Weir

[Snofi]

Let's start with me. Last September(ish), aged 49 and a bit, the wife decided it was time for a walk. Suitably leashed and stumped for somewhere to go we finally decided to explore what was left of the bit of the old Bury-Bacup line from Rawtenstall through to Bacup. Skipping tales of mud, walking through thrutch glen tunnel, getting home and all that kinda stuff I wondered where Bacup station was. Googling took me here - top of the list if I recall - and the wonderful Bacup layout thread which I spent a good few days reading. From then I started devouring rmweb content, I'm not going to  list all of my personal highlights, not the moments of slight indigestion caused by some rather garish and (IMHO) characterless things things that I believe are referred to as modern (for me starts with blue I'm afraid :-)) image locomotives and stock, instead I'm just going to say that I was inspired to start to build my own layout. 

 

Wood purchased, 100's of different plans assembled in SCARM. some discounted as, well just don't work, others as I don't have any rooms that can hold a gazillion foot square layout, I settled upon a plan - see later. Armed with lots of technical know how gleaned from here I stumbled through an on-line shopping session at a website for a  shop based in the IOM and wahay, two days later a package stuffed with Peco code 100 track and stuff arrived in the post. I then spent an hour composing an email to said shop explaining that I really do have a left/right problem (I usually have to double check which of my forearms is scarred) and returning a good number of the points to be swapped for their opposite numbers. This should have told me something, but there will be many similar "ah" moments as (if) this thread develops.

 

Got track down - all looks good to me. OK, so I forgot to put the droppers on a couple of bits, but hey, looking at the joins and I should be OK as that bit will take power from that other bit and so on. Painted track using acrylic (burnt umber for wood, sienna for rails). Bit bright, but can use that magical sleeper grime to tone it down a bit, maybe a lot, but hey I'm on a roll. Ballasting next using pva/water and washing up liquid. Not a bad job, could do better. Only problem was having used artists acrylic when cleaning the tops of the odd sleeper where ballast had accrued the paint started peeling. Pulled on one end that was hanging off, only for inches of the stuff to come off at once. In a  way this was lucky as it made sure that I spent the next few days cleaning as much of this gunge as I could off before painting everything again.

 

I started adding scenery. Chunky retaining wall at the back. Single platform with bay (is that the right way to describe it?). Cobbles in the goods yard, including track infills. My pride and joy - not sure why, but it was my favourite bit, a barrow walk crossing the tracks at the end. Some rocky stuff. My new  found favourite ever stuff static grass - applied with an applicator made from fly swatter and sieve. Buildings with working lights in - which impressed the wife - and a clutch of lamps waiting for me to finally top the platform off -  did I mention the platform walls? All good stuff - well except for the time that I spilt a hot whiskey on the track and ran round in horror, searching for wood and weights, as the whole lot started lifting...

 

Then I finally thought to test it. Ah. 2 days track & wheel cleaning - peco rubber, surgical spirits, IPA; I even resorted to a light sanding (tough stuff code 100 rail). But still the trains would at best stutter along the tracks and you could hear them sniggering as they raised a two finger salute in your direction as every time they stalled on one or more points. Not to be deterred, another two nights of diligent cleaning followed and this this time the trains simply stuttered along the tracks and... Maybe them extra droppers might have helped, I didn't get round to fixing them as I instead tried to solder my way out of connectivity issues on the points - whilst they were still glued down - and even resorted to using copper tape on top of the sleepers and connecting the rails that need to be connected. This did actually work, except I managed to kill my 3 way point.

 

Ground cleared as it were. Replacement 3 way laid, all looking good. Well, that is aside from the new habit of locomotives either shorting or stalling as they went through the 3 way. More sage advice from someone's layout thread saw me watching a short video on a 42" monitor and realising that the wheels were lifting of the track - yes, despite all my best attempts it was far from flat.

 

You're beginning to get a picture by now. A layout the Keystone Cops would be proud of it and for a few weeks I stood over it noticing the slight kinks in the tracks, the imperfections in the ballasting before coming up with a cunning plan. What I haven't mentioned is that I have taken over the dining room table to do this, and the chairs which are stacked with boxes, and the pew and the dresser so I was rather surprised when the wife told me I couldn't scrap it as it looked "really good". It took two or three weeks of making here stand there watching trains wobble through the kinks before stalling on the points before she finally agreed that it's look was all fur coat, it's knickers had most definitely missing at some stage during the preceding months.

