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GRC

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  1. GRC
    Had a productive Christmas on the modelling front and a busy start to the year with an early club Saturday running which provided the impetus to get some work done and get the module test passed. That was successful so I am now officially allowed to exhibit with the first date penciled in for the Bluebell railway show in June.
     
    The main improvement is the ballasting on the main line, this vastly improves the look and moves the layout on from a work in progress to super detailing. I've added track workers in the space between the line and the yard which I think really start to show the scale. I Included the hedge line and fitted a panel to the front of the layout to protect the mainlines at shows and stop anything falling off. The hedge line is a mix of Woodland scenic bushes interspersed with some home made( Wire wool) bushes covered in green and pink scatter.
     
    I've also added workers to the cement works and the aggregate yards. Don't have enough with helmets and High Vis clothing so may need some additional ones over time. The pictures don't show the full dressing (Cars, Excavators, Cement mixers) I think i mentioned that i was considering using Tacky Wax for these. Think thats not going to work and will leave a lot of residue and catch dust so will be gluing them in with super glue I think once the car parking areas are finished from a detailing perspective.
     
    The Cement yard is now pretty much done. Little bit of work to the fencing and boundaries but its all stuck down, need to add some more rubbish and weeds around the building edges so thats one job off the list. Been working on repainting the burdens yard building and adding some signage and also filling the yard. Need a lot more "stuff" for the yard and the signs may need replacing on the building as the weathering on the roof may have toned them down too much.
     
    Less is definitely the way to go with weathering modern stuff, getting the balance right between mint and weathered is hard and seems to vary vastly for a range of different reasons.
     
    Posted a few pictures here and a few more on the FlickR site
     
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/94738636@N05/12048797495/lightbox/
     
     
     

  2. GRC
    Competition over and so back to work on the layout. Here are the buildings stripped back off the model and back in place on the layout. I spent far too many hours doing work on the wiring following the module test, Some of this is now completed but I had the board on its side to do so have all the vehicles and stock off the layout at the moment, makes it seem very barren. Now having a couple of niggles with some points so no stock back until that's sorted.
     
     
    My plan did work and I was able to successfully remove the models base from the shelf very cleanly and install straight onto the layout. The Tacky Wax worked very well on keeping the models attached whist taking the cement yard by itself to the competition and back so very pleased, Will use this later on to attach all the vehicles and people (hopefully a Xmas present) so they can be moved from time to time. The wax does leave a residue but this can be cleaned, at least after a few days.
     
    Not sure I managed to get photo's of the cement works as it went to the competition, some were taken so will see if I can get a couple for later posting. The Cement yard is now back on the layout in its final position, not yet stuck down as there is some tweaking and modifying of the area where the new base covers the old. I've inserted some card and infilled with putty to smooth off but this needs spraying now before the final building attachment. The hedge line along the front of the yard needs extending back towards the camera and the hopper discharge control building needs sticking down and the gaps closed once that bit is sprayed.
     

     
    This picture gives a good view of the frontage and the fence, pleased with the way this looks now, The airbrushing on the gantry may be a bit more than the prototype but I think it looks better. Although the prototype looks white from the ground I think it will/should be dirtier looking down and I think the effect looks good.
     

     
    In the next picture You can see the work needed on the concrete apron where the model base joined the layout base. Can also see some of the signs and the changes I made to the platform shape to better fill the space and deal with the foreshortening of the site. At the front you can see a new foam former for a sandpile just to the right of the weighbridge. Still need to get rid of the screw in the backscene. Still not sure on if it will be a sign or part of a container or both.
     

     
    I'm quite pleased with how the signage has come out and have attached some pics of the buildings below. For the majority of the signs I used photo paper with compressed images using Powerpoint to manage and get the right size. Bit of trial and error but the effect looks good. The signs and images came from the Internet and its pretty easy to find, copy and paste to use. Used a lot of conventional signs for health and safety and parking etc. Lots more of these to do over the next few weeks. Used Crafty Computer paper for the Cemex signs on the towers, Again followed the instructions and very pleased withe the results
     

     

     

     
     

     
    Next post over the xmas period still lots of work to do on this and it will be a year since I started work on the layout. Seems to have been quite slow at times but I feel i'm making reasonable progress. Now have to get on with the next conveyor for the aggregates building but feeling more confident now having built the first one
     
    Happy Xmas everyone G
  3. GRC
    Couple of photo's to show some progress on the cement yard. Some final photo's to take tomorrow and then its break up time to put the model on the layout. back outside into the garden as the light is so much better. Used the airbrush to smooth the concrete and add some depth and colour to the framework. Everything is now stuck down with stickywax for the show tomorrow. Still to add, Signs and transfers, trees for the front and some brushwork to tidy up some of the paint work. First time I've really used the airbrush and very pleased with the results so far.
     

     

     

     

     

  4. GRC
    Started working now on the Cement works, I’d been buying bits and pieces of slaters plasticard for this purpose over the last few months and as you can see from the photo below I had some ideas about how it was all going to fit together and I’d had the buildings made but not detailed and fitted for some time.
     

     

     
    The first thing that had to go was the polystyrene formed mounds under the conveyor, they didn’t look quite right to my eyes and I decided to replace them with foam board mounds like the rest of the yard. Cutting the polystyrene out was a little challenging as I didn’t want to have to remake the Conveyor frame and apart from a few challenges came away fairly cleanly, had to file some down and the rest will be covered with sand and paint anyway.
     

