, a society COV-AB (VAA / VAB in tops money) made, then converted into RDB999900, tribometer test train test vehicle. Biggest job was cleaning out the van door catch pockets, full of moulding "overmould". Be honest, not a pleasant job. But putting it together is relatively easy though. Added the gangways from plasticard plus some body end detail. Underframe wise, added vertical damper brackets and dampers on the suspension. Additions are fairly obvious from this raw build pic. Please ignore the small triangular sliver of plasticard on the body end, cutting swarf not noticed till after the pic was taken. Finished and weathered in freight brown, sitting next to its brother in rtc red on blue livery. Both the same vehicle, one to go with the 24 (1980), the brown one to match trib train operations with the 23 (1975). Most of my major work bench stuff has ended up in Mixed Traffic as no doubt any 3mm soc members will have seen, so not really much live actual work currently to share, anyway hope these two posts are of interest.

Not long off the work bench is my fork lift truck, a lovely west hill wagon works TT120 job. I did have a little wobble over is it really big enough for 3mm but in the grand scheme of things its probably ok. Was a good test of detail painting though, lots of 10 / 0 superfine brush action. Pre weathered, brand new from the fork lift shop....... Size comparison with a 3mm resin moggy thousand. And in size context, sitting on a 2 pence piece. And round the back of the engine shed. It has been weathered since. Think there is a depot shot of it on my HPJ layout thread if anyone is interested. Pity west hill wagon works don't also do stuff in 3mm, but the 120 stuff is a not bad compromise.

Picking up on the station end again, we will carry on with the layout tour. The signal box. This is LNWR style box as they took over the C&HPR. The box is based on Parsley Hay box, its the same length. I counted up how many levers I needed (can't remember at the moment) but it was approx what Parsley Hay had, so it should fit the bill. In this pic, still awaiting paint and weathering of the steps. Since it got finished externally, I have added lighting, with the wiring hidden in the stove chimney. Still need the lever frame and other gubbins making and fitting. Structure was based on a foam board frame with 4mm plastic embossed brick and wood panelling, but I am happy with it for 3mm, looks okay to my eyes. The imposing stone retaining wall at the end of the layout. This was inspired by the huge stone retaining wall that in real life sits between the current Matlock branch and the Cromford Canal above it, in the vicinity of the current HPJ workshops visitor centre. I realise that is another of the more tenuous inspiration pieces, but it is still part of the general area jig saw to me. No prizes for guessing it's multiple Wills 4mm stone walling sheets butted together. I got rid of the vertical joint lines by working in a little DAS clay and scribing the mortar joints in it. I can't claim I thought of this clever little technique, I picked it up while speaking with the structural modelling genius, David Wright, at an exhibition. The platform building. Based on the LNWR country station modular design. Mine is modelled as a decrepit structure, still in use, but way past its sell by date. The canopies are just structural skeletons, the glazed panels removed because they were unsafe. The old BR red platform signs which probably would have hung under the canopy were simply removed and slapped onto the end elevation. Note the mix of old and new BR signage, a right old mix and match. By the late 70's structures like this started to be swept away and replaced by bus shelters. My justification for its continued existence is the adjacent signal box, the toilets are in this building! Plus the adjacent freight centre and booking on point, so HPJ men are up on the platform a lot waiting about to relive incoming crews. So a bit of local staff "pressure" helping to keep the facility open. I blame too much armchair modelling for this sort of nonsense...... Again, foam board base structure with plastic card outer shell which was then planked out with plastic card planks cut out of a sheet. Took ages to do. Look carefully and it can be seen that the structure is curved. Again, part of trying to mitigate the train set curves and thus severely curved platform. Seemed a good idea at the time, also meant I had to individually tile the roof as it was curved. Most of the platform surface was slabbed with metcalfe 4mm card slabs, but stuck down with pva. The edging slabs were full size, but the inner slabs were all cut down to make a smaller size. To be honest, it is not such a good compromise, their all a bit too big for 3mm. I do remember spending ages experimenting with weathering washes to try to tone it all down somewhat. The tunnel end of the platform used a fine grey ballast to represent a gravel surface. I have some chairs and 3mm scale figures yet to add, plus need to add station name boards. This picture shows the construction of the platform, plus an example of one of the mock ups that were done as part of the final development. The above scheme was rejected, it was one of about five iterations of mock ups for the inside of the curve scenic module. I will leave it there for now.