 

A well known auction site, another virtual visit to the IoM, the local wood yard all contributed to a large box or three of stuff ready to start afresh. Same design, but I had learned all my lessons right? I have code 75 track, still Peco points but now with live frogs and with all the Peco stuff removed as per the suggestion in the Cobalt manual - how brilliant is that - they sell you a product and give you lots of really helpful wider help and advice! Only one small cockup when I grasped a de-sleepered point by the toe and crushed everything, but it really wouldn't be me if I didn't trash something. Holes drilled for motors, droppers and frog wires. Track laid on cork, with a million aids to ensure that straight means straight, bus laid on the underside, whole lot primered and painted and finally connected up and, can you guess? Yes, a short. I've spent this evening carefully removing track and points from the offending section and finally found that I hadn't got rid of those "remove for DCC" connectors on the final set on the run. Anyway, this intro is about version one, the joys of my struggles with things most find easy or simply common sense will be documented as version two progresses (probably slowly, and with an air of someone who is quite used to talking to themselves ;-)) over the coming months.

 

Track plan... Not quite sorted the ends yet (another 4 feet to play with), but would like the two lines to cross via a bridge, but that is for another day...

 

 

 

[Stubby47]

Brilliant intro, hope things continue to get better,

 

Stu

[Snofi]

A few snaps of version one...

 

There is one of my barrow walk - I forgot to mention that this had to be ripped up in parts as trains couldn't cross - yep, another lesson I'll try hard and no doubt fail to remember ;-)

[Snofi]

Brilliant intro, hope things continue to get better,

 

Stu

Thanks Stu  ;-) Seriously, I'm loving it. My layout building would keep a sitcom writer in business for an entire career plus a good few post mortem retrospectives but I'm loving it. I haven't commented on here much - maybe once or twice, but the quality of what people are creating, the patience, the ingenuity of everyone keeps me inspired - even if their work includes horrid bright yellow or orange or red portakabins on wheels ;-)

 

Cheers

[emt_911]

Great introduction. The concept seems to be sound so I'm going to follow this even though it is way out of my preferred area. I hope that version 2 is better for you

[Ben Alder]

We all learnt the hard way- fortunately for most it was before the era of the unforgiving digital camera and the attentions of railway forums....Seriously, putting a layout together takes some experience and errors - nothing to be concerned about as long as you profit from mistakes. You seem to be managing well so far- keep posting, and just ask if anything is uncertain- plenty help available here...

[Stubby47]

Have to say you've certainly got an eye for colour - those few scenes look very accomplished.

[Snofi]

Well, after a couple of nights away from the layout - too many of our friends  are hitting 50 that it seems they are having to have their do's on school nights which knocked out thursday night and most of friday ;-) - I now have an entire day to spend getting back into it as the wife has rather conveniently started a job that means she works weekends. So far today managed to relay most of the track I took up when short hunting the other night and have finally managed to get JMRI to talk to  my sprog and in turn talking to the AD-8FX and finally a cobalt motor. Now, that is success in my book and another learning curve ascended - just hope I can remember how I did it ;-) Anyway, some time lazing about surfing RMweb, and I  thought I should give some background as to what it is that I think I'm doing...

 

The layout itself is entirely fictitious. Where there are hints of  reality then they are exaggerated beyond all reason.

 

I was originally allocated somewhere in the region of 6' by 2' to indulge my new found passion for  layout trashing building but once it seemed that I was doing something vaguely passable then this became 16' by 18" without too much negotiation. I didn't want a roundy roundy thing - or more precisely unless I went with a gauge where I needed a telescope to see the trains it simply wasn't going to be possible. I wanted  goods. Passenger services are OK, but other than running from a to b and a bit of running round they don't hold much interest for me. I fancied the idea of a through station but didn't want to have to create two fiddle yards and so I came up with the idea that there would be two lines running into a terminus which in effect became a through station - if that makes sense?

 

So, with that in mind I started out changing history, topography and simply making things up to suit. In terms of location I wanted it set in the area where we  live so I could do grimy grotty urban decay coupled with hills, valleys and moors which can range between spectacular and bleak depending on the season or, perhaps, your point of view. I took my starting point as Bacup (you'll note the general similarities in terms of layout - 2 lines in, goods facilities where trains pull into the main station area before backing into the yard) and started to  make up reasons why the line would continue - and of course  where  it could continue to. From Bacup you can generally go in 4 ways - toward Rawtenstall, Rochdale, Tod  or Burnley. The first three all have raliway infrastructure, but the 4th direction climbs up through Weir and then Deerplay before dropping down  into Burnley.

