Jump to content
 

Brinkly

RMweb Gold
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,887

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Brinkly

  1. Brinkly
    Hi chaps,
     
    Well I thought it was about time to update my blog. I've been working like a busy little bee over the past couple of weekends, preparing and building baseboards for Horrabridge. As I mentioned before I've used Iain Rice's Mini L girder method of construction, which is an adaption of the typical model used across the pond. (Apologies for the cluttered nature of the loft!)
     
    This method doesn't get mentioned much, if at all, in the British model press and frankly I don't know why. It produces quick, sturdy baseboards, which aren't that heavy, are cost effective and require the minimum number of tools. You are still able to create odd shapes, and can rise the scenery or track bed up without issue.
     
    To produce these boards I used a saw, 4 G clamps, 2 sash clamps, a drill, a set square, wood glue and some screws. I don't even bother with getting the workmate out anymore.
     
    First of all you take two lengths of 2 inch by 1 inch, clamp together and cut to the required length. This way you ensure both pieces of timber are the same length. (Time so far, about 5 minutes).
     

     
    Next spread wood glue along the lengths, clamp together forming the L girder, then screw. Remove the clamps. Repeat for the other side (so far about 15 minutes tops.)
     

     
    Then glue and screw the internal braces into place (this is the tricky part and if you have some long sash clamps it really helps as you can keep your board nice and square.
     

    (You can see the Tavistock Fiddleyard in the background, to the left)
     
    And hey presto your done! One board. Build time about 25-30 minutes. You can then widen your boards by laying pieces on top and rise the track bed, but adding uprights. Simple. Really don't know why anyone would bother doing any other method for a home layout. Much stronger than having just one length and forming a ladder framework.
     

     
    In the last photo you are looking at the bridge scene and the entrance to the station. The centre board is 5ft by 18 inches and two boards to the right of the photo are 4ft by 2ft each and will have lengths screwed on top to widen the frame, as this will only be supporting scenery, and will create a nice curved back scene. All the boards are removable and (just) fit through the loft hatch and in between the rafters. I've also constructed part of the Tavistock fiddle yard, although I stupidly forgot to photograph these, so they can wait till next time.
     
    Leveling has been performed very simply, but screwing a length of 2' by 1' in between the roof joist and laying the baseboards on top. No legs, although there would be room under the boards to build in legs if the layout went to an exhibition, or moved to a different site.
     
    I have the final version of Iain's plan ready to upload, however I have left the USB stick at work, so that will have to wait till tomorrow.
     
    Hope this is of interest and my dream is starting to really take shape, only taken 3 years!!
     
    Regards,
     
    Nick
     
    ( Any advice, comments are always welcome.)
  2. Brinkly
    And he's off!
     
    As I sit here listening to Ian Fleming’s Moonraker read by Bill Nighy, paws to keyboard, I hope this will be the last introduction to the saga that this ‘idea’ has become.
     
    Back in 2007 I decided to rejoin the hobby after a 7 year absent, BRM magazine was really the catalyst for my return. Within the January pages of the magazine Tim Venton’s Clutton really caught my eye. The small country station, sitting within the landscape for me is what really attracted me back to the hobby.
     
    I want really sure what I wanted for my ‘new layout’, so the following weekend went into Plymouth library and dig out the books which I found interesting. One line that stood out was the old GWR line from Plymouth to Launceston. The librarians in the reference library were very helpful and provided track plans and old OS maps showing the line and really that set me on my way.
     
    With this new knowledge in mind I created a simple criteria for what I wanted;

    · country station;
    · two platforms;
    · simple but busy goods yard;
    · level crossing.  
    With a selection of sketching pencils I started to draw my own plans for a station which would have taken the place of Plym Bridge. The idea was that a small village called Woodford (named after Woodford Wood) with a population of around 500 would have been provided with a small station with a similar layout to Bovey Station. The station’s main traffic would have been agricultural products being taken in and out. The only problem was I wasn’t ever really happy with my creation; it just didn’t feel right. So I looked again at the area and my eye was constantly drawn to Horrabridge and the rest is as they say history.
     
