Bosnport - A N Gauge South Coast based layout built on the top bunk of a bunk bed!

[JimSan]

First of all, just going to shamelessly copy/paste all the bits I had from my NGF thread!

Here is my main layout of Bosnport, originally based (very roughly) on one of the stations nearby to where I live, Portsmouth and Southsea since it offered both a through station and terminus operations which I found to be ideal for my first larger layout (which I hope to complete this time).

Made the name from combining the shortened version of Boatswain, Bosun with Port, mostly based off how my home town of Gosport apparently got it's name. I've been pronouncing it as "Boz N Port", I worked out a little history for the town (well just for the name) that long ago it would've been called Boatswain's Port, then over the years it would've been shortened to Bosun's Port, then to Bos'nsport then finally to just Bosnport.

 

 

 

Since at the time when I first started, I didn't have much space so just decided to use what space I did have, which was the bunk bed which I've been using since my brother's use to live with me (long left home, so it's all mine now!), I did use to sleep on the top bunk and used the bottom as storage, then planned to use the bottom as the layout till I had the thought that it would be easier to wire the layout if it was on the top bunk, so just swapped around.

 

 

 

As you can see the build has mostly gone alright, also got bored and decorated the corner of the room with various railway art and fitted a display case to store locos, don't really have many more pictures of the layout since I begun a Youtube channel to show it off while it was under construction, while I'm not the best builder or anything I'm still having a go at making something which I've been wanting to do since I originally had an old Hornby train set twenty years ago.

 

 

 

 

However recently I have been reworking the entire layout as wasn't too pleased with how it was operating (and trying to fit point motors), so pretty much torn it all up and simplified all the points so there's less issues along with easing some of the curves so bit more kinder to rolling stock which didn't like such tight turns (aka old Dapol Class 73).
But anyway, it's still a Southern layout, slightly less inspired by Portsmouth and Southsea (as in, not elevated from a scenic board) but still has similar operation in that it's both a through station and a terminus, got rid of the fiddleyard since it was too complicated on such a narrow board and opted for more scenery!

 

If anyone wants to watch my progress of my layout videos, feel free to visit my channel HERE! I do tend to make videos of other things as well inbetween making layout videos just to flesh out the content, might find other things to add but that's another problem.

Edited June 9, 2020 by JimSan

[Duncan.]

Hi,

Sometimes less is more! However, are you certain that you can operate without hidden sidings- once your train leaves the terminus it can only go round and round unless you stop on the mainline and reverse into the terminus platform.

Cheers

Duncan

[JimSan]

1 hour ago, Duncan. said:

Hi,

Sometimes less is more! However, are you certain that you can operate without hidden sidings- once your train leaves the terminus it can only go round and round unless you stop on the mainline and reverse into the terminus platform.

Cheers

Duncan

Have thought about that, though it can run around on the through part of the station then still reverse but then pulling the train tender first, it won't be another Dorchester South situation.

But yeah that fiddleyard was just a bit too complicated for the size of layout, could've tried a more simple one but did like the idea of the line just going through the countryside as well for more variety in scenery.

[JimSan]

Have finally finished with the reworking of the layout, and other than needing to redo some soldering and also reattach all the point motors again, it's turned out rather well.

Original layout was at 31 point motors, now down to just a mere 14 and their now all on the same side of the layout where there's more space, hopefully will allow me to wire them up correctly, though leaving them off so I can get round to doing the ballasting and landscaping.

Also means I can run trains again!

[Hector Lawn]

Hi JimSan, 

 

Nice video explaining your plans. While it will be nice seeing your trains run through a nice country setting will it not be operationally limiting doing away with the fiddle/storage sidings? Just wondering how many trains you intend to run on it?

 

Regards

Hector

 

P.S. Jeez, you’re putting that poor little loco through its paces - can you slow it down a bit? 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Hector Lawn

[JimSan]

On 17/06/2020 at 10:18, Hector Lawn said:

Hi JimSan, 

 

Nice video explaining your plans. While it will be nice seeing your trains run through a nice country setting will it not be operationally limiting doing away with the fiddle/storage sidings? Just wondering how many trains you intend to run on it?

 

Regards

Hector

 

P.S. Jeez, you’re putting that poor little loco through its paces - can you slow it down a bit? 

 

First of all, sorry for late reply, I keep forgetting to pop into the thread on here.
I'd only intend to do about three to four at most on the layout, and one of those would be either waiting at the terminus or working the goods yard.

