The Ridge - extension to the Creag Dhubh Mountain Tramway

[tedp]

Having been prodded, pushed and shanghaied into this on the NGRM forum, I have finally taken the plunge to build Creag Dhubh Summit as an entry to the Dave Brewer Memorial Challenge, to be contested at Expong next October. This will be the terminus of the mountain tramway that starts behind Rae Bridge station:



The plan for the terminus is shown below. The dark grey area will be the subject of the challenge, a lift-out unit built around a carved styrofoam block. I plan to glue 5 sheets of 50mm sheet together and face them with thin ply all round. The rear face will be the backscene, which will extend to 25cms above the base level. No more, or it will rear its head above the Glenclachan backscene behind.

The plan shows the station on a 1 in 25 gradient, but that isn't really necessary - it may become level as this enables me to store stock in the siding, or possibly the siding will be on the level. I'm still working on that. For purposes of the challenge demonstration I will add a short stub track to enable a tram to run from one track to the other. The approach line will be modelled using the same materials as the 'challenge' scene.

The plan is loosely based on the Snowdon summit station, only it will be an overhead electric adhesion line, and I will model the landscape as fancy takes me. I am thinking of a rock face down the front which will cover the front supports over the fiddle yard below, and a rocky slope behind the station with a path up to the summit, which will blot out much of the backscene. For the backscene I can use photos of the view from Snowdon made last April when we climbed it. Why is this called The Ridge? That will be clarified later.



The terminus will fit over the Glenfinnan branch fiddle yard. This at present contains five tracks, one of which is only used for storage and never in actual operation. So it can go and make room for the inclined approach line shown in the light grey area in the plan. Below is an early sketch of the proposed arrangement, showing the existing fifth track in the fiddle yard on the left:



This will be at a 1 in 15 gradient down to the level of the present tram fiddle yard under the hill at Rae Bridge. Here I still have an unused point that may be connected to a new switchboard (seen dimly in front of the support in the distance in the photo below). There is just enough space to fit in a third line between the vertical support and the present tram fiddle yard:



The clearance under the tram teminus will be in the order of 7-8cms, which is enough to allow the branch trains to operate normally and, if necessary, be saved in case of a derailment.

Here is a photo of a trial run of a tram up a temporary line laid at a 1 in 15 gradient from the point in the tram fiddle yard. Both the Bachmann conversion and the box cab and Atlas coach made the gradient all right.



I find the old Snowdon summit station very attractive, and the model may resemble it vaguely, although I'm not thinking of representing a tearoom/hotel at the top.

I have read up on the Snaefell Mountain Tramway in Robin Winter's book. There are some similarities to the CDMT, but I found the bow collectors on the Snaefell line are nearly twice the size of mine! In addition, I find the summit station on Snaefell singularly unattractive. The overhead wire arrangements are very interesting to study though. And no, there won't be working overhead - it can be done using trolley poles as Don Sibley has shown, but in operation, some of it remotely controlled, it would be far too complicated. So it will be fishing line again.

Since this is only a small layout, I suppose weight won't matter too much. I think I have a plaster casting mould somewhere, a good idea to try that for a change! Otherwise, crumpled aluminium foil may come to the rescue.

Something that nagged me in the plan above was the bare tracks of the branch fiddle yard in full view in front of the tramway down the hill. The solution was to turn the approach tramway scene into a downhill view, with the hill rising towards the front, over the fiddle yard. The tram can then be viewed against a mountain diorama in the distance - photo backscene?

After a few hours doodling I came upon this:



You'll see that the tramway enters the permanent area at a low level, about 2-3cms over the fiddle yard baseboard. Then as the fan of sidings widens, it goes towards the backscene, but it is climbing all the way at 1 in 15. Eventually it is far enough above the sidings to cross them and come forward to the summit terminus. The brown line in each cross section gives an approximate level of the scenic base.