    Horrabridge for me had everything I wanted, only problem was I know couldn’t create a plan that would work. I spent two years trying, but just couldn’t do it! Having been irritated with this for most of last year I decided earlier this year to engage a professional to help, in the form of Iain Rice.
     
    Below is the draft plan.

    The area available is 19ft by 11ft, the idea being that it will fit in the loft of my current house, or a purpose built shed in the future.
     
    Baseboard construction has already begun; I’ve decided to stick with the tried and tested beam method and will start by constructing the fiddle yard boards first, as Iain is still tweaking the scenic section of the layout.
     

     
    Train service and traffic demands
     
    Last year I asked Mike (Station Master) about the working of the line. He very kindly provided some notes in a PM, but managed to located the Passenger and Freight working time tables for Plymouth district. I looked through and on a normal weekday the line had 4 freight and 10 passenger workings. Additional freight workings ran when Tavistock livestock market had one of its quarterly grading days, or large monthly sale.
     
    The line mostly conveyed agricultural products in and out, along with the usual domestic goods and coal. Milk traffic came from the Ambrosia creamery at Lifton, where 3 milk tankers were dispatched daily on the afternoon Launceston to Plymouth passenger working. Additional canned goods from the creamery were dealt with by the daily pick-up freight service. In addition to this traffic a small quarry just outside of Tavistock station provided chippings for tarmac, although this was in decline mostly due to road haulage.
     
    Horrabridge was served by two of the three goods services, having its own dedicated service which also brought any traffic for the Princetown branch. This service was usually in the hands of one of Laira’s 57xx Pannier locomotives; 3629 and 4658 being two veterans of the branch.
     
    During 1955 the branch had 9 locomotive turns. These ranged from one round trip from Plymouth to Launceston, Turn No.112 and others such as Turn No.107, involved much more. Turn No.107 was usually allocated a 45xx locomotive. Its day started with the 5:50 North Road to Tavistock passenger service, returning to North Road with the 6:47. It would then shunt at Millbay for a couple of hours before working the 12:45 North Road to Tavistock passenger service. It would then run light engine to Horrabridge at 1:35 and return to Laira with the 2:00 Horrabridge to Laira Freight. The 57xx Pannier allocated to Turn No.133 which worked the 7:50 Laira to Horrabridge Freight would run to Tavistock and work-back a later passenger service. The branch was full of little workings like this. Something else that I discovered was that most of the crews would only work as far as Tavistock, so the Launceston based crews would work on three or sometimes four locomotives throughout the course of their shift.
     

     
    Station layout and facilities
     
    Horrabridge had two platforms and a loop; it had a small goods shed, cattle dock and coal yard. There was also a small granary on the site which was privately owned and in later years was used by an agricultural supplier. The station was also provided with two water columns, a legacy from when Princetown trains used to terminate at the station before Yelverton station was built.
     
    A small level crossing with large gates (although not the longest in England as Mr Kingdom says!) was located at the Plymouth end of the station, along with a bowstring bridge. I’ve subsequently discovered that North Road had a similar bridge which was removed during WW1.
     
    The main station building was of wood construction and housed the waiting room, booking office and station masters office. This was located on the ‘up’ platform, along with the signal box, which was of Saxby and Farmer origin. The station was also provided with two long refuse sidings, the ‘up’ was generally used as part of the goods yard, as the granary and coal yard were located on this side and usually wagons were stored here. The ‘down’ siding however was used as a refuse siding and daily freight workings where held here to allow passenger trains to cross. One working was a cattle market special which was held at Horrabridge in the ‘down’ refuse siding for well over an hour whilst waiting for room at Tavistock!
     

     
     
    Train working and signalling
     
    The layout will be controlled by DCC, although turnouts and signals will be controlled via a 16 lever frame. Long term I would like to have some form of block instruments as the layout could easily keep three operators busy. Two drivers and a signal man at Horrabridge. One driver would also double as the Plymouth ‘controller’ and instigate special workings such as tail traffic or market-day extras.
     
