Will's Garage Layout

[CWJ]

Hello,

 

I'm back on RMWeb after a gap of about 8 months... one day RMWeb was there, the next everyone had disappeared! I must have missed the announcement that a new one had been built. I found it eventually and have been 'just visiting' (as they say in Monopoly) for a few months, but progress in the garage has led me to dive in with a forum topic again.

 

Some of you may remember my thread on the previous RMWeb about my garage conversion to a model railway room... well, maybe a couple of you. Okay, perhaps just one? Anyone? I also made some notes on P4 pointwork construction using Exactoscale and C&L kits, very much from the beginner's point of view!

 

If anyone's interested I'll carry on where I left off with some photos of the garage conversion, here's a taster:

 

Before...

 

...during (insulation of walls)...

 

...and after (sorry about the mess).

 

I'll leave it at that as this is my first post on the new website so I want to make sure it works. If you want to know more, please shout! I'd be happy to post more photos & explanations.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[hayfield]

Will

 

Look forward to your next posts,as it will make an interesting thread. Thanks for shareing it with us.

[Ohmisterporter]

Welome back Will, I wondered where you had gone. There were several of us following your garage conversion with interest. Now you've found us please stick with us.

 

Geoff.

[smudgeloco]

Where there's a Will, there's a way!

Welcome back Will, please show us more.

[Bloodnok]

I also made some notes on P4 pointwork construction using Exactoscale and C&L kits, very much from the beginner's point of view!

 

I'd love to hear some more on this - I'm going through the beginner process at the moment, with the Exactoscale exhibition starter kit. I've threaded some chairs onto some rail, and cut some of the 60' bases into actual 24 sleeper 60' lengths, but that's about as far as I got. Must find more time (also, a workbench would really help, so that I can leave it out without feeling quite so guilty about occupying the coffee table in the lounge...)

[CWJ]

Thanks for the replies; I'll start by adding a link to the the old website:

 

P4 turnout construction: http://www.rmweb.co....hp?f=88&t=44240

 

(I won't be saying any more about the track construction, as this was put to one side while I converted the garage)

 

Garage Conversion: http://www.rmweb.co....hp?f=66&t=49070

 

 

Continuing where this thread finished...

 

This is the back wall of the garage (i.e. opposite end to the up-and-over door), fitted with timber studding at 60mm (2') intervals and some horizontal 'noggins' about halfway up the wall. The gaps between the timbers are filled with 25mm insulation board (see old thread for details) with holes cut out roughly where the electrical sockets will be.

 

The plasterboard sheets I used to panel in the insulation were carefully cut to size before fitment, including holes for the electrical sockets. These were cut out by drawing round the 'back box' of the socket and carefully cutting out with a Stanley knife. Many light cuts are better than a few heavy cuts, as the edge of the plasterboard can break away and then there is no way of fitting the plasterboard-mounted sockets I used. I learnt this the hard way! Plasterboard is easy to cut with a Stanley knife, by the way, although it wears the blade out quickly. It's quite hard to cut in a straight line when making a long cut, but I suppose like everything else practice makes perfect. Let's just say I didn't get chance for much practice!

 

The plasterboard in position on the wall. It was butted up to the ceiling by packing a few scraps of plywood under the bottom. The gap at the bottom will be concealed by the carpet and skirting board, whereas a gap at the top would need to be filled in. I used special 'drywall' screws which whizz through plasterboard and into the timber without splitting either. An electric screwdriver is worth its weight in gold here - the boards are quite heavy so it's handy to be able to screw them in quickly. Remember to thread the electrical cable(s) through the holes before fitting the board ...another one learnt the hard way! As noted on the previous thread, holes were drilled through the timbers for wiring. I ran all my wires round the room at exactly the same height above the ground so I knew not to insert screws in that area.

 

The back part of these sockets is recessed into the plasterboard and is clamped in place when the front panel is screwed on. They were a bit flimsy and I broke a couple by over-tightening the screws. If you're doing the same, I'd recommend spending a couple of extra quid on good quality fittings. If possible, I'd avoid this type of fitting all together and fix the back box properly to the brick wall behind.

 

Finished socket with the front panel attached. I'm an electrical engineer so I was confident to wire up the garage myself, but it you're not sure then you should always consult a qualified electrician.

