[birdseyecircus]

...with apologies to Spandau Ballet. Anyway enough of that.
There are a number of forthcoming releases Class 14,15 23 and the lone 17 i have which i would like to see running on a layout, but obviously they look out of place alongside the EWS stuff i have on my 'round the loft' layout.
I have a number of Hornby set track second radius curves and some points at my disposal that were used for running in duties.
7 curves were used along with a point. By accident i closed the circle instead of adding the half curve alongside the point. All the Bo Bo locos i had ran round it with ease so too did the larger co co's.

Once measured it was discovered it would fit onto a 36''x36'' board and slide behind a bookcase. Perfect!
The board was 12mm plywood with some softwood screwed to it for framing. I have made a start on ballasting.
I intend to have a platform opposite the siding. The siding will be for coal traffic. The otherside will have a retaining wall on top of which i hope to put some terraced houses.
I am looking for a 'bricky' suburban look. Wether i get that far remains to be seen.
Not sure on the houses though. Scalescenes card models run the risk of getting damaged each time i slide the layout from behind the bookcase, so plastic kits look to be the favoured choice.
Okay so it's not going to win any prizes for operation but if i have a working layout on which to run my dinosaur diesels then i am happy.

Paul

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[birdseyecircus]

I have spent the last couple of days building some retaining walls. Rather than build it in a curve which looked a bit naff i have done them in straight sections. 3 done 1 more to go.
I used scalescenes brick paper which was stuck to plasticard. Brickwork was built up using thick card before glueing the whole lot to some scrap softwood.
It's coming along nicely, but apologies for the phone camera picture.

Paul

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[Russ (mines a pint)]

a bit like littleton curve, but that was in N and even smaller,
-the 4 wheel stock looks better than the coach if you dont mind me saying so?

[birdseyecircus]

The coach was just there for clearence. Whilst i will certainly be running four wheeled goods vans and wagons there may be the odd passenger working too.

Paul

[Trainshed Terry]

birdseyecircus, on 07 December 2009 - 20:19 , said:

...with apologies to Spandau Ballet. Anyway enough of that.
There are a number of forthcoming releases Class 14,15 23 and the lone 17 i have which i would like to see running on a layout, but obviously they look out of place alongside the EWS stuff i have on my 'round the loft' layout.
I have a number of Hornby set track second radius curves and some points at my disposal that were used for running in duties.
7 curves were used along with a point. By accident i closed the circle instead of adding the half curve alongside the point. All the Bo Bo locos i had ran round it with ease so too did the larger co co's.

Once measured it was discovered it would fit onto a 36''x36'' board and slide behind a bookcase. Perfect!
The board was 12mm plywood with some softwood screwed to it for framing. I have made a start on ballasting.
I intend to have a platform opposite the siding. The siding will be for coal traffic. The other side will have a retaining wall on top of which i hope to put some terraced houses.
I am looking for a 'bricky' suburban look. Wether i get that far remains to be seen.
Not sure on the houses though. Scalescenes card models run the risk of getting damaged each time i slide the layout from behind the bookcase, so plastic kits look to be the favoured choice.
Okay so it's not going to win any prizes for operation but if i have a working layout on which to run my dinosaur diesels then i am happy.

Paul

I can remember some years ago some one had used a bycle wheel to do a layout on, which was very clever as the train stayed where it was and the scenery moved, unfortunately I can not locate the pictures of it.

Terry.

[birdseyecircus]

A little progress. I have completed one side of the retaining wall along with one of the overbridges. It's starting look the part.
The last picture shows todays purchases. The Thornycroft Amazon crane from the RAF set will be used in the coal yard. The hook will be replaced with a grab. Not sure if one ever existed like this!
apologies for the pictures. i will take some more over the next day or so.

Paul

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[Andrew1974]

birdseyecircus, on 07 December 2009 - 20:19 , said:

Once measured it was discovered it would fit onto a 36''x36'' board and slide behind a bookcase. Perfect!

