GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

After receiving such a warm welcome I thought I had better start my layout thread on the forum. Although, after looking at some of the layouts here, I have some misgivings because I know I am quite incapable of achieving the skill levels I have seen.

I should make it clear from the outset I describe myself as a coarse gauge modeller….I use Peco Code 100 after all ……I tend to use a broad brush approach and strive to suggest an overall atmosphere in terms of time and place although from time to time I do get side tracked into detail;-).

I dont aim for perfection rather I want the layout to look plausible as a whole. I really appreciate feedback where I have got something fudamentally wrong.

Operationally the layout is my first attempt at DCC (Lenz), to which I have added RR&Co computor control. I am very enthusiastic about this system and either here, or in a separate topic, I will write about some of my experiences.

One problem I am not sure how to deal with…..I have had a topic on this layout running in RMWeb for about 18 months describing the progress of the layout to date. While initially I appeared to be talking to myself, I now get a reasonable amount of comment. So I intend to to keep the thread there as well. This means that this thread will be out of sync for a while, until I catch up………..and I guess I run the risk of boring those of you who have read it on the other forum. Anyway I will crash on as quickly as I can.

Just prior to retirement, we moved into a smaller house but…. big plus….. a larger Railway Room;-)  The space for the layout measures 18' x 10'. It is essentially a rectangle with 2 long runs each 18' x 2' 8" and short 8' connecting sections at each end




This was taken in about September 2008. The bits of track on the left hand side and the models on the right hand side were recovered from my previous layout. The following shot shows the entrance way which will be eventually bridged by a duck under

 




The plan was to have storage yards on the right hand side that would then sweep round to connect on either side with the long left hand section where there will be a medium sized  terminus and 8 road engine shed.  

The storage yards are about 24" wide and are fronted at a lower level by an 11" wide branch line.


 

 


 I intended to use RR&Co to do a lot of automatic coupling so you can see I have already fitted the Kaydee Magnets…..probably a good example of my coarse approach…..they are very obtrusive and un prototypical…..but I already had them and I had to buy (and wire) all the other DCC gizmos…………Point Decoders and Occupancy Detectors which are (a) essential for what I wanted to achieve and (b) expensive  



The intent was to conceal the storage yard by a retaining wall and terraced houses




 I think I will wrap up the storage sidings now even though I actually completed the branch trackwork first. Its probably easier to follow……so I started the sidings in January 09 and finished them sometime in the summer…………these shots arent great but you can get the general idea

 


 

There are 10 roads…….5 up (left) and 5 down (right) but conected so that down trains can enter the up sidings.

 I have now worked out a routine in RR&Co where a down train can enter the up siding in the right foreground, uncouple, pull clear of the carriages and then a loco in the spur moves out, couples with the carriages and heads back to the terminus on the up line…..the first loco then backs into the spur ready for the next circuit………..all untouched by human hand (well mostly)…..quite amazing

The sidings can accommodate trains of up to 8' in length, although some are divided into smaller blocks of 3' or so. All in all I can accommodate 13 trains of varying lenghts plus 14 relief locos.

There is a two road exit at the near end  (for convenience I will call this the canal end because eventually there will be one!)

This shows the exit and 3 of the loco spurs…..the space at the side is for a colliery……2011?


 

The shot is fortunately sufficiently out of focus to conceal my less than stellar trackwork! 



This gives a good idea of the relationship between the branch and the storage area .





The problem with a rectangle is that you get corners on the inside and outside of the curve that you have to landscape.   So at the other end of the layout (Brewery end), in the background, you can see the first corner starting to fill with some terraced houses…..the first of many…..believe me

 This is a closer shot of the same area

 


 

The loco in the spur is part of the run around routine I described earlier.

So this is another out of focus shot of the 4 road exit at the Brewery end…..there is very little space because of the planned trackwork at the lower level…………so I have to use a flat backscene.

 




The road is climbing slightly because I decided to make the left hand (terminus boards) 1" higher than the storage yards……..enabling me to have a long 2 road storage yard for the branch under the terminus. Its a fairly gentle incline about 1:100 whereas the climb from the branch to the main line…….you can see the start of this in the foreground…..is rather more extreme  1: 40. I am a bit worried about this because although I operate with a minimum radius of 36" the combination of curve and incline may prove a problem for the long (7') coal trains I want to run…….but I wanted to bank anyway! 

