STROLEY INTERNATIONAL

03 - 08 - 09

I've had another busy few days since my last missive.

The PC has been red hot producing sign after sign.  Admittedly some signs I had already designed, but needed some tweeking.  Some certainly aren't conventional railway signs but ... hey ... it's my layout!

I metaphorically  subscribe to the "old school" philosophy of:-

I. B. I. S. I. - R. A. I. L.

 

I Built It So I'll Run Anything I Like!

(Originator of this is Mr. Dick flower)

This also covers my signage!!

All signs and the posts they are attached to are new, whereas all the station furniture and passengers have been recycled from my original layout.  I have to acknowledge here my wife's hard work.  She single-handedly painted well over three hundred members of the Stroley public for the layouts.

I asked her whether painting that lot was therapeutic?

She said .... "*#<>^!![#}/>*<@%&##:]{#" .... which I now know translates as ... "NO!!"

 

Further platform furniture has now been added including "Departure" and "Information" boards and the "T" lamp standards.

Seats, passengers and staff will follow next.

28 - 07 - 09

The photo below shows the concrete platform edging glued and pinned permanently in place.  The inserts, made from two lengths of 9mm ply glued together, have been shaped to go between the PECO edging, and gives the platform surfaces a solid base.  Hopefully, due to the temperature variations in the shed throughout the year, this will not replicate the "rollercoaster" platform problems suffered at STROLEY CENTRAL!

 

Something was needed to "welcome" the passengers passing through the area behind platforms one and two - see below.  I surfed around the internet and came across a photo that I thought was just the ticket - sorry about the pun!!

Hardly had the ink dried on the first part of this update, and whilst I came off-line for my dinner, "Luke M" was quick off the mark (see the guestbook entry for that day)  in spotting that it is indeed, Leeds Station interior that I had used.

I printed it off the photo, stuck it on a piece of card and glued it in place on the wall.  I already had a photo of the "e-ticket" machines from St. Pancras International on my compluter.  I copied and printed them off and have strategically positioned to add to the illusion.   Pretty good - even though I say so myself!!

The continental trains (TGV; THALYS; EUROSTAR and ICE units) arriving at STROLEY INTERNATIONAL will generally be using these two platforms.  It seemed logical to feature a Eurostar set in the appropriate photo.

  

 

Here are some views of the new platforms with trains.

 

The platform furniture and people have generally been recycled from the original layout.  I am in the process of printing off and sorting out the new signage to ensure that the passengers safely board their correct trains.  Hopefully this will be easier for them than when they passed through STROLEY CENTRAL!

This is my next job and will be fully covered in my next update.

<>    <>    <>    <>    <>

 LATEST   STROLEY   ACQUISITIONS

    Bachmann units and locos.

    Class 170 DMU in Arriva Cross Country livery.       Rail Express Limited Edition (A) ... 37501 & 37502

                                                                                          Rail Express Limited Edition (C) ... 37507 (rear).

 

  66725 SUNDERLAND AFC from Bachmann.          59001 YEOMAN ENDEAVOUR from Hornby.

 <>    <>    <>    <>    <> 

24 - 07 - 09

 

I've been very busy in "My Happy Place" this week.

Not only have I finished painting the obligatory white lines on the platform edges, I've now glued and pinned them all in place.   All have appropriate clearance between edges and stock and can be seen in the photos below.

 

 

 In my update of 17 - 06 - 09 (which appears below) I mentioned that I had ordered some MODELTORQUE motors from INTERCITY MODELS.

These motors are replacement motors for LIMA locos that were manufactured (back in the good old days) with the old "pancake" motors.  Costing £18 each with free P & P (when ordering four or more) these Modeltorque motors have now materialised.  I have fitted three (out of the four ordered) into three LIMA HST Power Cars that were decidedly jerky in movement.  There is a good improvement in the running of these HSTs.  The motors certainly are quieter but there are still issues with the pick-up bogies and often need the "big hand from the sky" to start them off again.  These locos with the replacement motors will never be as good as the more recent era of models.  The running qualities are OK but I doubt whether I will purchase any more.

These motors are very easy to fit.  I consider myself to have "two left feet" when it comes to having the confidence to tackle something like a motor replacement, but even I found the instructions very easy to follow.

