A layout in progress, slow progress...

Hi Marty

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! … if a little late… well, quite a lot late.

Blame it all on the Festivities, that pesky chimney (which has remained dryish for over a week now) and monitoring Fflo's waste disposal system (much improved of late thankfully).

With the festivities over, I can now get back to the railway…. at least that's the theory. Many thanks for the info on static grass - I've only got the Gaugemaster starter set - just to try it, so I'd rather hear from someone who's actually done it, than read instructions written by folk who assume we already know how to use it. I'm going to try a patch on the hill between Hooton and the approach to Woodside first, if I can make a half decent job of it, I'll have a go at the recently finished tunnel mouths - watch this space…. there may be the odd tree as well….

All the freights have been put to bed, so just the setting up of the coaching stock at Woodside, and the fiddle yard, ready for the new morning to come, then the pilots can return to 6C, get the loco rosters sorted for the new day - including swapping some locos for ones that have steadfastly remained in their boxes for the past two years, and the end of the day can be formally declared. No doubt a photo or two to record it will appear in the gallery…. soon. Think it'll be 28 engines on 6C this time.

So, a pause for a month to do scenic and other things before we start the timetable all over again, at least this time I'll have a fully detailed script to follow. If past experience is anything to go by that'll be one of those elastic months, which have the habit of stretching and stretching and….. 

Keith

Well, only a week gone, but I have made a start. Woodside is now ready for the new day, whenever it happens to start, and the first swap has been made - the Derby lightweights have replaced the 108 set for use on the Helsby service. I doubt they ever reached Woodside, although they did appear across the Mersey… so perhaps this is a trial run….. or just modellers' licenece. Here they are entering Woodside.




… lovely model that.  My only complaint is the use of leds - they're far too bright, I think some coloured varnish on the lenses may help. One thing I must do with all the DMUs I have is get the destination boards changed to Birkenhead and Helsby, I'd like to do that by getting the new name behind the glass - has anybody done that? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Incidentally I bought the Lightweights way back in 2012 soon after it was reased, from Hereford Models, ticket price then £72.95 - the latest version of it today is now listed at £123.21 at Hattons… 69% increase over four years - this hobby of ours has certainly got a lot more expensive of late. A couple of other replacements : I'm taking one Class 5 and one 8F off the layout, to be replaced by a Bachmann 4F and the Hattons LE Gorton O4 (got this at a bargain price last year, it is £40 dearer now - bit of a sucker for a bargain, that's me). Gorton O4s were often on Bidston shed at the weekend, so I'm assuming that after 6F closed they were stabled at 6C, basically I'll make any excuse.

So Woodside (pl 1 - 4) looks like this now




In the morning the pilot will push two suburban coaches in front of the Lightweights in platform 1 for the 6.25 to Helsby - the railcar's first run is at 7.45 - in platform 2 the Centenary stock at the front of platform 2 (more modellers' licence here - never ever got to Woodside, I just like the look of them… and they were a bargain too!) will form the 5.55 to Chester. In platform 4 the five coaches form the 6.30 to Paddington - the London trains start early!





… in platform 5 is the early morning parcels, which the Metrovik will take as far as Crewe, having spent the night at Woodside. Next to that are the two coaches which form the first train of the day - the 5.12 to Helsby…. which actually starts from Rock Ferry. As I've no sensible way of starting a train other than from Woodside, the few which do start at Rock Ferry depart from the carriage sidings. I suppose If I'd done any planning at all before starting this epic I would have known about this and could have possibly arranged things differently. But me and planning just don't get on, so this is a reasonable compromise as any stock for a train starting at Rock Ferry would have come from the coach sidings south of Woodside anyway.

It did end up with 28 locos on 6C… doesn't include that shunter, on coal duty.





A few other figures…. 54 locos, 68 coaches (including parcels and sleepers), 100ish wagons on the layout at close of play.

Now I did mention trees….. how about this…. instant tree :





… that's not where it will end up, just a handy gap in the baseboard. OK, it doesn't look a lot like a tree, but with some extra "leaves" stuck on it and some dabs of pink paint it won't be that far off a cherry tree. I'll probably spray it with green paint first as over time it will fade. What is it?…. er, a plant - as opposed to a weed that is, which I've borrowed from the garden. My wide knowledge of flowers and stuff coming to the fore now. The various "bushes" are bits of lichen and moss collected in the garden - only lichen which has been blown off, or rained off the trees is used. Some of these have been sprayed, but the idea is to stick some "leaves" to them…. that's work in progress…. well, work not started.

