Beresford Junction Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 (edited) I'm currently working on a layout (10' x 9') in my basement. I have recently got back into railways and modeling after a break of about 30 years.I spent a lot of time messing about and getting nowhere, constantly changing my mind, but after reading the advice on the posts here I decided to just start (and finish) a small part and see how I got on with that.I'm currently at the stage of having done the major woodworking, decided on the track plan, created the hard scenery and I'm now just sticking down the cork ready to lay and ballast the track.This side of the layout will consist of a terminus station:a TMDand some sidings:However that was before I had to strip it all away and do the track laying properly:I plan on posting updates here and on the Beresford Junction blog site ( www.beresfordjunction.co.uk).Comments and suggestions are welcome - famous last words.....Phil Edited December 28, 2012 by Beresford Junction 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 And for those who are interested, this is the rest of the area to be done - currently used as a dumping ground. It is 10' x 6' so should give me some good space for a small station halt, i.e. somewhere for the trains leaving the main terminus to go, another TMD / engine yard along with sidings for shunting. It's currently DC, but I plan to make some of it DCC. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Last night was more cutting and sticking of the cork underlay - very boring. then later on I was building some more platform for the station - seen here in situ, however I've just noticed it's not quite in the right place and the platform/building at the top needs to be moved to the left a couple of inches. The station buildings were going to be symmetrical, but then I changed my mind (again). I also took some overhead shots, which show the track layout better. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 I've decided (as I often do) to change thing again. It was all looking a bit too busy, and I also didn't like seeing the corner, so tonight I've been building a hill to disguise the corner and also removing the refueling point and the station buildings on either side of the track with one at the end - photos to come soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Oh and I forgot to add I took my Hornby class 56 apart as the fans had stopped revolving. I seem to have fixed this but also found one of the interior windows had come loose and was rattling round inside - something else for my list. I also didn't know that the cap doors open - only noticed the springs from the inside. Worryingly though two of the spring loaded buffers have come out and won't re-seat themselves back in - might have to glue them as they keep coming loose, but that sort of defeats the point of them being spring loaded. Perhaps time to leave Hornby behind? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BR Blue Posted February 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2011 I've decided (as I often do) to change thing again. It was all looking a bit too busy, and I also didn't like seeing the corner, so tonight I've been building a hill to disguise the corner and also removing the refueling point and the station buildings on either side of the track with one at the end - photos to come soon. Less can often be more with track work. There is always the temptation to squeeze as much in as possible but it ends up looking wrong. Sounds like you are on the right track, if you will excuse the pun. As regards the 56, its a good model, but putting them back together can be more difficult than taking them apart. Mechanically its very good with pickups on all wheels and a centrally mounted motor. Not all diesel models are as good. This is something you may not be aware of having come back to the hobby. Some people do not like the fan and deliberately disconnect it as they say it can affect the performance of the model. Personally mine are all fine in this respect. As regards the buffers, that definitely came up in discussions on here previously. I just cannot find it or the solutions that were suggested. The buffers do tend to rotate a bit. Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to your updates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 This is my attempt at less is more - it might not look like it. I've taken the building away and also removed one of the four tracks that used to go into it. So now we have: - three tracks going into a terminus station - one siding for something - probably where the class 08 will live that will have to shunt the carriages around - three engine yard lines (shorter than before) - two short sidings off other main line in sort of a quarry. To hide the corner, the construction team have been building and embankment that will have grass/bushes on this side and a brick retaining wall on the other to create a cutting. Protruding above the current cardboard shape, will be a 2cm (i.e. 5ft) brick wall. Once I've got this built, I'll then decide if to a. leave the other side as the gentle slope b. have an equivalent brick retaining wall one on the other side c. completely cover in with a removable cover to make a tunnel I can't quite imagine it right now, but as you can see both tracks disappear out of sight if viewed from lower down. Hopefully with the extra 2cm and some bushes/trees it'll be even better. Keep checking back as I'm sure by next time I'll have had another change of plan ;-) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Less can often be more with track work. There is always the temptation to squeeze as much in as possible but it ends up looking wrong. Sounds like you are on the right track, if you will excuse the pun. As regards the 56, its a good model, but putting them back together can be more difficult than taking them apart. Mechanically its very good with pickups on all wheels and a centrally mounted motor. Not all diesel models are as good. This is something you may not be aware of having come back to the hobby. Some people do not like the fan and deliberately disconnect it as they say it can affect the performance of the model. Personally mine are all fine in this respect. As regards the buffers, that definitely came up in discussions on here previously. I just cannot find it or the solutions that were suggested. The buffers do tend to rotate a bit. Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to your updates. Thanks for the reply. As you can see I've already had my first trim, and perhaps another line will go on reflection. I've still got a large amount of real estate to play with. I think I just need to crack on and get something done, even as just a learning exercise that will be re-done st some future time. I'll have a search for the buffers thread/discussion - here is mine awaiting me working out a plan. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 An update on today's work - I'm pleased with how fast it's going, although it still seems to be taking forever. First I've glued down all the cork and then painted it all. I've also added the grass (hanging basket liner) to some more of the scenic areas, although I've run out again as you can see. Those pesky sheep have moved straight onto it and started chomping, apart from the one taking advantage of the lack of track to have a peek into the tunnel. This is the walled cutting I was talking about in previous posts and looks quite good I think. It obviously needs finishing off, but I need to fit in the other things first. I'll pause on the other options to try and get at least something finished. I've now started to re-fit the track and then need to pint the rust on the sides, glue the track down then ballast it all - perhaps next weekend. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Thanks for the reply. As you can see I've already had my first trim, and perhaps another line will go on reflection. I've still got a large amount of real estate to play with. I think I just need to crack on and get something done, even as just a learning exercise that will be re-done st some future time. I'll have a search for the buffers thread/discussion - here is mine awaiting me working out a plan. This is the thread about Class 56 buffers http://www.rmweb.co....post__p__257355 I'll try some of the suggestions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Finally, I've decided to start messing about with DCC. I've got a cheap Hornby controller and a couple of decoders, and hey presto - all very easy. All I have to do now is to fit the protective insulating sleeve over the decoder, and replace the body, oh and then there are still those buffers to fix. Next I'm going to try with a non-'DCC ready' locomotive, which might not be quite so easy of course.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iankemp Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 A Lima Loco is easy to convert! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 And here's a couple of pics of the EWS class 56 in all it's DCC glory - lights on and not moving - I'm converted to DCC now. Shame about the dead sheep lying at the side - my wife has suggested I get a (model) sheepdog to round them up. Anyway enough of playing, time to get on with the rust painting on the wheels then ballasting... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Finally, I've decided to start messing about with DCC. I've got a cheap Hornby controller and a couple of decoders, and hey presto - all very easy. All I have to do now is to fit the protective insulating sleeve over the decoder, and replace the body, oh and then there are still those buffers to fix. Next I'm going to try with a non-'DCC ready' locomotive, which might not be quite so easy of course.... I've now taken the bodies off a couple of my other locos - a Lima class 50 and a Hornby 56 and was surprised by their relative simplicity. Both have no more than a glorified pencil sharpener as the motor. The Lima has a rusty roughly sawn steel, whereas the Hornby seems to be made of polystyrene and masking tape. Things certainly have moved on. More modeling tonight I hope once I've done what is left on my work list. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi, great layout you have there, looks like its interesting to operate B) Good choice loco wise with the EWS 'Grid' 56059 Regards Lewis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi, great layout you have there, looks like its interesting to operate B) Good choice loco wise with the EWS 'Grid' 56059 Regards Lewis Thanks - it keeps me out of trouble - I've been watching your progress on Dallam with interest too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 So, my plan was to do loads of rail rust painting tonight, which as you can see I did start (without bothering to move any rolling stock first) however I got bored very quickly and so started to do other things... and will someone fence those sheep in. I'm thinking this bit could become an engineers yard now: 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've finally got round to doing some more work. I've finished adding the plaster to the cardboard frame - tidied up round the tunnel entrance - painted a bit more of the track into the station - Whilst it's very laborious and quite messy, I think it'll be worth it, and not something that can really be done once the ballast is down. And there have been a couple of new additions to the loco fleet: 56083 LoadHaul and a 31541 Dutch livery. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Coming on well so far!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 The heavy construction team have now finished and handed over to the turf laying boys (&girls). Unfortunately, as you can see they've been a bit messy, so someone is going to have to do a bit of sweeping up.... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Nice cutting you have biult there, well done. Is someones hanging basket missing a liner ? Leon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Is someones hanging basket missing a liner ? Leon You might be right, but they won't notice until later on in the year ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 A bit more painting then a bit of messing about creating videos - I think I need more light down there for better quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMmphxZCPWY 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Another video from last night - this same two trains, but from a higher angle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIFVHSwI_-8 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beresford Junction Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 And another one - this time of the 56 with a mixture of EWS and Railtrack ballast trucks passing the station car park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZm-c5rg2nM 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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