I'll be fitting the fourth motor in due course and the comprehensive instructions and photos of how I did it, will be uploaded onto my H.I.D.I. pages soon.

 

19 - 07 - 09 

In the four weeks or so since my last update, I've been on holiday.  Just a week in Scotland; four days on the Isle of Skye and three days at Kinlochleven, near Glencoe.  A very pleasant week was spent away with my wife.  We also did "The Jacobite" steam train trip from Fort William to Mallaig, via "Harry Potter" land.  The weather was, unfortunately not too brilliant, so a lot of the beauty of that journey was lost on us - shame.

A link to "The Jacobite" collection on my full-size Railway Photo Site can be found HERE

A return to the layout has seen me finishing off several the scenic areas.

I have finished off both the "Council" and "Office" High-Rises by adding low-relief roofs to each these buildings, just to finish them off - see the two photos below. The Council block has also had its base painted with the textured concrete paint.  No doubt some "herberts" will come along soon and "tag" it!

 I have also continued with the Retail Park low-relief stores that will run the length (to the rear) of the platforms as the scenic backing in this area, between the Transport Exchange and the Council high-rise.  I have given these stores their roofs and the drain pipes are also now insitu.  The wall (containing the advertising hoardings) that will run along in front of the aforementioned stores will be fixed in position against the stores after completing the platforms.  

  

 

 

 I am using PECO platform (concrete type) edging pieces (LK 62 & LK 68 ramps).  Eighteen packs of LK 62 will complete the job.  A collection, some of which have already been glued together, can be spotted to the left (above).  This view shows where the two terminating platforms which will be taking shape soon.

The photo above shows the platform layout including where the subways will be positioned.

I have begun to paint the edging and ramp sections the obligatory white colour.  Platforms 5 and 6 have now been glued and pinned into place.  This island platform has a curve in its northern end, so an appropriate and suffucient gap between edge and rail has been left.  I have used my longest vehicle (Pendolino Driving Car) and a Class 170 DMU for the platform gauge trials.  The former for the "over hang" at the curved ends and the latter for the straight sections.  This class (or the 166s / 168s) are excellent for this as they have the prototypical steps correctly moulded onto these units which have more of an overhang than other modern stock.  I fell into this trap with my last layout (STROLEY CENTRAL) and had to "shave off" slithers of that layouts' platforms.

 

 

<>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>  <>

 

17 - 06 - 09

 

(This is a "reworking" of the update of the 16th June....

WEBS.com had a technical problem which wiped that particular update.)

Since my last update, I have finished rebuilding the raised area and relaid the track.  During the last three weeks, I must admit, I have been having a play  .... sorry .... I mean I've been testing the layout.

I'm still having trouble with the two curved points that take two tracks from the raised area into platforms 5 & 6.  My Hornby Mk.3s are still the main offenders.  I have plenty of the Lima Mk.3s which are heavier and run through these points with no trouble at all.  I have also had trouble with 3 Jouef (HO) CargoWagons which I have now completely given up on!  To finally (hopefully) resolve the points problem, I have ordered two medium radius "straight" points which will replace the two curved points .... no making up your own jokes please!!

Hopefully that will solve the problem .... I'll let you know.

During the three weeks of playing (testing) I have run ALL my locos for a few laps of the layout just as "test runs".  As I have in excess of 250 locos in my collection, you can imagine that it took me quite a while.  A percentage of these locos are Lima products with very basic motors.  I was pleasantly surprised that 99% of my locos ran after being in storage for between two and twenty years!!  I started collecting my stock back in 1990 and even though many of them saw the "light of day" on STROLEY CENTRAL, a vast amount were still box bound. 

I have ordered from INTER CITY MODELS a small quantity of the "MODELTORQUE" replacement motors for Lima locos.  They are manufactured in Australia and Inter City Models is the UK importer, and for under twenty quid each, will give old clapped out Lima motors a new lease of life.

Allegedly, these are easy to fit; well that's the claim ... again ... I'll let you know!

THE "NEW LOOK" RAISED SECTION.

Entry / exit of the fiddle yard is top left .... the station is bottom right.  