    Long term I will also create a card operating sequence, with each item of stock being provided with a card and then allocate it to a turn for that sequence. Although this is a very long term idea!
     

     
    Layout site and presentation
     
    The current site is the loft of my current house; this gives a useable space of 19ft by 11ft. This sounds like a large space, which indeed it is, but the pitch of the roof and the beams do somewhat hinder an easy working environment. However this house was always intended as a stepping stone, and my intention in the future is to purchase a house with either a large garden and build a purpose built shed.
     
    All of the baseboards will be constructed from 9mm ply. I’m lucky to have a friend who works for Beach Brothers in Exeter were I was able to purchase some beautiful ply and have it cut into nice straight 6 inch by 4 foot strips. No baseboard will be longer than 4ft, with a maximum width of 3ft 6. The boards will sit approximately 42 inches above the floor, which will allow room for a 3 draw filing cabinet under the boards. I also intend to put a work bench under the embankment at the Plymouth end of the layout. The ruling radius for the layout will be 48 inches, which should be fine for the locomotives which will be used on the layout. (More on that later!)
     
    The operation will be based around the late summer and I plan to purchase some warm lights from a specialist supplier to create a nice glow, but hopefully I won’t end up with a tan!
     
    Specification
     
    The layout is intended to be a one man job, although I’m hoping to twist a few friends’ arms to help with construction now and again. At DRAG there are a huge number of skills which I fully intend to tap into!
     
    Track work will be nickel silver rail and Exactoscale chairs, fitted to ply or plastic sleepers, I haven’t decided one way or the other on this yet. I really like St. Merryn’s track work and this is probably the route I will go down. I’ve decided to use nickel silver rail over steal as the layout will either be in the loft, or a shed, so conditions won’t be as favourable as a nice bedroom!
     
    Turnouts will be operated by slow action Tortoise motors and fortunately there are only 6 points and 3 traps that require building. The signals will be constructed from MSE items and will be built so that they can be removed if needed. They will be controlled by the Full Stop system and the reason for this is to allow a slight bounce on the outer home signals.
     
    The buildings will be constructed from card. Howes pre-bossed brick sheets will be used for the platforms and signal box base and will be hand painted al-la Pendon style using watercolours. I much prefer this method to plastic sheets, although the goods shed, granary and bridge supports will probably be constructed using plastic shell with a plaster cover to enable hand scribed brick work.
     
    The electrics will be based around a standard 16-20V ac DCC BUS with four power districts (station, goods yard, Plymouth Fiddleyard & Tavistock Fiddleyard) and an off-layout programming facility, with a separate 12V dc supply for point and signal actuation and layout lighting.
     
    The required locos will be mostly adapted RTR with ‘drop-in’ P4 conversions: a brace of Bachmann 45xxs, a pair of 57xx, a 14xx and a 44xx. A 43xx will also be used for cattle specials. At the moment the only locomotive that isn’t available is a 64xx, but I’m sure Hornby or Bachmann must be on the brink of bringing one out. The 44xx will be a Mitchell kit. Passenger stock will mostly be from Comet, supplemented with the odd RTR item. Freight stock will be RTR and kit built items. Having had a look through the stock that I have, I don’t think I need to purchase anything for quite a while. I now plan to build and convert what I have.
     
    The whole budget has been roughly set at £3000, spread over 3 years, the intended basic ‘build time’. I’ll probably regret setting that!
     
    Anyway another update will follow tomorrow, but I think this might be enough for one day!
     
    Regards,
     
    Nick
  3. Brinkly

    Crew for 3629

    By Brinkly,

    I thought it was about time I updated my blog! I have been doing things, but nothing overlay exciting.
     
    This is the first time I have ever painted 4mm figures before. The crew are from Dartcastings and I have used Games Workshop paints, washes and brushes. In MRJ 209 Trevor Pott describes how he produces his own personalised locomotive crews for his Churston layout and I’m rather pleased with my first attempt. Next time I will certainly be more adventurous with bending and replacing arms to create more individual figures, although I’m rather pleased with Claude and Bill.
     

