Speke East Sidings - Minimum Space Modern N Gauge

[Timmy84]

Another quick update on progress.

 

The track plan remains roughly as designed 3 years ago. I now intend to extend one of the fuel roads beyond the scenic break as I don't think I will be able to get a bridge structure between it and the inbound road next to it. To be honest convincing scenic breaks in such a small space is probably the main thing I am still worried about getting to look right and needs some serious thought. Below is the track pla roughly laid out.

 

 

The sub-structure for the main through road has now been completed and is a mixture of polystyrene, thick card and a top layer of cork underlay that the track will sit on. This can be seen below behind the sidings (track not yet properly laid).

 

Sorry for slightly poor quality pics from the iPhone but this is the quickest and easiest way to regularly record progress.

 

 

 

 

Next job is the slightly more complex substructure for the rest of the sidings that will sit in the foreground.

 

Tim.

[Timmy84]

As progress is being made on the terrain, thoughts have turned back to some of the challenges that lie ahead creating a convincing scene. This led me back to some photos on my laptop of Southampton Maritime which has always been a source of inspiration for this project.

 

 

One of the things I am dreading is trying to create hard standing around parts of the trackwork. I have never attempted this before so any tips would be more than welcome, in terms of the best materials and techniques to use!

 

In this shot the lightly ballasted and sleepered track runs adjacent to the concrete....

 

 

Things might be trickier where the rail itself is set in to concrete. I did note some great detail on this pic such as the very faded, red painted area around the outdoor inspection pit and the yellow hatchings on approach to the shed. These are features that I will consider adding to my concrete base.

 

 

Also came across this pic which is hard to beat in terms of looking forward to the fine detail required to effectively recreate a small maintenance depot. The Freightliner team certainly keep the place neat, tidy and in good order - unlike some other locations!

 

Once the terrain is finished and track is down I am going to have to bite the bullet and "have a go" at some of this. I am hoping that if my concrete isn't too neat I can at least airbrush my way put of trouble with some convincing shades and weathering.

 

Tim.

[rob D2]

For the hardstanding there seems to be a couple of ideas,

 

Plasicard painted or some form of filler sanded down, or alternatively card.

 

 

I've tried all three - card was ok but gets rough round the edges, filler I found a nightmare , I was sanding forever and it still looked like the alps.

 

For next project I'm going to use roughed up plasticard, sprayed with plasticote suede paint I think

[Timmy84]

Yes I don't think it will be easy. If you want it to go right up to the rails at any point it may be hard to avoid filler altogether.

 

Thanks to everyone who has "liked" this topic recently. I appreciate you taking the time to look.

 

More updates soon!

[Timmy84]

Progress is slowly being made with the sub terrain that the track work will sit on. I have now sorted out the big hole where the traverser was on the old layout.

 

 

I have also now completed the sub terrain and, with the help of some very large books, fixed it securely on to the baseboard with Woodland Scenics foam tack glue. I was pretty pleased with how neatly it all came together after lots of measuring and multiple cuts.

 

 

I am now working on getting the cork underlay down on the lower level, after which the whole lot will get a coat of grey primer before the track is laid. It is always tempting to race ahead to get "something running" but I am trying to think ahead to all the potential pitfalls with the scenics before it's too late!

 

In terms of the concrete underlay I am going to trial building the right level up with cork and using filler to bring it flush to the rail before essentially skimming the top of the cork to add texture. I am intending to have a completely dry run off the layout as I really don't want to get this wrong as it will be so important to the final look of the layout. This may however distract from progress with the layout for a short time!

 

Tim

[Timmy84]

I haven't had a huge amount of time lately to progress with the layout, however I have now laid the cork underlay for the trackbed. This was quite tricky to cut right as in the past I have always laid track first and then cut round it, however this was not possible as it was going on to a card base. Once glued down and dry I filled any gaps with humbrol modelling filler to ensure a consistent finish.

 

 

This morning I have sprayed the whole top surface with Halfords grey primer. This means that if any ballast chips away in the future the gap left will be less obvious! It also leaves a bit of a neater finish and has covered some of the scribbles that were still showing on the base board from the old layout. Don't worry about the paint finish on the polystyrene, this will all be chipped away to add relief and covered in plasti-cloth, eventually!

 

 

If it all dries quickly there is the potential for some track laying later today! In the meantime I have been assembling a little test board to try out some scenic techniques prior to using them on the layout, primarily attempting some options for the concrete hard standing required around the inspection pit and fuel point.

 

Tim.

[Timmy84]

We have track! It has all gone pretty much to plan so far and all the sidings have been laid with the exception of the pit road.

 

 

 

[Timmy84]

The inspection pit is now also in place, and track laying is complete. One of the nice things about a project this size is that you can progress quickly without rushing (he says about a project started in 2013..!).

 

This actually went quite smoothly, considering that I had to cut in to the sub terrain as well as add some extra plastic to the underside to achieve the correct height. Hopefully trains will be able to run over the pit nice and smoothly.

 

Appearing in the picture is my new RES Class 86, practically the last one available to buy new on the internet it would seem, so it looks like I am committed to catenary on the reception line! This loco will also need some weathering at some point.

 

 

There are two quite different jobs planned next - wiring it all up to get something moving and practicing some of the techniques I want to use on the track and the hard standing on the test base I have constructed below. I will be approaching both with some trepidation and haven't quite decided which one to tackle first!

 

 

Watch this space....

[Timmy84]

The wiring is now done and trains have been running! Very slow progress recently I am afraid due to being busy with other things but hoping to start pulling a few things together over the coming weeks.

 

More updates to follow.

[Timmy84]

Finally had some proper time this weekend to make progress. I will do a better up date when I have a bit more time but the long and short of it is it didn't all go smoothly!

 

[Crisis Rail]

Hardstanding is tricky - best method is supergluing the stripped from sleeper rails direct to the baseboard (MDF) - it works but I have only tried it in a small area (00 Gauge ) obviously the priority is to get the gauge right! - you do have a bit of positioning adjustment after contact - worth a practice then plasticard can butt and infil up to just below rail height - leave enough clearance for track cleaning.

 

I see you have the PECO inspection pits - this gives you a good setting point for rail gauge.....

 

Ian 

[Timmy84]

So a fair bit of progress has been made but not without some setbacks.

 

After wiring and testing the layout I decided to make some improvements. I had wired to run the two fuel point roads off one feed and realised the limitations of this when I changed a point and the sound cut out on my Class 37. After some consideration, mainly due to my dislike for wiring and wanting to avoid too many of my unsightly solder joints I decided to rectify it. This meant pulling some track up to install extra insulated rail joiners as well as wiring the extra feeds. I think it has been worth it though and the whole layout is now live all the time which, after all is one of the main benefits of DCC.

 

When this was done I was able to start on the scenics. The first job was to weather the track which was done using my simple neo for Iwata airbrush. This is a relatively cheap but reliable tool that has served me well for several years. I sprayed light rust on the sides of the rails first before spraying sleeper grime on the sleepers themselves. Both these colours are enamel paints from Railmatch similar to what I use when weathering locos. This was pretty straightforward and went without issue, apart from the mess caused by working on something so big!

 

 

Following the weathering I intended to turn my attention to the hardstanding. This is a job I had been dreading but I had practiced a technique of building up a platform to the height of the rail with cork underlay and then "skimming" the top with Humbrol model filler to give the correct texture. Trials had gone well so I was ready to crack on! However beforehand I decided to glue down the fuel point so I could bring the hardstanding up to it to properly "plant" it on the layout. When I squeezed my foam tack glue bottle nothing came out so I squeezed a bit harder! Unfortunately it exploded, everywhere. The glue flooded about a quarter of the layout including one of the points. After some initial futile attempts to soak it up it became apparent that the track had to come up quick, so it did. I was left with a bit of a scene of destruction. 

 

After calming down I decided to crack on, not knowing the effect the incident would ultimately have on the running of the railway. Following the technique described above I completed two areas of hardstanding. The main one where the shed will sit and a small area by the fuel point. Ready mixed polyfilla was used to fill the bigger gaps between the rails to save on the Humbrol model filler, though the latter is much easier to work with. I used an old wagon bogie to carve out the grooves for the wheels to allow trains to run over the area. 

 

Once completed I used a small file to smooth the finish before spraying on a lifecolour acrylic called "worn tarmac". I haven't used many acrylics and I thought I may have mixed it a bit thin but after it had dried I was pleased with the effect. Finally some success.

 

However I could only really celebrate after I had removed all the paint and excess filler from the rails and re-tested the layout. Everything was working until I somehow, whilst cleaning managed to ping the tiny metal pivot out of one set of points, rendering it useless. In years of modelling I have never managed this before. After trying in vain to fix it the track came up again to replace the point (the same one I had flooded with glue so I was convinced it wasn't to be!).

 

Apart from a slightly dodgy solder connection I need to strengthen everything is now running well and it made for a good excuse to get some locos on the layout.

 

Tim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jonas]

It sounds like you've had your fair share of dramas with this layout already, but the results are looking great. Fair play for keeping the faith!

[Psiborg]

I agree with what Jonas has said and keep up the good work

 

 

Simon

[Timmy84]

Another little job I have got done is cutting the "tunnel" holes in to the end pieces of my scenic box.

 

I used a technique I found in an old Model Rail magazine where you drill holes close together and then cut the tiny bits left with a Stanley knife. It worked really well and whilst my edges aren't perfect this will all be hidden behind bridge structures eventually.

 

[Timmy84]

A quick update and a couple of snaps from the iphone.

 

I had to work nights this week which was very unusual but actually created some modelling time during the day. This allowed me to landscape the foreground area to add a little bit of relief. I added a piece of MDF to the front of the layout with some undulations cut in to it and then carved the polystyrene to roughly match. The whole lot was then covered in woodland scenics plaster cloth (which I found to be quite poor quality and more cloth than plaster) before painting with a basic humbrol enamel and a paint brush. It is a bit rough but the whole area will be covered by scatter materials anyway so it is just a base.

 

 

 

Today I have had the airbrush out adding some details to the hardstanding. I have added a red warning area around the inspection pit and I am halfway through an attempt at yellow hatchings! We will see how I get on with phase two tomorrow...

 

Tim.

[Timmy84]

Hi all,

 

I will do a proper update soon but here are a couple of pics to show some of the recent progress.

 

 

Two EWS Class 66 locomotives rest on the depot showing the newly applied painted detail on the hardstanding.

 

 

I have also completed some of the ballasting which can be seen here, as 66200 brings two VGA vans on to the Depot whilst 66096 and 67022 stand at the fuel point.

 

I have now ballasted the whole of the lower section and will be trying to get the reception road done this week!

 

Tim.

[Timmy84]

A closer view of the fuel point area featuring 67022 and 66096.

 

[Timmy84]

A quick trip in the time capsule to about 1995 with 37043 and 60054 knocking about "on shed"....

 

 

[shanks522]

The depot is coming together well Tim, I really like this picture, difficult to distinguish what gauge it is. 

 

 

Graham.

 

 

[Timmy84]

Thanks Graham.

 

I am not sure about the ballast tones when viewed in real life but the pictures look OK! 

 

It has reminded me how much I hate ballasting in N Gauge! I think a bit of weathering and a few weeds will improve it though.

 

Tim.

 

The depot is coming together well Tim, I really like this picture, difficult to distinguish what gauge it is. 

 

Screen Shot 2017-08-22 at 22.00.44.png

 

Graham

[porkie]

Depot is coming on great fella.

Loving the last batch of pic's

[grahame]

A big recent transformation. The overall 'look' is pulling together nicely and providing an interesting and effective scene.

 

G.

[rob D2]

That looks very plausible !

I like it

[Timmy84]

I really appreciate all the encouragement and yes, progress has been good lately! Unfortunately I am away for a few weeks now but I am confident enthusiasm will remain on my return.

 

A couple more pics in the meantime, and back to the present day....

 

 

66709 arrives with a long (if you imagine hard enough) container train while another GBRf 66 is serviced in the shed. I like this angle as you get a bit of detail in the foreground.

 

 

Another different angle, this time showing how much work there still is to do as 66135 pauses on the reception with a set of autoballasters. I think the driver must have wandered off for a brew. Even a layout as small as this is a significant project and the scenic breaks and back area will take a bit of time to come together.

 

Tim.