PORT ELIZABETH MODEL RAILROAD CLUB Newsletter March 2021 #03/2021 Every gauge welcome!
In this issue: Historic Railway Art
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
1/8th 7.25” gauge
HOe Scale
Brakes on trains
PEMRC Calendar
Committee
Mailbox
Marketplace
Model/prototype welding
Thermite welding
Fiddle yards
Staging Yards
Famous Layout
Diorama
Designing a model railway
New York Elevated Railway in 1896
HISTORIC RAIL ART
“The Overland Limited” by Holland Browne The crack train of the Union and Central Pacific Railways – first American transcontinental - thundering through the Rockies From “Railway Wonders of the World’ by F A Talbot
“The engineer’s crowning conquest of the mountains” While other railways toil to lofty heights to overcome the Cascade Mountains, the Grand Trunk Pacific threads this range along the Skeena River, with an absolutely level track. It is the fastest line on the North American continent and the great scenic route of Canada.
“An engine driver's view of the station as he approaches it at night” by Holland Browne – A glimpse of the new Waterloo terminus of the London and South Western Railway ca.1930
Rounding “Agony” point, the sensational loop on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway the most remarkable mountain railway in the world.
DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY, India
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a 2 ft. (610 mm) gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about 88 km (55 mi) long. It climbs from about 100 m (328 ft.) above sea level at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 m (7,218 ft.) at Darjeeling, using six zig zags and five loops to gain altitude. Six diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled service, with daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum – India's highest railway station – and the steam-hauled Red Panda service from Darjeeling to Kurseong. Steam-enthusiast specials are hauled by vintage British-built B-Class steam locomotives. The railway's headquarters are at Kurseong. On 2 December 1999, UNESCO declared the DHR a World Heritage Site. Two more railway lines were later added, and the site became known as one of the mountain railways of India. The Earl of Ronaldshay described a journey on the railway in the early 1920s: “Siliguri is palpably a place of meeting ... The discovery that here the metre gauge system ends and the twofoot gauge of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway begins, confirms what all these things hint at ... One steps into a railway carriage which might easily be mistaken for a toy, and the whimsical idea seizes hold of one that one has accidentally stumbled into Lilliput. With a noisy fuss out of all proportion to its size the engine gives a jerk – and starts ... No special mechanical device such as a rack is employed – unless, indeed, one can so describe the squat and stolid hill-man who sits perched over the forward buffers of the engine and scatters sand on the rails when the wheels of the engine lose their grip of the metals and race, with the noise of a giant spring running down when the control has been removed. Sometimes we cross our own track after completing the circuit of a cone, at others we zigzag backwards and forwards; but always we climb at a steady gradient – so steady that if one embarks in a trolley at Ghum, the highest point on the line, the initial push supplies all the energy necessary to carry one to the bottom”.
The trip to Darjeeling by rail has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travellers and rail enthusiasts. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society is a preservation and support group. Like tea and the Ghurka culture, the DHR has become an essential feature of the landscape and an enduring part of Darjeeling's identity.
