Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

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Mark Tatlow
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Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:40 pm

The gents at the South Hants MRC have risen to my challenge to see if we can build a P4 layout in a weekend.

(Brigadier) Ray Hodson and his supporting platoon will be in action this weekend, 30 & 31 January 2010, at the Southampton Show which is being held at Barton Peveril College in Chesnut Drive Eastleigh (see http://www.smrs.hampshire.org.uk).

The group intend to build a model of the larger half of Eastwood station, which sits on the L&Y’s route from Todmorden to Hebden Bridge. This is a double track main line, no small tanks and 3 wagon trains for these guys! These photos show a taster of the real thing…………….

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The group are looking to build the larger portion of the station as their challenge for this weekend. This will be an end to end layout at this stage, with a pair of temporary fiddle yards. The intention is to, over time (and they assure me not as another challenge!) subsequently build the remainder of the station and also a pair of curves to make this a continuous run layout. There are not that many double track main line P4 layouts, so we wait with baited breadth.

In the coming days and over the weekend, I will look to provide progress update postings on this thread to show how the guys are doing. We hope to see as many of you as possible at the show (please say hello and provide moral support at the least!). However, for those of you that can not make it, you can follow progress on this thread……………..

LYRS_Crest[1].png
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Mark Tatlow

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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:53 am

So why have we foisted this challenge on ourselves?

Well, we want to prove that getting a P4 layout up and running is not some impossible challenge that takes most of a lifetime to achieve. This challenge has been done at Scaleforum in the past but we wanted to particularly demonstrate this to a more “general” public.

In a world where significant numbers of visitors do not realise that they run their trains on 4’1” gauge track, there are many, many misconceptions about what P4 and whether it is something that can be made to work. We hope to chip our little bit off this myth.

So how much do we aim to do?

Quite a lot actually!

We will be looking to make some of the baseboards (although others will have been prefabricated). The trackwork will be assembled over the weekend, laid and ballasted. Turnout operation will be installed, the layout will be wired up and operational and we hope to have at least one working signal.

We will also seek to convert at least one proprietary steam engine and a diesel, to show that this is also achievable if the right example is selected. I did enquire if they would knock a scratch built Pom Pom, but it was felt that there was a limit (and I still carry the bruises……….).

Organisation

The one thing that was learnt from previous challenges at Scaleforum was that proper organisation is required to make this project a success. With a military precision, each member of a team has been allocated not only a task, but a timetable covering each stage of their task and the resources that they need to achieve it.

I am sure that the sounds at our end of the show will merely be the humming of a well oiled machine as each element slots into place………………..well, we will see!


A few more pictures of the subject prototype.


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Thanks once again to the L&Y Society for the use of the phtographs.

Come and see us at Southampton, or watch this thread be updated over the weekend.
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Dave K
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Dave K » Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:45 am

Mark,

Looks like an interesting station, any chance of a track plan.

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John Bateson
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby John Bateson » Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:49 pm

From the snow bound hills of North Wales can I just wish Brigadier Ray Hodson and his troops all the best before they go over the top some time tomorrow!
John
Slaving away still on GCR stuff ...

Andy C

Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Andy C » Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:47 pm

I presume the intention will be to initially run the stock off Ogden Fold on it - but i look forward to seeing some of the bigger locos andexpress stock rattling through. Ive visited the site a few times - theres still a fair bit of archaelogical remains there - and its always struck me a very modelable for a mainline without being over ambitious (for that read Todmorden!!)

Good luck chaps and keep the forum posted.

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A Layout in a Weekend – Ready, steady and they are off!!

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sat Jan 30, 2010 12:24 pm

Bright and early, the crew were hard at work at Southampton with the layout in a weekend............

Picture 002.jpg


The track plan that the team are working on is as follows:

Curved_B8.pdf


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Russ Elliott
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Russ Elliott » Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:00 pm

Image

Love that superelevation!

Mark Tatlow
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:17 pm

Russ Elliott wrote:
Love that superelevation!


They are very releived to tell you that in 1910 it was not there - one less thing to crack in the next few hours........
Mark Tatlow

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A Layout in a Weekend – First Baseboard Done!

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:28 pm

The first baseboard is now done and the second one is well on the way.................................

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The trackwork guys are now feeling the pressure...............................

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Only 345,323 chairs to go, only 345,322 chairs to go, only 345,321 chairs go..................................

The turnouts are from the P4 Track Co and our thanks go to them for their help - thanks Andrew/Len!
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A Layout in a Weekend – moving ahead........

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:08 pm

Board no 2 has now been finished for a bit, the scenary guys have got ahold of it.

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The electrics have been worked on off board, so that several looms of wiring are semi-complete, to be added to the boards later.

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Meanwhile, that single slip grinds on..............

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112,679 chairs to go, 112, 678 chairs to go............

you will note that Tony has dissapeared - he was last seen heading down the road screaming and jibbering..........

97,301 chairs to go, 97300 chairs to go, 97,299 chairs to go..........
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Lambridge » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:23 pm

1 - Good luck
2- How's it going (17:20 30 Jan 2010) - any reports from S4Web members who've been at the show?
3 - Which steam loco are you converting?

Once again - I hope all goes well. I once did a "layout in a weekend" at the Keighley Model Railway Club exhibition circa 1974 with the other Junior Members. Peco flex-track and points plus some Superquick buildings and plaster bandage scenery (that went down well with the hall management).

It is great fun to do, it starts people thinking about building something themselves, and it's good for the show because people who see you on the Saturday come back on Sunday to see how you're doing. Double ticket sales - what more could you want?

Any clever techies would can set up a webcam?

Mark Tatlow
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:23 pm

Not only is a layout being constructed in the weekend, but so too is a little stock to run on it...............

