Steadfast

So on from 200. I couldn't decide which double header to begin with...so let's have both

66200 and 66156 climb at Callow Hill in the snow with 6B33 Theale - Robeston 23/12/10

66200 leads 66082 into Westbury with 6O32 Margam - Dollands Moor, diverted due to engineering work at Reading. The coal hoppers are stored following the closure of Didcot Power Station 29/3/13

66207 approaches the crossing at Station Road, Iron Acton with 1Z27 Gloucester - Bristol heading to Tytherington 2/7/11

66207 passes Langley Burrell working 6Z44 Wootton Bassett - Wembley, formed of empty VTG PGAs, wagons not often seen round here 4/8/12

66238 heads into the loop at Severn Tunnel Junction with 6V92 Corby - Margam empty coil carriers 21/2/08

66250 brings 66092 and a set of steel wagons into Margam on 6B04 from Llanwern 21/4/11

Freightliner next I think

jo

Cheers Oli, it's plasticard sheet, a mix of 30 and 40 thou I think depending on what was to hand

jo

Hiya,

The approach road has been paper mâchéd and concrete area round the shed glued down. The contact adhesive melted the plastic sheet though, so that'll be a case of rip up and redo. Oh well, live and learn! It's got too hot to do much else on the layout and I've been a bit occupied with other stuff, but I'll try to sort some pictures soon. Priority is getting the other layout ready for the Plymouth show in August, making sure everything works and tracking down where I stashed the box of scenics, as well as some new scenery additions for the show.

jo

One of the most simple looking yet effective designs, 60054 at Westerleigh carrying the livery they were designed for 1/10/09

jo

Nice 'out the box' shots Mick, and its interesting you pick up on the rusty silencer. As delivered, the wheels, silencer and knuckle coupler (EWS only) are unpainted rusty colour steel. I believe the wheels and couplers are down to US regulation on not painting them so any cracks are easily spotted.

Model companies have been very keen to supply models with silver silencers, right back from the Lima 66s, through Dapol and Bachmann too, though now this is changing, but I've no idea why this would have begun in the first place. The only 66s, as far as I'm aware, to appear with silver silencers are a couple of the recent DB repaints, 001 and 185 I think it was. So prototype follows the model!

Good point there Rivercider - I don't know about Jo, but I find it difficult to take a 'good' shot of a 66, or another shot that happens to have a 66 in it (hence some of my more 'arty farty' shots posted here and elsewhere!). Occasionally a nice composition will just present itself, it's then just a question of spotting it and having a camera to hand...

Thanks for the kind words and 'likes' for the compositions everyone, as you say Nidge, sometimes a composition just appears as you drive round a corner, or walk that bit further. Perhaps because I've grown up with the things, and got so used to having the 59s around here too, the outline has become normality, with a 37 or 47 making welcome variety rather than reminding me of better times in the past. Anyway, enough waffling, a few more pictures. I got into the one hundred and eighties last time, so let's kick off with 66185 last Friday, well, a week ago exactly, and 66004 too since it was about half an hour in front of it. There's something about the DB red with the yellow NR wagons that I like, especially set against a nice blue sky. What was that about primary colours, again?

66185 approaches the crossing at Ferry Lane, Claverton working 6W31 Westbury - Llanbradach via Margam 5/7/13

66004 approaches the crossing at Ferry Lane, Claverton working 6W34 Westbury - Ystrad Mynach via Margam, with 66232 on the rear 5/7/13

66188 (along with the wagons it brought in on 6V13 from Dollands Moor), 08737, 66095 and 66004 sit in a quiet Margam Knuckle Yard 26/1/13

66188 passes Bourton working 6O32 Margam - Dollands Moor 27/9/12

66197 leads 66167 out of Wickwar Tunnel on 6B13 Robeston - Westerleigh 8/4/10

66198 passes Culham with 6X65 Didcot - Mossend via Warrington Arpley, a train that can only be photographed in the summer due to leaving Didcot around 20.00 10/5/13

jo

Thanks Nidge, furthest north I've snapped it is Hinksey, though it'd be nice to get some shots further away from my usual GWML stomping ground!

A few more red ones here, up to the hundred and eighties...

