New Railway Modellers Forums

Well, further to my post in my now old layout thread, I'm starting from scratch, completely! I'm fed up with compromising on expenses for things like nicer track and points, and electronics, so I am going to go completely Peco finescale code 75 flexitrack and electrofrog points. My subject, well, that will take a bit of explaining...

when my Grandad passed away last year he left behind a large amount of plans for a layout of stone junction in NSR days, and I've been thinking about it ever since, and becoming more interested the more I read about it. I've finally decided that it's really what I want to do. It will involve scratchbuilding all the buildings, as nothing RTR or kitbuilt even comes close to the buildings, and heavily modifying stock (basically salvaging chassis and that's it) for rolling stock, as the few brass kits of anything NSR are monumentally expensive, save a couple of worsley works "scratch aids" as they are referred to, which I may try. Lord knows how good I'll be at that, but LNWR trains also made an appearance, and they are a little easier to get hold of as kits, so I may start with some of them. I have drawings for a large collection of NSR rolling stock from wagons, four, six and bogie coaches and locomotives.

So I've decided to set it around the time Grandad was going to, 1910, but may be a little more flexible to include some very early LMS, as it took over a decade for the LMS to come up with any sort of corporate image for their stations, so the only thing that might change would be the stock (or even just the livery). What I have already are the plans for most of the layout, minus the signalbox which was demolished before my Grandad could get there, and that's about it! I'm also planning on upping the ante with my electronics. the layout will be DCC as with my previou one, powered with a Hornby elite (and JMRI if I can be bothered) but I'm going to motorise all points and have a proper control panel. looking at this forum's main website I've found a wiring diagram for points that I like, so will go for that. I may be posting a bit more in the electronics section than I previously have done though, as it's all new to me. I think I understand what I need to do for electrofrog points, but a little unsure about diamond crossings in the circumstance I'll be using them (something for another post).

More information and pictures will follow, including a track plan, but I'll leave you with a couple of pictures, first, a painting in the NRM collection of exactly the sort of scene I hope to reproduce:



And the detailed plan for the front and as far as my Grandad got to modelling it:

A very interesting (and challenging!) project
Nice to continue with something your Grandad started . . .
The best of luck - and please keep us updated with progress.

A good plan, and a lovely station building for the heart of it. The building is still there beneath bits and pieces added by the LMS and then BR, so a couple of site visits could be useful. The NSR stock was generally of the smaller Victoiran sizes their liveries of brown and ivory or deep red for coaches and their purposeful engines made smart looking trains, if a little shorter than some. Both Churnet Valley and Foxfield have restored specimens to study. Should keep you busy for quite some time, enjoy it.

This looks like an exciting project for you FS123 and I look forward to further posts. It's fantastic that you are carrying on where your grandfather left off and will make it all the more special for you as a result. That station looks magnificent and if you get a scene as depicted in the painting I will raise my hat and a glass to you.

Paul

That's the eventual plan carnehan! Thanks bufferstop, yes I have visited the station, all the drawings for the station building and goods sheds have been done, unfortunately the signal nox and waiting rooms were demolished many years ago, and with the signal box in particular I only have one photo. However, hopefully I can compare it with some other ex-NSR 'boxes and go from there.

By the turn of the century it'd be well into 6 wheeled stock, hence my post the other day, a smattering of 4 wheelers on branchline services, and the first bogie stock on the mainline services. It's a little unclear when the liveries for the coaches changed to madder lake, I've seen both 1903 (when the locos went to madder lake) and later in 1909 both mentioned. I'll probably have a mix of both, but no one makes paints for the Victoria lake and ivory livery.

Visited the churnet valley a couple of times, but they don't have anything NSR, except a body which they entered an agreement with the foxfield to restore, and a visit there to ride on their NSR train is definitely something I'd like to do. However, as I like a roundy roundy there will be one side of plain double track and I like the idea of consall station, right on the canal for that. Then my fiddle yard can.go behind it, hiding.behind all the trees.

FS123,

What a spur to get this rolling .........
I'm fairly confident you can do it, perhaps taking your time will be the hardest thing. At least
Grandad has already done much research for you.
I quite like the idea of a long running thread with a significant learning requirement. Will follow
with interest.

Geoff T.

Thanks Geoff, as you say, taking time will be something I'll need to do, if it looks like I'm rushing something, feel free to tell me! I suspect this probably will be aa long thread, as there's lots to do! Grandad always took his time, although perhaps a little too much, it became a standing joke in the end!

Don't worry about the colours, as long as you can get reasonably close. There's no one around who has seen the colours freshly applied, who could contradict you.

Indeed, I have some descriptions from those who were around at the time comparing thereto other railway companies' colours do that should help, and stationcolours.com is a minefield of useful information for paints for buildings, blue running in boards apparently...

Just to let you know that there is a young chap on another forum who has stolen your thunder. He even posted those very same pictures.

sishades wrote:Just to let you know that there is a young chap on another forum who has stolen your thunder. He even posted those very same pictures.

Sssshhh - Don't tell anyone!!!

sishades wrote:Just to let you know that there is a young chap on another forum who has stolen your thunder. He even posted those very same pictures.

Another forum What a traitor!!!

Do I need to roll my trouser leg up and learn a secret handshake
In all seriousness though this is looking very promising. Its funny how popular pregrouping modelling is becoming. I'll be keeping an eye on this one

Hi Mike, thanks, I always enjoy a pre-grouping layout, but they are still pretty scarce. I think the best layout I've seen is Leamington and Warwick's P4 Clarendon layout, which features pre-grouping LSWR, LNWR, and GWR.

Meanwhile, here's an overall view of the station site taken from the air in 1929 which has been very useful in determining how things fit together:



Note the lack of footbridges at this time, barrow crossings were deemed perfectly acceptable for the general public. If you got run over, it was your own fault!

Also here's a diagram of the trackplan:



Hopefully I won't be needing to change much. Immediately after the platforms end the track will start curving round to form the circuit, with a radius at its tightest somewhere between radius 2 and 3, which isn't too bad, and hopefully 6 wheelers can cope with it. All the sidings around the goods shed will be modelled, but will probably connect to the main running lines a little closer to the platform, and the headshunts which run off the page will curve round before ending a little early. I won't be doing any of the sidings that come off from the points by the Cloak room on the left of the page as there simply isn't room to do so, and the bank of sidings at the top will probably only become one or possibly two, to give the general idea, and they too will probably connect to the mainlines a little closer to the platforms. Apart from that, hopefully everything else should be pretty much to scale if I've measured my shed properly!

That looks like it's going to be an impressive layout. Your Grandad would be very proud.
When I looked at the picture from the air I thought I recognised the station building, and lo and behold I was right!
I have the MODEL RAILWAY DETAILING MANUAL by Alan Postlethwaite (isbn: 1844252019) and it shows a picture on plate 8 (roughly page 12) of the station approach looking towards the station building.... and what looks to be a ground signal box on the right of the picture beyond the engine shed.
Also plate 9 shows a close up of the station building.
Thanks
End2end