Boards 36" wide will also fit under a standard single bed....very useful alternative storage place

Andrew

[birdseyecircus]

Still ongoing with the retaing walls. Seeing as I have finished work for christmas, its easy to devote a bit more time each day to this. Must admit i am enjoying it and looking forward to placing a few cameo scenes.
Once the retaing walls are done I hope to build the platform (out of card), which due to the tight curves won't look prototypical but will be obscured by stopping trains.

Paul

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[18B]

Hi,

I love these sorts of layouts,

please post some more pics!

Are those the Lima now Hornby Vans? they look the part and a tight small platform would be very believable in a tight space, pretending to be off of some larger station?

Looking forward to some more pics

Alex

[18B]

birdseyecircus, on 10 December 2009 - 19:57 , said:

I have spent the last couple of days building some retaining walls. Rather than build it in a curve which looked a bit naff i have done them in straight sections. 3 done 1 more to go.
I used scalescenes brick paper which was stuck to plasticard. Brickwork was built up using thick card before glueing the whole lot to some scrap softwood.
It's coming along nicely, but apologies for the phone camera picture.

Paul

What paper etc did you print the scalescenes bricks onto??

I like the idea of the two halves, Another bridge over it might help to break it up?

[18B]

Hi again,

sorry for the barrage of posts,

at the point a either the Hornby Ground frame or Midland Railway small crossing type box,

http://www.railway-m....aspx?k=1609302

would look good, especially with the addition of a ground disc and small semaphore?

[birdseyecircus]

Hi Alex. Thanks for your comments. Yes they are the Hornby Vans. The scalescenes brick work was printed onto both card and standard copier paper depending on its use.
I intend to put a bit of simple signal work on the layout.
The layout, whilst having limited operating potential, is a pleasure to watch. At present classes 17,20,25 &27 have been regular runners and i look forward to a 14 & the BTH class 15.
I have just fitted the headcode to the class 17. Much trimming was need to make it fit and because the layout is DC the front light makes the headcode have a square luminous block behind it. I will have to do something about it - most likely remove the bulb.
More pics to follow.

Paul

[David Rickard]

That's OO isn't it? What size is the base?

I'm considering ripping off the idea building something similar in N as a test track and test bed to try things out on before putting them onto my real layout! I've got enough settrack to do it, and a bit of ply left over from the main layout.

It's a great idea, and a wonderful way to fit a lot of stuff in!

[18B]

David Rickard, on 27 December 2009 - 22:29 , said:

That's OO isn't it? What size is the base?

I'm considering ripping off the idea building something similar in N as a test track and test bed to try things out on before putting them onto my real layout! I've got enough settrack to do it, and a bit of ply left over from the main layout.

It's a great idea, and a wonderful way to fit a lot of stuff in!

Sorry to leap in on Paul's post, he mentions at the top it's 36 inch by 36 inch,

Check out Littleton Curve in N
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Wcg8iGEF92I

the video is an inspiration, the whole layout including two fiddle yard roads is about 2ft by 2ft.

Alex

[David Rickard]

18B, on 27 December 2009 - 23:24 , said:

Sorry to leap in on Paul's post, he mentions at the top it's 36 inch by 36 inch,

Check out Littleton Curve in N
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Wcg8iGEF92I

the video is an inspiration, the whole layout including two fiddle yard roads is about 2ft by 2ft.

Alex

Ahh dang it. Thanks.

Nice video!

[birdseyecircus]

Just a brief update. The photo shows coal yard facilities. These were Wills kits, and at present are just plonked any were as i have not decided their final positions. The coal yard office is a stone building but i have recladded it in Scalescenes brick as this blends in better with the retaining walls etc.

Bottom right will be allotments. I have added a path and a wicket gate.
Looking around there are lots of things that need touching up and one or two small gaps to fill.

