Work in progress - The Wisbech Line

[fen_tiger]

Hi Ray

My biggest challenges so far was building my Whitemoor Yard scaling the length of the real yards down to Trainz scale metre distance; my yard measures approx 1500+ scale metres from my Whitemoor Jnc (using both the 50m & 100m rulers from the DLS to help measure and also lay track) to its furthest end and its 19 or 20 mega-extended sidings all with complex points inter-connections - if you were to see the real yard layout on google street view, my yard is identical.

The other biggest challenge was digging out the only major river and both its raised banks along with the embankment leading to it - I may have to re-configure the embankment into a straight line if I consider in later extending the line a further two scale miles. The river and both its raised banks stretches end-to-end across three whole baseboards, with the depth of the river bed (minus) -15.0 degrees height below baseboard level and both river banks +10.0 height degrees above baseboard.

First job, I am now (as of 28th Sep) properly building and dressing up all the stations and goods yards so I can attempt to landscape my route. Will be using Google Maps Distance Calculator again to scale down real distances of roads, lanes, fields, etc down to Trainz measurements when building all lanes, roads and farm fields on my route. This will be the only way I will be able to properly match my route and surrounding landscape identically to the prototype I am copying. My method of route & landscape building using GMDC has worked so far pretty well for me so I am sticking with it - as you've mentioned above, Ray, my methods are producing results.

Hope to get my finished March Station onto here asap. Watch this space...

Andy

 

[fen_tiger]

** 28th September - Latest progress report

March Station is now complete after an epic nine hour building marathon today. I just need to add a bit more platform lighting and benches to finish everything off here. Coldham Station and then Wisbech Station will be next to see building work finished off.

(1) Looking west through the station, from left to right main line through platforms 1 and 2, and through platforms 5 and 6. Platform 5 has the avoiding freight line and won't be used for passenger services whilst platform 6 has seen its track truncated from the nearby Station Road Jnc and will only be used as an engineer's siding. The buildings on the end of the centre (island) platform are only there to hide large gaps where the two seperate island platforms join together. Both island platforms overlap each other here and are causing major overlap stuttering problems, hence the need to cover and hide this problem and also hide a large gap where these platforms split away from each other.



(2) Looking east through the station. From left to right - platforms 6 and 5, bay platforms 4 & 3, and through main line platforms 2 & 1. Platform 6 has the short engineering siding, whilst platform 5 has the avoiding freight line; Bay platform 4 is closed and is awaiting track lifting, platform 3 may possibly be used. Platforms 2 & 1 are the main line through platforms - these two will be used by charter trains occasionally visiting my freight only March to Wisbech line.



(3) Looking west through Platforms 1 & 2 which will be used by occasional charter trains using the intended freight only line to my Wisbech Station.



(4) We are now looking the opposite way through the main line platforms. Seating is only provided on platforms 1, 2 & 3 as I will only run passenger services to and from these platforms.



(5) Platforms 5 & 6. I was originally going to use both platforms for passenger services, but later decided to have platform 5 with a freight avoiding loop through the station and platform 6 with a short siding for engineering trains.



(6) Bay platforms 3 & 4. I was first not going to run track into these platforms, but then decided to have them passenger enabled in case I later want to run a local DMU service between my March and Wisbech stations.



(7) The eastern approach to the station as seen from Station Road level crossing. The left-to-right slip *junction 502* across the main line is so I can run freight into the south side of my March East Yard - the yard is split in two by the main line. Junction 514 is the main line connection to the freight avoiding loop through platform 5. All my level crossings have check rails to make them look more realistic.



(8) March East Yard. Here is the other side of the same level crossing that now shows the yard as split in two by the main line. Junction 820 is the north side of the yard connecting to the down-main line, whilst Junction 622 is the yard's south side connection to the up-main line running through the station.

 

[ray_whiley]

Hi Andy

Nine hours in one day - no wonder you are making progress. I'm full of admiration. I feel lucky if I can manage that in a week.

Ray

 

[Lord-Claud-Hamilton]

Hi Andy,

Are you aware of the following item on the DLS: March Large Brick Wall KUID2:101839:22000:1 (TRS04)

Chris (LCH)

 

[fen_tiger]

Hi Chris,

Yes thanks. I did briefly include that wall on my March Station as I was starting on the station earlier today but it seemed to me not blending in with the LNER buildings. Instead, I have some picket fencing where the wall is actually placed on the protoype station.

