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Evening all,

 

Not done much work in the loft for a while, mainly due to the fact that my shifts have returned to longer more frequent days. I spent a couple of days restoring my 6ft long Portmadoc station lamp and fitting it...

image.png.a9318780d696c7e66e13a48e0603aed1.png

 

 

Much better than the previous efforts. I've also been talking to a work colleage who suggested I should look at getting carpet fitted. Didn't take me long to find others had fitted it for various reasons, and as I'm going to spend a bit of my life up there, I may as well make it comfortable. 

 

So yeah... Managed to find a warehouse near Burnley selling cheap clearance carpet tiles. A few pennies spent and a couple days later, they arrived on my doorstep! 6 hours of messing around later, this is my result.

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Wish I'd done this before I built the boards. But hey, here we are! 

 

Cheers

Edited by JackB95
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Just read through your thread, Jack and the work so far is impressive.
 

One question for you though. Maybe I missed it, but dId the structural engineer say anything about the ability if the ceiling rafters to take the weight of the layout and associated materials?

 

A few pieces of timber and boxes on their own may not add up to much, but once you consider the number of boards plus other items and the operators weight, the total can be considerable and these types of conversions often need additional supports or RSJ’s to take the extra load.

 

After all your excellent work, I’d hate to hear you have problems with sagging ceilings or worse....

Edited by gordon s
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On 09/06/2020 at 19:09, smallman28 said:

Looks really good, be paranoid about spilling anything on that carpet now ;)

 

Oh don't... I'll try and be careful ;-)

 

11 hours ago, saxokid said:

Railway room looks spot on now..

 

Cheers Neil mate

 

4 hours ago, gordon s said:

Just read through your thread, Jack and the work so far is impressive.
 

One question for you though. Maybe I missed it, but dId the structural engineer say anything about the ability if the ceiling rafters to take the weight of the layout and associated materials?

 

A few pieces of timber and boxes on their own may not add up to much, but once you consider the number of boards plus other items and the operators weight, the total can be considerable and these types of conversions often need additional supports or RSJ’s to take the extra load.

 

After all your excellent work, I’d hate to hear you have problems with sagging ceilings or worse....

 

Much appreciated Gordon. 

 

I told the loft convertion company what I was going to do. He said he's done a number of conversions for model railways, and took the floor height up enough to fit strong crossbeams so the floor could take the weight without causing saggy ceilings below. Everything crossed eh!

 

Really appreciate the thought though mate.

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wow this looks realy nice,

 

im contemplating a similar thing my self. How much did the velux window intalation coast if you dont mind me asking?

 

for the carpet tiles did you put anything underneath them or just lay them strainght on to the wood? and what was the best tool you found to be for cutting them?

 

thansk

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On 13/06/2020 at 08:20, 1722 said:

Jack... how on earth have you managed to find carpet tiles that look like railcar seat covers?!? :-) 

 

Loft looks amazing. Well done. 

 

Quite a few people said I've stolen it from the trains at work. Not guilty! ;) Thanks Chris!

 

On 14/06/2020 at 13:56, e30ftw said:

wow this looks realy nice,

 

im contemplating a similar thing my self. How much did the velux window intalation coast if you dont mind me asking?

 

for the carpet tiles did you put anything underneath them or just lay them strainght on to the wood? and what was the best tool you found to be for cutting them?

 

thansk

 

Cheers matey. Velux was £650 fitted by a local loft conversion company. I put the tiles straight down onto the floor. I made sure it was cleaned throughly beforehand to avoid any dust or such getting in the way of the glue. A good old sharp stanley blade did the trick! Made a number of score marks on the bottom, 'snapped' the joint then cut the carpet fibres from the back and it made for a lovely clean cut. Plenty of videos on YouTube showing how to fit carpet tiles proplerly. You can use a number of methods to fix them down. I went for the aerosol can glue stuff. Sprayed a layer of carpet tile stuff on the back, let it go tacky after about 20-30 seconds, then put it down and applied weight.

 

 

I've received some more track in the past couple of days. Once I've cleared the baseboards from all the junk that's accumulated on there of late, I'll start to lay some loose track to get a better idea of what I can achieve. Nothing will be fixed down until the final baseboard is finally built (I'll eventually get round to it), and I have some cork underlay to go between the track and the boards.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not really made much progress in the loft, mainly because of work or my laziness, but GOOD NEWS!

