The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

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The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:09 pm

Well, in my thread "Finishing the unfinished" I have referred a few times to the Rylston Light Railway mark 2, and should nothing occur to prevent, this is where I will keep you up to date. But nothing really to excite you all at present; just the removal of some huge Leylandii (not by me!).

But I thought that we ought to start with a recap on the RLR Mark 1.

This was in fiction a Dales line developed as a common carrier to service the limestone quarries within the dale. It was incorporated in 1879 utilising the Tramways Act, but was re-incorporated in 1898 after the Light Railways Act to take advantage of that. Like all smaller railways it suffered from competition from the roads and lack of post-war investment, and cessation of passenger services in 1938, it finally faced closure in the early 50s before a group of students from the Leeds University Mechanical Engineering Society combined with others to preserve the railway after the Tal -y -Llyn example. Luckily the well known railway photographer the Rev Calstock made many visits to the railway both before and after preservation.

Early preservation days at Little Weighton, with 0-4-0ST "Tom" in charge of a rake of original coaches:
Tom steam in sun at rest.png
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And a few minutes later after the right of way was shown:
Tom steam setting off.png
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The railway had also acquired a diesel mechanical from a Lincolnshire potato farm, here seen on a short PW clearance train near Weighton bank viaduct:
Pog near viaduct.png
Pog near viaduct.png (458.39 KiB) Viewed 7500 times

0-4-0ST "Tom" plods up the bank:
Tom near gate.png
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There is nothing as evocative as seeing the tail-end of a train; the poor state of the track in the early preservation years was evident:
Brake van leaving LW.png
Brake van leaving LW.png (479.56 KiB) Viewed 7500 times
Hope that you like the outside shots as much as the workshop

Andy.
Last edited by RylstonLight on Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:19 pm

Of course things weren't always as rosy-coloured as the RLR in preservation and the Rev Calstock ventured to Little Weighton in the closure years.

The building was a little worse for wear:
Closure notice.jpg
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The general view from the kissing gate:
LW in closure.png
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The ambient winter weather in the dale meant a substantial snowplough was needed; but in closure it was left to the rabbits to play around:
Abandoned plough.png
Abandoned plough.png (265.02 KiB) Viewed 7495 times

More to follow

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:24 pm

In fact Rev Calstock managed access to the running shed at Rylston in 1954.
running shed board.png
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running shed corner.png
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running shed general.png
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In reality both Little Weighton and Rylston running shed will be incoporated into the RLR mark 2, should nothing occur to prevent.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:39 pm

Great introduction Andy and storyline.

Do keep us all updated with your progress.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by Soar Valley Light » Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:44 pm

You've done it again Andy. I thought the first two photos were of a narrow gauge line somewhere, I was several pictures in before I realised! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by LNR » Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:28 pm

More superb pictures Andy. That Little Weighton station building is another beauty, glad to hear it will find a place on the RLR mk.2 and I do hope nothing does occur to prevent.
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by Peter Butler » Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:40 pm

Andrew is absolutely right about the first pictures... I too was convinced they were real life photographs which you based your railway on. Superb photography, but I think you might have had some practise.
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:52 am

Peter Butler wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:40 pm . . . but I think you might have had some practise.
And an awful lot of duds :)

Thé secret to good model photos, IMO, low viewpoint, high f-number, tripod and lots of repetition.

Little Weighton station was mocked up with the run-down windows during a renovation; it spends most of its time in a much less decayed state. As an aside about he old aphorism that « there is a prototype for everything » : I named LIttle Weighton as a pun, only to find a station sign of that name on the wall of the National Railway Museum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_We ... ay_station

My Little Weighton Station was the only really photogenic spot on the RLR mark 1, and is the main impetus to the design principles of mark 2. The aim is to design an inward-looking world with a series of vistas that allow the trains to be seen (and photographed) against a minis cape of scale shrubs. More on this topic in future.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by LNR » Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:00 am

