Laoson Valley - 1990's to modern day TMD, Oil Terminal & P-Way Yard

[sdw7300]

Hello and welcome to Laoson Valley, a fictitious OO gauge layout (very much in the early stages of construction!).  

 

Background

 

I started my first layout, a 6’x1’ OO gauge shunting plank layout last year and got as far as wiring the track & control panel, but the arrival on baby number two slowed progress to a holt. I was however, getting a bit disheartened by the layout as it was just 4 dead straight tracks with little room for any scenics. So rather than continue with something that didn’t feel right I have decided to start again…

 

I have roughly 10’ x 2’ to play with. The right hand end will need to include a 90 degree curve to a separate fiddle yard.

Era-wise the layout will be set in the early 90’s running mainly triple grey class 37’s, but I also have an 08, 58 & 60 which will be making appearances. I’m really inspired by some of the amazing TMD’s on here (Deeping Lane, Meadow Lane, Orchard Road and Quarry Lane to name but a few) but also want to run some wagons to include some shunting potential. I have some TTA’s, a couple of Lima TEA’s and a few Dutch departmental wagons (Seacows, Limpets, Shark).

 

I want to include an oil terminal/ unloading facility, engine maintenance shed / yard and a ballast loading / P-Way maintenance yard. I also didn’t want to crowd the layout with too much track and leave some room for some scenics (site office, oil tanks, yard car parks etc).

 

I put a plea for help on the layout design out earlier in the year [see here]  and thanks to the help and advice of Simon (Flying Pig), Matt (MattWallace) and Nick (Nickinwestwales) the plan is this: 

 

(p.s. the squares are 15cm!)

 

Any thoughts/opinions on the layout before I buy the track would be gratefully received.

 

Many thanks

 

[edited to add link]

Edited December 23, 2014 by sdw7300

[MattWallace]

Great Track plan,(although I may be slightly biased!) Looking forward to watching it develop. :-)

[sdw7300]

Progress to date

Between May and now I have been sorting my garage so I have room for the layout. Whilst sorting I thought I should paint the garage to try and keep the dust down. The only problem being, because of the amount of useful* things in my garage it took over a month to paint one section at a time. However the outcome is a clean bright garage.

(*I call them useful, the wife begs to differ!)

 

I have also added a couple more socket and upgraded the lighting from one fluorescent tube to 4 lighting office modules (a bargain from a well know e-auction site). Anyway, a before shot:

 

And an after shot:

 

The layout will be along the back wall of the garage with the 90 bend at the right leading to a fiddle yard that will sit on an internal window sill (not shown in above photo). The curve between the layout & fiddle will need to lift out as it is the doorway into the garage.

 

Frame

I wanted to maximise the layout size without eating too much into the garage, hence the corner missing on the right hand edge of the track plan. Another way I thought of achieving this would be not to have the legs for the layout, instead using diagonal supports against the back wall. To achieve this I have built a frame out of 3”x2” carcassing timber – it’s pretty strong and cheap! I read somewhere the test of a good base board is can it support your weight. It didn’t budge when I hung off it so I’m happy!

 

A couple of photo’s of progress to date.

The track you can see in this shot is my first attempt at a layout - this will be where the fiddleyard & lift out board will sit

 

The baseboards themself will not be attached directly to the frame, rather be two separate - 9mm ply boards with a 2”x1” timber frame. These will just sit on the frame, the thinking being I can lift them up to make wiring, fitting point motors etc a lot easier!

 

Thanks for getting this far – I’m afraid with a fulltime job and two children under 4 progress will be glacial. But hang in there……

 

 

[sto243]

Sam,

 

I shall watch your progress with interest.  Your situation looks very similar to mine - I have a part-built depot layout (2 boards, each 4 foot x 18 inches, with a temporary fiddle yard) built on shelf supports on the wall of my garage, which I started building 4 years ago when I bought the house with my then girlfreind. Since then we've got married and had 2 children, and I've not even finished laying the track, so I know exactly what you mean by "glacial" progress!

 

Good luck, and happy modelling.

 

Hugh

[sdw7300]

Sam,

 

I shall watch your progress with interest.  Your situation looks very similar to mine - I have a part-built depot layout (2 boards, each 4 foot x 18 inches, with a temporary fiddle yard) built on shelf supports on the wall of my garage, which I started building 4 years ago when I bought the house with my then girlfreind. Since then we've got married and had 2 children, and I've not even finished laying the track, so I know exactly what you mean by "glacial" progress!

 

Good luck, and happy modelling.

