Building the United Kingdom

[itareus]

.....when I was a 'card and glue' modeller. (Anyone remember Seccotine?)......

I can't remember the Seccotine because MekPak (remember that ?) ruined my memory cells.....

Ray & R3 - if you are working on historically correct routes and require specific information on mileages, bridge dimensions etc. for the former "GE" area I may be able to help - by PM only please. Sorry but I can't take requests like "gimme all the data for East Anglia".

Cheers

Chris (Bit of a Mongrel)

 

[L1ONHEART]

Well, the width of my county seems to have been compressed to just 12 baseboards, judging by the map - which is a little over 8.5 kilometres or just over 5 miles. I can assure you that Norfolk is somewhat bigger - around 70 miles from East to West.

I respect that, but I've been using a general road map which is 4 miles to 1 inch lol. So that's why my version looks a little too small..

 

[L1ONHEART]

I will make a fresh new topic of my project as I will start from scratch when I recieve my copy of TS2010 in a few days...

I tried to register my TRS2004, but then it came up saying the serial number has already been registered, now I remember registering it when I got it a few years ago but not under this account, I remember registering it with my Dad's email as I didn't have one at the time.

Anyway can't wait till I get TS2010, will be better, hopefully will run smoothly on my PC.

 

[ray_whiley]

Hi, rumour3

Thank you for pointing me to your screenshots. I will enjoy looking at them.

Ray

 

[ray_whiley]

Hi, LIONHEART

I can appreciate that you are using a map to that scale - I do too on occasion, plus of course OS maps and some old maps which you can find online - look for SABRE maps - they are of great historical interest and show many long-closed railway routes. But I must say that 'a little too small' is rather stretching a point! How do you fit in all the stations?

Ray

 

[ray_whiley]

Hi Itareus

Thank you for your kind offer - much appreciated. If I need anything I will certainly PM you. As far as Heacham to Wells is concerned - and that's taken, as I say, three or four years so far 'off and on' with no scenery to speak of as yet - I think I have all I need from Stanley C Jenkins's book on the Lynn and Hunstanton and West Norfolk and old maps online from SABRE maps. I've got several other books, too, on East Anglian routes which should keep me busy if/when I finish the West Norfolk. I may post some screenshots when I've signed up for an alternative to ImageShack, with which there seem to be problems.

I've recently imported the West Norfolk, such as it is, into TS2010 so maybe my interest will be re-awakened!

Ray

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Hi L1ONHEART.

Have you tried a sample area on a single baseboard at the proposed scale?

I reckon that the track junctions and bends will be impossible to achieve. Even dual track will overlap if you are using the centre line of the sleepers as the reference point – unless, of course, you are making your own scaled down tracks.


@ ray_whiley

Seccotine!

That brings back some 1950s memories. My late father used loads of it to model my 00 gauge layout when I was a kid.

It didn't have such a nice smell as the original balsa wood aeroplane glue though. That came in lead tubes and set rock hard (the newer stuff was too pliable) with an odour not dissimilar to general anaesthetic. No wonder it got taken off the market!

Cheers
Casper

 

[L1ONHEART]

Hi, LIONHEART

I can appreciate that you are using a map to that scale - I do too on occasion, plus of course OS maps and some old maps which you can find online - look for SABRE maps - they are of great historical interest and show many long-closed railway routes. But I must say that 'a little too small' is rather stretching a point! How do you fit in all the stations?

Ray

lol yeah I'll have to find a map with a better scale I can work on! Yeah I noticed about that - Sheringham St is way too close to Cromer St!

 

[L1ONHEART]

Hi L1ONHEART.

Have you tried a sample area on a single baseboard at the proposed scale?

I reckon that the track junctions and bends will be impossible to achieve. Even dual track will overlap if you are using the centre line of the sleepers as the reference point – unless, of course, you are making your own scaled down tracks.

Well I've already tried building it, so I've got a general idea of what it would look like.

As I've said in my last post ^^ I should purchase a map with a larger scale then it might be easier to work on.

 

[geophil]

As I've said in my last post ^^ I should purchase a map with a larger scale then it might be easier to work on.

No reason to purchase a new map. Try http://streetmap.co.uk and move around at 1:50,000. This will give you a much better impression of reality than your small scale road atlas.

 

[FlyingScottmond]

I am not a very experienced mapper but at the start of the second half of the year I shall begin my course in graphic design. Once I am somewhat skilled with Revit, I would be willing to make any 3D objects that you might require. I love the idea of this project.

