Sleepers Perchance ...

SR style sleepers

As built, the Chelfham layout represents the station as it was post-1927 (when the lean-to was built at the up end of the station building). As such, it would probably have had concrete sleepers on the main line. I'm going to build a few lengths to see what they look like. In the background of the photo is an early attempt at making concrete sleepers, which sadly are not quite correct dimensionally - they're a bit narrow. I've had another go using CAD, and am waiting delivery of the 3D printed result. At the very least I will lay some concrete in the area of the water tower, supposing that the timber sleepers there would need replacing.

 

In the foreground is a trial run of early Southern period L&B sleepers, and they are stained as per John Clutterbuck's track articles in the Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review, but the Karlgarin rail still needs blackening and rail and KBscale rail clips need painting. By the way, John has since realized that it is much easier to weather the sleepers with a bit of emery before laying the track: this gives them a bleached look.

Peep Show

According to Stephen D Phillips (2012), The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Measured and Drawn, Hartlebury: S D Publications Ltd, the distance from rail height to the centre-line of the smokebox door on the L&B's Manning Wardles was 4ft. Assuming the Gibson Manning Wardle kits are accurate in this respect, and I will check, I need to raise my track bed from its current 41mm below the viaduct parapet to just 28mm.

In order to get my Manning Wardles to peep above the viaduct by just the right amount, I reckon on using a slab of 9mm ply underneath the foam, coffee-stirrer sleepers, and Karlgarin 82/7 rail. Yes, that will mean re-aligning the viaduct and station boards, but there's plenty of timber to play with in re-siting the board-joining dowels.

Keeping the Bridge

“Now who will stand on either hand,

And keep the bridge with me?”

Thomas Macaulay, Horatius




Behind Chelfham Viaduct

I’m re-laying the track on Chelfham to 0-14 standards. Therein hangs a tale.

I acquired Chelfham in February 2012, picking it up from Brian Taylor’s Lancing workshop. His only requirement of me was that the layout would once more be seen on the exhibition circuit. So it was that I ended up at Warley, NEC, in November that year.

Acutely short of rolling stock at Warley, I decided that a change of approach was necessary before the next outing. This will be in August 2013 at the Wiltshire 009 Group Open Day and MOMING ’13 in Pewsey.

What I decided to do was to rip up the Peco 0-16.5 track and start again by hand-building some 0-14 track as per the L&B formation. The photographs show some of the detail so far.

Peco 0-16.5 track removed, the pine track bed is revealed.

With the track removed, a plain timber track bed was revealed. In the fullness of time, the ballast will be scraped away and I will be able to check how level the track bed is. Meanwhile, I have to decide how I am going to raise the level so as to re-create the views that show the centre-line of the Manning Wardle boilers about equal to the height of the viaduct parapet. It is not as easy as putting extra timber underneath, for this will have knock-on effects at the join with the station board.

I am resisting the temptation to take out the viaduct structure and give it a ‘make-over’. The prototype, as most viaducts, curves by means of ‘thrupenny’ bit changes in direction at the piers. The model is wrong in using a smooth curve, however I probably do not have the time to do much about it unless by sleight of hand I paint ‘shadows’ and re-model the parapet to give the impression of sharp bends. My partners in crime in this venture, Steve and John, have my permission to reign me in by whatever means, for keeping what is really a club layout going very much depends on their help.