Rotherhurst - A slice of Southern in Norway

[SR Rich]

This layout is a joint father (SR Rich) and son (Norwenglish) layout build.

 

It will be a fictitious Southern region branch line terminus. The track plan is a modified version of Seaton, this seemed to us a good place to start.

It is 3.2 m long and 90 cm wide with a fiddle yard to follow.

 

Here are some pictures of current progress,

 

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/CAM00111_zpsncjjsgt7.jpg

 

 

Strengthening the of the underside

 

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/CAM00113_zpsoksowvjs.jpg

 

We planned the track using SCARM.

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/CAM00120_zpsptqzggl4.jpg

 

Testing or the track

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/CAM00125_zpsfe5m0sa6.jpg

 

Track being laid and ballasted with 2 mm cork under the track

 

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/CAM00128_zpskjlpb60u.jpg

 

This is just a view from the station end of the layout

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/20150904_213553_zpshquzbdjl.jpg

 

This is our control panel, it has been designed to be used from both sides of the layout, more work has been done on it today, pictures to follow.

 

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii580/SR_father_son/20150904_213507%20-%20Copy_zpsouxutsqo.jpg

 

Stuart (Norwenglish) has started with the wiring of the layout today,

Edited April 15, 2022 by SR Rich

[Bibby Line]

Look forward to developments.

 

Does your plan include any part of the river ,

 

Eddie

[Torn-on-the-platform]

Very tidy ballasting job! Quite an interesting track plan too. I look forward to seeing this develop.

[hayfield]

Please keep us informed, looks very interesting

[Norwenglish]

Well I'm the other half of the team building the layout and thought I should say Hi and thank you and address your comments.

 

@Bibby Line, we did consider having a river as per Seaton, but in the end decided to put a farm in that area instead. Which will be Dad's department due to his farming background and knowledge, and me not having so much memory of the farms from my younger years.

 

@Torn-on-the-platform, the ballasting was mostly Dad's effort (I just spread the ballast on top of his glueing), although some areas aren't finished being ballasted yet as we have to build platforms and retaining walls that will be blended in by ballasting all the way up to them.

As for the track plan, I'm hoping to get a picture up tonight which shows out intentions for the different areas of the layout. It has been designed and wired with playability in mind. The Station area and Goods yard each have seperate controllers so that we can both 'play trains' at the same time, although I can see us fighting over who gets to run the goods yard!

 

 

To expand on what Dad has written, as he said the layout is a fictional southern region branch terminus, but some days it might have a slightly more preserved slant to it as we (mostly me) have a few non southern items of stock, as well as Southern stock that would never have been seen in the same decade...rule 1 will definitely be in force here.

Track is Peco Code 100, which is the only track readily available over here, and all the buildings will be built or modified from scalescenes kits with any doors stained green.

 

As for a progress update, I finished wiring the track power and isolating sections (no DCC for us!) last night, which of course required thorough 'testing' , only 2 minor faults were found, which are now fixed.

Next project is fitting the point motors in place, although these can't be wired up until some connectors arrive from the UK.

Also I'll be taking a few more pictures to post later today once the camera has charged.

 

Stuart

[DLT]

Looks a great project, and you seem to be advancing very quickly.

I will be following.

All the best,

Dave.

[Mallard60022]

If we get someone to build the bit in between we could do a 'join up' in the future!! However, I  would have to demolish one end of my house, you would have to come to England and anyway, you will finish your layout and I still won't have started mine!! Great work chaps.

Phil 

[Norwenglish]

Thanks Dave and Phil. The layout has been made so it can be broken down into smaller parts, so maybe I could put my wooden boat building education to good use and we could sail it over for a meet up Although me and Dad do keep discussing making a trip to an event over there and put some faces to names.

 

The point motors are now installed and just need us to get out and buy some more wire before they can be connected to the control panel.

Also I have now taken some pictures a day later than planned, as we got rather carried away with the testing of the layout last night.

 

Here we have the control panel which just needs the switches for the points and associated wires installed.

 

And here is a view from the side, we have a holster for a Gaugemaster Combi at each end, and Dad has made the whole panel so it can be mounted on the front or back of the layout, incase we ever end up taking it somewhere to show it off. The leads on the controllers are also planned to be around 1,5-2m long, so we can move around with them.

