Omagh GNRi station

[GNRi1959]

Baseboard end fitted today to give possibilities of a running train in a circuit. This last fixture rests on good quality right-angle brackets and will be designed to lift in and out as required though entry is possible by 'ducking under' the baseboard. As you can see there some planning going on with lots to consider. Its quite deceiving in size. I have 2m x 1.6, the left hand side is 2.8m long to allow for a fiddle yard, just out of shot. No hurry on my part, its still not garden shed weather!

 

 

Edited January 5, 2018 by GNRi1959

[jhb171achill]

Do you mean loco or coach or railcar, Tony?

While it's not cheap, you can get a kit of an AEC railcar fro Worsley. It would need suitable motor, bogies etc.

[GNRi1959]

Not really sure what you mean but my intentions are mainly goods. Can't really see how practical it would be to run coaches in this space. However I have a single length of N-gauge track sitting on the window cill of the shed - and every time I glance at it, I start to get mouth-watering ideas about very long goods trains and passenger coaches!

Edited January 5, 2018 by GNRi1959

[PaulC]

I think most of us get those notions of long freight and coach trains in so much that we strive to make the largest layout we can. Of course that doesn't always work out for the best as the time, enthusiasm and eagerness to have something to run the trains through doesn't always reach fruition. 

I like the drop in board you've added to the shed, you seem to be planning ahead in the hope of creating that full loop. Seeing the boards on all four sides and knowing your thoughts on what you want to produce I would be seriously considering the N gauge option, particularly if it's a medium that you feel comfortable working with. I'm guessing the biggest stalling issue with N is the availability of Irish based stock whether that is rtr or to kit bash. 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

Did you ever get the feeling when standing at close proximity to your layout boards that 00 gauge is 'too big', lacks the illusion of distance and travel. Just a thought.....

[Noel]

7 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

Did you ever get the feeling when standing at close proximity to your layout boards that 00 gauge is 'too big', lacks the illusion of distance and travel. Just a thought.....

Personally quite the opposite, assuming you mean 4mm/00 scale/gauge.  Have you considered using the entire shed for the baseboards and having a dropdown connecting board right inside the shed door, using the centre area as a work bench space? Just a thought, I'm sure there is a good reason.  

[GNRi1959]

23 minutes ago, Noel said:

Personally quite the opposite, assuming you mean 4mm/00 scale/gauge.  Have you considered using the entire shed for the baseboards and having a dropdown connecting board right inside the shed door, using the centre area as a work bench space? Just a thought, I'm sure there is a good reason.  

Noel, as much as I love model railways I don't think that the 700mm behind the camera position is going to make much difference. Just inside the door on the right is a narrow space of maybe 200mm,  I would be opening the shed door and be partially blocked as I enter even with leave the lift-off section down. It gives me some workshop space to the right and a fiddle yard to the left.

[jhb171achill]

For 1950s, wagons easy enough - use lots of Leslie's vans - but the U, UG or S class really is the only show in town for locos.

[GNRi1959]

i’m thinking ahead a bit but I have to scratchbuild a bridge over a river that was just outside the Market Branch in Omagh. I plan on raising my track bed all round by at least 50-60mm to allow two road bridges. The bridge on the other hand may need more of a drop. Is the solution to raise the trackbed and drop below the baseboard frame?

Edited January 13, 2018 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

The morning sun gave me a burst of energy so I went out to the shed armed with trammel and several large radius curves (1.2m and 1.1m) I cut on the bandsaw in ply and I set out a very pleasing track arrangement with a double track, reduced to single line at one end to give me a complete circuit. I also was able to get turntable, sidings and fiddle yard in place. Very pleased with it, give me an idea on how much track and points I need to buy.

Edited January 20, 2018 by GNRi1959

[PaulC]

I've been awaiting some progress, any pics?

Paul

[GNRi1959]

26 minutes ago, PaulC said:

I've been awaiting some progress, any pics?

Paul

PaulC, thanks for your interest but the markings on the baseboards wouldn’t make much of a photograph. I should be laying track in coming weeks and will post.

[PaulC]

Roger that. 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

Paul, I have plans to include a road bridge over, road bridge under, cattle creeps and a three arch bridge over the Drumragh River that carried the railway into Omagh just beyond the Market Branch. The track work has been simplified to give good train runs and plenty of scenery.

[Dhu Varren]

If my memory serves me correctly, the bridge over the Drumragh River was a single span plate girder bridge.

[GNRi1959]

7 hours ago, Dhu Varren said:

If my memory serves me correctly, the bridge over the Drumragh River was a single span plate girder bridge.