Sorry Phil, I forgot to measure it up. The operating well is 1'6" wide by 2'6" long. It is a bit tight but it was kind of designed to fit me in it! And I am small build for a bloke. Its a good job the road bridge has not got a bus on it, or should I say in it, because its a canal aqueduct! Station footbridge wise, I have long since abandoned the idea and am happy now with the "look". Cheers for the suggestion though.

Thank you Phil for a very kind and generous post above, and for the continued interest from folk who are dropping by. In answer to your questions, I make the following points: Track plan It evolved fairly quickly from all the other design constraints placed on it such as trying to inspired by something like the real Comford Wharf minimal track plan, needing a bay platform facing the Buxton direction for terminating passenger trains, wanting to indulge in a turntable, wanting to shove a small station platform out of the way from the yard bit, which is the real focus of the layout (freight and light loco operations). Other drivers were the less is more ethos, and the use of mock ups during the design stage and then for further buildings and structures development. And of course, the layout board size itself as the overall constraint. I have used the word a lot up thread, but it was all about compromise in the available space, then erring on the less of everything. I look at the track plan pictures up thread (raw track laid down) and honestly, to me it just looks like it could be a train set, especially with those curves, so how I dealt with them to trick they eye as far as I could was another constraint. Its partly why the platform ended up shoved into one of the train set curve areas so I did not just have 2 tunnel mouths one at each end of the main straight. Operating well Originally conceived as the main point of operations, to allow access to the fiddle Yard. But I quickly found that overall, I preferred to operate from the front of the layout and can lean over to cover off about 80% of fiddle yard requirements from the front. So I generally duck under into the ops well occasionally, mainly to do a proper sort out in the fiddle yard. It was also a requirement for the build to allow reasonably comfortable access to a large ish area of the layout, and is useful now for things like track cleaning. It also enables a view of both station and yard from a different perspective. Station footbridge I had always envisaged a nice big footbridge from the station approach road area to the platform and was limbering up to tackle a scratch build lattice job. However, I just could not get any scheme to work. I did loads of mock up work, but it just looked too contrived and most of all dominated the station area. So in the end I decided that not having one actually enhanced the overall "look". Its kind of a reverse of most layouts, rather than I need this that and the other, I quickly realised at the building and structures development stage, what can I do without. I really pushed less is more, and I would rather have the spacious look. Passengers can of course access the platform by means of the barrow crossing, a constant bugbear for the yard shunting staff who are having to accommodate this need!!l Pus, its a real back water, its more like a staff halt really. You photo is lovely, but its got me thinking, I really can't decide if it is the real thing posing as a model or a model posing as the real thing, and is it really at High Peak Jn? I'll never know............😉

Looking more closely in the station area, We have the station forecourt building. This is a copy as near as I could manage of the stone building that still exists in the Wharf Shed area. It has shutters closed and locked so I had to guess at the window bars. Also the wills stone sheet is 4mm scale. So the stones are about three times bigger on the model than on the real building. Otherwise, I scaled of photos so within reasonable limits it is more or less a copy. Building In place with the work progressing on the inside of the curve module. The track down to rail level is a nod to the track that comes down to the wharf shed area from the A6 at the real location. Bit tenuous but all part of the scene. Looking up behind the station approach road, the ground rises up to the canal, again all the walling curves, keeping the smoke and mirrors going, to visually alleviate the adjacent train set style curves. A half relief lock gate can just be seen, this was based on a photo survey of Dallow Lane lock ( think that's its name from memory) on the Trent and Mersey canal at Burton on Trent. The flag stones etc are carved into DAS clay. Looking down on the canal and aqueduct over the railway. Mainly foam board construction. Lots of layers of olive drab green paint and some gloss varnish on top to represent a dirty canal. Afraid at the time my skill set did not run to resin water effects, still doesn't to be honest! Probably a better view of the ongoing construction stage. Can see the front of the lock a bit better. I will leave it there for now, need to check out archived photos again, but will endeavor to focus on the main structures and buildings. Thanks again for the interest in this thread.

