[kristopher1805]

So whilst I was in hospital I built an OO-9 model railway on an old door provided by the maintenance guy. I had a decent box load of items as when I worked in Malta back in 2013 I made an OO9 to play with and was working on incorporating this in the main railway to add interest and amusement. I padded it out with a few other items and of course since then I added a little more.

I did need to buy some rail joiners etc and also bought a Peco setback plans for this scale and here I came across the first problem.

The Lynton layout of Parracombe shows this laid in Peco setback radius 1 which is 9 inches and it shows the Heljan 2-6-2t of Manning Wardle fame and I bought one for myself at Christmas being 'Exe' in the 1906 livery, all good stuff. (I live not so far from this river)

However the layout I built had a problem as the 'Exe' would not tackle the Peco R1 as on further attention it says we have to have 12 inch radius, even 12 (305mm) inch is tight for this loco but this also means that the points that are also this radius are barely adequate so you need to use the larger radius electro frog variety rather than the 9 inch radius insulfrog. So Peco got it wrong quite badly, I did send an email to them without reply.

This also means that the area I marked out for the terminal (see pics below) will be too tight and it will not fit the area available, means a big re-think, the original equipment of a small Loco class 99 and some 4 wheel wagons is fine but the L&B locos, bogie coaches and the like just need more space.

Woodside terminal being laid out

ditto

 

[kristopher1805]

Sometime ago I asked if the Lynton and Barnstable 2-6-2t Manning Wardle by Heljan like the one pictured below would pass through the N gauge girder bridge by Kato, this is a very nice effort and comes in a variety of colours, I had thought to disguise the sleepers by a wooden deck but no, the loco valve gear simply will not pass through the girder bridge as it is which is a bother, we are talking here about 2 mm but 1mm is enough, the concrete style open bridge is no bother however so I may have to think about how to use this.

The Plan
I have now had to consider what next, the idea to place the OO9 on the main layout is a non starter as there is not enough space available, so maybe now I have to consider something else, so I thought about a Minehead-Lynton Railway now this might have been too steep in gradient terms anyway anythings goes on my model so the idea is;

1, Minehead GWR exchange sidings something similar to Barnstaple Town - Minehead Quay
2. Minehead GWR - Porlock via Woodcombe, Bratton, Selworthy to Porlock
3. Porlock to Porlock Weir/Quay
4, Porlock to Oare, Brendon, Barbrooke Junction, triangular allows access to Lynton or direct to Barnstaple.

Naturally this line borrows from the L&B, even bits of architecture locos and rolling stock

Hope you find this of interest, just not sure where I can build this now, I have quite a bit of kit, 2 Manning Wardle tanks and a Roco 99, so next will be a WW1 Bachmann Baldwin likely Bridget and I will acquire a Baldwin 2-4-2t Lyn

So there it is I will have a go at a draft plan next and then work this into some suitable space but I have no idea where it will go!

 

[kristopher1805]

Whoops - the Loco Manning Wardle - Taw here

 

[kristopher1805]

Well I came up with a plan to get some space and this may well work OK, phase 1 complete, in the meantime sitting at home is getting expensive as I peruse Ebay, anyway here is Bridget lurking about Woodside, sorry for the mess around main layout needs a clean up

 

[kristopher1805]

OK all are bursting with enthusiasm, anyway I spoke about the Kato girder bridge which is here below, available in some different colours, as I said the Manning Wardle L&B locos by Heljan will not quite pass through it whilst the Bachmann 10-12-D is even closer must be 1 mm or less interference you can push it along the bridge but it will not pass freely.

As above the lower photo shows the concrete girder bridge. which is fine for these OO9 locos, dunno if I should cut and shut the girder bridge - it'll probably depend on the final run of track I have?

 

[kristopher1805]

Confession time, I admitted and severely shocked MMD back along with owning a diesel, a Double class 8 before they were class 8's, anyway the only one I owned until now! My narrow gauge has now also a Roco 0-6-0 small diesel, wants some Gardner logos really a nice 3LW engine would be just the thing really but thought it could work the quay at Minehead.

Anyway here it is, surely one of the cheapest locos you can buy

 

[kristopher1805]

That's good to know the loco is simply posed and I have not run not yet it would be the dock shunter for Minehead I thought on my proposed layout so that's coming on.

What I want now is a Bachmann Woody Bay station building - so if any one knows where I can buy one of these then please let me know.

another shot of the little Roco diesel

 

[kristopher1805]

That's good to know the loco is simply posed and I have not run not yet it would be the dock shunter for Minehead I thought on my proposed layout so that's coming on.

What I want now is a Bachmann Woody Bay station building - so if any one knows where I can buy one of these then please let me know.

another shot of the little Roco diesel

 

[kristopher1805]

Hello Norman and thanks for the interest, the b ridge in back is a Faller Bioetschattel Brucke but I found this a bit floppy, the original plastic abutments are naff so I dispensed with those, I then added some Hornby platform fencing which I had to trim and these looked at least British in lieu of the pathetic originals, then to solve some floppy issues I added a girder down the middle meanwhile the legs came away so that's not right either.

I then sprayed the bridge charcoal black instead of a wishy washy looking blue colour at least it looks more BR 1962 now.

I'll take another photo for you maybe in a thread 'Towcaster Bridges' - but watch this space anyway

 

[kristopher1805]

There is a Woody Bay station on Bay so I am bidding on this now.

