Regular readers will recall that I was quite taken with the GBL Jinty. Well after wandering around the area where I live (both online and in reality) I decided a small plaything based loosely on the sidings at Moor Street might be worth looking into. A day or so in Illustrator and the above plan was formed.
When I say loose I mean very loose. For a start Moor Street yard was firmly in GWR territory and I prefer the Midland. The yard at Moor Street was much longer and double ended and the canal is in a different place. Plus the mainline is double, not single and flat, mine is neither. The real location wasn’t, to my knowledge, as hemmed in by buildings as I wanted. The name is based on the nearby Brettell lane.
There’s also the opportunity to practise a few things I will be using on New Street, mainly laser cut baseboards and buildings. Plus it’s a bit more ‘railway’ than my shopping centre, which will be quite a long term project.
So with the help and guidance of Tim and a couple of days at the controls of his laser cutter a couple of baseboards were cut and assembled. A few mistakes were made but overall I was pleased with how they turned out.
Hi Jim
Looking good!!!!!
What period are you considering modelling? It would look nice with either loads of 16 ton Minerals or RCH 12 ton private owner wagons.
Bachmann’s 3F, 4F and the new 1F tank are all lovely models and would set the scene really well.
Yours
Clive
Jim,
As a long time fan of New Street (but hopeless at putting finger to keyboard) this looks like an artwork for Tate Modern. Inspirational stuff as usual!
Looks good Jim. Excellent to see that the romance of steam has finally got through, and hopefully not a D or E will get to see this one!!!!!!!!!
Have you thought about rounding the interior corners (even with as small a diameter of 20mm) just to break the squareness of them, of will the buildings tower over the railway?
Cheers,
John
Is it just me, or does Brettell Grove sound a bit like the ubiquitous small housing estate schemes that follows from the demise of these small railway yards? I thought Brettell Lane sounded rather appropriate, but then again that’s just me. I’ll follow this project with interest though – perhaps a new subheading on the website should be created?
Hi all. I plan to base this in the early 60s. I’m tempted to do another class 100 Dmu for it. I will plan to round the corners but I’ll set this layout in the dark (and the rain) so you might not see the corners anyway.
I wanted to break the ties with the real Brettell Lane but perhaps grove isn’t right either. How about either Brettell Road or Brettell Way?
In my opinion, road sounds better, however all feel a bit station-y. Brettell Street Sidings or Brettell Lane Marshaling Sidings could be better, just something to hint at its purpose. A nice little Midland Region signal box would look lovely all run down and dimly lit at night.
The signal box will be off scene to the left and the signal on the main will be off scene to the right. I plan to have evidence of their existence though, point rodding and signal wires etc
Hullo, Jim,
Is it ply or MDF, and what adhesive are you using? Have you had any experience of the newer Polyurethane glues yet, I’m interested in trying some.
Best wishes,
Doug
Hi Doug
This one is MDF and uses traditional PVA. I haven’t tried any polyurethane glues yet and to be honest don’t really know what they are. Is that stuff like Gorilla glue as seen on TV?
Eagle eyed readers will notice another tweak to the name, after feedback it’s now Brettell Road as I agree with those who said grove wasn’t quite right for the area.
This will be a fine layout I’m sure; looking forward to it Jim!
Thanks, Jim.
Yes, it is ‘Gorilla-ish’, and slightly gap filling with little sag or run-out. According to some blurbs it stays minutely flexible, some boat-builders now use it as it has much longer shelf life (12 months) than epoxy and cascamite type stuff so can be bought in realistically economic quantities…..
Doug