Christmas 2013

When your families' ask you this year what you would like for Christmas, there is always a temptation ask for another wagon or if they're rich, then a new locomotive maybe a possibility. I thought that maybe you might like to ask for what I was given last year and found to be one of the most useful things I've had for the train shed.

This year saw me join that famous club, I turned 60 and became an 'old git'. Rising costs to heat the train shed meant that some prudence in this area had to be exercised. Nothing can be worse than that feeling of anticipation of an operating session tempered by a cold room when you are in the house with the heating on or the fire blazing up the chimney. 

My wife bought me some thermal underwear, long sleeved vest and leggings. You can get really thin ones these days and the difference is significant, costing around twenty quid they really did make a big difference and I've got them on again. They don't stop the dew drop on the end of your nose if its really cold but the overall comfort is well worth it.

If the grandchildren ask you what you want, then bear in mind you can't have too many track rubbers.

New Year 2014

The New Year will see a bitter sweet time for Trenholme Junction. History tells us that at the time the layout was set, the axe swung after the Beeching report and Trenholme Junction is about to be one of the lines to to closed. The layout is going to be dismantled. 

There has been over 150 videos made on the layout which have all been published on the YouTube channel (link below) so a very comprehensive record of the layout has been made (and you don't need thermal underwear to view them). 

The layout was built to be filmed and to this end has fulfilled its original aim. It was built in the traditional manner ignoring some of the established rules of traditional methods in order to accommodate the filming.

Already the new layout is in the planning. 

The next one won't be a full blown layout in a room but a series of film sets which can be bolted together in different combinations to create an ever changing layout. The 'sets' will built in modules, some small and some large which will in fact be a series of diorama's. 

The current layout was built in the traditional way, viewed from the time honoured angle, but with filming in mind. A hybrid in fact. 

There will be no consideration to the new sets being viewed other than from the inside. The camera eye view. This principle opens new possibilities, for example, on a traditional layout it's not possible to model a cutting and see what's going on other from the helicopter position. To  do this successfully, camera placements will have to built into the scenery in such a way as to be able to capture the track side view and at the same time hidden from view when the filming is taking place on board the moving trains. Some new planning thoughts must be exercised here.

Another thing I'm going to experiment with is to combine model and the real world, using real life backdrops instead of the unrealistic painted back scenes which spoil many a good layout. 
Filming has taught me one thing I never considered, is the amount of detail these fabulous new high definition cameras pick up. The modern locomotives and rolling stock look incredibly good, so you have to match their surroundings will equally good scenery to get the best overall effect. Merging the real world with the model will probably achieve this.

I intend to film the building of the new layout 'sets' and publish the project on the channel.

I made a film on the layout a couple of years ago and tells the story of the job of a Goods Guard in 1962. 'The Man at the Back' (nickname for the guard) is a journey on a Pick up Goods Train, recreating the view few people (except goods guards) would have seen. 
The entire film utilises the camera in the guards van and is narrated by me, as a nine year old, telling of life and times of a boy, fascinated by the place he grew up in. The film is to released at 08:30 on Christmas Day and will be only available to view for one week only. Running time 54 minutes.

I would like to thank all the people who watched the channel and especially those of you who have constantly encouraged and sent me suggestions and for the constructive criticism. 
I have tried to answer every bodies comments and will continue to do so. If there is any particular view or train you would like to see then let me know and I'll try to produce a video. 
For those of you like figures, the channel has had well over a third of a million views, currently nearly thirty thousand views a month and growing month on month.

Finally, may you have a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

  
  

                

    

The DCC question.

There are always questions about the control system on Trenholme Junction which is a DCC controller.

The most single important point to be made here is that DCC Control is fantastic. There has 
been nothing since the invention of model railways that has made such a dramatic difference 
as this has. 

Digital Command Control is a modern control system which is different from the system used 
in the past. The earlier system used a controller which effectively drove the track. DCC 
drives the locomotives. 

For the sake of simplicity I am only going to talk about driving the locomotives in this 
piece. There are other advantages and features which I will be dealing with later.  

There is a lot of hot air spoken about DCC, mainly from those who know (or think they know) 
how the thing works in every minute detail. They have an air of superiority about them which 
can and does intimidate a lot of people. If you are considering using DCC it is important 
that you don't let these people put you off.

This is not a definitive guide to DCC, this information is from my experiences I personally 
have endured and any specifics are of the systems I have actually used. There are a lot of 
'experts' on the internet who give advise about systems they haven't had any experience of. 
Their information must be gathered from reading other peoples experiences and therefore is 
not reliable.

Its also worth noting that some of the earlier books on the subject don't give the best 
advice, things in this world are changing, only for the better I might add.

In order to get the best out of anything the more pertinent knowledge you have the better 
the result, e.g. having the best possible trainers if you were to take up running, you 
wouldn't attempt that in a pair of flip flops would you? In the same way if you wanted to 
drive fast you wouldn't buy a moped you would buy a Ferrari. One thing you wouldn't need to 
know is how the Ferrari worked. Although I do know how DCC works because of my background, I want the thing to run my trains, I don't want to spend the time I have fiddling about with electronics.   

