Torness Yard - current day engineers yard in OO

[Departmental203]

Eventually, and yes eventually, I've been able to post an uptade - just a small one!

 

Between fiddle yard and scenic boards, I've planned to use computer 25 way "D" plugs to bridge the gap so I can disconnect the fiddle yard to get better access to my bedroom window (ie for cleaning!)

 

So I cut and carved away at small bits of scrap wood to hold the "D" plugs as shown below:

 

 

View from behind; the wood may be a bit too thick!

 

 

I plan to epoxy glue the plugs to the wood and the wood in turn screw them to the cross beams

 

Any better ideas to my method will be appreciated but I might not have the right tools - just to warn you!

 

Hope everybody had a good Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy New Year when it comes!

 

Jules

 

[JDW]

Hi, just looking at your D-connectors, I'd be wary of having them firmly fixed to the baseboards as it means you're going to have to try and align them whilst wielding the whole weight and length of the board, which is likely to be difficult and could lead to damage to the pins. I'd be more inclined to have them loose, either beneath the board or through a slot in the cross members at the ends if they can't hang below it. That way you're not trying to mechanically couple two boards with a delicate plug and socket. Likewise, a small knock could easily damage the connectors.

[Jack374]

I’m with JDW in that the connections shouldn’t support weight really. You could cut the wood around the connector down a bit to act as protection, but there are connector covers in plastic available to protect the pins to which you solder.

 

It's usual for connectors to dangle down from each board to allow them to be disconnected easily from either side. I’d say attach a row of chocolate block terminals underneath the board to break out the cable leading to the connectors, then support the cable underneath the board with a cable clip or other way (zip ties?), leaving just enough to dangle leading to the connector.

 

Jack.

[Departmental203]

5 hours ago, JDW said:

Hi, just looking at your D-connectors, I'd be wary of having them firmly fixed to the baseboards as it means you're going to have to try and align them whilst wielding the whole weight and length of the board, which is likely to be difficult and could lead to damage to the pins. I'd be more inclined to have them loose, either beneath the board or through a slot in the cross members at the ends if they can't hang below it. That way you're not trying to mechanically couple two boards with a delicate plug and socket. Likewise, a small knock could easily damage the connectors.

 

9 minutes ago, Jack374 said:

I’m with JDW in that the connections shouldn’t support weight really. You could cut the wood around the connector down a bit to act as protection, but there are connector covers in plastic available to protect the pins to which you solder.

 

It's usual for connectors to dangle down from each board to allow them to be disconnected easily from either side. I’d say attach a row of chocolate block terminals underneath the board to break out the cable leading to the connectors, then support the cable underneath the board with a cable clip or other way (zip ties?), leaving just enough to dangle leading to the connector.

 

Jack.

 

What I hadn't been clear about is I am using an old cable with plugs on either end that go between the baseboards, which fit the 25-pin plugs which is a wee bit like the VGA cable between a computer monitor and the comuter. Sorry, I should have made it more clear I was using a cable.

 

Any further sugesstions I'm happy to hear

 

Jules

[Jack374]

14 minutes ago, Departmental203 said:

What I hadn't been clear about is I am using an old cable with plugs on either end that go between the baseboards.

In that case, they look good! For mounting the plugs in the wood I’d just screw them in using the holes provided, don’t forget they may get yanked around a bit! I wouldn’t glue the actual metal connector at all as this could hinder operation or any fixes. I’d also suggest adding some slack behind the connectors so they can be unscrewed and pulled out to inspect/fix the soldered pins, and make sure you check them before you install them!

 

Jack.

[Departmental203]

Finally (two months overdue!), I have a working fiddle yard!

 

 

This was an old cable kicking around the house, so I shortened it and soldered a plug on the other end (contained in the black housing)

 

 

I screwed the plug/socket attachment to the wooden blocks I had prepared (as Jack suggested) as I'd figured out that epoxy coundn't hold on as D plugs and sockets fit on rather tightly! The wooden block in turn, is screwed on the baseboard supporting beams to give a fairly rigid unit

 

 

The spaghetti under the baseboard. I tried to keep things simple, with a pair of wires (essentialy) bridging each track over the baseboard gap.

 

I think at this point, activity on the layout will face a hiatus due to exams, well hopefully, I can keep the workbench rolling (I have a 156 on the workbench, more details on my workbench thread, link in my signature)

 

Jules

[Jack374]

1 hour ago, Departmental203 said:

I think at this point, activity on the layout will face a hiatus due to exams...