    Bill on the left and Claude on the right. They do need a bit of polishing, but I'm pleased with my first attempt.
     
    The story goes thus; Claude (driver) and Bill (fireman) our working the 5:25 Laira to Tavistock goods, Turn Number 109. The locomotive is usually a 36xx pannier, in this case 3629. Due to Bill’s enthusiasm to please Claude, who is an old GWR man, he has overfired the loco, with coal being placed on unburnt coal breaking the cardinal rule of a fireman. The result is a poor steaming locomotive and despite Bill’s best efforts the train has to be held at Horrabridge, as the 5:50 Plymouth North Road to Tavistock South has now caught up.
    This has two knock on effects. The first is that by the time the 5:50 passenger service has cleared the Horrabridge to Tavistock section, the 5:25 freight will be running about 25 minutes late. The second problem is that by the time the freight arrives at Tavy South, so too will all the merchants and the chaps will have to eat their breakfast whilst shunting, rather than being able to eat more leisurely from the comfort of the middle siding at Tavistock South!
     
    Bill is well aware of his mistake and Claude is making sympathetic comments and tells Bill not to touch the fire tomorrow until he (Claude) arrives. Needless to say Claude builds the perfect fire the following morning and Bill learns a valuable lesson.
     
    The above story is completely true and is from Laira Fireman Footplate Recollections of a GWR Fireman by Philip E. Rundle M.B.E and is well worth the list price of £19.95 just for the photographs, let alone the wonderful stories and memories.
     
    More soon.
     
    Regards,
     
    Nick
  4. Brinkly
    Nearly three years ago when I first started out in P4 SWAGs very own Captain Kernow very kindly converted this beautiful Bachmann Pannier using an Ultrascale drop-in-wheel set conversion. Well I thought it was about time that I finished her, so looking through some photographs I have set about thinking about how to improve this lovely little mode.

     
    First off are the lamp brackets, this is where the fun starts as the 57xx and the 875x classes had different positions for the brackets. Looking at two photographs the 57xx had two brackets for spare lamps just over the front driving wheels; on the 875x the spare lamp brackets are located near the cab. So that is the first thing I spotted. The next minor difference is that the 57xx have a flat shelf on the front, whereas the 875x have triangular ends, now I’m not mad enough to build this, but I thought it was worth mentioning! As you can see I have already removed the smoke box dart and this will be replaced with an Alan Gibson product.
     
    The Bachmann model is missing a handrail over the front steps between the two front wheels, so this is something that I intend to replicate and finally on the front end of the loco I will install the sanding gear mechanism, which is a subtle, albeit noticeable piece of the loco.
     
    Moving to the rear of the loco the lamp brackets will be replaced, along with steam pipe and real coal in the bunker.
     
    Looking at the wheels and chassis, I had thought about packing the chassis out with some plasticard, but I think it looks alright. However I do intend to reposition the brakes so that they are inline with the wheels and replace the coupling rods with Bill Bedford ones as the Bachmann ones are a little thick. Lastly balance weights will be added, cut from thin plasticard using Comet ones as a template.
     
    The last little bit of titivating will be to renumbering to 3675 which was photographed at Yelverton in August 1955 (247 Development Plates), a crew (Dart Castings), lamps and tools from Springside Models. Rather sadly the lining will be removed, as I am advised that this was the livery for the station pilot at Paddington.
     
    Currently a Smiths coupling hook sits on the buffer beam, although I intend to fit Alex Jackson couplings to the loco, but I will retain the hook. Final touches will include weathering with enamel paints and powders.
     
     
  5. Brinkly

    New workbench blog

    By Brinkly,

    Having said that I wasn't going to use a blog, seeing that Andy has gone to the time and trouble of tweaking the blog section about I thought I would reinstate mine, but use it as a workbench thread.
     

    Right here is a snap-shot of my workbench within my 10ft by 11ft railway room. The layout itself will be worked on in here, but operated down stairs in the much larger garage, although I haven't cleared that yet! (And I don't intend to do that this week!) One of the reasons for using this room as a modelling room is that it is very bright, which is ideal for our construction based hobby.
     