Some basic knowledge is required and you need to initially know the principle of how DCC 
works, without going into any technical detail, before applying it to your layout. 
There are two parts to the electricity that the locomotive picks up from the track. The 
first part is the power to make the locomotive go, the second part is the signal which 
provides the instructions to tell it what speed and direction to travel and other 
incidentals like lights and sound. The two parts are combined together and delivered to the 
track, from the controller, through two wires, one to each rail of the track. A decoder (or 
chip as its sometimes called) is placed in each locomotive and 'listens' for instructions.

I'm not going advise which is the best system to use because I can't. I haven't tested all 
of them and therefore can't give an objective view. When I bought my system, the internet 
had not quite got going and it wasn't possible to throw out a general question and get many 
replies which you can now. If you ask ten people with ten different systems which is the 
best, most will say 'mine'. Search for DCC in a search engine and you'll find all the 
manufacturers will have a website telling you how wonderful their system is. Look for the 
features YOU want and when you've made your selection, get in touch with those who actually 
have the same system, or those who have got rid of that system to ask them what they think.  

There is a section in the 'Origins' part of this blog which explains about the importance of 
good electrical connections to the track and I don't intend to go over same ground again. I 
used a different method to wire the track than was recommended by the experts and on my 
layout it works very well. There are variations to the theme but generally, they all achieve 
the same end. A rule of thumb, if you are not electrically trained, is the more copper you 
have to transmit the electricity around your layout, the better.

My first system was ZTC. The specification for this system was a main controller or a 
booster for every 50 metres of track. I originally bought the controller and 6 boosters. I 
had endless problems with the system. Trains running away, system resetting and rebooting, 
and endless resets of the locomotive decoders to the default 4 (as it was then). I spent 
more time fault finding than running trains.

I took the advise from the books around at the time and divided the layouts into 'power 
districts' each with its own booster. If you can imagine a clock face, I divided the layout 
(a big oval) into quarter hours. BIG mistake. A train travelling in the first quarter hour 
with say 12 coaches enters the second quarter hour which has cut out, stops dead and derails 
the train. It also leaves the locomotive straddling the live section and the tripped one, 
not good. If you read about this method anywhere my advise, don't use it. The only thing 
useful to come out this adventure was I took the four boosters off and connected the four 
quarter hours together, with connector blocks, to one booster. 
If a fault occurs I can disconnect the sections one at a time, at least it gives me a clue as 
to which quarter the fault is in.

All the various systems on the market, to a greater or lesser degree must work, otherwise 
they wouldn't sell. Problems can arise when connected to a layout which has some oddity 
about it or when the user has not realised a constraint on their particular system. It is 
then too easy to blame the manufacturer. In the case of the ZTC system I did blame the 
manufacturer and I was right. It didn't do me much good being right though, just cost a lot 
of money. 

This is what happened to me.

After many months of hair tearing, sending the Controllers and the Boosters back to the 
factory, I decided to run my entire layout on just one master controller. I wanted to see 
just how much it would affect control when there was over fifty metres of track connected to 
one master unit. I connected all power districts together (800 yards of track) and it 
performed near perfectly. Was I conned by slick sales talk?, yes probably, or was it that I 
took so much care to bond all the tracks so well this allowed the unit to work over such a 
large distance? I loved the cab controllers of the ZTC system. More about this system is 
documented elsewhere in the blog.

The lesson to be learned here is to build your layout, divide it into districts, join them 
all together, buy the master unit and see if it works before buying extra boosters. If you 
do need boosters you can then move power districts onto boosters one at a time.

To give an idea of the power you will need, the power consumed by my layout is about 1.1A 
when all is still and less than 3A when 8 long trains are moving together. This is with over 
80 locomotives and 10 light coaches on the layout. This is trains only, not points or 
lighting etc.

One of the reasons I bought the ZTC in the first place was the promise of a wireless 
controller, which was never forthcoming and I decided that I was so fed up waiting that I 
scrapped the ZTC and bought a Ecos ESU 20500 with a radio controller. I connected the Ecos 
to my layout (with all power districts connected together) and that worked straight away as 
well and has done to date. The wireless controller is essential to the film work I do on the 
layout, and again there are references to it elsewhere in the blog. 

A couple of other things to mention I did which you may like to know about. It was 
recommended by ZTC to put a 12 volt bulb in line with each of the districts feeds which I 
did and I failed to see any need for this and I took them out. One reason for this was to 
stop an power surge at boot up of the Master Unit. In a quest to find the many faults this 
system generated I removed them as they didn't seem to make any difference. I was also 
advised (by the manufacturer) to put a double pole switch between the track and controller 
and allow the unit to boot before switching the track on. I did do this and it did improve 
the random faults situation somewhat. Sticking plasters on what was obviously a system which 
had not been tested. I left the switches on the layout, useful for fault finding.

