Layout with no name (as yet!)

[gerrym]

Good evening all,

 

Having seen some postings here about 14mm gauge modelling I thought I would introduce a new micro layout I have begun building.  As can be seen from the heading it is anonymous at present!  This layout is an experiment in new materials, whether it proves viable remains to be seen.

 

The base board or box is all constructed from standard 840 x 600 x 5mm thick sheets of foam board, these dimensions have determined the length and width of the box. The three sided box is reinforced underneath with strips of board to give sufficient depth to run the wiring.  This has resulted in a very light structure which is great but how it will stand up to transportation and handling remains to be seen! The first problem that has become apparent is after I painted the back scene with emulsion paints the board began to curl into a shape that was anything but straight. I should have known this because I have experienced this in the past with this material. More haste less speed as they say! This has been largely rectified with a coat of emulsion on the outside which has pulled it back into shape.

 

The trackwork is handbuilt using Peco code 83 ? rail soldered to some old ready cut EM gauge copper clad sleepers that were stashed away from another project that never went anywhere. The turnouts were built using templates I have drawn up and some gauges purchased many years ago from the Roy Link range of 14mm gauge kits of industrial railways. As will be apparent from the photo's the track plan is basic to say the least but  there is not much space on a board of this size!   Ignore the lurid red colour on the board, this was just red primer paint sprayed on the track to colour the rails before the scenics were started.  

As you will notice in the first pic. there are two cutouts in the top surface of the baseboard, these are for the sliding switches for operating the turnouts mechanically. They are operated by rods in tubes by the switches which also change the polarity of the crossing as they are live frog turnouts.  you will also see a wagon turntable at the left end which will be powered by a servo to turn 90 degrees  to face warehouse entrances.

As you can see there is an opening turn the R/H side of the backscene, this is the exit to the fiddle yard which as yet i have not even thought about.

 

The wiring is my usual spiders web of wires based on the common return system with black wiring and the live wiring in red. I have not bothered with isolating sections as there will only one loco on the layout at a time.  The wiring could no doubt be rationalised by someone who knew what they were doing but hey ho it works.

 

I will follow up with more information and photos shortly as things progress. I have begun the back scene structures and painting there of but further work is necessary before they are installed.

 

Gerry M

 

 

[gerrym]

Following on from yesterday here is a picture of the underside of the board showing the tortuous wiring.  Also the point control rodding is visible.

The power for the layout is via a cable permanently connected to a Din socket which receives a plug in handheld controller. I use a power box which sits on the floor with 2no transformers in it of different voltages. I built this box a couple of years ago as a power source for any layout I decide to build.  I don't like taking chances with old transformers and lashed up wiring.  This box has been PAT tested and checked over so I know its safe to use! 

 

[gerrym]

I thought I should show you progress with the scenic side of things.  I have constructed two warehouse facades to go into the left hand corner of the backscene, again from the ubiquitous foamboard but faced with embossed plastic sheet. the stonefaced building to the end panel is supposed to be the original building with the adjoining warehouse constructed of brickwork to represent a newer extension. I have found that a satisfactory method of sticking the plastic sheet to the board is using plastic solvent brushed into the joint despite sticking the material to card faced foamboard and not another plastic surface. By starting at one side and spreading the solvent across the piece as you press the surfaces together it seems to hold.  You have to work quickly because the solvent evaporates off very swiftly and you must be careful as solvents attack the foam core of the board which leaves you with an empty shell if you are not too careful!

The windows and doors are a random selection from a very large bag of plastic mouldings bought at show years ago for £10.00, I still have over fifty assorted doors and windows left in the bag! It's amazing what you can find at shows especially the more specialised ones.

The brick faced building has a steel type staircase up to the first floor , this was scratchbuilt from Evergreen plastic components and items from the "sparesbox" and plasticard.  I am a notorious hoarder of spare parts from kits, off cuts of plastic sheet , spare castings etc. They will all come in useful one day! 

The wagon turntable is a kit of resin moulded parts with a ball race under the table which makes it spin very smoothly, again from the sparesbox  after lurking there for many years. 

At the other end of the baseboard the exit to the fiddle yard is disguised by a road over bridge, not very original I know, again from foam board faced with embossed plastic sheet. This may be reviewed before it is finally positioned and  an alternative sought.   

[gerrym]

This evening I decided to show you the reason this layout has come into being.  I had long been a member of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association up until about 5 years ago and had shown layouts at the AGM  and been lucky enough to have won several trophies for competition entries always in O16.5 gauge ( 00 gauge track) . I had built several NG locos from the Agenoria etched kit range at the time when they were still being produced by their originator, Pete Stamper.

They were an excellent and very detailed range of models but quite complex to build due to their small size, lots of small detail and rivets etc.

At this time 14mm gauge was beginning to come to the surface producing a more accurate type of track for 2ft gauge, also at this time Roy Link was introducing a range of components to produce industrial track panels and wagons etc modelling the Hudson industrial systems.  This was too much to ignore so another Agenoria kit was obtained, a Small Hunslet 0-4-0 as used in the Welsh slate quarries to be built to 14mm gauge. The loco was a test of soldering skills to say the least, very small coupling rods, cylinders etc and tiny fire box details. I was very pleased with the end result though and a start was made on a small layout .