Here we see a new Comet Models chassis being built for a J72. Coupling rods done, hornblocks in, next step is to assemble it..........

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Eileens Emporium are here (dash down to stock up if you have missed stuff, we are LOTS!!!)
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A Layout in a Weekend – Bright & Early Sunday Morning

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 9:37 am

I think most of the group have left their wives in front of the TV (oh dear, he is 5-3 down in the first set as I write this!) and are here already.

So where did we get last night...............

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The main boards are done and so too are the two fiddle yard turnouts. Some of the scenary is starting and most of the trackwork is complete. Cork is laid and ready for track laying.

But the slip still is not finished.................15,099 chairs to go, 15,089 chairs to go, 15,088 chairs to go.........

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Eileen the third has sponsored the project with some goods, so a big thank you to Eileen's Emporium!

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Eastwood L&Y – A reminder of what we are aiming for...

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:00 am

I thought we should keep a check on what we are aiming for with a few more photo's (with thanks still to the L&Y Society) of the real thing............

Firstly, a couple of pictures of the section that we are modelling................

LYRS_8407_-_Eastwood_Station_-_panorama_looking_east_with_station_buildings,_signal_box_and_level_crossing.jpg


LYRS_8408_-_Eastwood_Signal_Box.jpg


And now some of the remaining section of the station that will be done in the future.

TMP_0193_-_Eastwood_Station_-_general_view_looking_southwest_in_1964.jpg


LYRS_3606_-_Eastwood_Tunnel_-_West_portal.jpg


If anyone knows the area ((Andy C?) - does the tunnel still look like this. I am rather wondering how many people will moan at the model version (that will be wonky such as this) and tell us we have it wrong. If a contemporary picture can be found, it might be a useful shield in the future!
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A Layout in a Weekend – Tracklaying commences

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:59 pm

Two momentus stages have been reached...........some might think that the starting to lay track is a big step, I think the group feel that getting that single slip done is actually the really big bit of news!

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4 hours remaining.....................
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A Layout in a Weekend – Still going strong!

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:16 pm

Not content with merely making a layout in a weekend, the group are also converting a couple of locomotives to P4 in the time available too>

The simple one was the conversionof a Hornby class 31 using Ultrascale drop in wheels. The problem is, this conversion is so quick, the official photographer missed it! so here is a picture of it freshly converted beign tested on the Great Barfield layout.

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In addition to this, we are converting the J72 using a new Comet chassis, split axles, a high level axlebox, new coupling rods - the lot!

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Picture 007 gearbox.jpg


The last stages of the J72 will be in a later post.
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A Layout in a Weekend – Don't Panic, don't panic!!!

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:24 pm

So how is the layout doing.......................

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Now, is that laughter or dementia you see here? You decide!!

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The two fiddle yards are quite close to done, just got to sort out the connections to the board.

We have also been making a number of the models to go with this. Here is the yard crane, now finished.

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two and a half hours to go...................
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:48 pm

Oh dear, an hour an a half to go....................

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Most of the hard trackwork is laid, with droppers on.

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but some of the mainline is left and all of the sidings!

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but at least the J72 is about to turn its first wheel in anger!
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Tim V
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Tim V » Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:11 pm

Impressive!
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(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

Mark Tatlow
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:50 pm

Right then, thirty minutes to go.........................

Track is all down, even with one of the buffer stops.

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The fiddle yards can now be offered up - we may find it is single line working tonight though!

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because we had prefitted the track with droppers, we can quite quickly wire it up (we hope!)

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A Layout in a Weekend – Made it (Just!)

Postby Mark Tatlow » Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:10 pm

Well, we made it but really by the skin of our teeth.

We had a loco running up and down the plain track for a little, but the turnouts took us right to the end of the show andvery slightly beyond. But, by 5:30 we were able to run through both main lines and into the sidings. So we reckon that is a success!

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The turnouts worked, but with mechanical control below!

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Even the yard worked

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The J72 worked but we did not get time to get the body properly mounted.

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And that brings us to the end of the show. I can slope off, but there is plenty of tidying up to do.

The current intention is that Eastwood will be out on the exhibition circuit, probably near the end of the year. It will definitely be here in Southampton at the end of next January. See you then?
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TonyMont
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby TonyMont » Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:45 pm

A truly fantastic effort, I think you proved that P4 is within the reach of many modellers who believed it was beyond them. Well done, I hope to see your hard work at a future show. Tony. :)

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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Terry Bendall » Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:24 am

As someone who was at the show, running the Society stand with Mark and dropping in from time to time, I think the South Hants group did a fantastic job. Virtually everything was done during the course of the show - and with a calm and purposeful atmosphere in the room throughout. The group even had Great Barfield up and running as well. Well done chaps and thanks for your efforts.

Terry Bendall

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Jim Summers
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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby Jim Summers » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:29 am

As someone who was not at the show, but whose thoughts were with those toiling in the public eye, can I, on behalf of the Scalefour Society, thank the whole team, not forgetting photographer and commentator Mark, for providing the watching world with first class entertainment.

Not only was it entertainment, of course, it offered inspiration in all sorts of areas (just look at that signal in the first picture of the prototype). The team didn't just tackle easy track or simple rolling stock, so above all it gave encouragement to the rest of us to get on and do things.

Great stuff, and at that rate of progress, we should see something to fill several rooms by the time Leatherhead is finished refurbishing itself.

Jim

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Re: Eastwood L&Y; A Layout in a Weekend – Can they do it?

Postby iak » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:48 am

Wow...
Now that is impressive as a PR exercise .
Another plank in building a bridge into the aspiring finescale modellers heart maybe? ;)
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