 

Having completed the back wall, the side walls were attacked next. This one was fiddly because it incorporated a door and a window, but I left it until last so I could use up the smaller, left-over bits of plasterboard.

 

A little later, and the plasterboarding is finished. Many "happy" hours were spent filling in the screw holes and the joints between the boards - you wouldn't believe how time-consuming this was. Again, do yourself a favour and use a good quality filler rather than the cheap plaster I used. This kept cracking and had to be re-filled again. Finally, a coat of emulsion was applied by roller. I used a colour called 'light stone' because it was neutral and bright but had a 'mucky' quality that would bring out certain colours in the model railway scenery. The next photo shows the colour more accurately. By the way, the screws and joints were only filled above baseboard/backscene height, in the hope that the lower ones won't be too visible. It's only a garage, after all...

 

A final touch was the fitting of skirting boards - not for decoration but to cover the gap at the bottom of the plasterboards and prevent draughts. A mitre block was essential (for me, anyway) to cut the ends at 45 degrees. These were later painted (don't have a photo but I'm sure you can use your imagination) and that is pretty much it. The only outstanding job is to find some way of covering the insulation stuffed into the garage door (see old thread)... maybe some kind of tarpaulin would do.

 

I hope this makes sense and is interesting to someone. If you have any questions, please shout!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

PS. Next time in Will's Garage: The most weird and wonderful baseboards...

[trisonic]

Will,

New member here and I just spent a couple of hours reading your "old" thread on P4 points/track construction. Great read!

Looking forward to following this thread now........

 

Best, Pete.

[CWJ]

I'm ashamed to say that a whole year has passed since my last entry! The good news is that I can report lots of progress, in the form of baseboards and tracklaying around half of the garage. Unfortunately my old computer broke down a few months ago, and I lost all my photos of the baseboard construction, so the pictures below are quite recent.

 

Progress so far has been on the fiddle yard traverser and connecting tracks, all of which are non-scenic. On the other side of the room will be the scenic model. I have a detailed track plan which I'd love to show you, but unfortunately I can't recover this from my old computer. I'll keep trying, because it would take ages to draw again from scratch...

 

Starting at the garage door end, the double-track main line arrives at the traverser (bottom left). These non-scenic baseboards are build in 'Gordon S'-style (see the excellent Eastwood Town thread), albeit without the high standards of carpentry. Hornby 3rd and 4th radius curves have had to be used, not my first choice but a small price to pay for more accurate track geometry on the scenic section and a longer traverser.

 

A wider shot showing the 'down' end of the traverser, showing the eight storage roads. The rectangular board towards the top of the picture may one day be home to some loco sidings which align with the rearmost roads of the traverser. Track is laid on upholstery foam, a much cheaper alternative to products sold by modelling suppliers and fine for non-scenic areas such as this, where bright blue 'ballast' won't offend anyone!

 

Moving back along the room, the whole traverser is seen, with a Class 153 looking lonely on No. 7 road. The traverser is designed to hold a 2+9 HST set (that being two power cars and 9 trailers), a length of 3.3m or just under 11 feet. The deck, which runs on four heavy-duty drawer runners, was built in two sections bolted together, so I can seperate them and remove each for any future maintenance.

 

For the benefit of any other lunatics out there who want to build a traverser the length of a car, this is the supporting frame with the deck removed. It took over 6 months of trial and error to get the traverser working properly, including a failed attempt to motorise it. The lessons I have learned are, (1) to ensure there is zero longitudinal movement relative to the adjoining baseboards and (2) to ensure that when one end of the traverser moves, the other end moves by exactly the same distance (and preferably in the same direction!). The mechanism with the wire and pulleys ensures this (to save me from boring most readers to death, please ask if you're interested in a fuller explanation).

 

More photos to follow...

[60006]

I remembered this from the old RMWeb and having returned quite recently myself I was a little disappointed at not being able to find an up-to-date thread. But seeing this now means I can keep up with progress as it happens instead of having to read pages upon pages at once which is great.

Can't wait to see even more progress. It's looking excellent so far and I'm sure it'll be excellent once completed.

 

Tom N.

