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milkman matt

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As I mentioned in my last update, I had a heart attack in January (21st) this year which not only slowed me down but also acted as a bit of a wake up call. You'd think 20 years of rescue work would have done that but, no, these things always happen to other people! It has been mentioned several times since that I am still young (turned 53 on Jan 4) and still have a fair few more trips around the sun to go.

 

Prior to the heart attack, I had a bit of a tendency to being a "Gunna" and was always going to do this or that soon. Now I find I have a new impetus to get out and get more active with both the railway and a myriad of jobs that have been on the "Gunna" list. Of course, I have to take it a bit easy still but I feel changes are to be wrought this year. Now that I am getting back to something resembling normal health, I have started back on the baseboards again. Not rushing of course but making some steady progress.

 

For the main part, the baseboards are in 4' x 2' sections although they will probably never be separated as I do not intend this to be an exhibition layout. The frames are made up of 42x19mm pine which will be held together with 5/16" "T" nuts and bolts. I managed to add another 8' of frame today which will have tops (12mm MDF) added over the weekend with any any luck. This means I now have a 16' section of "L" shaped board now finished and ready for whatever I decide to do next. I would like the next sections to be on open frame baseboards as they will eventually include a hill and upper level of track.

 

The room itself measures 17' x 9' 4" and the railway will run around the edge of the room as previously mentioned. The plan I have Come up with in Any Rail is a Lower level tail chaser with a branch to an upper level. I know this is probably a bit ambitious for a first layout but, as I have said, I'm not in a hurry to complete it. I do have one quandary at the minute. The upper level will be on the short side of the cabinets which runs over my work desk and I was wondering at the possibility of putting a fiddle yard under the raised section as there would be about 7' x 1'6" of space available although I don't plan on making the raised section too high in order to minimise the slope. I would welcome thoughts and suggestions on this point.

 

The completed section of Baseboard frames with the tops sitting on them. The section on the right is approximately 10' long and the other 6' long.
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These are the "T" nuts used to hold the boards together. Being in Australia, I got these from Bunnings but I assume that B&Q or someone similar will also have them.
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I initially started off drilling holes for wiring to run through but then realised that it would probably be more practical to get the Jig saw out and open them out to slots. I will be running this as a DC layout so I guess I should make a bit of room for wires! :)
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In this shot, you can see the initial holes I drilled for the wires at the far end and the slots in the frames nearer the camera. I may open the holes out but, I don't plan to have a lot of electrics in that area of the layout so I may just leave them as they are.
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The master plan for the railway as it stands at the minute. My work bench is located under the section at the bottom of this picture.
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The plan showing just the lower section.
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The yards at the top of this picture are on the lower section and then the branch rises to the station and yards which will be above my work desk. This is from an earlier plan as Any Rail wanted to mess me around and not let me hide the lower section. Still very much the same plan but with minor changes.
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