One disadvantage, some may say, about having all the power districts connected together is 
that if a fault occurs in one place and trips the controller, everything stops. That's OK 
with me, if there is a fault I notice if everything stops and investigate. The only time I 
could see this mattering is if you intend to exhibit your layout and don't want a fault in 
one area to affect the other districts. Most of us are operating the layout on our own and I 
don't think its a good idea to go fault finding when maybe 90% of the rest of layout is 
running. 

One very important thing I would advise is to have a separate booster to switch the points 
and use a capacitor discharge unit with it. I found that having the points switched on the 
same unit as the locomotives were running caused some erratic behaviour. Again this is my 
experience, on smaller layouts this might not affect it as much. If you are getting erratic 
behaviour its well running the layout without switching any points and observe how it 
performs.   

There is a video showing the wiring method , click the link below:
http://youtu.be/7s_mqmGcSFg

In conclusion, if you want to see the sort of control you have running DCC please have a 
look at the videos on my Channel, click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

Planning and Starting a layout

I see many requests on the forums for help at the planning stage for new beginners and from the comments many see a lot to learn. There is quite a lot of free software available on the internet to help with the planning process which is very good, but before you reach for your mouse and plan away I think it would be a good idea to consider the way I planned my layout, which was built before all this wonderful software became available. I'm not suggesting you should not use the software, on the contrary, I am suggesting using my method and the software.

There seem to lots of requests for opinions of a particular layout plans and this is a very difficult area for others to comment on because unless you are modelling an exact replica of some real place then your plan is very personal to you. Others have different agendas and preferences which may conflict with what you are trying to achieve, and these opinions can only confuse your own aims. If you take notice of all the opinions, there is a danger you can end up with a layout designed by committee. 
No committee has ever designed anything of any use to anybody.

Most layout designs are as a result of daydreams, the ideal layout you see in you mind, usually concentrating on a particular point or points you wish to model. It may be a particular place or track configuration you focus upon. To change this beginning into an operating layout is a big step, but can be made easier if you break down the big step into smaller ones. 

A major mistake most people make is trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. You see Kings Cross station in your mind and yet the space for this monster is no longer than and ironing board and all in OO!

The next two steps will take you from the minds eye to some reality.

First, there are a couple of publications which I would recommend you read, both by Peco. '60 Plans' and 'Track Plans' written by Cyril Freezer. Don't just look and the plans, read the notes. As you will know, I do bang on a bit about the need for the operation of the railway to be considered as one of the first thoughts rather than the last. (read 'boredom and monotony' in Origins section of this blog). If you a planning a larger layout you can use the plans in the smaller layouts for part of the larger. Although these publications are now out of print, I found lots for sale on ebay by searching for the names in quotes above. They cost a few pounds each. The publications are for OO, there is also one called 'N gauge track plans'.       

The next step I would recommend is to download the Peco Turnout Plans
http://www.peco-uk.com/page.asp?id=pointplans
These plans can be printed out and laid out so you can get a really good idea of how much space the junctions and your plan really takes up. Fitting the junctions into the space is a key part of the planning process.
For example consider a steam operated branch line terminus with a run round loop to release the locomotive and run round the train. You need to decide what size locomotives you are going to use in order to work out the length of the track between the end point and the buffers, how many coaches you plan to send up the branch, can they fit in the station length whilst the locomotive is running round, etc. Make an estimate of the locomotive length and the coaches.
A double track crossover (using long components) is 30" (760mm) long and a simple crossover (using medium components) is 14" (360mm). 
Once you have laid out your paper layout consider the operational moves you can make and ask yourself if there are sufficient to entertain you when finished. If all you can do is to pull a train into the station, run round it and pull out again, then you'll be bored with it pretty quickly. 
This exercise (with virtually no outlay) will do more in moving forward any plans than any software will do on its own and once completed, the results can be transferred to the planning software with the confidence knowing it will fit the space.  

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

     

     

North East Model Railway - Reflections

In the first post of this blog entitled 'Origins' I set out a list of specifications I wanted achieve in the building of Trenholme Junction and now after the build is complete I think its a good time to look back at the list of requirements and see if they have fulfilled my dream of building the ultimate layout.

The overall answer to the question is yes, but not quite.

One thing everybody should understand, whether you are building your first layout or your twentieth you will still be learning. It's quite amazing how you are always thinking about the next layout before you have even finished the one you're working on. I'm no exception.

One major thing I achieved when building this layout was to be able to view the railway from the same perspective as I saw it as a child, at station and rail level. The original idea was to have mini cameras in the trains and allow users to log on via the internet to drive the trains in real time. A great dream, but impractical. The things you would have to set up to do this are enormous, like you would need to be there to re-rail derailed trains, the layout would have to be live all the time, idiots would deliberately crash the trains, the locomotives would wear out, you would have to switch the lights on when it got dark, etc., etc.. 

I wanted to get away from the traditional operating of the railway every time I wanted to see my trains run. Filming the activity fulfilled this requirement. It's a difficult thing to explain but it's almost impossible to imagine the amount of different viewpoints you can get from even a small model when you can get really close up. The use of the high definition mini cameras is by far the most fascinating aspect of modelling I have discovered in the building of the layout. The cameras fit into the smallest places where normally its impossible to get your eye into, and best of all, you can record the results for all time. I consider the traditional 'helicopter' view of the layout the least attractive angle to view the layout from and only use it when filming now. 

