bickybtrains

It's a monster wiring job. I usually take a break from wiring and do something else on the layout. I find that doing that you don't get overwhelmed.

Some more factory buildings. I guess I have some more track laying to do soon.

I still have to crawl under every so often. But I have a mechanics crawler that makes that task a little bit more comfortable.

These retaining walls and yes it is nearly 12 feet long are held into place by magnets. Behind them is all the wiring for the point motors. All I need to do yo get to the wiring is to pull them off the magnets.

Some of the control panels dotted around the layout.

Some more updates on the Bickley Central. I'm still in the midst of wiring. I have wired up most of the point motors, and I have built some control panels. I think I'm about a couple of months from running trains. I took a break from wiring to build a few buildings.

I salvaged a significant amount from my old layout. I even managed to save a ton of track. I still have boxes of buildings all ready to use.

The coal mine. I love coal mines maybe it is the fact I lived near one in Scotland. Anyhow I always wanted to model a coal mine and thus an ambitious representation of a coal mine was a must. I scratch built the winding gear and kit bashed a few Walthers and kiri kits. The coal mine also has a MGR flood loader. Empty MGR trains enter it and disappear on the inner most track of the helix. They emerge at the lower yard as if they have exited a power station. Full MGR trains enter the lower yard and appear from the flood loader as if they have been loaded.

The terminus station was a fun build. I wanted it to accommodate full sized trains, with carriage sidings and parcel sidings. I always fancied the Walthers Milwaukee Station building it was going to be an impressive station. The track layout was intimidating to say the least. I wanted to able to reach every track. So a rather complicated station track layout ensued. The station building as mentioned earlier is a modified Walthers Milwaukee terminus with a peco overall roof. Below the station are the arches. Behind the station is a low relief city backscene.

Todays installment on the building of the Bickley Central Railway. Before I got too carried away I started the build of the helix. I wanted to keep the gradient at a pleasant 1.7 percent. I tested it at regular intervals to see that there were no problems. Once I got the initial level installed the build went smoothly. I was originally going to use the screw rod method to build the helix. I searched the internet and one chap showed a very easy method of building a helix. Hence I followed his advice. I tested the helix with my Bachmann class 25 to see what limits I had. The Bachmann class 25 can handle up to ten coaches without slipping. The inner loop is for the coal mine so I have no problem with my MGR trains negotiating that. Especially when my new wagons and loco come in.

So here is few photos of the build. this is the basement after the renovation. I made the basement as comfortable as possible, all the walls are insulated, including the ceiling. There is sufficient LED dimmable lighting, and sufficient electrical outlets around the whole room. The baseboards are plywood and were cut at a cabinet shop. The helix boards were CNC cut by the same cabinet shop. I painted all the wood so that it wouldn't shrink of warp. It also make everything look tidy. More photos of the build to follow.

In a nutshell: The building of the Bickley Central. Mk2 I Started building the layout in March 2021. I'm still building said layout and I'm about 3 months away from actually running trains The layout us approx 22' x 15' Its on two levels. It has a 5 track wide helix with a 1.7 percent grade. Outer track is 36" radius Inner 28" radius The layout is set in the mid to late 70's Aprox 1500' of track all code 75 75 points All operated by tortoise point motors All DCC Photos of the build coming.

So what plays are you going to see. I have been busy working on the Clubs Layout. Hope to see you at the Great British Train Show, this weekend.

Welcome to the new and improved Bickley Central Mark 2 story. Since my last attempt here on RM web has seemed to have been severely compromised, with the images now gone. I thought that I should abandoned that topic and start a new story, or just not post anything and just spend my time modeling. It is frustrating that there is little interest in my project, with little input from members. I would love to tell the story, but unfortunately I feel like I'm talking to myself. So prove me wrong, ask questions, critique, praise, or just give some guidance. If my subject is boring then I'll just stop posting.

It seems all my work to show my project has seem to have disappeared I will most like have to delete this, and start all over again.