4mm Farleigh - Southern Railway in 00, circa early 1930's

[Terry]

In October, 1978, The Railway Modeller published an article by Roy Link called 'The art of compromise.' The article suggested that a blend of diorama and working layout could provide the answer to lack of space and inertia brought about by an 'undecorated expanse of baseboard.' The author provided a plan of a small country terminus with a single short platform with run round loop and two sidings. One siding housed a goods shed and the other coal bins. There was also a small ground frame and a weighbridge and office. This was all achieved (in theory) on a baseboard measuring just six feet by one foot. The article suggested that, although it would be possible to shunt the yard using the single line in front of the station platform, the layout would be enhanced by the addition of a small fiddle yard. I filed away the article with a view to building the layout sometime. I often thought about the magazine article and occasionally got it out for another read through, but never actually got around to starting it.

The years rolled by and various articles appeared in the model railway press by other people who had also got the 'art of compromise bug'. But they all had the same thing in common. In attempting to build the suggested layout, they found it was impossible! The author had simply shoe-horned too much detail into the width of the baseboard beyond the end of the platform. The author had also placed a turnout exactly halfway along the six-foot baseboard, making it impossible to divide the baseboard into two three foot lengths for storage and transportation.

At the end of 2018 I finally decided to have a go at building this layout. I apologise for the rather hazy pictures, caused I suspect by my shed lighting.

I decided to use Peco code 75 turnouts together with C&L track as I already had these to hand. First off, I decided to alter the plan slightly and move the turnout away from the centre of the baseboard to allow it to be divided in half. I also decided to include two catch points in the sidings where they meet the 'main line.' I had plenty of wood to hand retrieved from previous layouts. I also had some lengths of 5mm thick plywood which I decided to use as the baseboard surface. The plywood had previously been cut to fourteen inches wide so I decided to utilize those extra two inches to try and achieve something akin to the original plan. The scenic baseboard measures six feet by fourteen inches with a small board for the fiddle yard, thirty inches long.

I drew out the track plan on the baseboard surface and drilled and filed small slots where the turnout tiebars were situated. This was so that I could utilise the small hole in the Peco tiebars for operation. At this stage I decided to use, for the first time, point motors to throw the tiebars. A small bit of research showed that Gaugemaster Seep point motors, PM1, contain contacts to change the polarity of the common crossing (frog). I ordered the four motors required and set about laying the track.



The sleepers of the Peco turnouts are much thicker than the C&L sleepers on the plain track. To arrive at a situation where the rail height is the same for plain track and turnouts, I pinned the turnouts directly to the baseboard surface and fixed the plain track to a card track bed previously glued to the baseboard. The two sidings on the length of white card in the picture above will form the fiddle-yard.

Terry

 

[Terry]

Having such a thin baseboard surface meant that it was not possible to screw the point motors directly to the underside. I decided to cut small blocks of wood and drilled/filed small slots along the centre line..




The point motors were screwed to the blocks with the operating rod passed through the slot..



After the wiring was soldered in place, I stuck them in place beneath the baseboard with a Pound Shop version of 'No Nails' .
To date, none have come adrift.




I decided not to worry about changing the polarity of the fiddle-yard 'Y' point and to rely on blade contact, i.e. use it as intended straight out of the box. Accordingly, it just required a simple means of moving the tie-bar. Herewith a picture of Terry's patented point lever, Mark 1..



As you can see it consists simply of a small washer soldered to the end of a short length of bent rail. The washer is pushed onto the small 'pip' at the end of the Peco tie-bar and the lever is held in place with small screws, thus..



Terry

 

[Terry]

This is how I dealt with the controls. The layout is operated on DC.






Next, the rail sides were painted with Humbrol Matt Enamel No. 168, which appears to be a reddish-brown.




I am quite a fan of Scalescenes' kits and decided to utilise the platform from the range.




The surface was cut from mount board and given a coat of french polish, mainly to harden the edges to stop them fraying with use. Once dry, I drew the edging stones with a pen and scribed the same..




Once the edging stones had been fully scribed, I gave the whole surface a spray with Halfords' grey primer. I fixed masking tape to the platform leaving the edge clear. The plan was to give it a spray with Halfords white primer. As you would expect, the paint ran out half way into the job. I resorted to brush painting some white acrylic paint over the rest..



You can also see from the last photo that I decided to give all of the baseboard surface a quick coating of grey/brown acrylic paint. Unfortunately, the grain of the plywood surface was still very prominent so I eventually decided to brush ready-mixed plaster filler onto those areas which would be seen.

Terry

 

[Terry]

At this stage I put together the Scalescenes kit for the arched bridge, and gave it a dusting of black weathering powder. A lovely model. This was destined be situated over the entrance to the fiddle yard..



One extra wing wall was made and was intended to be situated just inside the fiddle yard, as shown in the pictures. At this stage I was entertaining the idea of continuing the scenery into the fiddle yard to give the impression that the railway continued on the other side of the bridge.