Snap! Been there for the past few years Jules, I can empathise!

 

Great progress...the connectors certainly look solid enough. For the 'spaghetti' under the board (it’s neater than most I’ve seen!), staples applied with a staple gun are very handy for holding wires flat against the board. Everything should be held firmly with no slack wires; these are prone to snagging on anything and everything when you move the boards!

 

Keep up the great work,

Jack.

[Departmental203]

Can't believe it's been 6 months since my last post! Schoolwork and chronavirus in general has really taken a hit on the progress on the layout. Fortunately, I have found a wee bit of time to get the ball rolling so I start with: the station platform

 

It's made from 2mm Daler Rowley mountboard that I bought at my local Hobbycraft store. I was pondering for ages how to make the platform but inspired by a Peter Marriot article, I decided to use mountboard as it seems to be quite easy to work with (which I found to be true, but use a sharp scalpel)

 

Right now it's a "kit of parts" with sides and bracing ready to be cut but a whole afternoon and evening was spent trimming the top surface and making sure my DMU's wouldn't clout the platform!

 

 

It will be painted with acrylics or emulsion (whichever is to hand really)!

 

The second piece of progress is this hill. I decided quite early on to copy some features of Millerhill Yard to my layout so I'll have some foliage and a high fence to partially block the view! And this inspiration of this hill came in!

 

 

It's a lattice of cardboard (which proved to be quite strong actually!) glued with woodworking PVA and the voids filled with newspaper which was also stuck with PVA. When the model shops open, I'll use some plaster cloth over the top to cover this unsightly mess!

 

I hope to commence with ballasting soon, I have 3 bags waiting for me!

 

Cheers

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

Apologies for the real lack of updates here! Now that school has restarted and becoming a very busy sixth year, and a rekindling of the workbench forum, the layout was on the back burner!

 

However, I turned my "kit of parts" for my platform into something that now resembles a platform. It's still in its early stages, thus I need to sand some overhanging bits and try to make it all sit at the same height throughout, but nevertheless, progress is still progress!

 

 

The track alignment had to be tweaked slightly otherwise my 4mm passengers would have to step over a foot long gap!!!! So with the track being pinned, I took up the shorter track (as it was pinned) and repositioned it relative to the platform, but I was thinking to myself : "Is this cheating????"

 

 

Ok, with this bracing, I should'nt wake up to see a warped platform anytime soon....!

 

Secondly, the mound near the ballast yard was covered with plastercloth, then some Pollyfilla to smooth the hard bumps and eridicate the un-prototypical ridge between the hill and the basebord surface.

 

 

 

And finally, I added some extra bracing underneath the baseboard to counter some instances of saggy baseboards and uneven trackwork on the station/yard throat baseboard, using some scrap softwood from my dad's work reinforced with pleny of woodscrews, so no danger of "TIMBERRRR!!!"

 

 

I'm hoping to refine the platform, and smooth out some of the bumpy trackwork and, finally I bought some more foambord so I can start thinking about the (lightweight) backscene, but that's it for now.

 

Happy modelling!!

 

Jules

 

[Departmental203]

Well, this update is sort of a "one step forward, two steps backwards" story, basically, looking at real trains, I realised my foamboard platform was too high!! So a (very) desparate attempt to shave off 2mm from the platform edging and cross braces came to nothing! So I ripped it all up, recovering the platform surface and the undamaged edging and cross braces then using a scalpel, I cut down the height to 13mm, as demonstrated by this photo below:

 

 

However, silly me was overzealous and I cut down some of the recovered edging/bracing too much!! Additional strips were cut and formed to make new bracing and edging, resulting in a "hybrid" platform made from recovered and new parts.

 

Now, as these photos of the platform demonstarate that the height is much more resonable with my 4mm scale passengers having to step up to get onto the trains, just like the prototype!

 

 

 

There is roughly a 3 to 4mm gap between the 170's door step and the top of the platform, that seems about right, I recon

 

So the next thing is to clad the platform sides with some Slaters brick sheets, to give it some "Scottishness" but seeing me, it'll probably be the new year when I get round to it!

 

Anyway, thanks for reading!

