There is an alternative

I was just looking through last year's Warley Show photos and spotted a couple of shots that didn't make it into print due to lack of space. The subject to today's random post being that we don't always need to use that popular track system produced in a well known holiday resort - there are other options for those who'd like a break from the norm.

Getting to the point; above and below is just one of those from Tillig - the lack of moulded plastic bits to represent those bits on a real point that are made out of rail is one of the first things to catch my eye. The base is also slightly flexible which allows the point to be bent slightly to fit in with a flowing track layout - this until now has only been possible with hand laid track.


Then there is the tiebar - it's nice and slender and not too far removed from the real thing in looks - no crushed Dalek as seen on many ready-to-lay track systems to spoil the look sitting on top. The movement of switch rails simply rely on the rail flexing, no unsightly knuckle joints to fail electrically once painted. I suppose this is starting to read a little like an advert, but I'm not being paid - this just an observation of other options that don't take one down the hand-built route if that's not ones kind of beer.

 Purists will of course say that the track is H0 and that the sleepers are too close together for OO, and that it conforms to European rather than British practice; but people who know me know that my view of toy chuffs chuffs is that it is the overall effect that counts, and above all if things are well done, a far more satisfying model railway will result over that one that maybe has the 'correct' 1963 vintage flangeway bolts surrounded by shoddy modelling.

From an historic scenario, flat bottomed rail to depict a British railway scene with highly distinctive bullhead rail and chairs is maybe too far removed in looks, but from just after the WW2, Britain's railways started to use flat-bottomed rail for the main running lines, so it is quite suitable for that popular transition era onwards which still interests the bulk of Britain's railway modellers.  And of course there is nothing stopping one from using a length of C+L bullhead flexi track in the sidings where the sleepers are often hidden under a layer of clinker, thus hiding the sleeper size and spacing differences.

• C+L Track
• International Models  - (supplier of Tillig, not a smutty site)

Now that's clever....

111007_cornish_int_IMG_1430_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Track laying on the Cornish thing using C+L components; note the folded etched brass chairs where strengthening copper clad sleepers are required.  They are a test product from Pete Harvey Designs www.phd-design.co.uk/ . 

Normally one would simply solder the rail to the sleeper top, then have to cut in half the C+L plastic chairs and glue - quite a fiddly task. All that's needed here will be a good splosh of liquid flux and a dab with a loaded soldering iron. The brass also takes care of the gap between the sleeper top and the bottom of the rail. Once painted, ballasted and weathered, they'll blend in just fine - especially seeing in real life they're a lot smaller than seen here.

Old Postcard

nevard_110404_brewhouseQ_IMG_9582_BW_postcard, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

I was shifting through an Ebay purchase of some 10x8 black and white prints recently, and found this shot taken on the real Brewhouse Quay (it's on the Kennet and Avon on the edge Bath by the way). I gather the photo was taken in 1949 by all accounts.

As you can see, it's a very tidy place with little in the way of much going on. Still, 1949 was very much like the present time with everything run down and the country on the verge of bankruptcy, truly austere times indeed - still, the unusual track layout makes a nice shot. The photographer is believed to be Ivan Locksmith (the key being the little Austin which appeared in many of his shots), and as we all know he had an excellent eye!

He also took a Kodachrome slide too. 

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_{Disclamer:  The layout is far from finished and is subject to  further work and alteration (mainly 100's of casks everywhere).. The sky  has NOT been  Photoshopped, but the clag from the Pug has. It does actually run, and is likely to have  its first  proper public outing at Model Rail Live 17/18 Sept 2011 at  'roll out  the' Barrow Hill Roundhouse where it will be used to showcase  the Model Rail/Dapol Sentinel or whatever else I fancy running. No, it's not DCC, but I might build in a set of hand pumps to dispense ale.}

My First White Metal Kit

Old tosh: Templecombe's familiar ex-LSWR G6 No. 30274 is captured here under stormy looking skies at Combwich on one of its very rare outings from shunting in Templecombe Upper Good Yard. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Fact: Here's my very first white metal kit in the form of a Wills LSWR G6. I recall at the time buying a Wrenn SECR R1 0-6-0 for the chassis. In 1979 when I built this kit, the missing centre flange on the heavy duty chassis was reasonably acceptable, with many ready to run steam locos from UK manufacturers featuring such.

31 one years on and the loco still runs very well, albeit with a nice ozone aroma. I do have to be selective about what track it runs on, with Peco and SMP being fine. C + L with its more pronounced chair detail is an issue. At some stage I might replace the heavy wheels with some Romfords - I've been saying that for the last 25 years though.....


Combwich, the layout used as a backdrop here was started at around the same time that this loco was built, to me though it still sort of feels like a new layout, though some of the techniques like blobs of solder to depict rail chairs has been surpassed to some degree. The dash here and there with the Noch Grasmaster is a good way to bring the scenic aspect of older layouts back up to date easily.

Brewhouse Quay: Monday 14 Feb '11

nevard_110213_brewhouseQ_IMG_9207_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Most of Sunday was spent cracking on with the trackwork on Brewhouse Quay. Once you get going this form of track contruction can be remarkably speedy.

The most tricky bit of track is now complete apart from the hidden staging yard bits, the siding in the distance, and gapping sleepers and rails so it actually works. Most of the area in the foreground will be cobbled, it forming part of the canal wharf - hence all the additional check rails.

