How about Grogley Junction as a roundy roundy??

A question has been asked recently as to how I'm getting on with finalising the track plan for the Grogley Junction project. This was during a conversation in which I received an offer of help to build the track... Now I do like building track but due to the complexity and the time it would take me to build this proposed layout I'm of a mind to accept some help. So state of play with the track plan is as shown below:

After having a few discussions during Area Group meetings along with witnessing large tender engines negotiate 3 foot curves on a P4 layout, the track plan has been developed into a roundy roundy. I do like the idea of having the ability to run trains continuous for running in purposes and for occasionally sitting back to watch them go by. This is only if the layout will still give me the option to run sequences that have a purpose and marshalling goods trains will continue to be my main focus of interest.

The addition of the fiddle yard in front of the window does mean it is taking up more space in the 'Cave'. With the layout bowing out into the room this is an area that needs some further thought. There's not much space in front of the window for a multi road yard so cassettes will probably be the order of the day. Beneath the track plan I've pencilled in some possible train movements as a rough guide to requirements for the fiddle yard.

It might be time to start drawing this track plan in Templot...

"Better late than never" - Scalefour North 2014

Where has the year gone? It only seems a short while since the last Scalefour North. A new venue which was easy to find with good parking. It has lost the cosy feeling of the previous venue but with all traders and exhibits in one room, wide aisles made it easier to navigate than the previous venue which gave it the feeling that it has 'come of age'. There is now certainly more room for one or two large layouts to be on show in future years.

I spent an enjoyable day and a half at the show. Most of Saturday in the company of a good fiend who I'd not seen for a while. He was, 20 years ago, a member of the Society and his first reaction from a very quick initial tour of the floor was "not much has changed in the last 20 years". At the end of Saturday I hope he came away with a different opinion.

It was disappointing that a few of the layouts were having running problems on Saturday. This is no doubt an inherent problem when moving layouts to an exhibition and operators that may be unfamiliar with the layout learning movement sequences. Though I was a little more forgiving than my friend due some problems I'm experiencing in building Tredethy Wharf, he was disappointed. He pointed out that, though scenery and the stock on the layouts were very good, the constant running problems let them down. A comment was made that they where not a good advert for a modeller to convert from either EM or OO to P4. I'll have to take that comment on-board if I am to exhibit Tredethy Wharf again and attempt to have rolling stock that performs well.

However, there were three layouts that during the two days performed perfectly each time I stood to admire them: Croft Bank, Alt-Y-Graban Road and Flintflield. Flintfield was voted best at show and in my opinion truly deserved, a well presented layout, beautifully modelled, with stock that performed faultlessly and friendly operators that shared their experience and techniques in building the layout…

Flintfield

Flintfield

Flintfield

There were some excellent demonstrations especially Tim Shackleton's 'Hands on Weathering' and 'Modelling with Machine Tools'. I managed to get a good half hour with the Machine Tools demo. Unfortunately I was not able to take advantage of the 'hands on' bit with the weathering demo but did learn some useful techniques during an open discussion.

My purchases were kept to a minimum during the two days due to my inactivity in the 'Man Cave'. A nice looking BR 8 shoe Clasp Brake Chassis kit from Rumney Models, a BR Brake Van Underframe kit from Dave Bradwell along with a few Hollar Models transfers from Parkside Dundas where my only acquisitions. That was until Sunday lunchtime when I fell very lucky on an item on the bring and buy. More of this in a later posting...

Overall a very enjoyable day and a half, a friendly show with excellent trade support for all 4mm modellers. You don't need to be a P4 modeller to enjoy Scalefour North.

April 14 - Scalefour group meeeting

Last Thursday saw my wife and I hosting the monthly Scalefour Area Group meeting. We had six members in attendance. Gordon brought his latest interesting project along. He is investigating how to convert a Hornby Class 08 to P4 by building a continuous springy beam compensated chassis. Graeme brought along his latest casting project, a Gresley V2 body which is a big improvement on the Bachmann model.

I'm thinking, only thinking mind, of building a chassis for a Beattie Well Tank. Clive brought along an outside cylinder 0-4-0T loco to demonstrate how the cylinders could be tackled and point out some pit falls. Since the meeting I've had it confirmed  that Beattie Well Tank 30585 will be performing at Lincolnshire Wolds Railway over Easter... a photo opportunity that I cannot miss.

Finally all were introduced to the 'Man Cave'

Clive test ran the 0-4-0T on Tredethy Wharf which again proved to be a smooth running loco.