Terry

 

[Terry]

It was at this stage that I realized that I had forgotten to install the magnets for uncoupling, before gluing down the track. How to remedy the situation without resorting to lifting the track? This is where the first magnet was to be installed..




Three sleepers were cut through with a scalpel just in from the chairs and the pieces put to one side. Holes were drilled in the baseboard surface to assist in cutting through the baseboard..





A small rectangle of plywood was glued to the underside of the hole with the trusty old Poundshop version of 'Hard as Nails'. Card packing was glued inside the hole to bring the top of the magnet up to the level of the underside of the sleepers and the magnet was superglued in place..




The sleeper pieces were superglued back in their original positions..




Job done! Or it would have been had I not at this point realised that one magnet is not long enough to uncouple two wagons. I now had to resort to installing another magnet just to the right of the one shown above.




When applying the ballast over the magnets, I tend to use superglue. It hardens the ballast almost immediately.



Terry

 

[NHY 581]

Apologies for jumping ahead Terry but what couplings were used ?

Rob.

 

[Terry]

I decided to start adding the boards which support the backscene . Firstly, I thought that I would tackle the board which separates the scenic section from the fiddle yard. Keeping this board upright has always been a problem for me. For instance, the boards along the rear of the layout are simply screwed to the outside of the baseboard frame, as is the small board at the end of the scenic section. But the board separating the scenic section and the fiddle yard is sitting on top of the baseboard surface, therefore no frame to screw it to. Fortunately, there will be a road and embankment at this end of the layout so here is my solution to keep the board upright..





The boards to support the backscenes were fixed in place, as were the facia and pelmet. All woodwork on show to the front and sides was given a coat of grey paint. The rear boards were held in place with screws which enabled them to be removed to assist in accessing the layout from the rear when making the scenery. A strip of LEDs was fixed behing the pelmet.




My thoughts were now turning to the scenery. I decided to start by cutting the road to the station from mount board.





The road dictated the shape of the land on the right-hand end of the layout. It passes over the bridge and makes a sharp turn to the left and descends steeply to the station building and then into the goods yard. Of necessity there would be a steep embankment down towards the trackbed. The photo shows the first of the supports for the road. Neither the bridge or the road were fixed down yet. I used a hot glue gun, which certainly sped up construction.



The road was now painted. Measure twice, cut once, goes the saying. Unfortunately, when cutting out the station forecourt area from card, I didn't measure at all! The result was that there was insufficient card abutting the platform on which to stand the station building. I then wasted time having to add an extra piece of card..




At this stage the road was still not glued in place. It was lifted off and supports, cut from mount board, were glued in place. The road was then finally glued into place upon the supports.






Strips of cereal packet card were used to form a lattice over the supports..




So, to the 'Glueshell' which gives us our land surface. Cheap - use old newspapers, pound shop PVA, a cheap brush and a yoghurt pot (or similar) in which to decanter the PVA. The technique is very simple and requires liberal application of the adhesive. Tear the newspaper into small pieces beforehand. Liberally coat the cereal packet lattice work with adhesive and push a newspaper piece thereon. Coat the newspaper with more adhesive as soon as it is applied. Add the next piece of newspaper alongside the first, but overlapping. Carry on until the whole lattice work is covered. Now add a second and even a third layer of newspaper, applying lots of adhesive as you proceed. Leave to dry and you will have a light, firm shell onto which the ground cover, grass, foliage, etc., may be applied.

Some photos to show the technique in action..






The observant among you will have noticed the small hole in the baseboard to the left of the bridge. This will house the Dapol starter signal.

I continued the landscaping along the front of the layout in order to put some colour at the front of the layout, and to frame the scene. Of course, there will be grass/weeds/bushes on this low embankment..



Terry

 

[Terry]

Once dry, the Glueshell was painted with brown emulsion paint..




Terry

 

[Terry]

Apologies for jumping ahead Terry but what couplings were used ?

Rob.

Hello Rob. I am using the 'Kirby Coupling'. Bachmann couplings with a bent staple affixed to the dropper. These days I tend to put a small loop at the end of the staple, and solder the staple to the dropper.

Terry

 

[Terry]

I got to work with my WWS Pro Grass Micro Applicator and soon covered the landform with Summer Mix from WWS.




I added some ground foam, to represent weeds, along the bottom of the bridge wing walls. This has the added bonus of covering any gap between wall and baseboard.




The Dapol starter signal was installed. Beautiful model and easy to install.




Time to improve the grass embankments which looked neater and better cared for than my front lawn! I teased out some foliage mat, in this case manufactured by WWS. Using cheap extra-hold hairspray, I sprayed the grassy areas and pushed the foliage mat into place. A light sprinkle with red and white ground foam to represent poppies and daises, followed by another spray and all was done. Here's the result..




Terry

 

[Terry]

Does anything scream Southern as much as this? Ratio SR concrete hut..



I thought that it would look good here..



I glued the hut in place. 'Job done' I thought. I didn't know it at the time, but fate had other ideas!

