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Trinity Road - 4'x2' urban project in N Gauge


nharding99
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Thank you. Whether it's high quality I'm not sure. I'm just trying to do my best for a first time layout. I used to think that big was beautiful but I'm with you now in that there is definitely a certain charm in seeing what can be done in a small space.

 

However there are times when I wish i had an extra foot or two to play with. I'm thinking of adding a small extension at the rear so that I can fit in a couple of extra storage sidings. These should just about fit above the control panel.

 

Cheers

Nigel

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  • 2 weeks later...

This 4' x 2' layout is now 4' x 2' plus a bulge!

 

extension.jpg.9e4069d0620c0d76032100d392668dd7.jpg

 

I have laid the foundations for a small add-on section which will fit just above the control panel (not currently in place). The idea is to add 2 more storage sidings.

 

That's all for now, just a quick update!

 

Cheers

Nigel H

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In a burst of Friday night activity I have now completed the front fascia. The layout certainly looks smarter with that in place and the tunnels are pleasantly darker now.

 

fascia.jpg.c95f2c32962e817ab8af8bf2534a4590.jpg

 

Also, in an act of clumsiness I managed to drop the baseboard tonight. There was some minor damage to one of the backscenes and I had to touch up a bit of chipped road surface. But on the positive side the new storage siding extension passed the shock and vibration test.

 

Next job will be track laying of the new sidings and then onwards with the finer detailing. I do need to think about lighting, I may just keep it simple and try some clip on lights which I could clip onto the backscene  (hopefully I can find some that diffuse the light sufficiently).

 

That's all for now.

 

Thanks

Nigel

 

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5 hours ago, nharding99 said:

In a burst of Friday night activity I have now completed the front fascia. The layout certainly looks smarter with that in place and the tunnels are pleasantly darker now.

 

fascia.jpg.c95f2c32962e817ab8af8bf2534a4590.jpg

 

Also, in an act of clumsiness I managed to drop the baseboard tonight. There was some minor damage to one of the backscenes and I had to touch up a bit of chipped road surface. But on the positive side the new storage siding extension passed the shock and vibration test.

 

Next job will be track laying of the new sidings and then onwards with the finer detailing. I do need to think about lighting, I may just keep it simple and try some clip on lights which I could clip onto the backscene  (hopefully I can find some that diffuse the light sufficiently).

 

That's all for now.

 

Thanks

Nigel

 

Excellent Nigel looks really good espically for a first layout.

To of gained more fiddle yard roads round the back on Lymebrook all the points are PECO setrack points which are shorter so you can fit more in..

Steve

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19 hours ago, sf315 said:

Excellent Nigel looks really good espically for a first layout.

To of gained more fiddle yard roads round the back on Lymebrook all the points are PECO setrack points which are shorter so you can fit more in..

Steve

 

Hi Steve, thank you. I did initially try out some insulfrog points but I had some 0-6-0 locos that stalled on them so I went for electrofrog which are still a bit unreliable if the point blades get dirty but they probably worked out a bit better for me acknowledging that, as you say, I have lost some storage space because of that. I have power frog switching for all of the points on the viewing side of the layout and they have performed very well so far.

 

Thanks

Nigel

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Track for the two new sidings in the fiddle yard has now been laid, providing significantly more options for storage. I can now run 4 coach formations if I wish (though in general small is beautiful on this layout). 

 

fiddle-yard2.jpg.5bc9ec0b5cf6eaba99097e92fa96fb56.jpg

 

The additional turnout used to create the new branch pushed my track geometry to the limits. I have had to relay the mainline curve and move it right out to the edge of the board to maintain a reasonable radius. Some trains just about catch the backscene so a small cut out will be required to remedy that.

 

Hopefully I can put the Xuron cutters, track pins and fishplates away for a while now.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Nigel H.

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It's been a while since I showed some video. Here you can see that things are running quite smoothly for a Friday night session. The jib on the breakdown crane swings around a bit but it makes it round the rather tight curves!

 

 

That's all for now.

 

Nigel H

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  • 3 weeks later...
12 hours ago, Freight Connection said:

Well done with the layout article for the NGS journal Nigel. Enjoyed reading it this morning, great pictures as well. 