Control

The traditional layout has a control panel of some sorts where the operator sits and operates the railway from a position that in reality, is in a helicopter. This position means that you never see your railway other than from a totally unnatural perspective. 
The first control system I bought for this layout was ZTC. I loved the the main and slave controllers and even had a hand held slave, but, all they did was give me three helicopter positions to operate from, as in the traditional model. It seemed if I wanted another place to operate from, I had to buy another helicopter. The ZTC also proved to be a nightmare on such a large layout. I had six power boosters and three controllers and there was faults galore. I often went into the train shed to run some trains and spent the whole time resetting chips and wondering why trains took off and smashed into each other for no apparent reason.

The ZTC syatem was swept away and replaced with the brilliant ESU Ecos controller and Radio Control Slave. In an instant these two pieces of kit replaced all the ZTC bits and pieces and worked perfectly first time and have since. The radio controller allows me to operate every part of the layout and as close as I wish. It's so good it will operate the trains when standing in the field outside!

This is the first layout I built using DCC control and a I have to admit being nervous as most people are when taking this step. There is an expense and choosing the right system may seem a daunting task, but I would urge anybody considering building a new layout to take the time to at least make preparations for DCC even if you don't intend to take the step straight away. As I already mentioned in my first article any other control and wiring systems mean that as your layout grows, you will spend more time wiring, fault finding and fixing it than you will operating your railway. 

Locomotives

During the time the layout was under construction, locomotives with sound appeared on the scene and there are several on the layout. I have mixed feelings about these. The sound can be rather irritating when left on for a period of time. I think that maybe the painting 'The Scream' was probably based on the result of a two hour running session with a Bachmann Class 20 with the sound on. If you put more than one locomotive's sound on at the same time it can degenerate into the white noise you get when your FM radio station is out of tune. The sound only really works well when the track and the wheels of the locomotive are kept meticulously clean. On saying that, I have made several films with sound and they do work very well and certainly won't put me off buying more.  

Buildings and Trackside

As somebody who doesn't have a great deal of patience when it comes to constructing buildings I am very happy with the 'ready to plant' structures around the layout. The variety of buildings and line side features available gives the components to build endless and unique combinations. The signalling remains an outstanding omission to the finished article which is covered elsewhere in this blog.

Operation

Operating the layout is a joy. The time spent bonding all the rails to the DCC bus was time very well spent. The combination of this and the ESU controller are a real success. To give an idea of how DCC is the real winner, I recently filmed a DMU cab ride (see below) which crosses 33 points and crossings and the entire journey was controlled by only two wires and not a single switch, quite amazing really......

   

The  layout was designed to recreate the operations on 1960's British Railways. Crucial to the success of every layout is to hold interest and the more operations the more the interest, avoiding the boredom and monotony trap. This is a vital component in the planning process. 

Filming the layout gives some really unexpected bonuses. When its cold outside and I'm next to the fire, or I need a fix when I'm waiting for an appointment, when I am a doddering old fool who can't run the layout any more, I can still enjoy my railway by logging onto the internet. So can anybody else.

The Next Layout

Planning the next layout is already at an advanced stage. Trenholme Junction was built in the traditional manner with a view to filming. Both helicopter views and filming can be accommodated. The next layout will not be a traditional layout but a series of sets which can be assembled in different orders and only exist for films to be made, making a continuous output of films capturing inexhaustible aspects of operations which are not possible on a traditional fixed layout.    

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway – Matters Arising 4

Continuing to discuss the points brought up on the video comments on the YouTube channel, I have expanded the explanations in this blog because it is not always possible to adequately answer the questions in the  limited comments space.

Long Trains

One of the design requirements for Trenholme Junction was 'the trains must be of prototypical length'.

Quite a short sentence, but hidden in there are quite a few other considerations to take into account. 

The  recent (last 10 years) crop of super quality locomotives has meant that we can now run trains of a length we could only dream about before that. I'm talking here about locomotives in the UK, in America their market has had this capability for a long time. The American influence on this section of the hobby is very good for us here in the UK. 

The videos below show a couple of examples of long trains. To see the Channel, the link is at the bottom of this page.

Tests on my layout have have been truly amazing, one Hornby Stanier 2-8-0 locomotive pulled ninety Bachmann mineral wagons. You only have to marvel at this when you grip the coupling on the first wagon and pull it yourself, the weight involved is really surprising.

Track

'....it amazes me the amount of wagons and or coaches propelled over double crossovers with no derailments....' is a quotation from a recent video comment.

There are quite a few things in response to this, one is of course the boring but absolutely vital subject of track laying. You really need to make sure that the points are laid absolutely flat and the approach tracks are not under any stress. Stress, where the connected tracks are not in line will distort the turnout and unpredictable running will be the result. Neglect in this area may not be too much of a problem if you run very short trains, but once you multiply the numbers by ten or fifteen the problems are amplified accordingly.

