jonhinds

To be fair, I could have worded my post better

Indeed! My layout’s in N but I preordered the Hornby because it’s for a good cause. It was pretty much destined to be for display / keepsake. However, now there’s a better quality option I can have my charitable cake and eat it

Cancelled my Hornby 66 and ordered the Dapol. Looks like only 40% of the RRP is going to the NHS rather than Hornby’s 50%, but Dapol’s a much smaller operation and I suspect this is a better model all round. Edit: Also I model in N.

That sounds promising, albeit expensive I imagine. Is there anyone on RMWeb who might fit the bill? I’m not all that familiar with the subforums here so not sure where to begin. The 2mm FS practitioners as suggested above?

I’ve been able to get the Farish Jubilee ‘Bahamas’ so that’s one taken care of without too much trouble. Lovely model too. The Webb Coal Tank would be my first choice if I could get anything scratch built. It was put out RTR by Bachmann for OO but I doubt it’ll trickle down to the Farish range any time soon (if at all).

That makes sense, thank you! I’ll head over to the 2mm FS folks and see if I can get any guidance.

Hi I’m currently planning a small end-to-end heritage railway layout in N gauge. I want to include some specific locomotives that aren’t available as RTR stock and seemingly not as kits or 3D prints either. Here’s a link to the locos in question: http://ingrowlocomuseum.com/?page_id=9 I don’t have any experience in kit building or model making so I appreciate I’d have to ramp up to any form of scratch building at this level. With all that in mind, I’m a bit lost on how to go about it full stop. Are there any sub forums or resources that could best answer my question? Cheers

Preordered after getting a stock update email from Hornby.

As others have pointed out, price is a major bottleneck for many younger and low-income modellers. I’m in my ‘30s (young-ish) and currently unemployed for health reasons; even a simple coach purchase requires some careful accounting. It’s the price of the actual locos and rolling stock that’s been the biggest hurdle for me. With the rise of 3D printing, I think there’s a lot of scope for a small company to make cheap modular body components and perhaps put together a simple all-in-one starter kit with pre-painted shell, motor, chassis etc included as an accessible first modelling project for newcomers. The ‘maker’ scene is a great fit for the hobby and could help with affordability.

If Bachmann does jump on this at a later date (hopefully as an open edition) it really should be accompanied by an NHS donation along with a similarly affordable price. From the looks of things Hornby can’t make these fast enough.

After a long dark night of the soul (actually a quick study of a few track plans) I’m admitting defeat on Oxenhope. Unless I wildly distort the layout or its functions there simply isn’t much going on in the heritage era. This Peco plan for Ingrow on the Worth Valley looks great, on the other hand. There’s lots of activity at the real station, with coaches and locos regularly moved between the various on-site museums and workshops. Plus it’ll fit my board! Now to find space for a second fiddle yard...

That sounds wonderful. Look forward to further developments!

Hey, that would be great. In turn I might get a little bit of inspiration from an experienced modeller too! I don’t know how closely you’re sticking to the prototype, but I know of at least two layouts (O gauge and 3mm finescale) that have covered the period and might be of interest. I can dig up some links if so.

Hello folks. I’m currently planning a small layout based on Oxenhope in its current preserved form. With that in mind, I wonder if anyone who has experience with the station could give me an idea of its current operations? The exhibition shed seems to be primarily for housing static exhibits and locos with expired boiler certificates, but are there more movements of rolling stock, locos etc. on special days? Additionally, does the trackside shed only restore carriages or are does it have any further uses? The open ‘cattle’ shed for carriage storage and maintenance - is it only used at the beginning and end of each running session? I gather it’s built to accommodate fixed rakes. Many thanks!

Just a quick ramble before I sign off on this topic. Having looked at K&WVR’s own description of Oxenhope’s current operations, there’s a modern trackside shed where carriage restoration takes place, and an ‘exhibition’ shed where stock that’s currently out of use is kept on display until it rejoins the railway. As others have pointed out, the long shed used for storing fixes rakes of carriages isn’t very interesting visually or operationally so it’s going to go. I might keep a low relief entrance or just make it into an open siding if there’s space. So there’s definitely scope for bringing locos and less frequently used rolling stock from the exhibition shed onto the main line for Gala Days. The carriage restoration shed was originally intended as a running shed and suitably equipped, so maybe that’s what it could be in my alternative universe? (End of ramble.) Edit: Now reading the Peco guide to modelling heritage railways. Interestingly it does have a section on modelling Ingrow and Oakworth on the KWVR, which seem to have more operational interest (loco depots, PW workings etc.).