    On the bench there are a number of models, but over the coming weeks I plan to finish the conversion of two Bachmann Panniers (one with Alan Gibson wheels, the other with Ultrascale), finish a 57xx Comet chassis which I started last June , convert a Bachmann 45xx using Alan Gibson wheels, finish the Airfix auto coach that I started over half term and if that isn't enough there are some wagons which are 'nearly there' too! Am I setting myself up for a fall, well mostly likely, but I do enjoy a challenge!
    Please feel free to add any ideas, shout at me when I get something wrong, or just say that looks nice!
     
    Anyway enough for a couple of minutes, I need to crack on!
     
    Regards,
    Nick
  6. Brinkly

    Would this bother people?

    By Brinkly,

    Greetings chaps,
     
    First of all may I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful new year. can I also say many thanks to everyone who has commented on my ideas, it really is useful as a builder.
     
    Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking more and more about baseboard construction and how I will run the layout and something that has raised it's ugly head is that the viewer of the layout will see only the backs of the buildings; the rear of the main station building, the signal box, the railway goods shed and the granny. Now this for me is a bit of a worry. All the interesting bits regarding the buildings can only be seen from the operators side, now this might sound like an easy problem to solve, simply swap sides, but another problem then occurs, the layout is cut into the side of the a hill, so the viewer will be looking down from the hillside into a valley!
     
    So it is over to you, as Horrabridge is being designed as an exhibition layout would you mind seeing the rear of the buildings? Does it matter, or should I go down a different path and perhaps change the topography of the area a little to suit my needs!?
     
    Having said that the layout will be built on a curve to match the track work, so in theory the fronts of the buildings could be seen from different angels simply by walking along the length of the layout.

    (Front of the buildings, this side can only be seen fully from the operator sider)
     
    Best wishes,
     
    Nick.
  7. Brinkly

    Temploting

    By Brinkly,

    Whilst continuing the momentum with the 'big push' for Horrabridge I've completed the track plan on templot.

    The layout will have 4-5 feet cut out of it, the first cut will involve moving the bridge 1 & 1/2 feet closer to the station, and the reduction of the head shunts by approximately 3 feet.
     
    Below are a couple of photographs showing the 8 foot station loops and goods shed. (Signal box and goods shed are temporary structures to provide an idea of where certain buildings will be.)



    The curve of the station is very gentle, so when I get round to building the baseboards it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm currently thinking of having a straight back scene and a curved front. (The front being were the sofa is.)
     
    Regards,
     
    Nick
  8. Brinkly

    There's life!

    By Brinkly,

    Horrabridge - BR Western Region circa 1956
     
    I’m sure that everyone is fed up with me going on about it for the past two years, but I have decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for it.
     
    Right over the past three weeks I’ve made some big decisions about my modelling. First of all I am going to build Horrabridge, secondly it will be built in P4, I had been toying with doing it in EM or even Finescale 00, but decided to continue to keep plodding with P4 rather than swopping gauge again. Brian Pearce has been an excellent help and his wealth of experience has been of such use.
     
    Below is an introduction about the history of the line and my proposed modelling plan.
     
    History
     
    Horrabridge station is a small country station on the 31 mile branch running from Plymouth through the West Devon countryside to Tavistock then crossing into Cornwall and entering the large county town of Launceston.
    The station opened for passengers in June 1859 and February 1860 for goods. Closure came on 31st December 1962, with the track being lifted in 1964.
     
    The station had a large goods yard, as wagons were stored here for the Princetown branch as Yelverton (the junction station for the Princetown branch) didn’t have any goods facilities. Another interesting feature of the station were the two water columns which were installed for Princetown locomotives which would run to Horrabridge to water before returning to Yelverton with any freight wagons.
     
    Below is an old OS map from 1906 showing the station layout, on the ‘up’ side the main station building, Saxby and Farmer Signal box, goods shed and further along the ‘up’ head shunt was a privately owned granary, built of local stone. On the ‘down’ side (Up being towards Plymouth, Down to Launceston) a small waiting shelter and the siding for the Princetown branch, a water tower and permanent way buildings.
     