Brewhouse Quay: Update 12 Feb '11

nevard_110211_brewhouseQ_IMG_9181_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Brewhouse Quay's 'K Point' is slowly coming together - lots more in the way of checkrails/rails to add! It's actually proving easier to work in copper clad than I recall last time.

Copper Clad is very forgiving if a realignment is needed - rivet in ply sleepers would be less so. I'm using code 55 flat-bottomed rail from C + L, not the N gauge version which would have a top that is too narrow, but the 4mm version which is often used to depict third-rail on Southern Region systems. My reason is for that light-railway industrial look.

Most of the track to the right will be embedded in cobbles, hence the continuous check-rail. I will be extending the check rail on the right up to the diamond - due to a chance of plan which involves the crossing diamond area being cobbled too.

Track Laying on Brewhouse Quay

nevard_110204_brewhouseQ_IMG_9104_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Track laying has now started in earnest on my brewery project. Because the layout will be presented diorama style with a high curved backscene on 3 sides as mentioned on previous posts, I'm laying the track 'off set' using a 5mm foamboard sub-base which will be firmly bonded to the proper plywood base once most of the fiddly stuff has been done. It's much easier to work this way because I can spin the base around to suit and really ensure that the trackwork is all properly aligned without having to resort to some kind of contortion act. Good track is something that is particularly important with a layout which will mainly be running 4 wheeled locos, though of course one should always aim for well laid track irrespective of what one is running.


Much of the trackwork on the left hand side (which is next to the canal basin) will be embedded in sets (cobbles), so armchair modellers should worry too much about the iffy sleeper spacing. Note the check rails on the nearest line in preparation for the 'sets' which will probably be scribed Humbrol Air Clay.

Brewhouse Quay: Track Laying

Just before the Xmas holiday I started to lay the track on Brewhouse Quay. The delay in getting the snaps here being due to that increasingly shocking excercise of actually interacting with people face to face (cue the H&S Executive for another new directive no doubt) rather than keyboard, eating all the wrong foods, drinking too much beer in foreign climes and probably in due course getting a dose of lurgy due to all public places being heated to suit the staff rather than the heavilly dressed public.

Initially the plan was to use ready made track, but after messing about with Xtrkcad it came apparent that I would not be able to shoe-horn in the track plan that I wanted in to the small area. And anyway, with nearly all the buildings being ready to plant I needed to have some challenge having not built my own track since Catcott Burtle in 2008.

The track as you'll see is traditional copper clad construction, but rather than using the more usual code 75 bullhead rail I'm aiming for that light railway/industrial look using code 55 flat-bottomed rail marketed by C+L Finescale for OO/HO. Code 55 is about as light a code as one can go in OO realistically to avoid earlier ready to run wheel flanges bouncing along the sleeper tops.

Seen here are the first few inches with rail laid, and those with keen eyes might just notice the destressed copper clad scratched to represent timber. Sleeper gapping to avoid a short circuit is just to the rear of the nearest rail so to avoid an unsightly groove when seen from the front of the layout.

When soldering the rail to copper clad sleepers, to avoid that tell-tail look often seen with blobs of solder on the side of the rail spoiling that flat-bottomed look, I'm pre coating the sleepers with a thin coat of solder and then sweating pre-fluxed rail onto the sleeper surface. Whether I add cosmetic rail spikes remains to be seen, for much of it only the rail tops will be seen protruding out of fine ballast or cobbles and some of the less recent ready to run offerings may just brush the spikes. Such can always be added at a later stage when the layout is nearly complete.

To the right and looking back to 2008, here we have Catcott Burtle after the C+L track was painted with various Halfords primers in preparation for ballasting.

The baseboard top is plywood, but seen above is what looks like a foamboard base - correct! To make track laying easier due to the fixed high backscene that that surrounds 3 of the 4 sides, I'm using a removeable sub baseboard which will then be fixed permanently into place once the more tricky aspects of tracklaying have taken place. In due course, ballasting with diluted PVA could cause the foamboard to delaminate, so to avoid the possiblity of that happening as long as the whole lot is painted prior to ballasting this will not be an issue. As with other projects I generally use a blend of Halfords red primer, grey primer and matt black misted on in varyoing amounts. One could of course use Railmatch 'Sleeper Grime', but Halfords bonds to the metal better, dries faster and can be bought from around the corner.

Brewhouse Quay: Wiring fun

K_point_wiring_01, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Brewhouse Quay update.....

The materials have arrived, so I'm looking at the most complex bit of track well in advance to plan the wiring and where isolating breaks will need to be cut into the rails and how power will be fed to various sections. Slitting the sections will probably be easier after laying due to the fine nature of code 55.

Point operation will be via manual miniature yard levers as in Nigel Burkin's feature in the April 2010 edition of Model Rail. Polarity switching will be under the baseboard, again as per Nigel's feature.

Whilst I'm not new to building my own track, I've never been bold enough to try something like this. Construction doesn't bother me, but the wiring does as little, so any thoughts from people that find this aspect interesting feel free to feed back.

I've uploaded the  multi-layered Photoshop PSD file here to allow the blue isolating  section bits to be added or hidden should anyone want to illustrate any  ideas - credit due course the final write up goes without saying! I need to consider check rails too not shown here.

• http://www.nevard.com/zzz/K_point_wiring_01.psd 
• A wider view of the full trackplan can be seen here. 
• Brewhouse Quay