Popular Post Ian Smith Posted June 29, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted June 29, 2015 (edited) It is I think time that I started a thread specifically for my embryonic layout "Modbury". I did wonder whether to do this in a blog away from RMweb, or even post updates on the Western Thunder site, but in the end I feel that here in the 2mm section of RMweb is probably the best place simply because the area is well visited by fellow 2mm Finescale modellers. I will however continue to put items within my RMweb blog that are not layout specific. My railway interest has always been the GWR (although I do have a soft spot for the Midland Railway too). From a modelling point of view that interest centres on the Edwardian period, I think it the attractiveness of the liveries of the coaching stock and the polished (and well looked after engines). Another bonus (for me) of the period is that GWR wagons could be seen in 3 or 4 different liveries too (although two of them were just transposition of the lettering and numbering). So to the layout... Modbury is a real place in the South Hams district of South Devon, unfortunately though it never had a railway station, the nearest lines being the GWR's main line skirting the souther reaches of Dartmoor, and the Kingsbridge branch from it. However, had things gone differently Modbury could well have been served by the South Devon Railway. Originally, the South Devon Railway had intended to build their line down from Paignton, crossing the River Dart somewhere near Dittisham, then continuing the line along the western bank of the River Dart to Dartmouth and thence along the coast to Slapton before turning westward towards Kingsbridge before heading north-west towards Aveton Gifford, Modbury, Yealmpton and hence to Plymouth. In my imagination, the South Devon Railway built the Exeter to Plymouth line to their initial plans as a single track line built to Brunel's Broad Gauge, and provided a two platform passing place at Modbury. After the South Devon was absorbed into the GWR in the 1870's, the latter company built the more direct Newton Abbot to Plymouth line skirting the southern reaches of Dartmoor leaving my imaginary route as little more than cross country branch. It is assumed that the original South Devon line would have been built as Brunel's Baulk Road, which would have been "narrowed" along with the rest of the remaining Broad Gauge on that fateful weekend in May 1892. My model is set some 14 years after the gauge conversion, and it is in that narrowed form that I am modelling my track work. The layout itself is about 10'0" long, having a central scenic section of about 6'0", and 20" train tables at each end to serve as fiddle yards. Baseboards are conventional plywood construction, the track bed also being plywood. The track bed also has a layer of 0.8mm bass wood where the tracks are. A "Templot" plan was printed out full size and transposed onto the bass wood trackbed to allow all of the track to be built in situ. The track itself is made from HO scale PCB sleeper strip laid longitudinally beneath the rails (the "baulks"). The rail is simply Association plain rail as 2mm scale Bridge Rail is unfortunately not available - hopefully the fact that the rail isn't "bridge rail section" isn't going to be too obvious. The "transoms" (wooden timbers which hold the longitudinal baulks together or apart and to gauge) are represented by 1.5mm x 1mm plastic strip. Track building in progress : and the same turnout in a much more complete state : Operation is old fashioned DC, but turnout and signal operation is much more modern utilising memory wire to move the TOU's and signal arms. I have tried to design the electrics so that the signals activate the relevant sections of track thereby ensuring that unsignalled move will not be possible. The current state of the layout as seen at the recent 2mm Expo at Chelford : Edited August 27, 2022 by Ian Smith Replacement of Photos 27 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 First time I've seen the baulk road modelled. Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drduncan Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Hi Ian, Very impressive. One question: why have you painted the facing point lock cover and bar red? Drduncan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 First time I've seen the baulk road modelled. Brian. Brian, Baulk Road is certainly not modelled very often (a great shame in my opinion). It has been done in 7mm and in 4mm (parts are available from the Broad Gauge Society), but in 2mm it is very much a DIY job. I have seen photos of some 2mm baulk road, but with "standard" cross sleepered pointwork, and examples of plain track work too. I however am trying to go the whole hog and replicate turnouts too! Hi Ian, Very impressive. One question: why have you painted the facing point lock cover and bar red? Drduncan Duncan, According to some documentation (dated 1907) I have (from the Great Western Study Group) the GWR in the Edwardian (and earlier) period painted a lot of their signalling equipment in "Torbay Bright Red", this included the point rodding, stools, signal pulleys, Facing Point Locks and ancillary bits and bobs. The aforesaid documentation can also be seen at the foot of this website page : http://www.stationcolours.info/index.php?p=1_5_GWR It all adds up to another reason to model this fascinating colourful period in railway history Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted June 30, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2015 Glad you have started a thread on this layout Ian, straight into my watched list! Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Copleston Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 (edited) Baulk Road is certainly not modelled very often (a great shame in my opinion). It has been done in 7mm and in 4mm (parts are available from the Broad Gauge Society), but in 2mm it is very much a DIY job. I have seen photos of some 2mm baulk road, but with "standard" cross sleepered pointwork, and examples of plain track work too. I however am trying to go the whole hog and replicate turnouts too! According to some documentation (dated 1907) I have (from the Great Western Study Group) the GWR in the Edwardian (and earlier) period painted a lot of their signalling equipment in "Torbay Bright Red", this included the point rodding, stools, signal pulleys, Facing Point Locks and ancillary bits and bobs. The aforesaid documentation can also be seen at the foot of this website page: http://www.stationcolours.info/index.php?p=1_5_GWR It all adds up to another reason to model this fascinating colourful period in railway history I agree Ian; the Edwardian period is a very attractive and colourful time-frame to model. And you are making a top-notch job of recreating the GWR baulk road in 2mm scale too! But I think that rapidly accumulated brake dust, dirt and weathering would have quickly obscured the "Torbay Bright Red" colours within days (cf. white-painted coach roofs and rollingstock wheel rims). So you may need to tone it down a bit. Pre-group railways weren't always as clean and neat as us modellers like to imagine! On the subject of modelling the broad gauge in 2mm scale: You are probably already aware that 2mm Brunel broad gauge track components, roller gauges and back-to-back gauges, and various sizes of rolling wheels on extended axles (all to 2mm Scale Association finescale standards) were made available by the Broad Gauge Society back in the mid- to late 1980s. These didn't sell very well (although I have some) and I believe the BGS stocks eventually passed to the Association in the late 1990s. Not sure if they still exist. But worth inquiring with the 2mmSA Chief Shopkeeper if you haven't already got your fill! Edited June 30, 2015 by Phil Copleston Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Phil, After asking various people I concluded the late Pete Whitehead probably had them. Perhaps someone knows where they went next, or if they did indeed vanish. By your own admission the rolling stock wheels weren't up to much. BtB and roller gauges are easily produced with a lathe (I know Ian had one), which just leaves rail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Copleston Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 (edited) Phil, After asking various people I concluded the late Pete Whitehead probably had them. Perhaps someone knows where they went next, or if they did indeed vanish. By your own admission the rolling stock wheels weren't up to much. BtB and roller gauges are easily produced with a lathe (I know Ian had one), which just leaves rail. Rich, On the contrary, the broad gauge rolling stock wheels were pretty good (certainly pre- the "wobbly wheels" era of the early '90s) - plastic centres with blackened brass rims on 1mm steel axles. There was a 7mm 10-split spoke and a 6mm 10-split spoke, plus the Association's 6mm diam. 8-spoke plain and split spokes were also available on extended axles. The brass roller-gauges were CNC'd by Phil Kerr, so were nicely made with check-rail slots too, plus matching turned b-t-b gauges and crossing nose "button" gauges, I remember. You could be right - that the late Peter Whitehead may have snaffled up most of them. What happened to all his 2-mil stuff? But I bet there are some other broad gauge wheelsets hanging around in others' gloat-boxes somewhere! I seem to remember there where quite a lot of them in stock. Edited July 1, 2015 by Phil Copleston Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted July 1, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hi Ian, good to see a thread for Modbury. I do like the back story. Some day when work eases up I'm going to redraw the map of the GWR in the 1900s, as there are a number of Edwardian stations and lines on here that never seem to show on the official maps! I suppose they were forgotten in the wake of the GWR's rush to enhance and upgrade the system after the fall of the broad gauge. All those cut-offs and new lines seem to have produced some railway backwaters that the rest of the world forgot! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 You could be right - that the late Peter Whitehead may have snaffled up most of them. What happened to all his 2-mil stuff? A fair bit of Peter's broad gauge stuff went back to broad gauge society contacts to dispose of, though I recall much of that was larger scales. I think some was taken to 2mm meets and the sale table. And, like with many deaths, some was chucked away as not worth dealing with in the available time - there is only so much that a couple of friends can do when the family would like the room emptied in a short time. Some of his (not 2mm/N) models went through Ebay for charity, and one box of those (anyone want some US O scale narrow gauge side tipper wagons ?) is still in my shed seeking a buyer. - Nigel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 On the contrary, the broad gauge rolling stock wheels were pretty good (certainly pre- the "wobbly wheels" era of the early '90s) - plastic centres with blackened brass rims on 1mm steel axles. There was a 7mm 10-split spoke and a 6mm 10-split spoke,........ these were originally produced through the late Neil Ballantyne, if I recall correctly. I certainly got 4 axles of the 7mm ones from him and they all run perfectly true. 2 axles went under my Officer's Saloon and the other two went into an etched chassis I had produced to upgrade the CR refrigerator van I first built in 1969-70. The body has now been corrected by adding the beading between the framing and the planking, removing the ventilator in the roof and adding the ice boxes. The drawing I originally built it to was wrong in these respects. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I agree Ian; the Edwardian period is a very attractive and colourful time-frame to model. And you are making a top-notch job of recreating the GWR baulk road in 2mm scale too! But I think that rapidly accumulated brake dust, dirt and weathering would have quickly obscured the "Torbay Bright Red" colours within days (cf. white-painted coach roofs and rollingstock wheel rims). So you may need to tone it down a bit. Pre-group railways weren't always as clean and neat as us modellers like to imagine! On the subject of modelling the broad gauge in 2mm scale: You are probably already aware that 2mm Brunel broad gauge track components, roller gauges and back-to-back gauges, and various sizes of rolling wheels on extended axles (all to 2mm Scale Association finescale standards) were made available by the Broad Gauge Society back in the mid- to late 1980s. These didn't sell very well (although I have some) and I believe the BGS stocks eventually passed to the Association in the late 1990s. Not sure if they still exist. But worth inquiring with the 2mmSA Chief Shopkeeper if you haven't already got your fill! Phil, Once I have finally constructed all of the track work and the point rodding it will all get a bit of toning down. I don't want to do it piecemeal as I am concerned that it could end up looking like a patchwork quilt! As for the 2mm scale Broad Gauge bits and bobs that used to exist, I have little or no use for them - my track work and stock is all to "narrow gauge", as yet I have no intention of back dating to pre-1892 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Copleston Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Once I have finally constructed all of the track work and the point rodding it will all get a bit of toning down. I don't want to do it piecemeal as I am concerned that it could end up looking like a patchwork quilt! As for the 2mm scale Broad Gauge bits and bobs that used to exist, I have little or no use for them - my track work and stock is all to "narrow gauge", as yet I have no intention of back dating to pre-1892 Ooops, my mistake, Ian. I couldn't have looked at your photos hard enough! And I think talk of "baulk road" confused me. Dohh! But anyway, even as GWR 'narrow gauge', what you have already produced looks absolutely superb! I hope to see it for real at a show someday. And I get what you're saying about toning it down later to get overall consistency. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted July 2, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 2, 2015 It is good to see this available to a wider public. I have only seen one other layout which featured narrowed Bulk road Bob Harper's Maristow. The whole layout is well thought out and with this quality of workmanship it should be a real winner. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I strongly suspect that the main components of Torbay Bright Red were lead tetroxide and linseed oil. Various mixes of these two components were once much used as a tough and long-lasting anti-corrosion red paint for metal in situations similar to point rodding and the like. Lead tetroxide was so much more resistant to attack by hydrogen sulphide than white lead paint (which quickly blackens as a result of the formation of black lead sulphide) that the main weathering effect is likely to have been from the slow degradation of the linseed oil component of the mix. That said, I doubt whether it was ever as bright as it appears in the model photo despite the commercial product name. I can, just, remember my father applying it to something and I would have said that it was close to bauxite, but not only does that vary considerably but memories of paint colours are notoriously fickle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted July 2, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 2, 2015 I was talking to the owner of a local decorating shop today (buying a dye for turnout timbers) who started his apprenticeship as a painter in the sixties. He said the last time he had used Red Lead as he knew it, was at Hinkley point. Red Oxide (Bauxite?) is nowhere as good he said. I suspect Torbay Bright was the top coat on a red lead primer. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Watched the first episode of Gryf Rhys-Jones series 'Through Africa by Slow Train' today, which my wife had recorded. He was in Namibia and at the end was on a line that was being rebuilt across the southern part of the Namib Desert between Ludoritz and Keetmanshoop. Not sure what gauge it was, but at least part of it was baulk road!! Probably to get better support in the sand. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Copleston Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 (edited) Watched the first episode of Gryf Rhys-Jones series 'Through Africa by Slow Train' today, which my wife had recorded. He was in Namibia and at the end was on a line that was being rebuilt across the southern part of the Namib Desert between Ludoritz and Keetmanshoop. Not sure what gauge it was, but at least part of it was baulk road!! Probably to get better support in the sand. Jim, The line from Lüderitz to Keetmanshoop is now part of the TransNamib Railway, which is 1,067mm (3 ft 6 in) 'Cape Gauge': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransNamib About the TransNamib track - you are exactly right! It IS modern baulk road (of sorts) known as 'TMT' (Tubular Modular Track) for use in difficult geotechnical situations or to prevent engulfment by sand. Going slightly off-topic now, but see this South African rail industry website: http://www.tubulartrack.co.za/index.php/tubular-modular-track/what-is-tmt/ And some clear photos of this TMT baulk road: Hope the above clarifies. Edited July 5, 2015 by Phil Copleston 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) A little more progress in the last couple of weeks. All of the track work in the station area has now been laid, effectively that was just laying two turnouts and a couple of sidings since Expo. Laying the plasticard