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I see that a few members are entering more than one model in this GB so, I thought I would fall in line.  For this build, I plan to do a little railway vignette.

 

Just to get you all excited and hanging on my every, typewritten, word; here is a view of my start.

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:rofl:

 

 

Mike

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Is that a Lone Star push along loco you have there?

 

Looks like we might have a mini-railway GB that has sneaked into this one. Will follow this with interest, my first visit to New Street was not until 1972 so I never knew it before the 1960's rebuilding.

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It truly is Paul.  I have been told that it represents a British Rail TM3, or just train in my terminology.  I have only just started on this railway milarky and; therefore, I have not started collecting rolling stock and trains yet, so am using the Lone Star loco for size representation. 

 

This entry will be a fairly simplistic build representing this area....

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NO!  just the little area on the left with the turntable. :dull:  It is all that will fit on the base board.

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I havent been able to find a decent view of the turntable when in use, all I know is that it was a 50 foot version. 

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This is how it looked just before the start of the massive rebuild of 1964.

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I plan to CAD the turntable and then 3D print it.

 

Mike

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I've started on the turntable's base.  It is the sunken type with the steel sides underneath, unlike the Airfix kit version.

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Mike

 

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Oh, you know us railway types love some steamy pictures off the internet!! Being a little country mouse, I know absolutely nothing of the railways of B'ham so can't offer much specific help (sure plenty can)!

What I would say though it that lots of turntables have a brick lined well (that's the hole in the ground- the bit on top is the deck), not sure if if the CAD software can do brickwork but it would be a nice bit of detail if it can.

The perspective of looking down on the scene will really emphasis the claustrophobia of the urban environment. Bring on the clag! 

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Yes, the CAD can do the brickwork but that would look better at OO/HO I think.  The inner wall is only 5mm high at 1:148 and, looking at the images above, the walls look smooth at a distance.

By the time I've slapped on the primer, followed by a good lathering of distemper with my pasting brush, then add the grime etc., it will look just right.  Trust me! :whistle:

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Still doing that but some of the dimensions are eluding me.  I have part of the bridge done and I'm trying to find the dimensions for the bedstead radars.

Mike

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

On 21/03/2021 at 17:23, bootneck said:

NO!  just the little area on the left with the turntable. :dull:  It is all that will fit on the base board.

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I havent been able to find a decent view of the turntable when in use, all I know is that it was a 50 foot version.

 

Hello everybody,

I have had to extend the area of this layout, mainly so that it encompasses the roads and high sided retaining walls, plus tunnels, that surround it.  This means a bigger board, measuring 80cm x 65cm, and a fresh print out of the area involved.

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My 3D printed turntable has been placed onto the drawing just for positioning purposes.  I shall drill a hole to fit it into at a later stage.  If this is build is successful, which I intend it to be, then I can add further modules on more boards; however they will be outside the remit of this GB. 

 

I'm off to learn about arched retaining walls, plus tunnels entrances and road bridges.

 

cheers,
Mike

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1 hour ago, bootneck said:

then I can add further modules on more boards

You're a railway modeller now! You'll never find one who doesn't think they need another baseboard- even Pete Waterman and Rod Stewart have this problem except they think they need a bigger barn!

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On 3/21/2021 at 5:23 PM, bootneck said:

I have been told that it represents a British Rail TM3

Slight transposition  there it is a 3MT (Class 3 Mixed Traffic Tank) although some people seem to think it is the slightly larger 4mt.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR_Standard_Class_3_2-6-2T

 

Interesting that the first reference for the turntable brings up is this one on another forum

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/163013-1950s-birmingham-new-street-turntable-and-other-scratchbuilds-in-n-gauge/

 

From reading both I presume that is you? One of my builds is active both here and Britmodeller.

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26 minutes ago, Paul821 said:

Interesting that the first reference for the turntable brings up is this one on another forum

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/163013-1950s-birmingham-new-street-turntable-and-other-scratchbuilds-in-n-gauge/

From reading both I presume that is you? One of my builds is active both here and Britmodeller.

Yes, it was recommended that I ask the question on RMweb as that was obviously more of a rail oriented forum.  As it turned out, the turntable wasn't anything like the Airfix version.

