G-Mac Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Carronvale is Falkirk MRC's new modern image "00" gauge layout. Consisting of 3 boards, the layout is designed to be easily transportable. This post probably should have been started along with the layout being started so lets take a step back a couple of months to the initial planning of the layout. The layout was designed as a small traction and rolling stock maintenance depot that is slightly run down but has been invested in recently with new shed and offices. The setting is somewhere on the Fylde coast not that far from Blackpool. To accommodate the large array of different rolling stock and traction that would be used on the layout it was decided that it would be on the outskirt of a substantial marshalling yard. Any DMU's that would appear on the layout for servicing would be mostly Northern livery 153, 156, and 158. It was outlined that it would have two sheds one for the traction side of things and one for the rolling stock side of things. A low level tack would also be installed running perpendicular to the front of the layout, it would consist of a 08 and engineers wagon on a timed shuttle, and it would serve the maintenance workers who are dismantling the adjacent low level track. The idea of the low level track is that it used to serve the resort of Blackpool with its many thousands of tourists each year but has been abandoned after the main route to Blackpool was rerouted. (All of this is made up, none of the above existed or happened). I should probably detail the make-up of the layout as well, the first board contained the fiddle yard, second board contained the fuel discharge point and fuelling point as well as the low level railway and board 3 contained the shed area. So the plan was set, using Xtrakcad a track plan was set out and a rough 3D visual of the layout was created using Google-Sketchup. It was decided later when the layout was started that part of the fiddle yard would be covered with a high level plinth containing a theme park (more on this to come) and the fiddle yard itself would utilise a motorised traverse system. http://www.falkirkmrc.co.uk/ The Initial 3D visuals of the layout. The boards arrive and the plans are laid out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Here are the pictures of the portokabins for the layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinburgh Junction Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Lovely layout! Love the portakabin and portaloo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimleygrid Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Looking at the 3D design that is going to be a very nice layout. I look forward to seeeing this one progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Another pic of the portokabins. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Moving on a bit here is the progress about a month ago. Track is peco code 75. The traverser is my own design which uses a rack and pinion system. The hard standing area is a plaster, water and pva glue mix. The low level railway can be seen taking shape in some of the pics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy haggis Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 hi g mac, yourproject is coming along just nicely i am sure when you get time to show your progress with up to date pictures B) rm web will be pleasantly surprised by your efforts Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 13, 2009 Author Share Posted November 13, 2009 If you have read the 1st post by me there is a mention of a theme park above the semi enclosed fiddle yard well progress has been made in this area concerning one of the rides for the theme park. Instead of getting one of the faller fairground kits I went for the the scratch build option, having never scratch built anything before it was quite a tough challenge. So what I came up with is ???Spin Doctor??? a white knuckle spin ride. The model is just under 2.5 ft tall with the rotating arm just over two ft. The whole ride operates as it would in reality, stopping in the ride station to change riders and then starting its cycle again. It also has 42 flashing lights on the main legs of the ride, they flash between white and green. There is still work to be done on the queue lines, around the foot of the ride and the motor housing built. If scaled up in real life it would approx match the worlds largest version of this type of ride. Some pictures are provided showing it. (a couple of dark ones show the lights better) http://www.falkirkmrc.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Craig Watson Posted November 14, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 14, 2009 Having seen this in the flesh during the building stage I can't wait to see it at Falkirk, I know a lot of time and effort has went into it! I've added the details of the show on the exhibition and calendar pages now too. Cheers Craig Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkie Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Wow, I love the look of this layout Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share Posted November 14, 2009 Here is the progress from the last few weeks. The track was ballasted with 2mm scale ballast (personally it looks better with OO than 4mm ballast) and then given a thick coat with sleeper grime. I want the layout to look dirty as if the facility has been there for many years. The grass is a mix of static grasses applied using the Noch scenic puffer bottle. I have found that it gives you great results without using an electrostatic Grassmaster. Here are a few pics of the grass as it takes shape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggzuk Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Hi G-Mac I was having a read of all the lasted posts and came across your thread. I am at the very early stages of planning a layout, much of it is still at the arm chair stage, but I was very interested