Tavistock North in N Gauge

[6029 King Stephen]

Happy New Year!

 

My layout has been playing second fiddle to my plastic modelling interest and lining the ceiling of my shed with OSB (it is getting colder now and there is nothing like a cold work place to put you off! I have realised for a while now that I would need to lift all the track on board 2 as now all of it was secured to the trackbed with double-sided tape and therefore some sections of plain track was not very flat. This evening, after buying some double-sided tape in Hobbycraft that is narrower than N gauge track, I lifted all sections, laid lengths of tape and then relaid the track to the trackbed. All track sections are secure.

 

Now I should be able to tilt the board onto its edge so that I can attach the point motors to the turnouts and secure their bases to the underside of the trackbed. I am also not too happy with the section of trackbed on board 3. This is effectively the station platform board and I have cut it too narrow to accommodate either of the platforms. To the rear of the Up platform, the road access from Drake Road comes up a slope with a turning at the bottom that goes under the first arch of the viaduct to the front of the station. What I need to do is cut some ply so that it not only provides a base for both platforms but also includes the slopes either side. For the viaduct, I have discounted building it in either cardboard or plasticard as both of these are difficult materials to scribe and cut an arch. Instead, I have a sheet of 6mm MDF that I will draw the side elevations onto and then use a router, jigsaw, bandsaw or even my scroll saw to cutout the viaduct shape.

 

With my renewed vigour (I hope to spend at least a couple of hours per week on the layout) I should be able to make some real progress on Tavistock North.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

Edited January 5, 2019 by 6029 King Stephen

[6029 King Stephen]

A slight setback this evening! Whilst trying to get the pin of the point motor to go through the tie bar hole of one end of the double slip, realising it didn’t seem to fit, I thought I would check if it would fit through the hole from above. Big mistake as it forced the tie bar downwards and dislodged one of the blades. It was not possible to effect a repair in situ which has meant that I had to remove it from the formation. The problem now, now that I have repaired it, is how do I fit it back into place when all the connecting rails are firmly held down with double sided tape and should be connected by plastic fishplates?

 

Added to this, one of the soldered frog wires has come away from the underside of the turnout, so I need to re-solder that into place without melting too much of the plastic sleeper base. Another of the challenges of N gauge! A bit of head scratching and hopefully I will find a solution. I must get on with securing the point motors to the underside of the track bed and getting them wired up so that I can get onto the next boards.

 

Having watched some cab ride videos on YouTube I am aware that you need to have some kind of operating layout to thwart the brain from thinking of giving up. Scenery can always wait.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

Edited January 10, 2019 by 6029 King Stephen

[6029 King Stephen]

After the setback the other evening, I have come to the conclusion that model railways are not really doing it for me at the moment. Despite buying all the items I needed to build Tavistock North in 2015 and considering I have only laid and secured track to one board, I am going to put building the layout on hold for the moment and use the L-Girder framework to support dioramas I want to build in 1/35, 1/72, 1/600, 1/350, 1/24 and 1/144 scales for the model kits I have built and those that are waiting to be built.

 

I know this will be disappointing news for some, especially those who have provided encouragement to keep me motivated but it will hopefully only be a temporary stoppage and I have no plans at this stage to sell any of the items. I might just pursue it at a slower pace and give priority to my plastic model building and woodworking interests.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

Edited January 13, 2019 by 6029 King Stephen

[Siberian Snooper]

A lot of layouts that follow a prototype run out of steam before they get anywhere near completion, mostly due to the sheer magnitude of the job, which is why there is lot of fictitious BLTs around. Larger layouts such as yours tend to be group projects as, when one persons enthusiasm is waning, others are there to pick up the baton and keep the project going.

[6029 King Stephen]

I think that you are right. I have too many interests and hobbies and this contributes to the lack of progress. Tavistock North was my attempt to rediscover my interest in N gauge - I had a load of it until I sold it all in 1995 - but my priorities when I was in my twenties are much different from being in my fifties. I have found N gauge to be too small and fiddly and the cost of buying stock and items, offers no advantages over OO gauge, other than size. The final straw came when I picked up a copy of the latest Railway Modeller magazine and read that Dapol were going to continue with their plan to build some WC/BoB locos but the price for these would be roughly, £200 for the base loco, £230 with DCC and over £300 for sound fitted. These are way beyond what I can afford and do not compare favourably with the Hornby OO product.

 

Therefore, I have dismantled the layout and have listed all the items for the layout on eBay, including locos, coaches, wagons, track, point motors, buildings and even the layout wire. If anyone is interested, my user name on eBay is “elaineandsteve1512” and a search should find the 28 odd lots of stuff - auctions finish on the evening of Wednesday 16 January. The starting prices are way below what these things cost me when starting out again in 2015.

 

I still have a handful of OO gauge items but no real interest in building anything at the moment. I shall be focusing on my plastic model building and undertaking woodworking projects. Thanks to everyone on RMWeb for the interest and support provided on Tavistock North but my model, like the the prototype, is now gone forever.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

Edited January 15, 2019 by 6029 King Stephen