jamie92208

Before I got married my then layout extended from the dining room into the kitchen along the wall and my pushbike was stored under the bit in the kitchen. In our married home I've never plucked up the courage to suggest a similar arrangement. Now she uses story of my bachelor pad as a story to entertain her friends.

Jamie

I've managed to do the You Tube links so here are my three

1, Willie Nelson, City of New Orleans

2. California Dreaming The Beach Boys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ThPN8ZY4I&feature=view_all&list=PLD026C3F591F57288&index=11

3. Ruby Tuesday Melanie Kafka

Jamie

I also tend to prefer the original but there are a few cover versions that in my opinion improve on the original.

1. California Dreaming. Great original but the Beach Boys version with Roger McGuinn of the Byrds playing on it is fantastic.

2. Ruby Tuesday by Melanie is I feel marginally better than the original even thought the Stones are one of my favourite bands.

3. City of New Orlenas by Willie nelson or the Highwaymen. Steve Goodman's original was good but these I think are better. We played this at the end 'yankee railroaders' funeral service and even though I wasn't able to get there my friends said that there were very few dry eyes in the house.

I'm not too sure about how to get You Tube links on but will try and edit them in later.

Jamie

After 3 weeks of holiday work has now resumed. I have now finished the 5 main fiddle yard boards and am well on the way with the rmeaining board from the front row. A7 is tricky as it has a curved end at one corner of the layout, however it's coming on. All this has to be done so that all the boards can be set up in the church for testing in August.

yesterday was a good day. The main production etch with the parts for the platform canopy, greyhound bridge and some of the OLE arrived. 8 sheets of brass 18" by 12". SWMBO was not pleased about the weight of the parcel that she took delivery of.

All I've got to do now is to puch out a few thousand rivets and then got it all soldered together. The biggest problem is going to be separating and sorting all the pieces.

In the meantime we are progressing at the clubrooms fitting point motors and also put the floors into the inspection pits. These now need steps at either end. All good work to stop me getting bored.

Jamie

Hi Ron, I would reccomend etching for the support brackets. I did mine for Green Ayre in 0.3mm brass (1/2" plate in 7mm) and designed them to fold over to give some thickness. The test etch went fine and the production ones should be with me shortly now that I'm back from holiday. The columns are resin castings made from a brass master and cast with M2 threaded rod (bought from an aero modelling shop) through the centre so that they can be screwed down. I used York modelmaking for the glazing bars but they are pricey. Once my production etches arrive I will have a go at making a couple of awing panels with getters etc to see how everything goes together.

Jamie

Not much to report for the moment but things are still moving on.

1. The timber for the fiddle yard has been bought and the first two boards produced. These certainly look big at 1012 mm wide by 5' long but I've got to accommodate 12 tracks to work the proposed timetable. 3 more of the main boards still to build then the two trapezoid ones that join it to the scenic section. Those will be made in kit form then we are proposing to put the whole layout up in my church in August. This will enable to check everything for squareness and fit and the final cut of the trapezoids can take place. The old layout had to be 'strained' a bit to make the two ends of the fiddle yard line up when we erected it.

2. At the clubrooms the track is now being laid in the loco shed/turntable area. This has cracked on at a great pace and tonight we hope to get the shed roads laid and 3 pits excavated. Also we are going to plot out the location of the various buildings that go behind the loco shed. Then it's back to the goods yard area to add all the cosmetic half chairs and check rails to the pontwork.

Over the last year I have calcualted that we have built 31 points, laid 160' of track and also constructed 3 of the large building, including the station. Away from the layout a lot of design work has been done and a large order is now away for etches to be produced for the overhead and bridgeworks. 19 baseboards have been built and track laid on 16 of them. Only 9 more to cover with track. Not a bad year's work.

Jamie

I'm in the process of designin g the first control panel for my new layout, Lancaster Green Ayre (in layout threads) there will be four panels, a) the main line station panel, B) the fiddle yard panel, c) the loco shed panel and d) the Castle Branch Fiddle Yard panel. All the panels will feed trains to and from each other. This is my first drawing for the loco shed panel.

My intention is that I will print this out on Label stock paper and stick that on a piece of 3mm ply which will form the hinged lid of the panel. The bottons and LED's at the top right are for the main line controller to communicate with the loco shed to say that a train or loco is on the way and vice versa. The push button operates a relay switching circuit to a section of track on the shed exit. This section is also used by controller d) who will shunt the goods yard which accounts for the two LED's at the top left which show who ahs control of the common section.

