Woodburn - TT:120 BR Blue and dirt.

[froobyone]

Hi all,

I have finally got the baseboards corralled into some kind of oblong herd. It's baseboard shaped. It's a baseboard. I laid some Hornby setrack on it to try and get a sense of scale and it's plenty scaley. The first train was run on the track/board today, although I'm not sure if an 08 and two vent vans counts as a train. It's been a tough build so far, but I'm hoping the heavy stuff is done now. I do need to add some latch clips to the sides where boards join and I also need to replace-in-place all the screws that hold the leg hinges as I knocked one of the legs earlier and it pulled all the screws out! Mostly because I used smaller screws to avoid them making tank traps on the top, but clearly I was too conservative. 

My main area of uncertainty was the three square pieces in the middle. Because 1) they are in three pieces because that's how I had to have them cut. 2) I didn't have any wood left to give them their own legs and 3) and hadn't thought it through. As luck would have it, because I also it seems can't math, I did in fact have eight legs left. I rejoiced, prematurely as it turned out, as I didn't have any leg hinges left! Not to be thwarted, I added batons to the bottom of the frames and the middle part sits happily on them. 

As to the long middle sections at each side, I've had to make them moveable to allow access to the central area. So these are sat on metal brackets that are screwed to the frames but allow those sections to slide out like a well-oiled machi- like a Morris that's been stood idle for four thousand years. Pic below. (Of the brackets, not the four thousand year old Morris).

 

 

My next problem is working out how I'm going to elevate the trackwork and town on the North side and allowing the viaduct on the South side. I've got a shed load (it came with my shed) of polystyrene which I've been keeping for this task, but because I'm motorising the turnouts, wherever turnouts are situated will have to be wood. Not only that, but I'm going to have to cut through the main baseboard to allow access. Giving myself nightmares over all that.

I am however still pleased to have got the hard part out of the way and as the ferrous fox once said "just rejoice at that news..." 




Until next time

Your friendly neighbourhood Froobyone (also Dan)

[froobyone]

All the best to my fellow Webbers. 

I hope there's a train set under every tree.

Dan

[froobyone]

Hi all.

Long time no progress..

Well, once the baseboards were constructed, I hit a block. I'm really not sure or confident that TT:120 is the way to go for me.
 

I chose the scale to allow some scale length trains to run, but the reality is, it'll be months, possible years until there's enough stock to be able to even put two rakes together. I'm also not confident that Hornby won't pull the plug at any given moment. This has been keeping me up at night and it's actually causing me stress. Model railways shouldn't cause you stress.

I'm going to use the already built baseboards and lay out some OO track to see how cramped it looks and see if it can inspire me to come up with a reduced layout that still ticks some of my boxes. However, deep down I know it is going to look cramped and have no feasible way to run anything near a full rake of coaches. I do have a couple of EMUs and I've always had a penchant for Southern/NSE. Maybe I could build something for them, but that is a long way from my dream of running HSTs. First world problems right?

I'll keep you posted when I know what I'm doing with my life...

Best

Daniel

 

[osbornsmodels]

there is always the 'N' option if you want to run full length HST's or Azumas but it won't be too long before Hornby releases TT 120 rakes. Don't get stressed Model Railways should be the antidote to stress.

[woodenhead]

If you want realistic train lengths then really N is the way to go.

 

A HST or an Azuma, a Deltic or a 50 on ten coaches.

 

N is not as hard as you imagine.

[froobyone]

 

50 minutes ago, osbornsmodels said:

there is always the 'N' option if you want to run full length HST's or Azumas but it won't be too long before Hornby releases TT 120 rakes. Don't get stressed Model Railways should be the antidote to stress.

 

3 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

If you want realistic train lengths then really N is the way to go.

 

A HST or an Azuma, a Deltic or a 50 on ten coaches.

 

N is not as hard as you imagine.

I did embark on an N project about twenty years ago, but even with twenty-year younger eyes, I struggled to see it properly. I appreciate the suggestion non the less. 

Since my above post, I have mocked up a OO double track. It'll fit a five coach HST set. Not terrible, but also less than desirable. 

I think I need to spend some time meditating to the sound of screaming Valentas.

