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My first O Gauge layout - Version 2


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Good luck with the new adventure.

 

I must admit that my OO layout around the walls of the garage is seeing little use ever since I started on Puzzel Yard.

 

I won't say that I'm seriously considering bidding farewell to the OO layout and replacing it with either something smaller in OO plus an enlarged Puzzel Yard or just an O gauge layout but I'd be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed me mind.

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A blank canvas.

 

IMG_5931_r33c.jpg.5e9ddbeafd9dca437e26edee0af42cfb.jpg

IMG_5929-r33c.jpg.8b73e716e1a25ec377fac62d1ea0b245.jpgIMG_5928_r33c.jpg.81976718caf766a85cc1fba4fc1c4903.jpgIMG_5932_r33c.jpg.be9d84d652490b42f8c162ce0289949a.jpg

 

Having rebuilt the baseboards and everything is level, I realised the OO layout wasn't level as the floor actually slops towards the back of the shed by as much as an inch. With the boards attached to the wall I was able to reduce the number of legs increasing the usable storage space underneath. 

 

I know how the builders of the channel tunnel felt when the two halves met, after I refitted the lift up section at the door and put the spirit level on, it was absolutely level, not even slightly out, I felt quite pleased that the rebuild had worked. :)

 

I am hoping to make a start on the track laying today starting with the fiddle yard which will be on the boards on the right of the first photo above.

 

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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Peter

 

A great looking job ..... It looks very professional & I'm impressed with the amount of storage you have. You don't realise the amount of little bits you acquire / find / save when you are building a layout, I am forever buying the plastic boxes to house parts.

 

Jim

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I laid the first bit of track on the fiddle yard section on Sunday and tested it for clearance for taking stock on and off.

 

IMG_5935r35c.jpg.7f30aae609b8e6aa5ecd98f9297ebf67.jpg

 

I've not done much since except I'd been wondering about whether to ditch using cork underlay and just lay the track on the board, and yesterday my copy of 'Building a 7mm Scale model railway' by Peter Smith arrived and he doesn't use it, so I relaid the track on the above section without the underlay. I did a quick test using a Bachmann Brassworks Mk 1 and whilst there is a slight difference in wheel noise it is not significant.

 

Now to work out how the planned track plan will actually work on this section.

 

 

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I've been playing around with the layout plan in AnyRail and this is the latest idea, eliminating the station cross over and just having an island platform, and also making room for a engine shed at the turntable. It will no doubt evolve further. :)

 

 

1311985832_ShedOGaugePloverleigh004C2r.jpg.8ee287c78d24804764ee5ec0e7d6c87b.jpg 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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Looks a great set up you have. I agree re ditching cork, I haven't used it for  the last 2 layouts as I find any sound deadening goes out of the window once ballasted and also my layouts tend to be small yards where the years of accumulated coal/dirt/everything else means ground level is close to the top of the sleepers anyway.

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A rethink and no doubt one of many as I start to lay the track. I laid the first two roads of the fiddle yard yesterday and then realised it would be better if the main curve over the lift up section should be at the other end of the shed otherwise I am very restricted on the scenery on this section so I've turned the layout through 180 degrees and it seems to work quite well. Laying the track will tell! It also means the station is now back in it's original position only at a lower level.

 

518808419_ShedOGaugePloverleighJunction101r65pc.jpg.4fcb88c9cb3155d09071f699dd651b88.jpg

 

Also a slight change to the layout name to 'Ploverleigh Junction'.

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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Today I've made a start on laying the track. I started with the fiddle yard side and decided to take a different slant, it will be scenic rather than hidden, it will be a station with a run round, after seeing the parked coaches on Rod's Ramchester I thought why not make it a station on which coaches/wagons are parked.

 

I have used the short Marcway crossover and one of the three ways on the station section, after a quick test I will be extend the station area by about four inches so a loco can run round four coaches. The two remaining Marcway three way points have been used on the goods yard area.

