7mm Birmingham Moor Street

[Focalplane]

It raining cats and dogs here today with thunder rattling the village. So I am sheltering in the railway room and working on the turntable area, getting some scenic practice.

The turntable is representing all of Tyseley Shed 84E and as such is about 3 miles down the track from Moor Street. So, as I mentioned, it is walled off:



The wall is made from MDF skirting board material with blue brick paper applied and capped with suitably carved strips of 2mm styrene. The wall will continue behind the pannier and prairie. I have fixed the wall to the plywood base using 3mm diameter brass rods:



The hole was drilled in the workshop and the rod inserted. I then placed what you see on the layout and tapped the brass rod with a mallet to mark where corresponding holes should be drilled in the plywood. Using only two brass pins per wall section the wall is not only very firmly fixed (yet removable) but also perpendicular!

There is also ongoing work improving the old turntable rescued from Legge Lane (a hypothetical small shed in the Birmingham area). I have already moved on from when this photo was taken two hours ago:



The tracks in the foreground need to be painted and ballasted with fine cinders, etc. The brown painted areas will represent the land around the "stabling roads" which photographs show to be surrounded by grass and weeds:

Tyseley Shed: GWR 2-8-0 No 4705, a class 4701 locomotive, is seen standing on one of Tyseley's many stabling roads ready for the following day's service

And "my" Castle, also on shed though in its end days:

Tyseley Shed: Ex-GWR 4-6-0 Castle Class No 5014 'Goodrich Castle' is sandwiched between a Castle and an unknown 0-6-0PT locomotive on 31st January 1965

There's a Peco static grass thingy at FB Systems so I may buy it when next en route for Montpellier.

Also in the photos, the coach cleaning crew appear to have purloined a bench from the competition!

 

[Focalplane]

I just realized that the link to Class 4701 loco 4705 in the previous post would mean that one of these fine locos could be a future Finney7 kit! Particularly now that I plan to almost certainly increase the Goods Station facilities and run night time operations. Of course, a 47xx loco would probably not enter Moor Street anyway but drop off part of its load at Bordesley before continuing on to Wolverhampton. Which means it would pass Moor Street on the main line, followed by a local transfer into the Goods Station!

 

[Dave Holt]

Paul,
Nice to see some proper locos on the turntable and the main line! Seriously though, you appear to be making good progress with the layout, which I'm enjoying reading about.
Dave.
Dave.

 

[Focalplane]

Dave,

I grew up among the two Regions so like both the "proper loco types". When we went up to London it was always on the Western Region line, never the LM Region. I do not remember ever taking a train from New Street as a child though there was one outing to Blackpool which must have originated at New Street. My best days on the LM Region were at Crewe and Tamworth. I spent my "end of steam" days in Southampton and hardly noticed the Merchant Navy class for what they were - magnificent in retrospect. One foreigner to Moor Street I may well add in the distant future is a Bulleid Light Pacific.

Fortunately I have good Rule 1 excuses for running a wide variety of locos because of Birmingham's central location. Eastern Region visitors certainly included B1s and V2s.

Thanks, Paul

Today I spent some time wiring up more Tortoises. It's taking me for ever but we'll get there eventually. The traversers are also taking more time to put together as I am having issues with gluing the styrene surface plates to the Tufnol base. I may have to remove all the styrene plates and replace them with some other material. I am tempted to try brass sheet which can be embossed with bolts/rivets as in the prototype. If push comes to shove I will use black card. I may use it anyway along the centre track as this will be heavily weathered with ash, cinders, oil and so on and needs to be insulated. But the cosmetic riveting would be a big plus if rather tedious to do.

 

[Focalplane]

If you model Moor Street then there might be a saying that you can't have enough Large Prairies! 4175 is being joined by a twin which will be numbered 5198, a Tyseley allocation. The plates arrived today and have been trimmed and given a coat of primer. In the morning black gloss will be applied and allowed to cure before being partially removed with very fine emery. But for now a plateless 5198 has lined up with 4175.

There will eventually be a third Large Prairie, Finney7 kit for no. 6166. This will need to be built so the RTR twins will have to carry the load for the time being. Which they are more than capable of.

 

[LarryG]

Should photos ever be taken of the layout other than for personal use and for sharing on WT I suppose a building shell could be fitted over the levers. A decision on this can wait a bit longer!

This is the thing isn't it. I have manual rodding to points that would be criticized at exhibitions and maybe on forums too if included in shots, but at the end of the day our layouts are built for ourselves.

The difference between Penmaenpool at the side of a Welsh estuary and Moor Street in the middle of Brum couldn't be more marked. It's a big project that's for sure. Have you looked at any of the laser cut outlets to see if they have any buildings/canopies etc that would assist your project and save time?

PS: Where did you obtain your blue brick paper for 7mm Paul?

 

[Focalplane]

This is the thing isn't it. I have manual rodding to points that would be criticized at exhibitions and maybe on forums too if included in shots, but at the end of the day our layouts are built for ourselves.

The difference between Penmaenpool at the side of a Welsh estuary and Moor Street in the middle of Brum couldn't be more marked. It's a big project that's for sure. Have you looked at any of the laser cut outlets to see if they have any buildings/canopies etc that would assist your project and save time?

PS: Where did you obtain your blue brick paper for 7mm Paul?

Larry

I am so pleased I made the decision to drop Penmaenpool for a project that has a lot more operational interest. I am not sure when it will be finished but I am taking my time and learning all the time. The author Paul Theroux put it nicely in the Patagonia Express when he said the journey should be more interesting than the destination. I have searched for laser cut kits and only one comes close, the Bearley West signal box by Railmodel. Comes close but too small though my reduced track layout would be served by a smaller box. The kit is partially built while I debate whether or not to use it.