RylstonLight wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:52 am Thé secret to good model photos, IMO, low viewpoint, high f-number, tripod and lots of repetition.
I'll second all of those, although I tend to use sticks, bricks, buckets anything of the height required (used two brooms crossed yesterday for a boat pic.) instead of a tripod.
I used to be able to hold a camera steady and level, but that is getting harder these days.
Also, the engine and rolling stock (generally the focus of a pic, though it doesn't have to be) should appear in the scene not on it. Matt and satin finishes and toned down colours do it for me.
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:26 am

LNR wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:00 am
. . . although I tend to use sticks, bricks, buckets anything of the height required (used two brooms crossed yesterday for a boat pic.) instead of a tripod . . .
. . . the engine and rolling stock (generally the focus of a pic, though it doesn't have to be) should appear in the scene not on it.
Grant.
Agreed to all of that. Have you tried a disposable glove filled with rice and tied off at the wrist: excellent bean-bag for low level shots where you can’t get tripod in. Most of the pictures above were taken this way.

A good way, IMO, to place the subject (often the loco) within the scene is to have some foreground interest. In the above picture it is the fence but suitable scale clutter can be kept to place appropriately. This places the subject within the scale world as you say. That’s why a wide aperture/high f-stop is important.

The camera doesn’t need to be very fancy. All the above were taken with a bridge camera (maybe 15y old Fuji Finepix). You just have to read the instructions on manually controlling the exposure. Wider exposures lead to longer times, so moving shots have to be a compromise of course.

My final approach is to look critically at the background. You see lots of distracting things that the brain rules out in real-time viewing. Go back, remove the distraction or alter the camera angle either horizontally or vertically, and re-shoot. 90% of my « good » shots have been shot first with near misses. It is faster to get it right in-camera than to post-process, and you get a better result unless you are an expert in post-processing. The exception is minor crops.

I wonder if people would be as impressed with my models if I didn’t spend time on the photograph :roll:

Andy
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:58 am

Just a bit of fun - hope it is viewable at this resolution. :D

Cuneo Print (640x443).jpg
Cuneo Print (640x443).jpg (345.6 KiB) Viewed 7406 times

Seems all right on preview. No prizes on spotting the mouse ;) . Apologies to the late Terence (and his daughter) who was/is a hero (heroine) of mine.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by LNR » Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:21 am

Hope I'm not hi-jacking your thread here Andy.
Agree about the camera, mine's a small 12 yr. old Olympus kept on aperture priority (only goes to f8 but that's where it stays for most things). Foreground is important, I like using a road, fence or rail line to lead the eye through the pic. I'm using more post processing at the moment (summer, very high contrasts) especially pushing and pulling gamma, contrast and saturation though some of that could be the way the camera measures light. Artists talk of the light here in Australia, but sometimes you can have too much.
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by bazzer42 » Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:25 am

Lovely photos and lovely memories of looking for the mouse on Hornby catalogues :D

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:11 pm

bazzer42 wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:25 am . . . lovely memories of looking for the mouse on Hornby catalogues :D
I’d forgotten that. Me too

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Mon Mar 12, 2018 1:15 pm

LNR wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:21 am Hope I'm not hi-jacking your thread here Andy . . .
Grant.
No hijacking involved Grant, The concept of the RLR mark2 is all about viewpoint (and therefore photographs) leading into the miniscape. The more discussion about photographs the better before my plans move from CAD to reality :study: .

I was struck by a UK electric mouse layout called Crumley and Little Wickhill that has been unkindly compared to a stealth bomber. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxo-KbrNRYM ). It is designed so that from any viewing aspect you see the train coming toward you through the scenery with a degree of depth. Compare that to most garden railways, which because of space, boundaries and trying to maximise radii, tend to go around the periphery of the garden leading you to look outward to visible 12inch/foot background and often restricted depth.

I wondered if you could force the viewer to look inward to the miniscape. If using live steam this couldn’t really be along the lines of a stealth bomber shape, even if you had the space which I don’t.