 

[L1ONHEART]

No reason to purchase a new map. Try http://streetmap.co.uk and move around at 1:50,000. This will give you a much better impression of reality than your small scale road atlas.

Cheers thanks for that, looks very useful

 

[L1ONHEART]

I am not a very experienced mapper but at the start of the second half of the year I shall begin my course in graphic design. Once I am somewhat skilled with Revit, I would be willing to make any 3D objects that you might require. I love the idea of this project.

Well I wish you all the best with your course! I did Graphic Design in GCSE and AS Level myself

 

[L1ONHEART]

If I wanted to get a group of people involved in making this map, how would it work? Does every focus on a certain part of the country each and then when everyones done connect it all together or something?

 

[ray_whiley]

Ah, Mekpak - I used no end of it. In fact I once bought a half-litre bottle of the stuff.

Another memory of the old days is of shellac - bought as flakes from the local hardware shop/ironmongers and dissolved in meths. Card soaked in the solution became almost as hard as thin metal. I made some panelled OO coaches once from card, assembled them using UHU (then newly on the market), soaked them in this shellac solution - and they each dissolved into about 400 plus individual pieces!

(Sorry - way off topic!)

Ray

 

[ray_whiley]

To avoid hijacking L1onheart's thread, click on my name at the top of this post and then 'Find all posts by Rumour3'. Most of my recent posts in the UK screenshots thread are from my Norfolk route.

Hi rumour3 - Many thanks for pointing me to the screenshots of your Norfolk route. Frankly I don't know what else to say - they are absolutely superb and some of the most realistic I have ever seen. Even County Hall in the background at Trowse!

Ray

 

[Vern]

At the risk of both a slight bump and a slight hijack(!), Ray can you say whether your project includes the section from Kings Lynn to Hunstanton? I was looking for a UK prototype to attempt once my little US project is finished in a week or two and this one kind of landed on my brain-step.

If it is then no worries as I have a couple of other ideas in mind, but it seems an ideal prototype to potter around in and not too taxing as regards length or complex scenery.

 

[ray_whiley]

Vern, at present the answer to your question is no. I've been having a go (off and on) at Heacham to Wells for three or four years now and it's only progressed as far as correct station layouts and scenic work at either end. There were two problems when I began it as a newcomer to trainz - 1) I didn't ensure that the correct scale distances between stations were observed and 2) I got hooked on TACS/GMax and creating models! I can do nothing about the second problem - I remain hooked. As for the first, I can think of a few options - place mile and quarter mile posts closer together than scale and ignore the discrepancy; start all over again which would lead to even slower progress; or try to save each station section as a separate module, so that they could then be linked with the correct mileage between. Final decision awaited ... Another problem was that the original was in TRS2004 and I've imported it into 2010 with some corrections needed.

My way of dealing with the connections between Kings Lynn at the one end and Hunstanton at the other is to use a 'placeholder' station for each, not authentic and only a board or two away from Heacham, so that trains can just run to and fro on the main line. If you are planning to make King's Lynn to Hunstanton, then I shall leave it at that and try to add more scenery to what I have already done.

Apologies for this excessively long reply to a simple question but I wanted to explain why nothing has yet been finished!. Perhaps I should set aside at least one 'hobby session' each week for the West Norfolk Railway.

Incidentally, King's Lynn is my home town although I no longer live there, and I was very familiar with the station in my youth. It will be quite a task to model authentically.

Best wishes.

Ray

 

[Vern]

Thanks for confirming that Ray.

It will probably be a somewhat generic effort making use of built in (TS2010) and DLS items, but using Transdem for the terrain and mapping should be possible to accurately plot the course of the line. Initial research indicates there is an Oakwood Press book about the line which will hopefully yield track plans and a gradient profile. With the Class 31 and Cravens DMU already available as default content in TS2010 that covers motive power at least for the latter period of the lines existence.

Just need to get the current project squared away (hopefully next day or two) and I shall make a start.

 

[ray_whiley]

Initial research indicates there is an Oakwood Press book about the line

I can confirm that, Vern - it is 'The Lynn and Hunstanton Railway and the West Norfolk Branch' by Stanley C Jenkins, Oakwood Press, ISBN 0 95361 330 3, my copy was priced at £9.95 some years ago - it's got all the station plans for both routes excluding King's Lynn. However, there's a plan of King's Lynn station at 25 inches:1 mile in 'Ely to King's Lynn', Adderson and Kenworthy, Middleton Press, ISBN978 1 901706 53 6. currently £15.95.

Ray