RMweb Premium Gary H Posted July 17, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2017 (edited) Well this has been a long time coming. After spending many hours pondering, walking into it and walking out again, followed by more head scratching, I finally struck upon a plan of work, made some decisions and got stuck in. The new connection I went with was this one- This enabled me to use the 3-way I built earlier which would in turn alow the use of the existing cross over and save space. It was also meant a huge and time-consuming rebuild of the scenery as I opted to have this 'open' and apposed to covered which is how it was originally. The 2 fore-ground lines have now been lowered and truncated and have become industry spurs! A lot of destruction followed! Here, the new connection is in via the 3-way. The clamps are holding an extension to the track bed to allow a 'cess' area and to support a removable section which I will get onto in a minute. Looking the other way- I mentioned a removable section. The line you see disappearing downwards at 2% grade nearest the wall is the entrance to my staging yard below the layout. I wanted this section to be removable to access it should any need arise. So, just to add to the "fun", I had to devise a way to get a section of removable scenery built as well as have enough clearance between the line nearest the wall and the adjacent line! This piece would have to slot in between the 2 lines! I hit on the idea of a retaining wall separating the 2 lines. Metcalfe card structure to the rescue. I used my largest and highest freight car seen on the layout for setting clearances. After building the retaining wall, it was glued firmly to an 'L'section quarter ply plinth to give it strength. I then built a timber frame around it to cover in carboard strip. It had ply bulkheads at each end that would marry up with similar bulk heads on the layout. Shame the pic below has gone bad as it showed the frame well. The 2 lines that have been truncated used to be 2 mainlines that followed the rock line on the right of the shot below. They then rose at 2.5% to rejoin the mainline in the distance close to the pair of cov-hops. Now you see it- Now you dont- Edited July 17, 2017 by Gary H 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 That's you and me back on track with our pikes Gary. Order is restored! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted July 17, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2017 That's you and me back on track with our pikes Gary. Order is restored! They said it would be fun they said!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted July 17, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2017 (edited) Ive still got a long way to go but Ive got the board in for the industry spurs and the new scenery section is pretty much finished. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that one of the Woodland Scenics tunnel portals was broken! This was done in transit, although the seller went to great lengths to wrap it, W.S for some stupid reason insist on having a huge void in the card carton thus allowing the casting to rattle around to heart's content leading to the inevitable! No problem, the joint was made using some JB weld stuff and it was weathered to within an inch of its life! The holes you see bored into the outside facia are clearance holes for the bolts securing the frame on the removable piece. thus- The following is the result of having a few reminiscencesof things that I enjoyed in the 80's over the Christmas period! I have an 08 and an 85 aswell somewhere but normality has now been restored. Theresstill much to do, I have the industrial part to construct yet and much scenery to blend and make good but do now feel that I'm getting somewhere. I think this 're-work' will add some interest to the layout. Just as abit of fun, this is what that scene used to look like- Edited July 17, 2017 by Gary H 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted July 17, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2017 That's you and me back on track with our pikes Gary. Order is restored! I must admit that I did find that by just hitting the dam thing with some vigour and enthusiasm made me feel like I was getting somewhere and the rest just kinda followed! The more I did and got done, the more I enjoyed it, especially when you start to see some results. Reckon I've been in a rut with it for the last 4 years but its finally fun again! If there's one thing I've learnt since its inception 10 years ago, its not good having a lot of real estate! (greenery!) Less is more in than respect I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMO Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Good and interesting progress! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 That's inspiring Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 A long running topic but to the point. However the prospect of me ever building another is daunting as mine was constructed over twenty years ago and crawling around under a layout is not on these days. Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted December 19, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 19, 2018 Here's a shameless plug for my Scale Trains Gevo for sale folks. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scale-Trains-H0-scale-GE-C45AH-Gevo-Locomotive-with-sound/264094707818 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 I just posted my SD40T-2s off to an ebay purchaser this morning, more stuff on ebay in the next few weeks. Layout in hibernation, disposing of stock pending a reboot. Not sure along what lines, but almost certainly not US theme. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary H Posted December 19, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 19, 2018 I just posted my SD40T-2s off to an ebay purchaser this morning, more stuff on ebay in the next few weeks. Layout in hibernation, disposing of stock pending a reboot. Not sure along what lines, but almost certainly not US theme. I'm in a sort of limbo situation with mine. It's to good to scrap, so many hours of graft put in. I won't sell all my loco's, that I do know but I've got my eye on other things at the moment. I'm being distracted by 0 gauge class 50's and what promises to be the definitive 00 scale Deltic recently announced by Accurascale. Ive even just bought this- https://www.Dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=3066 for no other reason than it looks lovely! I can't bring myself to build another 00 gauge layout as the couplings and track gauge issue will grate very quickly and there's no way at my age and eyesight I'll be building my own track anymore, there are far more interesting things to do with my time! This beast has occupied most of it for the last 6 months- https://www.facebook.com/ProjectAjax/ Railway models wise, I feel like a rabbit caught in headlights right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now