And I'll try to slow things down a bit, only reason I was running it fast was due to wasn't too sure how it would handle the points as didn't have the point motors reinstalled and the frogs were just powered from contact with the outside rails.

 

Also:

 

Finally gotten the dreaded ballasting out the way and have fitted a third rail to the track (though it's bit iffy in places), I've also gotten to work at adding some much needed landscaping so the layout looks more than just flat boards now.

Also I keep finding bits I need to redo the ballasting, someday I'll get it all done and looking nice!

Edited July 7, 2020 by JimSan

[JimSan]

Gotten most of the grass done now, only bits left is the shorter grass around the houses in the Suburbs which I'll sort out after building them, and any odd spot which I'll most likely cover up with just some hedges, also my first time using spray glue, while still not too sure about it for all uses it did seem to do the job for the grass for the most part, might try it a few more times before deciding to stick with it some more.

Also have been ordering all the bits for the Station building build, might take a little while to get here but still got the greenery to finish with, had to do all the grass in a single day since I had to remove the mattress from under the layout and start early in the morning, needed it dry and cleared away for bed!
I also need to fix that bed planking which I broke...

Also a bonus video since I had a go at the Model Rail Network's Virtual Expo thing, figured I'd have a small running session of my layout for my submission, does show that I'm a little bit further ahead than my build videos, anyway hope you enjoy!

 

 

[JimSan]

Finally finished off most of the greenery, mostly added the bulk of the trees and hedges in this video, might add some more unique looking ones here and there to break up the sameness of the other trees, but with that lot out of the way I have been working a bit on the Station building and the platforms, which will all be made from card since I find it all easier to work with really, some sneak peeks just here.

Will show off the construction in the next update video!

[JimSan]

Have finally done the station building now, though am missing windows and the clock on the front (they arrived after making the video, have fitted some now), and while it's not perfect (since it's my first proper scratch card build) I'm rather happy how it turned out, once I get round to weathering the building and maybe adding lights it should look rather nice.
Also not really going to bother with much of an interior, there's not really any good angle that'll show it plus figured it might be a bit beyond what I can do for now.

Have got the canopy under works along, though will be slowly working on that as always due to work and also some family things which have popped up, luckily do have a week off from work at the moment so trying to get things sorted.

[JimSan]

Have finished building the canopy, quite happy with how I've done the walls for it, though do know that the underside of the arches need some work, luckily it's barely noticeable from viewing height. The roof lifts away making it easier to operate under the canopy though I do have plans to add some LED strips to make it less dark under there, just need to sort out the last few bits for the Station building, make a few odd holes here and there and then I can glue that down too and have access for wiring for the lights!
Gonna take a break on the layout for a bit to work on other videos, also gives me time to sort out stuff at home and Xmas!

[JimSan]

Having a bit of run running some trains around, though might do some more of that from time to time to give all the other locos a good run as well, but have been thinking of the next bit to do and planning on how to go about that.
Going to work on the suburbs end of the layout as other than the bridge it's looking mostly flat.
So I've been looking around the local area (somewhat) for examples of houses I could rebuild in N Gauge, mostly popping on property sites to see what's for sale around and also using the floor plans they sometimes also have too so I can build it all from there.
Just so I don't have to build multiple versions of houses across the eras I'm covering, tried to find an example of a 1930s semi-detached house that would look good for the location.
So came across this property:

While I'm not 100% sure it's a 1930s design, I do very much like the look of it, nothing too complicated (aka it's another box) and quite sure I can get the effect between the two front bay windows by using the same method as tiling the roof and cutting it to fit.

Does also come with floor plan which is a bonus!

[JimSan]

 

Finally back from taking a break from building on the layout, and figured I'd get the suburbs underway. Quite happy with how they ended up, though do need to tidy up bits here and there, and also finish off the other two sets of houses. The bay windows are a pain in the behind but they do look very nice when done.

Will be slowly sorting out that area, but next part to do will be working on the first section of the high street, which I've sectioned off into three parts, the centre (first bit), left section (the longest bit) and right section (smallest but will also include finishing off the land in front of the station).

For the shops in the high street, will be mostly keeping it 1960s in theme, though with ideas on how to make it easy to change them up (magnets!), but wanted to try and get something somewhat regional, so been looking at what both Gosport and Fareham high streets had to offer during that time using these two sites:
http://gosporthistoryclub.org.uk/gosport-history-archive-index/gosport-high-street-past-present
https://20thcenturyfareham.co.uk/weststreet/shops/

Though finding colour images of the signage for these shops has been rather tricky, some I'd either have to guess or just make up appropriate ones from shops which are similar in nature, but just wanted something a bit more closer to home than the usual Woolies (which I've got anyway) and the usual shops you'd see everywhere.

