A Model Railway in a Toolbox

[AySea]

I started on this idea two years ago not long before I started modelling in OO. Now I have gone back to N gauge for a bit and actually starting to get somewhere with one of many ideas.

 

I liked the idea of some of the box file layouts that people have done and thought that if I could build a small shunting layout in a toolbox, I'd be able to store the controller, scenery and rolling stock inside below the layout for transport (although I'm sure someone else has probably had the same idea before me).

 

So I have finally got a baseboard built inside the top of a Stanley 24" Series 2000 toolbox. The removable tray in the top gives me approximately 20 inches by 8 inches to work with, although a handle does sit in the middle of that space. The proposed track plan is shown below using code 55 track just laid in place to check the fit. The scenery will mostly be warehouse type buildings to hide the handle and give an appropriate backdrop.

 

 

This is a mini version of the Inglenook shunting puzzle and fits two wagons in the sidings nearest the front of the toolbox and will hopefully fit three wagons in the other siding. Will check that once I'm nearer to actual track laying as I plan on using the Dapol magnetic couplings and need check the clearances for the magnets to allow space for stock to pass on the adjacent line and give space to actually couple the wagons up again after uncoupling. I also still need to glue some cork down before I lay the track properly.

 

Because of the label still attached to the front of the toolbox, I'm considering something like Stanley Yard as a name, but any other suggestions are welcome.

 

There's a couple more pictures of the baseboard construction on Flickr (click the image above) and on my modelling blog if anyone's interested ( http://misc-model-mix.weebly.com/blog/a-model-railway-in-a-toolbox ), but the most important information is already written above.

 

Finally for now, thanks for looking.

[Steam_Julie]

Good idea, I've never though of it as a possibility!

Julie

Edited May 31, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[rue_d_etropal]

I would build the layout so it fits in upside down for storage. It should then be possible to turn it over to fit on top of box. I have seen many container type layouts and have tried a  one using portable barbecue bases.

[AySea]

Thanks for the Likes and comments so far.

 

That's a good idea about making the layout fit upside down for storage. That way none of the scenery would need to be removed at all. Never occured to me to try doing that. Just had a look at putting the tray in the toolbox upside down, but the lid doesn't close. It would be possible to make a baseboard that would fit without using the tray though, so I'll keep that in mind for another time. Thanks.

[Charlie586]

It's a really good idea. Would a foldable board (or two boards hinged) fit in, or would you lose too much space for stock and buildings? I've got a spare tool box in the shed with a broken tray and you've got me thinking about something.

[AySea]

Don't know about the foldable board idea. I guess it all depends on how it folds up and how it fits when folded. This tool box has about 8 1/2 inches of internal depth plus a little bit of extra space inside the lid. Maybe that's something else I could think about trying when I finish this one.

[ColinK]

A suggestion, you could use the baseboard you've already made, but add a second smaller board for the 'fiddle yard' or shunting neck, this could be non scenic to keep the height to a minimum. It could then go in the box under the main board. You've got me thinking too.

[Sun VI]

You could cut the handle off the tray to give you a larger, more flexible working area. I'd quite understand that you may not want to, but it is an option.

[rue_d_etropal]

For ideas using boxes, I tend to think outside the box!

[Steam_Julie]

You might want to look at my entries on

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102137-ruston-quays/page-6&do=findComment&comment=2350180

 

I am planning a project which is based around a Ruston Quays theme, but stored and transported in a toolbox. This is because I need to be able to transport it and I don't have a car, so it needs to be able to be carried as hand luggage, on trains, busses and ferries.

 

Julie

Edited June 29, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[shortliner]

Would there be any sense in looking at the "Really Useful Boxes" series as railway containers? I have one that holds a Christmas Tree, about 45" long , and a shorter one about 30" long, that I bought for that purpose. A folding board should fit inside very nicely. They would allow the use of HO rather than N

Edited July 1, 2016 by shortliner

[Steam_Julie]

Really useful boxes are good, but it depends on if you need to move the layout about or not. If you do and you only have access to public transport the toolbox ix a better idea. I looked at using a Really Useful box and then putting it in a holdall for transport. The problem was difficult to find a holdall that would take the box, without it becoming unwieldy.

