Louise Road, 2mm shed layout.

[Andy_C]

Hi

 

Loving reading of your journey, and looking forward to how it develops.

 

Could I mention the top r hand side of your plan? Where it says 'Temple on the Hill, those points would not necessarily be with the track direction, if you get my meaning. Any loco would have to go past, and then reverse onto the other track? Unless you have a plan showing this way for that config? Also could you not use curved points there so you have a lovely sweeping 2 1/2 foot curve? The points you have at 'girder bridge' are the 'correct' way round.

 

When I did my layout construction, I got advice on both these points (ouch), and took that advice. The more sweeping the curve, the more authentic it will look?

 

I used flexi and code 55 electro-frog points. I screwed my track down, as I knew later that once ballasted I could remove the screws, as the pva glue used for ballasting would hold the track in place. Cork or foam underlay is fine, until you ballast. I've spoken to loads of modellers at shows and they all said the same thing, the cork/foam will be ok until ballasted - and then it will just get noisy again...

 

Finally, code 55 double slips are lovely, but temperamental IME. If you are using any, lay them carefully and don't over screw them in. They will test the back-to-back accuracy of your rolling stock!

 

Also, what point motors do you intend using? This will influence whether you need to leave the point springs in or not.

Edited March 12 by Andy_C

[RikkiGTR]

@Izzy exactly my thoughts as well. Those points are only to ensure any train from any fiddle yard track can go through any part of the station (and vice versa) so I’d rather just have them closer to the fiddle yard, but I don’t have much room there as it is so I’m gonna have to do some fiddling around to make it work. 
No pun intended. 
 

I could always abandon the motorway idea and have a small river passing under that area, build up the scenery more so the points are in a more natural location. 
 

@Andy_C I’m using Peco point motors (PL 10 I believe?) so springs are ok. 
As for temple hill corner - the way it is now is the best I’ve been able to come up with. The points are that way so trains coming from the embankment direction can make it to the bay platform (uppermost track). I’ve also been told the crossover should be further along otherwise trains using them from either direction will foul the opposite line briefly. 
I just can’t quite seem to get it “all” right in my limited space. 

Edited March 12 by RikkiGTR

[RikkiGTR]

I've just picked up a rake of (5) Mk2 Pullman coaches from eBay for £115 which I'm very happy about. Kitchen, bar, parlour (x2) and 2nd class I think it was. I looked into them and apparently they were in use from the 60's until the 80's so maybe a little early for me, but I couldn't pass up on that price. Also grabbed a DCC-fitted Class 66 loco from Rails of Sheffield that was reduced quite substantially. This one is a little later than my era, but I equally don't care about that. I need more motive power and rolling stock, and worse case scenario I can re-paint later on. 

[RikkiGTR]

 

Track laying has finally begun.

I've decided - after much deliberation - not to use cork underlay. I don't need a shoulder for the ballast, and once I add that any sound deadening will be undone anyway (not that I need sound deadening out in my shed).

So I'm laying sections of points and drilling holes for motors first and foremost, track is being stuck down with strong contact adhesive rather than pins, being careful not to glue any moving parts. My templates will arrive tomorrow, mercifully, so I can get huge swathes of track done in one go. I can't wait. 

 

PS - my shed is a complete mess now, but having looked through many threads here I know I'm not alone in that. Not at this stage anyway. 

[Davexoc]

The downside to contact adhesive is that once laid it might be difficult to lift and adjust if you find running problems.

I laid all my track using small CSK woodscrews between sleepers (between and on the outside of the rails) to get and hold alignment, which also allowed me to add super-elevation on curves where required. Testing by running a variety of stock was then carried out and a few tweaks to iron out any problematic areas, before the whole lot was ballasted and glued down with PVA. Then the screws were removed and the resultant holes filled with blutac and more ballast/PVA.

Take your time and don't rush the track laying, there is nothing more infuriating than de-railing or auto-uncoupling trains....

[RikkiGTR]

@Davexoc yes I have since calmed down on my idea of “laying huge swathes of track in one go” as said earlier 😅

So far I’ve only fixed those 4 points in the first picture and ran multiple rolling stock through them over and over. 
 

I’m terrified of getting it wrong so I’m being meticulous about it. I’ll try using small screws for the few pieces of track leading into those points (across the embankment), if I can get a handle on that I’ll use that method for the rest. 

[RikkiGTR]

 

Templates finally arrived!

Now I can actually get to work. 

[RikkiGTR]

 

I’m making some reasonable progress now. Only part of the main circuits left to lay is the station throat coming across the “motorway” bridges. 

This section, unfortunately, contains an Electrofrog double slip which I’m considering omitting and replacing with a couple of points - I have an asymmetrical 3-way point as well and I’m thinking I’ll use the dock/scrap yard section of the layout as a test bed for complex point work. I can keep it isolated from the rest of the layout until I have it all working, whilst still having a good sized layout to play with test trains on. 
 

Please excuse my silly face in the photo. This was taken for my Facebook. 

Edited March 17 by RikkiGTR
Typo

[RikkiGTR]

 

I have indeed omitted the double slip from this section. There is another set of facing (left hand) points just below this and so I have achieved the same thing as a double slip with much less complexity (thankfully I have the space for it). 

Edited March 17 by RikkiGTR

[RikkiGTR]

 

Building bridges this evening. 
 

The single branch line will be the only “real” bridge. The mainline is just going to cross an embankment of sorts, with perhaps some kind of water feature beneath it/through it. 
I did plan to put a motorway under here but instead I’ll add a road bridge over the tracks at the station throat. 

