AngryMeerkat Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Ok so I figured I'd share my layout with everyone, both the good bits and the mistakes! The baseboard is 6x4' in the spare room, using 2"x1" battens topped with 6mm MDF. The layout is 1 module of what will eventually become a large loft layout at some time in the future. The track plan ... This has been modified a few times to become this ... The baseboard was then built and mounted, and track was purchased ... More to follow .... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 Once I was happy with the layout and positioning of the track on the board, all the track was marked on the board, and holes drilled for dropper wires and point motors .... And dropper wires soldered to the track, which was then pinned down on top of a layer of cork to deaden the noise and add shape for the ballast ... Of course at this point I had to test everything, so it was time to play trains for a little bit. The fleet is a little mixed at the moment, but over time this will all become blue ... If you've read this far, then I apologise for showing the same thing that everyone has to go through! More to follow, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 So with the track down and tested it was time to move on to the next stage, which is ............ What? I was a little unsure what to do next, so while I was deciding I built my 2 road engine shed .... I said I would also mention my mistakes, and here was my first (of many, no doubt!). I've used this Metcalfe shed before, and know that 2 tracks coming off the same set of points will fit through the entrance door no problem. Based on this assumption I've laid the track and built the shed, then spent a while scratching my head and wondering why the opening into the shed was to small to allow 2 engines into the door. I checked the scale, I checked the distance between tracks, then it clicked!! Where the track plan had been changed, the 2 tracks to the shed were now coming from 2 separate sets of points! Luckily the track is flexi so it was a simple matter of unpinning the 2 tracks and moving them slightly closer together, problem solved!! At this point I decided to push on with the electrics, and get all the point motors fitted. They are currently a mix of Seep and Hornby, as that's what I had access to. After trying to solder the wiring to the motors and struggling, I came with the idea of using my soldering plate as a jig to hold each point motor in place while I soldered it .... This worked brilliantly, and made the soldering job so much easier! Unfortunately actually fitting the point motors was proving a challenge, especially as I was working alone. After an hour or 2 of sweat and swearing I finally got them all in .... In the picture above you can also see what came next - a control panel of course. Again this is made from 2"x1" battens, but topped with thin plywood for ease. The switches I'm using are on-off-on Return To Centre switches, I did toy with the idea of the Hornby point levers, but at nearly £9 EACH I found this just stupid!! So a picture of the layout on its side with the control panel attached ... And lastly, a picture of where I'm up to at the moment, showing the top of the control panel .... The wiring for the point motors is using a +ve DC from the Hornby Select controller from a feed wire to each switch, and the -ve DC is used as a common return. Unfortunately I've hit a small snag, and it appears that operating the point motors causes the select controller to switch off and back on. This is the next issue I have to fix, and will be starting a thread in the appropriate section asking for advice. In the mean time thanks for looking, and thanks to everyone on here who has helped and offered advice so far, both directly and through posting their own ideas and experiences. I also need a name for the layout, both for the station and the TMD. Any suggestions welcome, as the layout has no proper prototype . Also any questions/advice/comments on the layout will be greatly received, I know nothing about real railways and very little about modelling so I'm always willing to learn something new! Thanks, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordhinton Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 looking good here mate will be following with interest! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 A few more bits done over the last few days ...... After spending about 4 hours researching the correct colour and methods for ageing track properly, I finally got round to doing it today! Why did I spend 4 hours on such a simple subject? Because everyone seems to give a different answer or opinion on what is right and wrong! An hour spent on here turned up about 8 different methods and "correct" colours for track, all different to each other. So it was then onto the net to find images of TMD and surrounding track work to use as inspiration. The 3 pictures I've decided to use are ...... I take no credit for these pictures, their source is clearly marked on each photograph and come from a website I highly recommend for original images. As you can see from the pictures, the main lines running near the depot, even in the modern era, all have rusty sides. As you get closer to the depot buildings, the rust colour turns to a more oily black colour, presumably from mechanical beasts living here and marking their territory for years. So this is the image I wish to recreate on my own layout, and I've tried .... This is the rust colour, Humbrol 113 Matt brown, thinned 50/50 with white spirit and applied using an airbrush. Unfortunately my air supply has ran out as I use the aerosol cans to power my airbrush at the moment. Once a new can is acquired I will use a slightly lightened Matt Black for the tracks leading into the depot area and probably around the refuelling area. Then I presume it will be a case of painting each sleeper by hand, but at least this way I can leave the pig tail rail ties a nice rusty colour. Once ballasted all this will be toned down with some sleeper grime applied over the whole track. Also had a new addition to the shed today, my newly chipped CL37 with some very slight weathering and detailing added .... One job I do hope to do in the near future is add lights to all my engines, so if anyone could recommend a good supplier of engine light kits for Lima engines I would be grateful. Still thinking of a name for the layout, and liking the sound of Bluewater TMD? Again any suggestions would be greatly received. Hopefully more updates soon. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 A few more bits done over the last few days ...... After spending about 4 hours researching the correct colour and methods for ageing track properly, I finally got round to doing it today! Why did I spend 4 hours on such a simple subject? Because everyone seems to give a different answer or opinion on what is right and wrong! An hour spent on here turned up about 8 different methods and "correct" colours for track, all different to each other. So it was then onto the net to find images of TMD and surrounding track work to use as inspiration. The 3 pictures I've decided to use are ...... Still thinking of a name for the layout, and liking the sound of Bluewater TMD? Again any suggestions would be greatly received. Hopefully more updates soon. Mark Some good progress there, and you have found some nice shots for inspiration. Notice how in the 1970/80s there is not so much grass around, but by the 1990s onwards there is much more greenery within the depot area, have you a favourite era to recreate? As for a name, are you trying to base your model in a particular part of the country, perhaps because you have a liking for certain types of loco? Sometimes using a name with a "Welsh/Scottish/Northern/Insert your own area theme" can help give it some identity, cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Some good progress there, and you have found some nice shots for inspiration. Notice how in the 1970/80s there is not so much grass around, but by the 1990s onwards there is much more greenery within the depot area, have you a favourite era to recreate? As for a name, are you trying to base your model in a particular part of the country, perhaps because you have a liking for certain types of loco? Sometimes using a name with a "Welsh/Scottish/Northern/Insert your own area theme" can help give it some identity, cheers I did notice that about the greenery, but wasn't sure if that was due to location? The 2 blue era shots are both in Scotland while the modern image shot is at Toton, but at all 3 locations there is very little/no greenery near the depot at all. As for my location, I'm not using a particular prototype or area. I have toyed with the idea of basing it on South Liverpool or Crewe, as these are the only 2 railway related places I've ever visited or have been up close to the real railway. But now I've moved down south I'm thinking about using what I can see round here to inspire me with the general scenery and maybe the fact I'm mixing both north and south may have some bearing on the name. As for a favourite loco, I guess it would be CL37 or CL56. Not sure why, I just like the look of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 One job I do hope to do in the near future is add lights to all my engines, so if anyone could recommend a good supplier of engine light kits for Lima engines I would be grateful. Mark Have you had a look at the Express models lighting kits? http://www.expressmodels.co.uk/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Have you had a look at the Express models lighting kits? http://www.expressmodels.co.uk/ Thanks for the link Scott, I'm off to have a gander now. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger j Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Namewise, as an alteration of your Bluewater, how about Blackwater/Backwater Road TMD? Other ideas could be for a Scottish name Kirk West TMD (as if in a large town) or further south Hayling TMD possiblely? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Just a small update today - managed to sort my points problem out. The 15v DC from the Hornby Select unit wasn't powerful enough to power the point motor solenoids so the simple addition of a CDU has fixed this issue, everything is now tested and working. While I was shopping I also purchased some dummy point motors and AWS/TPS grids to give the track an authentic look, look out for future threads in the relevant sections asking for placement advice! Also on the point motor issue, I've attached 2 point motors directly to the points due to space issues and I have a couple of tips for anyone else wanting to do this. I've attached Hornby point motors directly underneath Peco Setrack points, to do this you need to bend the 4 prongs in the motor that attach to the point. Bend the prongs on each side away from track centre slightly, and test fit. Then each prong needs bending out wards away from its neighbour slightly to be able to locate into the point. It's a bit fiddly, but a small pair of pliers and about 3 minutes per point soon has them located. Once done the point motor is mounted and secure, make any final adjustments to keep sleepers aligned. I'm not very descriptive but all of the above makes sense when you actually come to do it! Another tip is when mounting point motors this way, you end up with a large hole in the baseboard and the point motor exposed. This will allow ballast to get into the motor during ballasting, and general dust and gunk to get in there. To get around this use a small piece of card, cut slightly larger than the hole. Mark out the holes where the point motor mounts and the rod will go through, and cut them out. Mount this piece of card between the underside of the points and the point motor, it doesn't affect the operation of the point motor and is held in place by the point motor being mounted. Thanks to Bournemouth Model Rail Centre for this tip, no connection other than a very satisfied customer. I'm off to the casino for a night out, if the hangover permits I will be ballasting and stuff tomorrow so will update more. Namewise, as an alteration of your Bluewater, how about Blackwater/Backwater Road TMD? Other ideas could be for a Scottish name Kirk West TMD (as if in a large town) or further south Hayling TMD possiblely? Hayling TMD, I like that! It also has links, I live not far from Hayling Island and its a place I take my boat regularly. Thanks ginger j, you've just named my layout! Thanks, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brush47337 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 looking good Mr Angry Meerkat plenty of progress and nice to see the steps taken along the way. I will follow and look forward to seeing the locos all turn blue some day. loved the St Rollox Glsgow works shot - exactly as I remember it all the best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Your layout is progressing nicely! With regards to painting your sleepers, I would suggest using your airbrush, its so much quicker than by hand. I shall be having a look at that photo site as it looks excellent for inspiration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Thanks for the comments guys, it's nice to know people are interested in what I'm doing and makes the work and posts worthwhile. I will certainly bear in mind the tip about airbrushing the sleepers, although I'm out of propellant at the moment so will probably make a start by hand so I can start ballasting. I've also just returned from my local model shop, with a little present to myself. While I liked the CL47 it was the wrong colour, so decided to do a little trade and we now have a new addition to the Hayling TMD fleet ..... A lovely weathered Hornby CL56!! I'm about to add the decoder, but its already one of my fave engines!! Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 A little more work has been done today. The area around the shed has been laid with plasticard to create a concrete hard standing and the first patches of ballasting have been laid. At last I feel like visual progress has been made on the layout, really pleased now! I've also had an epiphany with regards the rear walls and bridge, and after driving to my local retail park this morning I've formulated a way to tie in the backscene, the bridge, the depot, and the entrance to it all. This will all be revealed over time!! Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Not much exciting progress of late, although an envelope has arrived for me today WOOHOO!! I've decided to hand paint the sleepers on the main line, the ties(?) that hold the rail to the sleepers are rusty at the moment and I'd like to keep that little detail as I feel track is something you can only do once and a comment I see regularly is "I wish I'd done more with the track". As for my envelope - it's from Ten Commandments and contains my cable trunking and line side boxes. The trunking looks more to scale than the Wills product, and also has some neat features like sections of lid missing. And at £5.50 for 4' it's a bargain!! The lineside boxes are the modern 2 door type that I've seen near Bournemouth station, and are stonecast with some excellent detail. Really pleased with the products, and the service from Ten Commandments was excellent (no relation, just a very satisfied customer). This week will be mostly painting sleepers and preparing the backscene. Mrs Meerkat is working in Christchurch on Sunday so I will be visiting the Christchurch Model Railway Exhibition and hopefully gaining plenty of inspiration (although hopefully NOT gaining an empty bank account!!). Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hi Mark, I wouldn't mind seeing some of your trunking (ooh err missus), I have some of the Ratio stuff, and thought it a bit chunky. Regards, Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Hi Mark, I wouldn't mind seeing some of your trunking (ooh err missus), I have some of the Ratio stuff, and thought it a bit chunky. Regards, Lee. Sorry for the delay in replying, this thread didn't show up in 'view recent topics' so I missed your question. I will get it out tomorrow (easy tiger!!) and get some pictures for you, il try and get a selection with some dummy point motors, track and engines in the shots so you can get an idea of size and scale. As for work on the layout - I've spent many hours achieving not much over the last 7 days or so!! Finally managed to paint all the sleepers in a way I'm happy with ..... All the sleepers are painted a concrete colour, while keeping the rail sides and ties a nice rust colour. This is pretty close to the appearance of track on many of the prototype pictures I've seen. Once the ballast is down all the sleepers and surrounding areas will be weathered. Also managed to get my cheapo airbrush spraying, so got the depot area painted properly ... Again this area will be detailed and weathered when I focus more on this area. At least now I have a concrete colour that I'm happy with, after trying many different paint shades and manufacturers. This mix is artists acrylic grey with a hint of black added to remove the slight blue hue that greys seem to have. My method when it comes to painting anything is always paint it as it appeared when it was brand new, then weather it in stages. That's how it happens in the 'real world' and I feel that creating something that is already weathered never looks quite right. I'm sure many 'pro' weathering experts are able to get the right effect straight off the bat, but I lack the artistic vision to work that way, along with the talent to do it justice! Anyway, next up on Hayling TMD is adding the sleepers that are missing, trimming the cork underlay so it sits closer to the edge of the track to create that nice shoulder, and adding some line side details. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger j Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Those sleepers look great mate! Must have taken hours to paint each individual sleeper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Those sleepers look great mate! Must have taken hours to paint each individual sleeper Cheers, and yes it did take hours, and hours, and hours, and hours!! It's not a job I'd recommend to anyone, but its something I wanted to do properly so I guess it was time well spent (and meant I didn't have to watch coronationdale eastenders street!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Hi Mark, I wouldn't mind seeing some of your trunking (ooh err missus), I have some of the Ratio stuff, and thought it a bit chunky. Regards, Lee. Hi Lee, some pics of the Ten Commandments line side cable trunking with various other objects for an idea of scale. If you want any other pics just let me know and il get them for you. I won't be gluing it in place for about a week as I've still got bits of tidying to do on the track, but as soon as its down il post some pics up. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Thank you very much! Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Realy taking shape now!! luv the relay boxs and trunken... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 looking good so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryMeerkat Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Thanks for the positive comments guys, sometimes I look at it all and wonder if I've actually made any progress or just wasted my time!! After spending 2 weeks just painting 12' of track, I've decided to take a break from that side of it, and have a go at something I've never even tried before ..... Scratchbuilding!! My first attempt is just something simple for the backscene ..... I'll add more pictures as these structures progress. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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