I'm also trying Dave's buddleia method, although most of our flower heads are a bit lobsided… but this small one has possiblities:





…haven't actualy done anything to it yet, but I may be able to do something with it.

Just now the fiddle yard is a mess with stock and locos all over place - that'll be the next job - a few attempts to record the mess are in the gallery, along with a few other end of the day pics. So all I have to do now is get the fiddle yard ready for the new day - last time I put a couple of the early down trains in the loops under Woodside, and got others ready which don't rely on stock coming down from Birkenhead. This time I'm going to do detailed rosters for each engine - I think that will help me to keep tabs on what's going where if I don't operate the layout for a while…. which shouldn't happen…. but there again I don't make all the decisions here….. mutter, mutter….

That'll do for now

Keith

Well I was in the middle of this post, pressed the wrong key and ended up being asked about  a "Pocket"…computers!!!!

Right, try again…. Been suffering a bit of late… my back does it's thing every few years (a "souvenir" from our time on Mull) which means getting under the layout is a non starter, but now just about back to normal and progress to report.

That signal from Absolute Aspects I've mentioned a couple of times arrived - and over the last few days I've managed to get it installed :



.. must admit I'm quite pleased with it. The theatre box (I've got all the jargon now) displays 1 to 5, for the platforms at Woodside, and "C" for the carriage sidings. It's a pity that it is in a section of track which hasn't seen the ballaster yet… but this might just be the spur I needed to get on with it. It would be nice to finish off Woodside and the approach… it's just those slips… the one in Hooton took an eternity to get right after I ballasted it… but I really should get on with it!

Full details of the installation of the signal is in the Signals section…. and if I can remember how to do it again, here's the link…

 http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=14114&forum_id=74

… I really am beginning to believe I'm getting the hang of this…

Keith

[user=1798]Woodside[/user] wrote:

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 ……

Hi Keith,

Love the canopy above, How did to make that extra bit on the side? bits from the spares box is my guess, Looks really effective.

Like the idea of running to a timetable, something I have often thought about, but have never been able to pull off.

Brilliant work on the new aspect signal, well past my level of electrics.

G'day Keith,
I missed the post on the 13th… wow… I have plans for a schedule on NE and that set up of yours has me itching to get on with it. Not that mine will ever be that detailed or busy! To me, having a planned series of actions with reasons for each action, like your early train from Rockferry to Helsby, makes the railway come alive.
6C looks great with the locos on shed and I can hear the hustle and bustle of steam raising, coaling and fire dropping going on.
Good start on the trees. I use the strongest hold hair spray I can buy from the supermarket to glue the flock to my trees. Seems to work, if you can get unscented so much the better, if you can't… well… the ladies cueing up for a perm and a blow dry outside my layout room seem to get the message after a while
Very nice signal, looks solid and dependable… quality craftsmanship and well worth it. There is something about a layout with working signals on it.
Steady progress, keep at it.
cheers
Marty

S'mae Aaron

Apologies for the delay… don't get on this forum as much as I should…

Yes, the roof at Woodside did turn out better than I expected - but you did give me a problem about the extensions…. I built the roof about three years back, as ever no sign of any planning, so I couldn't actually remember how I built the extensions. So, put my grey cell to work, remembered I had a surplus of window panels after finishing the main roof (5 sets of Peco LK-20X), but couldn't remember why. Just now, after a lot more effort by the grey cell I remembered…. the sprues of glazing panels in the kits are 2 large and 2 small panels - each span of the roof requires 4 small and 3 large, so each span yields a spare large panel - and that is what I used for the canopy on platform 5. No plans, no measuring - but they were exactly the right size for what I wanted….similarly there is an extension on the far side covering the gap between the main roof and the station building…. again the large panels proved to be a perfect fit, even the main roof too - just fitted, I was expecting to have to move the tracks to make it fit, but no. The number of times this sort of thing has happened with this layout is really rather spooky…

Frames for the extensions are just plasticard, the frames between the panels are off-cuts of the girders provided for the main roof, and when they ran out, the rest were made up from plasticard. Awning again plasticard, with the 'planks' scored on with a blunt blade. The support struts, which do actually hold the extension in place, are bits of point control wire, mounting brackets from plasticard drilled to take the wire, with some insulation from other wire just to add a look of 'strength' at the brackets.

Everybody should have a timetable! For me, it makes any layout so much more interesting.

