SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED

INTRODUCTION

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Caerphilly Castle

Two railway models with common themes – each is set in South Devon in the heyday of steam on the Great Western Railway. Both use N-gauge track and share a collection of locomotives and rolling stock. Ashburton is a small working diorama of a well-known branch line terminus while Totnes is a larger continuous circuit.

Ashburton was first exhibited at Bletchley in 1997 and appeared in Model Railway Journal issue 94 in 1997. Its latest outing was at Manchester - 2-3 October 2010, where it received the Manchester Model Railway Society's "Visitor's Cup" for the best visiting layout. Its next appearance is at Aylesbury on 28-29 May 2011.

Totnes made its exhibition debut at Railwells in August 2008 and was featured in the January 2009 issue of British Railway Modelling magazine. Recent outings were at Doncaster; 13-14 February 2010, when it received the British Railway Modelling "Layout of the Year" award, Aylesbury; 29-30 May and St Albans; 15-16 January 2011, were it was awarded the Denis Moore cup for the best scenic layout. Its next appearance is at Alexandra Palace on 26-27 March.

Totnes - Dean goods 2568 approaches Dainton Tunnel with an up milk train

ASHBURTON

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Yet another Ashburton layout! This one began life in the late 1970s as the branch line appendix on a much larger fixed layout comprising Totnes main line station and the Quay branch with the River Dart and Dainton Bank. The whole formed an L-shape, about 4m x 4.5m, occupying a large room in our flat in London. However, when we moved to Somerset in 1987 the intended railway room - the loft - was only about 3.0m wide so something had to go. The appendix was removed.

A general view of the approaches to Ashburton station

A livestock train approaching Ashburton station

There it stayed, preserved in a plastic bag for six or seven years with the vague idea that one day it may come in useful. Perhaps it would form the basis of a small portable - even exhibitable - independent layout. And thus it was reborn. Of course, little of the original baseboard remains but at least the need to construct buildings and rolling stock was minimised.

Lever's Seeds store in the goods yard with a milk train beyond

The branch 'small prairie' waits on shed

The layout is set in the late 1920s and takes the form of a simple diorama. From the familiar Ashburton track plan the single line runs across a small stream and enters a (mythical) steep rock cutting, hiding a sector plate which connects to storage roads and a run-round loop buried under the rolling hills of south Devon.

A livestock train waiting at the home signal

Weighing and bagging house-coal

The buildings and scratch-built or modified locomotives are to 2mm/1ft scale, running on N-gauge track. For normal operations, stock includes a 517 with a rake of four-wheeled coaches, a 14xx and autocoach, small and large prairies, panniers and a saddle tank with passenger, cattle and goods rakes. However, don’t be surprised to find the odd more exotic visitor!

Ashburton station with the Railway Hotel and the gasworks beyond

'Pannier' 8731 waiting at the home signal

An article about the layout appeared in the January 2011 edition of the Railway Modeller.

TOTNES change for the Ashburton Branch

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Many years ago, while living in London, I began construction of a large fixed N-gauge layout of Totnes station, the River Dart and estuary, Dainton tunnel and the Ashburton branch. The whole thing was an L-shape, about 4m by 4.5m and 1m deep. It was approaching completion when we moved down to Somerset some twenty years ago. Despite its massive size, it survived the move, minus the Ashburton terminus, which had to be surgically removed to fit into the loft. A remodelled Ashburton now forms the basis of a small independent layout that has been going the exhibition rounds for the last ten years.

All photographs in this post © Tony Wright

General view of the layout

A view of the River Dart and rail bridge with the station beyond. The Ashburton Branch runs towards the foreground.

Totnes station

A general view of Totnes station from the south with the River Dart estuary beyond. A 28xx class hauls a down coal train towards Plymouth.

After desultory progress towards completing the Totnes layout, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t likely to generate enough enthusiasm to finish the work. So, about five years ago, I decided to remake it, concentrating on the station, town and river, on new baseboards. At least the result would be transportable and the pressure of getting things into a suitable state for exhibition would perhaps generate sufficient incentive to complete the tasks. The result is a layout about 3m by 1.7m, with a simple double-track oval plan. It comprises six new track boards and two scenic boards to fill-in the centre and a panoramic back scene. Although I had to take some substantial liberties with geography, I hope that the result retains the character of the locality.