 

Another possible problem is the sizes of the boxes follow a formula and you can often get a box the required length and width but it is too shallow. The toolbox seems in 2mm scale to be a very useful size.

 

The depth of toolbox also allows rolling stock, tools etc. to be carried in the same container. At the end of the day, it's a case of if the container meets your needs!

 

Cutting the handle off, or making you baseboard fit into the toolbox will give you more flexibility too! But you will need to have a means of removing it from the box.

 

Julie

Edited July 2, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[AySea]

You might want to look at my entries on

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102137-ruston-quays/page-6&do=findComment&comment=2350180

 

I am planning a project which is based around a Ruston Quays theme, but stored and transported in a toolbox. This is because I need to be able to transport it and I don't have a car, so it needs to be able to be carried as hand luggage, on trains, busses and ferries.

 

Julie

 

I like the concept of this method of fitting a layout into a toolbox. Saves having to remove parts of the scenery when stored and can probably use the available space better.

 

Continuing on with my planned layout though, a layer of cork has been glued to the top of the baseboard and I now have all the sections of track wired up. Just need to sort out the positioning of switches for wire in tube operation and changing frog polarity before I can solder the last few wires. The photo below shows where I am so far, with the loose ends of the wires temporarily routed up beside the handle on the tray so that I can play  test it. The intention is to have the point switches and connection point for the controller to be hidden inside a building in the top right corner.

 

 

It's had a quick test and it works so far. I did find that the short wheelbase of my class 04 struggled a bit with the gap in the frogs when using the siding nearest the handle, but the longer wheelbase of my pannier tank ran over it fine. All of the magnets for uncoupling the Dapol magnetic couplings are in place and mostly seem to work okay. Think I need to adjust some of them slightly and also need to convert more rolling stock to use them, so that will probably be next to do.

 

I did mock up a quick example of how the scenery may look using photocopies of the Metcalfe Warehouse kit (PN182). (not a very good photo and taken before track was finished, but it serves it's purpose). To disguise the handle in the middle of the baseboard, two kits would be required to make the building long enough to cover it and I'm not altogether sure that I like the total height of the central building, so if I decide to use multiples of the warehouse kits, I may attempt to remove one storey so that there's only three floors. We'll see what I decide once the tracks finished.

 

 

As before, there's a couple more pictures on Flickr (click the images above) and on my modelling blog if anyone's interested ( http://misc-model-mix.weebly.com/ )

[Steam_Julie]

You really do have the ability to think outside the box. This of course is the driving force behind new ideas and techniques. Keep up the excellent work, because my modelling was in he doldrums. You have given me a kick up the backside. Thank you.

 

I've looked at your offsite blog, I am impressed by your work, you apply a wide variety of techniques. Many modellers are either in the card or plastic sheet / kit camps.

 

Have you considered making a complete scene, behind the track as a complete unit, complete with backscene and then that opens up the possibility of having several different scene, say a brewery, china clay dryer etc.

 

Have you concidered modifying the Peco Locolift for N gauge?

 

Julie

Edited July 14, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[AySea]

You really do have the ability to think outside the box. This of course is the driving force behind new ideas and techniques. Keep up the excellent work, because my modelling was in he doldrums. You have given me a kick up the backside. Thank you.

 

That certainly wasn't the kind of response I expected, thank you very much. It's nice to know that what little I have done has been able to inspire someone else.

 

I've looked at your offsite blog, I am impressed by your work, you apply a wide variety of techniques. Many modellers are either in the card or plastic sheet / kit camps.