The settlement at Darjeeling really began in 1828 with British interest. By 1835, it was separated from Sikkim for establishing a Sanatorium for the invalid servants of the East India Company. It then consisted of a monastery on observatory hill clustered with about 20 huts and a population of about 100 people. Planning began in 1839, to lay out the Darjeeling town and construct a hill road connecting Siliguri, Pankhabari, Kurseong and Darjeeling. At the same time, evolution of hotels began, the first being The Darjeeling Family Hotel. By 1840, Darjeeling town had about 30 buildings and a few respectable houses. In the year 1878, Franklin Prestage, Agent of the Eastern Bengal Railway, foresaw the utility of a rail link between the hills of Darjeeling and the plains. His scheme was mainly driven by hard economic considerations viz., the huge difference in the cost of essential commodities between Darjeeling, and Siliguri, the need to carry out tea for export and the inability of the existing road to handle the growing traffic. He submitted a scheme for the construction of a two feet gauge railway line from Siliguri to Darjeeling. In a detailed scheme submitted to the Government of Bengal and approved by the Lt. Governor Sir Ashley Eden, he pointed out how a railway could substantially reduce the cost of transport between Darjeeling and the plains. Rice, which sold at Rs98 a ton at Siliguri, cost Rs238 at Darjeeling! He was also convinced that the cost of construction of the 2 feet gauge rail-line would not be prohibitive, and locomotives, small but powerful enough to climb steep gradients, could be designed Prestage received final sanction for his project on April 8, 1879 and formed the Darjeeling Steam Tramway Co. However, the idea of operating the line as a steam tramway was soon abandoned and, on September 15, 1881, the company adopted the designation of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Co. (DHR), which remained effective until it was taken over by the Government of free India on October 20, 1948. Throughout that period Gillanders Artbuthnot & Co., one of the oldest managing houses in Calcutta, handled its financial, legal and purchasing interests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway http://dhr.in.net/ https://youtu.be/LyEJY_fBeTg https://youtu.be/gHHT2Nd1ZR4
A 1/8 Scale Darjeeling Himalayan Railway B-Class Steam Locomotive in 7.25″ Gauge This beautiful locomotive was built by John Heald of Rotorua, New Zealand. In this video we take the B-Class out for a typical day at the track, including a sequence of loading the engine onto a custom made trailer https://youtu.be/ZBtA6z5Ma94 Then it’s off to the beautiful River Edge Park Railway in Whakatane, New Zealand. We also take a look at stability of this remarkable locomotive under high speeds using on board cameras. Special adjustable Danly coil springs prevent the locomotive from porpoising; the leaf springs are dummy and just for show. The engine features the intermediate ‘fencing’ on the coal bin and sand boxes converted to tool boxes. The B-Class engine has wheels inside the frames and separate bell cranks on the outside. This makes it easy to make small changes to the gauge without any changes to the valve gear or cylinder spacing. Source
Le Trevois in HOe
https://youtu.be/RMWXQahCkoY
Le Trevois, a small Alsatian town (Alsace French), great architecture and many details by Patrice Hamm in HOe, The architecture of the layout is eye-catching with extreme detail and represents the Alsace Wine Route with brick cellars and half-timbered buildings. Most of the rolling stock is self-made.
HOe SCALE was invented by Egger-Bahn in 1963 - for a long time out of production, but some of the Egger-Bahn line has been reintroduced by MinitrainS. Other manufacturers to produce HOe in recent years have included Roco, Liliput, Bemo and Tillig. The term HOn30 (and sometimes HOn2½) is generally used when modelling American prototypes while H0e is used for European prototypes. In the Britain the term OO9 is sometimes used. All these terms refer to models of narrow-gauge railways built to the world's most popular model railway scale of HO (1:87) but using a track gauge of 9 mm, the gauge used for N scale models of standard-gauge railways. OO9 refers to OO scale, 1:76.2, models on 9mm gauge track. Although the track gauge is 9mm, sometimes N scale track per se is not used because the ties or sleepers are out of scale and too close together. HOn30 track is available. HOn30 is often used to model the 2 ft. (610 mm) gauge railroads in the US state of Maine. The first HOn30 / HOn2½ ready-to-run (RTR) brand introduced in the US was the AHM MinitrainS, initially manufactured by Egger-Bahn and later by Roco and Mehanoteknika Izola, also known as Mehano. H0e is a gauge defined by the Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen (NEM). According to that standard, H0e represents narrow gauges between 650–850 mm, though it's often used to represent 600 mm gauge railways as well. In strict scale H0e represents a theoretical gauge of 783 mm, which does not exist as a prototype. It is very close to the gauge of the 750 mm gauge railways most widely used in Germany, 760 mm gauge most widely used in the former Austro-Hungarian empire, 800 mm gauge rack railways in Switzerland as well as to the 2 ft. 6 in (762 mm) gauge used in parts of the British Empire. https://youtu.be/5JAhH9cM0XE
Dream trains No shipping costs for combined orders of R2000 or more. Shop online and fill your cart, even if less than R2000, then contact PEMRC Graham Chapman, to combine your order with fellow club members and all will save.
DEVELOPMENT OF BRAKES ON TRAINS
PEMRC CALENDAR No organised activities are currently arranged.
