Wickersley Layout

Post-Exhibition Update - Sheffield MRS 2010

2010-10-10T22:20:00.001+01:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of operating "Wickersley" at the annual Sheffield Model Railway Society exhibition in Darnall, Sheffield. Since its exhibition debut at SMRS 2008 many things have been changed, added to and improved and this did not go unnoticed with several kind comments from those who had seen it two years ago. You can find more pictures of Wickersley and other layouts at the show by visiting the gallery.

It was a great day out, thanks in no small part to the SMRS team and I would like to thank Colin and Neil Lonley for their assistance in transporting and helping to operate the layout.

Of course, layouts are seldom "complete" and before the layout sees its next outing there are several minor changes I would like to make, such as installing lighting on the platforms and within the buildings and constructing a new fiddleyard - the traverser is great but being only able to move across a single track is too restrictive. The only other major change is decreasing the height of the layout. It currently stands at 112cm tall (around 3ft 8in). While this is great for an average height adult standing at the front, it's not so great for a kid. Plus, I'm not an average height adult and with the extra 12" of backscene I'm on tip toes to operate from the back - where the point rods are. With that in mind I'm going to decrease the overall height of the layout by 12cm. I could go on with discussing the best heights and factors one should take into account and so forth... but that should be another post.

Exhibition Invitations

If you would like to invite Wickersley to an exhibition please feel to contact me by emailing me with details of your show.

Picture Update

2009-12-07T09:39:00.004Z

Here are some pictures of the layout that were taken a couple of months ago. Since these pictures were taken more posters have been added and the figures shown have been painted.

Building a traverser-type Fiddleyard

2009-03-03T21:33:00.005Z

My existing fiddleyard consisted of wooden pse frame 3ft x 15in with a 9mm MDF top. Track was laid loose on top, connecting to the scenic section by means of fish plates. After much deliberation I decided to replace this with a traverser style fiddleyard.

Preparation
To do this I acquired the following:

2x drawer runners
12mm 5-ply, cut into 3 pieces - one for the entry to the yard, one for the actual traverser and another piece for the end to act as a stop and guide
2x lenghts of 2x1 PSE timber.

Total Cost of the above was approximately £5 - the drawer runners accounting for most of that.

The MDF top to the existing board was unscrewed and carefully prised off.

Stage 1: The Structure

The first task was to mount the drawer runners. These were mounted on the lengths of timber, the ends of which were screwed to the frame. In order to let the runners extend two slots had to be cut into the frame, to the same depth as the height of the runners. The three top pieces were then screwed on top - the two end pieces directly to the frame and the main piece to the runners, which was then slotted into place like a drawer.

Stage 2: The Track

The track connecting the traverser and the scenic section consists of 3 sections of Hornby standard straight track (R601) , copper clad sheet cut into strips (available from Maplins, other electricals shops and model supplies shops) and some work with a soldering iron. The track was laid in place and the sleepers nearest the join removed. Copper clad strip was then glued in place with UHU adhesive and pinned down. The track was relaid and pinned down, and then soldered to the copper clad strip. Once firmly in place the track over the join was cut using a cutting disk in a drill - this method helps to ensure the ends meet up when the boards are put back together. The track over the traverser board was also trimmed to length.

The first section, cut to length and awaiting soldering.

The first piece has now been soldered and cut at the baseboard join. The second piece has been laid in place.

The second piece in situ, cut to length and awaiting soldering.

The third and final section on the far side of the board has also been installed and all bits have been soldered awaiting the addition of wiring.

Stage 3: The Electrics

Since the layout is DCC installing the electrics involved gluing two plastic connector strips to the underside of the fiddle yard, one on the moving board and the other on the stationary section. Into each of these boxes I fed wires from all the tracks on their respective sections and then connected the two sections together with only two pieces of wire. Finally I added a plug-able connection from the traverser board to the main scenic section, into which the controller connects.

