4mm OO Gauge by Paul Gregory
Teesbay is a fictitious location on the south side of the Tees in the early/mid 1990's and portrays as a station recently refurbished reflecting an increasing amount of commuter traffic around the Middlesbrough area, however freight dominates with oil, steel and the various other industries providing plenty of scope.
The Layout stems from Christopher's frustration at the lack of modern image layouts at exhibitions. The aim was to build a simple layout which would provide a backdrop for the increasin amount of stock being accumulated, and yet despite having only three points, give sufficient operational interest, as well as hopefully providing encouragement to other younger entusiasts by showing what could be done in a relatively small space.
Track is Peco Streamline Code 100 laid onto 1/8 inch cork, glued, and pinned in areas such as points where movement is likely. Points are the Electrofrog variety for greater electrical continuity, operated mechanically using 'wire in tube' method. The wire is connected to a double pole, double throw (DPDT) slider switch which changes the electrical polarity at the crossing vee, (frog) at the same time as changing the point.
Stock is all proprietary, mainly Lima, Bachmann and Hornby, with classes 08, 31, 37, 47, 56, 58, 60, 142, 153, 156 and 158 represented in a variety of appropriate liveries. A programme of weathering is underway and three link or screw couplings have been fitted to improve the realism.
The large factory building is a modified DPM kit otherwise all other structures are scratchbuilt from plasticard using Slaters and Wills embossed sheets, with the arched retaining walls from the Langley and Ratio ranges. The oil storage tanks are cut-down Pringle containers and the oil loading gantry has been built from H section plastic strip by Plastruct with hand rails formed out of wire and soldered in a jig. Other ready-made accessories are from DC kits, A1 kits and Knightwing. One scenic item that usually creates comments is the burnt-out signal box, which is exactly what happened! It was an old plastic kit that we set fire to (under controlled conditions, (i.e with a cup of water handy!)) It was then partially rebuilt with small pieces of plastic strip and weathered further.
The next phase was to create a continuous circuit with a through fiddle yard at the back, with the new side boards to incorporate a small diesel shed and fuel depot ( a sub shed of the main Thornaby shed), a glimpse of Middlesbrough's riverside Stadium, but with the arrival of DCC and the possibility of 'sound', such developments are on hold for the time being.
In the meantime, whilst not recognisable as any specific location in the Teeside area, hopefully our three dimensional picture captures some of the atmosphere pervading the modern industrial scene.
All photographs courtesy of Steve Flint and Railway Modeller
The Layout stems from Christopher's frustration at the lack of modern image layouts at exhibitions. The aim was to build a simple layout which would provide a backdrop for the increasin amount of stock being accumulated, and yet despite having only three points, give sufficient operational interest, as well as hopefully providing encouragement to other younger entusiasts by showing what could be done in a relatively small space.
Track is Peco Streamline Code 100 laid onto 1/8 inch cork, glued, and pinned in areas such as points where movement is likely. Points are the Electrofrog variety for greater electrical continuity, operated mechanically using 'wire in tube' method. The wire is connected to a double pole, double throw (DPDT) slider switch which changes the electrical polarity at the crossing vee, (frog) at the same time as changing the point.
Stock is all proprietary, mainly Lima, Bachmann and Hornby, with classes 08, 31, 37, 47, 56, 58, 60, 142, 153, 156 and 158 represented in a variety of appropriate liveries. A programme of weathering is underway and three link or screw couplings have been fitted to improve the realism.
The large factory building is a modified DPM kit otherwise all other structures are scratchbuilt from plasticard using Slaters and Wills embossed sheets, with the arched retaining walls from the Langley and Ratio ranges. The oil storage tanks are cut-down Pringle containers and the oil loading gantry has been built from H section plastic strip by Plastruct with hand rails formed out of wire and soldered in a jig. Other ready-made accessories are from DC kits, A1 kits and Knightwing. One scenic item that usually creates comments is the burnt-out signal box, which is exactly what happened! It was an old plastic kit that we set fire to (under controlled conditions, (i.e with a cup of water handy!)) It was then partially rebuilt with small pieces of plastic strip and weathered further.
The next phase was to create a continuous circuit with a through fiddle yard at the back, with the new side boards to incorporate a small diesel shed and fuel depot ( a sub shed of the main Thornaby shed), a glimpse of Middlesbrough's riverside Stadium, but with the arrival of DCC and the possibility of 'sound', such developments are on hold for the time being.
In the meantime, whilst not recognisable as any specific location in the Teeside area, hopefully our three dimensional picture captures some of the atmosphere pervading the modern industrial scene.
All photographs courtesy of Steve Flint and Railway Modeller