Here's the trackplan of the empire. Newport is on the left (majorly compressed trackplan), Medina Wharf at the top (freelance track plan, this exists to replicate the function of Medina Wharf rather than to look like it), and Cowes bottom right, the only part of the layout which has the full prototype trackplan. With work going on on Medina, almost none of the layout is actually operational at the moment and once the Medina trackwork is done I have some serious "fettling" to do over a baseboard
I had a big modelling hiatus between January and March, caused by breaking an ankle and not being able to get up to the loft. I had the excitement of Ventnor West appearing in the Railway Modeller March issue, but had to pull out of the Stafford exhibition. Still, we are booked for November at Tolworth with Ventnor West and Merstone.
Meanwhile, I have been building rolling stock for both layouts, and an engine shed for Newport. Now I am able to get back in the loft I will be able to
I have finally started work on Medina Wharf, the last section of track for the small empire in the loft. The pictures show the trackplan and the boards covered with cork, with some trackwork laid out to finalise the positioning. The wharf uses a section of the layout originally earmarked for scenic treatment of the Medina River, and it is much too small to permit a faithful representation of the real location. I've used my well-worn modeller's licence to arrive at a trackplan which will allow th
Things have been moving on apace at Newport. When I last blogged I think I was still at the "track positioning" stage. Now all the track at Newport is laid permanently, glued down with Copydex, and has been tested digitally (i.e. pushing stock using finger power!).
There are four boards of which one is now wired and one is partially wired.
I have also finished the Modratec interlocked lever frame. With the change of track plan and complete rebuilding of Newport I needed to commission a
The last few months have been a case of taking a step backwards before moving forward again.
By July the layout was fully operational, and I had even started putting in the foundations of some scenic treatment. Testing locos and stock continued apace, but time spent "taking stock" whilst on holiday in the West Country confirmed something which had been on my mind for sometime which was that two sections of the layout needed drastic attention. The photos here show the results to date.
Fir
New coach for the layout - first model I've built in a few years, but I'm really pleased with it. It's origin was a couple of Ratio Midland suburbans which have been "cut and shut" together, had vertical ends added, scratchbuilt trusses, whitemetal battery boxes and whitemetal bogies. There are some things wrong, such as it shouldn't have stepboards but it meets my criterion of "looking the part". I'm very fond of this bright livery which I can just about remember from my earliest days. The prot
Gosh - it's a long time since I posted any progress, but it feels like a lot has happened on the layout in those 6 months. The most recent milestone was completion of all the originally planned trackwork, all running, with turnout motors, electric uncoupling magnets functioning and locos running on DCC without hesitation or deviation, but with repetition. I have three locos chipped now and DCC has been some learning curve. Whilst not after sound or lights, I did want to capture the running chara
Despite my silence, there has been a lot of progress on the layout. As usual, each step forward has been accompanied by a step or steps backward. Tracklaying is well progressed at Cowes - I have switched from PCB construction to fully chaired construction. Firstly I tried C&L pointwork with plastic sleepers. Whilst these looked good, I experience a strange gauge reducing effect once they were completed. In the course of constructing a number of plastic-sleepered turnouts I learned a lot abou
Steady progress on Newport at the moment. I have finished wiring the Station throat board which has a scissors crossover and one other turnout. All fitted with Fulgurex Motors, and Sprat & Winkle electro magnets installed in strategic places. Most activity has been directed towards developing the method of installing the Fulgarex motors. I have read a number of criticisms of them, and I do now appreciate they are difficult to install - beginning with the need to completely ignore the "offici
At last some progress worth reporting. There were several steps forward and then backward over the Christmas break but at last the Medina is bridged, I've laid track over the baseboard joint into Newport and am now building and laying the track in Newport Station. The picture shows the non IOW loco I am using for testing. It is simply the most reliable small loco I could find in the local shop - it runs beautifully! The first turnout should be a three-way but I had already (by mistake) designed
Here's a short clip of the first wired-up board under test. This is the entry to the hidden tracks behind Cowes. Sorry the E1 is running so badly - it's been in a box for more than 10 years and hasn't even had its wheels cleaned!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151976898439766&l=4917899407502608761
Chris
I've been quiet for a while because although I've been very busy and productive on the layout, there's not much of photographic interest to show. I'm still wiring the hidden tracks, board by board, and testing them individually prior to reassembly. The loft is a complete mess, the floor strewn with layout wire offcuts.
A number of things had to be done for a second time. I'd made a hash of the control panel so built a new one, and also had problems with the wiring index which led me to come
Photo showing progress as of tonight on the hidden loops (using Peco Streamline for expedience's sake). The tracks leading off to the right are the return loops representing the Sandown and Ryde lines. Each will hold two trains of the maximum length I have planned for (the equivalent of loco, four full length carriages and a 4 wheeled van). All trains will travel clockwise around the loops, with entry being controlled by a pair of crossovers allowing entry and access from either line out of Newp
I took the bull by the horns this morning in order to start experimenting with my ZTC DCC kit, and bought a secondhand Hornby Terrier from Alton Model Centre. I managed to shoehorn a decoder inelegantly into the cab. This involved removing the floor of the cab (in fact I removed more than was needed there is now a gap between the footplate and cabsides). There was some rewiring of the inside of the loco, but the job was comparatively easy. This chip only has four wires (which helps) but no doubt
I am starting work on the hidden loops which will lie behind Cowes and the line along the Medina. To do this I had to get a sighting shot on how Cowes would fit, which is what the photo shows. The track templates are generated by the Trax3 software. Behind are some Peco turnouts (the hidden section will be laid using Peco Streamline. Important things here were to see where the turnouts would be in relation to the baseboard frames (I'm using underslung Peco turnout motors on the hidden section) a
Despite my silence, work is progressing. The last couple of weeks have been building trackwork. The layout has been designed using "Trax" which I bought some time ago when I found the intricacies of Templot beyond me and more than I needed for the level of realism to which I was aspiring. That's not knocking Templot at all, because it is clearly the Rolls Royce of track designing software. Trax I found quicker to use and it generates turnout templates. My aim has been to get far ahead with track
Here is a link to a photo of Newport shed. Can anyone confirm the construction. It looks like timber walls and corrugated iron roof to me. But I am uncertain how to replicate the look of the timber - specifically which Slater's, Evergreen or Southeastern Finecast sheet in 4mm scale will give the best reproduction?
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/n/newport(iwc)/index27.shtml
Any help gratefully received!
Chris
Here is the trackplan for the planned layout, designed using the Trax software developed by Geoff Geary. This produces the templates for constructing the turnouts too.......
This is a lovely little model by York Modelmaking. Made from laser cut Rowmark which behaves pretty much like styrene sheet. This went together in a couple of hours.
Until I can start on the layout itself I am now making progress on various structures for the layout, signals and turnouts. Here is the station building at Cowes looking suitably dilapidated.
Work has started on converting my loft to take the planned model of the line from Cowes to Newport on the Isle of Wight in 4mm scale (OO gauge). This is scheduled to take about 3 weeks......
A small section of track at Cowes ballasted and probably can be rated as "not bad". Work continues on the rest of it...............................................
After a break of more than a year to work on my Ventnor West exhibition layout, I am finally making progress on my loft layout. Starting with Newport. I've ballasted the track and given it a weathering spray. You may also notice the uncoupling magnets. I am in the throes of converting from Sprat and Winkles to Kadees. The main reason for this is that I have a number of tight curves on my layout and my Sprats are really not happy, especially on long wheelbase 4-wheeled utility vans. I am finding
