The Current Beechingless Barnstaple - The Evolving Total Rebuild
Barnstaple is the Market Town, Administrative and Commercial Centre of North Devon, in the South West of England. Dr. Beeching was the industrialist brought in
from ICI by the UK Government who produced the 'Beeching Report; which lead to the closure of many lines across the country - overlooking the
'Network Effect; which meant if you couldn't start or complete your journey by rail, you wouldn't use it for his favoured central Inter City links.
Whilst there was an incredible need to ensure more efficient operation, and economy; misleading accounting was used to inflate the 'costs' of
lines designated for closure, and as subsequent problems have shown, closures left no alternative relief routes during maintenance or accidents.
Barnstaple still has a working Passenger Railway Station - with more trains per day than anytime in its history - but none runnning through to London.
At its height it had Junction, Quay - later replaced by Town, and Victoria Road (GWR) stations with the Narrow Gauge Lynton & Barnstaple sharing
Town Station for cross-platform interchange. It formed the hub of a network starting with a local harbour at Fremington for the import of coal and export of china clay
and, later, reaching the neighbouring towns of Bideford and Torrington (eventually to Halwill) in one direction, Ilfracombe and Lynton on the North Devon Coast, with Exeter
(Devon County Town) to the South and Taunton (Somerset County Town) to the East, and both of these serving as routes to London or the Midlands.
My father started the model-railway habit in our family before I was born: using Hornby 3-Rail (we'll ignore the poor Wrenn 3-rail track).
My elder brother not only worked in 'Col. Beatties' first Hobby Shop, but started rebuilding the loft layout in Trix Twin before leaving home.
During my O-levels I rebuilt it in 2-Rail. After University, in 1976 I designed and built the first 'Beechingless Barnstaple' on boards 2ft x 5ft (0.6m x 1.5m),
and using Woolworth's Coffee Table Legs, which could be moved to a new home when my parent's retired and/or I moved house.
The layout was designed for Analogue-DC control using 'State-of-the Art' feedback controllers with separate Regulator and Brake Levers - SEC Digitol Mk4s.
With 4 radiating single-track routes centred on Barnstaple Junction, 4 controllers were all that was required - selectable to any part of the layout. For this
30 'Radio Band' switches - mechanically interlocked and intended for MW/LW/SW/FM switching - were bought, for a variation of 'Cab-Control'.
An added requirement was to be able to Split and Join trains like the Atlantic Coast Express (A.C.E.). without introducing the 'dead section' problem so prevalent
on dc/analogue controlled layouts, even today! [See 'Isolation Shift'] Then Hornby announced 'Zero-1' Digital Control with a 2-year lead time to delivery.
I immediately changed to Zero-1 digital on its release, and retained it, in part, until the total rebuild of 2005on.
A Summary of the Current Incarnation
Scale Drawing of Upper / Scenic Level
The layout now occupies a 'Livable-Space' Building-Regs and Planning Approved Loft Conversion / Extension of our house giving a working area of 8m x 4.5m at 0.75m (table) height.
Although the floor is now 'full strength', I adopted lightweight construction using Aluminium Square-Tube framed 'tables' with Hollow-wall Polycarbonate (roofing Sheet) infill tops.
Most boards are 1.25/1.5m long, and 0.75/1.00m wide, and the layout has a lower storage level 0.2m lower than the 'scenic' level, requiring a 10m 2% gradient. Scenery on top is from
Fireproofed Building Expanded Polystyrene sheets (1cm thickness - obtained in Sweden) and Rigid Building Insulation Foam (1200mm x 500mm x 50mm sheets blue / pink according to make).
Inclines use Woodands Scenics flexible inclines of 2-3 or 4%, and plaster bandage coating or grasspapers. Static Grass is also used extensively. Finally the scenic covering is being applied
after several years delay whilst the techniques have been practiced on portable layouts in HO and G scale in the meantime.
Totally Digital track and accessories with NMRA DCC using Roco Multimaus(/Pro)Control,Lenz, ESU/Bachmann and MERG Accessory Decoders and Roco Digital Point Motors
Control is by Roco DCC: Their amplifiers are easily used as Boosters for Multiple Power Districts, and this makes their Digital Start Sets an economical method of aquiring
very good DCC Digital Control
- especially if you have a use for the HO stock and track accumulated in the process 8-)
The Multimaus Handsets allow Loco and Accessory Control - there is no central control panel, but the track display is
repeated on monitors around the layout, using Rocomotion software and Interface. The Monitors also show video feeds from around the layout - including 'hidden' areas.
Now the Roco MultimausPro ofers the additional flexibility of a Wireless Handset.
Scale Drawing - with Storage Level shown on Left
The layout is 8m x 4.5m on 1.5 levels; centred on Barnstaple Junction, with incoming lines from Exeter(SR) and Taunton/Victoria Road(WR) and going on to Fremington, Instow and Torrington or
Barnstaple Town (for the Lynton & Barnataple Narrow Gauge), Wrafton and Ilfracombe. The Ilfracombe terminus (original high above the town) forms a central 'thrust',
providing walkways either side. Trackwork: Progressively Rocoline with Trackbed (Code83) The rebuild was intended to use Peco Code 75 track for the 'branchlines' and sidings to distinguish them from the 'mainlines' in Code 100, but using Lemanco/Fulgarex Slow Motion
motors in place of the Peco
motors. Fleischmann Profi-track was reused for Ilfracombe. However: I started to use the Rocoline-with-Trackbed track from the Start-Sets for a replacement 'high'/'eye-level'
run around the loft - using the RSJs supporting the roof: an 8m oval. From this I decided to try it, with success, on the Torrington-Line - but it had been discontinued following the change in
ownership at Roco in 2005.
However as I progressively obtained more track [in Bulk from the Hobbycenter in Sweden, and others whilst holidaying in Sweden, Holland and Germany], it slowly spread
around the scenic areas - replacing all but Ilfracombe (although I have the required double slips, I would need more space, and RH points).
Rocoline now has spread to the more visible areas of the Storage level.
Although 'Settrack' has been used, having a 'flexible track' background, I treat it as pre-stressed/formed flexi-track, and cut it as required
Since Rocoline-without-trackbed is still produced, I can add the separate 'rubberlike' Ballast to all but pointwork, if I were ever to run out of plain track-with-trackbed.
Analogue, Digital, or Digital+Analogue Roco point motors fit within the ballast of the Points - requiring no hole in the baseboard, and the points can therefore be moved easily if desired.
Veissmann have now released their 4554 multi-system universal Slow-Motion motor which fits Rocoline, RocoGEOline and Trix/Marklin C track - albeit at a price!
As I obtained more track, I was able to relay earlier areas with larger-radius points for improved alignments, and most recently, relaid Fremington 'through' lines to complete the top scenic
level in Rocoline track.
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