[JimSan]

Finally been getting round to adding some shops to the high street, did take me a while to pick out some from the lists from last time, then had a harder job trying to find colour images of their shop signage!
While not completely accurate in all parts, quite happy with the build, though I do know I need to add interiors to the shop floors for all of them but will be working on that much later.
Next task is working on the other side of the street, with more shops with hopefully more varied shop fronts, this time I'll be adding a pub and have found a rather nice looking one which use to exist in Portsmouth.

Seems to fit in well with the mostly white stone build of quite a few other structures on the layout, might try adding more bits to it but depends on how well I can build it.

[JimSan]

This update I add the other side of the high street, trying out making the shop fronts a bit more varied than the previous ones, and while it was fairly fiddly work, thinking it came out rather well. Also have worked on the main feature of this side of the high street, being the pub based off the Cobden Arms pub which use to be around Portsmouth, making the curved front took a moment to work out, but just lightly sliced the structural board to allow it to bend easily then just glued the facing card on after than my usual method of adding the facing before doing any work on it.
The name was just due to I do enjoy sailing ships and living in a very Naval area it seemed to fit rather well.

 

Last bit of the high street I need to work on before getting to the corner stuff is the plot right beside the station, thinking of adding a small railway hotel there and a couple of shops. So did my usual thing of looking for nearby Railway hotels in my local area and came across on in Winchester.

  

The Winchester Royal Hotel has a very similar look to many other features which I've got in my town scene and the road side of the building has a rather interesting shape, looks very much like a "H" from a top down view, it would have to be adapted but it should still look the part in that spot!

[JimSan]

Last section to the town scene I've got to work on is the back area, right in the corner and just above the tunnel entrances, these won't be full buildings due to the area but hoping to put a small row of houses right in the corner, based off some terrace house designs which seem to be common around the P'mouth/Southsea area.

 

They are rather simple designs and should work well in the area, did have a look at some other houses but ended up just enjoying these ones, though did have to have a look round for some rear pics as the back of the houses would be more visible to the front of the layout.

Also I would like to add a tower to the layout, a concrete block of flats as down Gosport there are two rather distinctive towers which stick out more than the others.

 

It'll only be an odd corner, but the pattern down the side of them is rather unique, they were built roughly for the 60s so would be nice to add them to the layout in some way to capture a bit of their look!
That and really wanted a tower block in the corner too and when I think of a tower those ones tend to come to mind for anything local.

[JimSan]

Have finally gotten my tower block up now, still a little hollow but currently waiting on more windows, so had to leave it mostly empty so there's enough space for my hands to get inside! But once that's done with I'll be adding some more floors to make it a bit more solid.
Also do enjoy Terrace houses, though with not much room left on the layout for them I kinda just popped the rear ends of some in the corner to fill in that gap.

But now with the town scene pretty much done building wise with just details to go, just need to finish off the goods yard and the area around that then can finally work on sorting out adding more detail in all the various places.
Now onto the Goods Yard itself, well was planning on having a single track engine shed, a signal box and also a two track Goods Shed, the Signal Box I might base it off the one which use to be down Gosport as it would tie in with the layout and it looks rather nice, though I don't have much more than a single picture to work from.

 

The Engine shed I was originally gonna go with something based off the Gosport Engine shed, but that's a two track  design, so thinking of adapting it into a single track one, maybe semi-base it off a generic single track design and see what I can do with it!

 
 

As for the Goods shed, unfortunately there's not really any pictures that I know of for Gosport's shed, though again I think it was a single track design, having a bit of trouble finding an LSWR design which featured two tracks, so might use the plans for the Brockenhurst Goods shed and see about adapting it for two tracks to go through it!

 

But that's it for this week, doing my usual monthly running session on Friday, if anyone wants to suggest anything for me to run next month feel free to let me know!

[JimSan]

And here's the Goods Yard now finally sorted!
Quite pleased with how it's turned out, though have realised that the engine shed is a tad bit low, shouldn't be too hard to fix, but otherwise the engine shed is done, the goods shed is done and I've now got a signal box for everything (though did forget to add the station name... I'll fix that later).
The layout is pretty much finished structurally now (apart from windows on the tower), and now I'm just working on details and everything else to make it look even better, I do still need to add the grass for the suburb houses so they have a proper garden, but that will be the next update after a nice relaxing running session first!