     
    I re-examined the prototype and decided to extend the frame to give it a little more length on both ends. Wanted the join hidden by the hopper so some juggling done. I made the hopper from styrene sheet and pasticard box and Girder sections. First time I have used these and very impressed at how well these go together and stick. I had some concerns based on modelling plastic kits in my younger years but this was great. Secure in 30 Seconds or so and still movable for a few minutes for adjustments if needed. The hopper hides the join and provides the support for the extension. At the moment this is just balanced on the beams as I want to paint and do the sand piles before connecting together.
     

    I managed to get a bit carried away doing this and so pleased with this stage I may have rashly decided to enter this at the local Model Railway Club modelling completion in December. To facilitate this I needed to provide a new base for temporary use and so have acquired an old shelf and cut some foamboard for depth and then a new concrete apron from thick card as the base. I’m hoping that I can lift the model on the card and drop the whole lot into the layout as one piece. Time will tell on this. What I will do is make sure that everything that may need to be removed can be relatively easy in case.
    Made up a mixture of green, white, black and brown for the concrete base painted over a grid pattern for the concrete. I’ll dry brush this a little once the buildings are down to lighten up and bit and then have a play with the spray gun to tone the base down.
     
    Once the base was down my attention returned to the two large buildings, These are joined at the top and from the bottom so spent some time looking at this and figuring out how to join. One of the areas I had neglected was the roof on the control room. I decided to add some foamboard as the roof and cut this to shape and installed. This made the building look to short so ended up adding a longer piece for the tank and joining to the cement storage tower slightly lower down that the prototype. I used a drill and knife then filed out the gaps for the connectors which are Plasticard square tubes. For the roof of the drying tower (At least I think this is what it is) I built the conveyor mounting with plasticard, some more tubes and railings. Added a cut down ratio junction box for the conveyor controls.
     

     

     
    The Conveyors themselves have got me thinking the most. The compromise I have come up with is to use the diameter of the tubing which sits in the hoppers. This gives a scale width of around 5 feet which I think is ok but looks very narrow when viewed from above. I’m going to use thin cheap magazine paper for the belt and have some brass rodding for the rollers. I’ve built a walkway down the length of the conveyor and used some clear plastic sanded into a mesh pattern (same as the fences) I’ll drybrush this white and then clean off to give the impression of a grid. Will have to fit the guard rail after painting I think.
     

     
    I’ve dug the first hole for the conveyor feeds from the rail head and used some Ancortons fencing here in the ground to show the inspection pit. Next jobs will be to put a low barrier around these and put some fencing in.
    Still lots of jobs to do on this so next installment on these soon.
  5. GRC
    Not posted for a while as I've been preparing for the first outing of Crawley Yard to the club so that the initial checks could be completed with the wiring, construction, alignment and get some feedback on the build, scenics and operation. I'd chosen this weekend as there was a Saturday running morning as well which meant I could set up on the Friday and tear down on the Saturday. I finally finished the covers on Friday afternoon, I'd wanted them painted so that when the layout is in storage in the Garage its well protected but this took longer to dry than expected so late Friday afternoon I was rushing to get these completed. Bit of a fiddle fitting them at home as my fixed base in the railway room doesn't allow them to be fixed in situ but the installation once on their legs was fine with no problems both their and back. As feared both boards don't quite fit in one of our cars but this was anticipated and a challenge for 2014.
     
    I spent the latter part of the week double checking the wiring, making sure everything was working and found a problem that I had neglected to fix earlier with track 4. That fixed off we went to the club.
     
    Setting up went fine, had the boards up and in position within 15 mins of arriving, out the car, fitted legs and placed in position covers off and ready to go.
     
    What I didnt do was look at the alignment of the two boards properly, now I have 3 alignment pins fitted (metal) but at home bolt the 2 sections together, without the bolts the boards managed to get a bit out of line so thats the first job to reassess. Back home and bolted they are fine again so thats going to mean setting up on their show legs if I can find the space.
     
    I'd built the baseboards to not have the 4 running lines included and so these are on a separate baseboard, although this is bolted to the main board it has dropped slightly at the front so going to have to revist that as well as getting the connectors on both ends took longer than expected on the night.
     
    I'd taken some connectors (3 inch Code 75) joiners but should have done some more work on these at home, most needed reducing or extending and I didnt have 6 (Must add to show list and make around 12) and needed more sleepers removing to make fitting the fish plates easier. I should also have checked fitting these as some paint and ballast needed to be cleaned off of the rails.
     
    Running on the main lines took a while to get right, I hadn't tested with old stock (deep wheel flanges) on finescale track and some solder and ballast needed to be cleared off, I filed a bit on the night but will redo the soldering before the next show on the board join fitting screws.
     
    Track 3 was a bit of a disaster, getting the joiners on and ready made me late setting up the controller and I made a big mistake here. I'd set up two plans, one for operating from the side that presents the mimic diagram as if you in front and one for operating from the rear that shows you if standing behind. I hadn't remembered to test this before and it caused me a couple of issues and along with a wiring problem on track 3 prevented that from being used. Very disappointing for me and prevented other people from running so frustrating for them as well.
     
