Hi,
Well since the last Blog entry it seems like most of the build team have either been on Holiday or are getting ready to go, so progress on the scenic work has been a little limited, but enough for an update.
Having worked on the dis-used bridge last time and built up the ground either side of it, we decided to work on the terrain on the remaining curved board. As the land slopes gently down, we basically picked up the profile from the centre board and then worked towards the other en
Hi,
Since the last Blog entry, we have been moving forward with more scenic work on the layout.
Ground Works
With the rough shape of the bridge of the dis-used branch line in place on the scenic boards, it was now time to start forming the rest of the surrounding terrain. As we don't want the bridge to appear like a lump on our otherwise very flat boards, our plans are to shape the scenery so that the main running lines look like they are running in a very shallow cutting. This means
Hi,
Since the last Blog entry, we have been moving steadily forward with the basic scenery for the layout. Heworth features a dis-used branch line which runs along the left hand side of the layout and which we are using as the scenic break. This line then crosses the main running lines and effectively disappears into the viewing public. The bridge across the main running lines has been removed possibly due to the electrification of the line, but the embankment still remains.
The basic st
Hi,
It's been a very long time (six months) since the last blog entry was posted, so what on earth has been going on!
Following the last entry we had just operated the layout at our Clubs annual Open Weekend and we were just trying to finalise our ideas for the Scenic portion of the layout. We had rough ideas of what we wanted to do, but it was time to sit down as a group and discuss in detail what we wanted to achieve.
Track
Our original decision to use Wooden Sleeper Track for
Hi,
As readers of the this blog may remember, our Group held its Open Weekend on 27/28 October 2012 and we were in attendance with Heworth Sidings. Although very little has been done scenically, we were hoping that we would still be able to put on a good show. It was also a great chance for us to 'feel our feet' with the layout and get some experience working with it and understanding how to operate it. Please note the structures seen on the layout are only temporary and intended to give a f
Hi,
We've really been running round in circles since the last post, but in a good way, as the End Loops have now been completed and the layout is operational.
Saturday was our groups DCC meeting and it was an excellent opportunity to setup all the modules and see how things operated. Here's a short video showing some of the action.
http://youtu.be/94OYVOjTDYE
We had very few problems with the layout itself, most of the issues surrounded the control of the layout and difficulties
Hi,
Since our last working session at our club meeting, we have been able to get together a couple more times after work.
The first job now that the Cork had been installed to form the track bed, was to offer up the track, shape it, cut it and work out where the droppers were going to be placed. In a departure from the rest of the layout, we have decided to use Concrete Sleeper rail on the End Loops. In hindsight, our initial decision to use wooden sleeper track just doesn't sit with a m
Hi,
Saturday was a meeting day for the Yorkshire Area Group of the N gauge Society, so a good few of the build team were found together in the same place along with a full complement of modules for the layout.
Our attention at the moment is squarely on the End Loops, having successfully test fit all the modules together a few weeks back. Currently we are wiring and preparing the boards for track laying, which in our case means laying a 1/16" cork track bed. We have chosen to 'super eleva
Hi,
Our group managed to arrange some mid-week working sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, so it gave us the opportunity to have all of the layout Modules in one place and to attempt to put them together for the first time
Wednesday
Our End Loops had been painted, but as yet we hadn't joined the pairs together. So the first job was to clamp each of the halves together and drill the holes for the fixings and the pattern makers dowels to aid alignment. As with the other boards, we hav
Hi,
It's been quite a while since the last blog entry, but I'm pleased to say that the Fiddle Yard modules have now been completed (albeit only 5 lanes each way currently).
We had been planning to have the layout in a running state by now, but that just hasn't been possible as the job of wiring the FY Modules seems to have ended up something akin to painting the Forth Bridge. Anyway, here are a few pics of the FY Module.
Module A furthest away, Module E closest to the camera.
S
Hi,
It's been a couple of weeks since the last post and progress is steadily being made on the Fiddle Yards and End Loops.
We have made a few small revisions to the track plan over the last month or so, so here is the current plan we are working to
Currently the End Loops are being painted and varnished by one of our group and we should have access to them in the next few weeks, so that we can lay the cork track bed, track and wire them up.
The Fiddle Yards are still in the
Hi,
It's been another week of good progress with the Fiddle Yard modules. We have now completed all of the track laying and are now concentrating on wiring up the DCC power districts before fitting the Accessory Decoders to control the points.
Having finished track laying on Module C (the one that had to have it's cork trackbed replaced), we assembled all of the modules inthe club room on Saturday to make sure all of the track at the module breaks were aligned correctly and that the trac
Hi,
Lot's of hard work has been going into the fiddle yards over the last week, so there are a number of things that need to be covered.
