Greetings.

Thought as I now have one of these blog thingies I'd better post a view of the first move towards a simple little layout for my Midland engines.

The setting will be a small midland industrial town.

As described elsewhere, it is built on a partly hollowed out lack shelf recommended by Pete from Barca, but with easitrac laid on sellotape sticky fixer strip.

I used this on a previous N gauge shunting plank and it seemed to provide a clean and easy way of securing track, achieving sound insulation and laying down ballast. Of course the turnouts are not laid on this but on card of identical thickness coated with PVA, and will need to be ballasted traditionally.

I haven't yet decided what point motors to use, and will have to do a bit of research and also how to combine that with polarity switching? I had thought wire in tube, but I'm not sure my points are robust enough. I have seen some simplistic DIY solutions elsewere but any advice would be gratefully received!

I had made a few points to the same specs ( 1 in 6) and realise now that it would have been better to contruct them in situ using Templot ( which I don't have). Fortunately, the design of this layout is pretty much straight up and down, so the points have slipped into the trackplan reasonably well, with only one exception where I had to introduce a slight reverse curve into the coal yard...oops

Here is the sketch plan as shown on my Little Midland Rails thread on the RM forum, base loosely on Barnoldswick, though it is be no means a facsimile:

The design is deliberately simple and uncluttered to try to give an impression of long and thin; and should permit some interesting shunting operations for its size.

I cut out and laid my own paper templates of where the track was going,then replaced the straight sections with the double sided tape. A scatter of ballast is necessary while the tape remains sticky. This will be thickened up later in places with a sprinkling of more ballast, laid down traditionally to taste; and of course painted.

Some fettling was required with the turnouts - another drawback to building them first probably!

Fingers crossed they will work ok when wired up ( DC) as my test trucks roll freely through each with only the very slightest of wobbles in a couple of places. Hmm.. go back to those before I carry on with owt else. You live and earn. Taking close up pictures was a great help as it reveals more than the magnifying glass.

Edit : I have tried to post a decent picture, but have found it difficult to do more than an overview which does not show the construction that clearly. Maybe try a close up instead sometime.

Regards,

Chris