66146 heads downhill at Cattybrook with 6B33 Theale - Robeston 30/7/09

66148 at Severn Tunnel Junction during the remodelling of the junction to improve capacity 29/12/09

66151 passes Lower Basildon with a train of VGAs on 6V39 Ludgershall to Didcot 12/10/12

66152 and 66154 pass Moulsford with 6V38 Eastleigh - Didcot 16/6/11

66163 and 66133 power 6B13 Robeston - Westerleigh alongside the Severn between Purton and Gatcombe 1/9/09

66167 powers away from Didcot with 6M65 Didcot - Carlisle Enterprise working, a train that no longer runs 27/8/09

66172 leaves Eastleigh behind as it heads to Marchwood with a late running 6B45 2/9/11

66182 powers away from Didcot with 6Z52 Appleford - Bow. The load from Bow is spoil from the Olympic worksite 3/2/11

jo

Nice stuff Nidge, out of interest how far do you take 6M40? Do you pick it up from Westbury, or is there a crew change around Oxford? If so presumably it's a Bristol guy from Westbury?

jo

Just the exact image that I'm trying to portray with my model TTA's....... (Although there is a short TTA set with a 60 on the Tugs thread that is possibly more appropriate!)

 

Cheers,

Mick

I did think of you and your TTA rake as I posted it actually! And I know exactly the 60 shot you mean haha.

So I got as far as 66097 last time, lets keep moving up.

66101 and 66126 sit at Dove Holes quarry, Peak Forest, idling away waiting for some work to do 1/6/12

66102 passes Claverton with 6X41 Newport ADJ - Westbury conveying tilting pointwork carriers for the weekend track renewal work 8/4/11

66103 arrives at Avonmouth with 4D98 returning a single HTA from repairs at Barton Hill 21/7/09

66116 passes Pig Lane near Hullavington working 6O32 Margam - Dollands Moor via Llanwern 22/4/12

66120 passes Brassknocker near Claverton working 6O42 Halewood - Southampton 11/5/12

66139 at Rodbourne with 6B24 Didcot - Wentloog MoD train 21/9/09

66140 brings a set of empty hoppers out of Tunstead heading for the sidings at Peak Forest 1/6/12

jo

Talking of part of a childhood...the N scale Scanias look rather tasty, reassuringly more on a par with the modern coach, VW camper etc rather than the chunky metal older buses and tractors

jo

Over the last few days an hour here and an hour there has led to the depot gaining its road access. OLE research is still trickling by in the background, too.

The building I'm planning to use I scratchbuilt a few years ago and never had a use for it really. My reason for changing the building from the one on the layout as purchased is to give more siding space for wagons due to it being used as repair depot. If I was using it as a diesel depot I'd have been inclined to hang on to the original sheds. My thinking is rather like that at Tees Yard. It used to be a TMD, but the old buildings demolished and a new facility for wagon repair built in its place, hence the rather useful turntable is still in tact

The approach road for the depot is made from the box from Tuesday's lunch. Pizza boxes have nice sturdy card and aren't too hard to cut. I've also managed to split two PVA bottles all over my fingers and learnt a Pandrol clip is a really useful weight! The truck is posed to get the length needed to allow the truck to stop at the depot gate without fouling the road, so the pencil line across it represents where the gatehouse and barrier will go. The area behind the road will be a car park for depot staff.

jo

Some more EWS/DB from me, starting with a couple of Didcot coals.

66058 passes Pig Lane, near Hullavington with 4D08 Didcot - Avonmouth 10/2/12

66059 passes Winterbourne with 4D10 Didcot - Avonmouth 28/1/12

66077 approaches Crofton with 6M20 Whatley - St Pancras 8/3/11

66078 passes Hall End south of Wickwar with 6O42 Halewood - Southampton carrying Land Rover products, in this case mainly Range Rover Evoques 30/3/12

66084 sits in Pilning loop with 6Z35 Margam - Scunthorpe consisting of an interesting mix of BBA and BDA based wagons, diverted due to the Lydney line being shut for maintenance work 8/7/12

66085 passes Lower Basildon working 4O23 Hams Hall - Southampton 12/10/12

66097 ambles through the Avon valley near Avoncliff with 6V62 Fawley - St Philip's Marsh loaded TTAs. Shortly after this picture was taken, the loco was repainted into DB Schenker red 31/5/11

jo

Hi Jim,

A very interesting thread, thanks for posting the pictures of your daily travels, you get a lot further than I'd ever imagine! I did think of you today as I snapped 56094 at Pilning working hard climbing away from the Sever Tunnel heading for Teigngrace.