Backscene

2008-12-28T17:23:00.003Z

The layout now boasts a full length backscene, that runs from each end of the scenic area, following the retaining wall. It is constructed from 5mm plywood, which is screwed directly to outside of the frame after painting a suitable sky blue. When supplies are renewed at my local model shop Peco backscene papers will be aquired, the buildings cut out and layered and glued on the backscene to create an industrial townscape. A colliery will also be portrayed at the far right of the layout. The backscene stands 30cm tall above the baseboards.

The total cost so far of this simple yet effective addition was £2.58 for the wood and paint, as the plywood was sourced from (rather large) offcuts at a local hardware store.

Plans for the future

2008-11-13T13:41:00.000Z

Structural

Add a full length backscene to the scenic area, to the height of the existing divide between scenic area and fiddleyard
Add canopy and lights to layout scenic area
Rebuild fiddleyard with either a traversor, 3 or 4-road fiddleyard or cassettes or a combination of any of the three. I shall have to build a model of this first and ask on forums/club for advice.

Cosmetic

Replace existing signalbox kit with either a better kit, resin or scratchbuilt model. (pref. GCR Type 5 or one based on Hotchley Hill LNER brick/concrete type)
Improve central platform - replace with one of wooden construction instead of card? Should be more durable certainly.
Install lighting in/on buildings
Add more "clutter" such as pallets and oil drums and weathering.
Add more signs to walls, posts and lamps
Various repairs to signals and other items

Electronic/Controls

I'm happy with the current control system for now, though long term goal is to aquire a NCE PowerCab with accessory decoder support.
Since ZTC Controls Ltd has ceased trading I won't be expanding the number of point motors in use.
The wiring underneath requires a little tidying up and I'll be adding new feeds to problem areas

Rolling Stock

Retire Hornby "Jinty" in favour of Bachmann version or a different class of loco.
Add lamps, irons and crews where apprpriate
Renumber and apply weathering to rollingstock and locomotives to reflect stock familiar to South Yorkshire.

Post-Exhibtion Update

2008-11-10T22:13:00.007Z

Well the exhibition is long over and the layout is currently still disassembled in the spare room. I learnt a couple of lessons from it, the most obvious being the need for a bigger or more organised fiddle yard. While having the capacity it's a bit cumbersome to manually transfer engines and stock. I've decided that before the next exhibition (whenever that is) I'll rebuild the fiddleyard with either a sectorplate-type fiddleyard as in C J Freezer's original design or cassettes or a combination of the two, with a sector-plate for the two main lines and a cassette for the loco siding.

I'll be making a full post about the improvements that are going to be happening to Wickersley over the coming months later this week. However any development, purchases, etc. are on hold until after Christmas, giving my wallet and I a chance to catch up on other things. In the meantime here are some pictures of the layout just prior to completion and it's first appearance:

Exhibition Debut

2008-10-08T18:15:00.000+01:00

This Saturday "Wickersley" makes it's debut on the exhibition circuit in a very much nearly completed form. Signals (non-working) have been installed, point motors wired in and tested and ballasting is done, apart from a couple of minor patches where it hasn't stuck. Ten minutes with a bit of PVA glue should see to that. The control panel has also been completed and extra power feeds have been soldered to the track for improved reliability.

Of course there are a few things that remain to be done post-exhibition namely:

Rebuild fiddleyard with a proper cassette or sector plate arrangement
Tidy up wiring underneath the layout
Install a full-length backscene with integrated lighting
Add more people, barrels, pallets and other things around the layout to bring it more to life.

That's all for now, I'll try to get some pictures of the layout, both before and during the show and post them here.

News

2008-09-01T15:32:00.003+01:00

New Home
June saw the layout move from the Sheffield MRS clubroom to it's new location in the spare room of my new house. Work then paused for a month or so while I completed my University studies and got settled in at work. However I have now completed most of the scenic work and performed a complete electrical test.

Trackwork
Only thing of note is that the point motor on the central y-point has been replaced, with the MkII version of the ZTC DCC 302 point motor. This version is much easier to wire in than it's predessor, with a simpler layout which includes larger and more accessble soldering-pads. The faulty MkI has been consigned to the electronics box and at some point I'll contact ZTC about a possible replacement.

