captinfranko Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 After a few previously aborted attempts at getting back into the hobby I had hoped that moving to a new house might reinvigorate my attempts at modelling at boy did it work. The story of this layout starts a while ago but having given up on my garage layout at my previous house we were looking around a new house (The one that we eventually ended up buying) and the then owner asked if I would like to look in the loft. To my absolute delight it was boarded out, had an electricity feed and was massive - 35ft by 18ft approx. Now the rest of the house was beautiful as well, so we pushed ahead with the purchase and moved in in May of 2016. Since then I have been planning and working away and laying baseboards and ensuring a sound-foundation for what I hope will become my best layout yet. I have three main running loops that circle the loft. The plan is to have a massive terminus style city station on one board with a long scenic run for the trains on the other side. There will also be a small TMD section for my diesel stock. There will be three fiddle/hidden roads to store full length trains and the two bay platforms in the station will act as storage for the outer loop as well. Then on the far end of the layout there will be Chestnut City - my idea of a fictional city based on London in the modern era. The trains will disappear under the city on one side and reappear the other before looping back round to the station. The hidden storage roads are entered under the city so that I can give the illusion of the trains disappearing off to different places if I want. Track plans have come and gone and I never really felt like I got the station design right. The above image is the last working version of the track plan before I got to laying track. The track on the left, right and bottom boards stayed 98% similar to the plan but the design of the station changed somewhat as I found the planned track work to be far too complicated. What I have now is a mixture of through lines and two bay platforms acting as storage lines for the first loop. I have attached some pictures (annotated in the Paper 53 app) to show how I want things to develop in the future and what my ideas with the station are. I intend as the layout develops to film updates and the first should follow very soon. I intended this first post, which has now gone on far too long to act as an introduction to the layout, which will be modern image and DC and to get some feedback to ascertain what people think. At present (July 29th 2017) I have the three loops wired up but only the outer one completed. Below are some general images of the layout in its current form. I have photographed each side and each end of the layout as well... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) In order to try and keep things ordered and on track (no pun intended) I split the build of the layout up into manageable phases. Phase 1 involved the laying of the baseboards. Each one is made of 18mm chipboard that I stress tested to make sure it wouldn't bend (too much) and supported with strong bracing. Phase 2 involved laying the track on the hatch side of the layout, which I am calling the "long drag". It was the first track layed and allowed me to play trains as I could see what full length trains would look like even though the whole thing was nowhere near finished. The tracks are close to the near side of the baseboard so that they can make room for the storage sidings that will be hidden underneath scenery. At the moment I am thinking this will take the form of a road or motorway leading into the city. Phase 3 involved laying the curves at either end of the loft and getting the loops over to the other side of the loft. I did this using the tracksetta curve templates so as to try and make the curves as realistic as possible. Phase 4 was the (re)planning and laying of the track that formed the station. (This is currently the stage I am up to at the moment.) Phase 5 will involve heavy testing of the three completed loops and I am currently hoping to start this part of the layout within the next few days/weeks. After that I will tackle the wiring of the point motors and then look at addressing the TMD, before moving onto the hidden sidings. Only after all this is done can Chestnut City itself begin to take shape on the end board. Edited July 30, 2017 by captinfranko Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Today I spent the morning in the loft laying the rest of the track to complete the three main loops and the station layout. I now have three main running lines and need to start testing them and making sure everything works properly before going too far. I have included a picture of the 'finished' station area below. I have shaded the eventual location of the platforms in red to give an idea as to where they are going. Im quite pleased with this so far and it is beginning to take shape. Now to testing, and of course, playing trains for a while... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psiborg Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 Looks good I only wish I had that much room to play with! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Looks good I only wish I had that much room to play with! Simon Thanks Simon. I was very lucky that when we bought the house it had all already been boarded out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewEWS Posted August 6, 2017 Share Posted August 6, 2017 Looking good, followed and looking forward to seeing this develop Matt 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 (edited) I am now fully into the "Playing trains" phase of the build. I have managed to get some time in the loft this week and finished laying the track for the three main running loops and finalised a layout for the station. The only track left to lay is that in the bay platforms on the outer loop and the hidden storage sidings that wil run alongside the long drag and under the back of Chestnut City. As the picture below shows this has allowed me to finally start running in some stock and test point work etc. My four year old has played track inspector with his train (You can probably guess which one) and he seems to be happy so far. Next steps are testing and working out bugs. I will then start to think about laying the TMD. Edited August 7, 2017 by captinfranko Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewEWS Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Can't seem to see any pictures attached? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 Can't seem to see any pictures attached? Yeah sorry about that. They were playing up and uploading upside down so I have redone it and managed to get the initial pic of the rolling stock uploaded. I am going to try and get a video done soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltic9014 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Are you letting Thomas loose to cause havoc on your layout tsk tsk tsk... Otherwise progress looks good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Are you letting Thomas loose to cause havoc on your layout tsk tsk tsk... Otherwise progress looks good. Oh yes...nothing but confusion and delay here lol... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 10, 2017 Author Share Posted August 10, 2017 (edited) Hopefully, attached below, should be the first update from Chestnut City. The video is a little raw but I hope it give a good idea of what I am going for and gives an idea of the layout as whole. Edited August 10, 2017 by captinfranko 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltic9014 Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Good video, only thing is the Voyager should probably be running in the opposite direction for correct running line practice. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the scenery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 12, 2017 Author Share Posted August 12, 2017 Good video, only thing is the Voyager should probably be running in the opposite direction for correct running line practice. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the scenery. Ah okay, noted thanks. I'm perhaps being horribly over-enthusiastic with the scenery but I have a rough plan in mind and will push on with it when I can. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 13, 2017 Author Share Posted August 13, 2017 A quick half hour in the loft this morning meant that I got to plan out the hidden storage sidings that will run next to the long drag and under the east-side of Chestnut City. As you can see from the picture below I have managed to find space for a small station that will allow me to run single and two car units from the main station (on loop one) round to here and back again (Or off into the storage sidings to give the impression of going somewhere else). I am hoping that with the TMD as well I will have a lot of operational potential. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share Posted August 14, 2017 So even though scenics are a while away yet I have begun thinking about the buildings that will be placed in and around the layout. I have been giving specific attention to the station side of the layout and the approach to the station and I'm not sure of the best position for the signal box that will be used for the station throat. I have included the three locations that I think it could go but would like some advice on where people think it should go. I think given the three positions that I have presented I prefer option C but I'm interested to hear people's opinions on where it should go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
captinfranko Posted August 21, 2017 Author Share Posted August 21, 2017 The second layout Update from Chestnut City is below and covers some aesthetic work that I have been doing recently. I have also begun laying out where I want the platforms and have picked up some uneasy foam to use as formers for the platforms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
randompilgrim Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 Hi mate, will be following with interest, plans are looking great! I have a very similar set up with baseboards in the loft but am currently in the process of considering/planning to dismantle my start and insulate properly as the drastic temperatures put me off slightly! You may wish to give that some consideration if you're up there regularly enough for prolonged periods! Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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