Hope Springs - the layout...
 

OK. I am no longer meurglysIII on here, I am now a more human "Pete C..."

As I mentioned on the "Makerfield" thread, I am about to start building a new layout. Back to bare baseboards.

It will still be nominally 1970s, North West, Wigan area, but not prototypical location-wise. I want to achieve the following:

1. Accommodate a massive diesel shed (built)
2. Have an "open" baseboard arrangement to enable embankments, bridges etc., I want to see trains crossing bridges and diving into tunnels
3. Large-ish fiddle yard for decent length trains
4. No station (I have got rid of my passenger stock as I realised I never ran it. I seem to be far more interested in goods traffic) I just have a class 108 dmu which can trundle through.
5. More operational interest

Track plan hopefully attached, with lower level and upper level shown. Please feel free to comment. I have kept most of the buildings from Makerfield and will re-home them on the new layout. I like to think my modelling skills have improved since 2008 so they will be upgraded with new windows, doors, details and better (led) lighting which should result hopefully in less wiring.

Here goes...

The "lower level" by the way is actually a raised level, the "height of a typical bridge". I reckon this to be about 90mm in 00, based on a scalescenes viaduct arch. Would that seem about right? I'm not sure if I will use kit arches or make my own, I think I prefer the latter.

Sorry Pete, can't get the plans to down load but will follow your project with interest.

John H-T.

Good luck with the new layout, keep us upto date with progress reports.

Baseboards underway.

Hi Pete. I look forward to following your progress and hope everything goes to plan with your new layout.
I have always been impressed with your modelling skills and eye for detail and if you continue to produce results like "Makerfield" then I think we are in for a real treat.

Thanks all. I appreciate the help you gave me with Makerfield and I may need help, in particular with signalling, on this one. But I need to crack on with the baseboards first.
I have bought a cobalt asdfx module for point switching, that should be interesting...

Some progress...
 

I have made and fitted the hinged board which will have the access roads for the depot. Now comes the hard part of laying track to match up across the boards and wiring to make it all work. I'm not bothering with motorised points on this board, there's too many of em!

I've removed the point from the stabling road on the depot board, as there is no room for the right hand exit from this point to go anywhere. So I've changed the track plan a bit to have a kickback to the fuelling road(s). I'll post pics when it's done.

I will also need to re-do the ends of the shed roads so they can meet up with the hinged board. I'm going to try copper strip sleepers at the end of each board with track & wires soldered to it then running to the backboard and round, with plenty of slack. I'll post pics if I am successful with it....

Best get on with it.

Ignore the scruffy front of the depot board by the way, this will be tidied up.

Hi Pete,
Very interesting layout plan. When I last did a layout where the tracks crossed a lifting section, I laid the track across the join, slipped copper clad sleepers under the tracks both sides of the join. Soldered the rails to the sleepers then used a Dremmel cutter to cut through each rail. Result; perfect joints which never gave any trouble. Hope that is of help or am I trying to tell Grandma how to suck eggs?
Regards, Tony

Hi Tony, thanks for the comment. That is my plan, just need to get the copper clad and the time to do it:-)

Hi Pete,
Maplins have a shop in Robins Park, Wigan. I used to use copper clad circuit board, easy to work with and comes complete with handy pin/nail holes. Sorry I can't help you with the time element.
Regards, Tony

some progress
 

Most of the track has been laid on the upper (depot) level, after many unsatisfactory attempts at the hinging mechanism and getting trains to run across the joins I am finally happy with it and I'm now installing backscene boards and getting ready to ballast.

In the meantime I've become a bit obsessed with this photograph:

The photo is of Springs Branch depot in the early 80s, around the time I am modelling. I have built an approximation of the oil storage facility? which you can see above the class 40 in the foreground. It's a bit Heath Robinson as I have no idea where the pipes should run etc, but I'm pretty happy with it. The attached photo doesn't really do it much justice.

Also this conglomeration of various things, which can be seen near the shed in the overall photo. I think it's some kind of waste reclamation facility. In later photos from the 90s, this has been largely removed, as have the fuel tanks, although the bund wall and hut remained.

I've also made the ubiquitous Knightwing fuelling point, I may replace this later with a homemade version more like the one in the pic if I get the chance.

Anyway, enough for now, I need to get back in the attic. I'll post more soon.

Wish I had a pound for the number of times I went to SP/8f.

some progress
 

Pics attached of the yard I have built around the depot.

I have also started a facebook page for the layout, please feel free to join.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1670...78774/?fref=ts

Progress - December 2015
 

It seems like progress is really slow, but I have added another 2 sidings to the south end of the yard, and added red lights (grain of rice leds) to all the buffer stops. I've also ballasted and painted the track on the incline to the shed.
Also added gaugemaster (houses) backscenes but not altogether happy with them so I may re-do them. They seem to crowd the scene too much and the perspective doesn't quite look right, the houses look too big. I might just go with sky. They are good value though, £8 for 3 long pieces, about 9ft it total.

The next jobs are fitting more yard lights when they arrive to illuminate the centre of the yards, and adding walls all around the depot, with a pavement at the front and maybe a couple of spotters peering over the wall.

Then on to the lower level.....