 

Next up is the station board, the 3 furthest away lines are the goods yard, and the line containing the Z Class and longest line of wagons will have a cattle dock, and a vehicle unloading ramp at the end.

The 2 lines with the Pullman coaches and the Class 25 are the platform lines which will have the main station building at the end forming a T shape, and the nearest line to the camera is the engine shed and run round loop.

 

Here we have the 2nd scenic board with the rise upto the tunnel mouth which will lead into a 90 degree curve and then the fiddle yard. The small wagon is an approximate position that we are considering putting the signal box in, and the pile of tools etc is where the farm will go.

 

Lastly we have the Engine Shed that I completed recently. Which as mentioned in my last post is built from a Scalescenes kit with the doors stained with green paint.

 

Stuart

[Norwenglish]

Time for another update on progress!

The electrics are all now installed and wired up and have been thoroughly tested, so we are now moving onto the scenic stage.

 

Here we see the results of LED's that have been wired into the engine shed. Most buildings are having LEDs installed to add some more light, and because we feel it add's a bit extra to the layout.

 

Dad spent the weekend building up the station building end of the layout to platform height, this will continue along the back edge of the layout and gradually raise up until it meets the tunnel mouth at the other end. (Sorry for the blurry picture, unfortunately the room isn't the best lit)

 

Here with the top in place. Quite exciting with such progress as it allows us to picture even better how the final result will look and also gives a nice boost of energy to keep us going!

 

Dad also managed to sneak a picture of me working on my weekend project which was the platform, which you can just make out in the above pictures and has come out quite nicely in my opinion.

 

The plan now is to make the last remaining buildings/structures, currently Dad is building the cattle dock and I am building the main station building. Once these are done we can start doing the scenery on the back edge of the board, and when this is finished we can move it from the middle of the room to it's planned position against one of the walls. This will then mean we have alot more space to work and can restart building rolling stock kits etc inbetween building parts of the layout.

 

Stuart

Edited September 16, 2015 by Norwenglish

[SR Rich]

Okay, finally got around to an update, things have moved alot since the last post.

 

We have now made most of the buildings we need for the layout, you can see here the platform finished, station building, goods shed and the base for the cattle dock ( to the right of the goods shed) fixed into place and Stuart starting with the scenic work.

 

 

Progress from the previous picture showing plaster cloth having been applied, signal box in place and a row of cottages appearing at the far end. The base board has been designed to be split just beyond the signal box if it ever needs to be transported.

 

 

More scenic work in progress at the station end, you can see more clearly the cottages, goods yard, retaining walls and vehicle loading ramp.

 

 

At the other end of the base board we have started on the tunnel and the all important place to have the tea mugs ( box on left).

 

 

Here  is a few pictures of the lit buildings, first the signal box for a not too busy signalman with his armchair and news paper in the corner of the box.

 

 

Goods shed with Stuart's kit built Z class in the foreground

 

 

 

Lighting in the station buildings, hopefully I will manage a better picture in the future!

 

 

A better picture of my B of B over the pit outside the engine shed with some lovely lighting effects from the windows.

 

 

We are lighting up our buildings using small led's and we are very pleased with the results so far.

 

I have more pictures to post up soon with the most up to date progress.

[Norwenglish]

Thought I should probably add that the lights aren't as bright in real life as they are in the picture.

 

Stuart

[Mallard60022]

Sneaky little Z then? What is its origin? DMR?

Phil

[Norwenglish]

Hi Phil, It's the resin body kit from Golden Arrow Productions on a Hornby 8f chassis, I think part of the build of it is in our workbench thread.

 

Stuart

[Mallard60022]

Oh yes I remember now. Looks good.

I sold my beautiful kit built one to someone on here for a bargain price "for his layout". He then sold it on at considerable profit a few weeks later. I was well pi**ed off I can tell you.

Phil

Edited November 5, 2015 by Mallard60022

[Norwenglish]

Thanks, quite proud of it being my first foray into the kit building side of the hobby, and also it's what re-ignited my interest which in turn re-ignited Dad's interest.

Sorry to hear about yours! I would also be rather pi**ed if that happened to me, some people these days...seem to already be turning me into a cynical old man at the age of 26!

 

Stuart

Edited November 5, 2015 by Norwenglish

[SR Rich]

Back again with another update

 

Work has started on the tunnel and surrounding area at the top of the incline, here is a few photos.