Best

Daniel

[woodenhead]

My eyesight is deteriorating but I’m still wedded to N.  Had a dabble back in OO but could t part with the N and now I even do soldering jobs on them.

 

About to give 2mm FS a dabble.

 

There was a time I felt similar to you but I was drawn back.

 

Modern N is not like N of twenty years ago.

[TT100 Diesels]

7 hours ago, froobyone said:

Hi all.

Long time no progress..

Well, once the baseboards were constructed, I hit a block. I'm really not sure or confident that TT:120 is the way to go for me.
 

I chose the scale to allow some scale length trains to run, but the reality is, it'll be months, possible years until there's enough stock to be able to even put two rakes together. I'm also not confident that Hornby won't pull the plug at any given moment. This has been keeping me up at night and it's actually causing me stress. Model railways shouldn't cause you stress.

I'm going to use the already built baseboards and lay out some OO track to see how cramped it looks and see if it can inspire me to come up with a reduced layout that still ticks some of my boxes. However, deep down I know it is going to look cramped and have no feasible way to run anything near a full rake of coaches. I do have a couple of EMUs and I've always had a penchant for Southern/NSE. Maybe I could build something for them, but that is a long way from my dream of running HSTs. First world problems right?

I'll keep you posted when I know what I'm doing with my life...

Best

Daniel

 

 

Don't stress Daniel, the promised land lies somewhere between TT120 and OO. 

 

You can still use your TT120 track. Join the dark side, have a punt at 3mm or TT100 as I like to think of it 😉

 

 

Tempted? All the locos are from Lincoln Locos except the 31 which is Triang TT3. They did require painting though. However, there is a sense of achievement that comes with working in the scale.

 

Joking apart, I hope you find a way forward and enjoy what you choose to do. But please don't stress about it.

 

[Porfuera]

On 03/02/2024 at 14:33, froobyone said:

Well, once the baseboards were constructed, I hit a block. I'm really not sure or confident that TT:120 is the way to go for me.
 

I chose the scale to allow some scale length trains to run, but the reality is, it'll be months, possible years until there's enough stock to be able to even put two rakes together. I'm also not confident that Hornby won't pull the plug at any given moment. This has been keeping me up at night and it's actually causing me stress. Model railways shouldn't cause you stress.

 

Keep the faith... at least until the 'big' announcement in April...!

 

I can't see Hornby canning it now (famous last words...!) because there have been plenty of sales and the blue HSTs are supposed to be here in Spring (the Executive ones even earlier) although the pessimist in me says you should add at least a month to those dates given that the TTAs were about a month later than they were supposed to be (and ignoring the fact that they were about nine months late overall).

 

Sadly the Class 50s appear to have been put back to Summer, which means it looks like I'm going to have a rake of blue/grey Mk2s pulled by a blue Class 08... oh, well, never mind...

 

I'm probably not helping, but why not wait and see whether Hornby have anything show off at Doncaster and Model Rail Scotland?

[froobyone]

51 minutes ago, Porfuera said:

 

Keep the faith... at least until the 'big' announcement in April...!

 

I can't see Hornby canning it now (famous last words...!) because there have been plenty of sales and the blue HSTs are supposed to be here in Spring (the Executive ones even earlier) although the pessimist in me says you should add at least a month to those dates given that the TTAs were about a month later than they were supposed to be (and ignoring the fact that they were about nine months late overall).

 

Sadly the Class 50s appear to have been put back to Summer, which means it looks like I'm going to have a rake of blue/grey Mk2s pulled by a blue Class 08... oh, well, never mind...

 

I'm probably not helping, but why not wait and see whether Hornby have anything show off at Doncaster and Model Rail Scotland?

I think waiting is good advice and see what April brings.

Thanks all

Best

Daniel

[froobyone]

Hi all,

I've decided not to wait until April and I'm going to commit to TT:120 now. 

I'm not going to have anything era appropriate to run on mainlines for some time, but a model railway is about more than just trains right? Right?

It might actually go in my favour, as I can't count the amount of hours I've wasted in the past watching trains instead of doing some work...

