7mm Blackbridge Town

[cbrailways]

Hello all. New to this forum. Thought you might be interested in hearing about the 7mm Finescale layout I have under construction called Blackbridge Town.

As I basically like railway operation this is not intended to be a ‘scenic layout’, rather it’s been designed for maximum operational capability in a small space. Also, I do not have the spare time or skill set to build anything from scratch myself so it’s all being built and operated with ‘off the shelf’ products that I have purchased over the past two years.

The layout is located in the BR-WR area in the late 1950s but the actual location is generic (it could be South Wales or the West Midlands).

The layout is 3.6m long by 0.6m wide tapering to 0.8m wide and has used as its inspiration the track layout at Cardiff Clarence Road and the facilities provided at Birmingham Moor Street.

It consists of a double track main line leading to a single terminal platform with a goods arrival/departure line adjacent. At the terminal buffer stops is a locomotive release traverser (as per Birmingham Moor Street).

The goods yard is essentially a series of four sorting sidings with the goods shed at high level (above the fiddle yard traverser) that is reached by a wagon hoist.

Also under the goods shed and adjacent to the main lines is a siding exit to a dockside basin (more of this later on – a second micro-layout planned for this).

The fiddle yard consists of three sidings at the rear of the layout acting as ‘kick back sidings’ from the fiddle yard traverser. One of the fiddle yard sidings will consist of a removable cassette to allow a variety of train types to be operated.

As I am a signalling engineer by trade you would expect that the layout will be correctly signalled in late 1950s BR-WR style.

Train formations will consist of a maximum of two suburban coaches or five wagons and a brake van. Locomotives will be restricted to the tank type (currently 14XX, 74XX and 45XX types) with an ex-GWR Railcar in support. There will also be parcel trains, and oil trains to the dockside basin.

I will post photographs as construction proceeds with details of the products used in construction.

In the meantime here is the track layout (constructed in Anyrail) and a 3D representation of the layout (constructed in Sketchup).

Regards,

Chris

 

[40126]

Welcome Chris

Steve

 

[Ressaldar]

Hi Chris,

welcome to WT.

it seems that we both have similar thoughts regarding layout design, albeit that mine - Besson Street, is a much smaller affair, but our Club layout (which I also designed) is more than similar to yours - photos (which a real must on here) to be posted shortly.

cheers

Mike

 

[cbrailways]

Thanks all for your kind welcome to WT. I have started the process of uploading photographs of progress so far and should be able to post these here over the next few days as time permits.

I did have a previous 0 Gauge layout. Some of you might remember Vine Street SMRS - Vine Street Layout
I purchased this layout 2 years ago but it proved too difficult to adapt to the space available so I passed it on to a member of the 0 Gauge group that I belong to.

Chris

 

[daifly]

I loved Jon Dening's Vine Street. I first saw it at Reading several years ago and it convinced me that DCC was what I wanted to include in my planning. It had short trains and tight curves but it looked, sounded and ran well.
Dave

 

[Compton castle]

Look forward to seeing more

 

[cbrailways]

Here is my DCC/Sound Masterpiece Models 14XX No.1447 posed on Vine Street before I passed the layout on.

 

[cbrailways]

Anyway, back to Blackbridge Town.

Forgot to mention that the layout will be DCC operated with all locos and the railcar being fitted with sound. I have opted for the NCE DCC system and have been testing this out on my 0 Gauge groups test track. I am quite satisfied with its operation.

Here is the track for the station throat built for me by Marcway in Sheffield. Note that the configuration is slightly different to the current track layout and was purchased before I altered the Docks branch connection which was going to head off top left. I will be purchasing a single slip and LH curved turnout at the Gauge 0 Guild exhibition at Kettering in March. Then I need to do a little bit of unsoldering/soldering

 

[cbrailways]

Talking of the Docks Branch here is the proposed micro-layout trackplan. Baseboards are both 1.2m long by 0.45m wide. Think this should be classed as a 'Shunting Puzzle'. I only intend to use my Minerva Peckett E Class DCC/Sound Fitted 0-4-0T on this (oh, I didn't mention that loco did I - It was a Christmas present ) and my Dapol Class 08 DCC/Sound fitted BR black diesel shunter (when it eventually arrives!).