After that will be sorting out pretty much the detail work on the suburbs then work my way around the layout.

[JimSan]

 

 
Since I've gotten the basic scenery all down now (not including the gardens, still working on those), figured it's time for another milestone running session with some 1930's Southern engines, was tempted to try and make the video more like film during the time, however not sure if my video editing software is able to do that, might have to get another one just for things like that... oh well.
Next video I will be working on sorting out those gardens around the semi-detached houses on the suburbs end of the layout.

[JimSan]

Mostly just been adding plants, more bushes and some rocks to add some variance, also finished off the gardens of the houses so they don't just have dirt surrounding them now. Still got a few bits left to sort out in the suburbs but it's mostly just bits here and there really.
I plan on adding people much later and possible have them attached to clear bases of some sort so can move them around as needed.

[JimSan]

Adding some more colour and detail to the layout, working on the countryside area, mostly just adding some flowers, some animals (quite fond of foxes, so had to add some of them), some advert signs and telegraph poles (which I built myself since was bit low on funds heh), and also built myself a small Type 24 (think it was a 24) Pillbox in the corner on the hill, overlooking the railway line.
Saw a picture of one just to the side of a double track line and thought it looked quite nice, do intend to add more post-war defences since it wouldn't be out of place, such as some anti-tank blocks lining part of the line, these will be modular bits so can be taken away if depicting a pre-war scene. Might also look into a Rail Block setup across the double line and some guards nearby if I wanted to do a war-time theme, or at least just the blocks in place.

 

 
(Not the pillbox picture I was referring to, but is a pillbox next to some track in the South!

 
Cosham Station with anti-tank blocks.

[JimSan]

Have finally added the Trolleybus, did have a go filing down the wheel well as best as I could but it still left a slight raised bit, might have another go at it sometime! The Trolleybus overhead poles I've tried to replicate the ones which were down Portsmouth, in having a light attached to the top of them, however these aren't lit atm due to not having the right power supply for them (the 9v battery killed them), so have left them unpowered for now till I can get something which outputs 3v
Not fully happy with them but will see how they are for a bit, will attach the wires after sorting out the telegraph poles!
But quite pleased with how the rest of the scenery has turned out, mostly just adding some more greenery across the bridge and sorting out the bit just outside the station building!

Next update will be sorting out that corner area with the block of flats and the houses before I get to work on the station itself!

[JimSan]

 

Was planning on posting this earlier, but have been busy with many things, anyway!
Sorting out the corner area in this episode, was a bit fiddly due to the awkward spot, but figured it would be easier to sort out the grass on a separate piece of card then glue that into place, and it seems to have worked out nicely, plus it helped to level out that area since there was a slight dip towards the edge.
Originally for the Tower Block I was planning some window garden things, but after relooking at the prototype, appears that it doesn't have them, which to be fair, was a relief, wasn't too sure how to make them heh, but instead I added some greenery to the top of the Tower just to add a bit more colour to the building!

Will be taking a break in January for Bosnport, need to work on other videos that pop up, though am slowing down my content anyway since wanting to go back into Education to get more skills, but will still be working on Bosnport!

[JimSan]

Adding some extra décor to the Station platforms, also wanted to have a go making myself a footbridge instead of buying one (or two since I'd need to kitbash them into a three platform one), and while a little rough round the edges, the footbridge does the job, the planters on the platforms bring in some much needed colour, and also had a go making some station nameboards, though I might redo them into something bit more bigger!

[JimSan]

Back again to add a bit more detail to the layout, this time just adding bits here and there to the Goods Yard and the odd spots which I missed last time really, the main feature being added is some anti-tank blocks which haven't been removed since the war, was inspired to add these from a picture of Cosham Station with these lined up beside the line, so felt they would be appropriate.
But not really too much to do this time apart from just adding some extra colour here and there, next time I'll be having a go re-adding the third rail!

[JimSan]

Adding some detail to the track, or an attempt to anyway, the main feature being re-adding the third rail which I originally had some time ago, this time using Code 40 rail so it doesn't get in the way of the actual rails.
Did attempt to add some AWS ramps, but they got in the way of some engines, so removed for now, will file them down a bit so I can re-add them as well!

Do need to get some more Code 40 rail to finish off the last of the third rail and some more trunking as well, but getting there!