PEMRC is not organising any group activities during the pandemic 9-11
July 2021
29-30
Oct 2021
14-21
Aug 2022
National Train Show Santa Clara California, USA
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
Eurospoor 2021 Event & Exhibition Centre Jaarbeurs Utrecht, Netherlands NMRA National Convention 2022 Birmingham, UK https://www.nmra2022uk.org/ The 2021 International Fair has been postponed. The toy industry has been waiting with bated breath for the release of new dates for the next Spielwarenmesse. The summer edition is now scheduled to open its doors at the Exhibition Centre in Nuremberg from 20 to 24 July 2021. In the face of the persisting Covid-19 pandemic, organiser Spielwarenmesse eG was forced to postpone the event for the first time in its history from January until the summer.
COMMITTEE 2021: Chairman: Treasurer: Clubhouse: Editor: ‘Shop’: Workshops:
Roel van Oudheusden Attie Terblanche JP Kruger Roel van Oudheusden Graham Chapman Mike van Zyl
roelvanoza@gmail.com terblalc@telkomsa.net juanpierrekruger@gmail.com pemrailroadclub@gmail.com chapman22@telkomsa.net carpencab@gmail.com
Subscriptions for 2021 remain at R300 for the year. EFT is preferred, but the Treasurer may be persuaded to accept cash. Bank account: Port Elizabeth Model Railroad Club FNB Walmer Park, branch code 211417, Account no. 623 861 2205
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Write to: pemrailroadclub@gmail.com Or via SMS or WhatsApp to +27 82 739 7679
MARKET PLACE
Members can advertise their model rail related items here for free; All others pay a 10% donation of the proceeds to PEMRC.
Anton van Kampen 083 415 0154 has the following HO/OO DC rolling stock for sale: Steam locomotives (7): 4-4-0 #647 without tender Western pacific 0-6-0 with double axle tender (boxed) British Rail 0-6-0 #43775 with 3 axle tender LMS 4-4-0 #1000 with 3 axle tender (boxed)
LMS 4-6-0 #4657 with 3 axle tender (boxed) BR Pacific “Evening Star” 2-10-0 #92220 with 3 axle tender (boxed)
BR Mallard 4-6-2 #60022 with 4 axle tender
Diesel locomotives (5): Two BR Class 37 Diesels Co-Co #D6830 (only one running) BR Bo-Bo #D7586
BR Bo-Bo #D6508 DSB Co-Co Diesel #1408
Electric Locomotives(4): SNCF Class BB 22200 Bo-Bo & SNCF Class BB 9400 Bo-Bo E-locs DB class E41 #410001 & Belgian railways #150012 TRAINSETS (2):
Lufthansa Airport express trainset (boxed)
8-piece BR Intercity set
Wagons (>70 not all illustrated): Various British goods wagons (12)
Set of 8 Santa Fe open goods wagons Set of 5 Shell tankers 3 Virginia & Truckee coaches + caboose x2 plus one M& St.L double axle lowbed with caboose
6 Hornby goods wagons in boxes Passenger coaches in original boxes - 3 Hornby & 1 Lima
3 Hornby Pullman coaches only one boxed
2 SNCF passenger coaches
7 BR & 3 GW Passenger coaches 2 LMS passenger coaches There is much more, too much to list here, e.g.: DC controls Bachmann, Fleischmann, Lima and loads of clean no rust track. Send reasonable offers to Anton via SMS or WhatsApp to 083 415 0154
MODEL AND PROTOTYPE: WELDING Thermite and E welding are the latest innovations from Faller and Viessmann, which in both cases combine accessories and lighting technology. Faller is about the thermite welding method - a prototypically implemented process that our readers liked so much that they chose this technical accessory as the model of the year. Viessmann simulates a welder working with an electric welding device. Both models are equipped with light effects. Weld the tracks The Faller model implementation of the thermite welding of the track (item number 180664 / € 17.99) includes the casting mould required for this welding process, together with the melting pot and LED lighting effects to show the liquefaction of iron. Tools and a warning device for the track construction workers with compressed air bottle and horn are also included. A white light-emitting diode is used to display the glowing iron, which is to be attached below the track body and which is supposed to simulate the glowing iron in the casting mould via light guide rods. This is achieved by drilling a 2.3 mm hole in the track bed to the right and left of the gap between the rails to be welded, through which the light guide rods are inserted from below to under the track structure. The distance between the holes is 6 mm or 3 mm from the centre of the rail head. After drilling the holes at a suitable distance from the rail, attach the light guide and the bracket with the LED, which is wired ready for connection on a printed circuit board, from below and connect to a transformer with a DC or AC voltage of twelve to 16 volts. The moulded parts of the thermite furnace are then attached from above. Because of the necessary recess in the base plate under the track structure, thermite welding can