Totnes Plains
The Dart estuary with the Quay branch

Baseboard construction is of 4mm ply perimeter and cross beams, reinforced with stripwood and thickened at the board joints. Board junctions are located by loose-pin hinges and joined with M10 bolts with wing nuts. The layout is supported on a fold-out box construction which provides storage for many of the ancillary items – power supply, tools, etc. Lighting is by a concentrated array of PAR38 and halogen lamps on a high single pole. The track bed is 9mm MDF on a ply spine beam and the track throughout is Peco code 55, carefully ballasted with fine sand. Turnouts are again Peco, with Seep motors. Everything is controlled from a plug-in panel with separate Pentrollers for the up and down lines.

Dainton tunnel
County of Cornwall with a down stopping passenger train emerging from Dainton Tunnel.

The ground levels of the scenic areas are Sundeala insulation board, cut and glued to form a three-dimensional monocoque, then coated with filler and grassed with stuck-down lint fibres. The River Dart in the foreground is of casting resin while, in the background, I’ve used painted and varnished MDF.

Totnes station

An up livestock train emerging from beneath the main road bridge, hauled by a Dean goods.

For me, the good news is that almost all the buildings and many civil engineering structures, trees and details were salvaged from the earlier layout. Generally, buildings are scratch-built and made of mounting board with the late lamented BuilderPlus stone and brick papers. Trees and foliage are largely Woodland Scenics and Heka on simple wire armatures, with some proprietary specimen trees in the foreground. Block planting in the background is formed with teased-out filter fabric on wire mesh structures. The backscene panorama is of 2mm MDF, fretted to shape, in front of a separate painted sky backdrop.

Totnes station
A 517 class 0-4-2 tank with a down train of four and six wheel coaches passes under the footbridge. The station pilot, a 45xx, waits on the goods shed road, ready to bank down goods over Rattery Bank. The original station had overall roofs over the up and down platform roads, probably demolished during the major remodelling works of 1932.

The rolling stock is also largely already available from the earlier layouts. The stable of over 20 locomotives are mainly scratch-built or heavily modified proprietary models. Coaching stock is a combination of proprietary models and kits and wagons are proprietary, all weathered. The operating programme is still in its infancy but is based on prototypical movements of the 1920s and 1930s.

Steamer Quay
The river steamer Berry Castle with the Town Bridge beyond.

Signals remain absent – there are dozens within the Totnes station limits and I need to make most of them operating. That should keep me busy for a few months.

Castle House
Beyond Castle House and gardens, an up livestock train emerges from beneath the main road bridge, hauled by a saddle tank.

St Peter’s Quay Pool

The River Dart and the mill tail race, separated by a small park – The Island – meet at St Peter’s Quay Pool.

Totnes' next exhibition appearance is at Alexandra Palace on 26-27 March 2011.

LOCOMOTIVES

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A selection of the locomotives running on Ashburton and Totnes.

The stable of locomotives were made over a period of more than 25 years, several being modified during the course of their lives. Many are based on proprietary mechanisms, others are entirely scratch-built. Most make use of components and fittings from various sources, including the 2mm Scale Association and commercial suppliers. Throughout, locomotives are painted and weathered, number plates added and tenders or bunkers filled with crushed coal. All are fitted with Kadee / Microtrain couplings.

No 111 “The Great Bear”
The Great Western’s only ‘pacific’, for its time a huge locomotive.

The model is based on a Fleischmann powered tender drive, selected for the correct wheelbase and wheel diameters; all the rest is scratch-built. The un-powered engine chassis is of split-frame construction with wheels from the late Mike Bryant range, on half-axles with insulating muffs – the typical 2mm Scale Association method. Current collection is transferred to the tender. The engine and tender superstructures are of plastic card with metal details and fittings.

No 4073 “Caerphilly Castle”
The first of the ‘Castles’.

The model started life as a Farish Castle – with fairly severe modifications. The mechanism is adapted with a replacement worm and worm wheel giving a 38:1 reduction instead of the original 25:1. Cosmetic frames with springing and brakes are bonded to the chassis block and a new keeper plate is made from copper clad Paxolin, with phosphor bronze wire pickups. Driving wheels are from the Beaver range, of scale diameter and at scale centres, with scratch-built rods and working outside valve linkage. The pony truck is scratch built. The motor pole pieces are thinned down, permitting a completely new fire-box wrapper of nickel silver shim, with the correct waisted shape. The engine superstructure is modified to give clearance for the larger diameter wheels and the skirt between boiler and footplate is drilled away. New boiler fittings and cab details are fitted. The tender chassis has current collection linked back to the loco, and axle boxes, brake gear and other details added. The tender superstructure is cut down and modified in detail to represent the earlier 3500 gallon type.

