The ongoing progress of Torr Giffard can now be seen on RM Web.

Making progress

The correct slugbuster unit arrived from RS yesterday and I purchased 6mm and 10mm twist drills today to create the hole through which the unit passes. On a scrap piece of 2 inch aluminium angle gripped in the steel jaws of a hobby vice I used a power drill to initially drill a 1mm hole in a punched centre, then opened this out to 6mm and then 10mm, see      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7G36dZgS5k&feature=youtu.be
There was little precision in the preparation for this test hole but the slugbuster worked perfectly and the EM gauge society dowels are a precision fit in the 25.4mm hole created.

Losing the will

FWBs opportunity to supply the slug buster expired today when I visited them to extract a refund of almost £50. Once home again I used RS tools via google and the internet to order the correct tool for next day delivery at £30. Fingers crossed.

Good news with the quest for the correct Hornby Maunsell coaches to model set 179 in 1960 guise. After a trawl of the internet I found a new R4305E and  R4320A. Not your regular journey for Southern coaches with one travelling from Stow, Lincolnshire and the other from Paignton, Devon. Lovely representations of the prototype and the first true SR coaches for TG.

Templot is occupying most time at the moment with repeated attempts to achieve the best trackplan.

Slug busting......not just yet!!

A little frustrating after several days waiting for the Greenlee slug busting unit to arrive, to then open the box and find the version for fitting into a hydraulic press rather than the self-contained version required.

However, this allows more practice with Templot.

Current reading is the Okehampton line by the Irwell press.

Currently on order are the 2 SR green Maunsell coaches by Hornby intended to recreate set 179 which when coupled behind the Hornby T9 will become a 1959/60 Exeter to Plymouth working. Away for machining and re-tyring by Ultrascale are the wheelsets for the 2 Dapol class 22 locos.
Intended identities for the 22s are: D6321 in mid sixties green, sywp, split headcode and D6327 in late sixties/early seventies battered BR blue, sywp, split headcode.
Comet coaches are getting together the 3 kits required to recreate set 857, a 3 coach Bulleid set.

Current progress video link

A selection of recent topics including: levelling the plate glass, the new workbench, Dapol class 22s waiting P4 wheelset mods to be returned from Ultrascale and the china clay open wagon sheet metal from Euthymol toothpaste tubes can be seen here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbFkSHXlCF4&feature=youtu.be

Current reading centres on The Okehampton and North Cornwall titles from the Irwell press.

Slug busters and machine screws

Tuesday of this week was one of our busier days with TG. Colin Calverley came with me to FWB engineering supplies in Stoke-on-Trent to source some of the fixtures and fittings for the layout. Countersink hexagonal drive machine screws with their associated Nylok nuts and washers are recommended for the aluminium assemblies and also for securing the EM gauge society baseboard locating dowels to their backing plates. Whilst a tool called a 'slug buster' is apparently ideal for drilling the 1 inch hole (through the aluminium end plate pairs) in which the dowels can be accurately located. Needless to say the required tools were ordered.

The afternoon saw the two of us cutting various thicknesses of plasticard spacers and supergluing them to our uneven worktable to provide a perfectly level support for the 6ft x 2ft plate glass. This will allow the baseframes to be checked accurately during construction.

The evening involved a visit to Nick Allsop, our track and signalling guru to discuss the revised track layout and likely signalling equipment provided in such a situation. TG will have two signal boxes, one adjacent to the junction and the other effectively a yard box at the other end of the station. An additional siding will be provided on the down side and the goods shed will now be a continuation of the dock at the rear of the station. Provision of a Credition style footbridge will also bring in a co-acting up platform starting signal. Provision of a junction starting signal at the Plymouth/Barnstaple end of the up platform will facilitate auto trains arriving from those directions, reversing and departing towards same. Opportunities for lower quadrant  semaphores will be the inner home signals in the up direction immediately prior to the curving girder bridges.

  

Revised trackwork

The appeal of the single track curved girder bridge at Barnstaple is tempered by the knowledge that such a structure and attendant 15 mph speed restriction would not have survived long in a main line, albeit, single line diverging junction situation. The tapering and more lightly curving structures shown on the revised plan are also likely to require stone pillar supports as against the more fragile looking metal versions.

Revised trackplan

Templot for the journey

Current TG activity centres around the first experiences of using Templot to produce the actual trackwork plan for the layout. There is much to learn and I can see that some serious time is going to be required to produce the right result. However, having seen the benefits of its use with other layouts then there is no question that it is the correct way to go.

Bedtime reading just now is one of the excellent Irwell Press tomes- The North Cornwall Railway (£12 secondhand off the ABE books website). It is a fabulous read and due for a reprint/update at Easter. The Okehampton line edition is already on order.

Expensive day

We now have the 6 feet by 2 feet sheet of 8mm toughened glass which once properly supported will be the flat surface on which the baseframes for TG will be formed and checked. Cost £180 but should be a one off payment for a very useful surface. Once the 1 metre stainless steel straight edge arrives then the truing of the supporting table will allow the glass to be laid perfectly flat.