Overall an informative meeting hopefully enjoyed by all.

Painting, painting, painting and a website

I apologise for yet another non model related blog but after finishing the 'Man Cave' and moving all my paraphernalia into it, I've been decorating the vacated modelling room as a bedroom for a foster child and I'm now starting work on next door...

A few months ago we purchased the property next door. This was instead of having to go though the hassle of selling our current property and moving into a larger house. The idea is to rent next door as a holiday cottage but retain some use of it as accommodation for friends and family. It needs some TLC and as always when starting a little house restoration project, issues start to come out of the woodwork. Along with general tidying up with a paint brush problems have been discovered with the electrics, central heating and a damp floor to name a few. It now seems like our initial intention to have the property, which we have named Spireview Cottage,  ready for letting by Easter is looking doubtful.

View from cottage

I'm also intending to build a website for Spireview Cottage, and with this end in mind I've been refreshing the little HTML skills I have by brushing up on HTML5 and CSS. As a way to help the learning process and get a little practice before embarking on the cottage website I've had a play around with a template to build a basic site for Tredethy Wharf. I'm reasonably happy with the site layout and design, more info will be added as and when but for the moment it has served its purpose. The site has been tested using Firefox, Safari, Chrome and IE on PC, Mac, Android and iPad platforms and it seems to work OK though any comments, ideas or issues people find will tredethywharf.co.uk will be gratefully received. Spireview Cottage website will be more challenging…

With all that I have taken on recently it is slightly frustrating that I'm not finding the time to enjoy the 'Man Cave' with space for Tredethy Wharf and modelling, nor will I be able to for a few months. That said, I have a little operation coming up that will put me out of action for a couple of weeks. I hope that during the convalescence period I'll be able to squeeze in a little light modelling, a few wagons built/weathered would be good progress. I think any serious work on Tredethy Wharf will have to wait until some time after May…

The 'Man Cave'

Well, the garage conversion is not completely finished. I've still got some alterations to do on the door, lay cork tiles and build a work bench at the door end of the room. But... on Christmas Eve enough carpet tiles were laid for me to start moving stuff into my new hobby room. (or 'Man Cave' as it has become known).

First in was Tredethy Wharf...

What a Christmas present...

When all the Christmas gatherings are over, I'll start transferring everything else into the room, which, after a little decoration, will free up my current hobby room for the start of the new arrival (foster child) in late January.

Happy festive season and best wishes for an enjoyable modelling 2014 to you all.

More thoughts for the big project

While the garage conversion has been progressing (electrical wiring has passed all tests, new insulated floor is now in place and I've started decorating) I’ve been thinking about the grand project. In the main, this is due to thoughts about where to position a bench; hobby desk; shelves etc. so that they will have the least impact on space when building the layout.

Even though Grogley Junction has been the aim of this blog, other thoughts of layouts keep cropping up. Boscarne Junction being one that I've seriously considered, especially since a fine collection of photographs of the Junction taken in the early 1960s has come into my possession, but my thoughts still keep coming back to a fictious Grogley. What seems to keep swinging it for me is the 'S' shape of the layout with the potential for different viewing angles compared to a layout built on straight basboards. So after a few more sketches and further thoughts about alternative history another drawing has been produced.

Room plan

You could all ask, 'Why is there a double track running to the junction when, apart from the passing loops at stations, the whole of the North Cornwall Railway was single track? Well... in the alternative history I'm developing for this stretch of line I’m justifying the double track by using the following ideas:

• I’m siting a station at Polbook, just the other side of the road overbridge (scenic break) on the left. This will become an exchange station for the passenger workings between the branches to Wadebridge and Bodmin and the NCR (Launceston to Mawgan Porth). At the side of the station I’m also proposing a small engine shed of a similar size to the one at Wadebridge.
• On the real railway, the NCR joined the Bodmin & Wadebridge line at Wadebridge Junction, just under a mile from Wadebridge. In 1905 the junction was removed and the NCR was extended to run alongside the B&WR making two parallel single running lines. This brought the control of the junction to Wadebridge East box. I'm going to reflect this and have the lines running from Polbrook to Wadebridge Junction as two single lines running parallel with each other with the control of the Wadebridge junction at Polbrook (a distance of about 1.25 miles).
• As Grogley Junction would require a signal box to control the exchange sidings and goods loop there would be no need to reduce the lines in this direction to single line workings until after the junction.

