Loxley Barton Falls from SimonCox.com

Loxley Barton Falls - part 1 - inspiration

Simon Cox — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 24:00:00 GMT

I decided to enter a model making competition

I had not done any model making since I was a teenager and had not been to a model railway exhibition for a very long time. ExpoNG was fantastic and was a real eye-opener. The exhibition is about the best modelling for narrow gauge railways there is — it is not your normal Thomas the tank engine rubbish that you see at most shows but real works of modelling art. In one corner the show had a small informal competition with a few entries — the Shoebox Challenge. As I don’t have much room in my house I thought that this was a splendid idea for building a small model railway, testing out ideas and being able to actually complete something in a short space of time. Paula was delighted as she was about to get some new shoes! However the following year’s exhibition competition was not for a shoebox at all but a little bit bigger challenge — build a working model railway that would fit inside a fictitious 500mm cube. I had to have a go!

I spent months and months sketching and thinking about what I wanted on post-it notes on the train, over a cup of tea. We even went on a Trains and Gardens holiday to Wales to give me some inspiration and finally, I had a plan, mostly in my head, and work started.

I sketched out the plans on 6mm MDF (in hindsight this was way too thick) and marked out the track, points buildings and features.

Loxley Barton Falls baseboard with plan sketched out

The board was cut and then the framework assembled around it to produce a 500 mm box. I didn’t have to do this but I did want to frame the layout and a box seemed to the best way to do it. Part of the plan was to allow viewing into the box from two sides thereby giving the plan a diamond share rather than a square one. This then gives a wider viewpoint when looking at the model. This meant that only two sides were to be used for the backdrop so the corner posts needed to be slightly stronger than I had first anticipated.

As you can see from the second image in the gallery the lower sides, base, uprights and lid make a strong box.

Loxley Barton Falls baseboard construction from 6mm MDF and strip wood

More to follow… (when I gather more of the build photos and remember what I did next — the old grey cells are gathering a bit of dust). For now though I do have a dedicated page for Loxley Barton Falls..

Brighton Model world

Simon Cox — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 24:00:00 GMT

Loxley Barton Falls will be at Brighton Model World Exhibition this year. I have just had the invite paperwork through as a late invite (something about loosing my details!). I see that there are four other 009 layouts at the show which is not bad going for a general modelling exhibition.

Brighton Model World is on the 15th -17th February at the Brighton Centre on Brighton sea front. Apparently they have model ships, life size Daleks, radio controlled things and loads of other modelling stuff as well as railways so it should be entertaining thought the longest event I will have done. Having agreed to attend when invited last year I had not realised that it was the same weekend as the Small and Delightful's Narrow Gauge South West show in Shepton Mallet - a favourite exhibition of mine - though I have not been invited to exhibit yet... (ahem..)

See you at Brighton!

Loxley Barton Falls at The Norwood Club show

Simon Cox — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 24:00:00 GMT

I was asked last year to exhibit Loxley Barton Falls at the 2007 Norbury & South London Transport Club's exhibition on the 10th and 11th November. I was put in a small alcove next to the gents (quite handy) but this wasn't far off the entrance so nobody missed the layout. I forget how many more families go to general shows than the more specialist narrow gauge shows and it was a bit noisy!

On the first day I had four tentative invites for other exhibitions next year only one of which I have been to before so the layout might get seen a bit more in 2008.

Both my locos with Bachman chassis decided to play dead so I ran the weekend with my new Crochat railcar and a mix of my Stenning Corris 0-4-2 Huges and the little Japanese L class loco which ran superbly! I even built up a rudimentary operating sequence over 5 - 8 minutes of running which I might make a little more complex for its next outing - if I can move some badly placed magnets!

Loxley Barton in Narrow Gauge World!

Simon Cox — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Loxley Barton Falls features in the modelling section of Narrow Gauge World edition 53 September /October 2007 - there is a big grin on my face right now. The photos have come out much better than I dared hope and Cliff has done some close crops - so the hi resolution images were worth sending!

Apparently this has been out since mid August - I only just realised my subscription had finished earlier this year so was not aware of it being published till today...

Amberley 2007

Simon Cox — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Amberley was great fun. I shared a table with Robin Winter who was showing Wee Donegal. Behind us was Richard Glover, also from the Greenwich and District Narrow Gauge Society with his new small layout Sand Point and also his own Pizza Starbottom Lane so we had a good laugh as always when members are exhibiting together. Plenty to do on the Pizza before the competition and ExpoNG.

Croydon MRS 2006 show

Simon Cox — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 01:00:00 GMT

I had a great time at the show. Loxley Barton was in one of the small rooms with the Loose Chipping's 4mm Standard Gauge layout and a trade-stand. We had a good regular flow of people throughout the weekend though Sunday was reasonably quite compared to Saturday. The food laid on for the exhibitors was very good - Sundays roast beef and vegetables was very welcome! The layout stuttered to a start on both days but by the end of the day was running extremely well - though I realise I still have plenty to do to get things to run as well as they should. Paula helped me out on Saturday and Richard Glover on Sunday which meant I was able to wander around the show to view and chat.

