My 4mm layout; Grisedale – Last Updated January 2008
Welcome to
my site devoted to the construction of my 4mm finescale layout.
The object
is to construct an exhibition layout based on a section of the former
The model is based on the assumption that the
The station architecture will be based on
Hellifield in
There is a 2 road locomotive shed with coal and
watering facilities. Goods facilities will be represented a Midland Railway 3
wagon shed.
Trackwork (complete), is made from C & L components in the scenic section, and SMP,
and Peco Streamline in the fiddle yard.
The vast majority of the locomotives, rolling
stock, plasticard and kits have been supplied by Monk Bar Model Shop in
The target completion
date for most of the Layout is January 2010.
This site is under
construction, and will evolve as time goes on
The following information
is divided into sections:
- Prototype
& Planning
- Layout
Construction
- Buildings
- Signalling
- Rolling Stock
- Short Films
- Any Questions?
Prototype & Planning
After working on a 2mm
layout in 2000 (that was never finished), I decided to return to 4mm in early
2002. Previously to the 2mm project,
I’d worked with 4mm on all my layouts.
In 1991, I completed “Cotterdale” (terminus to fiddle yard
in 4mm) that was based on the Hawes branch line. Cotterdale was completed within 18 months and
did everything it should, but became very unsatisfying in a short space of
time. Scenically, it was very pleased
with it, but I found that operationally, there was very little to it. I missed running a mainline (due to what I
had modelled before and witnessed on the full-sized railway).
I converted a large double
garage at my home, adding an extra floor, insulation, electrics and
skylights. This gave me roughly 23 x
10’ to work in.
My favourite period to
model is 1958 – 65. This was a
period of regeneration and saw the introduction of a lot of the first
generation diesels. The London Midland
region of British Railways has always been my favourite (mainly because I spent
most of my childhood next to the Settle & Carlisle route).
Whilst thinking about a
track plan, I looked though various books and magazines in search of something
typical that I could use. One plan in
particular was very interesting and that was “Dent Head Junction”
on the late David Jenkinson’s Little Long Drag 4mm layout. David had built a layout assuming that the
I emailed David in early
2004 to ask if I could use his track plan and he replied “I have no
problem with anyone using my track plans. They were drawn partly with this in
mind and they do say that imitation is a sincere form of flattery!” He added “Good luck with the project.
It sounds no more far-fetched than some of my ideas”. Naturally this then became the choice.
I’d been wondering about a
name for the station taken from the area.
I’d also put this to David.
He suggested” If you want an alternative name, how about
'Grisedale'? This has a similar ring to it and is a small tributary valley
which joins the main valley at Garsdale Head, almost opposite the actual
location of Garsdale station. Just a thought............” So, the name Grisedale was born.
David originally had his little long
Drag on an area 36’ in length, and although part of this was occupied by
a viaduct, I had to compress a few things slightly and take out one or two
points in the station area.
It was important to be scale length
trains into the platforms, and using this as a starting point, I modified the
track plan to suit within the space I had without cutting too many corners
(track plan to appear on the site later).
I wanted to be able to have minimum
radius curves of 4’ on the scenic side and 3’ on the rest. This I managed to achieve with the space
available and it also meant I could have close coupled rolling stock.
The architecture for the station
building is based on the
Back to Top
Layout
Construction
(newest photographs lowermost)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Because I’m a member
of both the EM gauge and Scalefour societies and have been modelling railways
for over 30 years, it was decided to hand build the track on the scenic side of
the layout.
I had originally planned to
build the layout in EM gauge, but decided to construct it in 00 finescale. One of the major factors for this was that I
have a lot of rolling stock with the 00 back-to-back measurements and straight
out-of-the box Bachmann and Hornby Locomotives.
However, EM and P4 gauges are more accurate and the track is easier to
build because of the less sloppy wheel standards. On reflection I should have built it to EM
gauge as I probably spent as much if not more time constructing it in 16.5mm
finescale.
This layout will be my
final offering in 16.5mm and I will probably rebuild it to EM gauge after two
years on the exhibition circuit. I do
have another small EM gauge layout I am working on but this is very much at the
beginning stage. Photographs will follow
later.
The entire track on the
scenic section was made using a combination of C & L components combined
with ply and rivet sleepers described by Iain Rice in his book “An
introduction to Finescale Track.”
Various point and diamond
templates were purchased from C & L Finescale. Most were used as they were, but others were
modified for curves etc. Some pointwork
was drawn out by hand where the situation demanded it.
The baseboards were made
using a principle pioneered by Barry Norman in his book “Landscape Modelling”. This used a system of 6mm ply cut into strips
sandwiched between blocks of pine. This
makes the boards very light, and as most of mine were 5 x 3’, this was a
necessity.
The trackbed rests on cork
which in-turn rests on 9mm ply cut out to the shape of the track.
One of the problems
encountered during the summer was some of the trackwork warped, even though I
felt I had adequate insulation and ventilation.
One thing I learnt was that when you hand build finescale track to got
into an area where there is even a slight variation in temperature, you must
leave adequate gaps between the joints.
Control for the trains is
provided by Gaugemaster units with a combination of panel mounted and
walkabouts.
For uncoupling purposes,
electromagnets have been placed around the layout and suitably disguised. These are operated from a 16 volt supply and
energised by push buttons on a control panel.
Back to Top
Buildings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the time of writing,
some of the buildings have been started or nearly completed using embossed
plasticard. I managed to get a copy of
the original drawings of the locomotive shed from Hellifield from Network Rail,
and I measured Hellifield station myself.
The viaduct dimensions are
based on those from Appersett viaduct near Hawes (only I’ve made it for
double track and not single). The
viaduct itself is removable and made from ply and hardboard. I’ve started to stick on Wills embossed
stonework as the photographs show.
Back to Top
Signalling
|
|
|
|
|
As signalling is an area of
which I have considerable interest, I wanted to have working signals operated
from a leverframe.
The signals are combination
of Ratio and MSE, mostly upper quadrant, but one or two ex-Midland lower
quadrant types.
The signalling is
effectively divided into a north and a south box, and signalling diagrams were
drawn up for both. I wanted to
incorporate the convention of slotted signals so that a signal could only be
cleared when a lever had been reversed in both boxes.
The actual leverframes are
from Model Signal Engineering, and operate a small slide switch behind the
frame that in turn controls a Fulgurex point motor.
Back to Top
Rolling
Stock
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At present, the entire locomotive
fleet I have is r-t-r from Hornby and Bachmann, suitably weathered and
detailed. In order to have the
locomotives run on the finescale track, the back-to-backs have been opened up
to finescale 00. It is my eventual aim to add kit built example to the
locomotive fleet. I have many
“Comet Models” replacement chassis and Markits wheels for a number
of locomotives, but these conversions will be carried out at a later date when
the layout is more complete.
The wagons however, are
mostly kitbuilt from Parkside, Airfix, Ratio and Dapol. These wagons have been detailed and weathered
using various techniques, and are fitted with the Dingham Autocoupler. Some of the wagons have been weighted by
using “Fluid Lead” underneath held in with dilute PVA.
Coaching stock is mainly
Hornby and Bachman r-t-r, but I have some Comet kits waiting in the
wings….
Back to Top
Short
Films
1st clip on YouTube shot August 2007
2nd clip on YouTube shot August 2007
Any Questions?
If you have any questions
about the layout, research, and techniques involved please contact me on the
email address below.
Back to Top
Back to Homepage