Made a start laying/roughing the trackwork. Everything is flexi and Peco turnouts. I was worried about making the curves, as the Peco flexi is pretty stiff. A consequence of having the track buried in the plastic I guess. I had the idea to use OO curves as a template to push against and it worked perfectly. Because I have four tracks curving, I used a 2nd radius for the inner tracks plus a 3rd radius for the outer tracks. I used the inside and outside edges. 

Next job is to figure out the wood shapes to elevate the track bed to allow for bridges in each scenic section. I feel another trip to B&Q is in there air.

Added pics of the roughing out.

Until next time.

Daniel

[bradfordbuffer]

23 minutes ago, froobyone said:

Hi all,

I've decided not to wait until April and I'm going to commit to TT:120 now. 

I'm not going to have anything era appropriate to run on mainlines for some time, but a model railway is about more than just trains right? Right?

It might actually go in my favour, as I can't count the amount of hours I've wasted in the past watching trains instead of doing some work...

Made a start laying/roughing the trackwork. Everything is flexi and Peco turnouts. I was worried about making the curves, as the Peco flexi is pretty stiff. A consequence of having the track buried in the plastic I guess. I had the idea to use OO curves as a template to push against and it worked perfectly. Because I have four tracks curving, I used a 2nd radius for the inner tracks plus a 3rd radius for the outer tracks. I used the inside and outside edges. 

Next job is to figure out the wood shapes to elevate the track bed to allow for bridges in each scenic section. I feel another trip to B&Q is in there air.

Added pics of the roughing out.

Until next time.

Daniel

Why build one tt120 when you can build two!😁😄

 

It's all smoke and mirrors 

 

If the Hornby tt120 doom some pridict happens...im sure small supply market will step in to fill in  demand and something like 3mm society will pop out at the other side if modelers want it

[froobyone]

Hi all,

Having had a busy couple of weeks making kits for customers, I've finally had chance to get some layout work done. 

I have decided on MDF for the raised trackbed etc. It's a bit heavier than the ply I was going to use, but I prefer the surface finish. I will be creating most of my road and path textures myself and then printing everything out. I think the MDF will give a better effect. The downside is that I have to cut all my wood outside and that requires compliant weather...

We did have a nice sunny day this week though, so I made a start on the front/town sections. I've also been setting the risers in place that the MDF will sit on.



I also bit the bullet and did a couple of outstanding jobs on the base boards. Finally crawling underneath and drilling all the bolt holes to fix the boards together and finishing off the latches that are on the outside As I turned 54 yesterday, I can tell you, this wasn't pleasant. -_-

Along the front edge of the scenic section will be the station access road. It bothers me that everything is so aligned with the board edges though. My original plan was to have the whole thing shifted 30 degrees, but the fact that is has to be possible to dismantle it, made the track breaks a nightmare. :/

 

 

I still have to jigsaw out two large squares from the baseboard to allow access to the underside of the MDF as there will be lighting in the station, on the platforms and for the point motors. I've also raised the road section with some heavy polystyrene sheet. I didn't want the station building to be too high but also didn't want to compromise the height of the bridge in the countryside section. 

 

At the other end the road will go underneath the railway and slowly incline to MDF level towards the back section. I'm doing it as split bridge design similar to ones we had in my city. Four main tracks and then two goods tracks.

 

I haven't got a solid plan on the town area yet. It will depend on how everything looks raised up and with the track in place.

 

Feel free to point out all my clichés. :D

Until next time

Dan
 

[froobyone]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I posted an update and that's because I've had a good dose of one step forward, two steps back. In the intervening time I've dismantled the whole baseboard and refitted all the legs with better screws. This was not only time consuming, but also morale consuming. It had taken weeks to put together first time around and to have to do it all again made me almost give up on the whole thing.

However, seeing the TT:120 HSTs get released gave me my second wind and I promptly rebuilt the boards, added the raised sections, painted it and even got as far as laying the first bit of underlay and track. This first curve will be the key that everything else is built off, so it's an important moment.

 

 

Building work then stopped as I worked on the island platforms that will form the main station. I had originally planed to laser cut and engrave the tops and walls, but engraving bricks at TT scale took so much time that I deemed it wasn't worth it. 

 

 

So I had to rethink things and decided to use the technique I used for some of my eBay kits, which is to create the graphics digitally and then cut them with the laser. I'm leaning towards producing these platforms as kits. Three platforms and the pre-cut prints. No idea when as I have to figure out how to post them safely. Once I've figured that out, I'll make three versions, some without yellow stripes, some like the ones below and some with the tactile paving strip.

