Locksley and Lower Ruston - A 1930's fictional GWR N Gauge Layout

[harryw2806]

Good afternoon,

this post represents a series of firsts to me, being my first model railway layout and my first post to this site. My layout is an N Gauge, 4ft x 3ft dual layer layout. It is a fictional location but based (hopefully) on GWR practice in the 1930's. I have to be honest at this point and say that the design is not original. I have shamelessly stolen the overall concept from  a poster named Pinknosedpenguin over on the New Railway Modellers forum. I hope he/she is not unhappy about this blatant theft of ideas, but after three previous design attempts, this setup seemed to follow what I had in mind and I would like to thank them for the inspiration I have gained from seeing this design. There will be changes made as i go along, mainly due to my own mistakes, but hopefully, also as a result of at least some original thinking on my part.

 

The layout itself will be DC operated, although I have picked up some DCC Concepts ADS solenoid point motor drivers to try and iron out any potential frog switching reliability issues with the 18 SEEP turnout motors that I intend using.... Expensive way of doing it, I know, but let's see how it goes...... 

 

I've posted a copy of the original trackplan devised by Pinknosedpenguin, followed by a SCARM drawing I produced from this. Individual layer drawings to follow. Immediate thoughts are to decrease the number of the upper level sidings and the fiddleyard, in order to keep the number of turnouts down a bit - 18 is as far as i am prepared to go. Also plan on increasing the size of the lower loop line to try and keep the track radius as wide as possible,

 

I realise that this whole project is somewhat ambitious for a first time out, but would appreciate any comments, constructive (or otherwise!), hints tips or questions about what I'm attempting to do here,

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by harryw2806
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[harryw2806]

A little progress on the planning stage today. I have attached two SCARM drawings; one is the plan for the lower level of the layout, the other for the upper layer. I have labelled the vital bits and hopefully these should be better quality than yesterdays photographed drawings.

 

I have incorporated the changes to the original: Modified Locksley goods yard, fiddle yard, widened lower loop and slightly extended service siding at Lower Ruston Station. I felt that the service siding was a little short for a watering point and coaling stage etc.

 

All comments and tips welcome,

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

Locksley & Lower Ruston Lower Level.pdf

Locksley & Lower Ruston Upper Level.pdf

Edited April 26, 2021 by harryw2806
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[harryw2806]

Progressed to baseboard building over the last couple of days. 4' x 3', using 9mm marine ply for the lower layer, with a frame of 69 x 19 mm softwood. Extension for fiddleyard will be added later, along with a possible scenic extension at the opposite end of the board. Plenty of holes drilled in the frame to allow for cabling.Hopefully this arrangement should prevent warping inn the future. Upper layer to be sketched out on plywood once lower level trackwork is completed.

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

 

[Brinkly]

Best of luck with your build, Harry, and welcome to RMWeb. It is great that you have started your first layout and I look forward to your progress. 

 

Kind regards,

Nick.

[RobinofLoxley]

Before you built the baseboard did you ensure that there's no conflict with the position of the point motors and the reinforcements. I can see evidence of it on the original plan but not on the update, which isnt the same. I'm just checking. The other side of reliable turnout switching is the frog; you are saying you will use DC yet you will employ switching devices that enable frog polarity changes if I'm not mistaken; if you think there's any chance you might use them you might also need to ensure that you can get the power to the right places. Im looking at a lot of cross bracing and thinking there might be an issue somewhere.

[harryw2806]

On 28/04/2021 at 21:04, Brinkly said:

Best of luck with your build, Harry, and welcome to RMWeb. It is great that you have started your first layout and I look forward to your progress. 

 

Kind regards,

Nick.

Thanks, Nick. I can see many challenges ahead, but hopefully I'll learn a lot from this experience,

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

[harryw2806]

21 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

Before you built the baseboard did you ensure that there's no conflict with the position of the point motors and the reinforcements. I can see evidence of it on the original plan but not on the update, which isnt the same. I'm just checking. The other side of reliable turnout switching is the frog; you are saying you will use DC yet you will employ switching devices that enable frog polarity changes if I'm not mistaken; if you think there's any chance you might use them you might also need to ensure that you can get the power to the right places. Im looking at a lot of cross bracing and thinking there might be an issue somewhere.

Hi Robin, 

 

Yes, I spent quite a lot of time over this and yes there are one or two issues, but I'm hoping that these are not insurmountable.

 

Although it's not clear, I cut the plywood top to size as a starting point and then printed the first SCARM draught drawing out at full size and tacked it to the board as in the first photo. Point motor templates were then added. After this, I was able to work out where I can could efficiently place the cross braces without fouling the motors. Where there was a clash I tried rerouting the track a little. 