Andy

 

[fen_tiger]

New Inter-city charter coaches delivered today to March East Yard stabling sidings from British Rail Crewe Works. These two sets of coaches will run as an posh charter excursion occasionally visiting the entire line from March to Middle Drove. The March to Wisbech section I will run mostly as a freight line only, and the Wisbech to Middle Drove will be run as a preserved heritage line using appropiate BR MK1 stock.

(1) Set of 6 BR MK1 Inter-city charter coaches including a buffet car. These were downloaded from the Trainzclassics website.



(2) Set of 6 BR MK2d Inter-city charter coaches including an BR MK2f IC Swallow buffet car.



(1a) Set of 4 BR MK1's as seen from platform 1 at my Wisbech East Station. These coaches will form the main passenger service on the Wisbech - Middle Drove heritage railway.



(2a) Four coach restaurant train stabled in the bay platform at my Wisbech East Station. Both sets of BR MK1's were obtained from the Trainzclassics website.

 

[fen_tiger]

Hi everyone

No new screenshots for a while as I am re-configuring my Whitemoor and Wisbech goods yards as there are some problems with the ladder-style points (turnouts) not aligning themselves properly to their respective sidings. So major surgery to fix this monumental foul-up is underway. I didn't previously notice the sidings in my massive Whitemoor Yard not aligned into position until after re-checking everything before I start introducing my freight stock.

For now though, a blast from the past regarding the former prototype railway line that Network Rail were stupid to mothball and later close in 2003...





* Sorry for me posting your PDF Network Rail, but you should not have closed my town's railway line!

 

[fen_tiger]

* Latest news (4th October)

March TMD partially complete and showing the resident motive power fleet I'll be using.

 

[fen_tiger]

** Latest Progress News (16th October)

Winter has set in with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures across the Norfolk Fenlands. Middle Drove Station, goods yard and all track-work have been completely rebuilt to make it easier to run timetabled heritage train services. The level crossing has now been fully equipped (and tested) with operational crossing gates using the ATLS trigger system - once other level crossings have been equipped they will then all be assigned an ATLS radio channel each.





* I will be depicting my route with a christmas / winter landscape as it will be easier and faster to work with, and that I haven't seen many winter landscapes on the various screenshot forums. I hope to add more screenies in due course depending on what computer time I can get each day.

 

[ray_whiley]

Andy

So Winter has come early to the Fens this year? I hope it stays away from Norwich a bit longer (says he, with sun shining outside!)

It's good to see some more screenshots - I have a look each day to see if there are any. Is a winter scene really quicker to do? I'm interested.

Ray

 

[fen_tiger]

Thanks for stopping by regular, Ray. I only decided recently to do a christmas/ winter landscape as I think it looks more visually better. At the moment I'm using the 100m and 50m rulers to measure and map out the surrounding fields on the north side of this crossing and north side of the last one on the branch - Black Drove LC. Once the fields are mapped into place I can then add in farms and the scattered houses along these isolated fen lanes of I will be later building.

* Is there anything I have missed or need to further add to this small farming hay storage yard so as to possible improve it? suggestions are welcome





Andy

 

[JackClare1995]

Looks pretty spot on to me I'd just say vegetation and to rotate that gravel texture every so often so it doesn't look as much like a repeated pattern I do this all the time in open fields

Jack

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Hi Andy.

I agree with Jack. Looking at your Google Earth image there is a lot of visible foliage which is totally absent in your Surveyor screenshot.

I had a look a Black Grove on GE, grabbed he little yellow man, and pulled him onto StreetView at the lower part of your aerial view. StreetView is something I often use when researching a particular scene in my routes.

As well as the trees and shrubs there are some objects in that image which are well represented by assets built by various creators. The sheds and outbuildings are too numerous to single out, but two assets in particular, which immediately came to mind are:

Gate Steel Pipe <kuid:106916:10154> by gfisher

Nissen_Hut <kuid:1942:39027> by tafweb

Both are on the DLS.

Cheers
Casper

 

[fen_tiger]

Hi everyone

Glad to see you have found my source photo from the location of 'Black Drove, Norfolk' near Middle Drove. I was unsure of the DLS location for the red gate and what I assume is the metal nissan hut or is it a polythene tunnel behind the shrubs. Don't worry too much that I have no vegetation yet on my version as I have only built it today and not yet got round to adding winter vegetation to complete the scenery.

Look out for more screenshots from my recreation of the former prototype GER 1847 - 1968 March - Wisbech - Magdalen Road branch line as and when I can do them. I will at some point and in due course add vegetation, etc to the winter landscape I have chosen to do.