No 4083 “Abbotsbury Castle”
A later ’Castle’.

This model is a fairly simple modification of the old Peco Jubilee – remarkably similar in key dimensions to the Castle. The model engine and tender chassis and mechanism are largely unchanged with new cross-head slides added. The engine superstructure has a slightly raised firebox top and a new cab to conform to Swindon practice and has new fittings and details added. The tender superstructure is of plastic card with a very substantial coal load, necessary to cover the vertically-mounted motor.

No 4918 “Dartington Hall”
The Hall was the all-purpose main line engine par excellence.

The model started life as a Farish Hall – again with severe modifications, generally as described for “Caerphilly Castle”. The pony truck is a modified Peco Jubilee unit and the cab is scratch built. The tender superstructure is an unmodified 4000 gallon type but with details added.

No 3824 "County of Cornwall"
A pretty engine, though its short coupled wheelbase made it notorious for rough riding.

The model is entirely scratch-built. Power is provided by a tender-mounted Portescap 1219 motor with a small flywheel and a simple bent wire cardan shaft to a worm gear in the engine firebox. This feeds a double-reduction gear drive, giving a reduction of 37:1. Both engine and tender have split frames with wheels from the late Mike Bryant range, all wheels collecting current. Transfer between the engine and tender is by phosphor-bronze springs, soldered to the tender and bearing on the insides of the engine frames. The engine and tender superstructures are of plastic card with metal details and fittings.

No 3373 "River Plym"
One of the ‘Bulldog’ class – a vintage engine with beautiful proportions.

The model is entirely scratch-built. Power is provided by a tender-mounted Portescap 1219 motor, the drive is as described for “County of Cornwall”, giving an overall reduction of 37:1. To avoid excessive movement on curved track, the rear axle of the bogie is in the main frames, with some side-play, and the front axle is in a separate pony truck. In essence it is built as a 2-6-0. The bogie outside frame is supported by a pivot on the main chassis and a pin-in-slot on the pony truck. The engine and tender superstructures, details and fittings are of sheet and turned metal.

No 4706 2-8-0
The big one – designed for use on fast fitted freight turns.

Again the model is entirely scratch-built with split frames and Mike Bryant wheels. Mechanically the layout is similar to “County of Cornwall”. The two-stage gear drive gives an overall reduction of about 53:1 – very satisfactory. It is taken to both the third and fourth axles, reducing the stress on connecting rods. As a conceit, there is operating outside and inside valve gear, the latter almost totally invisible under the massive boiler. Again, the superstructure is of plastic card, adhesion weight is not a problem with such a volume to fill up with lead. Current collection from the tender chassis is transferred to the engine by phosphor-bronze springs, soldered to the tender and bearing on the insides of the engine frames.

No 2857 2-8-0
The archetypal coal and mineral main-line engine.

This model started life as a scratch-built superstructure on a cut-down Minitrix 9F chassis (the fifth axle being removed), re-motored with a small Minitrix motor in the boiler. Perhaps inevitably, the motor was inadequate and eventually gave up the ghost. However it seemed a possibility to use a Farish 8F chassis. As for “Caerphilly Castle” the motor pole pieces are thinned down to allow an improved fire-box shape and the chassis idler gear is modified to give a two-stage reduction of about 42:1 - only possible with the older brass gears. The tender is on a modified Farish chassis with current collection, again with a 3500 gallon type superstructure of plastic card and metal details and fittings.

No 9304 2-6-0 ‘Mogul’
An intermediate mixed-traffic engine.

The chassis of the model started life as a Farish ‘large prairie’ tank engine, married to a Farish tender. The mechanism is unchanged with a reduction of 25:1 The engine is re-wheeled with Beaver wheels a new keeper plate and a scratch-built pony truck. The tender is on a Farish chassis, modified to a 3500 gallon type, with current collection. Throughout, the superstructure is scratch-built in plastic card with metal details and fittings.

No 2568 0-6-0 ‘Dean Goods’
An antique outside-frame engine, based on the even earlier ‘Armstrong Goods’.

The model is entirely scratch-built. Power is provided by a tender-mounted coreless 1018 motor with a small flywheel; the drive is otherwise as described for “County of Cornwall”. A two-stage gear train gives about a 50:1 reduction. The driving wheels were purpose made by a member of the 2mm Scale Association. The engine and tender superstructures, details and fittings are of sheet and turned metal.