Sorry, I guess that the mechs are various proprietary kit bashed you fit, as you just clarified above, but I suppose I meant to say the bodies are scratch built. Well, still impressive to me anyhow. Thanks for you compliments regarding my finishing work. But I suppose we all have different areas we get into and improve on. And that is good.

So carrying on down the layout, Building and structure wise, we have:- On the right hand side, a long low retaining wall with rough ground behind up to the back scene. This very loosely represents ( and was inspired by) the real thing in place between Sheep Pasture Bottom and running along to the Wharf Shed transhipment area with the Cromford canal. In teal life, this would very roughly be where the station is on the layout. Looking in the other direction, there is a break between the station end wall in the first pic and the second wall which runs to the layout representation of sheep pasture bottom (yard end). Reason for the gap with trees is two fold, first to break up the monotony of one single sized retaining wall and second, to allow for the base board joint (layout removal mentioned up thread). A general view of the station end. The main running line curves round to the fiddle yard via the cromford canal aqueduct then tunnel just behind it. This is of course a work of fiction, in reality the canal would run along the front edge of the layout were I to attempt a copy of the real site, but as this layout is "inspired" by Cromford Wharf / HPJ and surrounding area, that's okay for me. However, what I did try to do is base the aqueduct and tunnel mouth on the near by real aqueduct by the south portal of Lea Wood tunnel. Obviously, its no copy, but keeps the "flavour" of the area. Because of the horrendous train set style curves, out came the smoke and mirrors again, everything in this end of the layout follows a general curve. I will try to zoom into some of the detailed features over the next few posts, give everyone a rest from Derby Sulzer pics!!!! For a while anyway. Thanks again for the continued interest shown in my layout

Thanks for the continued interest. I will switch over to the layout side of things again, we have already covered the track plan, track, baseboards and electrics up thread, so its time to dig a bit deeper. I would like to do a tour of the layout buildings snd structures and just say a little bit about what was copied and what was free form but where the inspiration came from. Again, I have explained a bit about the yard / shed end buildings and structures up thread so we can move on down the layout, but before we do, a quick peek into the old steam shed, now refurbished with a diesel fuel point rig. Its a bit gloomy, sorry, I have since installed lighting.

Having seen this superb little layout in the flesh, on the exhibition circuit, I have to say that the pictures capture the essence of both the layout and the traction very well indeed. And it is always inspiring to see overhead line equipment modelled. And since I know this fact I hope you dont mind me saying on here that it is truly inspiring to see 100% scratch build traction, most impressive. The EM1s are awesome....... I rely on Lincoln Locos for my traction, almost rtr in comparison with this fantastic roster. Thanks for posting Cheers TT100 Diesels

Just raided my layout photo archive, just another type 2 line up. Must be an open day at HPJ Probably about it for the Derby Type 2s for the moment. I will have to get back to the layout description posts again for a while to keep it balanced. Thanks all.

Thanks for the kind words Red Devil and to the folk who continue to take an interest. Well, that is amazing Red Devil, radio control and 14.2, goodness you have stopped me in my tracks (excuse the pun). That now makes sense to me why you only went for the body only option, so finescale 3mm modelling, and a 14.2mm gauge radio control class 24! Take a bow sir!

Since Red Devil has got a LL 24, I feel it would be rude of me to not oblige with a pic of said locomotive. Please bear in mind I chopped this one about a fair bit to loose the as built side skirts, plus added underframe transoms etc. This was the first loco with only one triang toy coupler. The other end has a fully populated buffer beam including a hellishly difficult to do screw shackle. The blue star and MR air pipes are there but got kind of lost in the weathering.........I will do a build feature on this one in due course.