I built several turnouts and lengths of track from Roy Links templates which again were quite complex because everything had check rails! 

That though was as far as it went.  I then discovered standard gauge modelling in 7mm scale which was much kinder on the eyes! 

The little Hunslet never even had a test run! but was put on the shelf along with several other false starts, sad to say. 

A recent discovery of the Hunslet packed away in a cupboard was the starting button to have another go at 14mm gauge! As you can see in the picture it is tiny especially with the driver standing on the footplate,  he is actually a pedestrian from the Pheonix range of figures, I thought he looked very Welsh as a driver!

The Small Hunslets were very varied in their details and fittings, I modelled this one on "Holy War" which worked in the galleries in the Dinorwic Quarry if my memory serves me right.  

In the picture you will see a couple of wagons also, these are Wrightlines kits of WW1 War Department bogey wagons which are nice models and quite heavy as they are white metal.      

 

[gerrym]

Good evening again,

 

Not much has happened in the way of progress over the last few days, I have been building one of Jim Mcgowens new battery locos for my Queens Street Yard cameo layout as it is just the thing to push a couple of wagons about.  So I have decided to add another photo. of the scenics so far . this also gives a better picture of the wagons I will be using.  The wagon turntable as I have said earlier should work using a servo or something similar. which will allow the small 4 wheel wagon to enter the warehouse just about. The 4 wheeler is a resin kit and for the life of me I cannot remember who made it!  The two WD wagons as I have said are Wrightlines whitemetal kits which are fairly weighty ,also the axles do not have any form of bearings so they just run in the whitemetal cradles cast in the bogies. I am not sure the Hunslet will move both of them together! The next part to tackle is the ground works as the red paint is really distracting me and just makes things look awful!  The jury is still out about the bridge over the fiddle yard exit, suggestions on a postcard please?

Hopefully more progress next week.

 

[gerrym]

Hi everyone,

 

Looking back through this thread it seems that people in Narrow Gauge land are posting replies to the various pages I am putting on but i cannot see them! 

Computers and me are not close friends at the best of times but it seems that I may have pressed an inappropriate button at some time or not and cut off any replies being posted. If this is the case apologies to all, I am not ignoring you its just finger trouble!

I have just spotted a tag at the bottom of the reply box "Notify me of replies"  I have now ticked this box so hopefully I will be able to see any responses you may post!  apologies all round but I am not very good at this forum malarkey!

 

gerrym 

[Nile]

Hi Gerry, people have been hitting the 'like' button, but until now no one has posted a reply here. So you haven't missed anything yet.

Roy used code 82 rail in his range. As that is no longer available KBS uses code 83. As you are soldering it to PCB sleepers it makes no difference what type you use. It's looking good so far.

[gerrym]

Hi Nile,

 

Thank you for replying,  now I know it is not me!  The rail I have used is Peco code 83 purchased many years ago at a narrow gauge event and it is soldered to copper clad sleepers . the rail was packaged in small bundles of about 8 or 10 lengths taped together with a Peco label stuck to it.  Probably still available I expect.

I have a free day tomorrow, managements out all day!  hopefully I will make some more progress and post an update later on. 

 

Gerrym   

[gerrym]

Good evening viewers,  well after a two month hiatus I have progressed this little layout a step or two further.  All the previous pictures on this thread show the structures stood in position but not fixed in place.  Now the three basic structures are glued in place which I must admit helped the stiffness of the layout no end. I have constructed the roof of the warehouse on the rear backscene,  it still requires the tiling to be added however, which has made a big difference to rigidity, also more detail to the adjacent store building.  That red paint I sprayed on the track was really annoying me as it looked so awful so I decided to cover it with stone setts at rail level.  I used Howard Scenics embossed card setts cut to fit and follow the rail curvature.  I have used this material very successfully on my standard gauge 7mm layout, Queens Street Yard,  and it has done the job here .  I was pondering on how to finish the setts so decided to use a sandy colour poster paint as the base colour  (because that was what was in the cupboard!) and I also had in the cupboard a plastic box of about fifteen assorted weathering powders that were very coarse and not  very good. Of these I used only two colours and stippled them onto the wet paint with a stubby thick brush in the hope that they blended with the paint before everything dried out, well the jury is still out on this. Very clearly more work is required to even out the basic ground colour before further enhancement is carried out. We shall see!    

The bridge /scenic break was originally painted in shades of grey which looked pretty unconvincing so that was painted in a similar way to the store building at the opposite end and looks more suitable. you will also spot next to the bridge are two gate posts, these will form the entrance to this tiny yard eventually.

Funnily enough about a month ago I was having a big sort out in my railway room and nearly binned this layout as I was losing interest in it but had second thoughts after I had loaded the car with stuff for the tip!  Fortunately it was the last thing to be loaded so no damage had occurred and it returned to the workshop!   

 

In the meantime A very Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy modelling New Year

 

GerryM

[gerrym]

Hi everyone,  as they say more haste less speed!  In the rush to add my post last night I forgot to add the pictures I was making reference too!

With luck the pics should be here .

 

Gerry M 

[Nile]

The sets are a big improvement.