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

Well I can't believe it myself, has been almolst 2 years since my last update!😶

 

You may ask, what's happened in the intervening time? The answer some stuff has happened however it was a case of one step forwards, two backwards.....doh!!🙄

 

The issue was the Sundella surface was warped (fairly badly on one board in particular) which led to extremely bumpy track. A coillery, maybe? A modern mainline? Definetely not!!!

 

This led to the ripping up of the entire track on the worst board and I had to sand the top until it was (reasonably) level which as you could imagine with Sundella, resulted in quite the mess!!! After about a year or so on and off (mainly off as you could probably tell!!) I eventually got the baseboard to a stage I was happy with although the trackwork is still not perfect but I'm not prepared to face more hours of sanding, checking and sneezing like crazy! At least it was far better than before so that's what counts!

 

Silly me wasn't in the right mind to take any photos while the work progressed, so I can only show you the end results (serves as a nice reminder as the old photos went down the drain with the RMWeb update....)

 

The board that was done up is shown below, some of the brown paint was worn away in the process due to the sanding!

 

 

No changes were made to the track layout (on this and the fiddle yard boards anyway, more on that later....)

 

 

In the fiddle yard, some of the flexible track (mostly the curved parts) was replaced with Hornby Settrack to help the rail ends align at the baseboard joins.

 

Onto the other board (with the station and fiddle yard), I made a few changes to the station area, so as opposed to one bay platform and one "through" platform (which stops at the end of the baseboard), I decided to change it to two "through" platforms, imagining that the line at Torness was a through route at one time but due to the el infamous "Fat Controller", the line was severed here. The old platform (which I wasn't entirely happy with) was broken up and a new platform awaits to be built. I'll let the photos explain below:

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

As you can see, there's an awful lot of work still to be done, but hopefully that will happen sooner than later! At the Perth model rail show, I picked up some static grass, flock, rubberised horsehair and a signal box kit so watch this space I guess! It's taken a mere 5 years to get this far, hopefully I can give this layout of mine some justice!

 

Thanks for reading

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

Well it's been a few months so here's another update! I have to confess that a lot has happened on the layout since the last post but I seriously lacked the mojo to get the finger out and actually post here! Well part of the reason is the mound of work I'm getting for uni........🥲 well I don't want to rant on as I'll stress myself out!

 

Ok so I'll dive straight into the action!

 

With the alignment change on the station tracks, I had this rather awkward space to fill between the furthermost track and the wall (no backscene yet!) which wasn't large enough for a road but still I couldn't just plant some grass there and leave it at that! So I thought to replicate a rough vehicle track that you sometimes see alongside the running rails in some places for (presumably) Network rail vehicles.

 

To make it rough, I used some Polyfilla which was dumped on the top on the baseboard in an uneven way which was sanded so that a 4mm scale vehicle could make it (well it may bottom out a few times!!!!!🙃)

 

 

Here it is before sanding, the majority of the rough bumps were taken out but of course some uneveness was retained.

 

 

To hide the surface mounted point motor at the other end of the vehicle "track", my current idea is to have a small abandoned signalbox cover it and the example here is a rather nice laser cut kit from Pop Up Designs, which offers some nice potential for detailing and customisation. The only thing is the rather large slots and tabs but my hope is some plasticard cladding and careful scribing and painting will hide them. There's also the steps which are one solid piece which looks more like a ski slope but some fiddling with some stripwood should do the trick!

 

In the background, I have mocked up an initial idea of a road bridge which should hopefully disguise the entry to the fiddle yard and to complement, I plan to have a hill behind the signalbox to meet at the road level.

 

With the baseboard looking rather tatty due to the extensive sanding (!!!) and to form a base to the scenery, I painted most of the visible scenic parts of the baseboard a dark brown (a tester pot mixed at B&Q which cost about £4 and I still have over half of it left!) I painted 3 coats in total to get a uniform colour and I recommend the paint to anyone. The brand is Valspar and being water based, all you need is soap and water to wash the brushes, no having to deal with waste white spirit!

 

I then decided to commence the ballasting, using PECO pre weathered brown ballast with a hint of the grey version in places to suggest locally ballasted places and break up the uniformity. I must say it looks pretty good even at the stage it's at now so part of me wants to leave it as it is now but knowing the real railway, I don't think I could get away with it!

 

I ballasted in stages, starting from the back to back points forming the throat of the yard, station and fiddle yard (diving in the deep end!) then spreading into the yard. Being such a large area to ballast, the latter was quite difficult to keep even but being a yard, I don't think it's a bad thing! 