 

 

 

The track and three ways on the goods yard section have only been placed to see if it works.

 

 

I also laid the track over the lifting section.

 

IMG_5960_r35c.jpg.ac8f884aa3887ac3f05af2fdd762e990.jpg

 

One of the concerns with a lifting section is forgetting it is open and a loco ends up falling off the edge off the cliff so to speak. To avoid this I came up with this idea on the original OO gauge layout.

 

IMG_5963_r35c.jpg.c74e734075f5db6881030c7915d05551.jpgIMG_5964_r35c.jpg.a590909ff9c3996d78f37e0bb2a720b1.jpg

 

The power on the section before the lifting section will be fed from the lifting section only and the electrical connection made using the brass latches, so when the lifting section is up that section is dead and the loco will stop prior to the drop, I will make sure the dead section is long enough to cover the length any stay alive capacitors.

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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I've laid the track semi permanently on the fiddle yard/station section to see how it looks, it will no doubt need some tweaking but I don't think it looks too bad for a starting point

 

I extended the station section to allow a run round of four Mk 1 coaches.

 

Tomorrow I will start to tackle the real station side and this will be a little more complicated.

 

Here are some pics of the work so far.

 

IMG_5975-1_R35C.jpg.2020f53a8ebaf7dcbfa493744811ca32.jpgIMG_5977-1_R35C.jpg.45e0d3b7a9e173dc22b7f852e27a8f13.jpg

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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Hi Peter.

 

I think that the fiddle yard area as a station is a great idea. My lifelong friend Brian Harrap  who models in P3.5 European and fine scale Z has advocated this approach for many years but I have not taken him up in it as yet. Good progress being made on your layout - keep it up. Looking forward to meeting you when you finally get to visit Ramchester.

 

Rod

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2 hours ago, railwayrod said:

I think that the fiddle yard area as a station is a great idea.

 

I'm blaming you for that Rod as it was one of your layout photos that gave me the idea. :D

 

2 hours ago, railwayrod said:

I have not taken him up in it as yet.

 

I look forward to seeing the transformation of your fiddle yard into Maryport! :D

 

I am working on the real station section at the moment and it seems to be coming along nicely, I may have the track laid to see if it works this evening, again I am not going to rush the electrics until I am sure it looks and feels right.

 

All being well it is looking like we will be down for the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August so hopefully time to see Ramchester.

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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Some progress this evening on the station section, some track has been laid but the goods yard area and the turntable area are just placed to see how it looks.IMG_5978_r35c.jpg.c3cebfa7ac9f003619bc44c46e1959f5.jpgIMG_5982_r35c.jpg.30d0b03752ccac37c28ef2fe3eb749e0.jpg

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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I've added a couple of extension pieces on the station and the diagonally opposite side on the fiddle yard side, this helps to improve the track plan.

 

Here is the revised layout on the station side.

 

IMG_5993_r35c.jpg.201f92780a3c57f72604336cce803cc5.jpgIMG_5997_r35c.jpg.babf8fefd99b5e7de39e045e6dafd528.jpg

 

I'm experimenting with some strip pine for the platform edges and also mocked up the scenic break with some cardboard before the lifting section in front of the door.

 

IMG_5999_r35c.jpg.ef8f3175f1fd60bbbc58b8218917f10b.jpgIMG_6010_r35c.jpg.61f5a0c7368da9b5804004b4e1f7a9d5.jpg

 

The slightly revised layout on the fiddle yard side.

 

IMG_6001_r35c.jpg.6fd67a9877a41733e14e324df43b9c96.jpgIMG_6002_r35c.jpg.b37d7f4f15359ec5f9ccfae9bc216878.jpgIMG_6007_r35c.jpg.c7e611252332f3fdffbac2781780601c.jpg

 

Tomorrow I may start the electrics so I can do some testing.

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Hi Rod,

 

I am pleased with the extra bits on the layout as it isn't squashed in those areas now.