The blue brick paper is by Peter Smith at Kirtley Models. He uses real photo brick and stone papers for all his fine buildings. He also provided me with some of his own photos of Moor Street.

One thing I have tried with his papers is to use an aerosol glue Photomount by 3M. The walls around the turntable used this glue with better results than using gel glues from tubes.

Paul

 

[Geoff]

"One thing I have tried with his papers is to use an aerosol glue Photomount by 3M. The walls around the turntable used this glue with better results than using gel glues from tubes".

Photomount is also great for securing backscenes as well.

Geoff

 

[Focalplane]

A word of warning, I haven't asked Peter Smith of his experience with Spray Mount. But I have used the adhesive on photos for years so I cannot see why it wouldn't be safe and long-lived. A word of warning, the spray head can clog; if this happens, remove it and soak it in boiling water, then blow through the hole to clear out the goo.

Today I sprayed the new plates for Large Prairie 5198 black and they are hardening before being attacked with emery paper.

I also started to remove the styrene plates from the Tufnol decking of the first traverser. Ironically some styrene plates peeled off, others are the very devil to remove. It's going to take a while to get back to a clean surface. The rails have come off in the process so this really is a back to the start job. I also realized that the large wooden "wheels" with grommets are too large and will either have to be replaced or trimmed back. I am already looking for a Plan B!

 

[76043]

My experience with spray mount is buy the 3M/Letraset stuff and the permanent variety, used to be a brown can if I remember rightly.

In my experience building scalescenes kits, the humble glue stick works a treat, which is what they recommend. You have to work quickly, but you can glue large areas with glue on both sides. The main thing is to get a thick enough layer on the paper, not skimping because of a perception that fast means less glue. It doesn't.

Tony

 

[Focalplane]

This is what I am using. It’s the French version though. Note the acid neutral wording on the can.

 

[Focalplane]

Summer Time ended here so I suppose more time will be spent in the railway room from now on as winter approaches. This afternoon I cleaned up the traverser deck and then worked on the coupling between motor and deck. Photos should explain what's been achieved.

First the mess on the traverser deck. Some styrene panels peeled off, others had to be chipped off bit by bit:



Next, trimming and fitting the coupling device. So far no grommet has been introduced. The first photo shows the vertical screw thread with machined pin that fits into a hole in the deck. The screw thread (circled in red) is locked onto the linear motor with two 6mm nuts:



The next photos shows the traverser deck fitted over the machined pin at the end of the screw thread. The red circle shows the top of the pin engaged in a 3mm diameter hole which has very little slack on the machined pin:



The green circles highlight the ends of the the two 4mm scale tracks on which the traverser table moves. Some fiddling with the line up of the pin and the deck finally got everything stable and to prove this I squeezed the camera lens on my iPhone under the deck at each green point, focused and got confirmation that the wheels were in alignment.





Sorry for the fuzziness! My good camera is far too large to take such a photo.

I turned the linear motor table by hand along the full length of the screw and everything went well. With the option to place steel bars under the Tufnol deck (that was why I drilled all those countersunk holes in the previous design) and the weight of a loco on the centre road, all should work OK. The grommet enhancement will be put in reserve until the motor is tried out. I am hoping the fit will be enough to provide the right amount of give without interfering with the end-of-travel switches.

 

[simond]

Looks good Paul,

If anything is likely to go awry, it’s the parallelism (or lack thereof) between the guide rails above, and the leadscrew carriage below.

Enlarging your snug hole to be a snug slot would probably be the next step, if it needs it.

Looking forward to seeing this work!

Atb
Simon

 

[Focalplane]

I do plan to use brass sheeting to make up the new plates on top of the Tufnol deck. Trouble is, no brass sheet is available locally! I doesn't need to be thick because I plan to punch rivets in it. The key to success will then be the adhesive that I should use. I expect it will be a contact adhesive of which I have several in stock and many more to choose from at Leroy Merlin.

I may be able to source the brass sheet before Christmas. Fingers crossed!

This is a good shot of the original plates:

Moor Street Station: Great Western Railway 4-4-2T No 4600 on the middle road of the traverser table being transferred to the loop line from the line serving island platform No 3

Meanwhile, plenty of other things to do.

 

[Focalplane]

Looks good Paul,

If anything is likely to go awry, it’s the parallelism (or lack thereof) between the guide rails above, and the leadscrew carriage below.

Enlarging your snug hole to be a snug slot would probably be the next step, if it needs it.

Looking forward to seeing this work!

Atb
Simon

Simon, thanks for your post. I have measured the parallelism and it appears to be OK but until I run the motor I really won't know for sure. Turning the leadscrew by hand feels good but then. . . .

I take it your "snug slot" would be cut across the direction of travel?

Paul

 

[simond]

Yes, to allow the post a little free play if the guides and leadscrew are not parallel.

On another subject, are you near the areas where there’s been flooding? All well I trust?

Atb
Simon

 

[Focalplane]

Yes, to allow the post a little free play if the guides and leadscrew are not parallel.

On another subject, are you near the areas where there’s been flooding? All well I trust?

Atb
Simon

I thought so!

Last Monday night we had 100 kph winds and heavy thunderstorms but all was OK. Béziers got the worst weather. Summer visitors think that the weather they enjoy lasts all year - it doesn't (thank goodness, I like a change!)

Paul

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I may be able to source the brass sheet before Christmas. Fingers crossed!

Chequer plate I presume?

Treadplates

 

[Focalplane]

Yes, I noticed that too (chequer plate, that is). Many thanks for the link, Dave!

Paul

 

[Focalplane]

The new Large Prairie is now ready for service:



5198 was a Tyseley 84E loco. It has DCC sound fitted and makes some fine noises! I expect it will get some weathering eventually.