The Ashbrooke Renewal Project by Whoshotjimmi

[whoshotjimmi]

Thanks Mountain.

There is still a lot of work to do. The sheep in fast food restaurant car park need to be rounded up, as well as other, less silly items.

In hindsight, I would have done a lot of things differently and some of the decisions I made are now causing me problems when it comes to detail. The amount of space I've left for the signals, for example, as well as the fact that I ballasted before thinking about that properly. I'm definitely not up to the standard of others here and I have to learn the hard way!

I was looking at the terminus platforms yesterday and thinking about how they could be detailed. There is certainly an amount of subsidence on the platforms (another hindsight moment) and I'd like to steal your idea. I'll find a fun way to give credit on the layout.

James

[Mountain]

Another idea for the terminus platforms is to add a drain system down the centre of the track, as if it is a busy terminus, drains were added incase someone flushes the chain.

[whoshotjimmi]

Hi everyone and happy new year!

It's been just over a year since my last update so I thought it was about time I offered up some progress!

Not a massive amount has changed on the layout recently. I've spent a lot of time playing around with buildings, moving things around and trying to work out what looks right and where. The station approach weaves between some light industrial and retail areas whilst passing beneath some more general high street action and more of a main road where the station building sits. With that in mind, I'm giving it the look of a town that is now benefitting from a little more investment following the recession of the early 90s (funding was slow to materialise during these times but the busy rail corridor through Ashbrooke offered a cheap but potentially lucrative opportunity for developers) though the financial recovery is still in its early stages. It might all look a bit samey and boring currently but I'll work on it with detail over time.

This encouraged me to make the main change, which was to extend the scenic area above the non-station end of the layout to allow a high street to be built (though the area is yet to be populated) and to add some elevation to that corner to give the layout more depth and interest. A school now sits in the mezzanine level but, again, detail is required. Other than that, I've just been adding bits of detail here and there throughout the year as well as spending what feels like the GDP of a small nation on rolling stock. It's not going to win any modelling contests (I am genuinely awful at fiddly stuff ) but it makes me happy! Some of all of this can be seen in some of my fave pictures from the last few months.

PXL_20221225_122307267 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20221229_155134515 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230103_185856561 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_180451443 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20221212_152839285 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_160621675 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20221113_155241719 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_161602065 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_144044269 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_180000900 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_174328936 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230104_174405722 by James Lee, on Flickr

As a little bonus for anyone that made it this far, here is a 10 minute-ish vid of some movements on Ashbrooke from the point of view of a bored student in a classroom on the top floor of the school.

https://youtu.be/G-6wI2FA5v4

Thanks for looking!

James

[End2end]

Who needs DCC sound when you've got authentic 'clickedy-clack'?
Very enjoyable modellers meditation.
Thanks
End2end

[luckymucklebackit]

Missed this layout somehow, excellent modelling, very realistic setting.

Jim

[whoshotjimmi]

Hi everyone,

Something a little different this time. It's not Ashbrooke....but it is Ashbooke's analogue cousin!

A couple of new items arrived for which I didn't have DCC chips and I wanted to run them in. It made me wonder if I could put something together in analogue that could be put up and taken down relatively quickly. I also had the motivation of being host to a friend who also has a model railway in N Gauge, albeit it is currently in storage due to a protracted house move and is missing his layout. So after a few ebay clicks and some searching around the loft to find as much spare track as possible, this is what I came up with. It was interesting going back to analogue after the best part of 15 years being digital and in many ways it reminded me of why I enjoyed the hobby to begin with. As much as enjoy it, the real Ashbrooke has all got a little bit serious. This got me back to the times when I just used to 'play trains'. My friend and I had a fab time playing with it though at 8x6 ft it did take over the entire room! Still, the boards can be put up and taken down very quickly and it can be run as 8x6 or 6x4. If it comes out in full again, I'll build some basic stations etc.

One of the best things was getting some non DCC stock out after many years and my Lima Class 101 and Bachmann class 08 got a good run out for the first time in many, many years. I also reverted some locos to DC running to add to the fun! Not top modelling but definitely good fun and a reminder that a pretty substantial layout can still be put together for not an extortionate amount of money.

