Model Railway

[John R]

Hi,

Im currently designing a model railway for LNER and came across your website doing research. I took a good look around the website which was very helpful, especially the maps (Could not view the whole map in the larger size for some reason though) but i did not manage to find what i was looking for so this is why im here.

I am trying to look for features on the LNER network that would be interesting to model, not for looks but for operationally interesting features that is fun to play on - shunting etc. Features like:

Coal deliveries - LNER did a lot with coal, anything interesting that can be modeled?
Joining to other networks such as LMS - At stations or junctions. What happened to the cargo there?
Other cargo - interesting or different or swoped networks to get to places outside of network e.g. LMS.

I don't have a massive amount of room so perferably small ideas but all are welcome. And if possible diagrams to the routes, they don't have to be well drawn.

Thanks

John

[chaz harrison]

John,
Wow. I think you need to narrow your search a tad. Which area of the LNER are you interested in? Which period? The railway contained a huge variety of lines in many different landscapes.
An interest in coal traffic could lead you to a mine, a marshalling yard, seaside staithes, wagon tipplers at a power station, coal drops like the NER had or a flat coal yard.

What scale are you planning to work with? Do you already have rolling stock, which might well dictate the area and period?

Chaz

[John R]

Yea i think i do, sorry was in a hurry other night.

I am modeling OO scale and my rolling stock is not made by myself so i will be relying on Hornby, dapol and Bachmann models but i do have the ability to produce unique trucks.

Any period is fine but perferably the later years because it has more choice in locos. any landscapes are ok.

Also i would like to stay away from the ability of unloading trucks because my children will want to play on it and that will only create a mess.

your example of a coal mashlling yard interests me, if possible do you have a plan of it?

Thanks

John

[52D]

What about an LNER inspired layout based on the Amble branch in Northumberland. If you stretch timescales around slightly you could include passenger as well as coal workings to the harbour staiths and also feature industrial locos who had running powers over parts of it. Largest recorded loco was a V2 although B1s and K1s as well as the normal coal field locos were common performers.
Bart Rippons book on the branch published by Kestrel Railway books is excellent for pics and track diagrams.

[chaz harrison]

There are two ways to deal with the loading/unloading of coal wagons that do not involve "messy" piles of loose coal. One is to have at least two trains. One always runs in one direction and is loaded, the other runs the other way and is empty. This ploy obviously best suits a through station.
On my layout there are two coal trains. Each wagon in the two trains has a "load" of a wooden plug with the top shaped as a heap. Coal fragments are glued all over the top and a discrete wire loop makes the coal removable.
A loaded coal train works into my branch terminus each running session. The arriving coal train is shunted into the coal yard and the empties are collected, the same loco and brake van then depart with the train of empties. Before the next session the wagons in the yard are emptied (the loads are hooked out with a shunter's pole) and the train of empties, which is in the fiddle yard, is filled ready for the next cycle. As the size of the wagons varies (some 16T steel minerals and a variety of timber-built wagons) each coal load has the number of the wagon it fits written on the underneath.
This system works well, but you do need two lots of coal wagons.

Chaz

[52D]

Re Chaz above, I dont know if Dapol have re released the 16Ton mineral wagon, the former Airfix kit. When i first started modelling i bought a few of them as they were cheaper than ready to run items.
They had advantages and disadvantages but with a little effort a good model could be made with a little weight added they ran well.
The coal on these wagons was represented by a black plastic moulding which you simply pushed in to the required depth so there was a fair representation of a load but no loose material. Of course the moulding had to be painted as coal is not all a uniform shade of gloss black and needs weathering but it was a godsend in the early days when all wagons came factory fresh and empty.

[chaz harrison]

Well 52D, my railway is to 7mm, so I'm not much concerned with Dapol! My 16 tonners are either Peco or Parkside. These don't come with any sort of load so I had to make up some simple load platforms. I note your comment about black plastic mouldings - I wouldn't paint these myself - I think I would crush some coal to smaller fragments than I use in 7mm and glue it to the plastic moulded heaps. A thin layer of PVA is fine for this. When I do this I have a pot of coal dust to hand. After sprinkling on the lumps the dust can be added to fill any gaps. Once the glue has dried the excess can be shaken back into the tub.
Nothing looks more like coal than.....coal!

Chaz

[richard]

Chaz: I've used a similar technique in N scale with "fake coal" and you'd be surprised at the positive comments I get! I think the US market is simply used to poor plastic mouldings. These never look right.

I did buy some real coal for 7mm though...


Richard

[chaz harrison]

Richard,

there is one drawback with using real coal - it does tend to go rather dull over time. I think the surface probably oxidizes.

Chaz

[richard]

Perhaps I need to use both then - the fake stuff (brand unknown, but possibly Woodland Scenics) is still shiny.

In older wagons I used the Ten Commandments castings, more recently I roughly-carved bits of foam (less weight for a rake of 60+ wagons!). Then painted with Railmatch Coal Black. I glued the fake coal on with matt medium, but very slightly diluted pva would probably work just as well.


Richard

[chaz harrison]

Richard,

sounds good. got any snaps?

Chaz

[richard]

It isn't a very good picture, but I found this one on our club website:

http://tex-n.org/Modules/britain/Mesquite2003_0054.jpg

The loco service depot has long gone, and the module also has a canal, brick terraces,etc:

http://tex-n.org/Modules/britain/britain.html

Actually the mid-area revamping of ~2yrs ago isn't in the pictures. Extra track has been laid - the idea being that it is a wagon service area. There's also a brick signal box, semaphore signals (fixed arms) and a derelict and overgrown siding in front of the large retaining wall.


Richard