HVR reborn

[ebay mike]

The snows came and Schoela diesel had to deputise for snowplough duties.

 

[ebay mike]

Latest acquisition (Liliput V3) pulls into Hemsby station with a short freight. Grey tank car in the background is a 50p car boot buy - 1/35 petrol tanker trailer with Bachmann BH tender bogies added. Minimal modification and a quick respray.

 

[ebay mike]

March saw some activity - a visit from the Round Robin boxcar

and post-winter tracklaying recommenced.

 

[ebay mike]

2nd April 2013 - day off + sun shining + wife out = railway work. Having had some rather precarious running sessions during the winter akin to the original Tay Bridge on a stormy night the chance to install proper supporting boards for Somerton Halt and East Somerton Junction was jumped at. No more crawling along at a snail's pace on track balanced on bricks, blocks of wood and anything else that was to hand. Roofing felt covering in place and track being test fitted again prior to final fix and ballasting.

 

[playmofire]

Good to see everything falling into place and the sun out, too!

 

[ebay mike]

07/04/13 A little more done.

 

[Gizzy]

Looking good Mike....

 

[ebay mike]

20/04/13 - Bridge that gap. With Cadbury's snack as the advert used to go. Trouble is it was sunny so the chocolate would have melted and no doubt the biscuit crumbled away at the first sign of rain. Had to make do with 2x1, Sterling Board and roofing felt. Should be able to slot a couple of short lengths of rail in tomorrow to finish it off and provide a stable working double track. No more nail-biting trips over terrifying drops hoping nothing gives way. Next on the agenda will be the central inner loop and figure of eight.

 

[ebay mike]

21/04/13 Superb weather - light breeze, sunshine & warm. The hoped-for infills having been sucessfully installed, the oportunity was taken for some clearance trials with a 3 coach enthusiasts special. More importantly an hour long session with a class 66 running light-engine to ensure curves could be negotiated smoothly and with no 'binding'. I was pleased that despite the unrealistic radii it didn't look too silly. The 66 also undertook a short stint with the coach rake but that seemed to be stretching the rubber ruler a little too far and the photos were deemed unfit for public consumption.

 

[ebay mike]

23/04/13 Had an hour of daylight left when I got home so thought I'd make use of it. Did a test fit of the track for the 2 inner loops to make sure there would be room for everything. as it turns out I think I may be also be able to fit a yard, loco depot or sidings in as well - or possibly all three. Have a mountain of track left over. About 100 x R1 curves and a goodly quantity of R5 and Aristo 20 foot curves as well as number of straights. In fact enough for another layout. Maybe I could use the back garden as well - over the pond, across the lawn around the palm trees or then again, maybe not. I don't really fancy putting it to the planning department (SWMBO) at the moment.

 

[ebay mike]

Took some thought. I'm not an end to end or shunting type - just like to watch things go round. This gives me the option of running four trains at once or if the points are set correctly one train will traverse virtually the whole layout as a continuous run. There'll be a bit of 'wrong road' working but I can live with that. Route detailed below. No doubt there are other options. Dashing about changing points could extend the run significantly.

Liking the complex track plan Mike.

 

[ebay mike]

23/05/13
Finally got a day off when it wasn't raining so took a chance on erecting a bit more of the 'baseboard'. Managed to get the link line between tracks 2 and 3 installed and also did the necessary trimming to finalise the parallel straight sections. All now adjusted with the help of a spirit level to minimise any gradients. Then the heavens opened so I guess that will be it for another week or so.

 

[playmofire]

That's a very impressive track setup. Roll on warm, sunny days of train running!

 

[beavercreek]

Slowly but surely the great plan will be realised. It is coming along well Mike

 

[ebay mike]

I bet Brunel and Stephenson never had this problem. Having laid out track 3 in a temporary position I tried to test fit the figure of eight for track 4. Bugger - it wouldn't fit, no matter how much I tried. Having already compromised the radii on track 3 which means the class 66s will be restricted to the mainline (tracks 1 & 2) I just couln't bring track 4 down to LGB R2 as this would mean it would also be out of bounds for the Garrett. Time to go outside for a re-think - 'I may be gone some time' as the famous last words of Lawrence Oates went on the Terra Nova expedition in March 1912. I do, however, intend to return, unlike Oates. One possibilty may be an overlapped (folded figue of eight) design. In the meantime work calls again so actual progress must come to an unwanted temporary halt.

 

[ebay mike]

Gave it some thought and came up with a potential revised plan.

Then went outside and shuffled things around to see if it would work - looks promising.

Still gives a reasonable run on the inner track.

 

[ebay mike]

02/06/13 Wall to wall blue here today with large yellow light bulb in the sky. Not happy with my latest revision I sat and had another think. Determined that everything would fit this time AND meet my needs I ventured outside armed with ruler, level and large hacksaw! After about 6 hours I've ended up with a folded figure of eight which has effectively doubled the run on track 4. There's a small passing loop on track 3 (sufficient for a short local or a railcar) and a stub siding. I'll probably add a PW department yard and some stock sidings by inserting an R1 point here and there later. In the meantime the plumped for shape has been co-erced into a perfect fit by the judicious use of said hacksaw and stomach to re-radius some 20ft diameter curves. All I have to do now is cut the boards so they fit properly underneath. Bachmann 66s are still precluded from completing circuits on both loops 3 & 4 but I will have to live with that. The rather overscale 6 foot way found on much of the railway has been much reduced for tracks 3 and 4 to maximise the radius of the curves but have been tested with a variety of rolling stock. If I end up with any particular clearance issues it is more likely the offending vehicle(s) will be disposed of rather than the track relaid as I want it up and running asap now.

 

[ebay mike]

11/07/13 The steaming hot weather we had last weekend wasn't best suited to working long hours outside but as my spare time is limited I had to put up with it and get on with more tracklaying. I wasn't happy with the reverse curve on the inside loop as apart from a couple of sidings I had managed to avoid such things on all other running lines. At the expense of additional timber and a larger than planned 'six foot way' I swapped positions of a curve and point and solved the problem. I also managed to 'uncompromise' the restricted radius on the third circuit and have now restored route availability for class 66s. The newly finished baseboards are unusually shaped in places. No particular reason for that other than it's was what was available in the pile of pieces of board.

 

[playmofire]

I think when you look at full scale railways there are unusual shapes about, e.g. where bridges carry lines in at an angle, so unusual shaped baseboard merely replicates the real world. The overall look of your layout is outstanding.

 

[Madman]

I wasn't particularly happy with that inside circle of track you had either. Your latest design is much More Better.