Dublingham Goods Station

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Ok, here's the first track panel, constructed from one PECO code 100 setrack panel, with PECO individulay Pandrol clips and code 75 rail for the centre rail. The code 75 rail is a fraction lower than the running rail height, so I may use code 83 to aid track cleaning. The setrack base is polystyrene so glues perfectly with liquid poly. The nose of my nearly finished black 08 can be seen sneaking into shot.







Tony

 

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Having changed the gears in my Wrenn 08's I did need to run them in, and having also recently purchased a Dapol 08, I wondered if I could make a dual gauge rolling road for almost nothing.

So this is in the build stage, it's a black perspex "tray" with aluminium brackets and roller bearings from eBay. The basic idea is to have the aluminium butted up for my 3 rail items but split apart for the O gauge. There is a third set of bearings "in the works". The brackets will be bolted to the perspex in the right places for different wheelbases. Power leads will also be fitted. The pic shows it in 3 rail mode, but move the right-hand brackets to the right to butt against the perspex side and you have the O gauge width.

It needs fettling in various places, for example to clear the Wrenn 08 coupling rods, but should be fine for the Dapol.

Cost so far, £12 for the bearings, everything else is offcuts.

Tony

 

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The first of three 08 shunters are coming along, should be enough locos to cover for failures at exhibition now! Handrails, maybe some weathering, painting the black screw on the roof (!) and varnish to go.
Tony

 

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Ok, for some time now I've been experimenting with Switchlist, a US Mac based program for generating lists of 'freight cars to switch', shunting wagons to us on this side of the pond.

SwitchList | Southern Pacific in San Jose

I've never quite got the hang of why I need it, but somehow I think I will need it for this project, so I'll persevere until I prove myself wrong.
Tony

 

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Whilst on software, I've been using Railmodeller Pro layout planning software to finalise the layout, I've switched from SCARM, simply because it's Mac based. Using software is useful to enable 1:1 printing. This is version 10d, so it's been through a lot of revisions already. Faired in 14" computer monitor hides curved sector plate/fiddle yard, dark band is a road overbridge, and round ends simply because I like them in preference to square ends.

Each small square on the plan is 5cm, so it's 170cm long by 45cm deep, I now need to double check it can go in the car and then make adjustments as necessary.
Tony

 

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Found a copy on eBay of the District Controller's View : No.3 Marylebone Rugby, P. Stears, Xpress Publishing, it's a fascinating book that gives a genuine insight in how the GC was run over a 24 hour period. Shows how difficult the south end of the London extension was to run as the Met had priority over all GC traffic and there were no goods loops to speak of. It's clear that whilst there was a timetable, it was quite difficult to stick to and a lot of ingenuity was needed to keep the service running, every day! You start to get a real insight in what it takes to run a railway, and whilst I always give railway staff the benefit of the doubt when I see other commuters complaining, occasionally I get frustrated, but now I really do have an insight in how they try keep to time.

Tony

 

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I've finished reading the Cameo book, pretty much cover to cover now, and can concur with Iain's view on the modern mini (pg.99) and am cruelly reminded about North Leith. I once completed the baseboards for a 2mm version (all of it) and got as far as the track laying only to eventually see it skipped following a house move. I was proud of that set of baseboards as I had developed a wooden space frame baseboard that was what Colin Chapman would have designed if he'd been into model railways and had just finished a stint on the DH Mosquito production line... Apparently.

 

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In an effort to increase my knowledge of the operation and trackwork side of this project, I've bought the following books.

GWR Goods Train Working

GWR GOODS TRAIN WORKING VOL 2

Forgotten Railway Infrastructure - photographs from the Wallis Collection

All good reads and highly recommended.

I've also been researching various goods stations, such as the GWR South Lambeth and the MR Birmingham Central goods stations, the former for it's 20 century architecture and the latter for how a self contained operation might work. Birmingham Central like Scotland Street also had a tunnel entrance so perfectly placed for the modeller.

Images directly linked from the Warwickshire Railways website to avoid copyright infringement. All images © Warwickshire Railways.

Birmingham Central Goods Station

 

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Midland Record 17 has the following 1887 OS plan of the first Birmingham Central depot, then called Worcester Wharf. This track plan with it's reverse curves and five tracks is almost like my plan above. But on looking at the cartographer's plan, the track layout does some strange things, the run round goes through the goods shed, that can't right and throat layout means the southernmost siding leaves wrong road. Of course the cartographer could be wrong or the layout was in transition as the Midland was continually expanding this depot at this time, there is also strange piece of trackwork marooned below the southernmost siding.

None of this really matters, but I'm now saying Dublingham Goods was planned to be a similarly large depot but the traffic never materialised leaving just five roads.

The image is © Crown Copyright, courtesy Wild Swan Publications. (I claim 'fair use' under UK copyright law)

 

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I've made a test rig to test the HD/simplex couplings, I'm using the PECO HD uncoupler, product code SL-30 for those that want one (ha ha!) and amazingly still in production. (we all know Peco held the patent for the HD couplings and licensed it to HD don't we?)

Anyway, it uncouples very well, no problems, so does it's job perfectly. However, I am let down by the metal HD couplings, because they don't like re-coupling, the plastic ones work well, less friction. But that's not really the problem, what you may not get from the pic below is that the third rail cannot be used through the uncoupler because it raises up the collector shoe, so my 08 being short will stall and not have the reach to pick up wagons on the other side of the uncoupler. Mind you, I do have plans for a Dublo 8F with 60:1 gears...

This is not bad news for the project, because in the October 2014 Railway Modeller contained an article on using the HD/simplex coupler the writer explained the use of a simple shunting stick. I have since tested with the rounded end of a small paint brush and found that the 'hand of god shunting stick' works extremely well and importantly very quickly. It's aided by the fact that the wagons do not have pin point bearings so don't move easily.

