Stourford

[AJFE 2488]

This will be the first proper model railway I'll have built since my first attempt as a teenager back in 2010 as I originally tried building a small layout in my parents attic using a few thin plywood boards from MFO boxes my dad had saved from the army years ago. Fast forwarding back to today, my parents have moved out into my late grandparents house leaving just me and my brother looking after the house. Since I've claimed the master bedroom, that freed up my old bedroom which has been turned into a hobby room for myself and I can finally get round to having a layout again.

Due to needing to avoid having anything permanently fixed to the walls, I have built a "J-shaped" free standing workbench in there which gives me plenty of storage space. There is a chimney breast in the middle of one of the walls hence the need for the J-shape. Anyway, this gives me a suitable worktop of roughly 8ft by 7ft which I can place portable baseboards on top of to work on and run the layout. These can then be stored on the shelves underneath when I need the workbench for other jobs.

After many months of planning and tweaking, I now have a workable trackplan to build my layout from:



This will be a fictional GWR Terminus in 00 Gauge set in the West Midlands region during the inter-war period and includes a goods yard and a small MPD with a coaling stage (and a hopefully working automaton of the coaling tub.) Space in the room allows for a non scenic traversing fiddle yard to be put in which I can either leave trains out on or store away if needed.

For historical links, the name Stourford is an amalgamation of the towns of Kingswinford and Stourbridge which I live in between and these were in the old GWR territory which included what was the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (later the West Midlands Railway and merged into the GWR) and the Kingswinford Railway (later extended to Oxley, Wolverhampton via the Wombourne Branchline and also connected to the Earl of Dudley's Pensnett Railway). Kingswinford also had the Shutt End Railway (which eventually became part of the Pensnett Railway system) that was built in the late 1820s to transport coal from the Pensnett Area to Ashwood Basin which happens to be 5 mins away from my house. The engine that orignally worked this line was the Agenoria (sister engine to the "Stourbridge Lion" for those who may have heard of it) which has been preserved and you can see it at the NRM in York.

As I'm setting this in a fictionalised area within the Black Country area, I can base rolling stock on those rostered at Stourbridge and Oxley sheds and potenially Kidderminster too for the odd excersion from the Severn Valley Line. So looking at various Pannier Tanks, 14xx's, Large and Small Prairies, Halls, Granges, possibly Manors as the nearest ones in the area at the time would have been based at Shrewsbury, Moguls and Collet Goods. So nice wide variety of stock.

So far the baseboards have been constructed, cork underlay sheets have been purchased and track is slowly being acquired. Have been collecting various bits and pieces of buildings, trackside scenery and electrics during from visits to various model railway exhibitions so have got plenty to work with.

Pictures will follow once I make a start on laying the track.

[Phred]

That's a very impressive plan! I look forward to seeing it progress.

[AJFE 2488]

Mini update as I have now got myself some free time after finishing my coursework for university. I've started off doing a dry run of the track layout with the track I currently have to see how it looks on the baseboard and to check how the rolling stock handles it.



Excusing the mess under and around the workbenches, the track plan fits ok onto the board provided that I nudge it over far enough to ensure the curve on the right isn't too close to the board edge. The part of the board with the multiple straights will eventually be the MPD so they are just there for rough positioning of the roads and coaling stage.



Rough layout of the station which works ok with the rolling stock I currently have. The gap in the track will be filled with a piece of flexi-track to save me buying multiple straights to chop and fit into it. The points and straight at the back is the rough position of the goods sidings and shed, this may need moving further across to the left so that the access road can be fitted it and adjusted so that the curve isn't too sharp.



Opposite end of the station. This is a rough positioning again of where the turntable will be along with the two inspection pits. 3-way point is roughly in position subject to alteration to suit the track work.



Rough layout of the MPD which will require a couple more points, another 3-way point and plenty of inspection pit kits to be purchased. Will need to remind myself to check what code rail is in the kit next time since I managed to pick up 2 packs of code 75 railed pits instead of what I assumed was code 100 years ago. There will be a ramp leading up to the coaling stage using some flexi-track and I'll have to look up the best way to build one in the first place.

So testing wise, all the engines I do have that are running handle the track layout fairly well but I do need to keep the speed down when going over the double slip as a couple of them derailed once or twice. Some of the engines are old and need a bit of tlc or just brand new chassis for the limas.

Cork sheets aren't fixed down yet and I'm assuming the norm is to cut strips that are wider than the track? This is a learning curve for me as I've never used them before and the last time I did layouts years ago, the track was pinned directly to the based with ballast glued around it.

[AJFE 2488]

Before I say anything else, Happy New Year to you all! Have kept myself busy over the Christmas holidays and cracked on with the layout.
So far I've focused on the 4 foot boards and they're almost finished trackwise, underlay has been glued down, track nailed in placed, holes have been drilled/ cutout for the point motors, inspection pits and the turntable. The majority of the track has been soldered with dropper wires as I'm taking no chances with loss of power on this layout.