Ballasting
Ballasting is mostly complete with only the pointwork at the front of the layout requiring attention. The ballast has been weathered using an aerosol spray of Railmatch Frame Dirt, since ballast in the 1950s/60s was not the grey granite ballast used today.

Bridgework
This is scenically completed, including the addition of a blue-sky backscene to mask the fiddleyard beyond.

Platforms, Buildings and Platform Furniture
The footbridge (a modified Ratio kit) has been assembled and painted a in a drab and dirty colourscheme, not unusual to footbridges of this era. Scratchbuilding of the ex-GCR Type 5 signalbox has been postponed until after the October exhibition and instead will be using the Scalescenes Signalbox kit as a placeholder in the meantime. The station buildings have been detailed with period signs and posters. Gaslamps have been placed on the platforms too, though these are unpainted - being the Peco Modelscene type. Passengers have been placed strategically around the platforms and a Morris 1000 convetible (an Oxford Diecast product) is parked at the front of the layout with a workman attempting to look under the bonnet. A Hornby Skaledale Police Telephone Box ("Tardis") and public telephone box have also been placed on the layout.

Rolling Stock
I have recently purchased a second-hand Bachmann Ivatt Class 4MT 2-6-0 (for goods and passenger duties) and will shortly be acquiring a 2-car DMU to provide the main passenger service. This takes the current stable to two diesel locomotives, 2 steam locomotives and a DMU. All of which will in time be renumbered and/or weathered to represent locomotives familiar to the Sheffield area in the early 1960s.

Tasklist

2008-05-10T12:57:00.003+01:00

Major Tasks (each require 2 hours or more to complete)
1. Install 3 remaining point motors and associated wiring
2. Complete control panel
3. Ballast those sections of track with point motors installed
4. Scrachbuild Signalbox
5. Install working semaphore signals

Minor Tasks (each require less than 2 hours to complete)
1. Resurface platforms
2. Add scenic ground cover
3. Construct and paint footbridge
4. Add remaining butresses to retaining wall
5. Paint retaining walls
6. Complete cosmetic additions to overbridge
7. Add scenic break (sky above bridge) to fiddleyard end
8. Add layout name totem to fiddleyard fascia
9. Install non-working signals
10. Add people and platform accessories.

News

2008-05-09T11:25:00.004+01:00

Point Control
There are 9 turnouts/points/switches on the scenic section of my layout. Those 4 towards the rear are controlled by wire-in-tube, however the 5 on the far side of the layout to the operator are/will be controlled via ZTC 206 DCC Point Motors. So far only two have been installed as ZTC have run out of stock but hopefully the remaining three will arrive soon.

These motors take their power directly from the track, with control being via the DCC handset. However the controller I am using (Bachmann EZ Command) does not have DCC accessory control capability. Fortunately these point motors allow for a manual overide to be installed, usually a push button, which causes the point blades to change position without the need of the dcc controller. On my layout these manual control takes the form of a Peco Passing Contact Switch, which when moved slowly provides a suitable overide control. This is mounted in the Peco leverframe which is mounted on my "control panel". More on that later.

Bridge Work
The bridge are largely complete now, with only the rear walls and coping stones to be added followed by suitable repaint for some of the plastic areas. The bridge was constructed from the following:

Wills Single-Track Road-Overbridge (salvaged from previous layout)
Peco Plate Girder Sides
Hardboard, with pine pse offcuts for supports
Scalescenes Bridge Abutments Kit (dark brown brick variant)
Scrap pieces of brick-card from the Metcalfe plaform kit to make up the walls at the top fo the bridge.

The bridge has a small piece of 9mm track running across the top, representing a disused internal colliery line, which theoretically runs down to a canal for loading barges.

Buildings
There are currently three major structures on my layout. The first is the station building, the MS&LR pattern station as made by Metcalfe Models, which is a close enough representation of smaller stations in the Sheffield area. This was kindly built for me by Kieth, of the Sheffield MRS.

The second structure is the signal box. This is currently a Scalescenes kit, which came free with an early issue of Hornby Magazine. I enjoyed building this kit, of a fairly generic brickbased 'box and this is currently acting as a "placeholder" on the layout. In time I plan to replace this with a scratchbuilt model of a small GCR Type 5 signal box that is more typical of the South Yorkshire Joint Railway. Many thanks to the members of the Great Central Railway Society email group for assisting me with plans for both the signal box and other equipment.

