Scarside - 009 the easy way

[Nile]

Things are progressing slowing on several fronts, with not much to show for it. On the layout I've added be-headed screws to the buildings so they can be securely attached to the base board. This is the inside of the church.

 

I've made a start to the road that runs past these buildings at the right hand end. This may take a while.

The water column, with its slimmed down base, has been glued in place.

[Ramrig]

That's enough electrickery for now, the point motors are all working, it's time to see what's happening above ground.

A new train has arrived with a load of sheep.

73.JPG

But where to unload them? Time to get building.

 

Some leftover bits of balsa wood knocked together into a basic platform shape.

74.JPG

 

A ramp added at one end, and then faced with some Slater's stone sheet. Around the edge is some microstrip, painted grey with pencil lines dividing it into slabs.

75.JPG

 

On top is Slater's setts, painted and then weathered with limestone dust.

76.JPG

That's the basic structure of the sheep dock.

What make are the sheep wagons?. They are very smart

[Nile]

Nine Lines.

[Nile]

I've been thinking about how this layout would be lit if it was ever to be exhibited. I had a LED lighting unit from another layout, at 40 inches long it was long enough to cover the whole layout. It would need to be mounted higher up, to do this I took the original supports, turned them through 90 degrees and lengthened the short 'arms' with some strip wood (what I had to hand). That's a six inch rule in the photo.

 

I added some temporary feet to these supports with clamps for a test lash up. This was taken in the dark.

Although it looks well lit in the photo, it's not so impressive with the room lights on. It could do with some improvements.

The single row of LEDs was facing straight down, so the first improvement was to angle them at about 45 degrees. The second was to add a second row of LEDs, at a slight angle to the first. This should give better illumination.

[Corbs]

Will be interested to see how well lit it is, I have a very similar plan in mind for my shunting puzzle.

[Nile]

A little progress on the scenic front. The basic road surface is down, but the main item of interest here is the fence, separating the railway from the riff-raff of the village. It's a left over from the Wills station kit, there was just enough to fill the gap between the station and the edge of the board. It's not fixed in place yet, there's more scenic stuff to do before doing that.

[Nile]

I've added some of the green stuff along the edge of the road where the fence is. and fixed the fence in place.

 

And now with a few vehicles added for interest.

The new Minitrains loco has a few bits missing because I've been meddling with it.

That's the basics of the road done. There are lots more little details to be added eventually, as and when I get time.

[Nile]

I've turned my attention to some of the ready to plonk buildings I've used as there was room for some improvements to help them fit in.

On the station building (ex cricket pavilion) I've painted the platform surface and edge to match the extension bits I'd made. The end boards of the roof have been painted light grey, I'm not sure what they were supposed to be before.

 

The Old Tea Shop had a tiled roof. As there is a slate quarry a few miles further up the valley this would be an odd choice of roof, so I've repainted it to look like a slate roof. The bricks below the bay window also had to go, they now look more like stones.

[Nile]

Scarside was built to take advantage of the recent influx of 009 RTR trains. With this in mind the recent release by Bachmann USA prompted this happening.

 

Skarloey prepares to depart with a passenger train as Rheneas arrives with the morning goods train.

 

Later Rheneas is ready with the return goods train as Skarloey arrives with the passenger train.

 

It wouldn't take much modelling effort to re-create the Talyllyn Railway with these locos and a few kits.

[BernardTPM]

The perfect scale gauge combination too,

[Nile]

Things move slowly in Scarrdale, but there have been a few developments so it's time for an update.

The bare area across from the station has had some scenic treatment with the addition of some static grass and lineside hut.

A new Bachmann loco paid a visit and had a go at some shunting, and this revealed a problem. This loco is longer than those that normally run here, this extra length plus the tight set-track curves plus the Greenwich couplings caused derailments on those curves.

This 'aerial' shot shows the series of reverse curves that can be encountered when shunting. They are all 9 inch radius.

 

The problem occurs when a long loco propels a wagon through these curves. This photo shows the coupler displacement with a Peco coupling fitted to the wagon. The Greenwich coupling loop is narrower, casing a sideways force on the wagon that derails it.

 

This doesn't happen with short locos such as the Minitrains Bagnal I've been using. So I'll be restricting goods trains to short locos, and increasing the small loco fleet (see my ng workbench topic). Larger locos can still run on passenger trains.

[Nile]

Another recent development is the addition of a magnet near the end of the goods/run-round loop. This allows a goods train that enters the loop to uncouple the brake van and leave it there.

 

It can then get on with shunting the yard.

 

There is enough room for the loco to run round the van and move it to the other end of the loop out of the way.