As to the electrics for the signal… if I can manage it, with my 50's/60s knowlege base, anybody can. It's just two switches, one for the main, one for the shunt so that when the signal is 'off', power goes to the rotary switch/ theatre box to light up the route. So, as it should be, set the road, and the indicator, then finally the signal. I'm afraid I haven't bothered with interlocking - that's a step too far. I must admit that most of the electrics, particularly this DCC stuff, on the forum is beyond me - I prefer to stick simple switches - I understand how switches work…. all this other stuff, no ta.

Keith

Hi Marty

Shopping yesterday… at least it's only once a week.

We are definitely singing from the same song sheet - for me a timetable makes all the difference - we're modelling a railway, so it's got to run like the real thing in my books. I'm sure you've got all the info you need for NE, but if it is of any interest I've got, along with many anoraks, a copy of the 1920 Bradshaws reprint - so I could put a copy of the timetable on the forum, at least a photo of it.

Trees haven't progressed as yet - I did buy some spray adhesive so I'll see how that goes. No hair spray in the house - Margaret has never used it… and I don't have enough of the necessary to need a spray, would probably find my head sticking to things if I did…. but if the glue doen't work I'll give it a try.

Again, same song sheet, working signals DO make a layout - for me they're as important as the rolling stock. I'd still like to motorise a disc signal, particularly for Hooton, but that could be a step too far…

Keith

Hi Keith,putting the timetable in a post will be a breach of copyright i'm afraid.

Hi Alan

I'd thought about that already, but decided if Marty could use the info - it will be simpler to just list the trains… all six of them each way per day, nowt on Sunday…. as opposed to 55/62 per day I'm trying to deal with at Birkenhead….. perhaps I should have gone for somewhere a bit quieter… there again, this is my BIG project!

Keith

Thanks for the thought Keith. While interested in the Bradshaw I do have a detailed set of timetables for the NE branch through the years from the GWR Journal article that kicked it all off all those years ago.

However, history has changed somewhat and the line now runs through to a port at Cardigan (St Dogmaels) and is a lot busier than it was…

The timetable will expand accordingly but all in good time.

Cheers

Marty

[user=1798]Woodside[/user] wrote:

Hi Alan

I'd thought about that already, but decided if Marty could use the info - it will be simpler to just list the trains… all six of them each way per day, nowt on Sunday…. as opposed to 55/62 per day I'm trying to deal with at Birkenhead….. perhaps I should have gone for somewhere a bit quieter… there again, this is my BIG project!

Keith

Keith,you could always email the timetable to Marty.

Hi Alan

I've used the message service a few times, just for a simple e-mail.  From what you say I can attach a photo from my gallery to a message?…. instructions please…… also I've noticed a few posts, like yours, including a section of a previous post…. again simple instructions please…. for a simple soul. I'll get the hang of it all, eventually, just takes a while……

Keith

Hi Keith,as far as adding a photo to a message is concerned couldn't be easier.Click the centre box above where you are typing the message(pm),"insert existing photo from gallery" and choose the photo you want to use by clicking again.The photo will now appear in your post,click "enter" a couple of times to give you a gap between the photo and add any text you want.

To add a quote,at the bottom of the post where you click "reply" there is a "quote" button,click this in the post you want to quote and the text will appear in your current reply post.You can highlight what you don't want,if any,and delete it.Hope this helps,why not try it out in the test forum.

Hi Alan

Thank you - had a feeling that was how to do it, but preferred to check, just in case - feel a bit like a bull in a china shop with all this up to date computer stuff, with the potential to do serious damage if I hit the wrong key.
Been fighting an e-mail on our machine today which AVG detected as having a trojan horse in an attachment, AVG got rid of it, but left the e-mail hanging in the outbox blocking other e-mails. All's well now - but it reminded me why we both got out of computing back in '85  after 18 years knee deep in things….. knew what we were talking about then!

Keith

Hi Keith

I have been sporadically following your thread, in lurking mode , for some time. I loved that shot of the shed a few posts back:thumbs

My fictional Granby is somewhat to the south of Birkenhead (its exact location is a bit elastic Wrexham/Oswestry)  and most trains passing through are heading to and from Woodside. In consequence I am fascinated by the timetable you are working from.

A couple of questions if I may. You mentioned the London train of 5 coaches…..is this from the timetable or amended to suit your layout?