That’s definitely the plan. Fortunately most of the preserved stock is available as RTR (the 4F and Jubilee don’t even need a renumber!) and I’m looking into kits and 3D prints for some of the remaining stock.

I think this post summarises my outlook better than I could! Rule 1, etc. It’s always Gala Day in my universe, and the station pilot is always manoeuvring another recently restored and painted engine and coach set from various sidings to the main line. So there. Thanks everyone once again for all their tips and helpful observations. I’m a returnee to this hobby after twenty five-odd years, given that my first experience was running a Hornby Intercity 225 starter set around the small living room carpet as a wee ‘un. This was followed by the dawning realisation that a single OO loop wouldn’t cut it, and several disappointing weeks of strongly hinting that I wanted a Poole-era Farish set instead (to no avail). Planning this layout has made lockdown really fun! Looking forward to joining a club once this health crisis is over, and moreover actually getting to see Oxenhope in person. In the interim, here’s a quick snap of my small but growing collection: 4F, Jinty and Jubilee Class all lined up on the IKEA Kallax. WD Austerity 2-8-0 is snaking its way through Royal Mail and I’ve got my eye on a Dapol Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T next (or maybe a BR 4MT 2-6-4T? Choices, choices).

My primary interest is in modelling a real location with some degree of accuracy. I really like K&WVR in its current form and its wide range of heritage steam, diesel and rolling stock from different eras. That said, I do agree that I’m seeing myself up for some fairly dull and repetitive operations If I keep to the plan as-is. I’ve started looking into shunting puzzles and wonder if there’s something in that? Not an accurate representation of station operations per se, but putting together an X car rake in a particular order, etc. The K&WVR also runs demonstration goods trains I believe. Something along these lines: http://www.philobiblon.com/eisenbahn/puzzle_article.shtml That way the layout could pull double duty between its prototypical op’s and something a bit more fun / involved.

Wonder if this will ever make it to N. My layout needs a water tower and this looks rather fun.

It can hold two on each parallel line, or I could extend the shed length (but then it’ll start to dominate the layout again). I’m still in two minds whether to keep it, given that it’s such a recent addition to the real line.

Right, I’ve done the sensible thing and mocked up the layout with Peco turnout templates and bits of copier paper. I’ve scaled back the sheds to one modern shed (much less than half actual size) and the original trackside goods shed. Looks like I can comfortably fit the four Mk. 1’s in the run-round loop too. This isn’t the signed-off version, but it’s getting close. Thanks for everyone’s invaluable help so far, including the information about current operations on the line. Ironically I haven’t actually been to Oxenhope yet, as it was on my bucket list just before you-know-what struck.

Here’s the second layout revision based on @DavidCBroad and @Harlequin‘s suggestions. I’ve kept the modern sheds but the large storage shed at the back of the layout has been halved in length, so that it leads directly into two open sidings at back. The ‘exhibition shed’ at top right has been shifted to a dummy entrance in the far corner. I think this is a decent compromise between my desire to model the prototype and a bit of visual / operational interest. Pretty certain the longer run-around now has enough clearance for four Mk.1’s. Nothing’s measured out yet but I’ve done a few guesstimates. I’m relatively new to the concept of trap points, but my understanding is that they’re designed to derail runaway rolling stock from the sidings before they reach the main line? I’ve put the trap location in red, as I wasn’t 100% sure of its ‘prototypical’ positioning.

Thanks folks! It seems I need to be a bit more flexible in my approach. That said, having the ‘heritage railway’ aspect to the layout is a must-have, as it gives me a good pretext to run the diverse range of steam and diesel stock from different eras represented on the present-day K&WVR (with the occasional ‘visiting’ loco), as well as making it more straightforward to gather reference for detailed scratch building. Plus I just like the idea of modelling a place as it appears now. I’m not too fussed about operations; a bit of shunting here and there will suffice. I’ll have a think about modifying the layout to either reduce or eliminate most of the sheds, and adding in the trap point.

As a new(ish) member of RMWeb and someone setting out to model a heritage railway in N using mostly RTR stock, this layout really feels like the gold standard. Amazing work.

Good point about the traverser, and yes there will be a wall behind. I could perhaps change the angle of the layout relative to the board so that the entrance track is tilted much further forward. I’m interested in giving the layout a real flavour of the prototype, but I take your point about the sheds as well. Will have a ponder.