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There's not that much progress to show so far; however, identifying all that lines and crossovers took a fair bit of time and now I think everything is identified.

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The next thing to do was to make the battens under the base, this will allow the 3D printed turntable to be slotted into place.

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The layout or diorame (we mustn't call it a train set!) is bounded on all sides by raised over bridges and tunnels.  The white surrounding

rectangle will be the pavements on the roads above.

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More later.

 

Mike

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While you were sneaking off into a railway modelling forum were you pointed to this site?

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrbns_str1310a.htm

 

there are some details that are not shown on your base plan, mainly the existence of a number of trap (or catch) points.. 

 

You have set yourself a huge challenge here but in doing so made this a go to thread to watch,

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What details are they, and where are they positioned?  I have seen the Warwickshire plan; however, I am using an Ordnance Survey map c1956. 

Mike

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On 3/21/2021 at 5:23 PM, bootneck said:

 

This entry will be a fairly simplistic build representing this area....

For me, one of the most exciting things about this build (apart from welcoming you into the murky and steamy world of model railways) is the perspective of looking down on to the action rather than sideways at it, is going to be intriguing but also very reminiscent of childhood days peering over a railway bridge on tiptoes and trying to see what's going on down there- it's going to lend itself to something really claustrophobic

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'tis true, this diorama will be like looking into a pit, as the railway is surrounded on all sides by high sided retaining walls, tunnels and road bridges.  I may have to stop for the moment, perhaps even withdraw from the GB, though, as the comments raised by @Paul821 has left me concerned about the accuracy of my layout.   I am using an Ordnance Survey map and these I would tend to trust more than any other, probably from my military background; having said that, I am concerned whether the drawing referred to by Paul is more accurate or less.  

 

I have been looking on the referred site about that drawing but haven't found any provenance which would prove the drawings accuracy, just a statement saying it is a close in view.   It could either be a very accurate drawing, produced by an enthusiast who has 'walked the tracks', so to speak;  or it could be one of those compromise drawings that are produced to fit the types of available track on layouts.  Whichever way, I now have to step back and do more research and try to find out which plan is correct as there are marked differences in both.

 

Mike

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2 hours ago, bootneck said:

the comments raised by @Paul821 has left me concerned about the accuracy of my layout.

I hope my post does not lead to such doubts as I would hate to see this build come to a halt. I was just trying to point out that the additional diagram has some small details on it that the OS map does not. Looking at the OS map, the Warwickshire web diagram and the photo's together give a good impression of what the diorama could contain.

 

I cannot speak specifically about the Warwickshire web diagram but I know research for my "Exercise Meteor" project that the most common source of such diagrams is from the diagram that was displayed in signal boxes.. I think you will be safe using the OS map for scale and overall looks but just add some details from photo's and the diagram.

 

Please please do not give up!!

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On 4/8/2021 at 10:35 AM, bootneck said:

I have been looking on the referred site about that drawing but haven't found any provenance which would prove the drawings accuracy, just a statement saying it is a close in view.   It could either be a very accurate drawing, produced by an enthusiast who has 'walked the tracks', so to speak;  or it could be one of those compromise drawings that are produced to fit the types of available track on layouts.  Whichever way, I now have to step back and do more research and try to find out which plan is correct as there are marked differences in both.

 

Mike

 

Sadly my uncle who would have been able to answer this easily, died in February of the Covid. I'm sure someone can help you but those who can are thinning out. All the more reason to complete the project while you can get the info before it is lost forever!

 

Colin

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Hi,

 

A few years ago I stumbled across this site at the Scottish National Museum - don't know if it will be of any use? You can select maps from several different periods and scales. The dates and scales vary depending on which part of the UK you are looking at, but it helped me track down the route of a couple of local railway lines that have pretty well vanished since the 1950's - in one case partly under a new trunk road.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=19&lat=52.47832&lon=-1.90278&layers=168&b=1

 

Pete

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Fascinating project! I was too young to remember New Street before the rebuild (and we always saw my Auntie Grace off from Snow Hill anyway) but it got pretty grimy again by the late ‘70s!

 

Regards,

Adrian

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