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About this blog

How to build an inglenook layout in N gauge. Or rather how not to build one.

Entries in this blog

Inglenook

Magnet Madness

I decided to change my approach to uncoupling. I had tried to use just one magnet under the track and to attempt to rely upon the "delayed uncoupling" possiblities with the Dapol Eastshunts, but that turned out to ... not work for me. So I ripped that magnet our and installed three, one at the end of each siding. I had to lengthen the "main" siding as I needed more room to be able to actually couple the loco to the five wagons therein.     I'm quite pleased, operationall
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

4
Inglenook

I like Metcalf, but I’m scared I’ll ruin them if I colour the edges in

I really like Metcalf buildings. They sometimes feel a little over scale for N, but if you’re consistent they don’t look wrong; just don’t mix them with some of the Liddle-End models that look decidedly under-scale 😊(Rye station and Hornby factory spring to mind).     But.. I can’t bring myself to colour the edges in. I know I’m not alone in this as I’ve seen many a photo showing a layout with white-edges to the otherwise normally looking buildings, but I feel I should Grow S
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

7
Inglenook

I’m Rubbish at Ballasting Track

I’ve avoided ballasting points since the debacle when I was 13 - I saved weeks of pocket money for that point (a left-hand Peco settrack; I can picture it now) only to ruin it nearly as soon as I’d laid it. I couldn’t tell anyone so my one siding ended up a bit of a space invader.   Because of this fear I started ballasting from the edges of this layout. With an intention of building up my skills and confidence by ballasting some straight pieces of track before tackling the points.
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

4
Inglenook

I’m Rubbish at Laying Track

The baseboard I bought was only 5mm ply. This means that I needed to glue and pin some 2”x1” to the underside where my track was going so that it could pin properly and not just pop-out.   Unfortunately, I’d already laid the track, fitted the Twist Lock point motors and trimmed their pins to length (more on that later) before I realised this. So I had to leave “gaps” where the point motors were, which means the actual points themselves couldn’t be pinned down or else the pins ended up
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

3
Inglenook

Track

Its only a small layout, I don’t need to get complicated, so what’s going to wrong with just using Peco settrack?     Two things it turns out (1) the small-radius points (2) deadfrogs.   The small-radius points help the Easyshunts not work.   The deadfrogs cause my little shunting engine to stutter and need the occasional Finger-of-God to make them move; and as this is “N” gauge the FoG needs to be accurately applied or you poke the engine over onto its si
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

0
Inglenook

Couplings

I decided to use Dapol Easyshunt couplings; the clue was in the name. Obviously, this meant I spent the next few weeks butchering/converting eight Peco/Dapol/GF wagons to nem couplings and fitting the Easyshunts.   I looked at the Inglenook diagram and decided I’d only want one point at which to uncouple, at the top of the “first” point; that way I could pull wagons back to there, uncouple and delayed-uncouple the wagons I didn’t want back into their siding.   Nope. I could g
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

7
Inglenook

Rolling Stock - Not exactly prototypical

I have Private owner wagons from the 40s; an 04 early-crest shunter from the 50s and a Nun from the 60s.     I wanted a small shunter and the 04 had just come out screaming “cute”. I do have a Dapol Terrier but it’s not well and doesn’t like going forwards or backwards, so I’m waiting for a new batch of those before I pick up another one -second-hand wasn’t the way to go there ☹     Rather than painting numbers on a set of 16t mineral wagons, I wanted to b
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

1
Inglenook

Introduction - Whither IngleNook?

I wanted to build a small layout that I could be “happy” with. Something that would be interesting to “play with” and interesting to look at and interesting to build. Something small that I could take from room to room without doing my back in again.   I decided a “N” gauge Inglenook sounded nice. My “N” gauge stuff to date has been Kato Unitrack laid out on a spare table as and when I get the chance. Unitrack points are fairly large and putting a few lengths of track together it still
PeterStiles

PeterStiles in Inglenook

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