 

Hugh

Thanks Hugh - a few hours a weeks is about all I can manage but I think if i'm focused I should get there eventually!

[sdw7300]

Baseboards

Last night I started on the baseboards, which will just sit on top of the support on the main layout and on the window sill for the fiddle yard. I'm using 9mm birch ply on a 2"x1" softwood frame. I managed to get the two boards of the main layout done and cut some of the wood for the fiddle yard. I need to get the circular saw out to cut the ply for the fiddle but as my son's bedroom is directly above the garage that's not happening on a week night! 

 

I have glued & pinned the ply to the softwood frame. Once all dried I need to sand the edges flush, especially where the two boards will meet.

 

The two main boards in place

 

Underneath the two main boards - there will be additional cross supports but a lesson learn't from the previous attempt was don't add the supports until you know where the point motors will be!

 

Fiddle progress.

 

That's all for now. Taking my older son to Lichfield show on Saturday - WIll try not to get carried away buying things I won't need for months.... I need to bite the bullet and buy the track next!

 

Cheers

 

[sdw7300]

Morning All

 

Not too much progress over the last few days. I managed to get the fiddle yard ply tops cut over the weekend so I can crack on with the frames, but then came down with man-flu. The rest of the house has had it but I thought I'd got away with a mild cold but no, walking upstairs was a challenge on Sunday....

 

So, next jobs:

1) Build fiddle yard boards

2) Marry-up the four boards & add the aligment dowels

3) Print final final track plan in 1:1 scale & double check siding lengths etc

4) Order track.....

 

That should keep me busy for a week or two.

 

What is the general consenus on using cork as an underlay? From what i've read the main advantage is it adds a shoulder which makes the ballasting look good.... but given the layout is yards rather than mainline runs is that important...? 

 

Cheers

[MattWallace]

What is the general consenus on using cork as an underlay? From what i've read the main advantage is it adds a shoulder which makes the ballasting look good.... but given the layout is yards rather than mainline runs is that important...?

I'm using cork for Marshfield, My plan is to do the entire layout with cork underlay and then fill in the gaps in the yard with polyfilla or similar once I know what it needs to look like.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69236-marshfield-junction/?p=1111630 has the details of how I'm doing it.

 

Matt

[sdw7300]

I'm using cork for Marshfield, My plan is to do the entire layout with cork underlay and then fill in the gaps in the yard with polyfilla or similar once I know what it needs to look like.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69236-marshfield-junction/?p=1111630 has the details of how I'm doing it.

 

Matt

 

Thanks Matt. One those mount cutters looks a handy tool - I might try screwing a blade to a block of wood with a 45 degree edge on it!

[MattWallace]

Thanks Matt. One those mount cutters looks a handy tool - I might try screwing a blade to a block of wood with a 45 degree edge on it!

 

lol, yeah, that'd be a lot cheaper...

[sdw7300]

Afternoon

 

All four boards now assembled. Still need to add alignment dowels & some method of fixing them together, but in the meantime I got a bit carried away laying out the 1:1 print of the track plan. I must admit I do like it alot!

 

From left to right...

 

Feels a bit more real now I can see what it will look like!

Edited September 27, 2013 by sdw7300

[sdw7300]

Morning

 

The weekend saw a bit more progress. All eadges of the boards sanded flat so they sit flush to each other and alignment dowels added. The join in the main board has a couple of M10 bolts to hold it together as this won't come apart that often. As it will be non-scenic, I have used a couple of toggle latches for the lift out flap. They work rather well!

 

Also had a mini brainwave - I thought I better do something about backboards before I get carried away with the track so I picked up some 6mm MDF. One 8'x4' sheet cut by the shop into 35cm strips will be enough for all along the back and the rest I can make into a dust cover for fiddle yard.

 

<edited for spelling>

Edited September 30, 2013 by sdw7300

[Spannerman]

As a beginner it's great to see the step by step progress so far to see how it goes. Looking like a great layout.

 

One thing though, in maintenance yards and the like the ballast does not usually have the defined shoulder of a mainline so you may not need to chamfer the cork sub base. Yard ballast tends to be a little more neglected.

 

Out of interest how did you make the 1:1 trackplan?

 

All the best

Nik

[sdw7300]

As a beginner it's great to see the step by step progress so far to see how it goes. Looking like a great layout.

 

One thing though, in maintenance yards and the like the ballast does not usually have the defined shoulder of a mainline so you may not need to chamfer the cork sub base. Yard ballast tends to be a little more neglected.

 

Out of interest how did you make the 1:1 trackplan?