seeing the use of Google Sketchup to help with your initial layout design. So I was wondering how easy you found it designing a layout plan. Did you import the track plan as an image to draw over? I have used Sketchup in the past for some building feasibility designs at work, but it did not cross my mind to use it for my "arm chair" work. Can I also ask how you created the trackwork and the wagons & loco? Regards Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share Posted November 14, 2009 Hi G-Mac I was having a read of all the lasted posts and came across your thread. I am at the very early stages of planning a layout, much of it is still at the arm chair stage, but I was very interested seeing the use of Google Sketchup to help with your initial layout design. So I was wondering how easy you found it designing a layout plan. Did you import the track plan as an image to draw over? I have used Sketchup in the past for some building feasibility designs at work, but it did not cross my mind to use it for my "arm chair" work. Can I also ask how you created the trackwork and the wagons & loco? Regards Paul Its been a while since I created the plans so I can't remember the full details of what I did, but the track, wagons and loco were from google sketchup's database of downloadable models. I created the track on sketchup by piecing together these models to form a rough plan of the track. I would not recommend sketchup for dimensional layout planning(I used XtrakCad track planning software for this) but for visual planning after you have got the rough track plan set, it is quite a good idea. I found that it let me see the layout as it might look from any angle, which was quite important being a club exhibition layout veiwed from many angles at shows. Hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentskj Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Looking quite excelent shame i cant come to the exhabtion to see it in the flesh More of these family comitments Sam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 14, 2009 Author Share Posted November 14, 2009 Pics of the pits and hard standing where the sheds will sit, note the electrical connections for easy removal of the sheds for transit. Both sheds are fully lit (both interior and exterior), I will get pics of the sheds up in the next few days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 Who said DCC was 2 wires? A view of the wiring on board 2 of Carronvale. All the electrics terminate on this board form boards 1 and 3 or feed off to boards 1 and 3. 37-way connectors are used to join baseboards throughout. In the background of the 3rd pic you can also see a section (its a big layout) of the clubs new n gauge continental layout "Fleckenkirk". http://www.falkirkmrc.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 Here is a pic of how board one is going to look, the plinth on top will support the theme park with a road on the baseboard join between boards one and two. Underneath is the fiddle yard with the motorised traverser and storage tracks.I have left a window to let the public at exhibitions see traverser system working. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
47707 Holyrood Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I will be keeping an eye on this thread. :icon_thumbsup2: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 The previous feeds have been a bit of a catch up to get to the current progress of the layout. So now we have caught up and are up to date so here are some new pics taken last night when I lit the layout up properly for the first time. More pics will follow over the next few days. Now for the technical bit, the lights are a mixture of LED's and grain of wheat bulbs. The grain of wheat are used for shed interiors, the crane, and the fuelling point. The LED's are used for the various types of yard spot lighting. Comments are welcomed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruced2 Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hi G Mac, Great looking layout there cant wait to see it at Falkirk keep up the good work' Bruce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Craig Watson Posted November 18, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 18, 2009 It was looking good last night with the lights and fairground ride working! You've done a great job G-Mac :icon_clap: Cheers Craig Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Very very nice! I loke the portacabins and the way the 2 sheds sit together ok. Shows, like you said, some investment has been made in the facility. What make is the crane? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 Very very nice! I loke the portacabins and the way the 2 sheds sit together ok. Shows, like you said, some investment has been made in the facility. What make is the crane? Thanks Thanks very much for the comment. The crane is a Knightwing plastic kit sprayed with a red oxide primer and four grain of wheat bulbs added. I have attached below a more close up image of the crane. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwrman Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Hi, in some of the above pictures it shows a Gaugemaster shuttle unit how does this work with DCC. Nigel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Mac Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 Hi, in some of the above pictures it shows a Gaugemaster shuttle unit how does this work with DCC. Nigel. Thanks for the comment. The layout employs both DCC and DC control. The ground level track eg, the sheds, fuelling point and traverser are all under DCC control. The low level railway is using conventional DC as there will be only one locomotive going back and forth on it (class 08 with engineers train probably). The shuttle unit is attached to the low level DC section. DC and DCC are completely separate on the layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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