 

Regards - Steve

 

Thank you Steve, that's very kind.

 

The layout has moved on a bit since the article was written. Maybe there will be a "Return to Trinity Road" article at some stage.

 

All the Best

Nigel

 

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  • 1 month later...

This will likely be the last update of 2019. It's been a good year for Trinity Road. I thought I'd end it with a shot of the first run out of the class 304 EMU on the layout...

 

 

Things to look forward to in 2020...

 

Finishing the class 304 and then getting the layout ready for its (and my) first exhibition at the N Gauge South East Show on 4th April (see https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/146972-n-gauge-southeast-2020/) It should be fun!

 

Thank you to everyone who has been a reader or made comments and may you enjoy a Happy New Year!

 

Edited by nharding99
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 05/01/2020 at 00:21, alangdance said:

Hi Nigel

 

Love what you have been doing. And keep the updates going.

What have you used for the buildings in fill on the backscene.

 

Alan

 

Thanks Alan. I have been using Townscene backscenes, mainly the town roofscape, judiciously chopped up and used in various places. I do rate these backscenes, especially if you're after a grimy city backscene, perhaps a tad ubiquitous but very good.

 

Cheers

Nigel

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17 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

If you're doing steam/diesel transition era you could have an AL6 without the yellow panels as they ran for a while like that.

 

Thanks, an interesting point. I notice that Heljan have just announced this livery in OO but isn't there a bit of controversy about that? I'm not an expert but I think I've read and seen photos where they were used or stored at Crewe in that livery for acceptance testing but then received yellow panels in service? I think the AL6s were introduced in 1965 by which time you's expect them to comply with the yellow warning panel regulation.

 

However I do have a spare N Gauge AL6 and it would be alot easier to repaint it into early blue without warning panels so I'd be more than happy to go down that route. That's definitely a possibility for the future.

 

Cheers

Nigel

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I have Modern Railways for July 1965 and the lack of yellow waning panel was highlighted by Alan Williams. In the June '65 issue mention is made of the first deliveries: E3101/3-9 from Doncaster and E3161-9 from English Electric. Of these just the last two from Doncaster had yellow panels ("the first a.c. locomotives to be so distinguished"). E3101 and E3103 were noted in revenue service for the first time on 1st May (FA Cup specials). There is also a photo of E3161 without yellow panel taken on 4/7/'65 on the down 'Red Rose', so it definitely happened. I don't have a full set for the period, so there may be more examples in Modern Railways and other contemporary magazines, of course.

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40 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

I have Modern Railways for July 1965 and the lack of yellow waning panel was highlighted by Alan Williams. In the June '65 issue mention is made of the first deliveries: E3101/3-9 from Doncaster and E3161-9 from English Electric. Of these just the last two from Doncaster had yellow panels ("the first a.c. locomotives to be so distinguished"). E3101 and E3103 were noted in revenue service for the first time on 1st May (FA Cup specials). There is also a photo of E3161 without yellow panel taken on 4/7/'65 on the down 'Red Rose', so it definitely happened. I don't have a full set for the period, so there may be more examples in Modern Railways and other contemporary magazines, of course.

 

Thanks very much for the info. Much appreciated. So it looks like that is a legitimate livery.

 

All the Best

Nigel

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

I have Modern Railways for July 1965 and the lack of yellow waning panel was highlighted by Alan Williams. In the June '65 issue mention is made of the first deliveries: E3101/3-9 from Doncaster and E3161-9 from English Electric. Of these just the last two from Doncaster had yellow panels ("the first a.c. locomotives to be so distinguished"). E3101 and E3103 were noted in revenue service for the first time on 1st May (FA Cup specials). There is also a photo of E3161 without yellow panel taken on 4/7/'65 on the down 'Red Rose', so it definitely happened. I don't have a full set for the period, so there may be more examples in Modern Railways and other contemporary magazines, of course.

 

Further to this...

 

E3163 has yellow panels by 8th August 1965 if this photographer has his dates right...  So the livery without warning panels might have been very short-lived in some cases.

 

I'm still really tempted to represent one without warning panels though!