 

Personally, I do prefer working with plastic kits as a first choice I think. Though when I was younger I built a few card kits and some of them did look quite good even if my attempts weren't perfect, so I guess that and seeing other peoples models from card has helped me appreciate the use of both (Not that there's much of either on my offsite blog yet).

 

Since I came back to model railways a couple of years ago, I've tried to learn more about making models look a bit more realistic than my old train set attempts, so the 'wide variety of techniques' is probably more a case of having a go with different methods that I've learnt about more recently to see how I get on with them.

 

Have you considered making a complete scene, behind the track as a complete unit, complete with backscene and then that opens up the possibility of having several different scene, say a brewery, china clay dryer etc.

 

I hadn't considered that, no. That is quite a good idea though, will give it some thought.

 

Have you concidered modifying the Peco Locolift for N gauge?

Something similar in N gauge would be useful. I wouldn't know where to start with something like that though. Would probably be easier to just build some basic cassettes as long as you remember to leave provision for joining them to the running lines somewhere.

[Steam_Julie]

What type of control, are you going to use on your layout, DC or DCC?

 

Julie

[AySea]

DC. I'm using a basic Bachmann controller from a Graham Farish trainset, but I've cut off the supplied connector for attaching it to the track and have fitted two banana plugs to the ends of the wires and will fit sockets for them to the layout.

 

Unless there's anything I haven't considered, having not used DCC before, then as long as there's matching connectors on a DCC controller, there shouldn't be any reason why I couldn't use DCC at some point though. I don't fancy trying to fit decoders into such small locos myself though.

 

The points will be operated using wire in tube with slide switches to change the frog polarity which I am halfway through attempting at the moment, so hopefully I'll have some more pictures with that done soon depending on what time I can find to work on it.

[Steam_Julie]

I assume that the one with the Farish set, will be a simple DC one. That means that the voltage will be increase or decreased as the control knob is turned. Whilst this is OK for a trainset user, you might not be happy with it, as it is difficult to get good low speed operation. It will require the track to be cleaned on a frequent basis.

 

Pulse type controllers are better, for slow running, but it is important to get one designed for N Gauge, as ones designed for larger scales can sometime burn out N gauge motors. You should be beware of using feedback controllers with N gauge loco's too, as they can damage your motors.

 

The best controllers, for N gauge are Pentrollers. These were designed by Stuart Hind, who at the time was the technical wiz at the Pendon Museum. A new version has recently come onto the market. These definitely will not damage N gauge motors.

 

DCC has the advantage of a constant voltage on the track and excellent slow running, even creping along is achievable. But you do have to be able to fit the decoder, without damaging the loco, or have a model shop who offer a fitting service, with warranty.

 

I hope these comments are useful.

 

Julie

Edited July 28, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[Zomboid]

Micros are great for inspiration. And they don't have to eat up years of your life before your even finished the woodwork...

[AySea]

Part of the reason for using the train set controller is because I've got it to hand. I may upgrade to something else at a future point, so thanks for your thoughts on it.

 

Here is my next update with a couple of pictures to show where things are at the moment. Here is an overal view to start with.

 

 

In the top right are two slide switches to change the polarity of the frogs with wire in tube running to the tiebars. I want to keep clear of the hole for the handle of the toolbox's tray to fit through so that I can remove the baseboard from the tray if needed at all and I didn't think the wire in tube would go round a tight enough curve there. It may have done, but I decided to give the angle cranks a go in case it didn't.

I bought a starter pack of the Mercontrol system from Lytchett Manor Models which gave me more than enough wire and tube for this layout and it also included the angle cranks, so I didn't have to buy multiple items for this little setup.

 

I've never used wire in tube before, and while I found the short links from the points to the angle cranks easy enough, bending the wire at the end of the runs to thread through holes drilled in the switches proved a little awkward. It all seems to work okay so far though. Here's a closer shot of the angle cranks which will need to be covered over with some kind of scenery once it's all had a thorough testing.

 

 

Still need to sort out the sockets for the controller to plug into to make sure they're easily accessable and able to be hidden by the removable buildings.

