Madder Vallley Model Railway for Trainz.

euromodeller

Imagineer
As some of you may know I have started to make a Madder Valley model railway layout.I have received a lot of positives from members here and in the TCWW community.

The plan that I had previously put on the Forum was changed from the original, so I have gone back to square one (an appropriate phrase for Trainz) and the plan I will be working to will be the second incarnation of MVR.

This is going to be quite a difficult project simply because everything that was on the original model was unique.
I can only work with what I have available to me and with assets that I can reskin to suit, so don't expect an exact replica of the original.
I am not going to put a completion date on this project, it is long term because I want it to look and feel like the original.
It will be modelled in OO scale using NG24 track and rolling stock.
I have slightly changed the names to avoid any possible copyright infringement.

The track mock-up...
Madden-Scheme.jpg



 
I'm sure this layout will be much welcomed Graham. I grew up reading about the Madder Valley Railway in old railway magazines and John Ahern's books on layout and building construction had a profound influence on me as a railway modeller.
 
Thanks for your reply Annie.
I am disappointed at the lack of response to the thread after the initial response in another thread.
However, I am making progress on this model, it is not an easy model to 'model' in Trainz!
It's not an exact replica so a bit of leeway is needed.
Progress shots...

Hammen Halt.

Hammen-Halt-1.jpg


Hammen Halt with the Maddenhorn tunnel.

Hammen-Halt-2.jpg


That's it for now.
Cheers.
 
I'm watching this with interest, don't forget you can use grass banks and cutting type splines where the the terrain doesn't look quite right.
 
good afternoon graham ...
i recognize your disappointment when there are fewer responses than you expect ...
i didn't remember the madder valley anymore, because i have seen a lot of "small-layouts" on my discovery journey ... so i googled again and found an extensive report at http://tbmod.com/rm/Madder Valley MRJ 1994 dec.pdf ..
i can see that it will be quite a job, so i wish you good luck with it, knowing that you surely will make another fine piece of model railway in trainz ... and that you will have fun : that is the main thing ...
many thankz for your inspiration and motivation ... stay healthy and creative ...
with respect
daveric
 
Looking good so far. I'm glad to see your are including the Madderhorn - such a small tunnel! Keep up the good work; there are plenty of us that look forward to it.

Zsuda, that website is a goldmine of old model railway articles. Just entering http://tbmod.com/rm/ gives the complete list of PDFs that one can download.
 
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Thanks for all the replies and encouragement.
I spent about 4 hours yesterday trying to get the Madderhorn and tunnel just right.
There is the mountain, a stream, a bridge, a waterfall and a road all in a very small area.
Digholes were out of the question, I ended up with a smoke and mirrors compromise for the tunnel.
The original model doesn't seem to have 'regular' rock faces, it's full of roughness and sharp angles, I tried rock splines but they were unsuitable, again compromise was reached by texture shading to try and hide the baseboard triangles.
Also, this is a very old original and the ground cover has faded very much, my version will be quite lush compared to it!
Just to remind you, I am following the second version of Madder.
The current Pendon one in my opinion has been altered too much from the original just to make it viewable by the public and has ended up in an L shape and not the U shape that it was.
I am trying to figute out Brick Field, again it's a tiny area and with buildings that look under scale. I can feel another compromise coming on :D.
 
I think the problem might be Graham that only railway modellers of a certain age will remember the Madder Valley and then only the Uk enthusiasts as well. Compromise is generally the name of the game with building models of prototype locations (and really the Madder Valley can be described as a 'prototype' location) unless the builder has the skills to 3D model a lot of custom buildings so I don't think anyone is going to start picking your representation to pieces over the details.
Trainz coarse landscape mesh which wants to produce sharp edged 'sawtooth' shapes over anything realistic doesn't help much either when it comes to trying to sculpt an accurate landscape which is something I know very well with my own Cornish Broad Gauge project.

So far things are looking good so please keep going and don't get disheartened because I think you're doing just fine.
 
Well I was just in the right frame of mind for tackling Brick Field today, so I cracked on with it.
It is not a scene that I've ever seen before, but it's on the original layout, a track exiting from the first floor of a building and diving underground, hauled by a steam loco!

4 hours later I had shoehorned an interpretation of the scene in between the converging tracks near the Maddenhorn!
I even finished the waterfall too.