Metal toothpaste and mustard tubes for wagon sheets

Having had a recommendation from one of the noted wagon builders within our hobby I tracked down some 'Euthymol' toothpaste (available at Superdrug) in metal tubes. Cutting off the rolled tube bottom and slicing along its length allowed me use a spatula to remove and discard the toothpaste without deforming the malleable metal of the tube unduly. We also have a Colmans mustard tube which appears to be made of the same material. It should be possible to get two clay open wagon sheets from the metal of each tube. It does seem ideal for the job.

Modelling in the best light

Current progress with TG centres on completing a small work bench which can remain in situ in the conservatory without offending higher management. The link below shows one of our earlier sessions with the larger modelling desk, this requires rearranging the whole conservatory   http://www.flickr.com/photos/43564631@N08/5385141671/in/photostream

The brass u channel and sprung W irons from Eileens are now here and a start can be made on the initial 12 clay opens once the bench is complete. I'm collecting metal toothpaste and mustard tubes at the moment to fashion into the wagon sheets.

The smaller work bench is now complete and modelling is under way. Todays progress limited to cutting and finishing lengths of brass U channel for the underframes. Much of the Ratio kits incl. wheels, couplings, side frames, transfers and buffers have gone straight into the bin. The wagon sides, ends and floor are being prepared for fitting onto a new, sprung brass underframe with Ultrascale 3 hole disc wheelsets. Experiments with the Alex Jackson coupling to come. All dimensions checked between BR Wagons  Vol 1 and the BR line diagram for the 1/051. 

Initial wagon/consist build

The first train to be modelled for TG is the typical 1960s loaded china clay opens rake of 12 x diagram 1/051 (lot 2697, 2871, 2974 or early 3098) with tarpaulin sheets over the clay. The rake will be worked into TG by a Beattie well tank off the Plymouth line, for forwarding to Fremington quay behind a class 22 or else will appear from the Barnstaple direction heading for Exeter Riverside. The basis of the 1/051 wagons will be the Ratio clay open but the solebars/headstocks will be in brass channel from Eileens, the buffers and drawhooks courtesy of Dave Franks, the W irons also from Eileens, axleboxes and springs probably ABS, the wheels from Ultrascale and the couplings from Smiths/Ambis. The tarpaulins will be out of metal toothpaste tubes once they have been sourced and the paintwork will be Phoenix with Carrs weathering powders. The brakevan will be one of the new Hornby standard planked varieties with a Dapol 22 or Beattie well tank providing the motive power.   

Reference sources for the wagon build include: An Illustrated History of BR Wagons Vol 1, Early BR wagon diagram of the 1/051 courtesy of Mark Saunders, 1961 colour picture from Steam in Cornwall by Peter Gray. 

Coupling types and attention to worthwhile detail

The proposed river valley/train in the landscape setting of TG with its lower height baseframe construction and 'banked' sides will mean that the average minimum viewing distance to the nearest train/stock will be around 6 feet. At this distance the advantages of bespoke P4 trackwork, avid attention to scenic detail and prototypical train operation are easy to observe, whereas wagon numbers, underframe detail etc are less important. A project such as this is already going to require heavy time commitments, therefore, using the available time to best advantage is vital. The Alex Jackson coupling system will be virtually invisible at these distances and there are advantages in terms of realistic shunting/run round manouvres. The need for the 'hand from the sky' will remain at times of derailment and all trackwork will need to be easily accessible. Current thinking is for 'barn door' style opening sides to the layout to give a real sense of depth to the valley and they can be opened fully when access is required.    

Building flexibility and operational interest into the design

The diverging single line nature of Torr Giffard (TG) along with the goods and passenger runround facilities give good levels of potential operating interest for onlookers and operators alike. This potential can be multiplied if a period of railway history can be catered for rather than a single date. A train of thought (pardon the pun) at the moment is to plan a range of prototypical stock for September 1959, a 2nd for September 1963, a third for September 1966 and the last for September 1971. TG 1959 would see Southern steam classes 02, M7, Beattie Well tank, T9, N and WC/BB unrebuilt pacifics in action hauling mainly Bulleid and Maunsell stock. TG 1963 (ownership transferred to BR (WR)) would see a predominance of standard steam types, 1366 PT 0-6-0, Southern N class and WC/BB unrebuilt pacifics in action along with class 22 diesels. BR Mk1 and WR stock types begin to make bigger inroads amongst the SR types. DMUs start to appear. TG 1966 comes with some changes to the railway infrastructure of North Devon and Cornwall. The Halwill jnc and N. Cornwall route off the Plymouth line closed in 1966 and the Plymouth route itself is under threat with WR Warships working the through trains. The Bulleid coach sets have been disbanded. The Barnstaple and Ilfracombe routes have a fully dieselised service with WR Warships and Hymeks dominating, supported by DMUs. WR Westerns appear on ballast trains to Meldon quarry. By 1971 the class 22s are giving way to ex LMR 25s. The Ilfracombe route has closed and Meldon quarry is the limit of the Plymouth route. Fremington quay is a shadow of its former self. BR Mk1s and DMUs are the predominant passenger stock.