only be used on permanently built model railway layouts. Although the LED light is split in two and shines indirectly upwards through the two light guides, the intensity is not too strong. One should therefore not allow too much ambient light near this scene. In addition, the yellow-green colour of the light guide unfortunately does not simulate the rather reddish, glistening process of the model. The kit also includes track construction utensils and a dummy horn operated with compressed air. In conclusion, this Faller set was a nice eye-catcher for revitalizing an unused track. E-welder as a man for all cases The craftsman involved in welding comes from the Viessmann “Moving Worlds” product range. The small set (1538 / € 22.95) includes a welder and a dummy welding transformer. The figure, equipped with a protective screen, holds the welding machine kneeling and bent over steering the welding electrode securely in his hand. The electronics are located below the base plate, with a bright SMD LED at the tip of the welding electronics for flickering and authentically glaring flashes of welding light, as you know from the prototype. For assembly, a 12 mm hole must be drilled into the system or diorama base plate in order to insert the drive cylinder commonly used by Viessmann. The connection is made like a DC or AC transformer with a 14-16 voltage output. Built into a corresponding scene, this accessory also attracts the attention of the layout observer.
But here, too, the cautionary note applies to only use this accessory if there is an existing surface and not if the track figures are sporadically laid on the floor of the room. For more life on the layout: Both products can be classified as nice eye-catchers without a doubt. Faller's thermite welding is not only characterized by the reddish colour of the liquefied metal, but also by the strong smoke development. If you want to replicate this prototypically, you should also bring a smoke generator into play, such as the one Seuthe offers as a steam generator (€ 22 / € 20.50). It would also be advisable to replace the supplied white LED with a red one. The pulsed, flickering welding light from Viessmann looks pretty prototypical due to the clear flashes of light. If you take it very carefully, you might come up with the idea of providing a synchronous background noise of the crackling sound of the welding to maximize the effect. Process of thermite welding Attachment of the mould halves that encase the rail joint; 1. After sealing with moulding sand, the thermite charge is prepared; 2. The welding point is preheated and the thermite charge ignited, the liquid iron runs into the mould; 3. The glowing remains are sheared off or chipped off; 4. The weld is sanded after cooling. You can observe this process very well in this video: https://youtu.be/5uxsFglz2ig
The Faller parts contained in the kit are differently coloured plastic mouldings and an LED lighting circuit board. Everything still looked complicated in the injection moulding frame, but the parts for the thermite melting crucible appear to be quite clear when removed.
The Viessmann offer for an electric welding scene includes a welder figure on his knees and a transformer with a cable connection to the electrodes. Inserted through the layout from above and neatly grouted with the base, the designed scene looks quite realistic, also in terms of the LED light colour.
TEXT and PHOTOS: Bruno Kaiser / Armin Mühl
By Ramakant Sharma https://www.cruxweld.com/blog/thermit-welding/ Thermite welding is a process where heat generated from an exothermic chemical reaction is used for the fusion. The chemical reaction aluminothermy process occurs between aluminium powder and metal oxide. This reaction generates a molten metal that acts as filler metal joining the workpieces on solidification. No external source of heat, current, and filler material is utilized in thermite welding. The process mainly used for joining steel pieces, here thermite comprises iron oxide and aluminium powder. The ratio is 78% iron oxide and 22% aluminium powder. The ratio is decided by the chemical reaction at the burning of aluminium: 8Al + Fe3O4 = 9Fe + 4 Al2O3 + heat (4500˚C, 35 kJ/kg of mixture)
The combustion of iron and aluminium oxide generates heat up to 4500 Degree Fahrenheit. As these two components have a different density, they become separated automatically. The liquid iron fills the ceramic mould built around the welded parts and aluminium oxide slag floats up and removed subsequently. The thermite process developed by Hans Goldschmidt in the mid-1890s and now used in the repair of steel casting and forging. They design the thermite welding for joining railroad rails, steel pipes, steel wires, a larger cast, and forged components.