I accept these ideas are totally preposterous but they will enable me to make the whole section from Wadebridge Junction to Grogley Junction double track. From Wadebridge Junction to Polbrook it would be two parallel single lines then double track from Polbrook to Grogley Junction. Confused…? I hope the diagram below might help.

The advantage for the model having a double track is that it will enable me to halt a passenger train at Grogley using a sequence of operations such as...
1) a down Launceston to Mawgan Porth passenger train would leave Polbrook station and be held on the junction signal at Grogley while waiting for another train approaching from the opposite direction
2) in the mean time at Polbrook station a Padstow to Bodmin North passenger train could arrive at the down platform
3) then an up working from Mawgan Porth to either Padstow or Launceston could arrive in the up platform at Polbrook after passing the down working at Grogley Junction
4) the down Launceston to Mawgan Porth passenger train which has been halted at the junction signal would be given the clear road to Mawgan Porth
5) finally the down Padstow to Bodmin would then depart passing through Grogley Junction
Hope the above makes sense...For me I'm finding that what happens off scene helps to justify and/or dictate what happens on the layout which then helps with creating the track plan.

I'm trying to keep the feel of the line weaving it's way through this section of the valley. There will be a number of liberties taken to enable me to fit it into the space available but hope I'll be reasonably successful. In creating the S shape I’ve been trying to keep the minimum radius to no less than 40 inches as it is my intention to run a 42xx (2-8-0T) through the goods loop on the clay workings. This has forced me to amend the last track plan as the curve at the Polbook end was already at 40 inches, too tight to install a point on the inside of the curve. Outside curve at the Polbrook end is now about 72 inches. The inside curve at the Grogley Junction end is about 48 inches. All other curves on the main running lines, and through the points, are no less than 40 inches radius. The sidings can be a shade tighter as these will be shunted by nothing larger than 0-6-0Ts or Class 08 or 03 diesel shunters hopefully more often by a Beattie Well Tank..

The slow gestation period for this layout will continue... More work is needed on the timetable to make sure the track plan is adequate for all train movements. Questions need asking about signalling through this whole section of line from Wadebridge Junction to Grogley Junction again to check my track plan. More thought is needed on the fiddle yard arrangements, as I’m concerned my initial plan of using cassettes might not be practicable

On the scenic side I need to sort out the gradients and land contours on the plan as the original line was on a rising gradient through the valley (left to right). The contours on the plan have been lifted from an OS map and are still shown in metres above sea level. These will need converting to scale and adjusting to give the correct impression without leaving me with sidings on a slope. Eventually I'll be drawing the track plan in Templot to make sure it fits in the available space. Grogley track plan is much more complicated that Tredethy Wharf with the crossovers, single and double slips plus at least one 3 way so will no doubt test my skills with Templot. On top of all the above I don't yet have a clue how I'm going to construct the baseboards so a quarter scale model might be needed.

What of Tredethy Wharf? Well… before any timber is cut for Grogley Junction, Tredethy Wharf will be completed...

The Garage (progress report)

I think I'd better come clean....Due to the impending Fostering panel meeting and the thought we may be approved, we drafted in help with this conversion. This has given the project a tremendous kick and we are now well on the way to finishing the room.

Since the last update...

Over a previous weekend we fixed plasterboard to one wall and ceiling leaving me to complete the insulation during weekday evenings.

Garage door end

Rear wall

During the following weekend, while we were away in Edinburgh for a belated break, helping hands plasterboarded the remaining walls and two end walls where skimmed leaving me to complete the roof hatches. During this last weekend the ceiling and two side walls have been skimmed.

Garage door end

A little 'snot' on the floor to clear up when dry

You could say job almost done, but we've been having thoughts about the floor...

Initially I was planning to using gym floor matting, as a covering for the concrete floor, but I've ended up with a couple of sheets of one inch Celotex insulation left over. Rather than discard them we've been thinking how to use them and the floor became a likely spot. Not to add an extra layer of insulation at floor level while the garage is empty would seem to me to be an opportunity missed. So next weekend, the plan is to, screw battens to the floor at 400mm centres with the insulation laid between them, finishing off with 18mm tongue and grooved chipboard floor boarding. Shame I'd not thought of this sooner as I could have laid cable for underfloor heating!

When the floor is in place the electrics can be finished; skirting board installed; architrave added around window, door frame and loft hatches;  the room will then be painted, and a workbench built. Once extra security is installed in the door and possibly some cheap carpet laid, I'll be able to move in and get back to working on Tredethy Wharf.