Secondly I am building a milk train sequence from Shrewsbury via Granby to Birkenhead…….will this have to be fiction or was there such a train in which case when did it and the empties return run?

Many thanks

Kind regards from Vancouver

John

Hi John

Apologies for the delay in replying, windfarms and shopping, the usual excuses.

I don't spend as much time as I should on the forum, there again if I did progress at Woodside would be even slower. Please keep lurking! - I've just had a look at Granby, wow, that is seriously a different league to anything I'm trying to achieve - magnificent! - given that we started the layouts at roughly the same time the difference is embarassing…

Interesting that we have something of a connection with Woodside, give or take a few years.

All my info is from the fifties/sixties era, so I'm not too sure how it relates to pre nationalisation days, but I would have thought things wouldn't be that different. London trains were usually six coaches from Birkenhead, with a restaurant car (to some trains) and additional coaches added at Shrewsbury. I've had to trim one coach off the London trains - my Woodside station can accomodate seven, well six and a half, coach trains - but the storage loops under Woodside do, during the rush hours, need to hold two trains in each loop - six coach trains are a problem. I do run six coaches with the London Sleeper (2 sleepers, 4 coaches) - a ridiculously early start at 20.55, but the rush hour is long passed. Most London trains were taken down to Chester with a 2-6-4T,  occasionally a Stanier Crab/Crab (the Crabs became more popular at the death), as the 'real' engine was hooked on at Chester - usually a Castle.

As to a milk train, well, I bought some milk wagons a while back (another one of my famous bargains) with the idea of running a milk train up to Birkenhead - purely because on my last layout (1963!) I had a single line branch which ran around to a dairy. I've no idea if milk trains ever made it to Birkenhead, probably more likely in your era than mine. As I've no space to have a dairy on the layout - it became an oil depot, yet to be built, but more in keeping with Elesmere Port  just down the line -  I thought about it being off the layout just south of Woodside, so the empties would arrive in the goods yard after visiting the dairy, to be marshalled for their return trip - there being no crossover on the mainline at the dairy….. that's just about plausible….. and would give the engine a chance to visit 6C before returning.

Hope this is useful - I've got timetables for 60,61, a reprint of Bradshaw from 1922, and two others from 55 and 59, so if you think I can help, please just ask.

Cofion

Keith

Hi Keith

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. I am sorry for the delayed acknowledgement…..I have been in bed for the last two days:sad:

Thats very useful information about the length of the passenger trains and the Loco change at Chester…….before nationalisation Chester-Birkenhead was a joint line and I believe they used to alternate GWR and LMS locos and stock……havent worked out how I am going to replicate that yet!

I wouldnt want to cause you a lot of bother but if the 1955 timetable mentions a Milk Train it would be great to know what time it reached the Wirral……just so I can work back for my mythical timetable

Again many thanks

John

Hi John

Trust you're fully recovered now. Sorry, only passenger timetables - the 55 one is a moth-eaten Bradshaws I obtained, so any passenger queries, no problem.

All Birkenhead trains heading down the GWR route changed engines at Chester - came in at the north end of Station and went out the same way - freight used the avoiding line across the top of the "Y" if you see what I mean. In my day they used the two bay platforms at Chester, as we pulled in to one bay platform you saw, standing in the adjacent platform, what was taking the train on, as I mentioned before, usually a Castle. As soon as we came to a halt the new engine was on the crossover and backing on - as soon as it was coupled up, the original engine was uncoupled. Didn't take them long, in '61 (what I'm running now) two of the London trains are timetabled for just seven minutes for the turnaround, but mostly it was more like 10 - 11 minutes. The only services which went through Chester were the two TC London Euston trains each day - one got tacked onto the back of the Emerald Isle Express in Chester, the other travelled on to Crewe were it was added to a Bleckpool - Euston train (UP) or a Liverpool - Euston train (DOWN). I've started rambling on again…..

If I get this milk train incorporated into my timetable I'm thinking of a late afternoon/early evening arrival at the dairy with a return trip around 9ish.

Cofion

Keith

Thanks Keith…..I am up and about now:thumbs

That was another very useful post…………I do a number of loco xchanges, all automatically with RR&Co, and I have never been quite certain how much additional delay to build in……..sounds like not very much…..thank you!

