Work In Progress

.. It has been a busy month during this month of Lock-down. I have been working on the Wiring for the layout and the control panel ‘Box’.

The downside of my ‘Over Engineered’ approach to railway modelling is the complexity of the wiring it introduces.

Here is a view of the underside of ‘Stowey Green’s board with the ‘temporary power wiring’ removed that allowed me to play up till now.

.. Here are the ‘Pre-Wired’ 25way ‘D’ type plug and socket ready to add to the board. One for Power (Green Blue) and the other for points – both have ‘estimate’ length wires to fit into the boards 4 terminal strips after a bit of trimming.

I have also fitted the 12 way Plug/Socket for the layouts ‘Upper Station’ section connected to it’s own terminal strip ready for fitting. I wanted to be sure I could remove this section for access.

I have also completed the box that will become the control panel for ‘Stowey Green’. It’s based on what I did for Burton Phoenix – but with space for a larger panel and more room for the GaugeMaster controller on top. This one will probably be painted white using left over paint for when we do a bit more touching up the woodwork in the house next few weeks.

.. Due the current ‘Coronavirus Lockdown’ – I have ran out of excuses in not working on the ‘N’ Gauge ‘Stowey Green Layout’. Reading through the planning notes I realised the layout is ‘VERY’ late as I started thinking about this layout in 2008…

Believe it or not I have been so busy working in the layout.. that I have neglected doing any updates here..So far I have finished the track laying and basic wiring for the lower ‘baseboard’ level – and have had some fun actually running trains. I have made the incline and upper ‘Upper Stowey’ station halt sections for the upper loop. The upper section is currently being tested to make sure the little tank engines make it up the hills.

For the first time since moving to North Wales I have ‘proper’ plans and vision for the Burton Crumpnold Layouts for the year…

.. The first stage is to finish off the modifications for Burton Phoenix with the new corner section. So, after a lot of rearranging in the railway room, all of Burton Phoenix is up – even if it is a bit of a squeeze…

Now I can finish off and check the wiring of the complete layout when all sections including the fiddle yard are attached.
For maximum flexibility I have used a flying lead to allow the layout to be electrically split into 2 power control section when the fiddle yard is attached. (If space is tight it can be operated with just the corner unit attached – but just as single control section.)

.. Once testing is complete I can then finish up any scenery work. All being well I am hoping to informally display the layout during the year.. Probably starting at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza in May.

.. When the work on Burton Phoenix is complete.. The Next mission is to restart work on the ‘N’ Gauge ‘Stowey Green’ Layout.

The ‘Basic’ scenery for the new corner board is done.. The track is ballasted and the general shape of the scene, including undulations and a ‘base’ colour is done.

.. It has also been wired into the rest of the boards – to make sure it all works – and the track transitions between the boards are OK.
As the Hornby GWR Parcels Rail-car was easy to get at – it had the honour of being the the first ‘Powered’ locomotive on the new track section.

The new ‘Corner’ board is coming on apace.
In keeping with the original ‘Burton Crumpnold/Phoenix – a lot of the material was from the original layout supplies.

.. The track has been positioned and ballasted – and the basic scenery has been set up, and the first coat of paint applied.

Again – in keeping with the original layout – I have used the original ‘J’cloth/PVA glue and polystyrene foam bits construction method.

To add more scenic potential – I am adding a river/canal to the corner of the board.

To Recap…
Burton Phoenix uses the Old Upper Station and scenery board from the original Burton Crumpnold layout, onto which I added a fiddle yard section to make a simple ‘end to end’ layout.. as can be seen from this diagram below…

In order to make the layout more interesting, and easier to use for any exhibitions/shows I am adding a curve to the second board to convert the long end to end into an ‘L shaped’. As Shown below…

Here is the framework for the new corner board.
Most of the wood dates back to the original Burton Crumpnold layout. I actually carted it up here years ago when we moved here for this kind of use…..

..Next job is to add an MDF top to the frame – also leftovers from the original layout!!

The track has just been placed to show the sort of thing I am aiming for.
I am planning to ‘re-lay’ the track on both the fiddle yard and scenery board to ease the curve to use more of the new board.

Most of the space on the new board will mostly be filled with ‘scenery’.

As promised – an update of what I am doing at Burton Crumpnold now it is ‘Open’ again
… First was a simple project I have had the parts for for some time – a home made static grass applicator.

I got the idea for this by a chat with an exibitor at a model railway show and a bit of research on YouTube.
It is a simple device made from a pound shop electric fly zapper, a metal tea strainer and some wire.

… I will show the results of this in use soon.

After a year of very light running .. Time for an update..
Everything has been packed away as we embark on a major set of improvements on the house.

This is quite key to Burton Crumpnold as it should finally free up a room to build a permanent layout.
Good news that comes from this is that it will be larger than originally expected, which will allow for a much larger main station.. More details when the building dust has settled…

… Also to add motivation – I have been more than a little excited about the announcements at Hornby this year (Details HERE), in particular the New LMS Princess. The old (short) Hornby model was in my first trainset… It will be good to have a proper ‘scale length’ model in lovely crimson lake livery.

After an age away I now able to think about Model Railways..
I am starting to plan for a new home for a reborn Burton Crumpnold, using a spare small bedroom in our house – more to follow.

Plus I have finally spent time improving the website, Initially to make it display better (more responsive) on large and small devices (phones etc).
I have also updated the site navigation… There is more to follow.

… I must give credit to my good friend and follow model railway enthusiast ‘Ian White’ who has been constantly bullying me to finally deliver some updates to the website. .. Now to see how long it will take him to notice… 🙂

.. ‘Opening Day’ at Burton Phoenix.. And by random chance – the first loco I found it’s ‘Toby’. So it’s been busy testing that all the the power and point-work is working after a long time dormant

Again .. the year started well.

09/02/2015
‘We have just recently moved to North Wales, hence no updates for the last few months’..

The room where the layout will be located is currently being used as a ‘storeroom’ whilst the kitchen is being redone – so it will be a while before ‘Proper’ model railway work can resume..

23/09/2015
Great moment in our new home.. Finally dusted off and assembled Burton Phoenix in a room that now has space to run it. I also indulged in my first railway purchase for quite a while – A Heljan ‘Park Royal’ Railbus. I particularly wanted one of these as we used to live near the site in North London. .. After testing the layout electrics with good ol ‘Smokey Joe’ here is the new Railbus in action.

.. But again ‘Life’ and the challenges on working on a large House that is more of a ‘project’ kept me away from railways…