[CWJ]

...continued:

 

Where the fixed baseboards meet the traverser, small brass woodscrews are driven to precisely the right height (I made a simple jig to ensure they were all identical) and the rails soldered on. I'm not sure how long this arrangement will last, as there is no means of adjustment without de-soldering the joint. In retrospect, perhaps I should have soldered the rails to a slotted piece of copperclad board which was screwed to the board and supported by adjustable packing pieces.

 

Upon leaving the 'up' end of the traverser, trains pass over a very brief piece of 'normal' baseboard before encountering this monstrosity. It is a swinging section to allow access into the garage through the side door without crawing underneath the layout. This has been designed to accommodate future extensions to the layout at a higher level than the fiddle yard lines, not all of which would be directly above the double track seen here, hence the box-shaped construction.

 

For comparison, here it is in the open position. The swinging section is supported by a basic hinge at the top and a thrust bearing (the kind of thing you might use under a turntable) under the bottom. Apologies for the clutter in the background.

 

You may have spotted the crossover on the swinging section, nothing special about that, but at the other end is a turnout onto a siding. This will allow me to run trains directly onto my workbench for servicing, reducing (theoretically at least) the likelihood of me dropping precious locos all over the floor. The downside is that due to space constraints this turnout has to be right on the edge of the swinging section. Much to my relief it seems to work fine despite being hacked in half, so Peco's design is admirably idiot-proof.

 

My final photo for tonight shows the old IKEA desk which will become my modelling workbench; please excuse the clutter again. I will finish laying the siding later, as the bench is currenly a useful space for assebling bits of baseboard etc. and it would only get damaged. The double track will continue around the fourth wall of the room (which is currently almost concealed behind accumulated bicycles, planks of wood, tins of paint and the usual garage paraphernalia) back towards the big garage door.

 

I hope this is of interest - please feel free to offer comments, advice, mental health warnings, etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[Beresford Junction]

Hi Will

 

What a fantastic and very elegant feat of building / engineering you're constructing.

 

When are you planning to run your first trains?

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[Stubby47]

Very impressive !

 

From the plans on the wall in the picture of the desk, it looks like you have quite a bit to do on the scenic side. However, will the traverser travel all the way out ? From the plan it looks like the scenic section will get in the way.

 

Stu

[CWJ]

Thanks for the comments chaps, much appreciated.

 

Tom - Don't hold your breath, it might be another 12 months before you get the next update!

 

Phil - There will be an official 'first train' ceremony when I have completed the double track circuit. I'm deliberately not wiring up the track until this point, otherwise I'll be tempted to just play trains on an evening instead of finishing the remaining baseboards. I also have to make the dreaded decision on DC or DCC... but that's another story.

 

Stubby - Well spotted - yes, the traverser goes right out, to the point that it won't be possible to squeeze through between the front of the traverser and the face of the scenic part of the layout. However, I only envisage the traverser being in this position momentarily to shunt a train out; its normal position will be fully retracted. The diagram on the wall shows the full range of traverser movement, not just the size of the deck.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

[artizen]

Nice - keep taking photos of the build.

[Adrock]

Hi Will,

 

At the risk of sounding "me-too",your railway is looking very impressive. You have constructed the boards to a very high standard and it should be a great long run for HST sets. I have also built my layout into the garage, albeit in the loft space above, which is only half the length of the space. What a difference having the full length available.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing more updates.

 

Regards,

[James]

That's an impressive project coming along there!

 

It interests me as I want to sort out our garage at home - it's essentially a brick shell as it stands. It needs a new roof too! But the potential is there!!! Are you able to comment on the costs involved? By PM if you don't want everyone to know - I'm interested as it might help with budgeting and persuaidng SWMBO! Though we need new patio doors before then sadly

 

Oh, and can we see the plans which are on your wall?!

[Deev]

Beautiful woodwork - impressive stuff. I've learned something too - never thought of using brass wood screws on board joins rather than soldered on copperclad.

 

What is the theme of the layout?

 

Dave

 

[Poindexter]

Outstanding engineering. looks like its going to be as much fun building it as operating it.

 

Guy

[Donw]

Very impressive. I've used brass woodscrews at baseboard joints on an 0 gauge layout which worked fine. You do need a bit of wood to screw into rather than thin ply on edge. If you should have to adjust you could pack a brass shim in and resolder.

