Lock Down Layout - Part 1 The Plan

With our sudden move to Alert Level 4 lock down and the opportunity to 'work' from home I thought now might be a good time to build a small lockdown micro layout. 

Since all my loco's are DCC I was going to put together a short programming track but why not make it into a proper layout. I've never built a layout to the scenicing stage. This will give me a great opportunity to practice all the different facets of model railways - bench work, track laying, DCC wiring, structure building and scenicing. Also by finishing a micro layout my wife will stop accusing me of buying stuff and not finishing anything.

The only downside is that I can only use what I have in the shed. 

A short internet search found a great plan that would work well as a micro layout, The track plan is Peco's Setrack OO Plan 30 - Locotec and Dewsbury Cement Terminal.

This plan is pretty simple and with a main and a single point leading to a siding. The original plan depicts a cement plant on the right hand side which can be shunted using both sidings and a goods shed on the right hand side that would receive wagons carrying machinery and other materials. At 122cm by 30cm (4' x 1') this is a good little layout that could be built fairly quickly.

I didn't have to look to far to find a Victorian prototype that would work with this plan. During my trip to Melbourne in 2016 I visited the Allied Flour Mill siding at Kensington. This is one of the last examples of broad gauge trains serving a Melbourne industry. 

I found some photos that I took on my visit in 2016 showing the mill. 

Unfortunately when I visited there was no train in the siding. So I had to search online to find these great photos of Kensington on the Wongm's Rail Gallery website. This is great resource of photos from around Melbourne and Victoria. You can find the Wongm's Rail Gallery website here.

The siding has a simple unloading operation. A loaded grain train arrives and starts to unload the first two wagons using an under track auger. When the first two wagons are unloaded the locomotive pulls the train forward positioning the second two loaded wagons over the auger. As these wagons start to unload the locomotive and first two now empty wagons cut off the train and move up the back shunt clear of the points. The points are set for the other siding and the loco pushes the two wagons back. The loco then cuts off the empty wagons and returns up the back shunt. The points are reset and the loco moves back onto the train. The train is again pulled forward with the third two wagons positioned above the auger for unloading. The loco and the second two now empty wagons are cut off before moving up the backshunt. This shunting sequence continues until all the wagons have been unloaded. 

A youtube video of the Kensington grain train shunting the flour mill siding can be found here. 

So the plan I have is something like this...

The layout differs from the siding at Kensington because it has a right hand point and not a left hand one. This is because I can only find a spare right hand point.. If I can find a left hand point I will use that to match the real thing.

And that's about it.

The slightly delayed June Magazine Wrap Up

 

Like all railfans and railway modellers I'm an avid railway magazine collector. I've got who knows how many plastic boxes full of railway magazines.

Two magazines I've purchased over the last few months were the latest issues of the The Linesider and the NZ Model Railway Journal.

The Linesider 

First up is the Winter Quarter - June 2021 issue of The Linesider. As you can tell by the photo my copy already has some wear from being read cover to cover a few times. 

The Linesider has more than adequately filled the gap created when New Zealand Railfan ceased publication last year. While similar to NZ Railfan The Linesider is more of a pictorial magazine.

The June 2021 issue is the fourth issue since the magazine first entered book and hobby shops in 2020. Like the last three issues this magazine contains a range of articles and photos to keep any person with an interest in New Zealand's railways happily turning the pages.

This issue has a short article / pictorial about the recent heritage Great Southern Train Tour, an article about the last train to Tahakopa on the Catlins River Branch in 1971, an article and pictorial on the rebuild of the DB class diesel locomotives into the DBR class, an article on the recording of steam locomotive sounds, an excellent pictorial on New Zealand trains in winter landscapes, a good railfan story on capturing the last week of widespread use of diesel locomotive hauled and diesel multiple unit suburban passenger trains around the Auckland passenger network and the standard railfan news update.

As a fan of New Zealand railways in the 1980's the DB / DBR article and pictorial was my favourite in this issue. The highlight being the very good photos from well known railway photographer Dave Simpson. 

This is a high quality magazine which the Linesider team should be justifiably proud of. The magazine contains a large number of good quality photos and the articles are well written. As good as anything I have seen internationally.

NZ Model Railway Journal

The second magazine is the June 2021 issue of the NZ Model Railway Journal. This is the 414th issue of the magazine of the New Zealand Model Railway Guild.

As its name suggests this magazine looks at all things related to the modelling of New Zealand's railways. 

In this issue there is an article on the building of New Zealand general store, building an NZ120 (1:120) scale DXC locomotive in five (!) days, building a 1940's Chevrolet pick up and truck in 1:64 S scale, NZ Finescales wonderful new 'Addington' passenger carriage kit, a comprehensive article on NZR's 4-8-2 J class steam locomotives and building the JG Models legendary J class kit, another comprehensive article on the NZR 1897-1905 30 foot brake vans and an article on the recently released kit of these vans in 1:64 scale. The magazine ends with reports from the 9mm scene in New Zealand and the Christchurch NZR modellers' group, trade news and upcoming events.

Like The Linesider this is a high quality magazine and compares favourably with the more well known international railway modelling magazines.

Overall two great additions to my magazine collections.

And that's about it.