P4 Fryers Lane v2.0

[Mark Forrest]

The trip to Statfold yesterday reminded me that in a moment of recent weakness I gave in to temptation and bought a diesel brake tender.  I'm not sure why really, I can't see that the traffic on Fryers (or any future layout I have in my mind) would justify one, rule 1 and all that.

 

Anyway,  I took it out of its box, gave it a quick look over and put it to one side while I focused on more important things.  Last night, I swapped the bogies over to a pair of Brassmasters compensated bogies that I put together a few years ago for something else.

 

It's sitting a little low and needs a spacer to set the ride height.  Cosmetic bogie sides ordered last night.  Nice little distraction.  Think it would probably benefit from some new buffers.

 

[Mark Forrest]

The plan is that this extended version of Fryers will occupy the wall adjacent to my modelling workbench, so providing a convenient test track and somewhere to take photos of my latest projects.  With that in mind, I'm quite pleased with how this view is working out.

 

In time, there may be an alternative building that could swap places with this one.

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

The plan is that this extended version of Fryers will occupy the wall adjacent to my modelling workbench, so providing a convenient test track and somewhere to take photos of my latest projects.  With that in mind, I'm quite pleased with how this view is working out.

 

In time, there may be an alternative building that could swap places with this one.

 

I think you've stored that colour film for too long!

 

Mike.

[2ManySpams]

On 02/04/2023 at 08:57, Mark Forrest said:

The trip to Statfold yesterday reminded me that in a moment of recent weakness I gave in to temptation and bought a diesel brake tender.  I'm not sure why really, I can't see that the traffic on Fryers (or any future layout I have in my mind) would justify one, rule 1 and all that.

 

Anyway,  I took it out of its box, gave it a quick look over and put it to one side while I focused on more important things.  Last night, I swapped the bogies over to a pair of Brassmasters compensated bogies that I put together a few years ago for something else.

 

It's sitting a little low and needs a spacer to set the ride height.  Cosmetic bogie sides ordered last night.  Nice little distraction.  Think it would probably benefit from some new buffers.

 

 

And a cab for the driver...

[Worsdell forever]

14 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

And a cab for the driver...

 

Never mind that, they call it a 'Diesel' brake tender, turns out it doesn't have an engine at all...

[sb67]

On 31/03/2023 at 21:18, Mark Forrest said:

Having spent the afternoon working on the layout, I thought I'd have a look at some stock for it tonight.

 

The extra siding space demands a bit more stock.  I've got a few wagons that are near finished, just needing couplings fitting to get them into a usable state.

So, I mass produced a batch of AJ couplings.

 

I'm enjoying the updates @Mark Forrest What is the box thing at the back of the cutting mat? Looks useful.

 

 

[Mark Forrest]

1 hour ago, sb67 said:

I'm enjoying the updates @Mark Forrest What is the box thing at the back of the cutting mat? Looks useful.

 

 

Thanks!

 

It's one of these maintenance stands from EBMA

https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=65_77&product_id=90

 

Yes, it is turning out to be quite useful.

[sb67]

Thank you Mark, that does look very nice and easy to use. 

[TheSignalEngineer]

11 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

Thanks!

 

It's one of these maintenance stands from EBMA

https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=65_77&product_id=90

 

Yes, it is turning out to be quite useful.

Got myself one recently. Very good when adding fiddly bits to the underside of stock as well as lubricating and wheel cleaning.

[Mark Forrest]

I made the most of the nice weather today by making the lighting beam for the layout.  Luckily, I had a couple of strips of ply in the garage that did the job.

Having the luxury of a van to shift the layout in meant I could make the beam in one piece rather than having a join in the middle.

As the layout is now longer, I've raised the front fascia slightly, but ensured that it still hides the top edge of the backscene from normal viewing distance.

[2ManySpams]

Are you still having the disco lights? Loved them.

[Mark Forrest]

10 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

Are you still having the disco lights? Loved them.

It looks like they do sunrise and sunset, but sadly no disco mode on these ones.

 

They are, however, adjustable from warm white to cool white.  With the old setup I had separate strips of warm and cool LEDs, this appears to no longer be necessary.

[Mark Forrest]

Just two weeks to go before the SWAG member's day in Taunton.

Last section of ballasting done today, along with a bit more of the base layer of greenery.

[Mark Forrest]

More progress with the layout fascia today.  Firstly, cutting a strip of hardboard to tidy up the bottom of the boards.

 

Then more painting...

 

I'd forgotten just how time consuming this stage of getting a layout ready is; but I do think it's worthwhile.

[Mark Forrest]

More painting this evening.

I'm sure, somewhere, I have the tin of paint that I used for the sky on the original layout.  Obviously now I need it, I can't find it anywhere, so the whole layout is getting a fresh coat of sky grey ("Brooklyn" from B&Q).

 

While I have the board on its back, there a short section of track that needed a dropper adding and there is an uncoupling magnet that needs attention.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Just like a set of IKEA instructions Mark!

 

Mike.

[Mark Forrest]

20 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Just like a set of IKEA instructions Mark!

 

Mike.

Let's see how many leftover bits I have when it's all assembled 😀

[Mark Forrest]

A much less productive day today with some time spent tidying up the mess I've created around the layout.

One important job ticked off the list though, the road crossing.

Like most of the plain track on the layout, the rear siding uses Exactoscale Fast track track bases.  Had I planned to have a road crossing here, I might have used something else for this section but this will do for now (longer term, there might be another turnout added somewhere around here).

I sliced as much of the chairs off as I dared, then added a framework made from some Evergreen strip.

I then added some planks (more Evergreen) on top of the frame.  Not perfect, but it will do for now.

[2ManySpams]

1 hour ago, Mark Forrest said:

A much less productive day today with some time spent tidying up the mess I've created around the layout.

One important job ticked off the list though, the road crossing.

Like most of the plain track on the layout, the rear siding uses Exactoscale Fast track track bases.  Had I planned to have a road crossing here, I might have used something else for this section but this will do for now (longer term, there might be another turnout added somewhere around here).

I sliced as much of the chairs off as I dared, then added a framework made from some Evergreen strip.

I then added some planks (more Evergreen) on top of the frame.  Not perfect, but it will do for now.

 

Not sure my Lima stock will fit through that crossing. Will bring the multi-tool with me on Saturday.

[wagonbasher]

Looking great with only a couple of weeks to go.  You haven’t started the fiddle yard yet have you.  No point getting ahead of yourself?

 

Andy

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Not sure my Lima stock will fit through that crossing. Will bring the multi-tool with me on Saturday.

 

This one perchance Chris?

 

 

Mike.

 

 

[2ManySpams]

10 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

This one perchance Chris?

 

 

Mike.

 

 

 

Far too subtle for Lima wheels Mike 

[Mark Forrest]

On 10/04/2023 at 21:18, wagonbasher said:

Looking great with only a couple of weeks to go.  You haven’t started the fiddle yard yet have you.  No point getting ahead of yourself?

 

Andy

Can't rush these things, plenty of time to build a fiddle yard 

[Mark Forrest]

A busy couple of days at work hasn't left much time or energy for working on the layout, although I'm pleased with how the paint on the backscene has turned out.  To be fair, after working on it all over the Easter weekend, I was ready for a bit of a break from it anyway.

 

Rather than anything productive, here's another posed photo of how it might look when it's finished.

 

[Mark Forrest]

A busy and exciting day on the layout today; the point levers I'd been waiting for finally arrived!

 

Oh, and Chris visited to work his magic with some green stuff too.