 

All the best

Nik

Thanks for your comments & compliment Nik. I was wondering if the lack of any trains (or track for that matter) so far would just be boring people! 

 

Your point regard ballast shoulders makes sense (and saves a bit of work & cash by not bothering with the cork).

 

I used AnyRail for the track plans. Within the print options box change the print scale to 1:1. Printing 1:1 is the easiest way to check the feel of the layout as well as things like siding lengths etc. 

 

Cheers  

[Spannerman]

Cheers for the info.

 

You may still want to put a sheet of cork over the whole layout as it will quieten the running.

 

Atb

 

Nik

[MattWallace]

Cheers for the info.

You may still want to put a sheet of cork over the whole layout as it will quieten the running.

Atb

Nik

Better (and cheaper!) to cut the cork to the trackbed following the track bed, it gives you a shoulder for the ballast... :-)

[sdw7300]

A little bit more progress.....

 

Backscene boards (6mm MDF) cut and screwed to the baseboards. Surprising how much weight they add!

 

I have been impressed by a few layouts that had printed backscenes rather than the plain blue/grey with a few clouds so I thought I'd try one. It is just temporarily propped in place with masking tape here. 

 

 

Shame it is not a bit longer! I might see if I can extent it with a bit of creative scanning & printing....  

 

And perhaps the most important job was to put the sign up on the garage door!

 

Track is now ordered so next week this thread might start to resemble a model railway layout thread rather than just a woodworking one! 

 

TTFN

[sdw7300]

A (little) bit more progress to report. Last week I decided to give the base boards a lick of paint before laying the track. Undercoated and then I rollered on some battleship grey which should give a good base "industrial" colour for the layout.

 

Backscene is now fixed in place using wallpaper paste. It looked a terrible soggy mess at the time but thankfully as it dried all the wrinkles have gone and it is now beautifully smooth.  

 

 

Next job was stick down some cork sheet. I didn't quite have enough to cover the whole board so have laid cork under the main track areas. I laid the 1:1 track plan over the cork and cut though both with a scaple. Cork stuck down with spray adhesive - worked a treat!

 

(Cork is hidden by the track plan!)

 

 

SWMBO is away tonight so as soon as I can get the boys to bed I'll be in the garage for an extended track laying session!

Edited October 14, 2013 by sdw7300

[sdw7300]

At last, some track!

 

This is the first time I've used PVA to fix the track (rather than track pins). I quite like the way you can tweak the alignment for a while before it sets. It also looks a hell of a lot better without having the track pin heads on show. I nearly had a crisis moment - I originally got a bit carried away with the PVA and manage to get it all over the points. Thankfully I spotted this in time and managed to lift the points and wash them under a warm tap.

 

Track is laid for the approach, run-around, oil terminal and P-way yard. Just the TMD and fiddle to go. Can wait to see some loco's moving!

 

I'm using unmodified electrofrog points as I thought fitting the additional switches to power the frog would take an age. I have however hedged my bets by drilling a hole & feeding the frog wire through the base board so if I have a problem with shorting I might be able to retro alter the points at a later date.

 

A couple of pic's.... Enjoy

 

Edited for typos that you can only spot once you've hit post!

Edited October 16, 2013 by sdw7300

[sdw7300]

I'm getting in the swing of track laying now. Holes drilled for 6 points in the fiddle yard. No photos tonight. Holes in baseboard probably wouldn't make the most exciting viewing!

 

TTFN

[class"66"]

Very nice work Sam!! ....

[sdw7300]

Very nice work Sam!! ....

 

Thanks Neil. Banks Road and your "Home Layout" are great sources of inspiration to me. I bought a couple of yard lights from Pylonman after seeing them on your layout. Looking forward to getting to the point where I can fit them!

[class"66"]

Thanks Neil. Banks Road and your "Home Layout" are great sources of inspiration to me. I bought a couple of yard lights from Pylonman after seeing them on your layout. Looking forward to getting to the point where I can fit them!

Cheers Sam....  glad they help you with inspiration

[Timtrains66]

Ummm some track   Good progress buddy.

 

Tim

[sdw7300]

Track laying continued over the weekend. Fiddle yard track now complete and track over two of the three board joints is soldered & cut. The first couple of solders looked a right dogs dinner but a bit of practice (and remember to clean & tin the screw heads and underside of the rails first) meant the later ones look at lot better.

 

One more session in the garage and all the track laying should be complete, although I need to give some thought to inspection pits and pit lighting first.....

 

Anyway, a couple of photos.

 

Fiddle yard & lift out section

 

Joint between the FY & lift out section.   

 

TTFN