In the version seen below, this were cut with the printed media bonded to the wood. However, I', not happy with the little cut out bits for the wall tabs and prefer to cut the wood and paper separately, despite it taking more time to do it that way. Quality first though right?

 

 

Final image is the platforms roughly laid out to get a sense of the scale of the station. It will comfortably fit a seven coach HST. Observant webbers may also notice the first Mk3 to grace the metals. It's actually the wrong colour for my first set, but the blue and greys aren't out at the time of writing. I plan to have a full rake of Swallow anyway, providing Hornby release a proper Executive set of power cars, not Swallow misreported as Executive...



That's all for now.

Thanks for reading.

Dan

 

 

[froobyone]

Hi all,

The Easter weekend afforded me some time to get some work done on Woodburn. 

I had been prevented from making progress due to a blocker. That blocker being the need to fit and wire my point motors before I started laying the rest of the track. It was a blocker because I've never fitted and wired point motors before and do so with much trepidation. However, rather than be held at a red, I figured if I make the sections with the points removeable, I can fit them when I'm brave enough and therefore, at least step up to a yellow.

My goal for today was to complete the loop, but I only managed to make it as far as the bridge (too far). The cutting and gluing of the cork took longer than I'd bargain for.

 

 

On top of that, due to using Peco flexi, I had to hand drill each hole for the track pins. Ironically, I never use track pins, the one time I do, the track is sans holes...

 

 

One thing I've always wanted but never had, is canted track. I think it ads a lot of drama to otherwise boring bends. To that end, I've raised the outer rails by approximately 6", which is 1.27mm at TT scale. I'm pretty sure for 7th radius curves the cant would be a lot less, but sometimes you need to slightly exaggerate to see the effect you want.

 

To help with track spacing and because I didn't want to buy something I could make myself, I developed a track spacing tool specifically for code 55 streamline, with a centre to centre distance of 35mm.  It was a bit fiddly to put together, so I redesigned it to make assembly easier and I'll stick them on eBay with the rest of my kits. It worked really well for me and even worked on the curves, which exceeded my expectations.

 

 

I've got a fair whack of scroll saw work to do on the boards each side of the bridge as the plan is to have the track on an embankment. I had planned on using my jigsaw, but I need something with a bit more finesse and a bit less jackhammer. Everything right of the tracks will be removed and on the left, it'll follow the curve of the track as it moves inwards.

 

 

Under the bridge will either be a river or canal. I'm leaning towards canal as I've never modelled one of those before (Editor: You've never done a river either!) and I'm really interested in pouring some resin.

 

My scroll saw won't arrive until next week, so I've plenty of time to get the southern curve laid and then onto the station and the BR wheel bearing maintenance facility.

Until next time and happy Easter all.

Dan

 

 

 

 

[froobyone]

Hi all, or at least the three people who read my build updates. o/

Work has continued. The last parts of the outer loop are now laid and connected. 

 

 

 

The southern tracks are a little sharper in the bends due to not wanting the tracks to look too symmetrical. All of the curve will be in a tunnel so I'm not too bothered about how it will look.

 

The tunnel mouth will be where the track goes straight for a little bit. I don't know why I went to the trouble of canting it, considering it won't be visible...

 

I haven't yet decided what will be used for the scenic break on this side of the layout. I'm leaning towards a bridge, but we'll see.

 

My mini scroll saw arrived in a timely fashion and so I was able to cut the wood out for the embankment. I managed to bend three blades... It also created a great deal more dust than anticipated. I was wearing a mask throughout, but I was also vacuuming bits on the opposite side of the boards. The next board will be cut outside and that'll be dependant on weather.

 

 

Despite there being no power to the track, it was still a breakthrough moment to "hand of god" a short rake around the whole thing. It runs to just under 1.2km at full scale. 

Still a fair amount of corking/track laying to do. The roads through the station and the siding etc for the BR workshop. I still have to commit to the track clearance with the platforms, as the 08 will not run through smoothly due to the rods sticking out. I suspect the A1 might have the same issue. I may temporarily add power to the front sections and run them both through a few times.