Essential Definitions 1. Crucible It is the vessel where thermite chemical reaction, aluminothermy happens. 2. Mould The mould is created around the part that requires it to be welded. This mould is destined to receive the molten metal. 3. Mixture The mixture is the term to describe granules of aluminium and metal oxide and any alloying metals. 4. Reaction The aluminothermy process is a chemical reaction between aluminium and metal oxide. The reaction results in super-heated molten material and aluminium oxide slag to be separated. Thermite Welding Process It is a chemical welding process where the exothermic reaction is used to provide the needed heat energy. The burning of the thermite, a mixture of aluminium powder and iron oxide in a ratio of 1:3 by weight generates a temperature of 3000-degree Centigrade. The preheating of the thermite mixture up to 1300 degrees Centigrade is essential to initiate the reaction. The thermite mixture reacts as the following chemical reaction: 8Al + Fe3O4 = 9Fe + 4 Al2O3 + heat (4500˚C, 35 kJ/kg of mixture) A great affinity of aluminium to react with oxygen is the foundation of the thermite chemical reaction. Once reacted with ferric oxide the pure steel settled down while aluminium oxide floats as slag. This all happens due to a big difference in their densities.
Operation and Steps of Thermite Welding It is essentially a foundry and casting process, where a thermite reaction produces the metal to pour to the obstinate cavity created around the joint. The steps involved in thermite welding are: 1. It is mandatory to clean and prepare the edges properly the metal parts we will weld. 2. The wax pattern is the need for the joint to be fused. Pour the hot wax to obtain the one.
3. Place the moulding box around the joint and the sand is loaded carefully all over the wax pattern. It provides the necessary pouring basin, riser, sprue, and gating system. 4. The bottom opening is used to drain the molten wax which helps to preheat the joint and make it ready for the welding. 5. It is time to mix the thermite in a crucible. This is made from refractory material to withstand the extreme heat and pressure which is produced during this aluminothermy reaction. 6. The igniter like barium oxide or magnesium is left on the head of the mixture and lighted with red hot metal rods. 7. The reaction completes in a very short time, a high heated molten iron flows into the mould cavity which we have created around the joint to be fused. 8. The heated molten material joins the parent metals & solidifies to a homogenous strong joint. 9. The welded joint left as such to cool down slowly. Copper and Chromium metals have thermite mixtures available as well. They utilize different metal oxides instead of ferrous oxide. Some of the popular thermite reactions with their temperature are mentioned below. 3 CuO + 2 Al → 3Cu + Al2O3 + Heat (4860°C, 270 Kcal) Cr2O3 + 2Al → 2Cr + Al2O3 + Heat (3000°C, 545 Kcal) Thermite Welding Steps for Rail 1. Preparation of the rail edges to be welded: 2. Setting the weld gap 3. Apply clamp 4. Fix the mould 5. Leave the thermite mixture into the crucible 6. Preheating of the ends of the rail 7. Ignite and let steel flow 8. Time to remove the mould 9. Remove the excess head metal 10. Initiate the grinding 11. Final clean grinding Video https://youtu.be/7MKnrhs9ock
animation:
STAGING YARDS (Fiddle yards) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddle_yard Fiddle yards were first built by British modellers so that they could build small layouts and operate them in a realistic manner. The first well-known model railway to use them was 'Maybank', which was exhibited at the 1939 Model Railway Club exhibition in London. This was an urban passenger terminus that led directly into a fiddle yard, hidden beneath a locomotive depot above it. It had an influence on C. J. Freezer, who as editor of Railway Modeller, would later go on to popularise them. In the 1950s he described the "Fiddle Yard to Terminus" layout, and used it for his influential 'Minories' design. This fiddle yard module is designed to provide quick turnover of locomotive-hauled commuter traffic in and out of the classic Minories terminus. It folds into a 3ft 6in long box, like the matching layout, and despite this small size uses only one small radius turnout, the others all being mediums for smoother running. The drawing shows some construction and electrical details.
The 'Peter Denny' design of fiddle yard, using a removable 'cassette' of tracks, was developed by the Reverend Peter Denny for his Buckingham Great Central layout around 1952. (See page 23) This used a number of parallel tracks and could also be used for rolling stock storage or transport, off the layout. Some of these cassettes use conventional point work, others slide sideways as a traverser, Denny's original rotated around a central pivot. Denny also used it to rotate by half a turn and to reverse the train’s wholesale, without needing to uncouple and move locomotives from one end to the other. Denny was noted for his use of non-railway mechanisms and the original was cranked around by a Meccano geared drive, with remote switching and monitoring by a row of sprung metal contacts.
