# Henley in OO



## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

So, here's where I am at. Got my first train set in 1966, I believe it was a wind up Wren, while Dad was on sabbatical in the UK. Somehow, over tens of thousands of miles, I was able to hang on to and preserve one of the original wagons from that set, a lovely old Golliwog piece. Not too PC by today's standards, and I don't mean Penn Central. But none the less, having thrown myself into developing a career and starting a family I'd forgotten about all this until the Golliwog turned up one day while unpacking for the umpteenth time. From there the old model train bug came back to life, like a deep frozen virus, and well it just wouldn't let hold of me.

So, from 1991 to present I've been chipping away at OO. One big boost was the invention of the internet, that we all take for granted. Back then, finding and collecting anything in British OO was a bit of a trick, though there were two OO stockists, one in Boston and the other in Georgia, from which I was able to assemble a few pieces.

At first, I tried to use Atlas Code 100 brass sectional track, as it was abundant and cheap. Rather quickly, it became evident that a number of OO things didn't like Atlas turnouts and diamonds no matter how I tried to modify the flangeways. Some stuff would tolerate it, other stuff, particularly the Bachmann OO range not at all, and the vintage pizza cutter flanges had a tendency to bounce along the top of plastic nail heads in the sleepers.

Soooooo, long story short, I began replacing all the old Atlas stuff with Hornby OO track, thinking this would eliminate operational issues like stalling and derailments. It was expensive, and slow, as it all had to be ordered from the UK, it was trickier than I thought it would be. Looking at some photos of my track, it became clear that where I had dutifully tacked the stuff down, it bowed at the joints, often as not, and marry that with curved turnouts I was spending a lot more time than I wanted fixing and replacing sections trying to weed out the problems.

Just earlier this spring, I was helping a bud set up his opus, an 8 x 16 foot square (not my preferred arrangement) and he was using steel Bachmann EZ track. As we tested it, I was impressed how cars and locomotives I considered flimsy or balky (plastic wheeled Tyco, AHM, Life Like, the bargain box stuff) ran without incident, and the locomotives ran throughout low to high speed ranges without the usual aggravations. Thus, out of sheer curiousity, expecting the worst, I ran my vintage British pizza cutters and my expensive British higher end stuff, and I was flabbergasted that stuff that ran kind of OK on the Hornby set track ran superbly well on this low end Bachmann EZ stuff.

After several hours of testing out my British OO stuff, new and old, on Jimmy's EZ track, I went home and pulled up every single inch of Hornby OO and sold it for pennies on the dollar to some guy in the Shetland Islands. He made out like a bandit, but I had become a True Believer in Bachmann EZ track even though I've had some unkind things to say about them.

Not knowing how to use CAD for track writing, I tried downloading a program, instantly had problems, and in desperation asked if someone would convert my doodle into a CAD layout using EZ track. This is a lot easier on the nerves than laying out set track, never sure what the end result will be. This EZ stuff goes down like butter on bread, I just have to guesstimate in fitters. Working outwards from the two crossing junctions (a total of eight 60 degree crossings) the outer elements are worked in a little at a time. For this fool, it's pretty fool proof.

Here's where I am at now:

































A million thanks to Jeff Hurl who translated my scribbles into a track plan, and to Jim Railman of Model Train Depo who helped me assemble the couple hundred pieces of track necessary to pull this off. This is my dream layout. Won't be my last, I am always tinkering on smaller, portable layouts, but this is My Big Enchilada.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

Nice start. I'll follow this thread with a great interest.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

This makes my day! I'm happy to have helped. Good luck with the build! I believe that building a layout is more rewarding than getting to operate it once it's "done" (if that word actually exists in this hobby).


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

*Why We Model Trains*

(JMOP)


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

*Early Attempts*


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Put in the Golden Spike this afternoon. Only short two nine inch straights and two fitters, which I was able to carve from some spare EZ steel track.

















Need to make a small adjustment to one of the baseboards, probably just a little cardboard shim, and
will fire it up, maybe tonight. I'm a little nervous; this was too easy.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

Chops said:


> and will fire it up, maybe tonight. I'm a little nervous; this was too easy.


Maybe you will get a wonderful firework ?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

One of the things that intrigued me about British model rail was how much could be packed into a traditional space. In the UK, like other island nations, space is at a premium. Surveys of British model layouts frequently turn up point-to-point layouts on a widespread scale, as well as intricated track plans cleverly packed into a 4x6 space, featuring three main lines plus spurs or even a yard. Curved turnouts are in frequent use, also.

Short wheel bases and prototypically short trains allow this with ease, but once I got messing with traditional coaching stock, it became a lot harder to accommodate 15 inch curves and short turnouts. 






I was having trouble with longer coaches, and was unwilling to give them up, so eventually I decided to exchange intricacy for a classic set of ovals in hopes of improved running ability.