Top stuff, keep it coming!

jo

Plenty of variety in the thread so far. Here's a few red 'uns to be going on with, mainly local stuff.

66002 is standing in for the usual class 59 as it passes Great Cheverell with 6V18 Hither Green - Whatley 1/3/12

66005 departs Eastleigh with 6B43 to Southampton West Docks 2/9/11

66006 passes Severn Tunnel Junction with 6M41 Margam - Round Oak, note the red BYA in the consist 26/10/12

66012 passes Crofton working 6V47 Tilbury - Trostre 29/11/12

66033, brought back from France for the 2010 RHTT season, passes Hinksey with 6A48 Bicester - Didcot MoD train 10/3/11

66044 passes Woodborough with a train of HOAs and a single IIA working 6M20 Whatley - St Pancras 28/8/12

66046 clags past Patchway with 4C61 Aberthaw to either Avonmouth or Portbury for reloading 15/3/11

jo

Well it looks like it's going to be low height masts all along. After a helpful text last night, I looked into the space needed to include changes in contact wire height.

From the figures quoted by Jim Smith-Wright here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22164&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=75#p630977 I'd need a length longer than the entire layout to drop the wire height! When I get chance I'll probably print some mast mock ups and look at spacings to see what looks right before committing to purchasing materials.

jo

Today I've been thinking about the overheads. I'm planning on using N Brass Locos cantilevers, and from reading Clive Mortimore's fantastic stuff on OLE, I've come up with this rough idea using low height bridge and tunnel approach masts approaching, rather appropriately, the tunnel mouths. The idea is that this is an urban area where the lines constantly run in and out of short tunnels. I'm a little unsure what to do with the centre mast, or whether to include it at all. Would 3 masts make it look overly cluttered, or conversely would they help create the cluttered look OLE can have?

I'm pondering whether having the wires raise up to the centre mast and then fall again would look a bit weird and contrived? I'm having trouble finding photos of OLE in a similar cutting, and whether it would stay at the lower height, with the tunnel approach masts used throughout.

From the measurements Clive mentions here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/71391-british-railways-ole-part-one-plain-track/ the minimum distance in N between masts would be 82mm, the maximum is 466mm.

I have 570mm to play with. Taking 50mm off each end for the gap from tunnel approach mast to the tunnel itself, this leaves me 470mm. So, in theory I could have more than 50mm between mast and tunnel, to reduce the span between the two masts to under 466mm, but I think this would look a bit sparse and make the wires more exposed and easier to rip up with my clumsiness. So, a single mast in between would leave a span of 235 mm. Introducing two intermediate masts would give spans of around 155mm, so still double the minimum and longer than most single vehicles.

So, any ideas or thoughts? I'm thinking if I can get away with low height masts throughout then using 3, if it needs higher masts for the intermediate spans then four, so it looks more natural with the gradient changes.

jo

Brilliant, cheers Ian. I'm surprised at that, because they don't look tiny like a lot of continental vehicles do!

You can't go far wrong with a real VW, hope you find a nice one

jo

Thanks guys.

Ahhh I see what you mean there Andy, I'll keep an eye on the layout over the next few weeks and try to find a way to add them in if things start moving. The difficulty is that the front and side bracing are at different heights to each other, but I'm sure I can figure something out if needed

jo

Hi Ian,

I've just read the article in Rail Express, top stuff as ever!

One question though, where did you get those lovely looking VW transporters parked in the car park? I fancy some of those to populate my layouts, they look like cracking models!

jo

Hi Andy,

Cheers for the comments, I do a double take with current N stuff too, especially after seeing an older "Poole era" model!

With cross bracing for the legs, are you meaning like a saltire shape, looking down from above? It was something I considered, but lack of wood at the time limited me to what I could do. I've designed it in such a way though that additions and modifications over time should be simple to implement.