Designs The fiddle yard is part of a layout, and as such varies with the type layout design, particularly whether it is of the "end-to-end" or "continuous run" type. There may be more than one yard per layout. The design also varies by how much the operator wishes to handle the rolling stock—they can be completely manual, completely automatic, or somewhere in between. Each design has different space requirements which must be factored into consideration at the design stage. Broadly designs can be into categories: Fan of points giving many roads, can be easily constructed, operated automatically using point motors, and are simple to construct, although turnouts can be expensive, especially if motorised. Traverser (known as "transfer table" in the US where parallel tracks are moved perpendicular to the entrance/exit track(s). In this way each road can be aligned in turn with the entrance/exit track(s). The Foggier Bottom Railway: Jack Trollope noticed that by adding a little width to the Foggy Bottom layout, he could include a spur at the front right to conceal the traverser (transfer table) — thus producing the Foggier Bottom Railway. This plan is slightly larger than micro layout size, but we present it to demonstrate that expanding any plan’s area — by even a small amount — can generally allow increased operating possibilities as well as improved scenic potential. Foggier Bottom Railway is 56.5″x12″ (143×30 cm) in 16.5 mm gauge https://www.carendt.com/ Chris Gilbert obtained a Peco three-way turnout for his micro layout, Three-way Points Mill which sets the theme of a china clay hauling branch line, which delivers empty hoppers to the mill and takes loaded ones away. Chris’s initial design thought was to provide a turntable that could turn empty cars into loaded ones. In order to get a full-length table, he figured on a “pull-out” design, where the table could be pulled from its berth, rotated, and returned into place with the rolling stock positions reversed. Sort of like a reversible transfer table (traverser)! The key to this diagram reflects the purpose of the design: to give the impression that a mainline train brought the empty clay wagons to the works. The large train engine is stabled at (L) (upper left); the clay works shunter (a small 08 diesel switcher) comes from its engine shed (E) to pull the empties from (M) to the weighbridge at (W), via the head shunt (yard lead) at (H). After being weighed, the wagons (cars) are placed on the loading track (L) (centre right). By a 180-degree rotation of the traverser/turntable, the hoppers are converted from empties to loads, ready to be hauled away.
Turntable, where usually multiple tracks are on the same turntable pivoting around a central point. In this way, entire trains can be turned. Generally only suitable for layouts with shorter trains (i.e. smaller scales). Sector plate which pivots around a point but unlike a turntable cannot turn completely. Due to geometry, this usually has a single entrance/exit.
Cassette where sections of track within solid bases holding one or more items of rolling stock are moved manually into position.
Elevator, where tracks are moved in a vertical direction. The elevator may itself be storage with multiple decks, or it may be single decked and move stock onto a different level, for example to other storage under the main layout. Combinations of the two above are also possible; for example a sector plate may be combined with a turntable for turning locomotives separately from their trains and allowing for them to be run round. Fiddle yards can also contain a balloon loop for turning entire trains, usually in conjunction with a fan or traverser design.
This is a suggested improvement:
This plan originated on RMWeb with the question of whether it was possible to fit something into a 16ft by 8ft garage. By skewing the station and combining the point work into the curves at the ends it fits very well, with room for five through platforms around 6ft long and three bays. The fiddle yard makes very efficient use of the space. Minimum radius is 610mm.