The final structure is a small workshop/store, represented by the Skaledale Gasworks boilerhouse, produced by Hornby. I purchased this secondhand for £4.99 from a local model shop and I think it fits this role perfectly.

The next structure I plan to add is a footbridge. I have determined that the R076 Footbridge produced by Hornby, suitably repainted and modified will be suitable to fulfil both this role, and as an access point to the station from the road level of the retaining wall.

Platforms
These are built from Metcalfe Brickplatform kits. I have just finished building the central platforms and will in time resurface of the platforms with either textured paint or wetdry paper to give a more realistic effect than the printed tarmac effect card provided in the kit.

Ballasting
I have started the process of ballasting on the largest of the two scenery boards (the small end section being complete) but have so far only ballasted between the tracks, but not between the rails. This is so I can still lift the points and track sections if necessary when I fit the three remaining point motors.

Of course not all sections are requiring point motors (as most of the points are wire-in-tube operated) so these will be fully ballasted soon.

I discovered this method of ballasting at http://www.scenicmodelrailways.com/modellingtips.html

Other Scenery
In addition to ballast I have been busy deploying dark brown scatter material to act as a soil base layer, with varying shades of green scatter on top to represent undergrowth. This will be completed once the rest of the ballasting in finished.

Fascia
I have painted the fascia of the fiddleyard and the scenic area of the layout a nice shade of Navy Blue gloss, which is a reasonable approximation in my view to "Easter Region blue". This makes the layout look overall less tatty and more "complete".

I have plenty of pictures of the layout still to upload so be sure to check back soon!

Point Control

2008-03-19T23:08:00.002Z

Best laid plans of mice and men...

When I initially planned the layout it was envisioned that it would spend most of its life at home, stood against a helpful wall, controlled from the front and with all points controlled by hand (pointwork consists of Peco Setrack Code 100). Therefore when the baseboards were designed and built and track laid no account was made for possible installation of pointwork controls of either a wire-in-tube or motorised nature.

...do often go awry.

As it turned out a couple of months later (October 2007) I was asked by the Chairman of my local model railway society if I could get the layout completed in time to appear at the next club exhibition (i.e. by August 2008). So then the ideas had to be revised a little: The layout would be controlled from the rear and some form of control system would be required in order to come to some semblance of exhibition standard. I decided therefore, after some research here and there, to install wire-in-tube control to the rear-most set of points (all installed now) and a more elaborate design involving controlling the points using stifwire connecting the tiebars of the pointwork and a stiffpiece of rod via an electrical slide switch (see First Steps in Railway Modelling, C.J. Freezer) for those points in the middle and far side of the layout. In fact last Thursday saw me trying to install the first of these with some difficulty...

Going Digital?

However at the 2008 Nottingham East Midlands Model Raiway Exhibition last weekend I stumbled across the ZTC Controls stand and saw a demonstration of a DCC Point Motor (ZTC 302 Point Motor). This is essentially a solenoid pointmotor with a built-in DCC accessory decoder and which takes power and commands directly from the track. Once you've attached it to the base of your points and soldered the little tabs to the side of the rails no more wiring is necessary unless you have Electrofrog points which requires a single extra wire from the motor to the track to change the frog polarity when needed. If like me however your current DCC controller lacks the ability to control accessories you can wire in a simple push-button manual overide to control the settings. At £12.95 these come a couple of pounds cheaper than getting separate point motors and decoders. After consulting with a fellow club member who was also at the show and who is my go-to-guy for DCC tips (He said that as I was building a DCC layout it would be a waste of potential to use just wire-in-tube control) I went to purchase one or two for my trial on my layout only to discover that the guy had sold out of the units that morning as soon as he opened. Apparently some guy came up and bought 20(!) of the 25 he had brought with him.

Not to worry though. When my next student loan arrives I think I'll set asside £30 to buy them online and have them posted to me.

