Dog Star
Western Thunderer
I like making S7 track... apart from our Forest of Dean model (somewhere between Lydney and Tufts, circa 1900) I have done LSWR plain track (circa 1885) and GWR plain track (circa 1885) for Basilica Fields, see Adrian's on-line journal. Recently I have been asked to build the track for a LNWR station, the location / period thought to be between Birmingham and Stafford, circa 1900.... for John Lewsey of the S7 Group. Here is the intended plan:-
I was given a sketch of what was wanted and I felt that a name was needed so I got out the relevant OS 1" map and looked for a suitable location. The LNWR line crosses Watling Street near to a village called Gailey and so the station got the alias of "Gailey Gate" which sounds like a name which the LNWR might have given to a station on a road to nowhere.
[Subsequent to starting this topic, John has decided that the station was erected to serve a locality known as Hartley Hill.... which is as yet not known to "The AA", Multi-map or any of those sat-nav boxes. I have changed the name on the plan above and updated this topic. However, the references to Gailey Gate shall remain... otherwise Jordan's brilliant humour regarding the A5 and his knowledge of Marjery are without foundation]
So far nothing unusual.... given that S7 is an acceptable choice for 7mm modelling, maybe even old hat now. Some baseboards arrived in my garage last week - total length of 12' and 3' wide, made of 6mm ply for top / sides / diagonals and 9mm for the ends. These two baseboards are for just half of the plan above and that is without considering Hartley Hill No. 2 signal box at the north / Stafford end of the station. The first step towards the full layout is to build the turnouts at the London end of the station, hence the signal box is "No.1". The second step is to build the track for the platform roads so that services can commence between Hartley Hill and the Birmingham area. Oh, and the ruling radius for the down main is 40 chains (prototype) or 60' (model) so the baseboards are curved.
Whilst the S7 Group Stores sells Vee filing jigs and Crossing assembly jigs for "whole" angles - and I shall be using those products for some of the turnouts - the plan has crossings with interesting angles, such as 1:7.5, 1:8.5 and 1:8.25. Overall a challenge in flowing trackwork.
Information on LNWR permanent way is scarce and so I was pleased to receive drawings of switches and crossings from the report of the 1900 International Railway Congress - with French captions, not surprising as the congress was held in Paris in that year. Track templates are to be laid on 3mm foam from Exactoscale, the same source has supplied steel rail, ABS chairs and fishplates plus brass chairs (for baseboard joints) and brass fishplates (for the loose heel switches). Timbers of scale 12" width had been cut for the templates and then the switch drawing (above) arrived.... 14" timbers throughout the switch and crossing area. Oh well, laying of timbers is going to have to wait for the arrival of correct width material.
regards, Graham
Subsequent to the above, the LNWRS has published copies of LNWR PW drawings of plain track, switches and crossings from a LNWR "catalogue" circa 1910 - see LNWRS web-site, May 2014).
I was given a sketch of what was wanted and I felt that a name was needed so I got out the relevant OS 1" map and looked for a suitable location. The LNWR line crosses Watling Street near to a village called Gailey and so the station got the alias of "Gailey Gate" which sounds like a name which the LNWR might have given to a station on a road to nowhere.
[Subsequent to starting this topic, John has decided that the station was erected to serve a locality known as Hartley Hill.... which is as yet not known to "The AA", Multi-map or any of those sat-nav boxes. I have changed the name on the plan above and updated this topic. However, the references to Gailey Gate shall remain... otherwise Jordan's brilliant humour regarding the A5 and his knowledge of Marjery are without foundation]
So far nothing unusual.... given that S7 is an acceptable choice for 7mm modelling, maybe even old hat now. Some baseboards arrived in my garage last week - total length of 12' and 3' wide, made of 6mm ply for top / sides / diagonals and 9mm for the ends. These two baseboards are for just half of the plan above and that is without considering Hartley Hill No. 2 signal box at the north / Stafford end of the station. The first step towards the full layout is to build the turnouts at the London end of the station, hence the signal box is "No.1". The second step is to build the track for the platform roads so that services can commence between Hartley Hill and the Birmingham area. Oh, and the ruling radius for the down main is 40 chains (prototype) or 60' (model) so the baseboards are curved.
Whilst the S7 Group Stores sells Vee filing jigs and Crossing assembly jigs for "whole" angles - and I shall be using those products for some of the turnouts - the plan has crossings with interesting angles, such as 1:7.5, 1:8.5 and 1:8.25. Overall a challenge in flowing trackwork.
Information on LNWR permanent way is scarce and so I was pleased to receive drawings of switches and crossings from the report of the 1900 International Railway Congress - with French captions, not surprising as the congress was held in Paris in that year. Track templates are to be laid on 3mm foam from Exactoscale, the same source has supplied steel rail, ABS chairs and fishplates plus brass chairs (for baseboard joints) and brass fishplates (for the loose heel switches). Timbers of scale 12" width had been cut for the templates and then the switch drawing (above) arrived.... 14" timbers throughout the switch and crossing area. Oh well, laying of timbers is going to have to wait for the arrival of correct width material.
regards, Graham
Subsequent to the above, the LNWRS has published copies of LNWR PW drawings of plain track, switches and crossings from a LNWR "catalogue" circa 1910 - see LNWRS web-site, May 2014).
moment but I got there in the end
...keeping up?