Brickfield-3.jpg


Brickfield-4.jpg
 
XQCO0AC.jpg


I have to admit I can't remember seeing the Brick Field either so I'll have to go back and have a look at the maps and articles again.

Looking good though Graham.
 
Oops! When I said I'd not seen it before, I meant on a real railway, sorry for misleading you both.
(It probably does exist somewhere.)
But thanks for replying anyway :)
 
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Oops! When I said I'd not seen it before, I meant on a real railway, sorry for misleading you both.
(It probably does exist somewhere.)
But thanks for replying anyway :)
Most probably in the Real World (whatever that is) there would be some kind of cable haulage system from the clay mine, but that aside there's nothing wrong with your representation Graham.
 
I think the problem might be Graham that only railway modellers of a certain age will remember the Madder Valley and then only the Uk enthusiasts as well. Compromise is generally the name of the game with building models of prototype locations (and really the Madder Valley can be described as a 'prototype' location) unless the builder has the skills to 3D model a lot of custom buildings so I don't think anyone is going to start picking your representation to pieces over the details.
Trainz coarse landscape mesh which wants to produce sharp edged 'sawtooth' shapes over anything realistic doesn't help much either when it comes to trying to sculpt an accurate landscape which is something I know very well with my own Cornish Broad Gauge project.

So far things are looking good so please keep going and don't get disheartened because I think you're doing just fine.

Graham - I agree fully with this comment and I, for one, follow all your threads with great interest. Both John Ahern and Peter Denny (Buckingham) were modellers who kept to a theme and were scratch builders - at a time when this was a necessity with few of the kind of resources which have in more recent years become available to modellers - kits and off the shelf models and scenic materials of all kinds. Comparing a modern RM with one published soon after the war is a revelation.

However, despite the fact that with each version of Trainz you pay your money and have enough models to produce almost anything without any further cost, in the virtual world scratch building still lives on.

Compromise is certainly needed when modelling a real-life or model prototype, as are modifications when a layout intended for personal use is preserved and exhibited to the public. I have also found this to be so with one of my current projects, recreating a large Cyril Freezer exhibition layout as a Trainz model railway - the original being designed for viewing from the outside by the public and the virtual model for viewing from the inside.

I would also like to thank earlier contributors to this thread for the links to some very interesting material.

Ray
 
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Some great progress here so far. I've been looking at the rolling stock used on the original layout, looks like most of it can be represented by things already in Trainz, but possibly some new balcony ended coaches might be in order.
 
Some great progress here so far. I've been looking at the rolling stock used on the original layout, looks like most of it can be represented by things already in Trainz, but possibly some new balcony ended coaches might be in order.
Sounds like a good idea Ed :clap::Y:

I've been working on this since 10a.m, but have had to ahere to one hour on 1 hour off for the sake of my health!
Great progress has been made at the top right corner around the sawmill and island.
I've not done the screenshots yet because there is more to do.
I'll be back later with them.

Cheers

p.s. thanks for the encouragement
 
Today's marathon has finished!

Today I have reskinned 2 bridges and 4 buildings plus an embankment.
I had to enlarge the map in the top right corner (Mill end) to make everything fit in!
It's only when you make a layout out of a set of pictures that you realise there are no close-ups of an important area!
I am talking about what's going on behind the mill, 2 roads and the railway are all there, so I just took a punt at the scene and I am happy with the result.
Enough waffle, now for the result...

Hammen Wold Halt (Gammon Worthy) and Cuckoo Island

Hammen-Wold-Halt.jpg


The Mill area with the sawmill at the back.

Mill-%26-Cuckoo-Island-1.jpg


From aloft..

Mill-Area-2.jpg



I still have all of the detailing to do, fences, trees etc but not until the basics are finished.


Cheers,
Graham.
 
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I take it you have got John's plan which gives a good idea of the layout. If not it is here.

Thanks John, I have plans for the 3 public versions and it is the second version that I am following.
The problem with published plans is that they are usually not quite right for Trainz, my experience is that curves and buildings are too small, at least in Trainz they are easier to alter, in an actual model railway...well not so easy.
I had insomnia last night, at 3 a.m. I recoloured the buildings in the above shots to tone down the colour (too bright) and I made the boat yard next to the humpback bridge, I also shortened the Maddenhorn tunnel!
I managed to sleep between 6.30 and 8.30 am so I predict at least one 'power nap' today.

More later if I am awake :)
 
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