Acknowledgements

2008-03-01T22:56:00.002Z

The author would like to thank the following people, groups and organisations for their assistance with both the background research, provision of supplies, teaching of skills and other contributions to my layout building efforts.

The Sheffield Model Railway Society, of which I have been a member since September 2007.
The Leicester Model Railway Society, of which I was briefly a member before moving to Sheffield.
John of ACME Model Railways, Sileby.
The staff of TAGS Modelshop, Sheffield.
The members of the Great Central Historical Society and Great Central Railway email groups.
My loving fiance and my understanding housemates for tolerating my railway modelling clutter.

Building The Signalbox

2008-03-01T20:14:00.003Z

I intend to scratchbuild a Great Central Railway Type 5 signalbox, of the smaller 16 feet wide by 12 feet deep design. This is the type of 'box widely used on the South Yorkshire Joint line as the GCR provided the signalling equipment when the line was built in the mid-1900's. Even when the LNER opened the line to Firbeck and Haworth colliery in 1929 they decided to use this design. This makes a box of this style far more plausible to use on the layout than any of the kits available on the market currently.

This section will be expanded when construction on the box begins and I will provide an illustrated guide to it's construction.

1. Design Drawings
I am indebted to Shaun Sanders of the GCR Signalling and Telegraph department for providing drawings of the larger Type 5 'box as at Ollerton Colliery (22feet x 12feet) and the smaller Type 5 that I am using for Wickersley. Sadly I cannot republish them here as they are currently not in the public domain.

2. Card Mock-Up
The drawings were however not to 4mm:1ft scale (or 1/76th full size) so after a quick bit of math and the use of Paint.NET imaging software I managed to resize the image and printed off two copies (the drawing I was using had only the front and left elevations). I then affixed the drawings to some card and cut out the elevations carefully with a craft knife. I stuck the sides together with masking tape and I was left with a reasonable approximation to how the signalbox would look. When I placed it on the layout during the last building session it confirmed my idea that it was just the right size.

3. Materials & Planning
The next stage of course is to figure out how I will build the 'box and the materials required. I'm currently expecting a copy of the January 2008 Railway Modeller which featured an article about scratchbuilding a GCR box, although one of a pre-1900 design (So it should really be a MS&LR box) that was almost certainly not used on the line I want to depict.

This post will be updated with pictures and a step-by-step guide as to how I built the signalbox.

The Thursday Update

2008-02-29T00:14:00.004Z

Hello. Tonight I've finished building the base-structure of the bridge, made from hardboard and offcuts of softwood and have also completed the fascia of the central board. The main structure of the layout is now largely complete, with only a small patch of hardboard needing to be added to the far left of the layout to complete the fascia.

Next week I plan to use expanded polystyrene offcuts to fill any gaps in the bridge structure and also add the front-edge wire terminals. Since these are relatively minor tasks I plan to spend the rest of the night having a running session. Once everything has been tested, only the rest of the point controls need to be added before the scenic work can begin in earnest. Next Thursday can't come soon enough!

Gallery now online.

2008-02-25T14:12:00.003Z

I've added some new pictures of the layout to the gallery, showing the layout as it was when fully erected on 21st February 2008.

Layout Update - Facia

2008-02-23T21:39:00.004Z

Since my last update I've done lots of scenic work on board 1 (that's the first two feet of the station area) including finishing the retaining wall (minus mortar - to be done later) , ballasting the track, painting the 'concrete' setts and adding various scatter materials. I also did further work on the platforms. I'm thinking that once the platform structure is in place that I paint the platform tops with textured paint to give a more realistic effect than tarmac card.

This week I added plywood edging to the fiddleyard. This will eventually be painted a glossy Eastern Region-style shade of blue and provide somewhere to display interesting information about the layout to visitors at exhibitions. Talking of which I went to the Syston MRS' exhibition in Sileby last weekend and had a very good time looking at the layouts and trade stands. I purchased a Dapol Insulfish van (I'm going to replace the couplings with less obtrusive Bachmann ones since the dapol ones have been almost cracked in half by careless fitting(!)) and won a 3-plank LMS open wagon kit from the raffle. I'm looking forward to building that this coming week.

