Somewhere on the south coast...

[AndyB]

Hi everyone.

 

I thought I'd share a few photos of my N gauge layout which I'm building in my garage. 

 

This layout is the latest in a series of escapades, the first of which was a OO gauge affair which had track everywhere, terrible gradients and overly-tight curves. This was followed by a much calmer branch line which, sadly, succumbed to damp. The garage was damp proofed and insulated and a series of storage cupboards fitted down one side. The new layout sits on top of those cupboards.....

 

The bucolic branch line was ok, but personally I like to have sufficient train movements to keep things interesting. The M7+coach seemed to spend much of it's time trundling out of sight ready to return to do another lap.  

 

I also wanted to create a layout that allowed the trains to move through a landscape, rather than having a few bits of landscape added to disguise inconvenient tight curves etc. 

 

A particular problem that had bugged previous layouts  was having the fiddle yard almost inaccessible, hidden behind the backscene. This is a real problem when the layout is 2' deep and there is obviously no way of walking round the back. I was also working to a budget and only really wanted to use track components that I happened to have already.

 

I wanted to retain, however, a decent length of run as my children would find it easier to control something that wasn't constant start-stop. 

 

An N gauge, double track with accessible fiddle yard was my starting point for the new layout.  

 

My solution was as follows: 

 

 

And here's some photos of progress to date. Track is laid, wired, weathered with ballasting in progress, point motors are all working and scenic work is just commencing. The station buildings and platforms are courtesy of Metcalfe. The goods shed is a Kestrel kit which has been covered with Metcalfe stone paper to tie it in with the rest of the railway buildings.

 

 

 

 

 

This is very much early stages and now the leg work of baseboards, track and electrics is out of the way I can concentrate on the bit I like - scenery. Oh, and running some trains! 

 

At present I've a real mix of rolling stock, with a Class 47, Class 20 and Class 108 dmu, some ancient Peco carriages and wagons. Over time I want to move the era to 1950s/60s and have a mix of steam and diesel with hydraulics being represented. A 5MT is soon to arrive and for a while it may look like a preserved line set in the 1980s!! I don't suppose my children will care too much.

[AndyB]

A quick update tonight.

 

The layout has had an initial coat of paint to disguise the mdf baseboard around the station once the ground cover is put on. The platforms are now secured in place after running locos and coaches up and down the main line and bay platforms to ensure nothing got stuck.  I've also produced a small wall that makes the boundary between the station and river. On the visible side, facing the viewer I used some spare Metcalfe walling left over from making the platforms. On the side that drops down to the river and is out of sight I used breakfast cereal packet card and sprayed this with Halford's grey primer. Ok, it is out of sight but you never know when someone might lean over and spot that Frosties are "grrrreeeaaat!"  

 

Another successful completed solar orbit was kindly rewarded with a couple of BR(S) coaches and a 5MT. Sadly the 5MT was not a good runner and will have to be returned. The loco really struggled to pull anything more than 2 coaches and, although the only gradient on the layout is not severe the loco could barely pull it's own weight up it. By contrast the diesels I have can easily pull 7 coaches (all I have) and numerous wagons.

 

Nevertheless as a precaution I've reduced the gradient by raising one end of the removable station baseboard. This has the additional benefit of giving a decent (30 foot scale) clearance between the track bed and river level - meaning that a fishing boat could squeeze underneath, rather than needing a swing or lifting bridge. Clouds+silver linings as they say.  

 

I'll post some photos when there's something more interesting than paint drying to show you. 

[AndyB]

A month since my last update. Where does time fly?

 

Slow but steady progress with some of the seawall and river mouth scene starting to take shape. 

Now that the track is working and tested I'm not slavishly following a "must complete A before starting B" plan for the scenery. 

Rather, taking tasks as I fancy, or have time. Having said that some of the messy scenery work involving plaster and bandages has to be done soon as a priority to avoid spoiling the rest with splashes of polyfiller.    

 

DAS air drying clay was used to make the waves with acrylics painted on top. I had several attempts to get the colour close to what I wanted. Not perfect, but much better than the earlier versions. Once I've extended the clay "water" up the river then continue the paintwork and varnish.

 

The bridge supports are due to be covered in plaster or clay an painted. What are they made from? Spare foam inserts from rolling stock boxes.  

 

The fishing boat is by Langley models, awaiting a cold, damp evening to be made up and painted. I've positioned it whilst the clay was soft.

 

For now, just happy that there is some visible progress.

 

Toodle-pip. 

 

 

 

 

 

[AndyB]

Quite a while since my last update, tbh explained by it being quite a while since I've had the time or mojo to do any modelling. 

 

Anyway, a return of the mojo and having a bit of time in the evenings I decided to have a go at the Artitec fishing boat kit.

I'd previously set it into the plaster layer that makes up the water, so that doesn't end up sitting on to of the "water" with possibly a gap underneath; Sir Christopher Cockerell can rest easy! 

 

Things to note about this kit. It is a mix of resin parts, brass etched parts and plastic rodding. Some of the etched parts have to be slid onto the plastic "masts". All well and good, but the plastic rods were a tad wider than the holes in the etched parts. Filing the rods down didn't really work, so I substituted a thick, straightened paperclip for the masts and a couple of lengths of florist's wire. Saved a lot of frustration. 

 

I've still got to do a bit more painting and weathering on the model but couldn't resit seeing how it'd look on the layout....  

 

 

 

Obviously a lot of work to do on my fishing village but a bit at a time should see the layout take shape. 

 

As a nod to my childhood I'd like to reproduce some of the cockle shell heaps familiar to those who have been to Leigh-on-Sea. If anyone has any ideas (heap of fawn coloured ballast, maybe?) I'd be interested to hear. 

 

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for taking a look at my layout.

 

 

[emt_911]

Andy. Great to see that the mojo has returned.

 

To be honest, I think that a few experiments will be required for the cockle shell heaps.

[AndyB]

Slowly but surely I'm making progress with a few minutes snatched here and there to work on the layout. 

 

Here I've toned down the initial paint job on the fishing boat to make it look more weather beaten. I'd like to add some smaller details, e.g. lobster pots, fishing nets, and will go on the hunt to source those soon. 

 

 

And whilst on the subject of harbour scenes I'd like to thank the team at Model Rail for a particularly interesting November edition which covered habours etc. Gave me some good ideas.  Ta.