 

This all worked for all but one motor, which was sited a little too close to the edge of the board. I got round this by cutting a small slot near the top of the offending side frame to accommodate the motor board.

 

Hopefully all is well, but the upper layer will be a different matter, as I think I'm going to have some height clearance issues where point motors on the upper level cross lower level tracks.....

 

Cheers

 

Harry

Edited April 30, 2021 by harryw2806

[harryw2806]

A busy week this week so a delay in posting. Have printed single line track layout for lower level out at full size and pasted it to the board top. By cutting along the lines and removing paper from one side of the cut, it leaves an edge to trace along with a pen. The drawn line then represents the centre line of the track to be laid.

 

Once all track was transferred to the board, track laying commenced, beginning with the first of the eight turnouts on that layer. More track laying to follow. 

[harryw2806]

Lower level track laying completed except for riser track between layers. I have also lifted the service siding track as I'm thinking it's a little short, so will relay it as a longer section. Next job was to print out upper level drawing and fasten it to the plywood sheet.

 

Now the tricky bit; laying the upper level board on top of the lower level to establish the shape that needs to be cut out of the upper level. Had to make consideration for the position of bridges and tunnels etc and ensure that the board edges leave enough space for retaining walls between upper & lower levels where applicable.

 

Next up is to mark out the track path, ready to place the upper level support blocks.

 

[aleopardstail]

Nice looking plan, it shows just what you can do with a little extra depth over the 24" many N gauge designs seem constrained by, I went to 2'6", but what you have got there into 3'x4' is amazing.

 

should be excellent to see running too

[harryw2806]

Thanks, I started out with a 4' x 2' plan but couldn't achieve what I was aiming for in dual level after 4 attempts. As soon as I increased the width by another foot it made all the difference and allowed for an incline between the two levels. I'm hoping that it should be viewable from three sides, not quite complete walk around for a viewer, but the controls and the fiddle yard have to go somewhere ! 

 

I've just looked at your current layout and realised that I could have made the lower board in a different way, saving weight and making it a little more portable, shame I didn't see it earlier. Still, there are always going to be better ways of doing things once I've built this first layout.

 

 

[TrainMan2001]

I like the look of your track plan so far! Are the three levels each going to have scenery?

 

Also, I have been learning things about layout making, too (mainly how much of a pain flex track is), and mine's only going to be 3'x8" for now! I feel like a first layout is really so you can learn which things you enjoy doing, and then you can figure out ways to avoid or minimize the things you dislike. Like I probably won't use flex track on my next layout.

 

I am looking forward to seeing how your layout goes, though! It seems to be shaping up well so far!

[harryw2806]

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Posted Wednesday at 03:04

I like the look of your track plan so far! Are the three levels each going to have scenery?

 

Also, I have been learning things about layout making, too (mainly how much of a pain flex track is), and mine's only going to be 3'x8" for now! I feel like a first layout is really so you can learn which things you enjoy doing, and then you can figure out ways to avoid or minimize the things you dislike. Like I probably won't use flex track on my next layout.

 

I am looking forward to seeing how your layout goes, though! It seems to be shaping up well so far!

Thanks! There are only two levels; it would be almost impossible to get three into a board of this size. Both levels will have scenery, although the lower section is mainly around the outside edge. The upper section will have a village scene and a small industrial area. I have the option to add maybe a one foot wide section at the lower section, opposite end from the fiddle yard. This would be purely scenic, but will be something for a later date.

 

I'm not finding too much of an issue with flexi track, what problems are you having? It gives some flexibility with laying track around odd curves, so I find it better than set track, myself.

Edited May 17, 2021 by harryw2806

[harryw2806]

Track line tracing for upper level is now completed, with the exception of the goods yard which needs a little redesign work. Support blocks have been put in place and track laying commenced.

 

It seems that I have an issue at one end of the upper section, where the upper track sits above the lower tracks. Unfortunately I have a SEEP point motor to go in on the underside of the upper board that will sit too low over the lower tracks, so not enough clearance. If I increase the height of the supports thus raising the height of the upper board and giving more clearance, I will have problems with bridge heights and the gradient on the riser track will increase quite a bit.

 

Will have to think this one out, maybe offsetting the SEEP motor away from the turnout and therefore it sits wide of the lower track may be one solution.

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by harryw2806

[harryw2806]

Latest progress - upper and lower level boards have been united for the first time, although temporarily. Upper level track laying commenced and completed, see photo for example of 'Pantry' weighting to hold track down whilst the PVA glue dries.

 

 

With most of track laying completed, time was spent on redesign of the upper goods yard and track laid for this.

 

 

Next up will be the start of the mammoth task of wiring......