Jamie

I am, yes. I've settled on the pantograph fitted power car for the first one - the bow collector one will follow 'in due course', as the saying goes Thanks for the info on the books too - I'm pretty sure I've already got that one, but as I'm working away from home at present, I can't check

 

Mark

Send me a PM when you are doing the bow collector. I've dug a dimensioned engineering drawing out of an article I found in the library at Crich tramway museum.

Jamie

I presume you are modelling the early stock, in which case there are plans in Dow and Lacy's book on Midland Carriages, together with several photos.

Jamie

I'm another one who missed this thread . It's nice to know that others are interested in the MR electrics; my own poor offering will be in 4mm scale, once time/space/management permit . This is all looking good, and I too have a copy of 'The Pioneer Line' - how lucky we are that such footage was not only taken, but that it still exists.

 

Mark

Yes we are indeed very lucky. Fortunately the gentleman who took the footage also took stills of each electrification structure which he has lent me. I have also managed to find a lot of other very useful information, all of which will help build a good model hopefully. However We've got at least another 6 months of tracklaying and point building before we can start any scenic work. I look forward to seeing your work progress.

Jamie

More progress to report in the Loco shed area. The boards with the turntable and the shed have been erected and tracklaying across to these boards has started. Last night I tidied some of the layout up and tried test running a loco through the long line of pointwork and the diamond crossing that leads down from the station to the turntable. 736 ran very nicely despite the filthy track and with lots of crocodile clips connecting up the brass screws that act as droppers we got part way through the diamond crossing before I ran out of test leads. Then I transferred the power to the turntable and ran the loco off the table to the crossing. All seemed to go well apart from a few minor issues with check rails that need a little bit of filing.

The photo below, taken on my mobile shows the result. I was very pleased with the way that it ran steadily through all the pointwork.

In the background you can see the shed area starting to take shape.

I've also bought the timber for the fiddle yard so hopefully a few days of good weather will allow me to get building. Only 8 more boards to build.

Shame they would make nice models!

 

Mark Saunders

They would look great with one of the 2-6-4 tanks on the front of them.

Jamie

I would suggest that you try the HMRS study centre at Butterley. They have a large archive of Metro Cammell drawings though I'm not sure how far the cataloguing has got.

Jamie

This looks very good. I like the continuous checkrails through the crossover. I look forward to seeing more progress.

Jamie

I'm certain that when the viaduct was transferred the original construction drawings would have been supplied. The ones that i got had all been microfilmed by the County Council.

Jamie

Well track laying and point building is progressing well in the Goods Yard Loco shed area. The diamond crossing leading to the turntable has been made and work has started on the ash and inspection pits by the colaing stage. The Production artwork for the etching has been sent off so hopefully work will start soon on making the side girders and piers for Greyhound Bridge. We haved dcided to make the bridge beams from brass so that all the detail can be soldered on. A trough along the top will be created with brass angle and bras strip then filled with tile cement to represent the ashphalt pathway along both sides of the bridge. I will try and post photos of the work under way. A research trip to Barrow Hill has given us dimensions of the Sheer legs so that's another structure tat can be started. Still steady but not spectacular progress.

Jamie

Hi Ron, I have some original engineering drawings of the bridge over the Lune at Lancaster that the Midland built in 1911. This gives details of platework, rivets and the jack arches that supported the deck with the ballast on. If you think this is of any use I might be able to get them to you. I got them from the , now retired, Lancashire County Council Bridge engineer as the Council have built a road on the top of the railway bridge. You might be able to get similar plans from metrolink who will have got them from BR when they took the structure over. I've used mine to produce the etching artwork that;s on my Lancaster green Ayre thread.

Jamie

Just an odd question but does anyone now how the track in the road is constructed. Is it standard sleepered track with tarmac infill or was it laid on concrete like a lot of tram track. It must have been a pig to maintain and check the tightness of fishplate bolts.

Jamie

In my area (West Yorks) there were several that I know of,

1. Still in use is Hunslet east on the branch from Neville Hill that runs down to the river at Knostrop where it used to meet the GN branch to Beeston.

2. There used to be a large underground one on the east of the line to sheffield from Penistone just after the line to Wath diverged.

3. There was one at Liversedge, between Heckmondwike and Cleckheaton on the remaining part of the LNWR 'New Line' from Mirfield to Farnley Junction. It was on the east side of the A62 and is now a housing estate. It was rail served into the 80's using a combination of ex L & Y and LNWR trackage from Thornhill.

4. There is a disused one where the line to Halifax diverges from the L&Y calder valley main line at Elland. As far as I know the equipment is still there and may be visible on Google earth.##

5. Also Skipton used to have a bitumen unloading siding at the east end of the station where the line curves next to the goods shed and near the first NWR station building.