THREE TYPES OF STAGING YARDS By Andy Sperandeo, Contributing Editor Using staging yards to represent “beyond the layout” connections is widely accepted among model railroad operators. There’s no better way to foster the illusion that a model railroad is part of not only a larger rail system but also of the continental rail network. Staging also gets us closer to the experience of watching trains in the real world they come from somewhere else, pass by, and go away. We usually don’t see them again soon. Staging yards help us recreate that experience by providing places from where our trains can come into our layout scene and to which they can go away. In this respect, staging yards have aptly been compared to the wings of the stage in a theatre. Stub staging is the simplest and most space efficient form of staging. That’s especially true if the two stub staging yards at opposite ends of the main line can be stacked vertically in the same footprint. Trains are set up or “staged” for an operating session facing out. When they depart they leave empty tracks where other trains can arrive. Leaving one or two tracks empty at the start of a session allows more flexibility in scheduling. Arriving trains head into an empty track in the stub yard and terminate. They can’t appear on the layout again until they’ve been backed out and “re-staged” between operating sessionsusually with some rearrangement of motive power, rolling stock or both. Because trains go into stub yards the same way they come out, they’re sometimes called “muzzle-loading staging”. In Through staging both ends of the main line connect to a single double-ened yard. Compared to stub staging, it requires greater lenth for switch ladders at both endsand gretaer width for an equivalent number of tracks. The great advantage of through staging is that loaded and empty open-top cars like hoppers and gondolas can be kept moving in appropriate directions without the effort of loading or unloading. An obvious benfit for railroads with heavy ore and coal traffic. Of course, the trough yard can be used as if it were stub staging for manifest and local freight traffic, with the extra benefit of handy run-around movements when at least one staging track is available. Can be very convenient when trains are pulled by diesel power in double-ended consists. Although the focus here is “passive staging” with no work being done in the staging yard during an operating session, ‘through yards” are well adapted to the “active staging” or fiddle yard role. A fiddle operator, sometimes known as a ‘mole’ if he works out of sight, can actively arrange train consists during an operating session and send them on their way from either end of the main line.
Loop staging terminates the main line in a reverse loop with parallel storage tracks instead of a stub or a through yard. Because of minimum radius requirements, loop staging uses the most real estate of any of the 3 main types of staging. That disadvantage can often be mitigated by locating loop staging beneath layout “blobs” already required for on-layout turn back curves. In loop staging arriving trains are automatically ready to depart again. This can be a great benefit even if trains aren’t re-used again in the same operating session. It minimises handling of steam locomotives and highly detailed rolling stock, for example. For modelling heavy passenger traffic, loop staging makes it easy to turn entire consists and may make it possible to economise somewhat on expensive and labour intensive passenger rolling stock. To cite a personal example, I have a circa 1947 City of Los Angeles train set that required years of collecting and expenditure to accumulate and is still going to need a lot of effort to paint, letter and make operational. I’ll be glad to use loop staging to let that same consist represent both the westbound and eastbound trains, which on any given day, is perfectly realistic on my layout. Multiply that by several more painstakingly assembled prototypical passenger train and you have a strong case for loop staging. There is sometimes concern over the electrical complexities of reverse loops in two- rail wiring systems. With today’s Digital Command Control systems and automatic reversing circuits, wiring reverse loops is less trouble than ever. With automatic reversing, loops function with complete transparency allowing operators to use them without any special controls. Don’t give up any capability with loop compared to stub staging. You still have the same flexibility to change power and rearrange consists between sessions. These staging yard patterns present a variety of ways to support your layout’s operations. They aren’t mutually exclusive and you may find that some combination of the three basic formats is best for your railroad. You can use them to expand the scope of your space-limited layout through imagined connections to distant destinations! Published 5 Sept. 2014.
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FAMOUS LAYOUTS – Peter Denny’s Buckingham Central anno 1947 The late Peter Denny (a country parson) started building his EM Buckingham Central in 1947. For the next 60+ years he added to it, staying true to his original concept of depicting a might-have-been terminus on the Great Central prior to WW1. It was all his own work. I think it’s fair to say that this has been one of the most important layout in the hobby’s history since WW2. – Tony Gee
Buckingham Central Station with Pollitt 4-4-0 No.269 about to leave platform 1 for Marylebone. “As a child I developed a Hornby O gauge layout, which was fixed on the bedroom floor and subsequently on shelving around a garage. There I began to build up a scenic layout making most of the lineside features myself. An account of this layout appeared in the Meccano Magazine of April 1932. It was not until 1945 that I took up railway modelling in 4mm scale and the first Buckingham Branch was constructed and exhibited at the Model railway Club Exhibition in April 1948. Two of the stations on that line won bronze medals at the 1947 and 1948 Model Engineers Exhibition. I wanted a hobby that would provide an outlet for my ability of being able to create things with my hands. As a student of history I was interested in making a picture of the railway scene at the turn of the century and at the same time making a model railway that could be operated on similar principles to the real thing, namely a movement of trains serving a particular area and working to a predetermined time table. The Great Central Railway was chosen since it was one not being extensively modelled by others and I wanted the challenge of carrying out historical research. The year 1907 was selected because it was the last year that the Great Central railway retained its two colour coach livery of brown and cream. I was also attracted by the Robinson Great Central locomotives which were simple in external detail and since I was setting out to build everything from scratch they appeared to present less problems than many others. My first priority is that a model railway must work effectively, then secondly that it should look like the real thing so that when the line is in operation it is possible to imagine you are watching an actual railway scene back in 1907. The locomotives, rolling stock and signals are built as accurately to scale as the prototype information allows, much dependence being placed upon photographs of originals. Buildings and other structures within the company fence are based on buildings on the Great Central or one of its associated companies.
