TechnicArrow Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 It certainly looks rigid enough, although photos don't always tell the whole story! Regarding the front lip - I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It'll help to keep your ground cover in place when you're adding it, and it will protect the front edge from the inevitable bumps and bruises that tend to take little bits of ballast with them. Or if you're doing insetting or tarmac/concrete at the front - you can just go straight over the lip, no trouble. And as for shellac, I'd expect it depends on how wet you intend to get the layout during gluing. I've managed to get away with never using it, but I tend to keep things fairly dry. Anyway, I'm still watching this with interest, and look forwards to seeing where you go next! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 3 hours ago, TechnicArrow said: It certainly looks rigid enough, although photos don't always tell the whole story! The good news is that it is (surprisingly) absolutely rigid and completely flat across the top surface. It is also still surprisingly light! I carried it one handed down out of the loft earlier today (which includes traversing a very narrow trap door - even carrying a mug of tea up into the loft can be a risky process!). It is still light enough to carry horizontally gripping one end of the board (not that I really want to do that very often if at all) Eventually I intend to add a lid with lighting, once all the actual modelling is finished. The whole thing fits on top of my set of drawers and so could be a "to hand" layout for a quick bout of shunting fun when the mood takes me! Next job is to accurately mock up the buildings to ensure that tracks line up properly with building doorways. I may quickly experiment with putting the track at an angle instead of parallel to the front edge, although that would complicate my use of the Scalescenes/Hornby Railway Magazine Locomotive Works facia as the key background element! HOURS OF FUN! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 (edited) I swear I posted about the latest changes, but there’s nothing here … how strange! Anyway, a standard set track left hand point was redundant from my Blackford Wharf [was Castlebrook Sidings] micro, so I wondered if it might be used here instead. In my previous post I mentioned about skewing the tracks onto a diagonal … I have retained the 3-2-2 Inglenook shunting puzzle but now have a kickback siding from the 3 wagon siding at the front. Definitely looks better than the previous version with the dummy shed tracks at the rear!! Scenically, I am planning: 1) to have a retaining wall at the rear (Scalescenes), with the Loco Works (Hornby magazine) in low relief at the higher level 2) A road over the headshunt at the left end of the board by a small overbridge (Scalescenes) leading to an access ramp running down across the front of the layout (this will be in half relief, so the layout viewer is “stood” in the middle of that road) 3) Very low relief terrace house fronts (Scalescenes) at the left end, will give the impression that the line exits via the headshunt under the road bridge 4) The two 2-wagon sidings of the Inglenook will feed into a (low relief) modern industrial unit (Scalescenes again!!) whilst the 3-wagon road will terminate at the doors of a further shed (low relief single road diesel shed by - you guessed it - Scalescenes!) 5) The kickback siding will serve either a hoist or overhead crane (Ratio!!) depending upon room. 6) Left hand end of the board will be enclosed by railway arches between the bridge and the access ramp - possibly with store buildings built into them. The recent magazine article on Heywood Wagon Works has been inspirational (very local to me) - DRS Engineering will therefore be a wagon works that may occasionally service small shunting locos! (Save the turntable for another day!!) Updated photos in due course! HOURS OF FUN! UPDATE My previous post has reappeared (below this one) and I had already taken a photo of the track plan changes (ignore spare track at the rear of the board!). Very odd! At least the ideas outlined in this post match the ones I wrote of previously! This out of sequence stuff all feels a bit wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey ... Edited January 2, 2022 by SteveyDee68 Reappearing post!