The "finished" shape of the raised three track section in front of the Multi Storey Car Park can be seen.  This area is nowhere near finished, but the new shape can be seen to good effect in both photos above.

The offending curved (one left & one right) points are nearest the camera above the wallpaper scraper.

Here is a good view of the two routes that lead to / from the northern end of the station.  The "Route to the North" (left) and the "Cross Country" route.  Both lead from the three track (raised) section which allows all routes to access all platforms which allows for excellent "play" appeal for me.

It never ceases to amaze me when you see the plans / photos of some layouts in magazines which have sidings / platforms on one side of the main line, but no access to the other track of the main line.

Hey ... each to their own!

To hide the obvious fact that each route join together to enter / exit the fiddle yard, I intend to erect factories as low relief buildings to aid the illusion, to the left of the "Northern Route"; to the right of the "XC Route" and the gap between the two.  I have already purchased the Factory - Warehouse kit (Ref No:- T026) from SCALESCENES.COM and intend to make full use of this (pay / download once & print as many as you like) kit.  The "Workshops / Shops Under the Arches" kits (Ref Nos:- R019 / R020 respectively) will bebuilt and placed on the front of this raised track section.

 The photo above shows the MML HST snaking its way out of platform five; taking the middle (bi-directional) line then onto the "DOWN NORTH" route and into fiddle yard tracks 9 - 17.  Fiddle yard tracks 1 - 8 cover the "Cross Country" route diverging in the foreground.

Above:- The GNER HST (left) is in Fiddle Yard Track 17.

This end of the fiddle yard accesses the "Country" end of the layout.

All 17 tracks are able to feed the five tracks through the aforementioned end.

 

 The site of the station.  The Eurostar set is in platform one whilst the Mail Train is in platform six.

All platforms are able to hold a 2 + 6 formation HST as a minimum.

The "Country" section of the layout.  The line layout above, from left to right is as follows:-

UP RELIEF; UP MAIN; DOWN MAIN; DOWN RELIEF & UP / DOWN YARD.

The Class 37 and pipes load is held at the site of the 4 aspect signals whilst the Eurostar set builds speed as it passes.  The Freightliner Class 66 on the "Down Relief" hauling a container train, slows on the approaches to the station area limit of 40mph, whilst the Mail Train with PCV leading, is held at the site of the "UP YARD" signal before entering the aforementioned yard.

Left above:- The DMU storage / servicing area.

Right above:- A Eurostar set gains speed on the UP MAIN through the arch bridge.

 

<>   <>   <>   <>   <>   <>

25 - 05 - 09 

Since my last update three weeks ago, I have "Bitten the Bullet" again!

No ... not the Control Panel ...

I've never been over enthusiastic about the build quality of the raised level / lower baseboard area at the far end of the layout between the fiddle yard and the station / Transport Exchange, so I've taken up the whole area!

 The station board wasn't level when I first put up the baseboards and the height of the raised track area varied by a couple of inches between the exit from the station and the entrance to the fiddle yard.

A couple of inches DOES matter, according to my wife, but I don't understand what she means?!?!

The main concern I had with the three track raised level was that the underside was virtually enclosed.  Had the original survived, and I needed at some time to replace the points or wiring in this area, it would have been impossible.  All the wiring was situated close to each point and inaccessible.

I've now rectified the level of the station board and the lower board.  The raised track (above where the arches will be positioned) is now much better and level now.

I have cut out the lower baseboard directly under where the raised track is situated, and access will be greatly improved when completed.  The track plan in this area has also been slightly amended (although I'm glad to say, does not affect the new Control Panel).

I am in the process of running stock through the area to check for derailments etc.  Two or three of my Hornby Midland Mainline HST Mk.3 coaches still derail whilst negotiating two of my right-hand curved points over which I am heard uttering the occasional "oh bother!!!!"

If anybody has any suggestions ... answers on a postcard please!

I think I might possibly have to replace these offending bogies.

The area has now been disconnected and cleared.

 

Cutting out of the lower baseboard .... and the replacing of the raised section.

 Track (re) laying and creating gentler curves to both the fiddle yard and the station.

Slight track alteration here .... the offending curved points!

 

 <>   <>   <>   <>   <>   <>

CONTINUED FROM:-  W - i - P:- PAGE 2