{"id":23001,"date":"2024-03-28T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T23:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otcm.wordpress.com\/2024\/03\/27\/and-that-was-that\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T09:00:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T23:00:14","slug":"and-that-was-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=23001","title":{"rendered":"And that was that\u2026."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026. No, not this blog, although I\u2019d more than understand you jumping to that conclusion given it\u2019s been almost 18 months since we last posted, but it is time to say goodbye to another OTCM layout.<\/p>\n

While I can\u2019t replicate the drama associated with the demise of Six Quarters<\/a> something very un-OTCM has happened to BWS – see our respective lofts provide a convalescence for retired OTCM exhibition layouts with Stoating Bank sitting gathering dust in mine while Six Quarters does the same in Oly\u2019s. However for BWS, fate took a slightly different shape\u2026.<\/p>\n

The end\u2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The layout made its scheduled last appearance at the Abingdon \u2018Abrail\u2019 exhibition at the start of March – which was an incredible show by the way – and rapidly moved into a component recovery phase that would have made EWS proud at Springs Branch\u2026..<\/p>\n

To mark the end of the show, a brake van special was run hauled by a class 24, which departed the layout at closing time with a compliment of horns:<\/p>\n

The last train departs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things then immediately started feeling final as Mark and Pete managed to rip the bus wire out removing a fiddle yard!!<\/p>\n

Once stripped of parts, the scene took on a very 1980\u2019s look, the impact of Thatcherite Policies clearly hitting the former sidings as hard as most of the surrounding area around the prototype:<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

So why has BWS met such a sudden end? Well there are a couple of reasons, the most significant one being that I wanted to pinch a few bits off the layout to build into the new project, given the two are based on the same prototype. I now have a box of scenic items waiting for their second life on A Dreary Tuesday<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Secondly, the layout wasn\u2019t without its issues! I always intended it to be a testbed for skills and ideas ahead of something larger being built, but as I\u2019d had various \u2018good ideas\u2019 since it was conceived, certain parts of the layout were becoming disjointed. For instance:<\/p>\n

-the mk2 cassette system didn\u2019t fit on the fiddle yard board properly, so always felt a bit dicey. It also resulted in a couple of very short bits of track either side of the baseboard joint which wasn\u2019t ideal for strength or alignment.<\/p>\n

-the layout was originally designed to operate from the front, but the mk2 fiddle yards worked from the back meaning you needed people at both. Lifting a train in a cassette over the cantilever wire occasionally felt a bit sketchy!!<\/p>\n

-the extra fiddle yard I added at the back never worked properly and just became an extra bit of wood to lump round.<\/p>\n

Above all else though, the death knell was signed by how bloody intense to operate the layout was. I\u2019d be fairly sure it\u2019s more relaxing to operate some of the most complex layouts out there, you never had more than 30 seconds to take your eye off the ball! The combinations of tight curves and points also meant you never quite trusted a train to make it across the layout without derailing!<\/p>\n

Me trying to keep an eye on proceedings. I\u2019m probably on the verge of breaking into a sweat, or I\u2019ve got a beer on the go to calm me down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While I\u2019m sure some of my regular operators would agree with the above (and moan about the couplings because and the switches\u2026. But they do that about every layout they operate!) don\u2019t get the idea the layout was a total disaster! There were some good bits too:<\/p>\n

-the suspended fiddle yards worked brilliantly until I ruined them, but saving 2 sets of legs was a winner for a quick departure at the end of a show.<\/p>\n

-it looked pretty decent, and the winter scene definitely drew people in even if they didn\u2019t get the prototype.<\/p>\n

-it showed me electric locos are ridiculously popular amongst exhibition visitors! The wires were only added as something a bit different for the occasional move but we ended up running far more electric trains than was ever envisioned.<\/p>\n

-using EZ line for the OHLE was a winner for track cleaning etc, and will definitely be used again.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

So there we have it, the layout probably had it\u2019s exhibition career cut short by missing out on the shows planned for 2020 and 2021 but it did it\u2019s job, taught me a lot both in terms of what to do and what not to do. The last couple of shows also gave me plenty of ideas for things to include in the new layout (more interactivity with the public for a start) and reminded me that hacking across the country in a van to spend the weekend playing trains, drinking beer and eating curry with your mates (while also receiving endless abuse) is good fun and worth all the stress leading up to it!<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s onward with the next project after a year of it being paused while I\u2019ve been busy with a huge wave of DIY projects on the house. We are all excited by the prospect of running trains round in circles and not having to stop them every 3 feet\u2026!!<\/p>\n

Chris<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026. No, not this blog, although I\u2019d more than understand you jumping to that conclusion given it\u2019s been almost 18 months since we last posted, but it is time to say goodbye to another OTCM layout. While I can\u2019t replicate the drama associated with the demise of Six Quarters something very un-OTCM has happened to \u2026 <\/p>\n

Continue reading “And that was\u00a0that\u2026.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":4857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23001"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376229,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23001\/revisions\/376229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}