 

As before, there's a couple more pictures on Flickr (click the images above) and on my modelling blog if anyone's interested ( http://misc-model-mix.weebly.com/ )

[Steam_Julie]

Like the point control system. Neat trick removing the board from the tray.

Good progress, I look forward to more developments!

Julie

Edited August 3, 2016 by Steam_Julie

[AySea]

It's been a while since I last posted on here, but here's an update on my toolbox layout.
 
I've moved on to starting on the buildings to make sure it all works. In the end I decided not to try modifying the Metcalfe warehouse kit to diguise the handle with, instead I opted for the Metcalfe bus / transport depot kit PN125. I've started with the building that covers the handle first so that I can check exactly how much space I have for the other buildings that will disguise the switches for the points and the connectors for the controller. I still plan on using the Metcalfe warehouse kit for those, but I feel the lower building in the middle looks better with it being so close to the track on such a small layout.

The building still needs the roof adding and some other details, but I'll do those at a later point once I've sorted out how the rest of the scenery will look. For now though, here's a photo showing what it looks like so far.
 

[AySea]

More progress on the buildings has been made. First though, the connectors for the controller have finally been mounted in place. I decided to use 4mm banana plugs on the controller as that is what my local model railway club use for their DCC controllers, so if I ever decide to try DCC out on this, everything will be compatible. The screw thread on the sockets wasn't long enough to go through the depth of the baseboard, so they have been mounted using a couple of pieces of plastic (cut from a blank DVD disc (there's usually one without the part that data gets burned to to protect the one at the bottom of a stack of blank discs)). The position of the connectors has been partially determined by the frame of the baseboard and the construction of the building kit. The building is the Metcalfe warehouse kit, PN182, and has had a suitable section cut out of the back to hide the wires when viewed from the front.

 

 

Below shows the current progress with the start of another warehouse building positioned roughly in place to disguise the switches for the points. Both the warehouse buildings will have a section of facade attached to them to fill in the gap either side of the central building, but I haven't quite got that far yet.

 

[AySea]

It's been a while since I last posted an update, but here is a bit more progress to the buildings on my layout built in the top of a toolbox.



The basic structures for all three buildings are now complete. They still need some finishing off, but it's getting there.
The tower on the left hand building is complete, the bit to the right of the tower just needs some details once I finish the rest of the building. The left hand part still needs it's roof and front section with the doors.
The middle building hasn't changed from before and still needs it's roof and various detail parts.
The right hand building also needs it's roof and the front section with the doors fitting.

To allow access to the switches for operating the points, the building on the right has a large cutout in the side at the back which took a bit of thinking to get it to work and try to keep it all strong and supported.

Here's a photo of the back of it to show roughly how it's been done.



I'm thinking of putting a couple of figures and crates or sacks inside a couple of the doorways, so I'll probably try to do that before the front doors are fitted. I figure it would probably be a bit easier to do it that way round than after the doors are fitted.

[AySea]

Can't believe it's been 6 months since my last update on this. Progress has been slow due to other things, but the buildings have had a little more work to them. Not much though...

 

Anyway, the main purpose of this update regards how the buildings will be placed on the layout when in use. I had originally thought of making some kind of shallow groove for them to sit in that will locate them and disguise the fact that they aren't fixed down. Really the lower edges of the walls could do with more support to prevent damage over time with keep lifting them on and off though, so I have decided to make a base for each building that will lift off as part of the building. Some of the ground surface is going to be level with the top of the rails, so making individual bases for the buildings won't be a problem in regards to raising their height from the cork covering the baseboard.

 

The photo below shows the sub base of the first building using two layers of mount board like card bought from The Works. I made a template first using graph paper to help me cut the two layers to shape, and it seems to be working so far. There will be another piece of thinner card on top of these for the actual ground surfaces and hopefully the joints in the sub bases won't be too obvious when it's finished.

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by AySea