The second and equally important point on the subject of track laying is the selection of the type of points (switches) you use. On Trenholme Junction two sizes of points were selected. Large and Medium. Ideally, Large radius points should be used wherever possible, but practical considerations forces compromises. Most of the points on the passenger carrying main lines and the major junctions all use large radius components. All the remaining points are medium radius. I dwell on this subject of the size of the points I used because smooth running, if you wish to perform complicated movements with lots of rolling stock, is determined by this selection.

On small layouts it is usual to use setrack components because the space available. These components perform well on a limited space layout, but the diverging track geometry is pretty severe and are not affected by long trains.

Couplings

There are many different sizes and types of couplings in OO gauge but most are variations on Triang's 'Tension Lock'. Its a good thing that most manufacturers rolling stock can be easily coupled together but on long trains they can and do cause problems. On Trenholme Junction the long mineral trains of fifty or so wagons are all Bachmann and they run very well, with one point to note. It is important to make sure the couplings have hooks on both wagons especially if the wagon is at the front of the train. If the hook is missing from one wagon, it will twist as it runs and is prone to derailment.Trains of mixed manufacturers' couplings are a little more unpredictable, generally I find probably ninety percent are fine but the longer the train the more prone to misbehaviour where mixed types are at the front of the train.

Speed

The final part in this piece is to deal with speed. It is surprising how many layouts I look at and have to cringe at the speed the trains travel around the layouts. Its not easy to get the speed right but you can make some rough comparisons by sitting next to a real railway and just count how many seconds it takes a train to pass you by. Take a note of the number of vehicles in the train and then do they same thing on your model with a similar length train. Most surprising.

The already mentioned super locomotives together with DCC control make speed control an easy thing to achieve.

To say there are no derailments on my layout is of course untrue but aren't many, most are caused by trying to run over points set against the train or by a fault which shuts the power off to the track abruptly, fast moving trains and those on curves being particularly vulnerable.

In conclusion, correct track selection, track laying and appropriate speed will allow the model railway to behave in the same way as the prototype.

To view the channel, follow the link below
http://www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway – Matters Arising 3

Amongst the popular questions asked about the layout, probably the most common is about wheel and track cleaning. This week there has been an exchange in the video comments of the video above. Further information to the exchanges are below, mainly for the benefit of beginners.

If you don't want to watch the video, link is directly to comments
www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=wc2wvnhAhvU

Wheel Cleaning

One question, is asked about the types different items, the photograph below is of what I use on Trenholme Junction.

The top item is the Triang Triang/Hornby original Loco Wheel Cleaning brush which you clip the wires to the track and place the brush across the driving wheels. The wheels spin and the wire strands very effectively remove even  the most stubborn dirt. This item ceased production in the 1970's but can still be found at swapmeets and ebay.

The Peco PL-40 two piece brush and scraper set is to the right and works in a similar way to the Triang brush. This item is currently in production. The brush part of this set is very good but I find the scraper part to be pretty useless. I bought a second set and use the two brushes together. Cleaning one wheel at a time is very frustrating.
The down side of both the above items is they don't clean wheels other than the powered ones.

Track Cleaning

There has been a few attempts over the years from various manufacturers to automate track cleaning with probably little success. All products seem to go out of production without any rave reviews and all seem to rely on the principle that expensive consumables will be bought each time the track needs cleaning. I have to say I haven't tried the Dapol offering so would exclude any opinions on this product. If anybody has tried this product let me know, I would be interested in their experiences.

The third item in the photograph above is the Rail Cleaner. This item is a simple rubber block with abrasive particles. In my opinion this is the most effective way of cleaning the track. All track rubbers leave some residual bits on the track especially around the points and I find the best thing to do after using the rubber is to use a small dry paint brush and simply brush the track to remove the particles from the running surfaces. One of my subscribers has suggested using a vacuum cleaner to remove particles, I do do this infrequently, I find the paint brush method to be adequate.

Prevention is better than cure and its worth pointing out and emphasising the two very important points I raised in the video exchange about not using locomotives with  traction tyres and to use metal wheeled rolling stock. The two measures do not eliminate track cleaning but do seriously reduce the need for it.

If you are planning a new layout, track cleaning is not an optional extra but is a major part of the planning process. If you measure from you armpit to the middle of the palm of your hand, this is the maximum reach you have. You must consider being able to reach ALL the track on your layout. On Trenholme Junction around 98% of the track can be reached standing on the floor. The other 2% I have to use a small pair of steps. Don't forget that if your layout is to be against the wall, the maximum reach will be half of the reach if you can access it from both sides.
However clean your railway room is, sooner or later, you will have to clean the track.

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway – Matters Arising 2

Signalling the layout.

In respect to the question of the signalling on the layout. I do intend to signal the layout and as 48firefox points out this will be a mammoth task. Not only to design the signals required, but also to source decent models which are typical of the North East area. I have tried to find a signal man to help me with the design, but most run away once the size of the task becomes apparent.  