[RikkiGTR]

 

The main station and surrounding industries and sidings are laid, as are the entrances to both ends of the fiddle yard. 
 

All that remains is to connect 8 fiddle yard tracks together and then I can start preparing for the DCC power bus. 

Edited March 19 by RikkiGTR

[RikkiGTR]

 

 

Pleased to report that my Prodigy Advanced still works after 11 years in (various forms of weather) storage.

The last loco I ran is also still loaded, which amuses me. Let's hope the loco remains in working order as well 😅

[RikkiGTR]

 

All track is laid now, and (not shown in these pics) I've marked everywhere I need to add dropper wires for DCC.

I've bought a bunch of wire off Amazon and come Monday I will begin soldering. All being well by mid week I'll have trains running at last.

 

Not looking forward to wiring up the point motors - I have 41 points by my count, and that is a lot of fiddling around I will have to do 😅

[RikkiGTR]

I've ordered another couple of finescale right hand points in order to create a run-around loop in the industrial area just in front of the fiddle yard. 

I'll reshape that area slightly to give the sidings more length, but I think a run-around loop would be wise when I plan to haul a train of wagons in there to begin with, be easier to take them back out with the same loco. 

[RikkiGTR]

 

Wiring has begun, although I’ve found something I genuinely detest in all this: soldering. It’s so fiddly and I can’t figure out what difference flux makes - aside from more mess 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

But whatever, I’ve got the DCC Bus connected to most of the layout so far despite the difficulty. And once I have the point motors and wires installed I can set about adding more cross beams underneath (bus wires left slack to allow placement of these later). 

[RikkiGTR]

 

Got the fiddle yard wired up today, as well as fixing my little DMU.

 

Tomorrow will be spent making the final alteration to the track plan - I'll be extending these two sidings out further and adding another run-around loop:

 

 

 

 

[RikkiGTR]

 

 

New longer sidings with runaround loop has been added, and I'm happy now with the track plan.

 

I think I'm subconsciously stalling because the next item on the agenda is wiring up all the point motors and to be honest I don't even know where to start. 

I don't know how to "bring them all" to a control panel, I don't know if I should break the layout up into multiple banks of point motor switches, I don't know how many CDUs I need, I don't know how much wire I will need or if I'll run out half way and not be able to acquire that particular wire again. I genuinely am dreading this...

 

But to be fair, before I even started this shed I had never once insulated anywhere, or added panels, or built a table (never mind several tables that I've got matched level despite being on a slope), I had never even touched flexi track.

And yet here I am, doing it all myself. 

 

Still, if anyone knows of a good guide for installing a LOT of point motors on a layout, point me in the right direction please 😬

[Davexoc]

I think you need to visit the Power, Control & DCC section for a browse. That should give you some pointers.

I'm assuming you are using solenoid point motors as you talking CDUs. You should only need one of the right size, which depends on how many solenoids you are firing in one go.

Have you decided on how you select changes? You could trigger using probe and studs, or momentary toggle or push button switches, or DCC command.

Are you route setting or just looking to switch individual points? (two points in a crossover can be counted as one, because there is no point in changing just one...)

 

Sorry I can't really help much more, but I went down the Cobalt slow action motor route with toggle switches for the mainline, manual rod push/pull for the yard and shed area, but PLC controlled full route setting with slow action motors for the fiddle yard.

[RikkiGTR]

@Davexoc im using solenoids (Peco PL-10 I believe) for the visible layout, and side-mounted point motors for the fiddle yard since there’s no need to hide them. 
I have all the solenoids and passing contact switches here since I originally bought all the equipment for my first attempt 11 years ago. 
 

I did wire one up back then just to see if it would work (which it did), but this layout whilst being slightly smaller has sooo many more points. 
I have a Gaugemaster CDU as well, but I read somewhere they only control 4 points. Although with your comment I assume that just meant “at a time”. 
 

I’ll go have a look through the Power, Control & DCC section as you recommend. I just don’t know where to start. 

[RikkiGTR]

Another minor change being made - this may have been recommended here or on the N Gauge forum so I take no credit for it.

I've discovered that when running trains on the anti-clockwise line I need a way to get to the central avoiding line from there without fouling the clockwise line, so a couple more curved points have been ordered to remedy this.

I was told about this when planning the layout but it's only in practice that I realised how important it is.

 

[RikkiGTR]

Re-laid the station throat as described in previous post, and set about getting some ballast down on the branch line to test out my ability in that department. Looking good so far.

 

[PaulCheffus]

Hi

 

You might want to put the sleepers in at the ends of the points before ballasting any more track as it might be quite difficult to get them in afterwards.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[RikkiGTR]

The points that I have painted with rust are now quite bad in terms of electrical connection.

I need a way to clean the rust off the top of the rails, and in particular around the point blades which I believe is where the worst issues are. I'm wondering if I could use my Dremel to "buff" these areas, or is there a better solution? 

[Davexoc]

Some people don't approve of them, but a Peco track rubber is what I use. Or you could use a very fine nail buffing pad, but buy one and

don't borrow, otherwise you might end up in trouble....

I'd be very careful with a Dremel in case it snagged and pulled a switch rail out of the tie bar...

Edited April 14 by Davexoc
spelling

[RikkiGTR]

I used an emery board for in between the point blades and stock rails (the small part where they meet). I did this after applying some IPA with a cotton bud. 
 

Seems to have done the trick, as all my locos run over the points perfectly now. Aside from a single loco (a brand new Class 58) which stops dead on all siding points, yet runs around the mainline loops, pulling a rake of carriages without any issue at all.