There is a dotted line above the fiddle yard tracks which can be brought forward if possible, provided I will be able to access the track below. Also note that the scenic base drops down over the edge of the terminus board to exploit the full 25cms width of the challenge area. The rectangles in the cross sections show the approximate envelope of each - 22-23cms wide for A and B, 25cms wide for C, and all are 25cms above the fiddle yard base.

[tedp]

I have to lay the approach track first before I can determine the exact height of the summit station over the track base below. Therefore preliminary work will be done first, before the construction of the Challenge entry will commence.

First I did some work on the incline from the tram storage yard. Here are the ply base and the softwood supports positioned in place for trial running:





Trial running worked as before - the trams slow a little but I don't see a trace of slipping in the curve, which should be enough. So I set to work gluing down the softwood supports and the ply track base. I put all my heavy tools - a heavy block plane, wrench, hammer and a chisel - on top of the ply to keep it down, as it is a trifle springy:





Next will be a ply contour strip along the track of the fiddle yard, which will act as a support to one side of the ply surface of the scenic portion of the tramway on the mountain (the approach to the Summit station which is the real subject of this thread).

The views above give another idea of where exactly the tramway will be built in relation to the rest of the layout.

[tedp]

The idea is to create a tramway crossing a ridge. Hence, the title of this thread is The Ridge. On the left, the slope will be down and the backscene will show a view not unlike that from Clogwyn ridge on the Snowdon line. On the right, the slope will be up. The station will be perched on a steep slope with a rock face falling away in the foreground, and a footpath running towards the actual summit, which may possibly be represented on the backscene.

Here are a few more construction photos. I spent several hours measuring and cutting pieces of 4mm ply to build up the box structures for the two layout units. Here are two strips at a 1 in 15 taper for the base of the tramway leading to the summit:



Note that I used the height of 'Robert the Bruce' as a reference. This is one of my tallest locomotives which has to go under the tramway when it crosses to the front of the layout:



This is the base of most of the tramway. Note the patches on the left which I marked for cutting out, since these will have a falling slope towards the backscene:



A view of the box cab and the observation coach on the new track base, showing how steep the incline is.



I wanted to use a piece of styrofoam as a 'splint' to extend the base for another 20cms to complete a 75cms stretch of baseboard. However, cutting styrene is not too easy and I cut it far too low to use as a 'backbone' for the entire layout unit. I fitted a piece of softwood as a brace between the two strips of ply at the far end, and glued the lot together, after slipping in two sheets of paper to prevent the unit from being glued to the baseboard of the fiddle yard:



Several hours on, I had cut the parts for the Challenge unit, and a strange arch shape that will serve as the front of the other unit. I will need an end face to the unit near the camera to preserve rigidity. The large open space between the arch and the track base will be covered in with a curved piece of stout card, preserving the hill contour, so I can reach the fiddle yard tracks underneath. The card is suitable as a scenic base:





Most of the parts are still loose and rather warped, but I found that gluing them together and pressing them down on a flat surface will produce a stable box shape.

I will do some catching up on this thread later.

[tedp]

The next job was fitting end faces cut to the contour of the mountainside to both units. In addition, I made the rear faces of the units - in the case of Summit station this is a pretty tall sheet as you will see in the photos.



I cut the end face of what I will refer to as the 'ridge' unit which will have a view similar to Clogwyn ridge. Note that this will slope down from the front to the tramway and the backscene immediately behind:



Next I completed the work on the layout bases, excluding the curved card fill piece planned for that great big hole over the fiddle yard pointwork. Note the tall hillside at the rear end of the station. The visitors to the summit will have to climb a few more feet to reach the pinnacle on the top:





And here is the joint between the ridge unit and the summit station unit, which is the subject of my challenge entry:



The square corner fill pieces came from the shaft of a rocket I found in the front garden on New Year's Day. Both the baseboard units have been glued and pressed together using weights, props and clamps. They are now reasonably square.