 

For many years  there were attempts to commercially mine lead at Thievely. Never really succeeded in reality but in my mind it became a rapid success and with the coming of the railways went through a  major expansion and, using locally mined coal (that bit is true), a smelting industry grew up. I have ignored the inconvenience that the Calder Valley line presents as the  natural choice for traffic and extended the line from Bacup up through Weir to Deerplay. Trains will run into the invented Weir Junction on the double tracked line from Bacup  before leaving on the single tracked line to Deerplay which heads off in the general direction of Bacup before looping back and over the Bacup line to continue along more favourable (OK, so that is taking into account  the need to construct a wholly impossible amount of earthworks but hey, this is rule -1 - it's my version of reality :-))

 

I'm currently working on the first of 3 boards which holds the station and goods areas. The idea for these comes partially from Broadley Station with its huge retaining walls and platform reached by a staircase on one side of the  tracks, the goods yard via road from the other. In creating a terminus I switched the road bridge to the other end and then turned it into an extension of the retaining wall. Progress will continue to be rather haphazard as I both slow down and start to plan things more carefully and gradually work out whether the ret of the plan will work. Key to this will be gradients and the second board is hopefully going to have multiple levels if I can get the gradients to work - DCC Concepts Powerbase is my only hope of this as it looks as though dropping one line by 2" and raising the other by 2" will require a gradient something like 1:20. but I'll tackle that bit once I'm quite a bit further on as every time I think about it my brain starts to  resemble the first decoder I tried to hard wire into an old Jinty...

 

I may have a specific location in mind, but I will be running the stock I like with a near blatant disregard for time and place. Luckily it appears that Bacup shed was home to several of my favourite locomotive classes - I really need to build up the confidence to start building a  L&YR class 27/8 - so there will be L&YR class 5's, Fowler 3F-Fs, Stanier 2-6-4Ts and ex-Midland 4-4-0's. I'll probably aim to add a RTR 3F too. The green will consist of a Cravens DMU and locomotives which have character - Classes 14,16, 17 and 20. But more of that sort of stuff, in fact all stuff, later!

 

a presto!

[Snofi]

The sort of track-work I'm trying hard to avoid ;-)

[pointstaken]

"Keystone cops" my ass. Looking at those photos you seem to be doing very well on your learning curve. In a while others might be asking your advice. Keep going, you're doing fine !

 

Dennis

[Midnight-Freight]

Have to agree with what others have said.  Don't be so hard on yourself.  I'm sure you're going to end up with a great looking layout when you're done.

[Snofi]

Thanks for all the comments.

 

After relaying the track I lifted to resolve the short the plan for tonight was to cut, add droppers, prime and lay the rest of the track for the first board. However, opening the door suggested I might be better served by leaving it at the cutting for now - don't know whereabouts you're reading this but we have near solid sheets of horizontal rain...

 

 

[David Todd]

I stood over it noticing the slight kinks in the tracks

A quote, from one of your post's.

,

Two item's I use.

 

A straight tracksetter.

 

 

A track gauge,for code 100. also used to form transitions.

 

 

 

When rail is cut, this pic shews, a knife, use it to cut out the rail tie, cut under the rail.

i do not cut ties under pointwork,only the adjoining rail.

This method, you will have no joins,with sleeperless gap's.

 

 

 

 

Am sure other more experienced members', will give a help,if needed. 

[Danemouth]

Another useful tool for straight track is a metre long steel rule bought at the local DIY shed - about a tenner

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[Snofi]

Many thanks for the helpful comments and advice.

 

On Sunday I came to lay  the rest of the track, took some pictures and went to post them on the thread - not sure why, not much to see at this stage ;-) - and then read the comments before looking at the last pictures I posted. Ah! Was it all really as wonky as it looked in the picture? Rushed downstairs (well, sort of strolled and got distracted at least 5 times on the way), grabbed the tracksetta thingamajigs (would be helpful were these to come in a variety of lengths) and steel rules and set to checking every piece of stuck down track. Whilst not absolutely 100% perfect - there were places where it was fractions of a mm out - it all seemed fine. So took more photos, and again, looked wonky and so I spent most of sunday night staring mindlessly at the board and trying to work out what was behind the apparent wonkiness. Going to try with a different camera at some stage (these done on iPad) but best I could come up with was that what I was seeing was some kind of illusion caused by the unpainted chairs (I've tried to leave as many in primer only for some unknown reason) and the primed webs between sleepers.