The goods yard has been re-jigged slightly as whilst doing the dry run, I hadn't originally decided what size the goods shed was going to be when I come to making it and the siding nearest the stations wouldn't give enough clearance for a shed and any vehicles that would be present after doing a rough measurement based on the readily available models. So I've moved the points closer to the double slip to give a new angle for the sidings which should give enough clearance. Thinking about future applications, as this is a portable layout and I may choose to add an extension to the station end, I figured that I could fit in another platform to give me 3 in total should I wish to have trains travelling in either direction. So to allow for this, what I have done is marked out a centreline for the near siding so that it gives space for a single sided platform. Until then, it provides a bit of breathing space between the station and the goods yard. Still need to glue down 2 more strips of cork underlay and then I can lay down the track for the goods yard.

I have been able to do a test run of the electrics with a DCC fitted 66XX and a DC Hall and they do like the vast majority of the trackwork. I did make a start on weathering the track last week and didn't clean off the tops of the track making them stall on those bits but that can be easily fixed. They have crossed over the baseboard joints with no problems however on the track leading towards the 3 way point, they're not particulary keen on the curve as it is slightly tighter than 2nd radius and the Hall has been getting stuck there with either the bogie leaning off it or one of the driving wheels coming off. So think I'll be replacing that with a 3rd radius half curve and refitting the flexitrack to compensate. The curve leading away from the station is a wierd one as when the locomotives travel straight from the platform, they're perfectly fine. However when the Hall comes over from the loop, it doesn't like the curve on the point leading into the curve in the opposite direction which might be due to how close the tender is fitted to the locomotive. It is a Bachmann one if anyone is curious.

So next tasks will be to get the turntable finished off, get it wired and motored, fit it along with the inspection pits, fix the curve leading towards the 3 way point, sort out the track for the goods yard and make a start on the point motors for the 4 foot boards.

[Bigmet]

Good progress, and it looks very neat overall.

Regarding the Bachmann Hall, one of their models I have not sampled, what is the drawbar arrangement to couple on to the tender? If it has the tender pin on a screw locked adjustable slide, it is very easy to adjust. I have seen these set 'all over the shop' as received, since they introduced this method around a dozen years ago. (Typically spaced off to the maximum distance, but a couple of times so tight that it's straight track capable only...)

[AJFE 2488]

Good progress, and it looks very neat overall.

Regarding the Bachmann Hall, one of their models I have not sampled, what is the drawbar arrangement to couple on to the tender? If it has the tender pin on a screw locked adjustable slide, it is very easy to adjust. I have seen these set 'all over the shop' as received, since they introduced this method around a dozen years ago. (Typically spaced off to the maximum distance, but a couple of times so tight that it's straight track capable only...)

I've had another look at it just and Bachmann has done it with the drawbar being permanently fitted to the locomotive with 2 pin holes at the tender end. I remember now that out the box, the tender and locomotive were separate and you had to feed the drawbar through the tender's buffer beam before latching it onto the pin which was a bit of a pain.

I've fitted it onto the outermost pin now and it has plenty more wiggle room now. Will still need to swap out the flexitrack curve going into the 3 way point for a 3rd radius curve.

[AJFE 2488]

Have been doing some more work on the track and baseboard since my last post whilst fitting it between work and uni.





So far all the track for the 4x2 baseboards have now been laid and wired in with exception of the turntable, the 2 inspection pits and the road leading onto it. Left hand board has been fitted with second hand point motors and have purchased plenty of brand new ones to go with the other 2 boards. Will need to finish wiring the track feed circuit for both boards and install a link cable between them and my controller.



Have done a lot of work on the MPD board with the majority of trackwork acquired and loose fitted, first 4 inspection pits fitted into the baseboards and the incline for the coaling stage in the process of construction. As I've taken to soldering dropper wires to the track joiners, it is taking time to do but for a good reason. However, I have been using the same gauge wire on the points motors and managed to run out so will need to purchase another couple of lengths of red and black wire when I get the chance to do so. The inspection pits that will be inside the shed still need the slots cutting out and very tempted to have a go with my new jigsaw instead of the router this time to cut down on the noise, mess and burning smell. Also need to purchase 3 more inspection pits to finish the shed track and haven't decided whether or not to keep the track at the front edge of the yard straight or put a slight curve in front of it. Point motors will need fitting as-well along with another track feed link cable to the controller.

Will be looking at constructing a portable control panel incorporating the track controller(s), point switches/ mimic board and other electronic controls as I will be looking at motorising the signalling, wiring in the turntable feeds and motor, the coaling tower animatronic and lighting on the boards. This contol panel should then be able to be repostioned depending on whether I've got it set up at home or eventually at exhibitions. Still need to look at the storage section as I'll need to build a curved section off the display boards and a traverser yard.

[Phred]

Coming along very nicely.