Also done this week was the front facia of the layout, consisting of 10mm ply screwed to pine battons. I'm very pleased with how this has turned out and structurally the layout is almost complete. The remaning key tasks are at this point (apart from scenery) are:

Attach a large piece of hardboard to the end of the layout (either to the fiddleyard or board 2) to provide a backdrop to the overbridge. The bridge itself is going to be a disused rail overbridge home to some rather delapidated colliery wagons.
Add the remaining facia sections at the ends of the scenic section, made in part by more hardboard.
Install Wire-In-Tube control to the remaining four points - located in the middle and at the front (public side) of the layout.

Now that's an interesting point to bring up. Which side am I controlling the layout from? Originally I'd intended the layout to be a stay-at-home affair, controlled by a controller plugged into the front. Now that I'm intending to bring the layout onto the exhibition circuit I've decided to control the layout from the rear as this looks better in my opinion not least because the current controller (a Bachmann EZ Command type) is rather large. This means I'm going to add control sockets at the front of the layout when at home or in the clubroom as the layout will probably but stuck up against a wall and some at the rear when exhibiting. I've aquired a neat little shelf which I'm going to get some hooks for. This will attach to the rear of the frame and act as a neat rest for my controller and my movement cards too.

I'll post pictures of the layout later this weekend.

New Year, New progress update

2008-01-22T17:54:00.000Z

Since the last update I've done the following:

the railsides have been fully weathered (using Railmatch Sleeper Grime aerosol spray),
the trackwork has been fully electrically tested and wire-in-tube point control installed for the rear engine stabling siding, the point controlling access to platforms 1 and 2 from the loco-coach yard, and on the two points at the ends of platforms one and two that control access to the main passenger line. The rods are operated from the rear of the layout but are still operable by hand. Eventually I might build a proper level frame, maybe from the GEM Mercontrol system since this would be more aethetically pleasing for the operator at least!
a bridge has been installed at the end of the layout, built from hardboard and small sections of balsa and pine pse.
I've constructed both the Scalescenes BR Provender Store and the Signalbox kits for use on the layout. These were quick and easy to build and provided me with something to do in between club sessions.

I plan to install further wire-in-tube control for the rest of the pointwork, but this time running under the baseboard to operate the points on the far side of the layout. This saves having to cut up cork or disturb trackwork. For the next couple of weeks however I plan to finish the basic scenic work in the 2ft station extension section:

Build the retaining walls from balsa, covered with Wills plastic bricksheets either directly or mounted on card first
Install platform sections and secure with PVA.
Lightly ballast, using the method detailed at Scenic Model Railways. I think I'll go for a grey ballast, suitably weathered at the bufferstops of platform two to represent standing locomotives.

Hopefully I'll have this section completed by the end of february, with only the platform buildings to be done. This will be quite an acheivement - an extra incentive to complete the layout by Easter perhaps?

Here are some pictures of the layout as it was on completion of the track weathering a week before Christmas. Note the card mockup of the bridge.

From under the bridge, looking 'west' towards the Station.

From the station end, looking towards the bridge (east).

News: Update

2007-11-21T16:56:00.000Z

Over the past couple of weeks the layout has advanced greatly. The boards have been painted with black poster paint (from the Early Learning Centre in Sheffield) so that when it's balasted no light mdf will show through in cracks. Rail-sides in the station area are painted, with the rest due for similar treatment this week. The station itself is under construction, built from the Brick-style Metcalfe card platform kit. I'm hoping to finish that tomorrow before going to the club to install it. Additionally I have to widen th existing island platform sections because they are around 5mm too narrow - leaving too much of a gap on one side. I plan to remedy this by cutting down the centre and gluing a piece of card underneath to the two halves before filling in the resulting gap with spare offcuts.

I've also made a start on building retaining walls, using the coping stones supplied in the Metcalfe kit. These will be finished once I've completed painting the railsides, installing the rest of the platfor Then I have to build a facia for the front of the layout and then a scenic break. I then envision after a couple of weeks running and testing, adjusting random things, etc. that I might start ballasting. By then we should be into the new year.