No 2252 0-6-0 ‘Collett Goods’
A 1930 replacement for the ‘Dean Goods’.

The model is proprietary, by Peco, with tender drive. Minor modifications are made to improve current collection and increase tender adhesion weight.

No 5185 2-6-2T ‘Large Prairie’
A local passenger and mixed traffic engine.

The model is based on the Farish large prairie, re-wheeled with Beaver wheels. The mechanism is unchanged with a reduction of 25:1. New scratch-built pony trucks are fitted. The superstructure is scratch-built in plastic card with metal details and fittings.

No 4536 2-6-2T 45XX class ‘Small Prairie’
The branch goods engine.

The model is entirely scratch-built with a split-frame chassis. Power is provided by a Tenshodo 9.5x17 motor with a small copper-tungsten flywheel in the bunker. A two-stage gear train gives a 42:1 reduction. Wheels from the late Mike Bryant range, all used for current collection including the pony trucks. These use the pivot for one polarity and a fine phosphor-bronze wire spring for the other.

No 5505 2-6-2T 4575 class ‘Small Prairie’
The Totnes station pilot and banking engine.

The model started life as a Fleischmann tank and current collecting split-framed pony trucks. The superstructure is scratch-built in plastic card with metal fittings and details.

No 8731 0-6-0T ‘Pannier Tank’
A maid of all work

This model is in essentials a Farish ‘pannier’ with lots of minor modifications. The mechanism has a replacement worm and worm wheel set, giving an improved reduction ratio of 21:1 instead of the original 16:1. A new keeper plate is made from copper clad PCB, with phosphor bronze wire pickups. Brake gear, sand boxes and guard irons are fitted. The solid skirt beneath the tanks is cut away and a new lower section of the boiler covers the gear drive. A new brass safety valve bonnet brightens things up and the chimney is raised to scale height by the simple expedient of adding a suitable metal washer under the cap. Sanding gear rodding, separate wire handrails and various bits of pipework are added.

No 5741 0-6-0T ‘Pannier Tank’

This model stated life as a Farish 94XX ‘pannier’. The mechanism is largely unchanged but with a shortened footplate and chassis, new keeper plate and wipers and a new superstructure of plastic card with metal details and fittings.

No 1506 0-6-0T ‘Saddle Tank’
An antique tank engine – many saddle tanks were later converted to panniers.

Buried under this model is a Farish ‘pannier’. Chassis changes are similar to those of ‘pannier’ No 8731. After separating the superstructure, all the boiler fittings are filed off to leave a flat top. To this is araldited a nice fat sheet of nickel silver, Then the whole lump is ground and filed down to the correct profile, checked with a simple metal gauge running on the footplate. The footplate itself is shortened slightly and new smokebox and boiler fittings are added. A new old-style cab and bunker is formed of sheet metal.

No 1435 0-4-2T 517 class
A diminutive tank engine.

This model was a first essay in scratch-building using metal – essential to achieve a reasonable adhesion weight in such a small volume. The chassis is of split frame construction with Mike Bryant wheels. Power is provided by a Sagami motor in the cab and firebox with the worm in the boiler and a copper-tungsten flywheel in the bunker. A two-stage gear train gives a 65:1 reduction. To achieve the maximum weight, the boiler and smokebox, the side tanks and even the tool boxes are also made of copper-tungsten.

No 4820 0-4-2T 14XX class
The branch line autocoach passenger train

The model is a coupled engine and autocoach. The latter is the powered component, based on a Fleischmann diesel railcar with a modified chassis. The drive mechanism includes a small flywheel and a two stage reduction gear with a lay shaft, giving an overall ratio of about 50:1 – great for slow running. The coach superstructure is of plastic card. The engine has a split frame chassis and Mike Bryant wheels and current is transferred to the coach by permanent fine phosphor-bronze wires. Engine superstructure is based on Langley etchings with turned metal replacements for the white metal components.

No 19 Diesel railcar
The “Flying Banana”

The model is basically the Farish unit with a fairly heavily modified drive mechanism. It uses a small flywheel and a double reduction drive to achieve an overall ratio of about 50:1. It will crawl along, albeit rather noisily!

TAIL PIECE

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Small but perfectly formed - so how small is small? The locomotive below is 112mm long, 17mm wide and 26mm maximum high. The scale is 2mm to 1ft, a strange combination of metric and imperial units which equates to 1:152. This is about half the size of the most common model railway scale - OO. The gauge of the track (the distance between the rails) is 9mm.

"River Plym" in comparison with a £1 coin