Initially, I planned on traditional ballasted road bed, but a number of experiments with the stuff demonstrated that while it looks nice and all, it is a LOT of work and once in basically commits the track to that purpose and design. If there is a flaw that needs repair, then the entire bodge has to come up and it is messy and time consuming.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

*Initial Firing*

I often wondered how, in the days when steam locomotion was in its infancy, how did a prototype boiler get tested? In my mind's eye I would imagine some designers saying among themselves,_" 'ello, 'e looks stupid enough. Oy! You there! Chops! Go put one some coke on yon firebox whilst we stand o'er 'ere!" _

Come to find out that the Rocket, for one, was tested using hydrostatic pressure. I had not guessed that these early designers, like Stephenson, had pumps strong enough, nor gauges accurate enough, to pump cold water under pressure into a boiler and measure it in psi. They did. So, they would pump up a new boiler, never tried or tested before, with cold water and watch for where it leaked, patched it up or reinforced it. 

So accurate was their ability to measure things, that Stephenson, Jr. wrote to his father, in the days leading up to the Rainhill Trials, that the back boiler was bulging at an alarming 3/8th of an inch, and what might they do to prevent it from doing so, and possibly exploding? Stephenson, Sr., a man barely able to write his own name, dictated back to add stay bolts the length of the boiler, and so it was fixed. This in an age when life traveled at the speed of horse and sail. 

So, having added a total of one feeder wire per main, period, I lit it up and held my breath. Nothing. I had forgotten to switch the power pack on. 

Switching it on, nothing. Gave the locomotive a small nudge, and off she went, a bit herky-jerky, in the manner of dirty track. But around she went the entire circuit and neither stalled or derailed at all, gliding over the diamonds like and ice skater. 

Then repeated the performance for the second main line, no issues save dirty track, but it never stalled and never derailed. 

First surprise came in that the outer line, which is laid to a 22 inch radius, would be become the inner line, before re-emerging as the outer line gain, which initially made me wonder if I had somehow contrived to mislay the track. No, it just does that. Having tested my long passenger coaches on Jimmy's 18 inch radii, I have no fear that it will run perfectly well. 

The next run was using a double headed track cleaner car, one to lay down Wahl's Hair Clipper Oil, and the trailing car to wipe off the excess. Again, no problem, and these cars love to derail and foul because of the cleaning pads. 

Well, enough for one night. Take a siesta and have at it again in the morning.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

Chops said:


> I lit it up and held my breath. Nothing. I had forgotten to switch the power pack on.


   Sorry...


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Sounds like things are progressing well!


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Some small baseboard adjustments in height in progress. Will be shooting some vid in the coming week.


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## Model Train Depo (Sep 4, 2021)

Awesome Chops! Glad everything worked out and your layout looks great so far!


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Chops said:


> Will be shooting some vid in the coming week.


Can’t wait to see the new track running !


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Thank you all for your kind words. This is one of my big kicks in life and it means a lot that a few people also 
get a hoot! 😃

The smart phone kept overheating and so the video quality is poor, but you get the idea. The quick fix to even up the baseboards consisted of pushing in a piece of scrap plywood. One and done. Suits me just fine!!

The overall layout is quite cluttered at the moment, that will improve now that the track has been established. 

Some North American pieces here and there, primarily used for initial track cleaning duties However, the left flank of Henley will be detailed in such a fashion as to allow it to be Americanized for the purposes of videos, and then switched back to a British theme, easily. 

More as a joke, not quite so funny now, will be some Soviet sets, because back in 1964 I actually went to the place with my entire family while Dad did research in Moscow. That is a whole other story. And no, it is not a nice place, and even as a youngster I could grasp that easily.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

It's a very dangerous layout but very funny too. Love it !


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Isn't it great to have trains running? I love the castle!


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

In fact your layout is a big double figure 8. Am I right ?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Well, now that I think of it, it really is just a double figure 8.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That's all mine is. An elaborate folded figure 8 with a third track above.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

My design was purely a moment of inspiration. Had I known I was imitating MichealE, I would be patting myself on the back. One thing I didn't see in MichealE's world class effort are diamonds. Am I not looking in the right places? I am tempted to fit in an elevated track so as to have an excuse to install some viaducts, but cannot imagine it without it being utterly contrived.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

A slightly tidier version with different trains upon the mega 8. Things, for the most part, performing over par. If one takes ones eyes of the movement for one second trouble incurs.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

Awesome ! When you run your layout you're always living on the edge !


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

That's a great layout, thanks for the story and videos.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Hornby Atlantic. I had to pay out the whazzoo for this lady, but she is a sweet runner and a charm to watch.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Is it a geared locomotive or are all the rods internal?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

To my understanding, the prototype had pistons and rods under the boiler, between the chassis frames. Now that you mention it, this fact must have made it difficult to maintain, assess, and repair. There is a connecting side rod. The Wikipedia article, linked below, makes no mention of the drawbacks of having normally accessible components out of sight, and out of reach. 





__





Loading…






en.wikipedia.org


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

*The Good, the Bad, and the Nessie*

Testing out the locomotive fleet and various cars and coaches. I am finding that some of my vintage "pizza cutters" are having trouble with the diamonds. I am beginning to think it wouldn't hurt to sell off some of the vintage stuff that just doesn't fit well with the higher scale of Henley. I've enjoyed some pieces, got them on videos, but would like to spend a little more and have a little less. Hornby makes a well reviewed 0-4-4 that has me drooling, for example. 