Andy

 

[fen_tiger]

Here is the real Middle Drove station in rural Norfolk Fenland. After 1968 passenger closure, the 9 mile single track branch from Wisbech to the King's Lynn - Ely main line junction at Magdalen Road was lifted in 1969 and the trackbed soon reverted back to farm land. The former station, now in private residence, has retained the Lynn platform only. However, the signal box (which once stood near to where the small red royal mail post box can be seen), the level crossing gates, the Wisbech platform and the goods shed were demolished in around 1969/1970. There were three small stations on the single track branch from Wisbech, but only Middle Drove and Emneth each had a passing loop.

(1)



(2) Looking back towards my home town of Wisbech. The remaining Lynn platform was shortened after the station was bought from British Rail by a private buyer in around 1969/1970. Where you see the tall conifer bush was once where the Wisbech platform stood.



(3) The former track bed heading slightly north-eastwards across the flat Norfolk Fenlands towards the former junction with the King's Lynn main line at Magdalen Road (now called Watlington), Norfolk. In the foreground is a large slab of light-brown concrete marking out the site of the goods shed. The signal box stood immediately between the goods shed and the now-former level crossing. The small bushes and shrubs along the extreme right hand side of the photo mark out the edge of the old trackbed. Behind the Royal Mail post box is the original railway fence, now sadly neglected but still in situ many years after the railway was lost.



(4) My own screenshot below, using the exact same view point as the above photo, identically matches (except my snowy weather) the former real railway scene at Middle Drove until when British Rail finally withdrew passenger services from the Wisbech branch in September 1968.

 

[fen_tiger]

Spending some time away from trespassing on my railway line and instead messing about doing a little work in building up the fields in the local area and even working on knocking out this matching shot of one of the isolated bungalows along Black Drove, Norfolk. The bungalow in the bottom photo is near to the former level crossing on Black Drove. Behind my bungalow is the disused and closed section of my branch line that will eventually have overgrown vegetation and grass covering it.





Short engineering train been sent onto the disused section of line in order to recover some sleepers and other rail components for re-use elsewhere on the branch -



** Update - I will be starting a new replacement thread for my Wisbech branch line in the new year as this one was taken over a few weeks ago by mention of DEM software (!) of which is of no use to me. My 17+ mile route is built, all stations have been extensively re-modelled with improved trackwork, and I am now working on slowly landscaping and also adding to the railway itself.

 

[fen_tiger]

* Until I start my replacement forum thread next year, I'll continue to post matching screenshots of the landscaping work I have recently completed so you can compare it with the source image from Google Street View. If you think I have made a mistake or that I may need to add or replace anything to my recent landscape addition from the DLS, please do mention the DLS content and its KUID to me so I can fiddle about fixing anything that is wrong.

Gravel Bank Farm, near Black Drove, Norfolk -







I have grounded these three British Rail standard freight vans (Trainz2012 in-built content) so they can be used as store sheds in my Gravel Bank Farm.

My question is this... how did I manage to achieve the effect of grounding these vans?

 

[ray_whiley]

Hi Andy

Delighted to see more shots - you've got me thinking now - should I try some snow scenery? Yours is really impressive.

I must also have a wander around North-West Norfolk using Google Earth/Streetview. It could obviously answer a lot of questions.

How did you ground the vans? Well, I've done it by placing them on a short length of track and lowering it until the base of the van bodies reached ground level. (I did this way back in TRS2004.)

Ray

 

[fen_tiger]

Hi Ray

I'm printscreening images from Google instantview to use on my digital photo frame so I can reference these images into my winter wonderland using the available stuff from DLS to closely match everything up. But it is time consuming in having to match everything from real to recreation, but in the end it will be worth it. My route baseboard size has grown as I want to bring in more landscape and scenery - I'm even doing detailed landscape scenery & buildings & farms well away from the branch line itself.

The 'Middle Level River Channel' with a height depth of minus (-)15 below the five baseboards it stretches across and both sides with slightly raised river banks. The branch line ends on the eastern side of the river as I can't be bothered extending the track any further eastwards. A few jobs are needed to be done on the river banks such as fences and right-of-way country stiles every so often. The track from my Middle Drove station to here is depicted as been closed by British Rail as the bridge is no longer structually safe for any rail traffic.

 

[Thomas10]

Nice screenshots, and it looks like you're really doing a good job with this route, Andy! Good thing we have Google Maps to help!