Jamie

There may not be much detailed modelling to show you but there is steady progress. I've just had a day at Lancaster with two of the team doing research. A good trip to the Museum in the morning got us lots of photos of buildings and detail areas that will be very useful. In the afternoon we spent time measuring up a viaduct on the Castle Branch as well as taking pictures to help with planning the backscenes. At the club we are plodding on with building pointwork and have started the diamond crossing on the turntable approach. I've also been busy getting more drawings done for the next batch of etchings for the bridge and awning as well as some fittings for the Overhead line equipment. This will be 18" by 12" and I need 8 of them to give me all the pieces for the bridge and awnings.

Jamie

I'm surprised you don't do what our club did. I found a chemical supplier on the web and 3 of us each bought a 5 litre container of 1 Butanone (otherwise known as MEK), we split the carriage costs and it worked out a £17 each. With all the C&LO sleepers to stick down on Green Ayre we have gone through quite a lot.

Jamie

Great stuff Jamie! I'm really looking forward to seeing this completed. As a matter of historical interest the building that is now Sainsbury's incorporates the frontage of what was the original Lancaster Public Baths. At the time of your layout it was still in use, although off the end of your layout. I don't think that any of the railway buildings are still intact as part of Sainsbury's, if they are there is nothing to distinguish them. The car park covers most of the shed area.

 

Geoff.

Thanks for that Geoff I've had to miss the public baths and the fifth shed road (the repar shop) off the shed area as there isn't room at the front of the boards. However I will put windows in the wall that the public sees instead of the public baths. The same applies to the range of buildings at the back of the shed that include the Stationmasters house and the buildings that used to be the Lune Foundry as well s the water tank and stores area. These have been compressed as you can see on the plan with the Midland built area in the lower right corneer and the SM's house in the top left.

On my last visit I noticed some arched stone windows in the wall round Sainsbury's car park. Are these the old windows from the shed by any chance?

3 of us are coming up on the 12th April to look at some photos in the museum and measure the viaduct on the lower part of the castle branch. I should be a good day out. If youa re in the area early afternoon you would be welcome to join us.

Jamie

Not a huge lot to report but the team are ploughing on with tracklaying in the shed/goods yard area. 7 of the 12 turnouts have been done. Away from the layout more planning and research is going on. Another research trip to Lancaster has been arranged to look through some photos in the museum and to measure the viaduct that carries the Castle branch up from Green Ayre towards Castle station. I have also started work on planning the loco shed itself. This will have to be slightly reduced in size to make it a 4 road shed as there isn't roo for the repair shop road. There is a collection of buildings at the rear of the shed which included the water tank and the Stationmaster's house. This area has had to be narrowed but will still contain the main buildings. I spent last night doing a first pass CAD drawing of the shed and associated buildings. This is the result. The main shed building will be 880mm by 540 and the buildings at the rear occupy nearly the same amount of space. Most of the buildings were a foundry that was bought by the Midland and reused. Somewhere in the area ther was also a small one road shed built by the original 'little' North Western Railway which in later years was used as a storage and repair shed when the Midland's royal saloon was sent to Lancaster for Refurbishment by Waring and Gillow's the famous Lancaster furniture makers. I've only got an outline plan and no photos as it was demolished in the 30's.

Ther drawing ahs been done from photos and a plan and I hope that I've got the proportions right. For sizing I used the width and height of a loco to give me the shed doorways and the height of a man shown walking past the water tower to sort the windows out.

Jamie

There is certainly a spiral tunnel of some sort on the Chemin de fer du Provence the narrow gauge line that runs north fromn Nice. I can't remember if it crosses over itself but at one point I could see three levels of track from the cab.

Jamie

Just got in from 2 days working on the layout in my church. (It had to be cleared away for Sunday). We were able to put up all 17 boards that now exist and get some idea of what it's going to look like as well as getting ideas for backscenes and various other scenic features.

Here the layout seen from the west end with the loco shed area in the foreground and the coaling stage in position.

See from the east end. It fitted with an inch to spare at each end.

This shows the detail that Bernard Shaw is putting into the coaling stage. We commented that it would be a shame that all the roof trusses and purlins would be hidden, so came up with the daft idea that we have some workmen, relating part of the roof (perhaps after being damaged by a spring gale.) This may happen.

There is a photo in one of Stephen Summerson's books that shows a Kirtley at Lancaster and I couldn't resist trying to reproduce it here.

John Patrick brought the Station Buildings and this gave us a chance to see both sets in position.

Then we couldn't resist playing trains for a short while with a random selection of stock.

All in all a very good 2 days and it was helpful to see the whole s]layout up and get an idea of sightlines etc.

Now only another 9 boards to build.

Jamie