Challenge Layout. Ordsall Road DMU lay by

[Hardwicke]

I also stopped (during the final mile of a bike race ) to take photos of crossovers further along the line. Happily one seems to have the same extra gap between the running line and siding (in this case actually a loop) and neither seem to have been changed dimensionally, apart from the rails since 1965. They even still have wooden sleepers. I can work out their size now. Left handed too ! I suspect they have identical dimensions to the ones at Ordsall Road.

IMG20240414124036.jpg

IMG20240414123946.jpg

IMG20240414123958.jpg

[Hardwicke]

That's 40 sleepers from the vee to the toe on the crossover and 38 on the loop point. Would that make them "D" switches? I think the Permanent Way Institution book has a table of the lengths (as did Your Model Railway magazine once).
Anyone got a scan of the table, with both FB and BH?

[Hardwicke]

I measured the bridges yesterday ;The Subway bridge is at 64 miles and 24 chains and it is 65' 8" long and 8'7" wide. it's on quite a slope so another measurement with a spirit level and ruler is needed to determine the angle. It's a good foot or two higher at one end from the other but the individual concrete panels are vertical. Each side is 2' 4' wide. Reinforced concrete.
Ollerton Road/West Carr Road bridge was measured too 34' long and 28' 3" wide. Reinforced concrete beams, Concrete copings and brick walls to the road. it sits above the concrete walls of the cutting. All good data.

[Hardwicke]

Between Ordsall RoadWest Hill Road bridge 194 and the ECML bridge 196A/303A , give or take a few feet it's 35 chains.

West Hill Road/Ordsall Road is 63 miles 73 chains as sprayed on the retaining wall (or 63m 1606yards) according to the bridge plate.

West Carr Road/Ollerton Road 195A is 64m 14ch.
Tunnel Road bridge 196 is 64 miles 20ch and 16'.
The ECML bridge 196A is approximately 64 miles and 30 chains depending on where the measurements for the platforms are (middle??)...

So from Ordsall RoadWest Hill Road bridge 194 to East Coast Main Line bridge 196A Retford, it's 30.30 feet long though at 8 inches wide that's too big at 20.20 sq feet. If the final 10 feet is only 4 inches wide scenically that will give a footprint of 16.65 sq feet.

At 23.38 feet long between Ordsall RoadWest Hill Road bridge 194 and Tunnel Road footbridge 196, that's 15.59 sq feet. 8 inches wide throughout. Both give some space for the Flyover track and bridge footings.

Today has been an evening of lots of calculations.

I've seen some official documents and the distance is officially 34 chains (one chain being 22 yards or 66 feet); 2,244 feet long. The layout if completed to full length would be 29' 6" long. However if I build from Tunnel Road and don't build Ordsall Road Bridge flyover, finishing the scenic section just after the siding, I can reduces this to 20 chains (1,320 feet). That makes it 17' 4" long. Two other option are ECML to the end of the siding (23 chains or 1,518 feet) ; almost 20" or Tunnel Road to Ordsall Road Flyover; 31 chains 26' 11" in P4. The shorter options have the downside is that the Summer Saturday's Yarmouth train and MGR's would be too long at least for the Challenge...