Oh, the deadline for completing the layout is August 2008 since it needs to be ready for the Sheffield MRS 2008 exhibition in October.

Update: Wiring & Testing

2007-10-21T23:58:00.000+01:00

The last couple of weeks have seen the tracklaying and wiring completed, with the layout being tested on both DC and DCC (Digital Command Control).

This week I plan to:
1. Carve the cork track underlay to provide clearance for the platforms to be installed.
2. Secure the formers for the retaining walls.
3. Start contruction work on the bridge formers.

The week after I hope to start installing the retaining walls and the platforms. That's about all for now. I'll let you know how I get on later this week on Friday

Model Railway Exhibition

2007-10-11T08:52:00.000+01:00

Sheffield Model Railway Society

Model Railway Exhibition
Saturday October 13th, 2007
at DAVY UNITED SOCIAL CLUB
10:00AM TO 5:00PM

Children very welcome-operate the Thomas layout.
Layouts of different gauges.
Free Car Parking.
Refreshments, Bar and Lounge.
Disabled access via lift, help always available.
Admission: Adults £2.50, Children £1
Let us help you with your layout. Advice always on hand.

We look forward to seeing you

Venue situated on Prince of Wales Road between Darnall and Parkway.
(Parkway link to M1 and City) Sheffield Bus Services No7 and No1 from Meadowhall pass the venue.

Sheffield Model Railway Society,
Tel: 01709 555578

Update: Wiring

2007-10-04T22:26:00.000+01:00

Tonight I was fortunate enough to complete the wiring for the layout (for now!) I installed two banana plug sockets to the front right corner of the main scenic section, adjacent to the fiddleyard entrance. This would be the operators normal position.

Next week I'm intending to take down my Bachmann E-Z Command controller as well as my Class 37 'test-loco' and give it all a thorough test - after a quick go-over with a multi-meter of course(!).

Over the coming week I'll also start sourcing and building the curtain-wall formers for affixing to the rear and sides of the layout. I don't have anything planned for Tuesday so I'll do that job then - ready to be fitted on Thursday at the club.

That's all the news for now. Bye!

Trackplan

2007-10-04T12:47:00.002+01:00

The following plan shows the track layout for the 183cm (6ft) scenic portion of the Wickersley layout. Trains would enter from the fiddleyard (not shown) on the far right.

The uppermost entry line is a bidirectional line to the supposed engine shed and carriage sidings. The middle line is a bidirectional line conveying passenger traffic . The line below that leads to the freight yard is used mainly for light engine movements and parcels traffic.

The layout now differs from this simple diagram in that a connecting piece of platform bridges the two platforms on the far left, the footbridge moving to the far ends of the platforms and that the road overbridge is little more than a footpath.

Update: Wiring and DCC Decoder Installation

2007-09-28T12:40:00.000+01:00

This week saw the completion of the track wiring for the central scenic board, ready to be tested next week. One of the members of the club, Steve, also picked up an NCE D13SR 4-function Decoder and kindly fitted it to my Lima Class 37, thus rendering it ready for testing the layout next week!

The only remaining jobs that need completing before moving on to the scenic part of the build are:

Installing a pair of 'banana' plug sockets to the baseboard frame, allowing the DCC controller of choice to be plugged in. I'll be picking up a couple this weekend from the local electronics store;
Relaying the track for the 0.6m station extension board and reconnecting the wires as they aren't straight enough. Luckily they're only tacked down with double sided tape at the moment.
Thorough test running of course ;)

Once those are complete I'll be fitting 16cm high plywood formers around the ends and rear of the layout and then installing the platforms. I've still to decide on whether these will be constructed from the plastic Peco kits that I've used before or built from cardboard Metcalfe kits.

Welcome to Wickersley

2007-09-25T17:27:00.000+01:00

Wickersley is a small terminus station located at the end of a fictional South Yorkshire branch line within British Railways' Eastern Region. It was my second attempt at building a layout but my first layout for which I had a definite plan, adapting one from Cyril Freezer's '60 Layouts for Small Spaces' book. My aims were to produce a layout representing a fictional line within the South Yorkshire area and that used Peco Code 100 Setrack components to produce a decent layout for home and possible exhibition use.