I forgot to show you a few construction details. Here is the end of the Challenge unit, with the aperture for the fiddle yard tracks below:



And here is an underside view of the 'ridge' unit, still waiting for that card infill:



Next will be fitting the card cover of the hillside on the ridge unit, and styrofoam landscape bases.

[tedp]

Here are two views of the Ridge as the cardboard scenery base is being installed. Note the fiddle yard tracks under the hill.





Here is a view of the construction method - cut to size, bend, trim further, then glue down with thumb tacks holding the piece in place till the glue sets. Note that several of the pieces have been cut to a lens shape to follow a land contour:



The Ridge is a place where the tramway crosses from one side of the mountain to the other. You look down into the abyss from the tram as it emerges from Ridge Tunnel, high on the mountainside. Then, as it climbs at 1 in 15, it crosses over to the other side of the mountain shortly before entering the Summit terminus.

The Ridge as a layout is mainly backscene, with a look down the slope on to the tramway as it perches on the edge of the cliff. It is 21cms wide and 75cms long, and I plan to model the hillside with rock debris and crags based on the scenery I saw at Snowdon summit when we climbed it last year. I will probably use it as a test site for rock moulds, and indulge in another backscene.

For those interested, here is a bit of history on the Tramway.

The influx of tourists, as the C&DR evolved into a public carrier, prompted a Glaswegian businessman to propose a scheme for a mountain tramway to the top of Creag Dhubh, which in fine weather claimed a view of the Hebrides stretching 50 miles away. His Lordship's son, who had succeeded the old laird, had been to the Isle of Man where he had travelled on the Snaefell Mountain line, and he applied for Parliamentary authorisation to build an electric tramway in 1905.

This started from a small timber-built depot built on a piece of wasteland between Rae Bridge railway station and the river, and ran through the main road in front of the church until it turned off the road and started the climb to the top. The trams enjoyed a few years' prosperity before the Great War broke out and all tourism came to a premature end. The Royal Navy however took over the tramway to build a U-boat observation post on the summit which they kept manned until the end of the war.

The Ridge in place, with the summit station behind. Note the temporary mountain panorama, which I made using three A4 size prints of photos taken from the top of Snowdon. Not yet sure how to tackle this:



The shape of things to come:







This is the view from above, which at the moment looks rather unnatural, with the hard edge very visible against the backscene photo. As soon as the edge of the layout has been modelled with rock chips and castings, and the rather flat backscene brightened up, it should be very different. Note the lens-shaped card infill:



This is what the backscene should look like - a photo taken from Snowdon, from a different angle:

[Elmgate]

I find the old Snowdon summit station[/url] very attractive, and the model may resemble it vaguely, although I'm not thinking of representing a tearoom/hotel at the top.

According to your own description of Rae Bridge, "At the top of the mountain there is a tearoom,"  :D

Tim S (founder of the Hungry and Thirsty Creag Dhubh climbers club)

[tedp]

Aha! You caught me out! Perhaps I will open a tearoom in the station building, if space permits. I suppose space will permit, if I look at the tiny, but highly successful tearoom at the Bredgar & Wormshill Railway which caters for huge numbers of visitors!

Yesterday night I set to work laying track, and the good news is that the line is open! Although the track in the summit station is temporary and there is no wiring yet such as point control and overrun protection, it is smooth and the baseboard gaps are in place.

Here is a short video of the running trials. Note that the layout is partly dismantled so I can get at the track base.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYksECxh-0g

Have fun!

Today I had a look at how to switch the tramway tracks. First, here is a diagram:



The old storage yard will now probably be renamed something like 'Half Way Yard' and receive coal wagons to power the generating station halfway up the mountain. This is positioned half way up to prevent power losses at the low 550V DC supply. I believe the Snaefell line did something similar in the old days. The coal generating plant will in due course be replaced by water power from a nearby stream, but that is way in the future right now, since we are still in a pre-WW1 time frame.