Thanks for looking!

James

PXL_20230123_135121133 by James Lee, on Flickr

[whoshotjimmi]

Hi everyone,

I don't have any big updates or piccies per se but I have spent the last few months making additions, changes and increasing stock at Ashbrooke. Just little bits here and there. Today I did a little rewire to give myself a bit more space to operate the layout, whilst fixing some typical summer high temperature damage that currently sees platforms 2-6 closed. I thought I'd just add a little trainspottting video of passenger and freight passing through platform 1 to keep people going during the summer lull. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/9LuOTAb57S0

[Phred]

Thanks for posting the update video. Excellent realistic modelling.

[Bufferstop]

Hi James, the stripey tent in the roadworks would be placed over a cable joint chamber to enable the cable joiner to work without rain entering the cables. In the '60s an instruction went out that the joiners vehicle should be parked upstream to protect the tent from oncoming traffic. Behind the vehicle would be a row of cones guiding the traffic around the work site. In some sites it was almost impossible to comply with every bit of the instruction, but getting the van in the right position was the bit most often done right.
Just a bit of "guilding on the lilly" it's a nice cameo.
John W.

[whoshotjimmi]

Ahhh cheers John. Everything is a LONG way from finished! It's changed so much from the pics already, without going into detail. There's about ten set pieces along the layout that I'd like to enhance and I've got ideas for all of them. It's mainly a case of time, patience, planning and fixing past mistakes. And the Bank of England. But I do want to tackle the roadworks area sooner rather than later.

[Dad-1]

Hi Whoshotjimmi,

I just love those photos, I see one layout is never enough.

Oh yea, I shot Jimmi - bloody long names !!

Geoff T.

[whoshotjimmi]

Hi everyone!

New year so I thought time for a little update. Truth be told, I don't get a huge amount of time to work on the layout so not a huge amount has happened other than collecting stock. I think there has been a lot of positive changes to the world of modelling over the last couple of years and, despite some astronomical price rises, the new manufacturers that are knocking around have put together some exceptional items, many of which likely wouldn't have been produced by the traditional manufacturers. Where there has been duplication, the quality generally has improved greatly over the incumbents and the prices these new manufacturers charge have somewhat shown up the likes of Hornby and Bachmann, in my opinion. The Accurascale Class 37, in particular, is an absolute triumph. It hasn't been all roses though and quality issues have crept in that I simply don't expect any more. The Cavalex MGRs couplings and running characteristics were incredibly poor and this has led me to cancel some locomotive pre-orders with them. EFE too has been a bit of a let down and I have suffered from some of the quality issues on the class 144 that many others have also experienced. That aside, I've been exceptionally happy with the stock that's come in and the availability for my era is now mindblowing.

On the layout itself, the main project is currently expanding the size of the fiddle yard, with the goal of being able to run a 6 hour freight timetable through Ashbrooke. A 2 hour passenger and 4 hour freight timetable is already catered for in terms of stock and space but I am trying to increase this to 3 and 6 respectively. Some people will think this overkill and unnecessary but it's just the way that I like to interact with the railway! Other than that, I've altered the layout of the road and station area above the platforms, started building Ashbrooke high street at the other end of the layout, moved the retaining walls behind the station forwards so that I can add some bits behind the station to give it more depth and toyed with some canopies on the platforms. All in all, plenty to do but happy with progress! I've popped some of my favourite pics from the last 6 months below.

Thanks for looking!

James

PXL_20230622_192311242 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20230923_093706129 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20231226_151826679 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20231228_162056716 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20231228_162024440 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_203853754 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20231231_204230245 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20240114_194946087 by James Lee, on Flickr

PXL_20240114_195120194 by James Lee, on Flickr

[Phred]

Top notch realism and fascinating to look at. Even the ubiquitous 'bus on the bridge' looks interesting!

[whoshotjimmi]

Hi everyone,

It has been a little while since I last posted. Not intentional - I suffered a knee injury that has stopped me from getting in the loft and working on the layout for a substantial period of time. Unfortunately for the layout, this happened about a week after I decided to rip up most of the track to fix some issues, which has left the layout derelict for about six months.

