A number of activities take place in the clubrooms which include operating model trains, building layouts and chatting with friends. The layouts are grouped into projects, of which the current ones are listed below.
If you are interested in helping the Western MRS in any of these projects or just wish to come along and learn, please contact the secretary.
ETPR - 009 | Belbroughton - O | Lemmington Park - HO
Past Projects Archive
The Evorelle and Twin Peaks Railway (ETPR)
This is the newest Society layout. It will be built on a baseboard of the dismantled Lansdown Junction. With the board being 5ft by 2.5ft, it was a perfect space to try a 009 layout with the usual twist and turns you would expect from a narrow gauge route in the UK and on the continent.
The layout will not be set in a specific locality but will incorporate ideas and themes from a wide range of narrow gauge unique futures such as tight bends and gradients. The layout will run on the DC system once it has been completed, with the option later of converting to DCC..
It is a compact single board layout and is expected to be available for bookings once completed, and contact can be made via the website. The layout is designed to fit into a car and requires two operators to cover for meal breaks and rest periods etc.
Once building of the layout has commenced more information, including track plan, will be added along with some pictures.
Planning and Building ETPR
Belbroughton - O gauge project
Using three of the baseboards from the old N gauge layout, an O gauge layout 15' x 2' 6" has been constructed.
Welcome to Belbroughton. A branch-line in the late 1950’s
Belbroughton in North Worcestershire is village in an area bounded by Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Longbridge and Stourbridge. In real life the village never had a railway but this is what could have been if the LMS and GWR had built a line into the town.
The line in from Kidderminster fights the contours of the region causing it to enter the station via a rather circuitous route, whereas the line from the LMS at Longbridge takes a shorter route to Belbroughton coming off the Halesowen branch at Rubery. (Please see the map.) However by the time the layout is depicted the line to the Midland has been closed leaving the stub of the branch now used as siding, but the resultant track formation in the station has not been rationalised leaving the odd layout of the line crossing over towards the engine shed that would have provided a direct access to that side of the station.
Track plan of Belbroughton
The industry in the area is the manufacture of agricultural equipment, Isaac Nash, a local company, had branched out from starting out making scythes to larger pieces of equipment for the farming industry. Raw materials are delivered to their rail connected factory with the finished goods shipped out to various parts of the country by the wagon load.
Train services on the branch are predominantly in the hands of the WR with the odd intruder bringing or taking special trips for the factory. The passenger service is mainly a shuttle to Kidderminster provided by either a GWR railcar or an Autotrain using the Pannier outsheded at Belbroughton, but occasionally due to failures a loco & coaches may appear. There is the one train each way which goes through to Birmingham in the rush hour which can turn up a variety of workings.
Belbroughton at St Albans Show 2014
Final Planning and Building Belbroughton
Planning and Building Belbroughton
Lemmington Park - HO gauge layout
Lemmington Park is the new HO American layout constructed by the Western Model Railway Society. Following the demise of the club’s N Gauge layout, two baseboards with solid ply tops were available and allocated to an HO project. The baseboards are 5 foot long and 20 inches wide, so the track plan was obviously going to be somewhat constrained .
The concept
Some initial discussion came up with a concept of a station in the outskirts of Chicago, on what was once a though line but now truncated to serving as an outer-suburban terminus receiving push-pull trains as used by Metra and previously used by the Rock Island. This would occupy one end of the layout. But what to do with the other end, in front of what would be the fiddle yard? Thoughts turned to a small diesel servicing depot, used to service locomotives needed by some off-stage major industry or yard. A couple of industry sidings were squeezed in to allow some switching and add operational interest for the operator and spectator.
The track plan
Acquiring Peco code 83 templates via the internet and moving them around the baseboard, came up with a workable plan, but needed a single-slip, which Peco didn’t do. Further internet research produced a code 83 slip made by Tillig. This was duly purchased and the track plan evolved around this. At an early stage some buildings were bought and assembled to ensure they fitted with the proposed track plan. Some track began to be laid last winter. Following a discussion at the Erith show, Bob Perrat rejoined the club, bringing with him his considerable experience and knowledge. He made some suggestions which resulted in a run-round loop being fitted in, an extra siding and further tweaking to help the visual impact from the front. The layout is unusual for this size of layout in that it has 2 single-road fiddle yards.
Operation
This will consist of regular commuter service to and from Chicago to the suburb of Lemmington Park. There is a layover track, so a spare commuter train can be held during the off-peak. In between the commuter service, there will be light engine movements to and from the servicing depot. This can carry out refuelling, examinations and light repairs. The fuel oil tank, sand dispensers and shed stores will require regular replenishment, which will supplement the freight movements from the nearby yard serving the lineside industries.
Buildings
The locomotive depot is built from a Pikestuff kit with an office added from the same range. The station building is from a Walthers kit, and the low relief buildings will be based on the Cornerstone range. The over bridge was suggested by Bob as a good way to hide the exit to the hidden sidings, following a search through the NMRA Roundhouse magazines and a similar concept on Tim’s St Marks Yard layout.
Control
This will be by DCC. The club has its own Lenz unit, as does Tim. Bob has a Digitrax system and it is hoped that either can be used by simply plugging the appropriate wires into the layout. There will be no control panel, but points will be thrown using the DCC bus. It is anticipated that there will be manual switches on the layout fascia too. The layout is freestanding and it is intended to lengthen the legs from the original N scale viewing height to provide more comfortable operation.
Tim Neale
December 2012
Lemmington Park in Publications
Lemmington Park at Seaboard Southern Show 2014, Horsham
Planning and Building Lemmington Park