In addition, Half Way Yard has a second car shed, since the accommodation at Rae Bridge has become a little cramped.

In the diagram there are two feeds - a green one for the C&DR station at Rae Bridge, and a blue one for the branch and the tramway. The green one doesn't concern us as it is quite separate. However, if a branch train goes up to Glenfinnan (the fiddle yard), the blue section is switched to the same controller as the green one. Points 4 and 5 are fed from the toe. These take care of track switching to provide a continuous section on the branch. The tramway and the tram terminus are now switched out to prevent conflicts.

Now we change to tram operation. Point 4 is now set for the tramway, and point 5 for the tram terminus. The blue section is fed from a separate controller. Again, points 4 and 5 ensure continuity over the entire tramway, and the branch is switched out. The extra point 2 hasn't yet been connected up, so this needs a control switch, as does the point in the Summit station. There are section push buttons in the Half Way Yard including track occupancy LEDs that glow when you turn up the controller.

The Summit station will be wired the same way as the Half Way Yard. Later I will publish a wiring diagram showing what will be done.

In addition, I am considering a local shunting controller for both the tramway (the Ridge and the Summit units) and the Glenfinnan branch yard. I have a Minitrains controller that will probably work OK on a short piece of track. Providing a simple local changeover switch on a panel in the aisle adjoining the tramway and the fiddle yard will do the job.

Finally, here are a few photos of the trackwork laid yesterday night, showing the baseboard joints where the track is soldered on to PCB sleepers, and the temporary point in the Summit station:

[Graeme Dunbar]

There is no reason not to suppose that something like this:


http://www.floienfolkerestaurant.no/

might not be just around the corner out of sight of the station as it is here. The photo of the outside does not do it justice. It has the most amazingly ornate toilets I've ever seen (can't vouch for what the Ladies restroom looks like) - even down to the carved wooden alcoves the urinals are set into. It is like taking a pee in a cuckoo clock.

[tedp]

... It is like taking a pee in a cuckoo clock.

:o   :D

I'm afraid there won't be such a grand affair at the bleak windswept summit of Creag Dhubh. What I would like better is this:



But even then there won't be any space on this tiny layout. Probably I'll fit an extension to the station marked 'Tea Room' and that will be it!

[Jeff Schumaker]

I am impressed with the quick progress you are making.

Jeff S.

[Graeme Dunbar]

I like the different perspective and behind the scenes views too. It has such an organic feel. I can imagine a tramway running along the ridge.

Perhaps a path and a sign "To the observation point and tearoom"? There could be a hint of a viewing platform.

[Gerhard Novak]

For my opinion the higher you go - the more bleak and basic the toilets are...  :)
This is my experience as an Austrian.

Norway may be an exception.

I like the idea of the tram extension. Also it gives Ted the possibility to model the landscape of a mountain peak. Looking forward for more!
Gerhard

[tedp]

Thanks, all - bleak and basic would be my idea!

I have been wondering about the backscene. My backscenes elsewhere have been painted, and I am willing to give it a try. But since this one plays a very important role, I suppose it might be a good idea to have it printed professionally from a panoramic photo that I can make from a series I made on the top of Snowdon.

[tedp]

Tonight, after clearing up the mess in the railway room, and remembering that 'Caledonia' is supposed to have been used up Snaefell during construction of the tramway, I indulged in a little fancy. I ran 'Brutus' up the hill, pushing an open wagon with PW materials and the mess van, and took a few photos. One of these I gave a good working over with Photoshop, mixing in part of a photo showing the ground cover beside the Snowdon line near the top.



It's a hoax, of course, but it gives an idea of the impression I'm after. Now I need to reproduce that ground cover!

Anyway, it was nice to indulge in a bit of fun...   ;)

[Hugh Norwood]

Perhaps just a Police Phone box on the summit with a notice next to it saying "Teas"  ???