    What were the issues, well track 3 point switching was from the DCC feed off of track 4 but this was isolated and of course didn't work. As I got more and more stressed I failed to work out why this wasn't working and although the default position should have been straight through I hadn't reversed the polarity on the rear facing plan so it had set switched and then as I'd isolated track 4 wouldn't change. I've fixed this now and put a feed in so the control is off the main DCC bus and the frog fed from the tracks so the point will always work regardless of the isolating section. The other problem appears to be crossed pair but I'm back at home, have tested and can't find it yet so that needs some more work. What I will do is insert a switch before the isolating switches that will feed DC power to track 3 for club running I'll also look at a section break for controlling via DC on track 3.
     
    It was suggested that I could use track 4 for storage but I need to consider if a reversing shunting movement is doable or if I should add another feed from track 3 into track 4 to make an effective passing loop of 4 if required. As I haven't ballasted the front tracks yet this is all possible.
     
    The electrical problems kept me busy and meant that I didn't get around to running any of my trains or engaging with as many people as I would have liked. A number of people recognised the location which was great and I had some suggestions on weathering and finishing off some of the scenics which was great as well as some kind words on the buildings and look and feel of the location so taking a few weeks off now whilst i recover and then back on track. As people said on the night its why modules need to be tested before exhibitions and I've learnt a lot from the experience but its not a stress free process.
     
    Were all back home now and running. I've dressed the layout with the 50+ cars, yard vehicles and put some wagons in the sidings and added some pictures to the blog and FlickR.
     
    Next jobs - feedback from clubnight summarised below and finishing off the scenery across the layout. Longer list for the next post.
     
    Jobs to Do - From clubnight
    1. Check board joining alignment dowels, consider replacing or using bolts for shows
    2. Check Front boards for drop and analyse remedial works.
    3. Produce more joiners, modify, paint and add to show list
    4, Check soldering and make sure nothing on the inner rails above sleeper height.
    5. Recheck track 3 and 4 wiring, Insert DC control option for power
    6. Check Rear facing Mimic diagram and route set ups
    7. Review options for DC control on track 3
    8. Consider additional points to make track 4 a passing loop.
    9. Move the modular connector choc boxes off the end boards
  6. GRC
    Not made as much progress as I would have liked over the last week or so especially with the test coming up but managed to complete some jobs. In Burdens yard i've now fixed the fences both at the back of the yard towards the backscene buildings and right at the front paralell with the track, For this I've used one of the wire fencing packs from Ancortons. This was cut to size and then attached to the fence posts, not very easy and not sure how I would do this the next time but it looks ok in the picture. At the back I've used transparent plastic sanded to a cross cut as per Nigel Burkin in BRM. As I had a lot of fencing on the layout this has been very cost effective (free) and although now I want to go back and add some posts where its more obvious a lot of the fences are buried in the trees and hedgelines so the posts are not obvious. Found some cheaper cars on Ebay so now have enough to populate the main car parks. Too many Silver and blacks and some massive sunroofs for the UK but can deal with those over time. Ive added some of the new ratio lineside cabinets, had a look at these in the photos and more impressed than I can actually see from the normal viewing position. They maybe a little dark and will drybrush with a little light gray i think once I get into the painting phase.
     

     

     
    One problem I am finding as the photo's get to be closer up is the loss of focus in the depth of the shot, Have seen some comments on this elsewhere and I will need to think about how I improve the shots but as i'm only taking shots at the moment to track progress I think any serious photography will have to wait until until Mrs GRC can help me as she actually knows how. I know I could crop and I could also not reduce the file size but that will take me away from the modelling. What the photo's do show is where the scenic areas need more work. The ballast isn't finished and looks very gappy. The base board joints I can see need more work but the photo's are very cruel. From where I stand the pile of rubble in front of the disused buildings looks ok but close up is very out of scale so will have to go. Digital photography is great for this work in progress assessments it shows up all the issues and challenges but is not kind.
     
    I've started the scenery on the yard areas in front of the aggregates building and in the main aggregate yard. I'd been collecting materials for some time to give different textures and the look and I'm quite pleased with the results. The difference has really bought the layout to life and Im very pleased. Has also given me some ideas on the back-scene which I was struggling with in a couple of areas so will be making two additional buildings, The guardroom and the garage as seen in the survey. These will be low relief and at around 60 degrees to the back so going to be an interesting build.
     

     

     
    View up the Aggregates yard between the sidings
     

     
    Finally this week I've done a bit of painting to some of the plant vehicles and started work on an additional rake of RMC Hoppers builf from N Gauge Society kits. Have a great video of this set in Crawley Yard in August so looking forward to the weathering on these and creating the look. I'll post the video and some of the still captures on FlickR over the next few days. Have a rake of 11 to build so going to take me some time to get them completed.
     

     

     

  7. GRC
    Managed to get some modelling done today on the Aggregate recycling Facility. The basic building consists of 3 major parts, the Main Building, the back section and the tanks as shown in the picture above. I'd made the basic buildings a while ago to get the size and fit along with the positioning established but had to make a couple of changes to get the building to look right and deal with the backscene. The buildings themselves are made from cereal box card, to get the feeling of the corrugation, not that obvious in the prototype pictures I've drawn on lines with a hard pencil. I've then painted over the top with some very thing green paint and rubbed off where I used too thick paint
     

     
    In the prototype the wagon loading facility is at right angles but there isnt the depth on the layout for this so I've changed the angle to fit the back of the loading bay aligned with the backscene. The loading part is around 10mm deep and mounted of Foamboard to keep it light and give it something to attach to the base.
     