 

Anyway, a picture of the final tracks down on this board and the evidence of the most wonkiest track ;-)

 

This week I'm hoping to wire and try to fit point motors for the first time - I have been practising getting them to throw singly and in combination using PanelPro and the DCC Concepts AD-8FX unit for the past week. Wow! Learning curve, but hopefully worth it in the end ;-)

 

[Talltim]

For some reason I'm reminded of an album by Bob Dylan

[David Todd]

 

 

I think it adds to the overall atmosphere/character.  Like what you are doing.

[Snofi]

Well, the last few days have been mixed. I managed to install point motors without too many mishaps. OK, so forgetting to drill the holes for the double could have been considered a bit of an ah moment, but for me it should be pretty much taken as read. After much agonising, and bearing in mind I had snapped one of the frog wires when pulling it through, I lifted the slip and a few inches of track, drilled holes and was ready to get back to running on gas.

 

This code 75 stuff is a tad too fragile for a man for whom the term ham-fisted was most likely invented and I was dreading how to bend and manipulate 4 of the accursed insulated rail joiners at the same time so I could slot it back in. Leaving aside a few hours of contemplation - or drinking, the exact cause of the blackout has yet to be defined - I have now laid two pieces of track with no IRJs. This is good, the gaps are now much smaller - just about squeeze a rizla through - and I'm well chuffed.

 

Then struggled with JMRI for a while but I just couldn't get it to work with the AD-8fx considently so, having spent a few hours scouring this wonderful site, I downloaded and installed RocRail. It doesn't feel like my long term solution - the JMRI stuff just feels better - but it worked to the extent that I've just had the first hands free running session over the whole of this board! Yeah, track needs cleaning, yep, need to adjust the lie of one of the point motors and yes it was with a loco that could handle frogs that have yet to be nailed to anything vaguely resembling a power source (the next thing to get my head round),

 

So far not a wobbling loco in sight, a couple of helping fingers of god as I poked the loco over the long dead bit (soldering iron and droppers tomorrow) between the double slip and the 3 way, but all in all well chuffed

 

I'll give a thought to what next after I get back from a visit to the wife's rellies in Ireland from thursday to tuesday - I'm reckoning that as I get older my recovery rate is increasing so that probably means the following thursday before i'm fit to drive again, but hey, being slightly over the limit whilst driving model trains is probably going to be OK - Daily Mail readers keep your eyes on the front page next week, they may have an exclusive...

 

And just for good measure I've also chipped an Airfix 4F which I found on a well known auction site for something below what I consider the max I should pay for such a thing anywhere. Works well, took no time at all - again advice found here and it is - and now fitted with a security device. If you're ever offered a cheap Airfix 4F with a severely solder distorted underframe...

 

Remonds me of when I had a Lada that got stolen. The representative of the local constabulary asked me whether the car had any security devices fitted. Whan I said yes, he eagerly grasped his notebook and pen and asked me to descrobe them. He looked a tad miffed when I said "it had a lada badge on the front and another on the back"...

 

Slainte

[C&WR]

Will read properly tomorrow, must turn in.  Posted here to remind me to look when I go to the "my content" section.  Suffice to say I would have been very pleased with the first layout & that is about all the space I could get these days, if not less, except when going back to the mother-layout!

[peter220950]

 

This code 75 stuff is a tad too fragile for a man for whom the term ham-fisted was most likely invented and I was dreading how to bend and manipulate 4 of the accursed insulated rail joiners at the same time so I could slot it back in. .....................................This is good, the gaps are now much smaller - just about squeeze a rizla through - and I'm well chuffed.

 

 

Slainte

 

Just a thought, expansion through warmer ambient room conditions can cause the track to close up at joints as it expands, if you are that tight with the gap you might find that one sunny day, when you are having a running session, you suddenly start to get odd problems with short circuits. One advantage of the IRJ's is that they keep the gap insulated.

 

It's worth thinking about either popping a very small drop of Araldite into the gap, then cleaning it up when dry, or sliding a sliver of plastikard into the gap and filing back to track profile.

 

The problem with shorts like this is that they aren't easy to spot and can be intermittent and almost impossible to find.

 

Peter

[Snofi]

Thanks! That's very good & helpful advice! 

 

Just a thought, expansion through warmer ambient room conditions can cause the track to close up at joints as it expands, if you are that tight with the gap you might find that one sunny day, when you are having a running session, you suddenly start to get odd problems with short circuits. One advantage of the IRJ's is that they keep the gap insulated.