 

[kristopher1805]

My other Manning Wardle tank 'Exe' is seen here, beautiful model from Heljan

 

[kristopher1805]

Well that's pretty m much the loco stock except for the class 99 by Roco seen here with a coach from the L&B, these are nearly as expensive as the class 99 loco, so nice but really a bit pricey, I have a few wagons however so maybe I'll add a few of these in Photo form

 

[kristopher1805]

OK so I am refining the project, unlike the L&B really built for tourist traffic the L&M (Lynton and Minehead) is much more industrial, there is the port at Minehead and at Porlock Weir, so there was coal traffic in from Wales by boat, fishing, Oysters at Porlock Weir, possibly iron ore mining at Brendon (well there was at Brendon Hill about 20 miles to the east at the end of the Somerset Mineral Railway (one for Roger Farnsworth methinks) also timber up the valley from Porlock some basic foodstuffs plus some passenger traffic, if you can think of any other trade then I'll take it too. - Jambutty mines anyone?

The other essential feature is that the railway fell under the control of Col Stephens so he has invested in the WD Baldwin locos (another to come) and the little diesel. The time period would be mid 1920's sort of before the motor vehicle started taking over especially the RAF Leyland subsidy lorries that were bought back by Leyland and refurbished at the Sopwith factory at Kingston upon Thames..

Porlock will be the headquarters and hub of the little system outlines as above and the passenger station will be as per Woody Bay as the builder of the 3 Nuremburg Chalet type buildings on the L&B was a Lynton based contractor who also went on the operate the Minehead to Barnstaple bus service which effectively did the L&B little good.

Also to note that there have been a lot of you all reading this thread so thanks for that but feel free to criticise, comment or whatever takes your fancy and thanks for reading.

 

[kristopher1805]

OK well I lucked out on the Woody Bay station as it went for £102 which was somewhat more than I was willing to cough for.

Anyway I came up with this idea, in my box room I added two bottles shelving units and that leaves the space at thew back, these two units are 1600 x 600 so enough to get round a curve with the bit between the unit and the wall when I place another board in place hopefully you will get the idea so there are boxed stored both below and above this place.

 

[kristopher1805]

One for Norman, I have a new photo of the Bietschattal Brucke taken just yesterday shows the whole bridge nicely, as I said I patched it up and strengthened the thing plus sprayed it British Railways pre smoked up charcoal black just like the real things instead of the Swiss blue (does anyone actually paint their railway infrastructure a 'blue' colour let along back in 1962? (Groundhog Day at Towcaster being the 19th May 1962)

Question for you does anyone know if a Decauville 08 0-6-0 loco ever ran in the UK, Minitrains make a nice one and it looks just the sort of loco that Col. Stevens would buy as long as it was cheap, did not do standardisation out Colonel but deffo liked cheap. these locos were built for the French army in WW1 and basically did the job that the Baldwins did for the British.

 

[kristopher1805]

Thanks for that Norman, the bridge is 1.1 metres long 3 feet 7.5 inches about so it takes a bit of railway, if you go to the Gaugemaster home page they show trains crossing one of these in genuine guise.
I agree it is an eye catcher and gives opportunity for a whole lot of scenic options just I never got the under view right so far.
The real bridge is on a curve at the top of a cwm in Switzerland and as the track curves it comes out as a single track whereas straightened out it comes out as a double track, the Faller model is a double straight bridge however.
The box room has 56 large plastic boxes and the narrow gauge takes up space for 8 more so I am still short of box space! I have quite a few under the main layout but generally those I need access to quite regularly and another 10 in the foyer area. When you have 41 trains on the layout the empty stock boxes alone take up some space and those and the shelving all cost some money!

 

[kristopher1805]

OK well nstand by for some pics of the OO9 as I now have a working railway, as an OO man I have found the delicate OO9 track quite difficult and my natural attitude is to bash it into shape, OO9 will not stand such treatment, the other thing is that the Heljan locomotives are ultra very and excessively sensitive to anything other than perfectly laid and flat track, anything else is trouble, so more on this subject when I load some pictures up tom Imgur.

 

[kristopher1805]

OK well now a bit of railway scene. As you know I gave up on trying to fit a n arrow gauge tewrminal into Towcaster and have built a stand alone model, even here space is limited so the idea of about 3 stations will not work, additionally I have gone earlier with the model so it is 1925, this is before the Leyland Tita/Tiger appeared and wiped out passenger traffic on such railways but as yet no people have turned up.

Also there are quite a few electrofrog points so I have added droppers and this in turn needs isolating sections in places so those have to be added, somewhere I have a ready made switch panel for this job but blowed if I can find it.

As said elsewhere the idea is for a Lynton and Minehead railway with extension to Porlock Weir, another to Minehead harbour and a logging as well as a iron ore mine, there is fish traffic and oysters from the Weir whilst also coal is brought in from South Wales plus a bit of touroid traffic.

Anyway here is Porlock station as laid out, top line and loop goes left towards Porlock Weir, the lower line and loop goes up the hill to Lynton left, the siding far right is for logging and timber work, general sidings to the fore, yet to be worked is is the coal yard, genmeral goods and the loco/carriage sheds as you can see a lot to pack in.

 

[kristopher1805]

The line along the top is the return loop and as such for the platform area trains should always have front/smokebox to the left for going uphill

I have a temporary loop end, this will go further and include a fiddle yar to hold 4-6 trains, in the meantime SWMBO has added her Lilliput Lane collection which is more like TT scale however I'll work them in somewhere, in this view the line right goes back to Porlock, the line left goes around the back of the layout as the return loop and just left hanging in between is the Weir line I have yet to decide how I'll treat this one. either a terminal with loops or as part of the return loop fiddle yard.

 

[kristopher1805]

OK so with 100 views per item I guess some are interested so I'll keep going.

The picture below is the Minehead end loop, I would have liked to include Minehead and the short harbour branch but all I can do is the return loop the centre of which is full of building materials and as you see on the left side the loop has to almost undertake a 270 degree turn to get lined up for Porlock Stationso the track curves about all over the boards owing to the shape of the layout possible.