Red devil, nice one mate, welcome to the 3milliverse. do you have a nice hairy shirt you can wear? Joking apart, that's great, can I just say, LL now do a full ready to roll 24, with 3d print power bogies and built in cosmetic side frames, chassis with centre motor drive and body. My 24 was much harder to cobble together in the pre LL dark ages....... Also, if you are loking for track, Peco do two flavors of main line type track in 12mm, HOm and TT120. Take your pick really, its HOm on this layout, but I used TT120 on my Crate Lane display diorama, see the micro layout and diorama thread section. Then you can see for yourself what you like the look of best.

Getting back to the layout build, we have now covered the base boards and track plan. The layout was specifically designed to be removed from the room without trashing it. The baseboard joint was papered over to allow a thin laminate of scenics. This also impacted on the electrical design. A separate free standing connection cubicle with built in mimic panel on the top. This sits under the layout, so it could be operated from the access well (fiddle yard access), or the front (yard shunting or watching the train go by). It has 4 terminal bars inside, 2 for each baseboard. One for switched feeds to the track sections, the other for point solenoid control. The mimic panel wiring is connected to the respective chocolate block connectors on the terminal strips. On the layout baseboards, all track power feeds, negs and positive switched section feeds and the point solenoids were wired into local terminal strips (chocolate blocks). So four sets of wiring looms then run from the respective connection cubicle terminal strips to their particular base board local connection blocks. This avoids any cross base board wiring. Train control is dc analog. There is also provision for a second controller just for the yard by means of a two way two pole switch. Additionally, the turntable was designed to have a 12v drive motor, so traction power control can be diverted to drive the turntable bridge by a centre off two way switch. This allows for bridge rails polarity reversal when turning a loco through 180 degrees plus able to isolate the bridge as a section. Points are probe and mimic panel studs operation. The under side of the mimic panel wiring connections. The connection panel terminal bars and mimic panel in place. This was part way through the wiring up installation process. So, should the need arise to move the layout, "all" that is needed is to disconnect the hundred odd wiring connections shown above, run a blade across the base board joint to cut the scenic laminate and unscrew the two separate baseboards. Thanks for the continued interest, likes etc, I hope this remains interesting.

Thinking about your comments Reorte and Woodenhead, for probably most of us the enemy is space, or rather, a lack of it, which leads to our old friend, compromise. On HPJ it was very tempting to keep cramming in more sidings, would have been more useful from a running perspective, but then the compromise would have been against achieving a more convincing overall "look". So, I opted for the less is more approach, which gave me more wriggle room to achieve what I hope is a more balanced "look". But the thing is, what we want from a layout wil be different for all of us, so there is no right or wrong, so where space is the limiting factor we make the compromise which suits our own requirements.

Thanks for all the interest and your comment there woodenhead. Its all smoke and mirrors, I am a great fan of the less is more mantra, and during construction spent ages and ages agonising about what to put here and there etc. I got through loads of cereal boxes and masking tape doing countless mock ups till I was happy. The most significant trick I employed was to have all the big stuff at the end extremities of the layout, it makes the yard look much longer than it really is, especially when not much is in there. Imagine a station platform on the middle of the layout, even a tiny one like mine, it would totally dominate the scene and the layout would look the same as it really is, quite small in the grand scheme of things. Of course, I also win a bit more space since I am modelling in 3mm rather than OO, but the downside is that it can be a bit "hair shirt" at times, well it was only a few years ago before Lincoln Locos revolutionised diesel and electric out line modelling. Honestly see the layout pics in the above post, Triang 31s, Jinties etc, just a few years ago I could never ever imagined I would have the proper core traction for the area, 2 x 25s and a pair of 20s. Also with such a terribly tight curved train set style platform I made a big effort to curve all the surroundings so it helps to trick the eye into thinking its actually alright, but it really is not, how about 2' scale stepping distances, long jump distances more like! Back to smoke and mirrors again. Oh dear, I think I have just spoilt it now, that's my trade secrets spilled out the bag!!!!! But joking apart, modelling (especially railway modelling) is nearly always a compromise, all I try to do is "manage" the compromise.