Around the time frame of the layout there was a mixture of both semaphore and colour lights and I would see as the ideal representation. I know there are kits which will fit the bill, I don't relish the thought of making up hundreds of fiddly kits, with bits that fall of every time you breathe near them.

There is a market for a manufacturer to really get to grips with this poorly represented part of the market and produce some decent 'ready to plant' working signals at a reasonable price. There needs to be a range which is not just the home and distant single poles, but gantries, junctions and ground signals as well.

A few years ago I started to collect colour light kits from the Eckon range and simply could not find anywhere near the quantities I needed, and after a dealer told me they were only produced in small numbers  I gave up.

DCC operation obviously allows the interlocking with the points and this is a desirable installation requirement.  

North East model railway – Matters Arising 1

There’s been several comments made about the use of foam rubber underlay on the layout, mostly because it is not liked. An explanation of why I used it is probably useful.

I wanted to make sure I would be able to acoustically completely disconnect the sound of the trains from the baseboard. Previous layouts I have built have sounded deafening when several trains are run at once. This layout was built with the intention of filming and therefore the sound of the trains running is of equal importance as the visual impact.

The baseboards are fibre insulation boards (notice board material) mounted on open frame 12” squares (300mm). My original intention was to mount the track directly to the insulation board, but after laying some track and testing it, the sound deadening was not acceptable. Even adding another layer of insulation board didn’t improve matters.

Another consideration in the track laying equation is the track itself. The track rails are nickel silver. The main straight is around fifty feet long (15 metres) and over that distance quite a lot of expansion and contraction takes place.

The traditionalists run with the idea of mounting the track on maybe cork and then gluing the ballast to the track with PVA glue. This bonds track and baseboard together so tightly it defeats the very effect it seeks to avoid. This method does not allow for sufficient expansion and contraction of the rails on all but the smallest layout. A side issue with this method is the lack of any way of replacing damaged pieces of track in the future without the use of a hammer and chisel or a road drill.

The foam rubber method is an ideal solution to the sound deadening, expansion and contraction and maintenance issues.

The sound deadening qualities are excellent.

All the track work is laid on Peco underlay using their thin pins, lightly pushed into the insulation board. As the track expands and contracts the insulation board has enough ‘give’ to allow the movement required.

To take away the harsh edges of the underlay the gaps between the tracks and at the edges are infilled with loose granite chippings. The word ‘loose’ is key here, allowing movement, and, when maintenance is required the loose infill can easily be swept up and replaced afterwards. Sometimes, there is the odd derailment from the loose infill getting onto the tracks but is a minor irritation.

I’m sure there will be those of you who say you should leave gaps between the rails so you don’t get the expansion. Those who say that are theorists. I can’t imagine anybody who has a temperature controlled environment where the entire layout could be constructed in one go and thus avoid this problem.

I tried to lay the track during the summer months leaving gaps on all the pieces, the wide ranges of temperatures (especially in front of windows) can still thwart the most carefully laid track.

If you play the video below, pay attention to the sound the wheels make, this is the effect I wished for. 

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar

North East model railway - Origins

North East model railway

Trenholme Junction

This article is an addendum to the YouTube channel hosting several films which were made on the layout and serves to inform those who continually ask questions about its origins. 

The layout has two levels, one with a passenger bias including a station with the same capacity as Darlington, the other level off to the Durham coalfields which fed the steelworks in the area.

Based on what you would see around the Middlesbrough area in the 1960's and as witnessed by me as a kid, the layout is all about re-creating the atmosphere of the time.

The layout is 57' * 13' inside a purpose built building. There is around 800 yds of track. Scale is OO gauge. Control is DCC.

There are five stations in all, four are sophisticated junctions. Two major Marshalling Yards capable of storing hundreds of wagons are included. There is a Pit, Gas Works, Factory, Fruit Warehouse Wood Yard, Goods Shed - all rail served. 

A feature of the layout is the large junctions which are rarely modelled because of the vast amounts of space these take up. On the lower level note there is a four into two at the bottom of the long incline which represents the junction at Bowesfield Lane (adjacent to the original Stockton Station) where the lines diverge north to the coalfields and south to Eaglescliffe.

Introduction

Trenholme Junction is not the first layout I have built. Something as ambitious as this can’t be built at a first attempt. The layout embodies all the good things which were in the previous five or six layouts and none of the irritations or disasters.

What went wrong in the past

Control

In the past I have tried all manner of combinations of controllers, switch banks and wiring that would easily put the Junction boxes of BT in the shade, even a cut down version of the holy grail of control, ‘Cab Control’. The latter requires around 300 metres of cable for a 6’ * 4’ layout and no matter how many hundreds of hours you spend meticulously planning every possibly train movement and further hundreds wiring it, five minutes after you’ve finished the thing, you discover at least two things you never thought of and it’s impossible to change it at that stage.

To add insult to injury, whichever system you choose to adopt, when you run your first train, the thing stutters and stumbles round the layout, losing power on some sections and only running well when it’s very near the controller.