Regarding the electrical boxes these are normaly used in stud walls where there is no back to fix to. The skim coat on the plaster helps to hold it in place. The holes need to be cut level though as there is no adjustment. If you are extending an existing electrical circuit you can do it yourself however if its a new circuit ( or in a kitchen or bathroom) you either have to be Part P approved or apply for building approval it is costing me just to have someone check my work.

Don

[CWJ]

Thank you all for your comments!

 

James - The cost would depend on how much work you wanted to do - I spent between £300 and £400, including damp proofing, insulation, stud walling and electrics, but I did the work myself. No doubt you could multiply that number by 5 or 10 if you paid professionals to carry out the work for you. Don't let these numbers put you off, as it's only the cost of three big locos and you won't spend it all at once (in my case it took 18 months to convert the garage!). I can recommend using your local building suppliers rather than DIY superstores, as you'll get better materials for less money. Regaring the track plans, I would love to share them (I always like to see other people's track plans) but they are stored on a hard disc which has broken down - I'm working on it!

 

Dave - Trust me, the woodwork is far from beautiful if viewed close up! I'm keeping the setting of the layout quiet for the time being, as it will sound thoroughly ridiculous until you see the complete plan, but the Northern Rail Class 153 is a clue.

 

Guy - I hope operating it is much more fun than building it! Being quite a big layout, I'm already fed up of woodwork and I've only done half the baseboards...

 

Don - Thanks for the tips - I'm not expecting the brass screws to last forever as they are indeed screwed into thin ply as you rightly warn against. If/when they fail, I'll either replace them with something more adjustable or ensure they are screwed into something more solid. My wiring was an extension, as there was already a supply into the garage - I fitted additional sockets around the room and replaced a rusty old strip light with three double fluorescent fittings to give a good level of light for working. In case anyone's interested, I intend to fit a seperate lighting circuit for the illumination of the scenic part of the layout which will be as close a match to real daylight as I can manage, but that's another story.

 

Thanks again for your interest, if you have any other queries please feel free to shout out.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

[Donw]

Some of the 'Daylight' tubes produce a high level of ultra violet - useful for say keeping caged birds as it aids vitamin D production but can increase fading of scenery. Something to consider.

Don

[lezz01]

Hi Will.

Very nice work there mate.

Have you had any luck recovering the "lost" photos from your old PC?

Is the hard drive intact? If so you could try installing it in your new PC and running it as a secondry drive as long as you make sure to tell your PC to boot from C:/ it will label the old drive to whatever is next alphabeticly and shouldn't try to boot from it. As long as the old drive works you should then be able to recover whatever is on it and then transfer what you want to your new PCs main drive and then you can either remove it or reformat it to remove the old OS and then you can use it as a secondry drive to back up everything you don't want to loose if the new PC goes belly up on you. Then all you have to do is to swap the secondry out into the next PC. I'm not sure if it'll work if you have a different OS but its worth a shot. Hope this helps.

regards Lez.

[James]

James - The cost would depend on how much work you wanted to do - I spent between £300 and £400, including damp proofing, insulation, stud walling and electrics, but I did the work myself. No doubt you could multiply that number by 5 or 10 if you paid professionals to carry out the work for you. Don't let these numbers put you off, as it's only the cost of three big locos and you won't spend it all at once (in my case it took 18 months to convert the garage!). I can recommend using your local building suppliers rather than DIY superstores, as you'll get better materials for less money. Regaring the track plans, I would love to share them (I always like to see other people's track plans) but they are stored on a hard disc which has broken down - I'm working on it!

Thanks Will!

 

I think it would be a mix with regards who carried out the work - other than running cable ready for instalation I don't touch electrics! But fitting out internally wouldn't be a problem, my father in law's quite willing and he likes DIY, you just need to keep him in check as he's a little too keen with things sometimes! He also works at a builder's merchants which has come in useful!

[Peter Bedding]

Awestruck.

 

PB

[CWJ]

Some of the 'Daylight' tubes produce a high level of ultra violet - useful for say keeping caged birds as it aids vitamin D production but can increase fading of scenery. Something to consider.

Don

 

I'd never thought of that... although the scenery will be protected from real daylight by the blackout blind I've fitted to the window. Hopefully any UV in the layout lighting won't be on for long enough periods to cause damage.