Adaptions due to House Moves
Beechingless Barnstaple has grown with each house move; as we ensured that each new house would take the existing layout, we then
expanded it into the space available.
Enfield Highway - 16ft wide mid terrace (1929) - spacious loft. Some plaster scenary work where the layout went around a water tank.
This was left behind / disposed of when we moved.
Present House: New boards were added with a lighter construction of plywood, 4ft x 2ft, or 2ftx 2ft and lighter frame.
The Layout expanded to 5m length - still on the original Woolworth's Table legs.
Existing boards were resurfaced if the track was relaid through realignment, and large circles cut from the chipboard to make the boards
lighter at the same time.
Barnstaple Junction aquired a protypical reverse curve - at the suggestion of neighbour Peter - which used up some of the spare space on the boards
and looked more 'realistic'. This feature has just been removed with the latest rebuild (2007)
Ilfracombe became the only 'High Level' layout, with a slim Torrington (and 'Westleigh' enroute) placed below normal level so that
Torrington trains descended from the Junction as they headed 'down river'.
Drawings and pictures from the period will be added when they are rediscovered
(Similarly, a section on the predecessor layout built in 2-rail (!) during my O-levels in 1971)
The incline to Ilfracombe was now double tracked and behind the Storage Area, with Ilfracombe over the 'Scenic run'.
Torrington was reached by a descent behind Barnstaple Town, passing beneath the board, and running as Single track in front of the storage area,
before reaching Torrington Station in front of Ilfracombe and the Scenic Run, and 3 inches below. This made access below and beyond the boards
a bit of a crawl as Joists reduced the gap further still.
This rough sketch shows where the additions and alterations were made to create the Mk3 version (1982-2005)
The Original Beechingless Barnstaple (1976)
Moving Adaptions - adjusting to the new (1979)
Beechingless Barnstaple (1976-2005)
Beechingless Barnstaple 2007 - The Total Rebuild
1 - Aluminium Framing and Polycarbonate bases
2 - Ilfracombe Construction - Fireproof Expanded Polystyrene Top Layer
3 - Track Laying in the Storage Area
4 - Blue Sky and Lower Level Lighting/ Scenic Level Early Days
5 - More Early Scenic Level Basics - including the change to a Viaduct
6 - Rocoline reaches Barnstaple Junction
The Simplicity of DCC Power Distribution
720 LED Lighting of Storage Level
7- Scenic Level Solid Foam Construction (May 2007)
8a - Video Monitoring of Storage Area
8b - Rocoline: Revised Ilfracombe Approach and Test Loops
8c - Rocoline: Revised Viaduct Branchline and Barnstaple East / Yard
8d - Rocoline: Revised Barnstaple Bridge, Pilton
9 - Rocomotion - the beginning
LGB
Scandinavian
Shunting Puxzzle - Bruksbanen - G Scale
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Christmas 1997
Christmas 1998
Created in HTMLEdit Studio by Phil Spiegelhalter on 21st September 2006/ revised August 2007