GloryDays Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 Hi all, I have been spending quite some time, on and off, on a layout and I think it's about time I told the world. The layout consist of three boards measuring 40x90cm (as Google tells me, 15 inches by 3 feet). It's designed to fit in an all-British modular railway. As such, the track plan is very dull, just a pair of tracks running along the boards. A set of points are included, just to learn about points, point motors, DCC buses, and so on. Quite some time is spent on the buildings on the layout, such as the tunnels shown above. I am going through the layout bit by bit to paint the tracks, do the ballasting and so on. The other two boards include a London Underground station large enough so that 6-car trains can halt there. It is all based on the oldest sub-surface lines (which are very close to the surface, rather than the deep-level tube lines) and stations such as Baker Street, Praed Street and Notting Hill Gate. I don't have the best pictures available to me now, but should get around to uploading some in the next few days. 9 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 Today was about repairing damage caused a year ago. The station's canopy has come loose. Some glazing panels have gone missing completely, most others have dislodged from the roof construction. Today, I have reattached the glazing panels. 14 out of a total of 24 are back in place. The others are missing and need to be rebuilt; I hope to rebuild 7 panels tomorrow. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GloryDays Posted April 25, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 25, 2023 Some more glazing was added today with only 5 panels missing. Too bad I have to lasercut these parts first. Here is a view of the station a train driver would get: Wgile the bridge may accidentally resemble a ready-made product, this one is made to measure. Here's the view a passenger might have: 19 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 27, 2023 Author Share Posted April 27, 2023 The roof is coming together nicely, so here's the view from under the canopy. Next up: painting and ballasting the remaining track. I also need to finish the wall to eliminate the light bleeding through from under the arches. 12 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 Wow, you've put a lot of work into this, coming along nicely. Just one thing regarding the track in the station area, would this be ballasted or built on concrete with escape or safety pit between the running rails? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 27, 2023 Author Share Posted April 27, 2023 1 hour ago, Jeff Smith said: Wow, you've put a lot of work into this, coming along nicely. Just one thing regarding the track in the station area, would this be ballasted or built on concrete with escape or safety pit between the running rails? Thank you. I've had to do a bunch of research on the ballastin in the station area. It's certainly true that the deep-level tubes are built on concrete and have safety pits. I am basing my layout on the much older sub-surface lines (the Metropolitan Railway for example) which are built much like mainline railways. These have traditional ballast. Long story short, the track i the station will be ballasted. There is a join in the middle of the station which needs to be dealt with. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 Ok, I wondered if that was the case. Have you ballasted before? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 27, 2023 Author Share Posted April 27, 2023 2 hours ago, Jeff Smith said: Ok, I wondered if that was the case. Have you ballasted before? I'm certainly not an expert but I've tackled another section before. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 28, 2023 Author Share Posted April 28, 2023 The last section of tracks is due to be painted and ballasted. First step is to take everything apart. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 In station areas, unless new ballast has been installed, the rail sides, sleepers and ballast tend to be basically the same medium to darkish brown due to brake dust and other ageing. Even the insulators are dull coloured. Positioning of the fourth rail is problematic in OO due to the underscale gauge. It is mounted on the sleepers and if installed a scale distance from the centre conductor will appear too far from the running rail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted April 28, 2023 Author Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) Very true! Eagly-eyed viewers will note that the 3rd and 4th rail are incorrect on Mind the Gap. This comes down to the modular nature. Every once in a while -usually once every month or two- all of us will get together and link up all of our modules and run trains on the combined layout. There are no rules on what trains we can run. I had failed to remember this when installing 3rd rails and 4th rails on the sleepers as per Peco's recommendations. This resulted in a crash of a Javelin onto the 4th rail... For this reason, my 4th rail is now safely tucked in between and under the level of the running rails. The 3rd rail isn't mounted on the sleepers for the same reason. It is also aligned to the power pickups on the Metropolitan Bo-Bo. Edit: Here's a picture of the 3rd and 4th rails and their isolators. Edited April 28, 2023 by GloryDays 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 (edited) I don't have much progress but I want to keep the momentum going. The running rails have now all been painted, there's 4 sections of rails to go. I would be quite happy when that job is complete and I can get on with ballasting. The platforms have been removed for this purpose. Edited May 4, 2023 by GloryDays Added picture 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted September 12, 2023 Author Share Posted September 12, 2023 It has certainly been a while... a whole Summer, in fact! I'm happy to report the ballasting is all done. All of the 3rd and 4th rails are in place and painted so both me and my rolling stock is on track 😁. Above picture was taken with the layout in its stored configuration; divided in 90cm sections. In other news, I had a fleet of 8 ex-LSWR 58' from when I was modelling the Isle of Wight. These wore nice SR olive and BR maroon liveries. Alass, they had no place running on the Underground in these colors. With a little use of Rule 1, let's say London Underground happened to strengthen its carriage fleet with these 58' coaches. They are close enough to Dreadnoughts for me to imagine such a thing. And I happened to borrow an airbrush so I could have a go at repainting my fleet. Here is my result until now: The close-up shows the unfortunate struggles my camera has in limited light. Overall I am quite happy thus far. The brown appears a bit lighter on the picture than it does in real life. It might be a bit too light, but I'll run with it. In any case they play much nicer with my London Underground locos. Next steps are to arrange London Underground decals and put the coaches back together. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 While I am waiting to get transfers, I am cracking on with building the layout and station. The layout is gaining a back wall and side walls while the stations are getting lit up by 60 LED lights. Here are the first two LEDs in action. In the dark, their effect is quite pronounced, but it's more subtle under normal lighting. Notting Hill Gate provides inspiration for placement of the uplights. At Notting Hill Gate, the platforms are lit by lights hung from the roof. This is very fragily and I expect the layout to be moved around a lot. I decided to go with light posts on te platforms. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjf4375 Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Some cracking modelling going on here - I love Underground layouts but there aren't many that focus on the older cut and cover stations. Looking forward to see how this progresses :) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 The cut-and-cover stations are among the most beautiful Underground stations and I believe they offer more opprrtunities for modelling all sorts of railroad traffic; especially when you consider the Widened Lines. On the other hand, the deep level tube stations are icons of London Underground. In any case I've been working on the lighting. Loads of LEDs fitted to the layout today, only to discover I need loads more. Oh dear! On a happier note, I am happy about the lights I've got. The arches need two LEDs each, but they can be fixed to, and hidden by, the station nameplates. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simon b Posted December 29, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 29, 2023 Great idea for a layout, any more pics? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I've been neglecting you in the holiday hustle... oh no! The attic / railway room has gotten new lighting, the old light only lit the staircase to the attic, but didn't give any light to work by. That has now been fixed. I'm also putting the layout up on its exhibition legs. It's been a while since our club has got together and I need to make sure everything still works. I have my work cut out, the cable management is very sloppy. I've got the oppertunity to install a background and a proper floor for the street level. I hope to complete the woodwork by the end of the month. Here's the current state of Mind the Gap. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjf4375 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Don't worry! Holiday madness is universal 😂 The layout is looking great, would love to see more pics if you have time to upload. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 A little progress is still progress. Today I've managed to cut and fit two boards for the street level. These can stay in place when I need to take the layout apart. If there is a derailment, the tunnel comes apart. That's also a fun feature at shows! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Another bit of progress. More street-level boards added and I am working on the third and final backscene. Next: fixing the new street boards to the tunnels below and painting the tunnels brown. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Yet another small step sees the layout coming out of the woodwork. Let the bad puns begin! I am also nearly out of wood so a trip to the DIY store is in order. I am also shocked that after building the layout for a few years, I have only new reached the stage of "empty canvas" ? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 I can officially tick the box marked "woodwork". The layout is now framed as my module club requires. A coat of dark gray paint is next. Then, I've got to get Mind The Gap ready for the first exhibition in years in Alkmaar, a lot of cleaning and testing is in the future. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 A quick update as I've polished the tracks today. The layout performs nearly as it should with power available to all straight track and one of the two points. The other point is my first problem. as is, I've installed Electrofrog point but rely on the contact between the point and tracks for power. The points are completely stock Peco points. The broken point only provides power when the diverging route is selected. On the exhibition, the straight route is used. I've wired the Electrofrog to provide power for the straight route. This would cause a short when the point switches to the diverging route; this is fine for now. The points will be disabled at the exhibition. My other problem is bitter irony. The 3rd (outside the running rails) and 4th (in the center between running rails) are prototypical for London Underground. I was testing the Heljan Metropolitan Bo'Bo; also correct for London. You'd think that would go together... but no, it doesn't. As it turns out the couplings on the Bo'Bo are very low. They interfere with the 4th rail... interesting, as the 4th rail sits below the running rails to prevent this exact problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Presumably it would foul a running rail in a point? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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