john dew

Now for a little light relief....I am starting to work on the station and this seemed a perfect example of coarse gauge modelling and Murphy's law x3

The sharp eyed will have spotted a gap in the retaining wall by the station

The plan being to build a pedestrian footbridge to provide access to the station from the street and hopefully provide a better visual connection between the foreground and backscene.

I have a couple of staircases from an old Knightwing kit that I used to on a previous layout to lead down from the station buildings to the platforms

This shot is horribly out of focus (the coal wagon is ok.....I just have to get a grip on depth of field ) but shows the general idea and exposes problem #1..........its kind of tall

I rummaged around in the scrap box and found the other unused components and exposed problem #2

I knew I had to do a little painting and cutting down but forgot I had used one of the, at the time redundant, roof modules for some other project.............Wills sheets to the rescue

and finally a crystal clear shot recording yet again the downside of only painting the current viewing side!

So lots of work to do and of course I have run out of Railmatch GWR Light and Dark Stone.........not an item you readily find in Canadian Model Shops

I will keep you posted

I really like your layout John, very nicely done. Where is the brake van from? It's nice to see something different from the ubiquitous AA19/20 type 20T brake.

Thanks 57xx I am glad you like it.....I was getting a little worried about the absence of feed back......wasnt sure if it was my writing style or that it currently is essentially just another iteration of the GWR BLT............hopefully I will get more comment when I start on the signalling and planning the terminus on the other long side

I think the Brake Van is a DS White Metal Kit. I got a friend in the UK to buy them (I have 2) about 10 years ago. I felt, rightly or wrongly, they were more appropriate on a branch of this nature

Kind Regards

I may have solved the problem with shops not fitting in, that I was whining about in my last post.........

Make them Black and White!

So the goods yard, goods shed and retaining walls are all done

This overall shot shows how I am dealing with the other corner of this side of the layout.....in the foreground the branch to the mine curvers around to cross the duck under, which I have to build. that completes the other short 10' section at this end of the layout.

Above that there is a gated private siding to a timber yard/mill that I am going to build on the unfinished bit next to the Cattle Siding.

The retaining wall will be extended to provide a viaduct for the two road main line that you can just see above the wall exiting from the storage yards.

Beyond that the pristine plywood is destined to be a colliery....sometime in 2011 I guess

This ground level shot shows the main branch and the colliery branch in the foreground. The cut out is to accommodate a road that will lead down to the duck under

This is scratch built from Wills Sheets and as I described in my previous thread I built it for my first layout and cheated by not finishing the side away from the loading bay.........ie the side that is now exposed......so all that side is relatively new plus the office that was added

This shows the high level main line a little better.....next job is to paint and ballast. The road bridge is my fudge to create an exit from the yard

I enjoy detailing and it probably delays progress when I fiddle around with little items rather than focus on pressing ahead with construction. The straw bale and midden were donated when my wife had a hair cut.

This shot of the yard shows clearly the divergence of the branch from the station into the main branch and the colliery branch.....the unfinished bit is for the signals for the junction

The kaydee magnets are rather obvious but that was one of the decisions one takes......in terms of cost, wiring, time and complexity. They are extremely effective....more on this later

The bilteezi back scene is, I think, temporary. It fits the space perfectly but I am not sure if the marked difference between it and the Metcalfe units is acceptable even for a coarse, broad brush modeller. I suspect I will eventually build 2 more metcalfe units and a scalescene Warehouse....I think I need some height there

This is the yard viewed from the station end....towards the goods shed

I have tried to make it look busy but not too busy......just enough to justify a daily pick up goods and maybe a couple of vans from the autotrain

Mikes Model Crane......one of my favourites

The pick up Goods is just backing in to the siding.......I use RR&Co and am just developing the yard shunting routines.....lots of work to make it mechanically perfect so the couplers just graze the magnet but not foul it.....I have had to fiddle around with the speed settings so that the loco a Collet 0-6-0 has enough power to push the waggons but not too much that they derail......right now they are running at a scale 5mph which is probably fairly prototypical............the plan, for those who are interested, is to uncouple the guards van, couple 2 empties, couple them to the guards van and then uncouple 2 full vans in each road.......all automatically so the stop markers in each block have to be very carefully positioned.......lots more on this but I will probably post it in the DCC section when it perfected (well near perfect)

This is the coal yard siding and I am beginning to feel more comfortable about its location although I am likely to get hammered by the experts for not having a catch point to protect the main branch line...........I wonder if GWR used scotch blocks?

I cant remember who's loading gauge it is but it works well on the wall. You can see how far I have had to bend the coupling on the Brake Van to operate....it should really be mounted lower.