The Hornby Rocket ran a lot, and I am amazed how this diminutive tea kettle glides, at low scale speed, over the diamonds without a blink. Hornby really pulled out the stops on that one. The one trouble is the tender axles are encased in both a sleeve and are supported by journal boxes, causing the wheels to drag, instead of roll. Not much for it, and I am loath to tinker with this high scale model.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

*The Good, the Bad, the Nessie II*

More testing.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

I'll start some kind of international meeting with The Love Of My Life to get the right to build a layout like yours. Extremely difficult but I won't give up !


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

International meeting may be difficult, but laying down the track took perhaps four hours of pleasant and easy work. I posted a scribble on the MTF and JHurl very kindly wrote up a track plan using EZ track. It worked perfectly. I am not fond of carpentry, can do it, but really find it not terribly interesting and for the cost it was no cheaper to throw down a couple of 3/4 inch plywood slabs upon folding tables from Walmart. To get the height better, I did have to put cinder blocks under the feet. The plywood has some natural warp, and by screwing down the hills and wedging the dales with scraps of wood and a little cardboard shimming where necessary, I got a level base. Some of the trains, like the single wheelers, were very sensitive to gradient, and required this before they would make a circuit. 

No matter how slow you roll, these diamonds require constant vigilance. Those two trains have a way of creeping up on each other when you least expect it.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

The Good, the Bad, the Nessie III
More testing of Jouef, Electrotren, and a Chinese off brand electric. So far, so good.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

As usual I watched it at double speed. It's more funny !


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

I spent ages getting my trains to run slow, and now he wants to run them at double speed. Get the man an Acela, please!

More testing. The 0-8-0, and yes, I found the smoke box door for it, is by a firm called "Mini" which I don't know anything about. I am guessing it is/was a company like Piko of East Germany. In any event it is a Russian model of a Russian locomotive and coaches of the Trans Caucasian Railway which ran from the Black Sea to an inland city, I forget which. My interest in Soviet Russia goes back to some experiences in 1964, and that is another long story. My birth family has an odd, non-geneological relationship with the USSR.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

That's what I call a real high speed train: *357.2 mph* !


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

Chops said:


> I spent ages getting my trains to run slow, and now he wants to run them at double speed.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Yikes! Well, here is an Acela for Old Bandit. Now he won't have to turn up the play back. I was racing around my Acela at top speed, scaring the blazes out of the other modelers, during a model train club open house. It tracked like like it had magnets, and I swear it seemed to have a tilt cam built into the bogies, so it leaned into the curves like the real thing.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

"That's what I call a real high speed train: *357.2 mph*"

Double yikes, a bird strike, a deer strike...a vehicle strike...man that would be rough. Derail at that speed? Heat kink? Sabotage? I shudder at the thought.


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## Longvallon (9 mo ago)

It was just for a test. The commercial speed doesn't exceed 188 mph. The French TGV runs very very well !
I watched the Acela video at double speed. Very impressive !


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Rapido is doing OO for the British fans…..this one was their first release….









They are doing the Lion as well….









Rapido UK


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

I'll have to check to see if that 4-2-2 is out there. I think it was a limited one off. Those fenders...just too dang...sexy...almost like a dame showing her ankles!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I think they were only available for the UK market, and yes, in limited numbers…


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

I recall those sold out on pre-order. If you have a winner, why do they limit production?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Rapido is killing me with that 4-2-2. I may have to sell off some stuff that I don't use much to get that one. In an age of horse and carriage, this thing must have looked just amazing. 

Anyways, many of us here in Texas, as well as the world, are living in a state of darkness following the horror at Uvalde. It's taken me concentrated effort to put my mind to more pleasant pursuits. Our hearts and prayers ache for all those touched and devastated. 

Grass. Living life on EZ street, a number of rises and swales were either screwed down to the plastic under table or shims of cardboard, secured with a dab of white glue, were used to flatten out the gradient of the EZ track with good effect. Some of the trains do not like an gradient at all, and so this was a quick and dirty fix. Under the plastic roadbed and over the shims and screw heads was a 4x8 (it is slightly bigger) Woodland Scenics grass mat gently tugged and 
pulled to create the grassy base upon which different layers of scenery will be installed. The shimmed areas provide a nice relief from the "flat-as-a-nickel" base; a gentle rolling rise. ..

For a guy who likes it super simple, this has worked out to be a great solution. 

There is only one track spike in the entire arrangement. The EZ track is pretty weighty and has a good grip. So, eventually, when it is time for something else, track removal will be a cinch. I may very well give the plastic roadbed a light wash of thinned black paint to cut the shine and highlight the ballast. If it runs and stains, as I think it might, a few sheets of newspaper slid under each worked upon section will prevent mushy looking dribble.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

"Old Wine, New Skins" An authoritarian type of government tries to reinvent itself as something new and dynamic, while in fact they are the same old product wearing a new skin. Similarities to current events is merely coincidental.


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