Back To My Childhood(i Never Left It Really)

[Arty]

Morning Christopher

Being at work at the moment I can't go and measure it but it must be 4ft 'ish, it is that height because I used a shelf that was there already and extended that around the garage.
It's a great viewing height and excellent as a work height when standing and twiddling with"small" rolling stock etc.

My spotting era was the late 50s and 60s, so the attitude to anything diesel was a bit negative, but being an easy going sort, I quite like anything that moves on rails - steam, diesel and electric of any origin.

I have got a Peak amongt my fleet, again it needs a bit of TLC.

Richard

 

[Steve Cook]

Actually Steve it's another, built and painted by a friend - ready to go on Ebay !

Richard

So there's two of them then As nice at would be seeing them (or just one) rattle around the garage, they wouldn't be a patch on what you're actually doing
Steve

 

[Arty]

Well I'm still at it, 3 circuits of track laid and a few points thrown in amongst it all.
Here's a few vids

 

[ceejaydee]

Great little vids but I especially like the pair of 20s and the 30 wagon (I think) train.

 

[Arty]

Having now a branch line about to be attached to my mainline, I need to come up with a name for the mainline station and maybe rename Boomers Wood ( is that bad luck ?)
I don't want go the "Stackton Tressel" route, I want it to sound believable but not naff.

Does anyone have a formula for the perfect layout name ?

Rich

 

[Dog Star]

Ask someone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Better, ask a model forum

Even more so, ask WT and watch the fall-out lively discussion

regards, Graham

 

[Simon]

Very good question, isn't there a formula for being a certain type of film star where you take your pets name and add your mother maiden name, or something like that?

"Dusty Pilcher" - works for me

So what's the model railway station name equivalent then?

I think looking at maps of places you like is quite good, when I was imagining a railway from High Wycombe to Bath some years ago, like you do, I found the fantastic place name of "Golden Balls" - which was clearly going to have a station!

As it happens, Wenbridge is likely to be re-named as I am re-imagining West Country railway history, I am hovering around places north of Launceston at the moment.

I look forward to others' ideas for this most important of model railway activities

Simon

(waiting for a delivery and drinking tea)

 

[Dog Star]

Very good question.... when I was imagining a railway from High Wycombe to Bath some years ago, like you do....

Simon

(waiting for a delivery and drinking tea)

Why imagine a line from High Wycombe? that is, why HW?

Just as puzzling... how do you "wait for.... drinking tea"? I tried that exercise and found that I would be waiting a long time for the tea kept dis-appearing as I drank.

regards, Graham

 

[Simon]

Why imagine a line from High Wycombe? that is, why HW?

Just as puzzling... how do you "wait for.... drinking tea"? I tried that exercise and found that I would be waiting a long time for the tea kept dis-appearing as I drank.

regards, Graham

Because a schoolfriend from Bath was at college at HW and I had just moved that way from Bath and so we were imagining a railway landscape that linked us with a place we missed. Thinking about it now, it also went way further east from HW into the grain producing areas as we had both just been on the "Fakenham Flyer" and were very taken with the freight railway then still in operation.

We weren't lacking in imagination

Some deliveries have arrived & tea gone cold. It was bilge anyway - I think I'll make another

Simon

 

[Dog Star]

... I had just moved that way from Bath and so we were imagining a railway landscape that linked us with a place we missed. Thinking about it now, it also went way further east from HW into the grain producing areas as we had both just been on the "Fakenham Flyer".... We weren't lacking in imagination

Some deliveries have arrived & tea gone cold. It was bilge anyway - I think I'll make another

Simon

Seems to me that Sir Edward Watkin must have been one of your ancestors . An interesting answer and one which needs prodding.... given that there are only three "easy" ways out of the River Wye valley at HW then either your proposed railway would have had to request running powers over the Great and Wonderful incumbent or the interloper would have needed some serious gradients and lengthy tunnels to escape the clutches of the GWR. Which did you choose?

No doubt the tea went cold because you waited too long... if the tea is bilge then try another tea bag (cue memory of Arthur Haines and the tramp/tea sketch).

regards, Graham

 

[Simon]

.... given that there are only three "easy" ways out of the River Wye valley at HW then either your proposed railway would have had to request running powers over the Great and Wonderful incumbent or the interloper would have needed some serious gradients and lengthy tunnels to escape the clutches of the GWR. Which did you choose?

I'm not sure topography was our strong point

The friend was Brian Clarke, and this was the era in which he made some lovely Lee Moor Tramway wagons amongst other things. The best thing I managed was a 4mm dilly wagon using some tiny wheels that Brian turned up for me. I've still got it - now that would be a good "quick and easy" 1/32 modelling project

Simon

Bilgewise I fear it was the milk, thankfully now replaced courtesy of the co-op.

 

[Arty]

Here's a few pics on wiring the train set.
I was originally heading towards DCC and bought an NCE powercab so I could play with the sound equipped 08 and 25 that I had many a noisy evening with.
But the thought of converting all my locos to run on basically three ovals seemed a bit of a pointless and expensive exercise, especially after the continuous throb of engines wore a bit thin.
So they went on Ebay and I reverted to analogue.
I had started wiring the layout with DCC in mind and had decided to bond each length of track to three separate buss
lines, so I completed the wiring to that system with isolated crossings between the loops.
Around the front of the baseboards runs a 37mm x 25mm plastic conduit with a snap off cover, droppers in 1/0.6mm wire soldered to the rail feeds through the top of the board and through to the heavier buss wires within the conduit

Under the removable bridging section, the buss lines continue via XLR connectors at each end with flying leads to connect to the main boards





The feeds to the buss system terminates in three connectors, one for each loop, at three points around the trackwork so the controllers can be plugged in wherever takes my fancy.

And it works great.
There are two other buss lines for 12v/24/ for lights I may wish to stick around the layout, or plug my 12v vacuum to clean the loose ballast.
I shall also add some analogue meters to monitor volts and current and also some bi-colour LEDs as a quick check on the track polarity relative to its neighbour when crossing between tracks.

Isn't it exciting !

Rich