     

     
    As the building crosses the join between two boards the buildings will be mounted on their own base so they can be carried separately and added to the layout when its set up. The chimney is also taller than the backscene so another reason to travel as a standalone module. The storage tanks are made from plastic tubing and the pipework from brass rod. Still need to paint these as they are only primed at the moment.
     

     
     
    The final grouping includes the loading bay and eventually the conveyor, that will come later in the fine detailing phase but the hole in the buildings are already there.
     
     

     
     
     
    Final Job of the day was to prime the multicoloured Cement mixers from Kato and Tomix (I think) ready for rebranding
     

  8. GRC
    Wiring and Electrics - The Plan
     
    My S&DJR layouts have all been DCC to date and see no reason now to build using DC. I've had some mixed success with Hornby Railmaster software on Sturminster Halt but that's more to do with the running of the Loco's and the track work than the software. DCC Cobalt motors have worked well but not been happy using the Gaugemaster DCC30 Controllers, Will use here Integrated Cobalt motors/controllers on this layout but also include manual switching to a mimic panel. The mimic panel potentially mounted over the fiddle yard or at the back, Needs to moveable though as this wouldn't work at home where the layout is operated from the front. Some complexity around the isolation, WSNG line 3 could be DC or DCC but needs to be switch-able if I want to bring a train on or off the scenic part of the module. Line 4 isn't used by WSNG but other modular layouts do so this will be configured the same way. Assume at this point a 2 way switch of some type (No Isolation, From WSNG Module, Isolated with DCC power.
    Key Points

    DCC control using either Hornby Elite/Trackmaster or Gaugemaster Prodigy
    Points using DCC cobalt motors
    Running tracks (WSNG) Linked at each end via 12 way blocks to other modules
    Mimic Panel, Indicator Lights ? Not sure, Manual Point control, Isolating switches
    Isolation on tracks 4 (Not used by WSNG but I could park a train here ? )
    Isolation on track 3 (WSNG 3) to isolate this module from WSNG  
     
    Wiring
    I use the same conventions on all my layouts for ease of remembering so the same here
    Main Track DCC Power Red and Black
    Point Motor Wiring Yellow and Orange
    Switched power from Points to Frogs Purple
    AC power Blue and Grey
    Test Track Pink and Green
     
    The Execution
    Some of the work went to plan and some not. I Soldered the dropper wire for all the feeds to the bottom of the track on the workbench once I have some idea of the size of the track or for the smaller pieces once they have been cut to size and not fitted. I typically cut away the end of the sleeper on each side a few away from each other and where possible prepare the tracks so the droppers go through the rail reasonably close to the other rails. This helps to keep the underneath reasonably tidy. I tin both ends of the dropper before joining to the rail. I may trim the dropper once fitted but this makes it easier to fir through the holes. Once the track is fitted with droppers it is fitted on the layout.
     
    For the scenic sections on the points I use the switched feeds from the point motors to feed the frog and then cut the rails a few sleepers into the point and then solder the final fixed piece to the stock rails so the actual moving parts of the point are not dependant on making electrical contact with the stock Rails ( Anyone not sure on this please ask but plenty of articles on this about) One mistake I made was not checking I had made the cuts deep enough with the Dremmel, took me ages to work out what I had done wrong. Next time I'll test all the points for continuity before fixing.
     
    I made the decision after writing the plan to not use a Mimic panel but rely on the Hornby Railmaster for the panel and to have Individual point controllers on each point reducing the amount of wiring considerably. Will have to see how this works in practice but up to now it seems to be ok. I've used the individual Cobalt controllers on each point or one between pairs where feasible. The picture below shows one of the boards and you can just see the connectors tucked up in clips out of the way
     

     
    The actual layout wiring was very simple, Red and Black droppers on each section of track all fed into Chocolate blocks and star wired back to the controller distribution on. I haven't done the cross board connector yet for the main boards but may add the AC feeds (Blue and Grey for me) onto that when I'm ready. I''ve retained the orange and Yellow here for the Point Motors to Point Controllers but have compromised and used the same colour for the WNSG Board wiring as I had it.
     
    The more complex areas were the West Sussex boards and particularly Tracks 3 and 4. What I've done in words is to isolate the ends of tracks 3 and 4 so they are fed by the next door modules track or connectors and connect these ends back to a DPDT switch on the south board next to the controllers. The Centre position of the 6 pin DPDT feeds back to the tracks for the length of the layout and then the other pair are connected to the main DCC supply. Therefore tracks 3 and 4 can be fed from the other modules, or fed by the DCC on the layout. I may introduce another switch in the DCC supply to have an alternative DC supply in the future. In this picture you can see both boards and how the wiring and point motors endup in big clusters for the fiddle yards. Next time I do a fiddle yard I may spread the points out a little more as I ended up having to cut down a couple of the point motors to get them to fit correctly.
     

