The Westwood & Loscoe Light Railway

[hussra]

I wish Peco did tighter radius points.

Build 'em yourself!

(Seriously, it turns out to be quite fun and not that tricky - at least, not as tricky as I had convinced myself it was going to be. Would be happy to write up my methods, if anyone would find it interesting. I reckon mine have worked out at perhaps 1/3 the price of a new Peco point.)

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

I'd be very interested in that! Especially if you can put some advice in for 45mm as well...

[hussra]

I'd be very interested in that! Especially if you can put some advice in for 45mm as well...

I've never tried 45mm... but given materials, templates and track gauges it can be done. Let me have a go at writing up what I've done in 32mm, in the first instance; I did take plenty of photos during the most recent bout.

I'll do that on a different thread, obviously, and after Christmas. (Have sermon to write for Sunday, then it all goes crazy.)

[Peter L]

I'd be very interested in that! Especially if you can put some advice in for 45mm as well...

I've never tried 45mm... but given materials, templates and track gauges it can be done. Let me have a go at writing up what I've done in 32mm, in the first instance; I did take plenty of photos during the most recent bout.

I'll do that on a different thread, obviously, and after Christmas. (Have sermon to write for Sunday, then it all goes crazy.)

I'm really excited to see this too.

[Narrow Minded]

Thanks very much chaps:D
I have to say, it was done in a "bit of a rush" between work, weather & hospital visits, but I'm pleased with the result

Why the widened loop.

It looked too "mainline" to my eye, plus, it's another trick to make it look like there's more space than there actually is - more smoke & mirrors!

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Smoke and mirrors eh? Well I've done smoke... Mirrors.... Hmmmm...

[IrishPeter]

All still very raw, but here's the results of the re-alignment so far.
A widened loop at Westwood with an added goods platform;





The Office;



The town section;



And here's the "entrance to the new loop;



The loop leaving the woods before crossing the bridge;

I like the new version much better than the old. Much, much better IMHO. The old layout whilst still smashing, looked a bit constipated. I am not sure why, it just did.

Peter in AZ

[Narrow Minded]

I like the new version much better than the old.  Much, much better IMHO.  The old layout whilst still smashing, looked a bit constipated.  I am not sure why, it just did.

Not quite the description that sprang to my mind, but describes the motivation very well!

[IrishPeter]

I think it has something to do with the way which we expect things to look.

Two-foot gauge lines tended to be built in tight spaces - ledges carved into mountains, pre-existing industrial plants, that sort of thing. The 2-footer par excellance for most of us is the Festiniog, and it has both hings going on - wedging into the industrial environment at the uper end, and the need to traverse some rugged terrain on the way to Porthmadog.

2'6" and its relatives - 75cm, 76cm, 30 Saxon inches, etc. tended to be low cost rural feeder lines, so geography and the cost of land were not so much of an issue so they tended to spread a bit. Both the L&MVLR and the W&LLR were initially surveyed by E A Calthrop who advocated big clearences to allow for the passage of large vehicles to maximize the efficiency of the railway. I think most German 75cm lines were built big with the idea of future conversion to standard gauge, or something like that. Certainly, the prevailence of Calthrop's favourite toy - the rollwagen - suggests some awareness of the need to maximize carry capacity at an early stage of development.

Anyhow, I think that is why those of us who have slightly broader tendancies tend to think that tight clearences look 'wrong' - they are just not a usual part of the visual make up of 750/760/762/783mm gauge lines.

Peter in AZ

[Narrow Minded]

All very true and well observed Peter thanks, however, even the Ffestiniog demonstrates a "broader sweep" at its terminus;



It was this "feel" I was after (and getting away from the impression of the mainline 'Six Foot' created by standard LGB track geometry and straight lines - hence the laxative

[TommyDodd]

 I think most German 75cm lines were built big with the idea of future conversion to standard gauge, or something like that.  Certainly, the prevailence of Calthrop's favourite toy - the rollwagen - suggests some awareness of the need to maximize carry capacity at an early stage of development.

Anyhow, I think that is why those of us who have slightly broader tendancies tend to think that tight clearences look 'wrong' - they are just not a usual part of the visual make up of 750/760/762/783mm gauge lines.