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 (edited) A rethink of Blackford Wharf [was Castlebrook Sidings] left me with a spare left handed set track point, and it seemed a shame for it to go to waste... Two pieces of track need trimming slightly to fit, but I am liking this new trackplan more than the earlier version I arrived at! What I do have is a 3-2-2 Inglenook puzzle (which will provide shunting fun), with an additional kickback siding for posing stock on! I still want to use the Scalescenes low relief wagon works kit, but I am now pondering retaining walls at the rear with the works set above and behind*; the left hand end could have an overbridge to act as a scenic block to the end if the line, perhaps with an access road running down a ramp from the front left. A hoist (or overhead crane, depending upon the available room sits over the kickback siding. To the right, a modern industrial unit is served by the two sidings (the doors being closed to give as much room on the sidings as possible. (I may model the front siding door open with a dummy wagon parked just inside ... hmmmm) The front right corner is the trickiest part to finish off - if I curve the siding so it finishes at a right angle to the side board, I wonder whether the entrance to a Scalescenes diesel depot (single track) might be a better solution? This is where a proscenium arch at the front will assist in hiding the edge of the scene from normal viewing positions. A few things to ponder, but I think at last I have a track plan and a scenario I can move ahead with!** HOURS OF FUN! * Shared units, see my earlier post about company names **I could swear I've said that before! Edited January 2, 2022 by SteveyDee68 Photo acting strangely / updated layout name 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 Mocked up the ramp at the front ... disaster! Even starting immediately against the high level road at the left, the ramp blocks nearly all sight lines to most of the layout! So back to the drawing board except... I am thinking now that the retaining wall at the rear isn't full height, but simply say half the height of the wagons! The street/buildings can then be serviced by a road and form a natural background, but the exit at the left must now be "disguised" ... HOURS OF FUN! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 As mentioned, Heywood Wagon works just up the road so to speak ... built new rolling stock etc. Trawling eBay for wagons, intention to either buy one-off "pristine" examples or create "pairs" of identical wagons, one of which is dirty/weathered, the second is "repaired and cleaned" or even "reliveried" ... Which means one shed road has to allow wagons to be shunted inside (and onto a fiddle stick!) It does mean, though, I can indulge in one-off liveried wagons of unusual types! DRS Engineering will be only servicing the very occasional loco, perhaps for the preservation movement! HOURS OF FUN! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 It’s been a while since I’ve updated this thread, but the thinking behind this micro layout design hasn’t changed, except in ensuring a wide enough road at the rear to serve the works building (being at a slightly higher level than the main yard). As a result, both rail and road access will be through gateways in the works wall at the left end of the layout, maybe with a works building at that end to assist with view blocking. The foam board baseboard itself hasn’t shown any signs of warping since building, which is encouraging. I feel mockups of the buildings will assist in visualising the final layout design. Meanwhile, plans slowly fermenting in my head for Burnstow Dock possibly mean a redundant baseboard some 4’ long by approx 16” wide might be freed up. I’m pondering the idea of DRS Engineering in 7mm scale, perhaps as a simple tuning fork design? Hmmmm… Let’s see what 2022 brings, shall we?! Steve S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Looking at the earlier photo of the track for a 3-2-2 Inglenook, the thought has struck me - is there room for coupling ramps for automatic coupling, or will wagons - once uncoupled - then be impossible to couple again? Maybe automatic uncoupling won’t be possible after all? The worst is where the three wagons sit - the uncoupler would be in the centre of a point blade! I feel perhaps a rethink might be required, if only about hands free coupling/uncoupling rather than the track plan itself. HOURS OF FUN! Edited January 2, 2022 by SteveyDee68 Typo (well, autocorrect error!) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Depending how adventourous you're feeling with mechanisms, it should be possible to devise an uncoupler that can be raised and lowered. It needn't be as complex (and thus as temperental) as the ones I built for Alexandra Wharf - a standard sprung ramp with a piece of thread or wire to pull it down out of the way when coupling up might work; a ramp can always be disguised as a section of inset track, or a simple foot crossing. Alternatively, look into coupling systems that use magnets e.g. the one where you glue little bits of wire to the droppers on the tension-lock arms, only install electromagnets underneath to again be able to control whether or not to uncouple. There are certainly ways, you just have to be a little imaginitive! Although I don't really have a solution for the issue of the collision with the point blade... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted January 21, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2022 I am about to start my own experimenting with Sprat & Winkle couplings which work with undertrack magnets. I have used them on fellow modellers layouts and they seem the most logical without too much modification to the stock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 10 hours ago, john new said: I am about to start my own experimenting with Sprat & Winkle couplings which work with undertrack magnets. I have used them on fellow modellers layouts and they seem the most logical without too much modification to the stock. Please feel free to share the results of your experiments here, @john new - I’ve read elsewhere about S&W couplings but the take away impression was that they are very good once set up but very fiddly to set up in the first place! Having said that, I have been cursing at Dapol’s ridiculously floppy tension lock coupling - they seem reluctant to couple with other Dapol wagons, let alone anything else! (I’d go three link, but I’ve used set track on my Blackford Wharf layout and, despite a design that avoids reverse curves, I still get buffer lock through the pointwork.) Words and photos very welcome! Steve S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 Re-tweaked the track layout and lost the kick-back siding in the process. Makes shunting easier as a reduced Inglenook although I may “fake” another siding alongside the headshunt. Looking to cut track to length (instead of approximating with set track components) and then wire it up - it only needs a single power feed, but being a ‘one engine in steam’ set up means I can add additional power feeds everywhere to help with running. Will then need to finalise sticking the track down and how points are to be thrown. All a learning curve, especially on a foam board baseboard! HOURS OF FUN! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 (edited) Long time since I updated here or indeed done anything with the board itself. However, a couple of nights ago as I cleared away boxes from off it, I had yet another rethink (I can hear you groaning from here!) mainly because I now have four (I know, I know) Victory tank locos and suddenly thought that DRS Engineering should be a place to show them off! The other thing getting me rethinking the setting was John Wiffen’s release of his new set of 009 buildings, which includes a corrugated iron version of the loco shed which immediately made me think it might be scaled up to “industrial” standard gauge. Kit purchased, track re-shuffled. Forget the 3-2-2 Inglenook - an unobstructed straight kickback siding to the front would be an ideal place to put my rolling road rollers when needing to run a loco in, making the micro useful as well as somewhere to photo locos/stock! Something else to consider - a rural setting? And raising the trackbed off the current base to avoid a “flat Earth” look (inspired no doubt by @NHY 581’s most recent layout). The problem (for me) is that that setting seems too ramshackle for DRS Engineering - why would a loco works be somewhere in the sticks? Definitely feeling torn. Someone said something about micro layouts being easier to finish … I’m still finding them hard to get started! HOURS OF FUN! Edited December 29, 2022 by SteveyDee68 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted December 28, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 28, 2022 On 21/12/2022 at 23:11, SteveyDee68 said: Long time since I updated here or indeed done anything with the board itself. However, a couple of nights ago as I cleared away boxes from off it, I had yet another rethink (I can hear you groaning from here!) mainly because I now have four (I know, I know) Victory tank locos and suddenly thought that DRS Engineering should be a place to show them off! The other thing getting me rethinking the setting was John Wiffen’s release of his new set of 009 buildings, which includes a corrugated iron version of the loco shed which immediately made me think it might be scaled up to “industrial” standard gauge. Kit purchased, track re-shuffled. Forget the 3-2-2 Inglenook - an unobstructed straight kickback siding to the front would be an ideal place to put my rolling road rollers when needing to run a loco in, making the micro useful as well as somewhere to photo locos/stock! Something else to consider - a rural setting? And raising the trackbed off the current base to avoid a “flat Earth” look (inspired no doubt by @NHY 581’s most recent layout). The problem (for me) is that that setting seems too ramshackle for DRS Engineering - why would a loco works be somewhere in the sticks? Definitely feeling torn. Someone said something about micro layouts being easier to finish … I’m still finding them hard to get started! HOURS OF FUN! For a while South Coast Steam’s yard on Portland was a prototype location. See my photo gallery of the site - https://island-publishing.co.uk/jalbums/South Coast/South Coast Steam (Repair works, Portland)/album/index.html. At the rear, the old quarry is now completely overgrown with shrubs and trees, so yes it appears to be in the sticks! For an aerial overview use the street address Tradecroft, Portland in something like Google Maps. Hope the link works Tradecroft Industrial Estatehttps://maps.app.goo.gl/FvoTYAE62eAmHQFi6?g_st=ic Now a road crane depot/repair facility. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted December 29, 2022 Author Share Posted December 29, 2022 13 hours ago, john new said: For a while South Coast Steam’s yard on Portland was a prototype location. See my photo gallery of the site - https://island-publishing.co.uk/jalbums/South Coast/South Coast Steam (Repair works, Portland)/album/index.html. At the rear, the old quarry is now completely overgrown with shrubs and trees, so yes it appears to be in the sticks! For an aerial overview use the street address Tradecroft, Portland in something like Google Maps. Hope the link works Tradecroft Industrial Estatehttps://maps.app.goo.gl/FvoTYAE62eAmHQFi6?g_st=ic Now a road crane depot/repair facility. Interesting - had a good look and then another on Google maps… I was going to ask whether there were any turnouts in the yard, as your plan seemed to say not, and then Google maps confirmed separate tracks… would make operation a bit tricky for a micro, having to crane stock from one line to another!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john new Posted December 29, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 29, 2022 1 hour ago, SteveyDee68 said: Interesting - had a good look and then another on Google maps… I was going to ask whether there were any turnouts in the yard, as your plan seemed to say not, and then Google maps confirmed separate tracks… would make operation a bit tricky for a micro, having to crane stock from one line to another!! Agree, I was thinking adapted track plan on same site or when I drew that plan just for static kits etc., as a diorama. If I was adapting it for running, but keeping it based on the island, it would be shifted about half a mile east to the site of the former Sheepcroft Sidings. A prototype there for an inglenook style layout. Operational until 1965, but the branch could always get fictionally preserved. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted December 29, 2022 Author Share Posted December 29, 2022 6 hours ago, john new said: Sheepcroft Sidings. Oooh! One for @NHY 581!! Steve S 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Have been reading (and re-reading) the book by James Hilton (of Planet Industrials fame) “Small Layout Design” and it has made me reconsider my current designs for layouts. It doesn’t help that one of his plans is a better interpretation of High Peak Wharf than my own (Blackford Wharf) which is making me rethink that plan/layout (!) However, his thoughts on layout design and particularly his own Pont-y-Dulais layout got me massively rethinking DRS Engineering to the point of starting over to try to use his ideas of scene blockers etc… So here it is, slightly (ever so slightly) progressed as there is now cork covering the entire baseboard area. Paper cut outs of Scalescenes buildings together with indications of area coverage are helping me visualise the yard area… HOURS OF FUN!* * when I should be doing other stuff!! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 8 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said: Have been reading (and re-reading) the book by James Hilton (of Planet Industrials fame) “Small Layout Design” and it has made me reconsider my current designs for layouts. It doesn’t help that one of his plans is a better interpretation of High Peak Wharf than my own (Blackford Wharf) which is making me rethink that plan/layout (!) However, his thoughts on layout design and particularly his own Pont-y-Dulais layout got me massively rethinking DRS Engineering to the point of starting over to try to use his ideas of scene blockers etc… So here it is, slightly (ever so slightly) progressed as there is now cork covering the entire baseboard area. Paper cut outs of Scalescenes buildings together with indications of area coverage are helping me visualise the yard area… HOURS OF FUN!* * when I should be doing other stuff!! James Hilton's book is definitely a great tool for designing micro layouts! I think he's currently writing a follow up too which I imagine a lot of people will be interested in. Liking the change of layout composition a lot! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) I will draw up a plan for the revised layout, which has already been tweaked again after consideration of the points made in James’s book. Along the back of the layout running left to right is (1) a chimney in the corner emerging from a modified industrial boiler house in low relief, (b) the low relief locomotive works (as per the Hornby Magazine give-away!), five bays long in total. This is all back at ground level and is once again DRS Engineering itself (rather than a higher level, separate set of buildings). The access track to the works runs through a gated arch in front before a point gives access to a siding running into the last bay of the works building on the right, which extends forwards in depth to allow the siding to run into it. The near track from the point runs in front of the bay to form a headshunt giving access back to a two road shed to the left which effectively acts as a view block to the track exit behind through the gate. This will be the Scalescenes “modern diesel depot” tweaked as a running repairs shed, representing a replacement building to the original (which would have matched the works building at the rear). On the right hand side, the headshunt track ends in another doorway into the works (doors closed) and a further (ultra low relief) bay extends forward at 90° to the rear building (so the works is in a large L shape, with the long arm along the back). This may be tweaked into a two storey building representing works offices on the second floor. The industrial water tower sits just in front of the headshunt track, again to act as a view blocker at the right hand end. As per James Hilton’s articles, a facia across the front provides “wings” on either side to further limit views into the layout. I’ve also identified some shelves behind my modelling table which can be removed in order to provide an eye level home for the layout, the whole thing sitting snuggly beneath a higher, deeper shelf that acts as a “lid”. Diagram to follow shortly (and a picture is probably still worth a thousand words!) HOURS OF FUN! Edited February 26, 2023 by SteveyDee68 Further description 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 13 hours ago, luke the train spotter said: James Hilton's book is definitely a great tool for designing micro layouts! I think he's currently writing a follow up too which I imagine a lot of people will be interested in. Absolutely agree - it has been well thumbed since it came into my possession a couple of weeks ago. I hope he is thinking of writing a further volume, as that will definitely join my library too. Of course, his plan for what is now High Peak Junction has really put the cat amongst the pigeons, as now I can’t decide whether to replan Blackford Wharf or just build a totally new version to match his plan! Steve S 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ELTEL Posted February 23, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 20/02/2023 at 12:08, SteveyDee68 said: Absolutely agree - it has been well thumbed since it came into my possession a couple of weeks ago. I hope he is thinking of writing a further volume, as that will definitely join my library too. Of course, his plan for what is now High Peak Junction has really put the cat amongst the pigeons, as now I can’t decide whether to replan Blackford Wharf or just build a totally new version to match his plan! Steve S I was chatting with James Hilton at Doncaster Exhibition, and yes he has a second book planned with no firm publishing date as yet, but maybe next year. He tells me the first edition has sold out. Terry 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 26, 2023 Author Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) Well, it took a little longer than planned but here is a plan for the layout… The water tower may be moved to the alternative position and there may not be as much room as shown for a portacabin and weighbridge/office to fit by the gate. Going by James’s ideas on view blocking, I thought that the Scale Model Scenery low relief modern office block might work well in the front right hand corner to act as a view block to the right hand end. Having purchased the kit, am currently kitbashing it into a full relief structure. All a little rough and ready right now (base layers) it adds some 50mm of depth and a chunk of height. The two tracks both run into the works at the right - there will be doors and building ends here in low relief. The rear siding will no longer run into the final bay, but remain open - possibly there will be an overhead crane into the rear works building, but that depends upon how crowded it looks! HOURS OF FUN* * When I should be busy doing something else, of course!! Edited February 26, 2023 by SteveyDee68 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 Hmmmm… How to hide that corner in the backscene at the right rear of the layout… Ideas on a postcard as I am stumped! Meanwhile, the water tower is definitely not going to fit where planned (non-scale drawing gives more front to back depth than in reality! 🙄 A case of the “ever optimistic pencil” 🫢🤣 Steve S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) Came across this laser cut card kit on eBay and the thought has crossed my mind - might this emerge from the roof of the works building in the right hand rear corner? Would it sufficiently hide the “corner” in the backscene? If not, it might make for a less visually intrusive foreground structure than the Scalescenes industrial water tower (although space wise it may still be tight). Edited February 28, 2023 by SteveyDee68 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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