Dock basin at the bottom (blue edge), Dock warehouses (orange line) at the rear hiding the Fiddle Yard sidings at the top and hidden sector plate (in green). Very, very short trains only here.

 

[cbrailways]

OK back to Blackbridge Town (again)!

Here is a drawing showing the baseboards. These have been made for me by Elite Baseboards. I will post some photographs of them later.

 

[cbrailways]

Here are some photographs of the Traverser Board D
The traverser runs on draw slides that extend up to approximately 300mm

Main Line Alignment


First Fiddle Yard Alignment


Second Fiddle Yard Alignment

 

[cbrailways]

Here is a photograph of Boards A and B with the track laid out to ensure everything fits (Note that as explained in an earlier post that this shows the track arrangement before the subsequent change to that shown in the layout plan)

 

[cbrailways]

This is a Photograph of my ex-GW Railcar W21W constructed and painted by Tower Models in Blackpool from one of their brass kits. Its not yet converted from DC to DCC/Sound but soon will be. Its shown posed on my previously owned Vine Street layout.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I've been admiring your inspired track plan to see how I could plagiarise use something similar for a US O scale layout.

Here are some photographs of the Traverser Board D
The traverser runs on draw slides that extend up to approximately 300mm

Are you going to to use the traverser to operate a microswitch to power the road from the scenic side to the traverser? So when the traverser is in both fiddle yard positions the road from the point to the traverser is dead to prevent locos being driven accidentally into the traverser pit. Or will the traverser just act as the exchange yard with the locos pulling off/pushing on rolling stock?

by a wagon hoist.

Is this going to be operational?

Huddersfield LNW goods shed had a wagon hoist which can still be seen and the wagon hoist building at the long demolished Leeds GN Wellington Street station is still extant. Though it does look rather incongruous amongst the new office developments.

 

[cbrailways]

Are you going to to use the traverser to operate a microswitch to power the road from the scenic side to the traverser? So when the traverser is in both fiddle yard positions the road from the point to the traverser is dead to prevent locos being driven accidentally into the traverser pit. Or will the traverser just act as the exchange yard with the locos pulling off/pushing on rolling stock?

The traverser will be continuously powered. I have a plan to fit a 'trap door' arrangement to the Fiddle Yard end of the traverser and the same to the traverser end of the Fiddle Yard point and main lines.

 

[cbrailways]

Is this going to be operational?

Huddersfield LNW goods shed had a wagon hoist which can still be seen and the wagon hoist building at the long demolished Leeds GN Wellington Street station is still extant. Though it does look rather incongruous amongst the new office developments.

Yes, the wagon hoist will be operational. It will be based upon those previously provided at Birmingham Moor Street (Moor Street Station: An official posed photograph showing a ten ton, wooden Mink A covered wagon on the twenty ton electric wagon hoist) but instead of descending to the darkest parts of the underground goods yard sidings it will elevate to the higher level of the goods shed. I have a cunning plan of how to get wagons from the hoist into the goods shed without a locomotive - watch this space

 

[cbrailways]

....and here is the Birmingham Moor Street prototype for the Platform Locomotive Traverser on my layout....

Moor Street Station: Ex-GWR 2-6-2T 'Prairie' No 6152 is seen standing on the traverser as it is being moved from platform 2 to platform 1 on he right

Moor Street Station: Great Western Railway 4-4-2T No 4600 on the middle road of the traverser table being transferred to the loop line from the line serving island platform No 3

 

[cbrailways]

At the beginning of this thread I mentioned the inspiration for the layout. In addition I had looked at Dudley station in the West Midlands and copied the idea that it is situated in a cutting with no road access to the platform and only footbridge access for station users.

http://www.blackcountrymuse.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=192792090

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Were there two traversers at Moor St or one big traverser?

 

[daifly]

There were two. See here