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A shelf based DMU layout

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Another day off...

Another week of long days, and I had another day off to play on the layout. Started this morning by fitting the point motors to the right board, then added the point controllers, and started the wiring. I'm getting better at wiring the controllers in, and managed to get the board wires done before lunch. Then put the layout back together, the right way up, and started checking for continuity between the boards. Managed to get myself completely confused with regard to what should be connected

MichaelW

MichaelW

Wiring day

Another 4 long days has given me Friday off, so I'm spending the day wiring. Started by attaching the point controllers to the board, then spent the entire morning session of the cricket connecting everything up. Did briefly consider trying to work out how to connect the frog wiring so it would work first time, but came to the conclusion that I could spend 5 minutes confusing myself and getting it wrong 80% of the time, or just put it together and get 50% wrong. Added to that is the excitemen

MichaelW

MichaelW

Point controllers

Had a spare hour or so this evening, didn't want to sit in front of the goggle box, so decided to build a few point controllers. These are MERG (Model Electronic Railway Group) kits. Each board controls one or two points, acting as a mini CDU, and providing frog switching for each point. The kit is quite simple, with not many components:     I find the kit goes together really easily, and without much trouble batch built 4 of them this evening. These are destined for the station board.

MichaelW

MichaelW

A history...

Real history   The history of railways in Leeds is a mess of rivalry, co-operation, interference and desire. The first railway to arrive in Leeds was the Leeds and Selby in 1834, with its carefully graded route to the port of Selby from Marsh Lane (east of the city centre). The next arrival was the North Midland Railway when it opened its line south to Derby in 1840 from a terminus at Hunslet Lane in the Pottery Fields area to the south of the River Aire. With the arrival of the Leeds and B

MichaelW

MichaelW

Control & Electronics

Track is appearing, so I should start thinking about how I'm going to control the layout. I will admit that this is the part that I really like - electrics / electronics hold no fears for me, so I can enjoy creating a control system that does what I want it to. Thinking about control leaves a number of questions to ponder...   What do I want to do with the layout? Well, as I've said before, the intention is for it to become an exhibition layout, so the most important requirement of the cont

MichaelW

MichaelW

More Tracklaying

Following the trials and tribulations with the first sector plate, I was pleased to see the second one hadn't reshaped itself after gluing on the cork. I fitted it (having first worked out which way round took best advantage of the warp for a level joint), and with the aid of a folded piece of card, it seems to sit fairly level. Having already prepared the track, all I had to do was glue it down this morning. It wasn't as easy as last time, mainly due to the curves in the branch line, not hel

MichaelW

MichaelW

Improving the Backscene

Tonight I managed to find time to attack the backscene again. I cut out the slots for the framing from the bottom of the left board's backscene, and glued it in place with the aid of several wedges to hold it against the back of the front top. Whilst that was setting, I started painting the right board backscenes. I picked up a tester pot of sky blue paint last time I was in Homebase, and used this as a base coat. By painting one end to the the other, I managed to get two coats on most of t

MichaelW

MichaelW

Stock Play

I was playing with some stock to check sizing issues, and to figure out where to put section breaks, and decided to start taking photos...   First up, a view of the station - with parcels vans sat by the parcels depot, and two 158s in platforms 2 and 3. I've always liked the Northern Spirit transpennine livery.   Next up, a 150 trundles out the station for a trip up the branch, whilst a Northern Spirit 4 car 156 arrives into platform 4.   The right hand end of the layout next, with a

MichaelW

MichaelW

Sector plates and back scenes - or a lesson in picking flat sheet timber...

Started the morning by fitting the two sector plates and cutting the track on the right board. Everything was going so well that I decided to do a trial fit of the backscenes to see what it would look like in the end. The two right hand bits have been cut to fit round the framing, the left hand piece hasn't (so sits a lot higher, and needs the drill to keep it upright.   Having disappeared for a couple of hours, and with the heating combating the weather, I came back, and decided to have a

MichaelW

MichaelW

Tracklaying

I started this morning by removing the weights from the cork (a wide selection of old Railway Modellers does come in handy at times), and started marking out the track plan. Had to move the point for the rear platforms a bit to clear the baseboard framing (One thing I hadn't considered when planning - these boards have 1 3/4" thick frames, compared to the usual 1" softwood). I then started cutting the track to loose lay to check for look and fit.   This is my first foray into using fines

MichaelW

MichaelW

A base...

Having got back after my christmas road trip I needed a project to fill up the rest of the holidays. Last year I replaced the lounge and kitchen floors*, but this year I decided to do something less drastic.   I took advantage of a fine (if a little chilly) day to cut some wood leftover from the big layout into suitable sized strips, and started making the baseboards. This is my first foray into plywood baseboards, and must say it is a bit different. Not having to cut all the mortise join

MichaelW

MichaelW

A little progress...

I seem to have got rather busy since I decided I liked the last set of plans I posted. Having managed to get a day off work and not too much else to do with it, I tried to make a start. Went to the local model shop for some track, got enough to get going (and some Metcalfe warehouse kits), got it all home and promptly fell asleep. By the time I'd woken up again, it was getting a bit dark to go outside and cut wood (better outside lighting is one of those things I keep meaning to sort), so I c

MichaelW

MichaelW

Yet more plans

Whilst there's been problems with the forum, I've been doing even more planning and thinking, and have come up with yet another plan. The entry into the fiddle-yard for the mainline never looked quite right - it was too far forward, leaving the scenic area in front of the fiddle-yard very narrow. So with a little twist, the plan now bends the other way, with the centre of the layout towards the back, and the edges further forward. I've also worked on the branch and sidings, and am happier wit

MichaelW

MichaelW

A finer plan

Have done some more playing with the track plan. First I tried with medium radius points, but that needed almost 8 feet to get the platforms, station throat and fiddle yard in. I don't want to lose any of this - though I guess I could cope with a single track access to the fiddle yard, but it reduces the operational scope (the fiddle yard needs moving after every move, whereas I'd prefer to be able to do an out and in (at least) before fiddling. I remeasured the space available, and, though i

MichaelW

MichaelW

A better plan...

Following the thinking on the background, I've done a bit more playing with the plan. First up, an extension to the original one:   This adds in the branch line with sidings infront of the fiddle yard. The back siding would be hidden, allowing a branch passenger train to head off stage. The front pair of platforms has had a crossover added - to allow freight and parcels trains to be run round - the intention being that the nearside road is used for parcels traffic, the far for branch pass

MichaelW

MichaelW

A raison-d'etre

Have been thinking about the scenic potential, and the background to the layout - and wonder how this would look:   A once large and grand urban terminus station, that used to receive everything from top-link expresses to the humblest branch-line stopping train. The station served both as a terminus for main line trains, and for an urban branch line that served surburban commuter stations as well as a number of sidings for various industries. With no other connections to the network, all fre

MichaelW

MichaelW

Too many DMUs, not enough layout...

Damn these N-Gauge manufacturers! I start getting interested in running long trains and a mainline layout, and suddenly the shops are filled with the best looking set of modern image DMUs I've ever seen! Unfortunately I'm weak-willed when it comes to good looking, Yorkshire area suitable, releases. So I now have a number of these lovely DMUs, and will have a few more when Dapol gets round to releasing their latest set of liveries, and I've not got a layout to run them on (well, not without th

MichaelW

MichaelW

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