 

It's worth thinking about either popping a very small drop of Araldite into the gap, then cleaning it up when dry, or sliding a sliver of plastikard into the gap and filing back to track profile.

 

The problem with shorts like this is that they aren't easy to spot and can be intermittent and almost impossible to find.

 

Peter

[BigAndy]

Hi Snofi,

             Just a small point ( no pun intended ) about track cleaning.

 

Try to avoid abrasive track cleaners - they might shift tough stuff like paint to begin with, but they will cause the top of the rail to have tiny scratches that over time will collect more dirt, causing more running problems and so on. The best idea is to use a small square of hardboard or thick card, soaked in either Isopropyl alcohol or Lighter fluid.

Once you've cleaned the track with the liquid, go over it again with a dry piece of hard board - and also clean the wheels of your locos and stock regularly. Cleanliness of rails and stock is one of the key ingredients to trouble free, and happy running!

 

If you are weathering your track, clean the rail as you go with and get the worst off with a piece of tissue - you can clean the rail with the above mentioned method once it has thoroughly dried.

 

Lastly, when cleaning the trackwork after painting, make sure you clean the inside of the crown of the rail. I say this having learned the hard way several years ago. I had just relayed a small section of track on our club layout and couldn't understand why locos were stuttering over this foot long piece of new track - i cleaned it and recleaned it, then on closer inspection realised that there was a coating of paint on the inside of the crown, causing the poor conductivity. Once carefully removed with a sharp blade, the problem was removed but I reckon a lot of people fall foul of this, believing that if the top of the rail is clean, then the whole of the track is Ok.

 

Keep going, you're doing a great job.

 

cheers

 

Andy

[CourthsVeil]

... about track cleaning.

 

... The best idea is to use a small square of hardboard or thick card, soaked in either Isopropyl alcohol or Lighter fluid. Once you've cleaned the track with the liquid, go over it again with a dry piece of hard board - and also clean the wheels of your locos and stock regularly. Cleanliness of rails and stock is one of the key ingredients to trouble free, and happy running!

...

 

 

Full agreement with the Hardboard+IPA method. Very easy for tracks on small layouts.

And for wheels I use the Trix Brass Wheel Cleaner (video clip) - similar products available from other manufacturers. Simple and quick to apply!

 

Regular use of these two aids saves me a lot of trouble.

 

 

I am enjoying your thread so keep up the good work.

 

Regards

  Armin

[Snofi]

Thanks again for all the helpful advice and comments, much appreciated :-)

 

I'm conscious that I haven't updated this thread for a while but it seemed rather rubbish to put up regular updates of track painting, ballasting and all. OK, so those really are the sort of blogs I love best here but that doesn't stop me from thinking no-one would be interested in a daily bulletin along the lines of "painted 6 inches of track tonight before I got distracted did something else and then ran it over with a train, repeatedly, in both directions and then ran it over with another train just to make sure and just to prove it here is yet another train that you've seen before standing on the rusty rail I posted yesterday". 

 

I've also been spending a lot of time simply running stuff to make sure that it all works together with experimenting with RocRail. Must admit it's growing on me and I am determined to master (haha) it - the idea of eventually  "watching the trains run round" on an end to end is perversely appealing ;-)

 

Two pictures showing some progress on this first board. Next jobs are to start to complete the DAS'ed area - put more of it down, sand the whole lot and then apply lots of washes of frame dirt and greys; start to turn the bits of card and balsa into something more closely resembling a platform and get rid of those few remaining Peco bobbles...

 

The keen eyed might even spot an unlikely object in them. I'm afraid I've finally succumbed into buying some larger locomotives which have appeared on a well known auction site for unbelievably low numbers in the last few weeks. This one is at least vaguely plausible, not sure how I'm going to explain away the B12 when it arrives but I guess it is at least black and gives further fuel to the let's extend it by 3" at the buffers end so I can run round with the big things without them looking like they have been involved in some amazing precision driving so that the buffers are touching and the front wheels are only just clear of the point blades...

 

[Snofi]

Series of photos from last night. Taking some shots with a loco and a couple of cheapo (99p for 4 from eBay) Triang coaches I grabbed from my junk box so I could check platform clearances. Came back from answering a call of nature to find wife had moved train to a different track and was happily snapping away.

 

She seemed quite confused that I was lying on the floor laughing until I made her take a side-on shot - after which she kept snapping until she got a shot she was happier with...

 

a presto!