[happyChappy]

Another recent development is the addition of a magnet near the end of the goods/run-round loop. This allows a goods train that enters the loop to uncouple the brake van and leave it there.

114.JPG

 

It can then get on with shunting the yard.

115.JPG

 

There is enough room for the loco to run round the van and move it to the other end of the loop out of the way.

I couldn't decide where to put uncoupling magnets prior to tracklaying so still need to install them now that track is down and I've worked out where they should be. I've been concerned how this will look but your retro-fitted magnet is completely invisible so I'm more encouraged having seen it. Is it a Greenwich magnet or an alternative? Regards HC

[Nile]

It's a Greenwich magnet, 5.5mm diameter. As the ballast was fixed in place with PVA removing it is a fairly simple process - soak it with water and then dig it out. A hole is then drilled in the baseboard between the sleepers for the magnet to be glued into. The ballast is replaced and re-glued. Here is another photo I took, quite literally watching glue dry.

[Nile]

More scenic developments, I bought the new Peco backscene as I thought I might be able to make use of it. It comes as three sheets that can be joined together as one long scene. The right hand sheet worked best for me, here it is along with the rear board. Only the top half will be used, discarding the unwanted river. Some bodging will be needed at the right end, this will be mostly obscured by the buildings there.

 

To test the idea I placed the backscene up against the layout rear and took some photos.

[Nile]

I thought so too Alex. I cut the sheet and stuck it to the rear board with wallpaper paste.

 

Some photos with the new backscene attached.

The gap at this end will be patched with some sky from one of the other sheets.

Finally for now some close up photos showing the effect the new backscene has.

[happyChappy]

I thought so too Alex. I cut the sheet and stuck it to the rear board with wallpaper paste.

126.JPG

 

Some photos with the new backscene attached.

127.JPG

128.JPG

The gap at this end will be patched with some sky from one of the other sheets.

Finally for now some close up photos showing the effect the new backscene has.

129.JPG

130.JPG

That backscene looks just right and really sets the scene. My Wiltshire based RAF bomb store plan needs wooded hills as the backdrop but I wasn't aware Peco had introduced a new backscene range which should fit the my needs perfectly. Thanks for your update. HC

[Nile]

There's a topic about the backscene, with pictures of all three sheets:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/134230-peco-launch-photographic-backscenes/&do=findComment&comment=3167688

[Matloughe]

Hello Neil,

 

I've been lurking watching this thread for a while, and just wanted to say - keep up the brilliant work!

I moved house and no-longer have space for my current layout and after some wrangling with the Domestic Authorities I have permission for a smaller layout and the lure of 009 has been calling for a while. Your layout has certainly ticked a number of boxes for me with layout design and operation. I love the atmosphere you've created with this layout and I look forwards to seeing more.

I can only apologise if I end up pinching some of your design as it is brilliant!

Kind Regards,

Gary

[Nile]

Thanks Gary, and no need to apologise. Inspiring others to build a small 009 layout is what Scarside is all about.

Work is continuing slowly, I'll have to post an update soon.

[happyChappy]

Thanks Gary, and no need to apologise. Inspiring others to build a small 009 layout is what Scarside is all about.

Work is continuing slowly, I'll have to post an update soon.

Hi Nile. You certainly inspire. Having seen you use the Peco riverscape backscenes so effectively on Scarside. Like you, I've adapted them to represent  wooded hills. I'm still undecided on the choice of board to glue them to as it needs to curve in a lazy 'S' shape. I'm now after yet more info - this time regarding what you use for ballast. It looks quite fine but to my eye it seems to fit with scale of the track perfectly. H

[Nile]

The ballast is Woodland Scenics fine grade.

[Nile]

Fiddle Yard

 

While not much has happened on the layout itself over the summer I have been slowly developing a fiddle yard. At home I can operate the layout from the front with the aid of a 'fiddle stick' - a single piece of track that plugs into the exit track on the left. For exhibition use I want something better.

I started with a half scale mock-up made from cardboard. The basic idea is a 3 track sector plate long enough to hold a loco and 4 vehicles.

Rear view.

 

Front view.

 

It's supported by 2 flaps that fold up into the underside for storage.

[Nile]

I next tried another cardboard mock-up, this time full size. This was to work out just how much space the sector plate would need. It soon became clear that 3 tracks would make the whole thing wider than the layout, not what I wanted. So I settled on a 2 track design, this should be enough for my needs. A basic service of alternating passenger and goods trains only needs one track anyway.

 

This shows how it will connect to the layout.

[Nile]

Construction of the actual thing starts, this is the base.

 

More bits added, including the sector plate itself. The track will go on the raised strips.