A closer shot of the exit




This shot is so clear you can see I didnt model the interior…:twisted:……..another item for the to do list

 

The rear corner is landscaped with Metcalfe Terraced Houses and a Mill and some scatch built items that I salvaged from the last layout.

Out of focus again…..stick with me I get better….honest. Since the photo was taken I have moved the flat school bit from the middle…..it doesnt look right……I may eventually drop some more Metcalfe units in……you will see more shots later assuming I havent totally bored you.



 

naturally they were facing the wrong way so all the detailing I did 8 years ago is lost so I had to detail the backs with Wills drainpipes etc:twisted:




You can really see how incongruous the school was here. In the foreground the Down Relief and Down Main Tracks…..I only ballast as far as this

Here is another shot showing the empty inner corner………




…….. the filling of which I will describe in my next post.  Yes I know I have to move the picture:oops:

OK thats it for now 18 months modelling in one long post……hope I havent bored anyone too much…..I just find it easier to write in a narrative format…..we are now at October of this year………….a post on the terraced houses…….another one or two on the branch…..maybe one on the electrickery and we are in real time

Kind Regards from a very cold Vancouver (they cancelled my Grandaughter's soccer game)

This a stuning layout and another GWR one to boot :thud, never mind we all have our cross's to bear .

I like the way you filled the corners and your backscenes. One thing i will say is we never get bored with pics on here so post away.

Phill

Nice one, John.  I'm looking forward to seeing it porgress. :thumbs

Cracking layout John…coming on a treat.Post as many pictures as you like,we're hungry for as many as we can get….and videos of the action too!!!

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

that is a nice layout John, in the kind of space i would love to have
looking forward to some vids of the system working, if and when you find time.

:doublethumblol::cool:

Very nice layout John

And a lot of work carried out in just over a year, I don't use Rmweb so it I am looking forward to reading your updates regarding the past and also the future developments on the layout.

How have you covered the corners of all your Metcalf kits, have you used extra paper or used a coloured pen, as they look a lot better than most I have seen.

A very nice layout John i can see you like operating trains you certainly have an eye for creating depth of field with how you done your buildings leading to backscenes.

It must be a bit of a stretch to reach the back of the thicker sections of baseboard do you stand on something when you need to do that?

Thats good  progress in 18 months especially on a layout that size another 18 months and you should be much further on.

Ilook forward to lots of updates

cheers Brian

That looks good John and I love those Metcalfe terraces - really good modelling of you town scene. :thumbs

 

 Coming along nicely, John. I would love to have that much room for a layout :thumbs

Excellent stuff John, I live those terraces.

Very nice John looking forward to more updates :thumbs

All in all I can accommodate 13 trains of varying lenghts plus 14 relief locos.

Mr. Kohlers investment into new tooling for the Castle class seems money well spent. Or did the GWR not use the Castle class in North Wales?

This will be a great layout to watch trains. I am looking forward for lots of pictures to come. And long video sessions of trains running!

Thomas

Thanks for all the kind remarks guys……I normally try and reply immediately but some non railway issues came up.

A couple of you mentioned videos……I will need a tutorial on how to upload it……my camera doesnt have video capabilty but I suspect my daughters' do…..and it would make the routines clearer

I havent got the hang of multi quotes yet…..probably need a tutorial there as well

Alan: I use a 000 brush and watercolours to paint the cut lines and edges it takes a little time but I think it is worth it

Brian: I have long arms…….but the corner sections is out of reach without steps but its essentially static…..I sometimes use the steps to access the back roads in the storage yard

[user=27]FS[/user] wrote:

All in all I can accommodate 13 trains of varying lenghts plus 14 relief locos.

Mr. Kohlers investment into new tooling for the Castle class seems money well spent. Or did the GWR not use the Castle class in North Wales?

This will be a great layout to watch trains. I am looking forward for lots of pictures to come. And long video sessions of trains running!