 

Whilst it's not the Dacia Sandero, it another layout update, and one that brings news of the final baseboard being built to complete the circuit!

 

Following from seeing a post on here somewhere (apologies, can't remember which layout), I saw someone had made a hinged baseboard for their layout using kitchen cupboard hinges compared to the typical door hinges. Certainly raised an eyebrow, but made sense owing to the design of them.

 

Up...

image.png.2cd084595ca596474e9dd8a2e2123dc2.png

 

Down...

image.png.17c4b976c2f012b574d0f7370b69957b.png

 

It's yet to be properly set up, with things like a power cut mechanism (stops trains running if I need to open it to avoid flying trains), bolt, proper locating pins etc, but it's at least in place!

 

Excuse the shoddy woodwork at the hinge end. I'll have cork under all my track, and there'll be extra padding over the hinge joints/screws to properly protect the rails. Copper clad joints will also be used at the baseboard joints. I may even make a bit of a viaduct scene out of the hinged bit to give it some excitement.

 

Also, my TfW resprayed 67025 and 153320 arrived this morning from Anglesey. Massive shoutout to @CazRail for this excellent artwork. The two odd-ball 153s on the right are my own work from yesterday evening using Precision Decals' transfers.

image.png.4bc38bf7f02953cfb6547182f87ec725.png

 

Cheers all! I think over the weekend I'll get some temporary track set up and get some trains running! It'll help cure the boredom in after I get my haircut (Mullets R Us).

Edited by JackB95
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  • 3 weeks later...

Greetings

 

Recently been focusing my attention to some projects, including FGW mk3s for my Night Riviera set, and more TfW 153 shenaningans. Today I decided to finally pull a finger out and start to look at what sort of track plan I can achieve with the space I've got. It's a first draft, so go easy on me, but this is what we've got so far:

391289716_Trackplanv2-2(graphics).png.143e49b212ad46ac64242f2f91a78979.png

 

The station, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, is to be loosely based on Llandudno Junction. I've added a 'new' bay platform for extra operational interest. The greyed off area at the bottom is to be all non-scenic areas. Something that I don't like is seeing a beautiful model railway, and the second the scenic break comes, sharp curves take the trains off to the side. It's great in theory, but watching trains fly from no where onto the layout looks a bit naff. I've done it myself, so I'm learning from previous mistakes here also.

 

Everything is pretty much self explanatory. I'm a bit of a fan of RailwayLaserLines' Gresty Bridge fueling point kit which'd look wonderful on the two-road fueling area top right in the depot.

 

I'm open to feedback, as long as it's constructive, as it's fair to say it's been a while since I last properly designed a layout (I think we're looking at about 10 years ago - eek).

Edited by JackB95
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9 hours ago, Powerhaul 70 Pey said:

Following this one.  That Transport For Wales 67 looks good.  Pity they have stopped running during this Covid 19 pandemic.  I was looking forward to seeing them with the new stock.

 

Thanks very much! Yeah it is a shame. Hopefully the Mk4 training will recommence soon! 

 

9 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

I think that you have space there to replace the double slips with ordinary turnouts. Much more typical of the modern railway and a larger radius too than the Peco slip which is only about 2' radius.

 

I was originally playing around with normal pointwork, but I settled on the idea of double slips simply because of the operational flexibility of them, but also how they remove S bends which are more obvious on model railways. Say a train left the depot for the bay platform - it'd snake quite a way across, and having double slips would make it look a lot better. Thanks for the suggestion though! 

 

 

I have been playing around with the track plan for the fiddle yard area and am able to give the outer clockwise loop access to the far left-hand platform now, increasing operational flexibility. 

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1 hour ago, JackB95 said:

 

I was originally playing around with normal pointwork, but I settled on the idea of double slips simply because of the operational flexibility of them, but also how they remove S bends which are more obvious on model railways. Say a train left the depot for the bay platform - it'd snake quite a way across, and having double slips would make it look a lot better. Thanks for the suggestion though! 

I have been playing around with the track plan for the fiddle yard area and am able to give the outer clockwise loop access to the far left-hand platform now, increasing operational flexibility. 