 

David, here's a picture I took last week of the bridge, still standing. Yes, you are correct, however this one is slightly further out and more attractive. When the next Hospital Link road was built last year, for some strange reason they left the bridge intact running parallel to the modern crossing and it looks fabulous. If I am able to work it into the layout, it will be situated on the lift off flap where I enter the shed.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by GNRi1959

[Dhu Varren]

Tony, I had a feeling it might have been this bridge you were referring to. I also remember it well. As children in the early 1960s we regularly used to 'walk the line'  from the Market Branch junction to out beyond this bridge, and back.  

[GNRi1959]

Sounds lovely, do you remember the pit below the lines half way across the bridge?  Its a nice part of town.

[PaulC]

13 hours ago, GNRi1959 said:

Paul, I have plans to include a road bridge over, road bridge under, cattle creeps and a three arch bridge over the Drumragh River that carried the railway into Omagh just beyond the Market Branch. The track work has been simplified to give good train runs and plenty of scenery.

It all sounds very promising GNR.  You currently have a flat baseboard constructed, how will you go about producing the height differences required to produce those features? 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

With the narrow baseboard width I have of 350mm I may be pushed to form embankments all round and may have to revert to dropping bridge levels below the baseboard. To form the embankment would mean losing at least 75mm I'd imagine if not more to form reasonable slopes? Any ideas?

[PaulC]

The usual method for producing varying heights round the trackbed would be to construct an open baseboard. I didn't follow this approach as I already had my baseboards built from the previous layout. Instead, I ascertained what height I needed the track to be at to form the under bridge and raised the trackbed on wood formers to the relevant height. For much of the layout this is just a snaking trackbed above the baseboard with the exception of the station area which has a significant area entirely built up. 

This method just requires careful planning and knowing what and where you want features to be positioned in order that everything is constructed prior to any track being laid. With your carpentry skills, I have no doubt you could produce a much more professional job than I managed. 

 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

Paul, I will be fixing my baseboard frame this week and boring holes between these sections to allow wiring to be fished through. 

Around the station area the bridge leaving the station had a ‘headroom’ sign showing clearance of 11’8 underneath. I was planning to raise the trackbed to finish at 55-60mm above the base of the embankment. 

What dimension are you showing above?

[PaulC]

I had built the bridge below for my previous layout and wanted to incorporate it in to the new one so the height levels were based on this.

I don't recall exactly what that height was but I think it was something in or around 70mm - not far off the measurements you are aiming for. 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

I'm cutting supports for mine tomorrow and I'm cutting 120mm. 60mm to fix to current baseboard frame and 60mm of a rise to underside of the new raised trackbed.

[GNRi1959]

More progress tonight. Gradually working my ideas onto baseboards, re-arranging pointwork and curves to maximise space. 

[jhb171achill]

For general interest, but mostly for GNR1959, here's the working timetable for the Derry Road and elsewhere dated June 1959.

Enjoy!

 

 

[GNRi1959]

Jonathan, this makes fascinating reading - same year I was born too!

I really am grateful, thank you so much.

[GNRi1959]

Some track positioning going on today. Peco points are a nightmare. I wish there was a curved radius point that was a little less of a radius than whats available.

Edited January 29, 2018 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

Ordered 12xlengths of Peco Code 75 streamline flexi this morning to get started again in earnest. Until I find a much desired UG Class 0-6-0 this Un-used and Boxed Airfix 4F 0-6-0 loco will keep me occupied - not bad for £35.

 

 

 

[PaulC]

Track in stock, check.  Loco for testing, check.  Track plan, check. There's no stopping you now. 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

What was going to be Omagh will more than likely be a ‘flavour of Omagh’. I think less track crammed into a small baseboard is the best way to go.

[jhb171achill]

If it is going to be a kit, easier to get an actual Irish kit rather than xmend a British one.

Studio Scale Models, Provincial Wagons and others here will go a good starting place.

[GNRi1959]

Jonathan, I know you have mentioned three-way points several times in the past but last night I was looking very closely at an ordnance survey map of Omagh GNRi station and noticed what could be described as a three way point entering the goods yard. I didn't pay much attention to it until today when I was finishing the setting out of the goods yard area and was stuck trying to fit two sidings into the goods yard and maintain the mainline. It then struck me that I could use the three way point here, and I did - an asymmetric 3 way point.

Edited February 5, 2018 by GNRi1959

[PaulC]

The three way point is a versatile addition to any layout to save space, much like the single and double slips. 

You keep teasing us with these little verbal updates but when oh when will we see a photo or two? 

Paul

[GNRi1959]

Paul, believe me it's not worth a photo yet. I want to get things right. I'm very tempted to abandon my turntable as its really causing havoc in the corner I want it. I have my sidings all marked out and goods yard, the main station area is sorted and I'm heading out into some countryside now. Bridges, cattle creeps and fields. A nice contrast of a busy goods yard and country crossings. It's all in my mind at the moment and theres a delivery of track of the way. Thanks for your patience and interest.