Thomas

Well its North Wales….Wrexham…. Chester…..Birkenhead…….so I was hoping to use Counties and Halls on the Main as well as Manors and a Grange which, with DCC is undoubtedly the best loco I have. The new Castle isnt released yet is it? I have an older Castle but the chip is malfunctioning…..its on the cripple line 


You guys were very kind about the terraces so tonight I will try and complete my description of the back scene with shots of the longest Metcalfe Terrace in…….maybe not the world but probably Canada……

Kind Regards from Vancouver…..still sunny and cold

 

 

In this post I want to cover the terraced houses and retaining wall that separate and conceal the storage yards from the branch.



Metcalfe 1/2 relief terraces. I mount these in modules so they can easily be removed to access the storage yards behind……you can see the break by the bike.

I paint the cut/score lines with watercolour…..you can see where I overdid it above the bike. I also paint the lintels….. some are a very unrealistic pristine white. I do a bit of weathering but I should do more. Given hindsight these should be stone to match the walls and station buildings but I went down the red brick road many years ago so I'm stuck




In this close up you can see the Wills drain pipe detailing…….broad brush but it conceals the joins. The roof joins are concealed with Tile paper. When the wall is in place it hides the join between the pavement and road

Here is a long shot above the station

 



 

The walls are Langley units……some are 15 years old and this is their 3rd layout. The "Ivy" conceals honourable service scars.

The older units are naturally weathered and toned down…..the newer ones less so …..its a bit of a challenge to avoid it looking too obvious

 




Moving to the left towards the Brewery End there is a module of 1/2 relief shops

 




Although I have been careful to avoid TV shops, Pizza Takeaways and other time period giveaways a guy in another forum pointed out, quite rightly, that the Fascia lettering is still a big giveaway……you did not see those fonts (the Newsagent is a glaring example) in 1947……at some stage I will have to do some remedial work 






Since this photo I have added another terraced module and I think I still need one more

Here is a shot from the other angle looking towards the Brewery end




You will recall in my first post I showed an empty inner corner 





This is how I filled it……………….yes more Metcalfe kits









I have mixed feelings about this…..I already had the units so it was very quick and easy but it is again questionable if you would see this in 1947 and you certainly wouldnt in the dirty gritty Welsh mining town I am trying to portray……as I wrote somewhere else too prosperous and too smug……..it will have to go sometime.

On the other hand it has made the town busier and justifies more intensive operation of the branch than I had initially planned

I really like Iain Rice's books and he believes for layouts to be plausible (my aim) they should have certain definitive signature items…….in his book on Industrial Layouts he states a skewed road bridge is a key signature element in a Welsh industrial town:

 









The substantial bridge support on the left hand side conceals two surface mounted point motors…….but thats another story when I get round to the electrickery

I will leave you with another building site




This is the inner corner beyond the bridge…..you can see the bridge support in the foreground. This is the site of the Branch Sub Shed which I will describe next post. You can see the coal stage,the shed road and a little siding for the Ash Wagon etc.

The grey ballasted track are the start of the branch climbing the 1:40 incline to the main track……the track in the foreground is a secondary branch staying at the lower level and leading towards the brewery


The sharp eyed will not a different style of wall. These are Wills…..I ran out of Langley but luckily the bridge hides the split!


So that covered a few weeks work in an hour…..we are up to mid October 2009 now!

Kind Regards from Vancouver

 

 

 

 

This is one heck of a layout mate, loads to see and still more when you look again. As for you saying that corner you done looks out of place, well with some severe weathering etc it look ok. Anyhow as the saying go's its your layout, run and put anything you like on it, :doublethumb.

Look forward to the next installment.

Phill

Thanks for the encouragement Phil.........you are either up very late or very early......it must 4 am Thursday in the UK......its still Wednesday here!

Great run of photographs, John.  It is like I have been around for a visit. :thumbs

Most impressive! thumbs:thumbs

Thomas

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

….you are either up very late or very early……it must 4 am Thursday in the UK……its still Wednesday here!

Well always up by 3am every day, habit i supose. Its Thursday here.

Phill

Lots of good work there, John.
Look forward to seeing your weathering.

Particularly like the rusty road bridge panels.