As promised, we go back in time to the early construction. There are a few pics which show the overall track layout, its the easiest way of describing the track plan. The baseboard area is 9' long by 3'3" wide. There are two boards, one 4' and the other 5' long. The overall track plan is basically an elongated compressed oval with a single track running line forming the core of the layout. Train set style 16" rad curves feed the fiddle yard. So in its completed form, it is basically a reasonably scenic train set to be honest. It is all 12mm gauge Peco HOm track. Yard and shed end with the tight running line curve feeding the fiddle yard. Panning left a bit, at the front is the loop, yard sidings and at the back, the fiddle yard. The coaling stage road is not yet in place in this shot, see the provision for it to the left of the turn table. Continuing to pan left, the opposite end sharp running line curves into the opposite end of the fiddle yard. The bay platform road curves sharply right as does the yard headshunt road. The base board joint can clearly be seen. A later view of the yard and shed end, the coal stage road is in place. Hopefully these pics have saved a couple of thousand words!, and show the overall track plan. I will look to post other construction progress pics from the past dealing with the principle aspects, but try not to bore folk with too much detail. Thanks again for the continued interest.

Thank you for you kind words waverley west, a quick few loco pics added below following your request. My layout is a world away from the busy end of Edinburgh Waverley which I had a look at and find very inspiring. But I do need to dig out some layout build pics as well to add from time to time to show its build development. Its a Sunday afternoon and HPJ is a sleepy hollow in the summer sun. The regular type 1 and 2 traction are stabled up, just the sound of the birds singing and the occasional splutter from an air system auto drain valve blowing off........ 25071 is joined by 25125, and a toton pair, 20175 and 20154 join them. Earlier in the day, there were a few light engine moves and the peace was broken with the sound of 6LDAs clattering away......20175 peeks through the gap. 25125 build followed straight on from 25071, 125 is a late body 25/2. Very similar build as 071. 125s last works overhaul in 77 was at Glasgow, hence the ScR style body side numbers, while its Toton class mate has the English style cab side numbers. Derby Sulzers web site has been invaluable for type 2 research. It is a fantastic resource. Thanks for the interest.

Thank you to the folk who are liking etc, and hope its interesting for anyone who pops in for a look to see what can be done in a niche scale. The picture below is a nice shot of the buildings at the yard end of the layout. To the left, we have the retaining wall and steep rough ground (another nod to the real location) leading to the copy of the disused water tower at the foot of Sheep Pasture incline. The two sidings in front of it are the truncated remains of the lines that lead to the foot of the incline, abandoned a lot earlier in my altered history layout back story. The old goods shed on the layout is my nod to the workshop buildings opposite the real water tower. Next, the engine shed front elevation is losely based on the few pics I have seen of it, the shed is demolished now. As stated up thread, the engine shed itself has had to be just made up! As for the turntable, never one in real life, but I really wanted to have one, so I figured that in steam days bigger engines could come down my altered history line via the Griffe Grange valley (via Gellia) and so a table was justified and the LNWR had enough to pay for it. In reality, the Cromford canal should be just to the right of the engine shed, but again I had to tweak the geography a tad ! I do have a canal but it runs on an aqueduct over the station at the other end of the layout, part of the fiddle yard entrance view blocker, that will have to be the focus of a future post. Loco wise, 25071 (dealt with in detail up thread) is moving onto the turntable after a quick fuel stop. 47205 is on the reception road and its wagons have been shunted clear for loco release. The 47 was only my second loco build and was really difficult and lots of lessons were learnt. It started life as a resin 56 body, kitbashed to a 47, mounted on my scratch build chassis, with Triang 31 bogies ground flush and scratch build side frames and battery boxes (done before Lincoln Locos started doing white metal bogie side frames). I will do a more focussed write up on the 47 build in due course. And rather annoyingly, a few years after my 47, a limited run of rtr 47s was produced by the 3mm society as a society "cottage industry" collaboration with Lincoln Locos. As I said in the first post, I am no way trying to pass this off as a copy of Cromford Wharf, its my take on a very altered history and a nod to the general area. Hope this continues to be of interest.

Truly inspirational work if I may say so. Just been having a quick dip into your thread here, totally immense weathering. I am going to have to find some time to have a proper read through.

Many thanks to you, 25kV, adding the link and providing the info. Just had a quick look at your apt stuff, most interesting. I wil have have to have a proper read of it.