Buildings and scenic effects outside the fence are mainly taken from actual buildings I feel make an attractive model, but some are completely free-lance. No attempt has been made to reproduce an actual railway scene. The techniques I have used are largely those for creating a picture in three dimensions. The layout is visually divided into sections by the insertion of road bridges, while it is balanced by the height of background buildings. I build in order to look at the railway from a distance of 50cm (1’6”) – anything that is not obviously seen, such as the underframe details of wagons is often represented by a mere suggestion that there is something there, while great attention is paid to prominent details, such as roofs, chimney pots and the tops of coaches and wagons. My tools rea the simplest, i.e. a portable workbench often on the kitchen table, a fret machine plus the belief that there is a simple way of doing everything. The challenge is to create models from basic raw materials in wood, metal and plastic. The present line as far as the base board and track plan is concerned was commenced in 1949, but over the years each section has been replaced stage by stage. It has also been adapted to meet various domestic circumstances, being in turn semi-portable, completely portable and finally permanent, as it has grown and shrunk and grown again to fit in the space available as I have moved from house to house. The locomotives and rolling stock have increased considerably over the years and all that was constructed for the first layout in 1948 is still in use, including many of the buildings and other lineside structures. Operation by Computer Being a permanent layout, Buckingham is not available for exhibition. It is designed to be operated by one or more people and up to five can be fully occupied. There is however always one other operator, a machine that looks after that part of the layout which is off-scene, i.e. the hidden sidings. This machine is a computer which I built myself. – it is programmed for a day’s working through a sequence of train movements. It is controlled by a clock which every ten minutes moves a punched paper progressively forward to feed information to various pieces of electrical equipment.
When a train is due to arrive at Grandborough Junction a bell rings at hat station. On receiving an answering ring, the computer rings the code for a particular class of train and at the same time sets up the track for that train in the storage sidings. On being told the line is clear it switches the current through to the train which then proceeds on its journey. In the same way when a train is due to depart for the storage sidings the computer responds with the correct bell code and sends the train into a predetermined siding. If a train is overdue in either direction the clock stops and will only restart when the correct train is run. The computer also gives warning when the storage sidings need to be turned round, indicates which lines are in use and passes reminders when trains are due to leave or arrive at any of the stations. All the stations are linked by
bells and when there are two or more operators the trains are despatched through the block system using the bells according to normal practice. This computer and the revolving storage sidings are two of the contributions I like to think I have made to the hobby. Buckingham is distinctive in that nearly everything has been scratch built including track, locomotives and rolling stock. In this it represents the approach to railway modelling of the late 1940s when there were very few finished models available commercially and no kits at all. Consequently it is a very individualistic model railway. I think Buckingham has gone far beyond its original expectations. Judging by the many visitors I have who come to see it each year and the little group of friends who come for regular running sessions, it has resulted in giving much pleasure to many people. I personally find it a great relaxation to enter my railway room, switch on and run the next train on the time table. Over the years my railway activities have led me into an ever widening circle of friends, even from overseas, and as one comes to face retirement it is good to have a hobby that one can continue to pursue and even find time to make things for which there was no time in busy working days” The Reverend Peter Denny Peter Denny passed away in 2009 and Tony Gee is the current custodian of the Buckingham layout.
You can view his 19’ video here or click on the image below:
Below: Track plan of the Buckingham branch and a map showing the fictitious location of the railway.
DIORAMA
Click on the image to get full details of this competition from the Walthers website. Regrettably only open to American modellers. However, let this not detract you from your PEMRC diorama project.
Crafty Arts 10% discount via their discount card scheme. Collaborate with Aubrey de Chalain on building dioramas and exhibits in their newly extended premises.