The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

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Paul Willis
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The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:23 pm

Well, it's the first day of a new year and all that, and it's time for New Year Resolutions.

Topmost amongst my modelling resolutions must be to finish more projects that are currently littering up my desk as Work In Progress. I've made a good start on that, and hope to have more out of the way in the next couple of weeks.

So with all that done, I'll move on to my entrant for the Standard Gauge Workbench...

In our current house, I don't have the space indoors for a reasonably sized layout. Ulpha Light is erected in the garage, pending restoration, so that space is taken as well. So an SGW layout that I can take out, work on, and then pack away seems the perfect idea. Ultimately though, what I'd like to produce is a series of "episodes" that describe the countryside through a series of scenes. And being in my local area, and of GER interest, I'll be producing some lesser known elements of the London to Cambridge mainline, the branches and sidings off it.

The concept will be a series of linked scenes. If you've been fortunate enough to view the "Nettlebridge Valley Railway" at an exhibition, you may have an idea of what I mean. Regrettably there are very few photos of this on the web.

So the scenes that are hazy plans in my mind include:

- the terminus of the Sawbridgeworth Town branch, after it ran just over a mile after leaving the Cambridge mainline.

- the little-documented siding and canal wharf that existed until the 1960s at Parndon Mill, south of Harlow.

And finally, and the entry to the SGW, is Crouch's Brewery, which was established in the small hamlet of Churchgate Street, where it successfully produced a range of ales until a mysterious fire caused it to close shortly after the end of the First World War.

A track plan has been chosen (read "cribbed from somewhere else"...) and the Templot has been beaten into submission.

I've promised James Dickie that I will be showing something related to the SGW at Scalefour North in April, so I'd better stop typing and crack on with those unfinished projects if I'm ever going to meet that deadline!

Cheers
Flymo
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Terry Bendall
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Terry Bendall » Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:22 am

Flymo748 wrote:I've promised James Dickie that I will be showing something related to the SGW at Scalefour North in April,


But you don't say which year! :D :D

Flymo748 wrote:And finally, and the entry to the SGW, is Crouch's Brewery,


And which Scaleforum shall I put you down for? :twisted:

And of course it all sounds very good and sufficient ideas to keep you going for several months.

Terry Bendall

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Ian Everett
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Ian Everett » Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:37 am

Paul,

It's June and New Year's resolutions have a habit of being forgotten by then!

I wonder when Crouch's Brewery will be producing its first pint?

Ian

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Paul Willis
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Paul Willis » Mon Jun 16, 2014 5:16 pm

Ian Everett wrote:Paul,

It's June and New Year's resolutions have a habit of being forgotten by then!

I wonder when Crouch's Brewery will be producing its first pint?


Well, there have been lots of other things happening, some of which have been seen on here, and a great many that have not (yet) surfaced. However one of the major achievements has been to learn Templot to the point that I'm more than comfortable with how it works. I still find it immensely frustrating at times, but mostly that's because it's quirky rather than impossible.

So one of the outputs has been the trackplan for the SVR running past the brewery:

burtons_mill_brewery_2014_06_16_0710_32.jpg


The timbering is all completed, although slightly erratic in places as befits a branchline backwater.

Next is to think about a baseboard. It's designed to fit on a pink extruded polystyrene board. However with both Mr Venton and Mr Horn talking about nice laser cut pre-fabricated kits, I'm very tempted with one of those. Or possibly designing my own "cradle" to hold the board in.

So that's it for now... Back to making masters for 5522 bogie kits!

Cheers
Flymo
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Martin Wynne
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Martin Wynne » Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:36 am

Flymo748 wrote:However one of the major achievements has been to learn Templot to the point that I'm more than comfortable with how it works. I still find it immensely frustrating at times, but mostly that's because it's quirky rather than impossible.

Hi Paul,

PLEASE tell me what is making it frustrating. Which key/button/feature doesn't do what you expect, or isn't provided? What do you want Templot to do differently?

The web is awash with statements that Templot is too difficult/impossible/unusable, but almost never does anyone tell me specifically which function or feature is causing them so much grief. If I can change things without losing existing functionality I will, but first I need to know where the problem lies. I have already followed your suggestion that Templot should start up showing a longer template than a basic turnout.

On the other hand, your most recent suggestion about copying the control template didn't seem to me or several others to be too helpful, so I'm still waiting for you to explain in a bit more detail why you want it and what problem it would solve.

Often in the past when I have asked those complaining what should be done differently, the replies have in effect meant scrapping the whole thing and starting again. Which may of course be the best course -- but if so it won't be me doing it. Templot has been available for 15 years now, and it is 35 years since I first started working on its origins and created the core methodology. It's time someone younger had a go and produced its successor. I'm not the only modeller capable of writing a bit of code -- for example Milen Peev is doing a great job with SCARM and shows what is possible nowadays, see: http://www.scarm.info/index_en.html

regards,

Martin.
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Tim Horn
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Tim Horn » Mon Jun 23, 2014 4:38 pm

Hi Paul,

If you design it, I will cut it ;)

Just tested the biggest board I can go up to at the moment, a 4ft by 3ft

4ft by 3ft 9mm top with 6mm sides MDF TJH01 20th June 2014 Copyright Tim Horn.jpg


and the scenic board has now gained it's light, again, should be on my website soon to buy :D

1200mm by 400mm Scenic Board with lighting TJH02 20th June 2014 Copyright Tim Horn.jpg


1200mm by 400mm Scenic Board with lighting TJH01 20th June 2014 Copyright Tim Horn.jpg


Keep at it!

Cheers
Tim
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steamraiser
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby steamraiser » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:48 am

Flymo,

You can move turn or change the length or delete individual sleepers.

Gordon A
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Paul Willis
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Paul Willis » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:50 pm

steamraiser wrote:Flymo,

You can move turn or change the length or delete individual sleepers.

Hi Gordon,

Indeed :-)

That's been exactly what I've been doing. I've been careful not to adjust any that are under the nose or switchblades, but outside that I've tried to make the arrangement as neat as possible.

That said, I was looking at a picture of a GER scene from 1912 a couple of days ago and an extensively interlaced piece of pointwork was very evident in the foreground.

I'm not ignoring Martin's questions, but it deserves a more measured answer that needs me to also be sitting down in front of Templot at the same time.

Cheers
Flymo
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www.5522models.co.uk

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Martin Wynne
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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Martin Wynne » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:00 pm

Flymo748 wrote:I'm not ignoring Martin's questions

Feel free to ignore it Paul. I was obviously in a tetchy mood. Image

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Re: The Stort Valley Railway - a series of SGW episodes

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:03 pm

Martin Wynne wrote:
Flymo748 wrote:I'm not ignoring Martin's questions

Feel free to ignore it Paul. I was obviously in a tetchy mood. Image

Martin.


Hi Martin,

I'm glad that I hadn't really upset you. The more that I've learned about Templot, the more enthusiastic I've become. There are some steps like adjusting timbering after a plan has been drawn that are so simple to do that it's an absolute joy to be able to tidy up a piece of track so that it looks the part.

I hope that we'll bump into each other again at a show soon, and we can have a natter. As ever, the occasional frustrations are those of someone learning the software, and the solution is probably in there somewhere. The challenge is usually simply finding it!

Cheers
Flymo
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