    This is a map dating from 1906 so is no longer under copyright protection. (Plymouth Library 2009)
    Model
     
     
    Originally Horrabridge was not going to be a exhibition layout, but gentle persuasion from a number of members on several forums and members of my local Scalefour club (Devon Riviera Area Group) has changed my mind, although this layout is primarily for home use.The scenic section of the model will be 15ft long and 3ft wide with two 5ft long by 18 inch wide fiddle yard boards giving a total length of 25ft. The boards will be curved to the profile of the track. At home the layout will lose one 3ft section and will operate as a roundy-round being stored either in the garage of the loft. All of the boards will be built using an adaption of the beam method using 6mm ply with the scenic boards being 3ft by 3ft to ensure that the boards are easy to manage. Although the fiddle yard boards will be one 5ft unit. The fiddle yard will be operated by train turntables with 5 roads and additional siding space to allow marshalling of stock and swapping locos without the need for handling the loco. The period that I am wishing to portray is BR WR circa 1956-9, this period I feel is the most interesting as Crimson & Cream and Maroon stock if prototypical, with older ex GWR designs and more modern MK1 stock running side by side, which I feel looks rather nice! For Horrabridge to run authentically 5 passenger and 3 goods sets are required, however additional services such as an engineer’s train and milk trains will feature in part of the sequence. Additionally the cattle market at Launceston had a quarterly grading day were a early morning cattle train would run collecting wagons from all stations. The track work will use products from Exactoscale, with steel rail being used for the scenic section and cheap Nickel Silver for the fiddle yards. I plan to use B7 point kits and gently curve the points; I’ve managed this with one by removing some of the webs and laying it over the Templot print out. Fortunately all of the point work is a very gentle curve. Rolling stock will be a mix of RTR and kit built items. The main locomotives which ran on the branch were 14xx and 64xx with auto carriages, these services terminated at Tavistock and 45xx, 4575 and 57xx working passenger and goods services to all stations on the branch. Fortunately 4 out of the 5 classes are covered with RTR models, Bachmann produce their excellent 45xx, 4575 and 57xx which initially will run with their original chassis with either Ultrascale drop in or Alan Gibson wheels, long term I will upgrade the RTR chassis with Highlevel and Comet replacements. The 14xx is an old Dapol model which will have a Highlevel chassis with a 60:1 gearbox and Ultrascale wheels. I am currently in the process of detailing the 14xx body using the Mainly Trains detailing kit and additional Alan Gibson parts. Hopefully one of the RTR manufactures will produce a 64xx before long! Passenger stock will be a mix Collett, Hawksworth and MK1 stock. I have a selection of suitable RTR stock which will be supplemented with Blacksmiths and Comet coach kits, although this is more of a long term project. Goods stock again will be a mix of RTR and kit built items. I currently have 30 or so wagons at various stages of construction, ranging from part built kits, to wagons which require painting, numbering and weathering! My own preferred method for good running is springing, I’ve built a number of wagons with Bill Bedford springing kits and Craig Welsh’s sprung chassis kit for PO wagons. I have used MJT internal rockers and W-Irons in the past, but I prefer springing, despite it taking a little longer to get a wagon running smoothly. Having said that I have a large amount of uncompensated stock, mostly RTR items which have had the 00 wheels replaced with Alan Gibson items, which run very satisfactorily.
    Operation
     
    I think I will stick to traditional DC control rather than DCC, it looks good, but I just feel that set up costs of several hundred pounds for a good system isn’t necessary for a layout of this size. In the future I might convert, but I doubt it.
     
    The timetable has already been bashed into an operating sequence which would require three passenger sets working Plymouth to Launceston (changing loco at Launceston), a pair of auto set for Plymouth to Tavistock services, a Princetown passenger set and three goods sets. (One Tavistock and Launceston goods, and one Horrabridge and Princetown and one all station stopper)
    Very often the goods services were double headed; for example the Tavistock and Launceston freight very often had a 45xx and a 57xx, the pilot loco would then work on to Launceston shunt for a couple of hours, then work back after lunch with the goods, sometimes joining the Tavistock loco, dependent on the load and how long the shunting at Launceston took.
     