John and Jane Jacobs Nettlecoombe won the best of show as voted for by the public, no surprises there as it is always popular! I was informed that the tally of votes Loxley Barton received put it in 4th place which I have to say is very encouraging!

I might be getting an invite from the Norbury MRC for their Nov 2007 show, they took my details and that's it until then as I have no other exhibitions invites to to fulfil - and my feet are glad of it right now!

Croydon MRS 2006 show 7th and 8th October

Simon Cox — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Loxley Barton is booked in for the Croydon Model Railway Society annual Exhibtion on the 7th and 8th of October - this weekend coming.

I have a few chores to attend to to ensure the layout is running well including putting on some Railzip for the first time - hopefully it will cut down the amount that I need to clean the track during the day. I also need to change some couplings and sort out one particular loco that was playing up at Amberley. There are a couple of other 009 narrow gauge layouts at the exhibition so if you are in the vacinity of Croydon this weekend please do pop by and say hello!

Scaloox water tower

Simon Cox — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 24:00:00 GMT

I was given the Scaloox starter pack for Christmas and I decided to have a go at building the water tower and coaling stage which was a good simple project to test out this new building form.

Scaloox is a modular building system with stonework courses that you glue together in whatever combination you wish. There are several different shapes of piece to work with and the shapes have been specially worked out to give maximum flexibility.

The Scaloox pieces are cast in moulds and quite brittle so you have to handle them gently. Advice from others suggests that they are not happy with too much moisture either and I found this out when building the tower as I had a bit of a disaster snapping one course of stone work off and then I had to cut out the remainder and start that course again. However the experience meant that I was more careful and now know the tolerances better.

I scratch built my own water tank to go on the top from plasticard.

Update

Scaloox is no longer being manufactured which is a big pity but I am sure there are good reasons for stopping production - perhaps there was no market for it.

Loxley Barton Falls - Picture in Railway Modeller

Simon Cox — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 24:00:00 GMT

The 2006 January edition of the Railway Modeller has a two page spread of the ExpoNG including a very good picture of Loxley Barton Falls and a small mention in the text. Available at most good newsagents.

Narrow Gauge World January and February Edition has a picture as well as a piece about the competition. I have not received my copy yet but was able to get a quick glimpse on Saturday. Available at larger newsagents.

The 009 News, magazine of the 009 Society also has a picture of Loxley Barton Falls at the ExpoNG in Swanley. This is only available to Members of the Society.

Loxley Barton Falls - Finished model photos

Simon Cox — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

I realised this morning that the Gallery images did not contain any of the final model as it went to ExpoNG 2005 yesterday. So this morning I did a quick photo shoot.

The image above is my favourite as it really captures the dark forbidding new industrial era of the Victorian age - just the atmosphere I was trying to capture with the model. It almost has a late Dickensian feel about it.

Loxley Barton Falls - Winner Cubic Challenge Expo Narrow Gauge 2005

Simon Cox — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

I genuinely cannot believe this - I won! I did not think I had a chance and when I saw the other layouts I just put the competition out of my mind as the others were so good. Looks like Loxley Barton Falls struck the right chord with the judges.

I really enjoyed today especially the great camaraderie of the other Cubic Challenge layouts - Chris O'Donoghue, David Woodstock, Annie Winter and her family, Michael Campbell (last years Shoe Box winner), Fried Lagerweij (runner up) and David Calderwood (who I did not get to speak to as he was tucked away in another part of the show).

Loxley Barton Falls will be in Narrow Gauge World, a fine publication and I won a years subscription, 009 News and we have been asked to exhibit at the Amberley Gala next summer. Gosh!

Perhaps, just maybe Paula will let me build something a little bit bigger now...!

Loxley Barton Falls - Showing at ExpoNG today

Simon Cox — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Only 8 and a half hours before the public get to see Loxley Barton Falls. It's 2am and I am not frantically getting everything ready having spent the evening finishing the layout, adding figures and finishing off the rolling stock. This is my first ever showing at an exhibition and ExpoNG is the premier narrow gauge model railway exhibition in Europe - so no pressure there then. Having seen the standard of work at last years ExpoNG competition I resigned myself months ago to the knowledge that there was no way Loxley Barton Falls could win the competition - this is the first layout I have ever made in 009 and there are soooo many mistakes! Hopefully it will be an enjoyable event. Hopefully no kids poke fingers into the layout and destroy everything (oh look a train - poke - snap. My eternal nightmare...)

Hopefully I won't get befriended by weirdos who want to tell me about how the particular variant of Walschart valve gear was not invented in the time period of the layout (sod off weirdy...).

I had better get some sleep!

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 07

Simon Cox — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Hunslet 2-6-2

Locomotive No. 07 is a Parkside Dundas kit built by me in the early 1990's. This is kit DL01 Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Hunslet 2-6-2 Tank Loco No.14 which was rescued from Sierra Leone. I have modelled the kit as a freelance Hunslet and this is a very good runner.