So thats both ends of the branch completed.....I just have to do some repairs and detailing on the centre section plus a major cutting operation on a footbridge and the branch is done.............except for the signals which will have to be a separate post.......probably in the Sugnal Help section because I will need feed back for that project

Regards from Vancouver

OK change of scenery....I did some more work on the Goods Yard today but nothing worth photographing so I thought I would post some work I did earlier when RM Web was down. This is the Branch Engine Shed which is at the opposite end of the layout.....you can see the location on the track plan.

Like most of this coarse gauge layout its heavily based on Kits......the Shed is by Ratio...... my very first model when I first started 15+ years ago.

With one reservation I am quite happy with the finished result.....I wanted to convey the atmosphere of a a small, fairly busy, shed

set up in a confined industrial/town setting. The shed will eventually be home to a couple of 0-6-0 57xx tanks running the Autotrain and the banking duties......in fact you can see the start of the branch line leading up to the main in the foreground.

The reservation is the Metcalfe Town Centre Shops which you can see above the retaining wall.....and to my mind look quite out of place...they should be grimy stone mills or run down shops/pubs but that means time away from the main construction so for now I will put up with it and just moan from time to time

The coal stage is scratch built.......nothing too complicated! I have a Ratio Kit with a Mikes Models coal crane but it didnt look right so I made this. I suspect most of the coaling would really have been done direct from the waggon

There is an ash pit but its not too clear and I know there is nowhere near enough ash......Someone suggested BBQ ash so I carefully didnt clean out the last BBQ went to collect the Ash only to find someone had cleared it all out....to be helpful ......so there will be some additions to this next summer.

Ive tried to put a lot of detail like the hydrant, washout hose, fire irons and ladder but not too many people because I doubt if a sub shed like this would have more than 4 or 5 (ie for two locos) on shift ever.

Regards from Vancouver

I have to say I am getting seriously frustrated......this is the third time I have tried to post and each time I preview when I go back to edit I get page expired and when I refresh my post has gone.....so this is third and last.......... you will get it as it comes............. no preview

To continue......as I experimented with RR&Co I realised that the branch had much more operating potential than I had originally envisaged. Furthermore I was worried that the long coal trains, a "signature" component of the layout were in danger of clogging the main line operation (20+ wagons ...way below prototype but still 7' long)

However if I raise the (undesigned unbuilt) left hand terminus boards by 1" I can set up a narrow 2 road storage yard which will provide the branch with an autotrain (naturally), a daily workmens train. daily pick up goods and bi weekly cattle train. Roundy roundy for sure but with RR&co I believe I can achieve automatic out and back.....ie the pick up goods comes down from the main, shunts the yard, departs to the storage yard and emerges some time later, tender first, brake at the back ......all untouched by human hand. More importantly I can connect the yard so that I can store the coal trains there and they will be able to appear to go to and from the (unbuilt) coal mine in a more plausible manner and I will be able to bank the laden train up the 1:40 incline to the main....again courtesy of RR&Co

Nothing like nailing one's colours to the mast! Anyway thats the plan and you should be able to read about it in the new year!

Meantime I am focussing on completing the trackwork on the two end 10' connecting boards and detailinf the various elements of the branch

My particular focus right now is the yard as I try to complete the relay discussed in my earlier post

This is what the yard looked like 2 weeks ago......more like the proverbial bomb site.....quite appropriate for a 1947 layout

These shots show the relaid cobblestones in the yard with the space built up for the shed.....this time I have set the underlay so that the pavings are flush with the track...........much better

The main branch line going to the storage yard is in the foreground......the line above on the old layout went in a very non protypical fashion to the cattle dock............now it goes to the colliery and the cattle dock siding is contained within the goods yard........again much better

I am working on completing the retaining walls and I should have shots of those tomorrow.

Kind Regards from a very wet and windy Vancouver

Thanks for the kind words Mick and it is, indeed, time to write about the foreground or Branch. The sub title talks of a "Novices Experiences!" So here goes:

To start with I have attached the original track plan which represents the way the layout looked at the end of the summer. It is not to scale but does show the layout.

As I said in the first post the main focus is on the uncompleted (actually not started) left hand side of the room. The branch was just intended to be part of the screen in front of the storage sidings and provide me with a test bench where I could learn by experience the challenges of installing a DCC layout for the first time.

The actual measurements are now 14' x 11" so there is not a lot of width to play with and at the time I was concerned with the space required for the (then unbuilt) exits on either end of the storage yard which required 36" min radius curves. As a result I compressed the branch length resulting in a number of design/operational flaws including facing points to both the coal yard and the overcrowded goods yard.