    Most passenger trains were two or three carriages, which by 1955 started to be newer designs and by 1957 Hawksworth stock started to appear in increasing numbers. Auto trains were a mix of Collett and Hawskworth stock, again depending on the period.
     
    Well I hope this has given you an idea of what I would like to achieve, my own modelling philosophy is less is more, I like layouts which appear very quiet, and then all of a sudden burst into activity for a few minutes, then quiet again. The simplicity of the track plans and operation I feel is wonderful!
     
    Anyway any comments will be greatly recieved!
  9. Brinkly
    Greetings and welcome to my blog. I plan to add to it on a regular basis similar to Geoff (Sparky) with his Penhydd layout and show you fine fellows the progression (or lack of!) that I make. I'm more than happy for people to comment with any advice that they might have as I need to learn!
     
     
    I first started modelling properly when I was 15 years old when I created a basic GWR branch line terminus set in the mid 1930s. The layout used a mixture of old SMP track left over from my late grandfather's layout and Peco code 75 for the fiddle yard. I learnt a huge amount from this layout, one of the main things being wood working skills. Previously all my wood working had been done under the knowledge and supervision of grandpa and his workshop. At this point my dad worked away from home and if I wanted a baseboard built one had to do it one's self or wait for several days or possibly weeks before he would be home to help! I also learnt basic wiring skills along with scenic work and tried carpet felt long with lint as used in Barry Norman's book Landscape Modelling.
     
     
    Well after a break from modelling whilst at university I decided to get back into it again two and a half years ago with a view to continuing working in 00, the plan had been to create Horrabridge with I am sure a number of readers have already seen the old thread on the old version of RMWeb. However I started to feel that I wanted to go beyond 00 as a scale and work towards something finer. I did consider EM, but the lack of a club within the local area put me off. At this point I met the good Captain and the rest is as they say history, I decided to dump the EM idea and go for P4 having attended the local area group and been inspired by P4 as a scale.
     
     
    Right to business. I have decided to start constructing a near to scale model of Horrabridge, which is a small country station in West Devon. The charm of this station really lies with its location. The station site features two goods buildings, a level crossing and a small girder bridge spanning the main Tavistock to Plymouth road.
     
     
    My model will be some 20ft long by 3ft wide, allowing a nice slice of the Devon countryside to be modelled. The layout will be built as a roundy-round and although it will become a permanent feature of the loft, it will built to be as portable as possible so that it can be built in sections down stairs before it is moved upstairs. I also plan to bring some of the boards along to DRAG (P4 area group meeting) for advice once in a while. The fiddle yards will be a mixture of loops and cassettes. The idea being that 8 trains can be made up in four loops (each loop will be about 12foot long) and stock can be easily swapped about using the cassettes which will form one of the loops. To be totally honest I could probably get away with just the loops, but the cassettes will add extra flexibility and will make turning locomotives easier.
     
     
    Originally I was going to use ply and rivet for my track work, but I am now being persuaded to use Exactoscale plastic bases and chairs for speed. Thinking long term it will be easier to weather the side of the rail as the whole track can be sprayed and then painted accordingly. Also having seen the progression on TT2 using fast track bases, I think that for me it is the best opition at this stage.
     
     
    Anyway as a starting point John Farmer very kindly salvaged some of the old boards from TT1; I thought that these could form the foundations for a fiddle yard. I'm still a little unsure at the moment what to do with them, they do require quite a bit of work to get them up to scratch, but I think with a new top surface they should be satisfactory to get something up and running as a temporary solution! The scenic baseboards will be an adaption of the beam method and eventually I will construct new boards for the fiddle yard to keep a standardised system!
     
    Anyway enough for now. Thanks for reading.
     
    Kind regards,
     
    Nick.
     
×
×
  • Create New...