Paul

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[18B]

hi Paul,

It's looking good,

what's the plan for the rest of the area inside the circle?

Up on top, are you using those Dapol semi's kits?

I take it the road surfaces were also from Scalescenes?

More pics please

[birdseyecircus]

Yes the roads and paths are from Scalescenes. On the top will be 2 or 3 of the Dapol semi's with their gardens extending down to the retaining walls at the bottom. Not sure what to put on the other 2 corners (when i get to them).

Paul

[birdseyecircus]

I may have to rethink part of the layout. It was my intention to have a platform opposite the point. I was well aware of the draw back of putting a platform on a second radius curve.
seeing pictures carefully hiding the gap at either end of the coach (with the middle part being the nearest to the platform edge) made me think it would be ok.

However reality is a different thing! I have started to construct a small platform, but constantley looking over the top of the train makes my eyes draw straight to the gaps!

Whilst running short 4 wheel wagons is ok. I wanted to run the odd DMU and 2 coach passenger train.

What do others think? Should i still build the platform and shut my eye every time i lean over (!) Or find another use for the space? Maybe a factory?

Paul

[ChrisB]

Brilliant !

Just in case anyone was taking things too seriously......!

[Dave777]

Straighten the siding and fill in the triangle between it and the running line with a platform?

Not sure what you'd do with freight traffic then however. Personally I'd move the point back to nearer the bridge and then put a second point on the siding (about where the current one is) to create a kickback siding - this then means you can keep the coal siding and use the other one for a platform. BUT... this all requires ripping up the already-ballasted track.

Another alternative might be to start thinking 'off scene' - have an overall roof and model the end of a platform. You could either do this at the end of the siding (so that it looks as if it's about to disappear into a longer station platform under a roof) or butt this onto one of the bridges so that part of the loop is undercover. Then you still have the platform but the obvious coach/platform gap is hidden.

The only slight problem is that a single line with an overall roof may be a tad unrealistic. If you were being really clever though, you could include a length of first radius track inside the loop to form a second, false running line on this one side. Hide the ends under the overall roof and under the bridge at the other end, run the trains round the loop in the right direction... and the illusion is complete.

Plus Scalescenes have an overall roof kit...

[birdseyecircus]

It??™s been a few weeks since the last update, but not a great deal has happened.

I decided to carry on with the platform which has not turned out too bad. Just need to source a suitable small building. I am toying with the Hornby yellow waiting room (painted of course) and building the Scalescenes waiting room. Plenty of time yet to decide.

The platform was built out of card finished off with Scalescenes surfaces.



I have added some fences. Peco lineside and one scratchbuilt one using the old matchsticks and cotton routine. I enjoyed building this especially the cost factor and it adds a bit of variety.

Touching up with various bushes and scatter is continuing as required.



I have built the Dapol houses to see what size they would be. Space allows for another 2 but iam unsure whether to leave the space over grown with maybe an advert hoarding.

The windows for the houses look like they need alittle work as they have moulding indents in the frames. I tried filling them but the filler kept falling out when I tried to file it smooth. I guess I will rub the entire frame on some smooth sand paper to bring the rest of the frame to the level of the dents.



Attention is now turning to the other side of the layout. The retaining walls are still to finish and I have the 2 small corners to fill up with something. What? Iam not sure. Maybe one or two vehicles (milk floats in a dairy yard possibly).



Paul

[birdseyecircus]

I have not done a great deal since the last update. But things are heading in the right direction. I have added a some paving using Wills sheets (Class 33 pic).
Building up of the Dapol houses is nearing completion just got to add glazing and curtains. I may well invest in the Bachmann/scenecraft house under construction, to fill a space next to the dapol ones.
A new purchase was the Heljan Class 14 which suits my dinosaur diesels layout well-looking forward to the Class 15. Perhaps i should have called the layout Jurassic Park!
I am glad the layout is roundy roundy as my class 14 is not very convincing at slow speed.

Paul