     
    For the Board connectors I've used the WSNG standard 12 way RS components Plugs and sockets, Not cheap but very robust and significantly easier to solder up that a D type of any size. I've shown below the Connector overview and the detailed wiring in the connectors below
     

     

     
    Yet to do the wiring diagam in a soft version the isolating sections but may get to that in due course
     
    Couple of taster shots for you all, One of the RailMaster screen showing the Crawley Yard Mimic diagram and how the layout looks in the railway room. At home its operated from the end but for exhibiting from the rear so the PC and controller can be realigned to face the correct way for the operator.
     

     

  9. GRC
    This weekend managed to get a lot of little bits done over the layout and working towards the main buildings which are the most complicated to do. I've done some more ballasting which can be seen on these pictures. I used a mixture of ballast and finished off with a blast on the puffer bottle to this area as the yard doesn't appear to be weed treated.
     

     
    One of the decisions I've had to make is where to change the ballast colouring between the Yard and the Main Line, The Main Line is brown and is this colour pretty much all the way to London from here. The Main line ballast is very messy though. None of the smooth lines well laid stuff here. The machines seem to create a shoulder and where its removed and replaced the colouring can be all over the place. Also where repairs have been done the colouring can be very random. In the picture below you can see how I've blended the colours. Also you can see the trunking and the lineside boxes. Will paint these once I get on with the weathering. May add more trunking on the south boards, in places there are up to 3 parallel runs. I've used some of the new Ratio trunking as well as some wall capping stones from a Metcalfe kit, both seem to look ok.
     

     

     
    One of the jobs which you cant see in the pictures was some remedial work to the Fiddle Yard. There are 5 roads serviced from 2 " 3 Way Peco Points and a standard point. The track was laid across the board joins and then soldered to screw heads
     

     
    Somehow these seem to have managed to get slightly out of alignment so the soldering Iron has been out and I've tweaked them all again so I could do some test running. All 6 roads are now operational so I spent some more time today on completing some loads for the wagon loads as well as moving on with the landscaping for the aggregate unloading area. I used a selection of ballasts, sand, dust and limestones both for the loads and for the aggregate area.
     

     

     

     
    Good Weekend had. Realised I had made a mistake in the setup of Railmaster so have that resolved now. All of the points are working even after ballasting. The routes through the fiddleyards are all working. The routes allow the end to end road through the fiddleyard to be set with one operation.
     

     
    So with all that done, I've loaded up the stock and managed to get some trains running in time to post this blog.
     

     

     

  10. GRC
    One of the key Aspects of building a module is that it needs to pass a Module Operating Test (MOT) and following a quick discussion I had at the club it was recommended to me that I do this in two phases, phase 1 before ballasting and scenery detailing and phase 2 once the scenery and importantly the ballasting is done. Having realised this that has set my plans back a little and a slight change of focus.
     
    I hadn't though too much about transport and when I was going to get the testing done but the recent move of the clubs Saturday running morning (after the Friday night session) from October to November provides the perfect opportunity to get that first phase testing done, All I need to do is get the running right, tweak the tracks, make sure all the electrics work and get them to the clubroom. Sounds easy when said like that. So I have a deadline, need to get as much down now as possible on the main scenics less the ballasting before then :-)
     
    So I took full advantage of the great weather we had over the weekend to get the boards out of the railway room and into te garage for the build and fitting of covers. These need to be around 12 Inches high at the ends and slightly shorter on the sides. I probably should have made the covers before starting on the layout but the excitement of getting started and running trains is too strong, Also in doing the covers in this order I've been able to tweak the fitting to cover a lip at the back and left a space at the front as I dont yet know what I'm going to do there. So some photo's of the covers being made. Went for 6 mm MDF for the ends and 3mm for the top and sides with a batten frame to join it all together
     
    In the first photo you can see I've attached the ends to the boards to make sure I get a good fit and that the ends are drilled out for the alignment dowels and will be bolted using M6 Bolts to the boards.
     

     
    The other photo's show the ends and the completed box
     

     

     
    Final job on these now is to attach handles to the tops so they are easier to get in and out of the car and carry around. Just some rope and handles I think and paint the covers so they are not such dust magnets over the layout. May even be smarter as well
  11. GRC
    The cement works next to the Aggregates yards provides the other key buildings for the layout consisting of the conveyor system for the hopper discharge feeding into the cement mixing, storage and what I think is a control unit. These are very close to the running lines and will have to be scratch built. The first picture taken from the entrance shows a general view of the site including what I assume is an old platform from a now totally cleared siding. The Control Building dominates this view but will be largely unseen from the viewing side/mainline side of the layout.
     

     
     
    The next two pictures show the siding and buffers, grey ballast here but brown on the mainlines so going to have to find the transition point. At the distant end of the siding you can see the gates and the control building for the hoppers to discharge into.
     

     

     
    This next shot shows a slightly wider view and with the overhead shots I have from Google earth whilst I cant see all of the detail I can size and place the various structures into position on the layout.
     

     
    The final shots here show the offices and administration buildings along the boundaries and on the layout will butt up to the back-scene.
     