07/07/2012
In the last blog entry, I mentioned that we were going to be working on Modules B and C, hopefully with a view to finishing them both off. We managed to finish Module B, but Module C needs a bit more work as we had to replace the cork underlay on it as it was lifting. It was a really hot day when we applied the underlay and either the glu
Hi,
Just a quick update.
Managed to do a little more with the Fiddle Yard last night and have finished laying track for the 10 lanes (5 UP / 5 Down) on Module D. You may spot that one or two of the screws are a little further from the edge of the module than the others, this is unfortunately where we have hit a 'structural' screws below the cork trackbed.
We have planned to work as a group on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so we may be able to complete Modules B (which i
Hi,
Just a quick update.
Managed to do a little more with the Fiddle Yard last night and have finished laying track for the 10 lanes (5 UP / 5 Down) on Module D. You may spot that one or two of the screws are a little further from the edge of the module than the others, this is unfortunately where we have hit a 'structural' screw below the cork.
We have planned to work as a group on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so we may be able to complete Modules B (which is identica
Hi,
We've been continuing to work on the Fiddle Yard modules over the past week and it looks like we'll be doing the same over the next two weeks. Unfortunately the deadline we've been working towards has had to slip by two weeks and is now the 28th of July. The main driver for this is the End Loops, these will not be ready for a few more weeks and when they are, there will certainly be some head scratching as we try to work out why things don't fit
The first job that was tackled was to
Hi,
Work on the layout has been a bit on and off over the last few months, so in order to focus everybody's attention, a deadline has been introduced. We are aiming to have the layout operational for our club DCC meeting on the 14th July
Work on the Fiddle Yard modules continues, track laying is nearing completion on the opposite end and we had all of the modules together on Saturday to finish marking out the lanes. When the Fiddle Yard is being operated, each of the lanes will effectiv
Hi,
Just a quick update with progress on the Fiddle Yard.
Since the last post, we have been spending our time laying track on one of the Fiddle Yard end modules. As these boards are not intended to be scenic, then we are using a slightly different approach. The track is being pinned down and the droppers we are using are 16/0.2 Equipment Wire. We are still not intending to rely on fishplates for electrical connection so each section of track has droppers placed on it every 30cm.
We a
Hi,
Work has been continuing on the fiddle yards over the last couple of weeks.
The boards have been primed, painted with gloss and the ends / legs have been varnished. End protectors have been made so that the boards can be stored safely when not in use. The decks of the modules have been covered with 1/16" cork in preparation for the track laying.
The Fiddle Yard will have 32 points on it and these have been modified in a similar fashion to those used on the scenic boards. The frog
Hi,
Just a quick post to give an update on progress with the Layout.
The scenic modules have had a few outings to our club meets, where other members of the build team have been able to get a feel for how they operate and to check that our collective stock works OK on the layout. We have suspended work on them at the moment while we finalise our plans for the scenics. We have a general idea of what we want for the modules, but we are just agreeing between ourselves which methods will wor
Hi,
It's been nearly a month since the last entry in the blog and although the unseasonal weather threw a spanner in the works, we're back on track now it's raining again
Having previously completed the bus wiring on each of the modules, the next job was to create the inter-module connections. As we are running 4 DCC Power Districts along with a DC and an AC supply for other items, we would need to provide 12 way inter-connects. Our requirement was for something that would be easy enoug
This week three of the boards have moved house to allow more work to be done on the electrics.
Last time the main track feeds had been fitted. Over the last couple of evenings we've tidied up this work by using self-adesive cable-tie bases and cable-ties. Hopefully this will mean that we don't snag wires as we're moving the boards around.
We've also mounted a covered distribution box in each corner. These will act as junction boxes between the cables that link the boards together and the
Hi,
It's been a few weeks since the last update for the layout and we have been making steady progress with the wiring.
It is our intention that the Scenic Modules will operate with 4 Power Districts. These districts will be fed from a Power Shield PSX-4 and will configured as Up, Down, Sidings and Accessories. We have decided to use 32/0.2 for bus wiring and 16/0.2 to provide DCC Signal and Power Feeds to the TT300 Point Motors (I would have liked to use 32/0.2 throughout, but the termi
Hi,
We've had a good week of progress on the layout, with some work at the weekend (while attending our club meet) and a few nights this week. The extra effort put in by the group has allowed us to meet our first milestone and have the track laid by the end of Feb (even if we did need that extra day as it's a leap year).
As usual I've included some pictures of the layout below:
A Freightliner 66 with 16 HHAs sitting on the Up Line (taken at the club meeting).
Looking at the lay
As track laying on the scenic section nears completion work has started on some of the other parts needed for the layout. Several N Brass OHLE gantries have been built and as you can see from the photos we've made progress on the accessory decoders needed for the fiddle yard.
Early on in the design of the layout, we made the decision to control the points via DCC. For those points on the front of the layout we've opted for the Traintronics TT300 slow motion units which contain built in decod