Loxley Barton Falls - Waterfall and stream detailing added

Simon Cox — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Today I filled in the waterfall and stream. I had already added the base water using a Woodland Scenics 'Realistic Water product and on top of that I added strands of Deluxe Products' Scenic Fibre glued in place for the main drop of the waterfall and where the stream runs around rocks. Once the glue holding the scenic fibre had set I heated up the Deluxe Products' Scenic Water thermoplastic water product and poured it down the waterfall and along the stream using a brush to position the flow. Once this had set I added Woodland Scenics' Water Effects to build up the white water parts of the stream and falls.

I also used these techniques to add a several flows of water from the leaking lock gates.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 06

Simon Cox — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Southwold Sharpie

Locomotive No. 6 is partially constructed with the chassis complete and most of the body work in place. This is a Golden Arrow Productions Kit NL2 - Southwold Railway 2-4-0T / 2-4-2T. I have constructed this as a 2-4-0T running on a chopped Grafar chassis - possibly a 2-6-0.

It's a great looking locomotive and was one of the 'lost' locomotives I recently found having been in storage for many years. I am not sure if this is a runner yet - could be - but I will be checking the clearances around Loxley Barton as it may well get round the bridge curve and that would be great!

Loxley Barton Falls - Lock Gate in place

Simon Cox — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 01:00:00 GMT

This weekend I have finished painting the lock gates. There is a base coat of black followed by dry brush burnt umber and then a light grey with a hint of burnt umber. The metal parts were picked out with a little rust detail and then the lock gates were finally super glued into place. I have not attached the hand rails for the top of the gates yet and I will either leave them off or cut them down a bit.

After I have finished adding the water into the stream I intend to add the effect of water spraying out of the gates as if they did not quite fit perfectly. I got some great shots of the way this works from a walk along the two path of the Wey navigation earlier this year.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 05

Simon Cox — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Roco diesel

Classic Roco 060 diesel dark green with black roof. This engine was purchased in 1985 at a small model shop in Faversham. This was the first engine to test the Loxley Barton Falls track and it only just made the sharp curve. No.5 is a very reliable engine and an excellent runner.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 04

Simon Cox — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Locomotive number 04 is a GEM Baldwin kit on a Grafar chassis.

I started to build this before I had finished Locomotive No. 03, about 1980 but it was never finished. this engine was rediscovered during a clear out in 2005 although I had known it was somewhere because many of the detailing pieces were in my bits box. This engine, like its sister No.3 will not fit on the tight curve running into Loxley Barton Falls and so will remain unfinished until another project arises.

Loxley Barton Falls progress photo gallery

Simon Cox — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Loxley Barton Falls is a 009 gauge railway layout built for the Cubic Challenge competition held at the 2005 ExpoNG Narrow Gauge Railway Exhibition in Swanley, Kent, UK on October 29th. The rules state that the layout must fit into an imaginary 500mm cube - no part, other than lighting and controllers, is allowed outside of this area.

The photos that follow were taken during the the development of the Loxley Barton Falls layout. Construction started in April 2005.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 03

Simon Cox — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Baldwin Locomotive No. 03

Locomotive number 03 is a GEM Baldwin kit on a Grafar chassis. I built this in about 1980 and it runs well but the pony truck is a little troublesome over some point work. I added a copper strip over the motor to look like a firebox - needs to be a different colour.

These days the Baldwin outline look a little utilitarian to me so this will not be run often.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 02

Simon Cox — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Ffestiniog double Fairlie

Not one to shirk a challenge I purchased this Langley kit of a Ffestiniog Double Fairlie. In the end I could not build the running gear and a friend (Michael Halliwell) put it together for me. This used to run very well but has not moved for some years. Needs a good overhaul, a repaint and some new parts.

Loxley Barton Falls - Locomotive No. 01

Simon Cox — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:00:00 GMT

Ffestiniog Prince.

I think this is a Gem Kit. I bought it in the Portmadoc Station of the Ffestiniog Railway in about 1976 (they don't sell any kits these days - pity). The chassis is an Arnold 040 and has not run for years. Needs some tender loving care and a rebuild.

Loxley Barton Falls - A new 009 layout

Simon Cox — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:00:00 GMT

In October 2004 I visited the EXPONG exhibition in Swanley held by the Greenwich and District Narrow Gauge Railway Society (GDNGRS). The show is purely for narrow gauge model railways of all gauges and there were some excellent layouts there, many I had not seen before. Tucked away in a separate room down the corridor from the main exhibition was the entries for a challenge that the GDNGRS has set. This was the shoe box Challenge where an operating layout had to fit inside of a shoe/boot box and very creative the entries were as well.

As I do not have enough space at home to build a full layout this seemed like an excellent challenge for 2005 so as soon as I got home I started to plot in my head what I would like to do. Several months later the GDNGRS released a statement that the 2005 competition would be slightly different. It is called the Cubic Challenge and the layout must fit into a 500mm cubic space. That's not very big but bigger than most shoe boxes!

In March 2005 I started in earnest to build a new 009 gauge entry for the Cubic Challenge Competition and I am diarising the progress here.