That's all for now.

Best

Dan

 

 

 

 

[froobyone]

Hi all,

No layout progress today as I've been spending a little bit of time designing a Pratt truss bridge for the scenic section. There will be two of them with a pillar in the middle. Despite my best efforts to get the width right, I didn't get the width right... No drama. Easy enough to rectify. I was originally hoping to get all the parts on one sheet, but I'm not happy with the overall depth of the structure underneath. So I think it'll end up being one and a half boards and I'll have a much beefier underframe.

With all that being said, I'm fairly pleased with how the first prototype came out and whilst it does increase the burn time considerably, I also think it was worth the extra to engrave the rivets and plates.

Hopefully I'll get the redesign done tomorrow and have a second prototype for the weekend.

 

That's all for now.

Best

Dan

[froobyone]

Hi

Just a little progress so far this weekend.

I energised 60% of the track and ran the first train today. Everything seemed to work fine with no derailments. I have yet to link up the countryside section, so as of time of writing, I haven't completed a full journey.

 

I made the changes to the bridge design -actually, I did it twice and only got it right the third time...

There is one more tweak needed before I'm 100% happy, but I'm happy with these two prototypes.

 

They still needed painting and weathering and I also need to glue in the wooden blocks.

 

 

 

Annoyingly, one of my riveted plates slipped before taking the below photograph. That'll teach me for using cheap rivets.

 

 

That's all for now.

Best

Dan

[RobAllen]

Great progress Dan

[froobyone]

1 hour ago, RobAllen said:

Great progress Dan

Thanks Rob. :)

[froobyone]

Final bridge iterations I promise.

It's final because I wrote final in the filename. I'm sure that's how it works...

I had to realign the centre holes for the ribs. I also used the last two prototypes to test two different primers and I've settled on the one I like best. Next job is the abutments. They might be challenging.

 

 

 

 

 

I did also manage to connect the countryside section and the first train completed the circuit this afternoon. Well, eventually it did. I had to do a lot of vigorous rubbing with a track cleaner first. 

Obviously I immediately fell into the trap I was trying to avoid, by watching the Scotsman chuff around for twenty minutes. I should have been working, but I've built six bridges over three days and I could do with some down time. Fat chance. I'll spend the rest of the night creating CAD drawings of the bridge to make the instructions. No rest for the wicked.

Best

Dan

[tjf4375]

I love that bridge! Looks like a superb layout in the making there, looking forward to seeing it develop 👍

[froobyone]

1 hour ago, tjf4375 said:

I love that bridge! Looks like a superb layout in the making there, looking forward to seeing it develop 👍

Thanks Tim. :)

[froobyone]

Hi all,

Work continues on track laying and bridge building. I now have two powered running lines, plus three platform lines laid and wired. The first two counter rotating trains were run this afternoon. It was a nice feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

Bridges have been painted, but not weathered yet. I still need to do the abutments, but I've been busy making the instructions for the bridge kit and I'm using CAD for the first time to do it. Took longer than anticipated.

 

I've got a couple of curves to cork and lay and then move on to the sidings. 

 

 

That's all for now.

Best

Dan

[froobyone]

Hi all,

 

I am pleased to report, the track laying epoch has ended. The sidings are down, live and connected to the main lines. There will be feastings and ale to celebrate the end of this very long, dark period. As a practising atheist, miracles come few and far between to me, but today I'm pretty sure I witnessed one. On fitting the last fishplate on the last piece of track, I reached into the holy bag of fishplates to find a single one. I had, somehow, managed to buy exactly the right number of fishplates. Despite not having the faintest idea how many track pieces I was going to use. I did have one spare flexi track left, so no one's  perfect.

 

 

The left side will have a small shed for storing/maintaining the gronk.

The right side has an extended siding to allow longer rakes through the works building. It's also where the TTA will be stored.

 

 

 

Despite knowing that there is still a tremendous amount of work to do, I feel quite relieved that I've got this part out of the way. I'm forcibly pretending that I don't have the horror ballasting to do next. Let me enjoy the moment.

"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." W Churchill.

Now I'm going to roast an ox and drink mead. Actually it'll probably be a sausage roll and a sip of Singleton.

Until next time.

Dan