 

 

The ends of the tracks have been left to fit some bufferstops, the PECO bullhead version being the choice.

 

 

 

 

 

Excuse the mess but I think you get the idea!

 

Going on a tangent a little, this weekend past I was at the Falkirk model show and I was called up to operate Mark Darragh's "Rannoch" and being a DC man on a DCC layout.....I'll let you imagine the outcome, especially as I had to teach my friend (also a DC man) who came on the Sunday when Mark disappeared for 2+ hours!!🙃 So if there was a c*ck up and you were present, my sincere apologies! 

 

 

All wasn't doom and gloom as my friend and I had good fun playing trains and we kept Mark happy as he could chat away and get away from the layout!!🤣

 

At the same show, I was a bit of a wild tiger and managed to come home with these!

 

 

Disclaimer - this doesn't include the maroon 37 or the wagons far from the camera at the right hand corner!

 

Well this should keep me busy over the Christmas period and I hope to update on my workbench thread sooner rather than later!

 

The next focus, I would imagine is Take 2.0 of the station platform and hopefully by realigning the track, any 4mm scale passengers won't have to do the long jump to get on their train!! The plan is using foamboard as the core and supports then cladding the top and sides with plasticard but as they say, watch this space!

 

Many thanks for getting this far with the reading!

 

Jules

[Departmental203]

As some of you might have read in my workbench forum, I've been on a year long exile from here due to personal reasons, now that things have calmed down somewhat and a resurgence in mojo a few weeks ago, some more progress has been made on the layout as I got tired of it just collecting dust, not getting much attention.....

 

The more I looked at the sidings in the "ballast yard", the more I loathed the ridiculously tight curves I employed to create as large of a gap between the sidings as possible and decided to take the fairly drastic action of ripping them up and relaying them! Additionally, with my switch to Kadees, I found that the delayed uncoupling would really struggle on such curves and took the opportunity to fit permanent magnets underneath the tracks. More on that later!

 

 

As a quick reminder, this is what this end of the layout looked like before the "destructive" work commenced, with the eyesore curves there for everyone to view! To remove the ballast, water in a Fairy bottle did a surprisingly effective job of dissolving the glue and I could use a screwdriver to scrape it off, being careful not to damage the Sundella surface below.

 

 

Give or take 2 or 3 days and this is what resulted! I did slightly damage the Sundella surface in a few spots so fresh wall paint was used to seal in the damage. I find that painting Sundella surfaces is an effective way to reduce damage and it might be able to keep moisture out which is detrimental for the compressed paper material. The track was easy to take up as it was simply nailed in place and it was cleaned up after removal to get rid of the glue deposits and stuck ballast.

 

The aim was to have the sidings at as gentle of a curve as possible to appeal to the eye and allow for reliable delayed uncoupling, which I did using these rectangular neodymium magnets I got on eBay to keep things simple. I felt that using electromagnets would have complicated things a bit.

 

 

To take the magnets, I cut a recess in the surface (really easy with Sundella) and made sure the magnets were far apart enough to ensure the Kadee couplings would open reliably in both directions using a piece of plastic square section.

 

After I relaid the siding, I couldn't resist popping my 68 and some wagons on it to take a few shots!

 

 

 

These views made me regret my clumsy 15 year old self's decision to have these very train set type curves on such a key part of the layout with bogies in full swing! Work has started on the second siding to the right of this one, which will be more difficult as I don't have much baseboard to work with! Thus, a "part 2" to this should follow, whether that comes out in 2 weeks or 2 months is at the mercy of uni, work and general life things!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Jules

 

 

[Departmental203]

Hi all,

 

I have made the decision to dismantle Torness Yard and replace it with something more manageable. I have explained the details of my reasons for doing so and the beginnings of the replacement layout in another forum so I'll put the link for that here to avoid repeating myself. 

 

Was this layout a waste of time? No actually, it taught me a lot of things, not just about the importance of having level baseboards (!) but the importance of composition and provision of space when it comes to building and designing layouts, trackwork and wiring. I plan to recover the trackwork and the ballast for the future layout and I have made a start on this. Paused for a moment to allow me to focus on uni work but will continue afterwards.

 

With that, I'll close this forum but my workbench thread should still be alive and kicking as well as the new layout forum so, new beginnings, as they say!

 

Thanks to everyone who has reacted and commented here and passing advice on in general.

 

Jules