Hi-Res R0323

 

 

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Transisition from the varied '1956-64' era liveries to 'Corporate' Blue is an interesting period, full of odd anomalies like this. Another thing to note, some of the AL6s had the bufferbeam in Rail Blue rather than red, and then there's the two early variations of yellow panel on AM10s, not to mention the near contemporary Railfreight 'box arrow' schemes.

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The completed AM4 is looking right at home on the layout (apologies that the sunlight is a bit harsh). This was one of the layout goals so it has been good to get it finished and I think it is an important characteristic of the layout. One the couplers needs to be made a bit more reliable but it runs nicely.

 

With a new found confidence in creating DMUs and EMUs I'm thinking of creating a BRCW class 104. These units were very visible on routes to Buxton, Marple and so on. I have a class 108 two car set that could be used as a basis. I have N-Train 3D printed ends. I need to compare window arrangements and if they are similar then it could be a fairly straightforward conversion. But for now I'm going to enjoy the 304!

 

Thanks for reading

Nigel H

 

 

304-2020-1.jpg.6dca7694ef095802efad09021c9e4013.jpg

 

304-2020-2.jpg.bb203afa41ffed3b6b414add7e76b95c.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

The refinements continue...

 

trinity-road-lighting.jpg.a572068033491ae7db835a8efe36c3b2.jpg

 

I have added a layout name board (purchased from a trader at Warley) which is attached to the back scene using velcro. You will also see that I have added a couple of clip-on lights from B&Q at £10 each - the bulbs were almost as expensive as the fittings! The lighting is adequate, not professionally diffused but shadows are minimal, I think the lamps will do a job.

 

Cheers

Nigel H

 

 

 

Edited by nharding99
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1 hour ago, sf315 said:

The pic above Nigel is great. Glad my layout was of inspiration for you to produce the above well done. 

Steve. 

 

Thanks Steve. I think you've posted previously that there are a few other layouts that have been inspired by Lymebrook Yard. I'm aware of one. So your layout deserves alot of credit for that. It must feel like you are the CJ Freezer of the new millennium :rolleyes:. But seriously, thanks for your encouragement. Lymebrook Yard is a great layout!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Most of the ongoing work is aimed at making the layout more robust (both operationally and for transport) and adding of finer detail. I'm starting to see why modellers say that a layout is never finished. I thought I had reached a stage of completion but keep finding improvements that I would like to make. I'm not a perfectionist but will  keep working it up to a better standard until I'm even happier with it all.

 

The goods yard is even more overgrown now. I don't want to over populate it but I felt that a little of the open space needed breaking up so more overgrown grass has been added. I also fixed the yard lights which had ceased to work due to a loose wire. All wiring has been inspected and tidied up.

 

feb-update2.jpg.7a2a79dd12b87432cb75ea48ef446c14.jpg

 

I have started to add road signs. Some are printed out from Scalescenes sheets, others I have created by myself. They are stuck onto wire posts. The zebra crossing could ideally do with some belisha beacons.

 

feb-update3.jpg.52f923c3e2ee1c617aa54fcac97d355e.jpg

 

I've been ironing out some rolling stock problems. The AM4 was decoupling too frequently for my liking. I have replaced one of the bogies, added a new coupler and that is solid now.

 

feb-update4.jpg.409dd16a5ce8c306c17851d503726725.jpg

 

This set of suburban coaches has had some bogie problems fixed and had Easyshunt couplings fitted so this gives me another option for local passenger services.

 

feb-update1.jpg.ab6dfc0e03455f07abaa32295fcfc5fb.jpg

 

That's all for now and thanks for reading!

 

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  • 1 month later...

In our strange new "locked down" world I haven't spent too much time working on the layout. I have prepared a black cloth screen to conceal the layout's legs. Of course the debut exhibition for Trinity Road (4th April N Gauge South East Show) is now cancelled, hopefully there will be another opportunity to exhibit at some stage. There are some rolling stock projects that I can work on (create a class 104 DMU from a class 108, weathering of stock, upgrade plastic wheels to metal, add EasyShunt couplings to more of the wagon stock to enable more shunting,).

 

I have previously shown a few video clips, I may try to put together a more complete and more polished video at some stage with a variety of movements and stock. Maybe I can put together some sort of story so that might be fun.

 

That's all for now. I hope that you are managing to stay safe and well.

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