 

As you can see we have use cardboard to give the embankment profiles and a polystyrene type of material where we wanted a more precise profiles.

 

 

 

 

Between the cardboard profiles are filled with newspaper and then a couple of layers of plaster cloth layed over the top, the newspaper under the plaster cloth gives a good uneven finish when the plaster cloth dries.

The signal box and track was well protected before I started with the plaster cloth, unfortunately we ran out of cloth at this point and so the rest of  the hillside has come to a halt for now.

 

 

I am trying out a different way of forming the embankment with strips of cardboard stuck directly onto former's underneath and then covered in plaster cloth, we will see how it comes out. The scenic area at the back of the base board has had a coat of brown paint in readiness for the flocking to begin.

 

 

 

 

Btw the yellow container is not a new type of station building, its the wrong colour.

 

Good news, new supplies of plaster cloth has arrived, so more messy work in the morning, which means more updates to follow. 

 

 

[SR Rich]

So long since the last update , time flies!

 

We have not been idle since November, here's some of what has been happening.

 

All the areas with plaster cloth have had an undercoat of brown before applying flock, any gaps filled with green stuff and finishing ballasting.

 

 

 

These are the flocks we are using, they are from Woodland Scenics and Mini Natur, vary from 2mm to 6mm. We mix them as we see fit.

Below are the test pieces.

 

 

 

We have begun with the railway side of the fence, making the grass look a little wild, as you can see in the following pictures .

 

One of the duo seen here, working hard

 

 

A closer look at the incline and embankment area or the layout

 

 

Now we move onto buildings, with a closer look at the progress around the engine shed.

 

 

This farm building, I scratch built using a plan from memory , and paper coverings from Scale scenes, I am very pleased with it.

 

 

This is the farm I am working on at the moment among all the other areas of the layout. The farm house is lit with LED's and  for those that look close enough will also see some furniture in some of the rooms.

The large barn will be lit when it's finished, the walls at the front are also made to measure and waiting to be finished.

 

 

This is the last picture for now, could not resit including it, an angle you don't often see layouts viewed from .

 

I am sure Stuart will add some more to this.

[SR Rich]

This the picture that is missing from the last post

 

.

[Mallard60022]

This the picture that is missing from the last post

 

.

Tunnel Club......................................great stuff chaps.

Phil

[SR Rich]

Merry Christmas and A happy modeling new year to you all

[SR Rich]

Hi all, happy new year to all.

 

The hard landscaping is now nearly finished, just the pond base to put in.

 

 

Sorry for the bad quality of the above photo.

 

These two pictures show the final stage of landscaping,for the road and path to the farmhouse we used 2mm cork as the base, the ditch along the road is just cut out from the baseboard and the field in front of that has been but up a little with a polystyrene type material and covered with plaster cloth.In the farm yard I used plastic cobblestone sheets with the surrounding areas built up to the same level with plaster cloth again.

 

 

The next couple of pictures show the area with a brown undercoat as a base colour before we proceed.

 

 

The paint is a bit shiny in the picture, as the paint is still wet in places.

 

 

That's it for now!

Edited January 1, 2016 by SR Rich

[ilovetrains6]

Really like the look of this layout being a Southern fan and how do you progress so quickly???

 

Will follow with interest.

 

Happy New Year

 

Johan

[Norwenglish]

Thanks Johan, Happy New Year to you too!

 

I think the progress is fast because there's two of us, so we can give each other a kick in the backside to get stuff done and we also seem to be each taking on the task of a specific area of the layout, for example the engine shed and station area has turned into my 'baby' and Dad is doing most of the work on and around the farm area.

 

Also I think the excitement of finally building our first layout helps give us an extra boost of energy and enthusiasm.

 

Stuart

[Norwenglish]

While I had the camera out to take pictures for our Workbench thread, I thought I would quickly nip down to the cellar and snap some pictures of progress on the farm area.

 

Unfortunately the flash from the camera makes things look a little starker and brighter than they are, but the pictures at least give an idea of what we have been upto. Also the largest of the barns hasn't been finished yet, as I have to wire it up for lighting inside and then it needs to be stuck down and have interior details added before the roof can be glued on.

 

 

Also as can be seen in the bottom left hand corner, there are the beginnings of a duck pond.

 

Stuart

[Mallard60022]

Inspiration for my own scenics especially around the tunnel area. DVD arrived BTW....thanks.

Phil