transoms in the 4 foot took time though. The hardest part was getting it all to work electrically though!! Not because it was particularly difficult but because I was stupid! I had worked out the wiring for the crossing from Down Main to Goods Loop (via the diamond crossing), and wired up everything to 3 relays to control crossing polarities, etc. All worked perfectly well when the crossing was Normal, but when Reversed I got a dead short. A couple of days were spent on an off checking my logic (I thought perhaps since retiring my brain had gone soft), but still couldn't find the fault. Re-gapped all of the rail breaks, still a dead short when the crossing was reversed. In an act of desperation I decided to unsolder all of the wiring from rails to the relays (but kept the power feeds to the relays intact), another test, another dead short! Checked the little breadboard circuits for each of the relays and discovered my stupidity. I had not gapped one of the breadboards across the power lines feeding one of the relays!! A happy hour reassembling all of the crossover wiring yielded a station area that works exactly as I wanted it to. Below are some photos of the progress to date : Towards Plymouth Towards Newton Abbot/Exeter Low down view (excuse the lens shadow from the flash above) Elevated view Up View through road over bridge at Plymouth end The next stage is to construct the TOU's and the memory wire actuators for same. The electronics for the memory wire actuators are done and are attached to the pile of wires that can be seen behind the goods shed in a couple of the photos. Once those are in place I can spray all of the track work in the yard (the main lines won't get that treatment until all of the point rodding has been added). Then I can begin ballasting! Ian Edited August 27, 2022 by Ian Smith Replacement of photos 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted August 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 29, 2015 The trackwork looks superb Ian. As for the wiring problems I can only suggest testing as you go then you know the last bits added must be where the fault lies! I am interested in that you chose to go with memory wire. I am leaning towards servos having found some quite small ones. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 The trackwork looks superb Ian. As for the wiring problems I can only suggest testing as you go then you know the last bits added must be where the fault lies! I am interested in that you chose to go with memory wire. I am leaning towards servos having found some quite small ones. Don Don, The wiring problem I introduced was as a result of adding the crossover wiring, I was confident that the issue lay somewhere in the wiring I had added, it was just that there was quite a bit of it - 4 Vees, and 2 other sections all of which had their polarities controlled through the 3 DPDT relays. I had considered servos but we use them for the signals on St Ruth and until very recently experienced servo glitching which I felt could be an issue for points. We recently upgraded the MERG software on the control boards and I think that has largely resolved the glitching problems. However I had already decided to go down the memory wire route having read Jim Watt's article in the 2mm magazine. I have to say that I am at the moment perfectly happy with the memory wire solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drduncan Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Modbury is looking good! drduncan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 (edited) Recently I have begun work on one of the structures for Modbury - the Signal Box. This is based on the one at Bodmin General, albeit a mirror image and (edit : Doh! the 4mm scale one I built was the mirror image version!) having a full set of steps (the prototype has steps that go from platform level rather than ground level). I have "blogged" the construction so far here : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-16898-modbury-signal-box/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-16949-modbury-signal-box-2/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-17021-modbury-signal-box-3/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-17026-modbury-signal-box-4/ The next things to do will be to add the gutters and down pipes, before I can paint it and add some rudimentary internal detail. The last stage will be to add the windows. Ian Edited August 27, 2022 by Ian Smith Replacement of photos 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted November 25, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2015 Recently I have begun work on one of the structures for Modbury - the Signal Box. This is based on the one at Bodmin General, albeit a mirror image and having a full set of steps (the prototype has steps that go from platform level rather than ground level). I have "blogged" the construction so far here : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-16898-modbury-signal-box/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-16949-modbury-signal-box-2/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-17021-modbury-signal-box-3/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1009/entry-17026-modbury-signal-box-4/ The next things to do will be to add the gutters and down pipes, before I can paint it and add some rudimentary internal detail. The last stage will be to add the windows. 7 - Handrail 2.JPG 8 - Handrail 3.JPG Ian Very nice Ian. Here is a shot of the one at Bodmin. I feel you have captured it well. Don 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted November 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 25, 2015 Nice little box Ian. One of the things we do with Slaters brick plastikard on CF is to sand down the brick faces to take away their rather blobby/shiny appearance. Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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