Locomotives & Rolling Stock

The demise of Hornby Dublo in the sixties saw the end of the quality end of the market, the poor locomotives in both realism and performance which followed probably put more people off the hobby than any other factor. Who wants to buy a locomotive that can’t pull three coaches up an incline? And to add to this the prices were ridiculous.

The same general comments applied to rolling stock as to locomotives.

Buildings and Trackside

In the recent past, almost every layout you could see at every exhibition you could spot at least half a dozen Superquick buildings. Look through any magazine of the time and I bet there isn’t one edition of all the magazines ever produced were there wasn’t at least one of these card kits.

Not everybody can produce good models, even from kits. If you couldn’t  scratch build, there wasn’t any choice. All layouts had an air of looking the same.

All previous layouts I have built have been very sparse on buildings.

Operation

One of the most dispiriting things that can happen after you’ve invested lots of money and vast amounts of time planning and building your layout is to run it and find that its doesn’t have any entertainment value. By entertainment value I mean that the amount of combinations of operation are so restricted that every situation can created and executed in a very short space of time and apart from repeating them again and again, no further combinations are possible. Boredom and monotony soon sets in.

Many layouts are abandoned at this point and some of mine have suffered this fate.

Accommodation

Housing the layout in a reasonably comfortable and very secure place is as important as the layout itself. Many hours shivering in sheds and garages have probably been the demise of as many ventures as the failure described in the paragraph above.  

Specifying the layout

General Considerations

 I wanted to make sure, that if I was to invest a large amount of time and money, the layout could entertain me for more of the time than it took to build. To get the ratio of build to entertain to at least 50 : 50. It took ten years to build and therefore I would aim to get ten years entertainment.

I also wanted to try to try to recover some of the cost of the build by commercial exploitation.

I am a software writer and have been involved in the technology since before the birth of the internet and so wanted to exploit the possibility of using the internet to entertain others. I was in the software business and my original plan was to mount cameras in the trains and allow users on the internet to drive the trains in real time looking out from the cab.

Layout Specific Considerations

The layout is a re-creation of the railway I knew as a child. The idea to build a replica of the place is not practical, the sheer complexity of the trackage would be almost impossible to build in a lifetime. Almost everything would require scratch building. Re-creation is the key word here, to produce the flavour of the time using commercially made components brought together. 

To be able to take positions on the layout and see a train approaching but because it was far enough away it was not possible to recognise what it was until it got closer, as in real life.

A major requirement was the ability to sit and watch the trains going by without intense controller activity and so a tail chaser configuration was a foregone conclusion.  A second and equally important part of this requirement was to have the capability of running point to point operating as well.  A combination of both types of operation were also a must have requirement as well. 

To have more straight sections of track runs than curved and the curves with reasonable radii.

Control requirements to be able to operate several trains simultaneously from one control point. A computer interface path for future use was essential. 

Several stations of all sizes based on typical stations in the area all able to take trains of at least six coaches, the largest station to take mainline trains of up to eighteen.

Two levels, independent, from each other, but interconnected, each level with the capability of fulfilling the overall requirement of the layout in their own right.

The main reasons for the existence of the railway, passengers already mentioned, together with Goods facilities to give a purpose of the trains and to re-create prototypical operations including overlaps for the handling of parcels and perishables also to be catered for.

The rolling stock and all buildings must all be correct for the period.

Trains must be of prototypical length.

The entire model must be modelled in 3D. If you intend to film the layout from the rolling stock, the fronts and backs of everything has to be modelled.

Period

As a child, almost all outings involved a train journey in one way or another. I lived close to the railway in South Bank near Middlesbrough in the North East of England. The time was 1962 when I was nine years old and this is the period. A little leeway in the date places the layout in the period 1960 to the end of steam in 1968. This date range allows the mix of Steam and Diesel locomotives.   

Preparation

I spent a great deal of time reading many books and magazines in order to try to get a good view of the features I wanted to incorporate into the layout.

I am a great fan of the late, great Cyril Freezer (former editor of Railway Modeller in the seventies and eighties). Cyril’s track plan books are invaluable. Each track plan has been carefully worked out to avoid the ‘boredom and monotony ‘ trap mentioned earlier and each of his plans has an explanation to give an idea of the operational possibilities. If you don’t use the plans as drawn, the principles of his thought process can be applied to your own design, taking into account the points he draws to your attention.

I also read hundreds of books, mainly looking at the pictures, again to get the flavour of what the railway at the time.

The Layout

The main layout is a four track main line on both levels. North East practice was to have two sets of up and down lines for both the passenger and goods traffic. From Bowesfield Junction to Warrenby four track operation with goods tracks up and down adjacent to each other and the same for passengers.

The two levels are joined together by an incline which is over 40feet long visible on the layout. This double track incline has a representation of Bowesfield Junction where the four track section split north and south, a four track into two junction rarely modelled because of the amount of space required. (Bowesfield Junction is less than half a mile from the original Stockton Station which still exists). There are two further single track inclines between the two levels hidden in tunnels to create operating interest and flexibility. 