     

     
     
    There are more photo's if anyone is interested some of which are on Flickr, Please message me for more.
  12. GRC
    Quick update this time as I had intended to spend the month working on Sturminster Halt but an invite to the N Gauge Forum Meet up at Riddlesdown near Croydon, Surrey prompted me to get some of the jobs done that I had been putting off for a while. The N gauge meet up should be good and some good layouts attending including Banbury and Horseblock lane, Both modern Image :-) and of course Kanjiyama from my friend Claude who has just built himself a new website which i'm very tempted to follow his lead on as I helped Mrs G set up her site on this very software. http://kanjiyama.moonfruit.com/#
     
     
    Riddlesdown Meet up:- http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=17224.0
     
    Horseblock Lane:- http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=14461.msg143874#msg143874
     
    Banbury:- http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;area=pictures;u=990;view=52
     
    My Picture of Banbury below with the MPV's in attendance.
     

     
    This was my desk this morning, making cones, Piles of stacked bags on pallets and drop bags for gravel and sand etc. These are for Burdens yard and the spares will probably be abandoned by the side of the tracks as per the prototype. The cones are made from the ends of Cocktail sticks, been using the sticks for pipes and then realised that alhough large the tips would make good cones. The gravel sacks are made from modellers clay , baked in the oven and the stacks from Foamboard stacked on cardboard pallets. Been trying to wrap these in plastic but thats not going very well and may have to be abandoned. Cling Film is to clear and thin to look like its supposed to and the thicker plastics are difficult to manage and fit. Still I will persevere this week.
     

     
    The yard in Burdens is now filling up and I'm quite pleased with the result. The pipes are all different colours which provides an interesting look compared to the rest of the layout. With the cars now in the background this is filling up nicely.
     

     
    I spent some time working on the Aggregate recyling building. I've added the yellow posts, guttering and the conveyors across the to the loading bin. Very pleased with the way this has worked out and looks. The board gap looks horrid in this picture and will remedy that this week. May have to do some more detailing work in this area but will wait now until I complete the front building in the future.
     

     
    The other big job which seems to have taken longer than it should have done is the addition of the remaining 3rd rail to the rest of the mainline tracks. I'd completed 1/4 before Xmas but finishing has proved harder than I remember. Not sure if its the glue, process or ballast. Still I'm getting there now and it should all be finished for next week . The 3rd rail is Peco Code 60, thanks to Brian at Morris Models (http://www.morris-models.co.uk/ ) for reminding me what I bought for the pilot area. I used the Woodland Scenic line pens for painting the sides which is very effective but not that visible when looking from above.
     

  13. GRC
    Hi everyone, Firstly I'm new to Blogging so going to take me a while to get used to the tools and process and make sure that the pictures in FlickR align with the content here so please bear with me on this. I actually started this project at Xmas so will quickly bring the blog upto the current status and then probably the hardest thing of all carry on with blogging whilst Building.
     
    Like many of you I've come back to Railway modelling after a number of years break with work and Family. Crawley Yard is my 3rd layout since returining to the hobby in 2008 I think. The first two have been based around where I grew up in Poole Dorset and early recollections of walking the old lines, Unfortunatly I wasnt around when the services were pulled from the S&D but managed to walk over much of the Line between Poole and north of Blandford before much of the section was lost. Unfortunatly no photo's. My first layout was based on Broadstone and is now in the loft and my second based in Surminster Newton. I wanted a change from the S&D and now live in West Sussex so Crawley Yard is my response to that and the story to follow.
     
    Planning on using FlickR for the Photo's, Hopefully link below works but you can find me their as grcoll222 - Gavin Collins
     
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/94738636@N05/
  14. GRC
    The picture below represents the starting point for the next phase which includes finishing off the conveyor systems and the buildings and starting work on the scenics as well as the excavation for the conveyor pits. I used the theme board as a back which sets the model off nicely but the light reflecting is something to look at next time.
     

     
     
     
    The picture below shows the problem with conveyor 3 going into the drying tower where I didnt get the angles quite right. Just going to do some adjustment now to the length of the conveyor as I dont want the drying tower much closer to the northern boundary which is already installed on the layout. The plastruct has worked well and the bit bashing for the conveyor head I think looks alright. so pleased with the look. Final Adjustments next and glue together.
     

     
    The northern and eastern boundarys are shown in the next 3 shots which is effectively an angled scalsecenes warehouse screened by fencing and a hedge line. The reason for showing these is that one of the next jobs will be the hedge line along the front which needs to blend into the existing scenery when the model is installed on the layout although that wont be until the model has its show.

     

     

     
    Not sure how the model will look with that boundary missing on it but I cant show the whole layout so it will just have to look like a model for the moment with no back or sides.
     
    I have installed some track which you can see in the next shots along the front and sides, I think a couple of wagons will set the scene off nicely so worth doing. Unfortunately my RMC Hopper wagons won't be ready as I wont have time before the show to get these done. (The weather forecast for the weekend though is interesting, maybe there may be some time instead of leaf clearing in the garden ?) The track was stuck down onto a bed of PVA and then gaugemaster grey ballast sprinkled over the top. In the final pictures I've not checked what has and hasn't stuck yet, If it looks like a lot then I may use a dilute PVA mix to finsih it off. Not sure yet as it only needs to last for one evening.
     