 

That's life. Trains do "snake across" throats of pointwork. The important thing is to have a length of straight track, equal to the length of one carriage, between the ends of the turnouts. You have the space to do that so long as the second lead into the depot is a right-hand point at the start of the curve.

 

If you really want the slips, I would suggest looking at another manufacturer who can provide a greater radius/prototypical geometry (or use the Peco US Code 83). 

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11 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

That's life. Trains do "snake across" throats of pointwork. The important thing is to have a length of straight track, equal to the length of one carriage, between the ends of the turnouts. You have the space to do that so long as the second lead into the depot is a right-hand point at the start of the curve.

 

If you really want the slips, I would suggest looking at another manufacturer who can provide a greater radius/prototypical geometry (or use the Peco US Code 83). 

 

That they do I guess! Still want the slips though as it's something I enjoy looking at/working with. What's wrong with the Peco Code 75 efforts? They're perfectly fine?

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Just now, JackB95 said:

 

That they do I guess! Still want the slips though as it's something I enjoy looking at/working with. What's wrong with the Peco Code 75 efforts? They're perfectly fine?

 

A very tight radius curve (which of course is not a problem for the train going from depot to bay but is for all the other routes).

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hi jack, with regards to the track plan, would it be possible on the left hand most line exiting the left hand platform to move the points closer to the station with slightly a large radiaus/gentle curve? This might alow you to park a unit or loco beyond the points alowing a train to loop back on to the main line. Thus alowing a unit to be parked clear of the loop awaiting entry to the depot?

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On 22/07/2020 at 21:31, e30ftw said:

hi jack, with regards to the track plan, would it be possible on the left hand most line exiting the left hand platform to move the points closer to the station with slightly a large radiaus/gentle curve? This might alow you to park a unit or loco beyond the points alowing a train to loop back on to the main line. Thus alowing a unit to be parked clear of the loop awaiting entry to the depot?

 

Good suggestion. I'll look into it. 

 

Some 3mm cork sheets arrived the other day, and I cracked on laying them down in the fiddle yard area. I also made a start on some..... TRACK LAYING! 11 lengths of flexi track have been pinned down onto the cork using Tracksetta straights and Peco 6ft gauges to help keep it neat and tidy. 

 

IMG_20200724_173019.jpg.05c729ad18f937407d06396fe563c03c.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

Been a while since I made any progress on here! Mainly due to lack of funds. Now that rest day shifts are becoming more available at work (awaits comment from @d winpenny), I'm able to finally pull a finger out and get moving. Been recommended a new model shop in Doncaster that's opened as a result of the dried up exhibition work being available. Run out of a small unit at the back of a storage warehouse, 'Anoraks Annonymous' have an amazing collection of stock for everyone that's going at a great price! Included was these Peco points at £6 each! Steal!

 

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These'll get fitted, along with PM1 seep motors, with the other track that I've got in the fiddle yard. There's still a few bits left to get, but otherwise we're getting there!

 

Latest track plan revision stands at this. A few minor adjustments (everything is still TBC until track is pinned down) made to the plan thanks to a few suggestions made by followers

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Onwards and upwards!

Edited by JackB95
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As always, Jack, a good update. Got a hell of a good price on the points... assume they don’t have a website?

 

I’ve just had a good look At the pic of the TfW stock, they are rather lovely, I must say. 

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5 hours ago, 1722 said:

As always, Jack, a good update. Got a hell of a good price on the points... assume they don’t have a website?

 

I’ve just had a good look At the pic of the TfW stock, they are rather lovely, I must say. 

 

Cheers boss. Nope, it's all 'what you see is what you get in shop'. Worth the drive for me. £10 fuel used. And well over that saved on points.

 

Oooh good man. Can't wait to get them working. 

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On 02/10/2020 at 22:05, saxokid said:

Im realy impressed with your trackplans looking forward to more now Jack

 

Cheers Neil mate

 

15 hours ago, d winpenny said:

@JackB95 RDW who have you been giving special cuddles to haha, I could do with some the new house keeps eating all my money. Keep up the good work bud 

 

It's not what you know, it's who you know ;) Ta David. Once there's a loop and trains running, you're more than welcome over for some 00 gauge thrash.

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