Anyway I pressed ahead completed the track laying, wiring and testing without too many problems and then finished the ballasting and actually posted pictures of the yard on my old thread.

Then as I continued to experiment with DCC and computor control, and great fun it was, disaster struck...........the points are all electrofrog and the polarity is (was) switched by peco switches. Three of the switches failed (there is a whole series of threads about what bad new these switches are and I totally agree).......the point would throw but the power to the frog wouldnt switch. Naturally, even though, it was the front of the layout the switches were very difficult to access.....I solved this by surface mounting them and concealing them under structures......but it was a real pain because it is quite difficult to get surface mounts positioned exactly right so they will throw both point and switch.

And then this little beauty went!

So thinking positively (albeit with some difficulty) I decided to focus on finishing the storage yards where I was able to apply some of these lessons by switching first to peco micro switches, then to regular microswitches and although these are working fine I have been convinced by the arguments on this forum to switch to Tortoises which I am using on all new installations.

Once the storage yards where completed, 24 points and 20 blocks later, I realised I had overestimated the space required for the storage yard so I decided to bite the bullet and rip out the 3 way point and relay the goods yard so that the entrance would come from the relief loop....eliminating the carriage siding and I could add a bit of length :

I am quite pleased with this relay which is now completed because it opened up a number of operational possibilities which I think I will have to write about tomorrow because its getting late and for some reason I cant attach any more files

More tomorrow.....and there is a happy ending

This is a continuation of Granby Junction my somewhat sporadic layout thread on RMWeb3.....retitled to give a clearer indication of content. I started a blog but realised , even though I didnt get a lot of feedback on Granby,thats what I really want to generate. A topic seems to me to be a more appropriate format in which to have a discussion where the contribuitions can be easily read within the original context.

I model alone, dont really belong to a club other than RMWeb and it is to the RMWeb community that I turn to whenever I have a query or problem. So even though I describe my modelling as broad brush, coarse gauge and parts of the layout look like cliche city......well right now its a GWR BLT in front of a largish storage yard without entry or exit.......... I hope that this weekly report ( well thats the plan) will generate a reasonable amount of comment, suggestions and criticism (I have very broad shoulders and I want to learn!)......particularly as I start to design the other half of the layout.

You can read the story so far on the old web site.......viewtopic.php?f=9&t=34266& start=0&st=0&sk=t& sd=a .

For those who dont wish to trudge through a load of old posts here is a brief summary: the layout measures 18' x10' .



The long left hand side (which as yet is completely undesigned is intended to be the focus of the layout with a joint line (GWR/LMS) terminus handling a varierty of passenger trains along with a four road engine shed. The short ends essentially just serve to connect the long sides although the end nearest to the camera will have a viaduct and coal mine

The long right hand side , which is almost complete, consists of a ten road storage yard , concealed by a narrow street scene in front of which is a low level branch terminus with goods yard and sub shed. Here is a quick overview.....lots of detailing still to do



The room is rectangular, the layout is an elongated oval resulting in outer and inner corners that have to be landscaped (or in this case "townscaped")

Here is the outer corner



A mixture of Townscene cut outs and Metcalfe Houses. The track in the foreground is the four road exit from the storage yards.

I like Metcalfe units (usual disclaimer) they may not suit the purist but with a little detailing they are perfect for broad brush coarse gauge.



Here is a before and after of the inner corner



More Metcalfe Kits and the start of the retaining wall that runs the whole length of the left hand side



These shops are not quite in character.....as I wrote in my last thread....too prosperous...too smug....too southern (spoke an ex-scouser) not gritty enough for a welsh mining town.........but needs must...they were a relic from a previous layout and at least fill the gap.



Iain Rice's book on Industrial Layouts was a big influence in my design......he maintains skew bridges are a key signature item....here is my version



Here is the long narrow street scene that conceals the storage yard........more and more Metcalfe Units

The houses are set up as sub units so they can easily be moved to access the storage yard.





The rudiments of the station are in the foreground. The walls are Langley Kits some are over 15 years old. The "Ivy" is intended to cover wear and tear but it is more difficult blend in units painted this summer with the originals



These two shots from either end of the room complete the summary of my backscene progress........hopefully the sheer length of the terrace serves to convey a more gritty Northern atmosphere.





This has turned out to be a lengthier summary than I intended......in the next day or so I will write about my progress with the branch station.

Regards from Vancouver......where it is still raining

Hi Gareth

Any advice on removing the tender top from the chassis on a Hornby 28xx? Or should I be posting this in the help section?

Once I have done this I can think about chipping it.....right now the engine buzzes but the wheels dont turn and I cant get inside to see what the problem may be.

Regards from Vancouver