 

Today I wired up the double slip and two points at the top of the second photo above and I had a trial run round with the Class 37 and four Mk 1's which was reasonably successful, it's just getting the hang of the three link couplings which vary on each model.

 

I hope to have the rest of the points on the station side completed tomorrow and then make a start on the fiddle yard side, this may take a little longer as it includes some Marcway points for which I need to work out the wiring.

 

I have ordered a 50' turntable from Greenwood Model Railway Products to use instead of the original plan to modify a Peco OO gauge turntable, I also ordered a point kit to have a go at building one from scratch.

 

The scenery is something I am looking forward to doing, but I will find daunting so perhaps not next week, but the week after! LOL! I am looking forward to seeing Ramchester as I am sure it will give me some ideas how to do my scenery.

 

Peter

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Happy to hear that you are planning to build a turnout.  Prices for these, especially the double slip, really leave a dent in your wallet.  You can build them yourself for a fraction of the price assuming you make your own blades and crossings.

 

I'm doing a single slip based on the Peco DS footprint:

 

P1010030.JPG.02b26220aba4dfb0435cefdb9f48a161.JPG

 

Intentio laser cut ply timbers.  The plan is to use Peco chairs and these are on order.

 

John

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Hi John,

 

That's looking good.


In 2013 I replaced all the steel rail on the Tottington section of my OO Gauge layout Holcombe & Tottington. It was steel rail on wooden sleepers with plastic chairs and the running was awful so I replaced it with nickel silver rail and rebuilt it in situ, here is a record of the work. 

 

 

The rebuild is mainly on page 5 though it all started with the replacement of a faulty point (see page 4) and the improved running made such a difference I decided to replace the whole lot. It was a steep learning curve but worth it.

 

Peter

 

 

Edited by Peter Crichton (Savoyard)
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I did tinker with constructing turnouts in 00.  In fact I built several turnouts on copper clad timbers for the club layout.  This was probably more than 10 years ago and they're still soldiering on.  I built a single and double slip along with standard turnouts.

 

When I started in 0 I bought a C&L turnout kit.  It had a pre-assembled crossing and planed blades as well as roller gauges.  Expensive but it showed me the way for my future efforts.

 

John

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Hi Rod,

 

I'm looking forward to seeing and it inspiring me for my layout, it is looking like we will be down the August Bank Holiday weekend.

 

Are you using tension lock coupling on your stock? Whilst I like the idea of three link, it would be nice to be able to sit back and control the trains without the hand of god so to speak, 

 

Yesterday I completed the wiring of the station side and all points working correctly, I have decided to make a change to the station head shunt and reintroducing a crossover, I will hopefully have that done tomorrow.

 

This is an example of the wiring under the boards, I have used copper tape fed from the bus wire and this is attached with choc boxes which can be disconnected if I need to isolate the board. The connections to the track and point motors is from the copper tape.

 

IMG_6023_r35c.jpg.54243fda95a1576a35455c342ba259ad.jpg 

I will be working on wiring up the fiddle yard side tomorrow and hopefully complete the circle.

 

I did some test running tonight and I am pleased that making the alterations suggested by Peco on the points for DCC has improved running over the points despite the track still not being at clean as it could be. I will upload some videos tomorrow showing the slow running.

 

 

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  • Savoyard changed the title to My first O Gauge layout - Version 2

Hi Peter.

 

I too like the look of 3 link couplings but there is no way that I can operate them with my poor eyesight. There is a thread elsewhere on RMweb which I started some years ago dealing with automatic couplings in 0 gauge and there is some useful info on that thread which might be worth your while looking at. Last time I looked it was on Page 4 or 5 in RMweb/7mm+modelling. Not sure how to put a link on here to make it easier for you to find.

 

I use tension lock couplers for a number of reasons and they are readily available from model shops under the Bachmann label. These are 00 gauge versions and once mounted they are reasonably unobtrusive. They are not everyone's cup of tea but I am happy with them.

 

Looking forward to seeing you in August.

 

ATVB

 

Rod

 

 

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