    Been putting off building two of the smaller buildings on site for ages, completed these now using scalescenes brick paper, Cereal box card for the structures and some card for the flat roofs, Not entirely happy but need to see how these look in the overall scheme. You can see these in situ in the photo below
     

     
    I have installed the doors, windows and the rails for the control building, Scalescenes doors, Black painted plastic for the windows (paint inside) and some plastruct around as frames. As before the pastruct was very easy to work with. using standard Humbrol precision poly glue and its fine. ( No direct pictures of this so will be shown in next installment)
     
    Started work on the scenics as I wanted to get the sand piles and hedge/Fence line in place before final fitting of the buildings. Used mixture of woodland scenics olive and light green foliage, Grass mix and had a go with my WWS grass master (not very successfully) but this has created a reasonable hedge, fence line, The Fence needs posts which I'll add later but is using sanded clear plastic as per Nigel Burkin in BRM? This will have trees, I'm going to make my own for this section from wire as the majority are Silver birch's which have just taken root and are growing straight up. Will use Woodland scenics foliage though to retain consistency with the rest of the layout (job for the weekend)
     
    The sand piles are just the foamboard covered in PVA and sprinkled with different materials to give some variety. These will probably need another coat to finish them off.
     
    The first and last pictures represent work to date, Took the photo's in the garden which is a massive improvement in quality and colour. As ive said before once the layout is complete then I will set up outside in the summer to get some really good shots. Helps using the camera and not the Iphone but does go to show how important good light is.
     

     

  15. GRC
    Site survey completed, Aerial views analysed, Couple of train trips past the location to verify some of the details and I was ready to start the track planning piece. I'd already selected the location based on the alignment with the Main London Brighton line. The aerial views gave a good view of the current and probably historic layout so I just had to deal with the returns into the Fiddle Yard. The overall size was constrained by 2 main factors, firstly the length of a module for the WSNG standard and secondly what I could fit in on my existing frame in the railway room. Both 8 feet long by 2 ft wide. With the fiddle yard this was going to be tight so opted to increase the depth to 30 inches but make it removable for use at home if the extra 6 inches became a problem in the room.
     
    I normally do all my drawing by hand on graph paper but as that doesn't work very well for blogging have transposed this to excel which doesn't do the curves very well but gets all the track aligned. All the points are numbered ready for the point motors and wiring, The points at the front of the board are a mixture on short(for the sidings) and medium length for the line transitions. Peco 3 way points in the FiddleYard.
     

     
    Attached base board drawings
     

     
    Once the trackplan was completed then moved on with the position and think method of placing the points and sidings on the baseboards and starting the build on the aggregates facility as this was going to be the key building to fit into the area.
  16. GRC
    Visited the site on 26th January, Very cold but dry but still snow on the ground in places. Wasn't sure what to expect and wasn't able to get any views from the main line side. I figured that these pictures would be enough to get me started and a feel for the size and positioning on the layout. This post covers the main features of the Aggregate recycling facility. Off to a good start though as the Internet searching found this great aerial view of the Burdens Yard, Just what every modeller needs. This shows the position of the aggregate facility in the background to the right of Burdens. It looks awfully far back in the picture and this may be a challenge to fit it all in on the board. It may be that they have used a special lens though to enhance the Burdens yard view. The road /Hedge at the side of Burdens was I assume another siding and I have heard that it fed the large warehouse at the end (now a indoor Go Kart Track). Anyone able to confirm this? (not sure it makes a difference to the model but would be nice to know.
     

     
    The picture above taken from the road side or front shows the main aggregate building, the rail head to the left and the storage tanks on the side. The front building appears to be a lorry loading area and you can see all the way through to the other side. The chap working at the front in the orange boiler suit gives a good indication of the buildings size.
     

     
    Slightly different angle (across the airport car park ) Here you get to sense the scale. Ideal as a feature building on the layout.
     

     
    The view above shows the storage tanks in more detail and a key feature for the build even if the fine detailing on the pipes, ladders and walkways comes towards the end of the build of the build. Not sure what occurred with the camera, the green of the building looks different and not sure if I changed settings or its the light. Long way from worrying about colour at this point
     

     
    The view above is taken from just outside Burdens Yard on the south side. here you get a better sense of size and the relative shape of the building overall and the lorries are useful for getting some size perspective.
     

     
    The Conveyor loader here joins a shed on the right which I couldn't photograph with the main building. One of the more complicated pieces to model and almost certainly one of the last items to address.
     
    All the photo's and more are available on FlickR if you want to see more:-
     
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/94738636@N05/sets/72157635722119264/
  17. GRC
    The great thing and perhaps the worst is the ability to order up your own aerial photographs from in this case Google Earth to look at the location you have chosen and make sure it meets your requirements. Having identified the potential from train Simulator and confirmed with a couple of trips on the train the next thing was the aerial views. I've actually managed to do some screenshots from the google earth site using paint and included them below
     

     
    You can see the main London-Brighton line on the right had side of the picture with London towards the top. Gatwick is the next station northbound and Three Bridges southbound. At this level of zoom you can just see the main sidings and also where the old sidings ran but which are now roads. My original planning was to use the units running along Gatwick road with the larget warehouses as the backscene. Once the sizings and look of the layout started to come together this became impractical and so I have had to bring some of the larger warehouses forward and adjust some of the positions slightly to create the scene. Just south of here is a road bridge and I'm going to use this as the southen exit . There is a bridge futher north but too far away to be effective. The buildings in the North are part of a Bus depot and I'll hide the return curve behind one of the warehouses. Summersvere woods in the south and the Hedge line after the cement works to the north are then set to frame the cement works and Agggregate yard. The other main section is Burdens years which borders summesvere woods to the south.
     