So that's coupling/uncoupling sorted, and to think Mr Rice didn't even mention the simplex coupler as a suitable option in the Cameo book...

Reading this post again I can't quite believe I am writing in 2018, but then March's BRM is the 'Vintage Issue', so maybe I am in vogue!!

 

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I've noticed a strange time format in working timetables for a while now but didn't think too much about it, I was generally annoyed by it as it is little difficult to immediately decipher being used to the 24 hour clock, or military clock as it turns out it also can be referred to, another aspect I had no knowledge of until now.

So times described as 8.5 or 11/1 are in fact 08:05 and 23:01 in 24 hour format and UK railways almost exclusively used this format right up to 1965 according to one internet source. The dot refers to AM and the slash PM, with no unnecessary zeros.

I will apply this format to the accompanying monitor display of the timetable.

This is something I should have been aware of, so thanks to Midland Record No.18 pg.65 for putting me right!

 

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Here's the latest layout plan for the cameo, after reading up on the operation of Birmingham Central, I felt a run round might be advisable as whilst some trains were propelled into the yard, there was still a need for a run round combined with arrival & departure roads. My arrival & departure area has been combined into one road. I've also managed to only add one extra point, which will be a relief as the wiring for '3 railed' PECO points will be a little complicated.

The cameo section is now a little larger at 1.25m, up from 1.1m, with a larger fiddle yard. The shape of the layout has gone more conventional as a result and possibly a little easier to build. I do have some blue foam sheets that maybe could become the basis of the layout AKA Longwood Edge style construction, with completely removable facia and lighting.

 

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A couple of flat knot free sheets of 5.5mm exterior plywood were procured today for the baseboards. I'm looking at a ply and wood frame supporting the blue foam, rather similar to how this US modeller uses pink foam.

Construction Log

He and others in the US have described not having a ply baseboard top, stuck to the foam, just sticking items directly to the foam, again similar to the Longwood Edge pics in the Cameo book.

 

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Thought I should actually measure the stock including distance between couplings and check all sits in the sidings and fiddle yard as planned with the timetable, so produced the following diagram to assist. It does mean the run round has moved, and also includes a brake van, which could be left at the end of the run round I suppose. My milk dock can unload two tankers at a time, meaning the tanks need to be swapped, and the perishable depot is not long enough to unload all the wagons, so these to are my shunting inconveniences. The cattle dock at the end of the pair of mileage sidings, needs a little more space to allow road vehicles to pass between the run round so that this siding could also accommodate general merchandise. The 08 is marked up in black.

No idea if any of this is super prototypical or even vaguely, but I've been reading like mad and hope I have done enough research.

 

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Having got proficient with Sketchup via my work, I wanted to visualise the baseboard so that I make it right first time. I haven't made any models for myself since before I was an architectural modelmaker, but having learnt through work that rushing in doesn't work I now slow down. This 'slow' approach has worked well with my rolling stock builds as it has meant I thought it through before cutting. I do wish to put a cover on the top of the main section, but left it off 'for clarity'.

'Think twice, cut once', to paraphrase that old saying!

 

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As previously indicated I decided to put in a run round loop on the layout. But I couldn't help chuckle when reading George Dow's Great Central trilogy this week, when it seems the South Yorkshire Railway forgot to put one in on the real railway.

Maybe I shouldn't worry too much about all this prototypical operation lark anymore if the real railway couldn't be bothered.

Text © George Dow

 

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I've 'cut the first sod' and made the back panel of the main board, not a large amount of work, but a start nonetheless. My desire to have a sweeping front curve may well 'get the elbow' as my chosen construction method of ply and foam looks like it will not have the strength to allow the front ply section to be under tension. Seems like the flat front approach will have to do sadly.

It will mean the fiddle yard board will look more integrated so is probably a good thing in the end.

 

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When I started this project I thought my Mac mini would suffice to drive the monitor display, but small though it is, it is still quite a lump along with the power supply.

I had a couple of Raspberry Pi's at work and realised the Zero W version being smaller than a credit card, powered by a mobile phone charger is perfect in size and weight. In fact there isn't any weight to it.

On firing it up, I quickly realised it's a bit underpowered with the full GUI, so I'm delving into running it via the command line. Not my preference, but that's life. I only need it to display a PDF or a series of images, so how hard can that be?

 

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At last, a baseboard and with my curve. I'm a bit annoyed with the top end beams as they will foul the curved backscene, I'll have to see what can be done, but 5.5mm ply does need some support. Once the front top beam goes in the foam can't be removed, but it will make it stronger. I've been drawing the aperture of the facia onto the wood and am looking at 100mm wide bottom, 90mm top and wings, the width of the wings will allow the edges to drift off nicely I think.



I'm thinking I shouldn't glue the foam in yet, but could lay the track onto it, Longwood Edge style. Get all the wiring done too then glue it in, and then add the facia. Any thoughts? If I do glue it in, I still would put the facia on afterwards.

The foam underside has support around all the edges, once the trackwork is down I can then think about a cross beam if it needs it.



The whole thing is still pretty lightweight, obviously it will only get heavier, but I am confident it won't be real lump.

Time to start the fiddle yard with integrated monitor and Raspberry Pi next.

Tony

 

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I like jigs. Jigs are good. I like making jigs, I'm not so good at dancing jigs. (Best get that poor joke out of the way)

So here's a jig to hold the third rail whilst the chairs are glued, made from two pieces of aluminium tapped so they can be screwed together, the central spacer is the code 75 third rail I'm using. I can now crack on with tracklaying, making complete track sections in one piece to be glued to the blue foam.