Ironically the plan I came up with is not dissimilar to the old-fashioned table-top 6x4 foot! I hope the following sketch isn’t too cluttered.
36213BE0-560D-4E32-9360-2B402DE1559E.png
36213BE0-560D-4E32-9360-2B402DE1559E.png (235.96 KiB) Viewed 7388 times

The black clover-leaf shape is the track-plan, which of course consists of convex and concave curves. We tend to view (and photograph) models from an angle of 30degrees (to get a view of the whole train). This means on the convex curve the viewpoint tends to lead outside the miniscape to the real world (red arrow). Not what we want. However on the concave curves the eye tends to be lead into the miniscape contained within the clover-leaf (blue arrow). Which very much is what we want.

The concept is to build up higher than the track-bed datum outside the track on the convex arcs to block the eye (when at model level) away from real world distractions (profile through A-A). On the convex curves there is no such constraint allowing the eye to be drawn into the miniscape, and allowing vistas with some depth (profile through B-B). I hope that I am being clear here.

The plan allows access to the train from the periphery and depth of scale viewpoint, with blocking real-world viewpoints. On the down side the design leads to tighter track radii than if you coursed it around the periphery of the same available garden space.

Of course the theory is challenged by real world compromises. And, of course, it is just theory, and plans on CAD, at present.

Is this boring and esoteric, or do you want more posts on how it translates to real plans? No offence if this planning is not anyone’s cup of tea no wanted.

Andy
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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by Tom the blacksmith » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:53 pm

Hi Andy,

I too was completely taken in by the first two photos in this post, the penny only dropped with the later picture of Tom and even then I had to go back and check.

Far from Boring!! I for one would be very interested to read more about your track design. I'm sketching out ideas at the moment and have been thinking about views so this thread is real food for thought. I'd very much like to see how the sketch would relate to track plans or CAD images.

Tom

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by Soar Valley Light » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:25 pm

Hi Andy,

You make some very interesting and relevant points in that last post. I'd never considered the finer points of viewing position. I realise it has a big effect on the realism of our railways but I'd never considered the details of viewing angle in those terms, nor the difference that the topographical angle can make.

Please keep the details coming, this is great stuff and so useful. :thumbup:

All the best,

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by LNR » Wed Mar 14, 2018 1:49 am

Looking at the Crumley layout, it has what I believe to be the optimal topography for a garden railway, with sloping hillsides with trackwork cut into it, and so being able to control the background.
Fences are the bane of my life so far as photos are concerned. One advantage of small digital cameras is the places you can get them to take a shot (especially if they have a swivelling viewfinder, which mine does not) In these examples as you can see the fence is to the left,
Rail Garden Pics. 476.jpg
Rail Garden Pics. 476.jpg (130.98 KiB) Viewed 6032 times
But put the camera against the fence looking in as you describe and the lenses limitations pull trees and bushes, which are actually across the yard right up to appear behind the station building.
Rail Garden Pics. 480.jpg
Rail Garden Pics. 480.jpg (138 KiB) Viewed 6032 times
I guess a lot depends on the reasons we build our railways, apart from my love of live steam, a sense of realism is also my aim.
Grant.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by ge_rik » Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:50 am

LNR wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 1:49 am I guess a lot depends on the reasons we build our railways, apart from my love of live steam, a sense of realism is also my aim.
Very much achieved, Grant. That. together with the imaginative way you frame and stage your photos.

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Re: The Rylston Light Railway (Mark 2)

Post by RylstonLight » Wed Mar 14, 2018 11:15 am

That is the effect I am after, Grant, but the difficulty I have is being hemmed in by house walls, and the garden width gives no depth to use distant 1:1 vegetation as a back drop. The adjoining properties abut right up to the boundary of my garden so their house walls are the boundary itself. Cheap on boundary maintenance for me, but it means I cannot have a raised track bed around the periphery of my garden on that side anyway.

This means the railway has to be away from the wall which again leads back to the clover-leaf concept. The plot available to the railway is a rectangle and so the clover-leaf is distorted to fit. CAD plans will follow when I work out the best way to export them to read here.

At least the house walls are Yorkshire stone which helps give them a neutral effect to a slight degree.

The garden itself would be twice the size if I didn’t have to accommodate a car turn-round (as I live on a busy narrow trunk road). If anyone wishes to convert the A628 to a residential street then my railway plans will expand :D .

Andy
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