This board by itself is very sturdy, a testament to its standalone design, but added strength could help the reusability of the legs on future projects

jo

Hi all, thanks for the comments and suggestions. London had completely slipped my mind! The tube stuff is nice, but very expensive! I've been looking at OHLE stuff, probably via N Brass Locos, with a view to a Desiro to partner the cheap London Midland 170 I picked up last week. A nice 378 from Farish or Dapol could see the location easily moved south, throw in a bit of 4th rail and it becomes a fictional loop off the WCML perhaps, with 350s and 378s rattling by...  As for the FGW Adelante I want to model, well...

A nice little N gauge layout you have there. But one question, just where do the tracks go to from the high level depot once leaving the layout under the road bridge? Do they connect with the low level main line circuit?

Hiya, the two levels aren't connected. At present, the spur leads from the depot onto a block of wood above the lower fiddle yard. With the layout designed as a loco depot, this gives room to shunt on and off the depot, but converting to a wagon repair depot will mean I'll need to extend it a bit some how. These two photos hopefully help to explain it, the red line is a possible extra loop to be added to increase storage on the lower level.

Nice shot taken at Wolfhall there - one of yours ?

Indeed it is, 59202 on 6L21 Whatley - Dagenham, 6/6/13 in that nice weather we had a few weeks back. Not got it on Smugmug yet, but here it is

I'll finish with a couple of shots I took earlier of 66101 and 66170 posed with some JJA autoballlasters, built from the NGS kit. It's only one set of 5, but the tunnel sections allow it to look like two. Despite the abundance of bare wood in these angles, already I think the layout gives some great photo opportunities.

jo

A quick update of progress from last week. The layout is no longer floor mounted! Neither myself or dad are particularly gifted in woodwork, but between us we got a set of legs built. Seemed appropriate we finished on father's day!

The two uprights are designed to slot together for transport, hence the different height of the horizontal beams. They'll be fitted with a catch to enable them to clip together next time I take them apart. 

First test with it clamped together to size it all up, so far so good, if a little higher than I intended, due to reuse of wood from a previous project.

At 4feet in height, at this stage it did rather resemble the frame for a cot! The fantastically neat wiring under the board does remind me of the Underground map!

Proof it fits in the intended space for it at home. The chest of drawers just in view to the right provide a handy seat for working on the layout. Whilst at home it does seem rather tall, but standing next to it, it is a good height for exhibitions, especially as N gauge layouts can often get walked straight past because they're "too small and far away". Its easy to lose up to about a foot from the legs if I do decide it's too tall after all anyway.

Final shot is of load testing the support...with a total weight of around 10kgs, the layout has survived the combined cat and laptop test. A couple of mugs of tea and the controller should be nothing in comparison. It seems I have provided a perfect viewpoint for him to watch the street from the comfort of the house!

Speaking of tea, I plan to add a shelf below the layout, mounted on the cross members of the legs which should add further to the rigidity of the structure.

Work has slowly begun too on scenic stuff, more on that soon!

jo

CAD looks good to me so far, though I'll leave people more knowledgable on the type to comment any further.

I like the idea with regards the coupling box, your 67 only has 4 powered axles and still shifts a good load. And it's not like the real 50s shifted 4500t of stone along the GWML...

jo

Looks like a Loram rail grinder to me, 5 vehicles long if my memory serves me right.

Loving the diversion into wagons David, conveniently the NGS do the right bogies too. A train of those would look ace behind a GB or Freightliner 66.

I'd suggest having a look at the buffers on the real thing though, they'll be either rectangular or Euro 'bread loaf' shape, rather than circular as you've modelled so far.

I'll keep an eye on progress,

jo

Yes a 450 is very similar to a 350/1, just a case of removing the panto and the boxes on the underframe that deal with the AC stuff. They're still a bit expensive to buy for respraying at the moment, but definitely an option to keep an eye on for the future. I'm still making my mind up on what route to follow with this, nothing is set in stone yet. I have wanted to model OHLE for a while, and the lower level does give a nice, self contained area to play with. Oh I don't know, no doubt I'll come up with another idea tomorrow...

jo

Hi Graham, me too! I think we'll be seeing more of that angle.

I'll keep you posted on developments

jo