Terry

 

[Terry]

Peco's water tank appeared to be just what was required to fit between the platform end and the starter signal. I found it to be a nice model and simple to put together. Unfortunately, the external fittings such as the ladder are made from a soft springy polythene type of plastic. I found it very difficult to cut flash away from the ladder rungs, it being almost impossible to get a sharp edge to the plastic. I suspect that the fittings are made from this springy plastic to prevent them from being damaged by rough handling. Nevertheless, the kit made up into a fine model. I gave the model a spray of Halford's grey primer, followed by a wash of runny brown acrylic paint. This was followed by a light dusting of 'rust' weathering powder on the main tank. The top of the tank is modelled to represent a planked cover. I painted this with white acrylic with a hint of brown, followed by three washes of very watery brown to represent old wood. Here is the model ready to be fixed in situ..





I fitted the water tank in place by inserting small bolts through the holes in the corners of the base and fixed with small nuts. The bolts were trimmed and a lick of paint finished the job. The drain was fabricated from Sankey Scenics' items. Weathering around this area will take place later in the project.




This is how this little scene was shaping up..



Terry

 

[40057]

I got to work with my WWS Pro Grass Micro Applicator and soon covered the landform with Summer Mix from WWS.

View attachment 203965


I added some ground foam, to represent weeds, along the bottom of the bridge wing walls. This has the added bonus of covering any gap between wall and baseboard.

View attachment 203967


The Dapol starter signal was installed. Beautiful model and easy to install.

View attachment 203968


Time to improve the grass embankments which looked neater and better cared for than my front lawn! I teased out some foliage mat, in this case manufactured by WWS. Using cheap extra-hold hairspray, I sprayed the grassy areas and pushed the foliage mat into place. A light sprinkle with red and white ground foam to represent poppies and daises, followed by another spray and all was done. Here's the result..

View attachment 203969
View attachment 203970

Terry

Hello

Your layout looks really nice.

One observation. Poppies are weeds of disturbed ground. So they are found in arable fields (if not sprayed with herbicide). It’s also why it was poppies that flourished and flowered in no man’s land between the trenches in the First World War. Poppies do not grow in dense established vegetation such as permanent grassland (their seeds won’t even germinate unless exposed to light). So, sorry, I’m afraid your poppies are in the wrong place. There aren’t any other red flowered species that might occur in grassland or scrub, as there are very few British/Northern European plants with red flowers.

It’s only a minor point in what looks really good, but it really jarred when it’s otherwise very realistic.

 

[simond]

I could be horribly wrong so I hesitate to comment on what is turning into a very nice scene, but I do not like the water tower/crane in a position where it could obscure the signal.

(at this point, someone will post a prototype picture confirming that I am horribly wrong and I will retreat to the gravel kneeling tray)

 

[Tim Hale]

May I ask about the source of the coupling magnets, please?

Thank you

Tim

 

[Terry]

Hello

Your layout looks really nice.

One observation. Poppies are weeds of disturbed ground. So they are found in arable fields (if not sprayed with herbicide). It’s also why it was poppies that flourished and flowered in no man’s land between the trenches in the First World War. Poppies do not grow in dense established vegetation such as permanent grassland (their seeds won’t even germinate unless exposed to light). So, sorry, I’m afraid your poppies are in the wrong place. There aren’t any other red flowered species that might occur in grassland or scrub, as there are very few British/Northern European plants with red flowers.

It’s only a minor point in what looks really good, but it really jarred when it’s otherwise very realistic.

That's very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting. Out come the tweezers!

Terry

 

[Terry]

I could be horribly wrong so I hesitate to comment on what is turning into a very nice scene, but I do not like the water tower/crane in a position where it could obscure the signal.

(at this point, someone will post a prototype picture confirming that I am horribly wrong and I will retreat to the gravel kneeling tray)

Thanks for your comment Simon. I have placed the water tower exactly where shown on the original plan, as published in the Railway Modeller. Bearing in mind the title of the original article 'the art of compromise', one is attempting to cram a lot of detail into a very small space. Anyway, my loco drivers have never complained!

Terry

 

[Terry]

May I ask about the source of the coupling magnets, please?

Thank you

Tim

Hello Tim. If memory serves, I got them from eBay. I don't remember exactly who the supplier was but if you search for 'ferrite magnets' you should get a result.

Terry

 

[40057]

That's very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting. Out come the tweezers!

Terry

Sorry to give you that job. Of course, if you were modelling modern era you could say it was McDonald’s packaging. But there aren’t any red-flowered plant species that your red could represent. Red flowers are associated with bird pollination, as per hummingbirds in the Americas. In Europe, plants rely on insects and bees don’t see red (they do though see ultra violet). Hence, purples, yellows etc, but not red.

 

[NHY 581]

Hello Tim. If memory serves, I got them from eBay. I don't remember exactly who the supplier was but if you search for 'ferrite magnets' you should get a result.

Terry

Misread that as 'ferret magnets'......