     
    The picture above zooms in on the northern part of the site, The Cement works are in the north and the site of what looks like an old loading platform just below the hedge line. You can see a lot of cars parked in the north, unbelieveably this appears to be overflow parking from Gatwick, Not sure the owners would have know there car was going to be parked between an aggregate yard and cement Facility for a few weeks. In the Middle of the shot you can see the main aggregate building, Light green and this will form the main part of the Layout and will be subject of its own blog post when its made, The Railheads are interesting as the one which goes up the north side of the aggregates building is heavily obscured by aggregates and right at the entrance totally obscured by the vehcle track. At the bottom of the picture you can see the northern end of Burdens Yard.
     

     
    In the view above I've shown the potential line of the backscene with the buildings I'm going to drag forward to make as very low relief for the backscene. I'm still not sure at this point how the main Aggregates building will look or what to do about the backscene to the north of it.
     
    Next post the site visit and some photos. Managed to get a few from the train over the period, never great pictures but here's one from the Main line
     

  18. GRC
    One of the constraints mentioned in the last blog was the alignmenet with the Modular system used by the West Sussex Area Group (WSNG) of the N Gauge Society. Link Below
     
    http://www.wsng.co.uk/
     
    The Modular system has some basic principles which I think are broadly aligned across the N Gauge Society but I'll just highlight the WSNG features. The first one is the the front 6 inches of the layout belongs to the club when connected. Tracks are laid at 2 inches, 3 and 5 from the front of the board. Tracks 1 and 2 from the front are only connected to the modules to the left and right, When the Modualr system is deployed either as a square or ene to end these connect through other modules to the club fiddleyards. The 3rd track can be connected to the owners module but has to be electrically isolated and switchable to prevent electrical challenges with the main supply.
     
    When running, the normal operation is to have a non stopping up and down service on tracks 1 and 2 and a stopping service on track 3 where the trains on this line can be swapped out with tracks from the owners module.
     
    The key benefits of a modular approach are that the different modules can be joined as required for each exhibition and the size of the layout can be modified for the venue. Each module is 4 Feet long but many people and this will include Crawley Yard exhibit as a pair creating an 8 foot long module. With the Modules all owned by individuals this can create an interesting effect with Japanese modules next to Swiss and then the UK and the scenary moving from summer to Winter and City to Countryside. This seems to work well for many visitors with lots of different scenes to look at and none so short that it becomes too overwhelming. What this does mean for Crawley Yard is that when being exhibited the trains running on the main London to Brighton line at the front (Tracks 1 and 2 ) will be an eclectic mix.
     
    For Crawley Yard I wanted something that I could use at home, as a standalone and also something to exhibit with the club so I have made some compromises, The design is based on 2 4Feet Boards which are 24 Inches wide plus two additional front boards of 6 Inches giving a total size of 8ft by 30 inches I wanted a fiddle yard and a continuous run so that meant that each end of the board needed a return and have managed 11inch or so diameter curves on the main board. The fiddle yard has 6 roads built using the new 3 way points from Peco. The main line on the board takes feeds from Track 3 and also feeds an inner line which services the Aggregate sidings. I'll post a track plan in a later posting to make this clearer
     
    Anyone interested in the module design or finding out about the club please ask
  19. GRC
    I wanted to build a layout as part of the WSNG modular system that was based on a real location and was relatively close to where I live in West Sussex. My previous modelling has been focused on the Somerset and Dorset based on my ramblings over the old line as a teenager and familiarity with the Poole area from growing up. Neither the S&D or the Dorset area really dealt with the fundamental problem with the Modular solution of requiring 3 running tracks at the front for the Module and what to have in the background. I had a list of wants from this:-
    The layout had to fit in my railway room frame (8 feet by 2)
    I could and expected to attach the modular lines on the front giving a depth of 2” 6
    continuous circuit so something could always be running for exhibitions
    6 track fiddle yard to provide a variety of running stock
    move from Steam to Modern but with the capability of running BR Blue
    It needed to be close to home to make photo Reconnaissance easier

    The challenges,
    Finding somewhere prototypical I could model that had 4 + Running lines
    There needed to be enough ready to run stock to get going (great expectations for the future)
    didn’t really want to do a station due to the nature of the N Modular system

     
    I settled down at Xmas still not clear what I wanted to do and spotted that there was a sale on for the Railworks Train Simulator Module for the London to Brighton line. So purchased and started driving some trains up and down. Leaving Three bridges going north I spotted the Aggregates yard on the left and had that burst of inspiration needed to get going. Now I go past the yard at least 3 days most weeks so a bit disappointing that I hadn’t seen it before but these things happen. So why this location
    4 Tracks at the front for the Modular component
    2 tracks behind parallel with the main lines so no need for any artistic alignment
    Simple track plan for the yard
    Fairly straightforward year with a couple of interesting buildings and activity (ideal for the module)
    In Sussex so local
    Wood at one end and Factory units at other to create break around for creating loop
    Flat so no need for major earthworks and track laying complexity

     
    And the screenshot from Train Simulator that inspired this location
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