They were the sort of timings I was thinking of for the Milk Train but I was just guessing…..feel more confident now

Cheers

 

About time I updated what little progress I've made of late. Been somewhat distracted with the fight against yet another windfarm in mid Wales… all our efforts came to nought as approval was granted last week - so now we will have the joy of seeing thirteen 420 foot turbines on the hills just a couple of miles up the road from here, as the peace and tranquility for which mid Wales was once famous, takes another battering…. progress is a wonderful thing…

I digress. Mike's array of Metcalfe kits on Quernaby New set me thinking about those kits I bought a while back… for a project to have a sort of docks/warehouse backdrop behing the goods shed… and so I set to making up the Warehouse kit in low relief form



Can't add the roof yet - depends on how it sits against the back wall/ceiling of the loft. One thing that corner is quite dark, so I'll need lighting - but as I've already made up the joining wall as per the kit (black background behind the windows) I'll fit some of my standard lamps under the connecting bridge.



I know all about lights and cardboard buildings, I have at least used plasticard for the shades this time, rather than my usual paper, but basically the lights are never on for long periods so I'm quite happy. The bulbs are 3V gow which I bought ages back, for reasons which are now beyond me.

As for the main buildings, as the kit includes 'floors' I'll need a lamp for each floor - so I've used more of these 3V in series with the bridge lamps - so that gives two sets of 5 bulbs, which with a 12v supply shouldn't be too bright, I'll leave alternate connections uncovered so it will be easy to find the offending bulb when the lights go out. For fitting the bulbs for the floors I've used similar idea as I used for the additional lighting in the fiddle yard.



… makes for easy replacement when the time comes. I've trimmed the roof to fit the ceiling of the loft, no picture of that, all that is needed now is a "griming down" of the whole thing, with my standard very watery black emulsion. For me it makes the whole thing look more natural - all my earlier Metcalfe buildings are still pristine, but eventually they'll all get the same treatment. The trick with the watery emulsion is to apply it very carefully, too much and you end up with curved walls when it dries out.




..OK, I missed that white edge, it has since been further attacked after I saw the photo. Eventually it will stand behind the goods shed. I've got another warehouse kit to link this kit to a small factory kit which will have it's platform alongside the far line from the goods shed.



You can see now why I need some lights.

I've also spent a while studying the timetables for 1960, I've been thinking of going back one year - so I can use my recently acquired green coach on the through service to Bournemouth. Apparently it was not unusual to see a green coach in Woodside when the Bournemouth service was running - the last year was 1960 - must admit I never saw one, there again I was always up at the shed. Anyway, there were some major differences betwen 60 and 61 - perticularly with the timings at Hooton, with all trains given an arrival and departure time… which may well give me some problems with the storage loops under Woodside… so for now I'll run through '61 again first, while working on 60… and that green coach will have to stay in the box.

Finally, I saw Dave's trees on Langley Junction last November, and reckoned on having a go "in a couple weeks"…. four months on… that's pretty good for me…. I've had a go. Dave used Buddleia flower heads before the seeds formed… I collected some from the garden, but shapewise and sizewise they weren't ideal. Last month I noticed the seed heads on our neighbour's Buddleia, seeds formed and gone, and had a whole wet winter to survive, so I've used them and some of the top small heads on our trees and decided to finall give it a go. A couple of the seed heads …




and some potential poplars



So as per Dave's method, sprayed green, then when dry spray on some glue and then sprinkle some foliage over the tree… and hey presto… a tree




… there's actually not a lot of foliage on this, most of it stuck to my fingers…. but I'll get better, eventually. Most of what look like leaves are the seed casings. For a tree of this size I think the base of the trunk is a bit on the thin side, so I fattened it up a bit usining kitchen towel, and yes, that stuck to me more than the tree as well, think I went a bit too thick, some brown paint added as well.



… that's not where the tree is going, just a handy gap in the baseboard. Anyway I've planted them all for now in my green undercoated plaster hill just to see what they look like.



Defintely not up to Dave's standard, but a useful first effort. That tall one is bending in the wind - that's a terrible excuse for using a bent seed head - did try to straighten a few……unsuccessfully. This autumn I'll collect the heads at the right time, and with a better technique for applying the foliage (I've made myself a shaker, rather than sprinkling the stuff over the tree) I should be able to produce a half decent forest.

So that's brought you up to date… 1961 timetable about to start, apart form the Derby Lightweights, the other newcomers are



the Hattons LE O4 (a Gorton engine, so fine for Birkenhead), a 4F and the Midland pattern DPV… and this photo also highlights yet another half finished job (I'm real expert at this) namely the rest of the point rodding at Woodside.

More progress to follow…eventually

Keith