claris junction (brian denton)

The Prototype

Claris Junction is purely fictitious (like minded devotees will see the thread, though). If it had existed, Claris Junction would have been found on the West Shropshire Light Railway (if that had existed). (Hmm, WS, that rings a bell.) At Claris, the line split to provide two separate rail links for the villages to the west. It was a sleepy little village with a sleepy little junction station, well, more of a halt actually, a loop and a single siding with a shed. This provided loco servicing (coal and water) and unloading/loading facilities for the raw materials for and products from the nearby factory, the Claris works of PRO(Filemaker) Ltd.

Some may think it strange to find an industrial site in such an environment, which had historically been apple country, but the plant originally developed from a small business using the wood and charcoal from the surrounding orchards for heat treating the files. Such was the reputation of the files that the growing concern was bought up by PRO in the early 20th century.

More details to follow...

The Model

The layout is my first foray into 2mm scale narrow gauge, or Nn3, and is distinctly 'Fielderesque'. It bears more that a passing resemblance to Mark's 'An Clár' though this is mainly due to the size of the baseboard (from an abandoned Group module project) on which it is built, which is almost exactly the same size as that on which 'An Clár' was constructed (see here). The fiddle yard at both ends with cassettes also enhances the similarity.

The single baseboard has overall dimensions 1000mm long by 260mm wide by 80mm deep. The sides and top are constructed from 5mm ply and the ends and a centre brace from 12mm ply. The track and scenics are mounted on a 260mm x 590mm x 6mm mdf sub-base, set centrally on the baseboard.

The Baseboard	The Sub-Base

The track is built using code 30 rail and the narrow gauge pcb sleepers available from the 2mm Scale Association.

The picture above shows a 1 in 4 RH turnout and a length of 'fishbone', that is a single piece of rail with sleepers. This can be laid straight or to any radius before the second rail is soldered into place to provide an all soldered rigid piece of track. Note the somewhat haphazard positioning of the sleepers which adds to the narrow gauge ambience.The simple track plan is shown below.

More details to follow..........