Peter in AZ

Insightful and interesting thoughts, which also ring true for the vast Bosnian Gauge networks in the Balkans. I think the Sachsiche Schmalspurbahnen were built big for rollbocke and rollwagen rather than conversion. Such devices were already in use by the time the first of the lines opened in 1881, and the twists and turns of the NG lines would've been very difficult for the big tracks to follow. Only two lines were ever converted, and I've ridden them both in standard gauge format. Dresden Klotzsche- Konigsbruck has roadside sections and twists and turns like a tramway so speeds are very low, and the Muglitztalbahn (Heidenau-Altenberg) had to use a LOT of new alignment to find a straighter path into the mountains- certainly a lot of the original NG alignment is still clearly visible from the modern trains, further down the bank hugging the river more closely.

[IrishPeter]

The Bosnian stuff started off as Austrian Military railways constructed starting IIRC in the 1880s. They were intended to both act as basic transportation and as a supply line for the Austrian Army in the event of a Balkan War. In the days of Empire there was always a serious chance of a major confrontation in the Balkans between Austria and Russia. Serbia was basically in the Russian orbit, whilst Croatia and Bosnia were in Austria sphere of influence if not actually in the Empire (It is about 25 years since I last studied this stuff, so I am a bit hazy; I think Croatia was Austrian, but Bosnia was techically a free province or some such of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany is far more familiar)

JZ completed a 76cm gauge mainline to just short of Belgrade linking the capital to Sarajevo in 1928. This inculuded the famous 'Sargan 8' which was abandoned about 1966, but reopened in 2002 as a tourist line. Trains faced fifteen miles of 1 in 55 to get over the mountain! I have a site devoted to the JZ 76cm line saved in my favourites somewhere or other. I'll post a link when I remember.

Peter in AZ

[Narrow Minded]

Anyhow, back to the W&L ( ) and "Plan B" has been executed at Loscoe.
The gap has been filled by the displaced building from Westwood, so the long term search for a Tuxcraft terrace (Wanted & Help Me threads) is now off.

[TommyDodd]

http://www.penmorfa.com/JZ/index.htm perhaps?

History and politics of the area pretty much spot-on, though Bosnia was a fragmentary remnant of the Ottoman Empire until Annexed by the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary (Croatia was sort-of ruled by the Hungarian part- internal politics in the dual monarchy were fun!). The route that included the Sargan 8 crossed the Bosnian-Serbian border, and was a very strange piece of political, economic and military "friendly hostility". Basically, the armies in both countries identified the route as a vital strategic avenue of advance for when (not if) war came, but building railways through mountains is an expensive hobby, and terminating them in the middle of nowhere guaranteed they wouldn't pay for themselves in peacetime and thus could not be afforded by either poor country. So in order to create a military asset vital for the invasion of the enemy, each country had to co-operate with that same enemy and ensure the line was built as an international through-route in the hope that enough traffic would make the whole mad enterprise affordable. And you thought your made up history was a bit implausible...?

EDIT: Oh, and apologies for bungling!

[laurence703]

It looks good Has a nice bit of Character about it

[IrishPeter]

To Tommy Dodd - that's the fella! Does wonders for my attitude to spend half an hour or so looking at that site when I am having a bout of the black dog.

Otherwise...

New arrangements on the W&LLR are a huge improvement. The 30" gauge flavour is much stronger.

Peter in AZ

[Narrow Minded]

Oh, and apologies for bungling!

No apologies necessary, it kinda stayed "on topic" discussing the NG look / feel

[Narrow Minded]

Yay! The postie has just been and delivered my replacement for that horrible right-hand turnout to the engine shed!



Just need the weather to play ball for all to be revealed!

[Narrow Minded]

The wet'n'windy weather continues to hamper the Permanent Way departments valiant efforts to complete the track renewals before Christmas, but work continues indoors on the "Codnor Castle" signal box
A little slower than I'd hoped due to other commitments, and again it's looking doubtful that it'll be finished before Santa makes it back to the North Pole, so here's a taster in the form of a mock-up of the interior layout -

[hussra]

A little slower than I'd hoped due to other commitments, and again it's looking doubtful that it'll be finished before Santa makes it back to the North Pole, so here's a taster in the form of a mock-up of the interior layout -

Very nice - are some of these parts from Steve Warrington's detailing sets? I'm sure I recognise the booking desk!