The layout of Wickersley was originally going to be named Treffield Junction and then later Rilfield - both fictional places. However it was whilst plotting the fictional route on Google Earth that I came across the villages of Wickersley, Dinnington and Wagthorpe that lay on a path from Retford to Mexborough - none of which had ever been served by a railway. Now instead of just being an entirely fictional layout that was 'somewhere in South Yorkshire' the layout gained a bit more authenticity of having a locality that actually existed. Plus Wickersley sounds so much better than Rilfield!

Layout Design

2007-09-25T17:19:00.000+01:00

The design is actually a shortened version of one of the late C J Freezer's city termini layout, SP54 infact. By shortening the scenic area and fiddle yard each by 2 feet I made the layout easier to accommodate at home. Baseboards are constructed from 25x44mm Pine PSE timber, with a 9mm MDF surface. Since I wast intending the layout to be based at home I wasn't too concerned about weight. The legs are to a design presented in the Railway Modelling Explored partwork by Railway Modeller a few years ago.

Trackwork is mostly Peco Setrack Code 100, with some pieces of Code 100 flexi-track added in where necessary. This was to keep cost down primarily since the pointwork is slightly cheaper. The electrics consist of feeder wires off of a single buzz-wire, running the length of the baseboards. Wiring was simplified since I was intending to use the layout solely for DCC, though isolating rail joiners have been fitted here and there as per the original Freezer plan in case I want to modify the wiring in future to cater to DC control too. Points are manually controlled – with wire-in-tube control to be added later. Scenery work has yet to commence.

Wickersley - A Fictional History

2007-09-25T17:15:00.001+01:00

In the late-18^th century a group of local entrepreneurs and mine owners sough to build a new line running from Retford in Nottinghamshire to Mexborough in South Yorkshire to carry coal from the mines to Nottinghamshire factories and finished goods such as cloth in the return direction. The line reached Wickersley from Retford, via Wigthorpe and Dinnington but the extension to Mexborough failed to get the necessary funds. The Retford and Wickersley Railway, as it was known, was later bought out by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. The MS&LR (later the Great Central Railway) in order to gain access to the line without having to go via Retford built a connecting spur from just east of Woodhouse Junction to a point just east of Wickersley– with trains having to reverse there before carrying on to Retford (Central). The line was of course later absorbed with the rest of the GCR into the LNER and later BR's Eastern Region.

Wickersley itself was a fairly constrained station, with freight being dealt further down the line. The station itself facilitated to mostly only passenger traffic and parcel trains. There was a local stopping service between Wickersley and Retford as well as a connecting service from Darnall to Retford calling only at Wickersley, where it reversed. The station also saw the odd diverted service when the line via Worksop was undergoing maintenance. The line survived the Beeching Axe only to be closed in the mid-1970s as the local coal traffic disappeared. It is shown as it would have been in the Autumn/Winter of 1962, when ex-LNER K3 2-6-0s would soon disappear and the Sheffield sheds gained their first English Electic Type 3's (Class 37).

Note: This page is due to be edited with a new 'history' - that Wickersley is a branch of the former South Yorkshire Joint Railway.

Layout Factfile

2007-09-25T16:59:00.001+01:00

Layout Factfile:

Owner: Richard Shaw	Gauge & Scale: 4mm:1ft scale 'OO'	Track: Peco Code 100 'OO'
Builder: Richard Shaw, with assistance of Sheffield Model Railway Society	Length: 9ft (6ft scenic)	Width: 15 inches
Layout Type: Terminus to Fiddle yard
Period: Mid-Late 1962	Prototype: BR Eastern Region
Location: Fictional terminus of the South Yorkshire Joint Railway, (based on layout design by C J Freezer).	Rolling Stock: A detailed Lima Class 37, a Bachmann Class 20 D8000 and a Hornby Ex-LMS 3F 'Jinty' 0-6-0T. All are fitted with DCC decoders.
Singals & Controls: Bachmann E-Z Command DCC.