Long story short, I'd been having some issues with poor running and just trying to manage it but it was time to replace one particular set of points. Upon replacement, I caused other issues (likely because I have the patience of a child waiting for Santa Claus), which I just seemed to make worse each time I attempted a fix. So I decided to replace all of the insulfrog pointwork on the scenic portion of the layout with electrofrog and to fix some issues with the baseboard alignment, most of which are now over ten years old.

I've now been able to get back into the loft and start work again, though I'm still struggling to get under the layout, so recent work has been planning and preparing the layout to be properly refurbished, which will happen throughout the remainder of 2025. The pictures will show where I am at!

PXL_20240713_103326027 by James Lee, on Flickr

Much of the track on the scenic section has been removed, with the baseboards sanded.

PXL_20241227_125501500 by James Lee, on Flickr

I have removed the town scene at the 'South' end of the layout and fixed the alignment issues with the baseboards beneath it.

PXL_20250112_115642656.NIGHT by James Lee, on Flickr

I have then redesigned and relaid the 'South' entrance to the fiddle yard from the layout, which is now working reliably and has improved the use of the available space.

PXL_20250112_132508986.NIGHT by James Lee, on Flickr

I've also made headway on relaying the front fiddle yard from the 'South' end as well, though there is lots of work to do on the 'North' end before this progresses any further. The rear fiddle yard is a project for later in the year. I'll explain the rationale for the large amount of storage below.

PXL_20241225_145533516 by James Lee, on Flickr

Meanwhile, 101663 sits trapped in platform 6 until the works are completed.

The next steps for the layout are to redesign and relay the entrance to the fiddle yard form the 'North' end, relay all of the trackwork on the scenic side and then rewire the whole layout. Once I've done that, I can begin work on the rear fiddle yard, which will include removing all of the existing boards, realigning the supports and then laying new, larger boards that utilise the full space between the beams.

I mentioned the amount of storage above. When I was young, I was always drawn to layouts with large amounts of stock that operated with great variety over a period of time. This led me to build a layout that has a full working timetable with lots of stock to work it. The obvious and most famous inspiration for this would be 'Little Bytham', though I have neither the space nor the skill to recreate something of that quality. However, I can still build something to my own satisfaction in the space I have.

Ashbrooke has a fully fleshed-out, six-hour timetable that works (almost) prototypically but this means lots of storage space is needed for the trains that will operate the timetable. Once the fiddle yard has been expanded, the layout will be able to cope with this stock requirement, with some room for future expansion. One of the benefits of not being able to work on the layout is that I've been collecting and ordering bits and pieces of stock to run the timetable. I'm currently about 90% of the way there (which is still better than the local, real world train service). Hopefully, it will be at 100% by the time the full refurbishment is completed.

If I was starting from scratch today, I'd certainly go 'N' gauge but when Ashbrooke was first envisaged, DCC was relatively new and there wasn't much in the way of DCC ready stock in 00, let alone in N. It's safe to say that N has caught up with, and in some ways surpassed, 00 in terms of available stock but I am far too heavily invested to change scale now, even if it would be better suited.

Not everyone's cup of tea, perhaps, but it meets my own enjoyment needs for the hobby (if not financial).

Anyway, apologies for the lack of updates. Hopefully, I will progress a bit more readily now and will have more to share throughout the year.

[whoshotjimmi]

Well, after a long hiatus, during which I've been thinking hard about the constraints faced by the layout and trying to come up with solutions to operational challenges, I have decided that Ashbrooke cannot expand the way I'd like within its current footprint, so it is time to dismantle, make some changes to the loft space and then rebuild bigger and better, eliminating the mistakes I've made over the years.

It's too warm to do that sort of work in there at the moment so I envisage starting in Autumn. I'll start up a new thread as and when. In the meantime, I have a 'little' side project on the go and will share some of that in the not too distant.

Anyway, thank you all for keeping tabs on Ashbrooke over the years and I'll be back soon!