The main station is of the size and layout similar to Darlington Station, with an overall roof and two lots of Bay Platforms. Each of the main platform faces can accommodate two trains.

The other stations are typical types of station layout from around the area. The station near the pit is representative of Battersby Junction on the line between Middlesbrough and Whitby. Trains entering the bay have to reverse back out to continue their journeys.

There is also a Pit, Gas Works, Fruit Warehouse Goods Shed & Private Siding to a Wood Yard, all rail served.

There are two goods Marshalling yards one on each level. The lower yard is the bigger of the two, the upper is the secondary yard to the lower to give the excuse to run inter yard transfers. Both yards have reception and dispatch roads and have loco roads and headhunts’ although the upper yard uses the station road for this purpose.

Track work is Peco Streamline Code 100 on Peco underlay. This arrangement,  with baseboards made with insulating board produce silent running. Ballast is loose filled in between the edges of the foam underlay.

Earlier in this article I mentioned about the poor running qualities of some of the layouts I have built in the past. One thing I was determined to do with this layout was to have super smooth running. As you probably imagine, there is only one control system which could be considered for a project this size. DCC. The perils of DCC failing are much greater than with the traditional resistance controller.

The main reason for control failure on any layout is the method of applying the power to the track and its distribution to all parts of the layout. The train set method of using a power clip wedged under the rail and then relying on the fishplates (rail joiners) to conduct the power is great on Christmas day but is no use at all for a permanent layout. Quite often, the fishplates are different metal from the rails. A chemical reaction can take place which is in effect a resistor to electrical current, the more joints the more the locomotive slows down. The condition is usually made worse by damp conditions.

The DCC system has two parts to the power the locomotive receives. The power part is obvious but more importantly the power part also carries the signal to instruct the locomotive chip which direction and speed to travel. Poor connections may cause the locomotive to ignore commands. Ignoring commands when stationary is annoying but worse is to ignore commands whilst moving a speed. Imagine the calamity of a modern locomotive fitted with sound pulling a train of say ten coaches, ramming the buffers and landing on the floor, maybe £600 of damage.   

I chose Nickel Silver rails throughout and although Peco fishplates are steel base I don’t use them to conduct electricity.

Many modern DCC experts and manufacturers recommend the use of copper tape stuck onto the base board top and wired to the track at every 2 metres or so. I decided to bond every piece of track to the ‘bus’. I did not use copper tape for the bus, instead I use 8mm copper cable sunk into slots cut in to the baseboard with a router. Better, because there is more copper in the cable than the tape, therefore better conductivity AND costs about 10% of the copper tape cost. All track sections were then bonded to the bus cables. The result is super smooth running.   

The layout was originally controlled by ZTC system controllers and power boosters which proved to be very unreliable on a large layout. Recently I have replaced it with the brilliant ESU ECOS controller with a Radio Control Remote Controller. I can walk round the layout controlling the entire layout from whatever position I please, brilliant for shunting in the remote corners of the layout. Suddenly, freed from the controller the whole of the layout takes new interest. Also unexplored as yet, I haven’t had time to find out the wonders of connecting the ESU up to my laptop and the internet.

The arrival of Airfix and Mainline brands emerging in the eighties brought a new level of quality and realism to rolling stock not previously seen. Following the demise of both the aforementioned brands Bachmann carried on the good work. At last we have locomotives which can pull 50 wagons or ten coaches. Deep joy. This was a wake-up call and suddenly we have super rolling stock from Hornby as well of lots of super models to stock my layout. All the rolling stock is ready to run.

Almost the same thing can be said about track side accessories and buildings the buildings which are all ‘ready to plant’ types.

The scenery is mainly from the Woodlands Scenery range

What is going on now

My original plan to mount cameras in the locomotives and let others control the trains through the internet hasn’t come to fruition and probably won’t for me as the layout is in a part of the world where sufficient speed internet is unlikely to be available.  

As a compromise I have recently mounted a mini camera into locomotives and trains and filmed the layout, this perspective shows the original purpose of the layout, to recreate the atmosphere of the time has been fulfilled and this part of the operation gives me as much pleasure as operating the layout in the traditional manner. Sharing with others who appreciate the work is an unexpected bonus. Several films are available to view on the layout’s Channel on YouTube.

The future

This hobby has a real problem. The competition for its continuance is fierce. A large number of distractions conspire to take youngsters away from what was a big fish in a little pond.

The way we live is also playing a big part in what could be the end of the hobby altogether when all the baby boomers have finally died. Except for a few pockets in certain parts of the country most people don’t come into contact with railways any more.

Trenholme Junction, although not originally conceived to address this problem, hopefully has evolved to contribute to try to reverse this position.

I am hoping to re-kindle young people’s interest in the hobby, the videos can be viewed on mobile phones computers and tablets. Feedback from those youngsters who have seen them is generally good.

My son has recently been telling me about the ‘raspberry pi’ which is a full blown computer, the size of a credit card, costs twenty pounds and fits into a wagon, now I wonder what I could do with that......... 

To view the channel, follow the link below

www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar