A long time coming, but finally managed some time laying track. The bridge is a bit of a nightmare, finally got trains to run over it but when the weather gets damp the fit goes out and it will not lie true, need some sort of clamping arrangement.
So far got the lower (Branch Line) loop working and the switchback that will enclose the goods yard. Two shots, one with the bridge raised, one down.
No battle plan survives the first shot, and my plans have been back to the board so many times now it is just not funny. First and most obvious as I feared access was a huge no, I simply could not reach into the corners, in fact looking at some of the plans available I have to wonder are they designed for giraffes?
So a major change is a bridging section, a two level one which will probably bite me for my arrogance, I simply could not come up with a single level one and keep my inclines belo
The board is now virually done and covered with 50mm extruded foam, some of which will be cut away for lew level stuff. I am now laying out track and fine tuning what bits go where. I have part of the board dismantled for better access to the difficult bits, the removed pieces are a push fit and will remain so in the event of needing remedial work later.
This layout is only intended to be a first draft as a practise and to build up stock and skill.
Slow time work over Christmas, but some progress. Lost track of the number of times I altered the layout plan as I worked on the board, mainly due to realising I had dead areas that could not be seen (or reached) I also could not live without a through station and added a feedback loop. I have left the terminus vague for now.
A pause in the work, I have run out of wood, I originally planned for an 8x4 layout, I have laid board for the east Bluff and the south cove round to west incline, and there stopped. Out of budget! I am also struggling for space, the drum kit is up for sale and the guitars stored under the bench so once that is done I can start on laying and shaping foam.
More track I ordered has arrived, picture included, cost me about £50 including shipping, everything in the centre and to the right is Sup
I decided to use loft board instead of Ply, hope it does not bite me! The reason is portability from the shop to shed, loft boards come handily packed for the car boot and are a doddle to handle and chop up with a jigsaw. I have fixed them to existing bench support with decking screws - expensive but worth it, and I love the hex drive.
I made a start on the West and south side of the layout, keeping a broad mind, I am prepared to make drastic changes if it all looks too cramped. I am laying
Hum, a dry fit of the board made it clear the entrance was rather cramped, so I shrank the left hand curve by six inches, I have also abandoned the "bay," to be rigid the board would be thick and heavy and would need supports, not what I want. I hate to give up the moorings though so I have added a small canal and dock, though any buildings will have to be two dimensional.
I have extended the terminal come fiddle yard to help me build up stock, I have also added a direct link to the freight
Finally I have at least a starting point I am happy with, though if the finished result looks anything like this I will be astonished.
I have taken the plan shown earlier and tweaked it, I got rid of the turntable due to expense and a lack of locomotives to use it - maybe later. A fiddle yard is spurred off at the top which will be modeled into a terminus. An option is to make it two level and run a through track overhead to cross the door and complete the shed circle. But not for some time.
Checked out some larger layouts to see how they get over access. Surprising a lot do not, a typical layout might include a duck under area, but even so the builder would have to reach across a typical loop of about 4 foot, implying they actually have all round access. Good for them. I don't.
One shed layout caught my eye, the track runs around the perimeter with a lift out section at the door. Nice, but as a starter with only a few bits of track looking to build my stock up over a couple of
Dammit, dry fitted my board and this will not do. For one thing my 10x8 shed appears to have shrunk and the board obscures more of the door than I planned. That I can live with, what I cannot cope with is just how deep a four foot board is!
I looked at loads of examples including some wedged tightly into a space. But how the heck do the operators reach over 4ft? Checked back and the ones I was using as examples did not have access holes which I am trying to avoid for restricted movement issu
After severals attempts I realised I was not going to get an RAF base and an RN base on an 8x4 with any degree of believability. So I tossed a coin and went with the Navy base. Or rather a small port hijacked for war purposes.
Central is a mole for posing a corvette, or similar sized vessles such as a Dog Boat, as the building whim takes me. Smaller docks allow for torpedo and gun boats, landing craft and so. A shallow area will allow me to add some small fishing boats, floating or canted ov
While pondering what to layout I had sketched an idea in my mind to illustrate a wartime story which involves a small coastal forces based in Wales and a nearby holiday camp (aka TB sanitorium) which had been converted to a small RAF station for advanced flight training, the neat thing being that did not restrict me on what aircraft I could display.
A rough sketch showed me the whole concept just would not work on 8x4 at 00, dropping down to N was not an option, I cannot model at that level,
I was somewhat amused browsing through posts to see I was not the only one intending to start with: "After 35 years I have..." Or thereabouts. I expect there is some logical math to it involving average times to leave home, get married, have kids, get rid of kids and stand gloating in one of the empty bedrooms thinking "Finally!!!"
35 years, phew. One thing I did remember was the importance of planning, this time I am going in with a clean slate, no big smelly box from Grandad's cellar packe
