DanielB Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) Hi all, As a small project over the Xmas period and the dreaded "early pay day = 6 weeks until next payday" that happens at my workplace, I decided to finally print out and build the scalescenes Boxfile kit. That said, I wanted to do something a bit different with it, so I ordered 3 Boxfiles from Amazon and I'm planning to make an extended version of the kit. Here's how far I've gotten with it since I started yesterday: Edited March 11 by DanielB 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 So, it turns out that the box files I ordered are both too small and have plastic ends, so aren't suitable for what I need. As such I'm going to repurpose them into stock boxes for the layout. As such, I ordered a couple of these from eBay, which were £13 each and are pretty much the right size for what I need. I'll order another in 6 weeks time, I guess! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) In terms of the general idea of what I'm thinking of doing, I've been mocking up track plans, the first two of which are below: I'm not 100% on the track layout until the baseboards arrive, hense the two plans. The bottom plan was done to move all the pointwork onto the left hand board. I'm thinking a 3-way and a short left hander there might be the best way to do the desired plan. As an explaination of the plans, the centre board will be the boxfile kit, minus the lower part of Structure D on the left hand end of the kit - this will allow for the track to extend further onto the left hand board. The back of the left hand board will likely be the free warehouse flat that came in Hornby magazine recently, with the lower part of the boxfile kit's Structure D relocated to the end of this board instead. The Hornby mag warehouse will hide a fiddle track to allow for loading and unloading of mineral wagons and such. I'm thinking of sticking the RM recent free Ratio yard hut on the front of it too for a bit of interest. I might paint it, or I might wrap it in Scalescenes papers. Not decided yet. The right hand board will be turned backwards to contain the fiddle yard, with a slot cut out of the back to allow for the viewing of the siding and structure that will add extra operational interest to the layout, in a sort of "Letterbox" view. As I don't have any British stock at the moment, I'll likely us some american stock to test clearances and such during the build. Edited December 15, 2019 by DanielB 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 I love the idea, and can't wait to see how it turns out. Using multiple Scalescenes buildings will give a nice homogeneity to the layout. I think the Scalescenes Free-with-Hornby-Magazine Dairy Kit is a wonderful kit (see "Arrow Paints" my signature) that I haven't seen anyone else use yet, so I look forward to seeing what you make of it. I also love that trackplan. However, I have serious concern as to whether you will get in everything you've asked for - track, especially points, are often larger and more restrictive than you think. I had a quick go at creating your layout in AnyRail, and came up with the following. As you can see, it leaves very little room for buildings, but I suspect it can be jigged around a little. Actually, if you don't mind a little point-buchery, you can do the following: And I'm sure it can be refined further. I would recommend downloading and playing with AnyRail https://www.anyrail.com/en (it's free for <50 track pieces, excellent for us micro-layout builders planners ); or, for a more physical approach, print out some track templates or find some spare track and have a play on your boards, with your buildings and stock. Don't forget to leave enough plain track that the rolling stock has space to breathe, as even wagons take up more space than you think - and bear in mind that British OO stock may be larger than American HO stock, if that's what you're used to. Having said all of that, it is a very interesting trackplan, and definitely one that I'll be spending the rest of the evening refining to my tastes! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Not much progress last night, but here we are so far: 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted December 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2019 Re your 1st post - we get paid early in December, but also get paid early in January, which helps quite a bit. Ask if your firm would consider it. Nice layout ideas too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Unfortunately not - I work for an international corporation - I doubt it's something that would change. I'm considering themes for what the layout could represent, and I keep coming back to a colliery works. I'm thinking maybe the workshops or wagon repair sidings. Gives me an excuse to use a load of 16t mineral wagons. Mainly, I want to pay some respect to my heritage - my family trade for two generations before mine were coal miners, and I think I owe it to my dad to do something British, as he's always been a bit disappointed when I moved from UK N gauge to US HO and O Scale. Besides, it'll give me an excuse to get a collection of interesting little industrial locomotives, like the Janus, Sentinel, Peckett, Victory, etc. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 And on the subject of little industrial locos... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 (edited) @TechnicArrow - I have an idea on how to get around the issue of fitting the track on the layout, but I've got to wait for the boards to turn up before I do. I normally use SCARM to plan layouts, as I have a full licence on my laptop at home, but I'm on my work laptop and can't install any unauthorised software on it, which is why I was using chalk and slate (aka MS Paint). Essentially, I could add a temporary "fiddle stick" to the front left hand corner of the layout and have the 3 way point start almost immediately onto the layout. Eventually, I could add a 4th "box" onto the left end and do something like this: This would also have the added benefit of - with a quick swap of the photo backscene and some signage - allowing me to use my US HO stock on it too. Edited December 17, 2019 by DanielB Spelling/Grammar 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 21 hours ago, DanielB said: @TechnicArrow - I have an idea on how to get around the issue of fitting the track on the layout, but I've got to wait for the boards to turn up before I do. I normally use SCARM to plan layouts, as I have a full licence on my laptop at home, but I'm on my work laptop and can't install any unauthorised software on it, which is why I was using chalk and slate (aka MS Paint). Fair enough! The 4-board plan does look excellent, and the 3-way point certainly helps to open up the options. I'm interested to watch this layout coming together! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 21 hours ago, DanielB said: @TechnicArrow - I have an idea on how to get around the issue of fitting the track on the layout, but I've got to wait for the boards to turn up before I do. I normally use SCARM to plan layouts, as I have a full licence on my laptop at home, but I'm on my work laptop and can't install any unauthorised software on it, which is why I was using chalk and slate (aka MS Paint). Fair enough! The 4-board plan does look excellent, and the 3-way point certainly helps to open up the options. I'm interested to watch this layout coming together! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo-Bo Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Daniel this looks like a great layout plan, love the small loco. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 The baseboards arrived today so I've quickly dry-assembled them and mocked up the structures as they are at the moment. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Progress! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 Well, it appears the fleet has grown... Hattons had a great deal on that I just couldn't pass over, so now I have a Janus. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 (edited) Progress! Building B is done The large vent is not attached for now as I'm not sure if I'll place it in a different place rather than on this particular building, due to the backscene not being as tall as it would have been on an actual boxfile. Edited December 25, 2019 by DanielB 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 So, yesterday I fitted the Hornby 8 pin decoder to the Janus and fully tested that. It runs like a dream, very slow speed. I also tested the Pecket - another beautiful runner - as well as a Bachmann sound fitted RS3 that I ordered from the states that turned up a couple of days ago for if I want to run this mico with US stock. I also mocked up a full size track plan using paper and masking tape so I could ensure the intended track layout was feasible and I'm happy to report that it should work fine. Once the second pair of boards turn up, I'm going to look at how best join all four together as well as how best to cut out the peices of them that I will need to to get the layout looking how I need it to - access holes between boards for track to run through, letterbox openings in the "front" of each fiddle yard board for the extra sceneic sections, how to fit stock shelves, etc. Once I've got that figured out and done then I'll lay some track! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 Latest itteration of the track plan - this time with annotations to give an idea what I'm planning. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted December 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 25, 2019 You won't regret Sherwood Dan, cracking loco, runs as well as it looks 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 I was really surprised at how heavy it is for such a small loco. I'm hoping the performance over pointwork will match how smooth it runs on straight track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Tonight I got a little of structure D completed. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Progress! I'm going to have a break from the Boxfile kit and build another quick low relief structure to go elsewhere on the layout. In any case, here's the latest photos. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Another structure done. This one won't be going where I've placed, I just put it there for the photo. It will be going on another board. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Just found your thread Daniel, liking the look of this. I've got a scalescenes boxfile but when it comes to building it I keep getting distracted! What were the baseboards you used? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 I got them from eBay. Item number: 122931278646 Hope that's helpful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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