RSLR Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Superb modelling, your taste for the BR blue period is outstanding. Real nice traction and the scenery looks spot on, I may have to try some of these Scalescenes buildings! Cheers, Reece Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted December 22, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 22, 2013 Looks even better in the flesh! James brought the layout along to it's debut exhibition in Barnstaple last July and went down very well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTM Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Amazing layout and well done for putting together such a complete scene in just 1ft x 5ft. It's made me relaise I shouldn't feel cheated by having 'only' 10ft x 18ins visible in O gauge! The realism in such a narrow layout is inspiring. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted December 24, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2013 Hi all, Thanks for the comments guys. I've not done a lot since July but I have a few details items to add and I'm buying/keeping an eye on some more stock. You've inspired me to get my finger out in the new year. Have a great Xmas & New year, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted January 18, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hi all, I've been pondering improvements to the layout over Christmas and put some work into it over the last few weekends. There's nothing like actually exhibiting to test your layout properly and although everything worked ok I found that I was handling the locos a lot more than I wanted to. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise to me, but with such a short layout, you really are constantly messing about in the fiddle yard. The drawer and sector plate fiddle yards worked and aligned ok but the four roads on the drawer side were probably too close together. This meant moving the locos around in the middle roads was very fiddly - especially as the Aluminium angle was obscuring the track. Unfortunately the spacing had to be set this way as it needed to align with both scenic tracks at the same time - I could change this and reduce the roads to three but I went in another direction instead. I decided to go with cassettes as it dealt with the problems above as well as the storage one. I can now turn the locos without handling them directly and, if I make enough, my stock can sit on the table when not in use ready to be called on instantly. The design is simple: 12mm ply base (ideally it has to be the same thickness as the current fiddle yard boards). 9mm sides Recycled Aluminium angle to secure the ends - set to hit the buffers and not the kadees! Use rail joiners to align, transmit the power and keep things simple. And here are the photos - I've only got one with track laid and one end 'secured': I've had to cut the end board of the fiddle yard to accommodate the length I require + the room for the rail joiners protruding + the Aluminium angle on the ends. It also gives me scope to have longer cassettes than 30" - although they have to remain easy to handle and reverse: I can also stack the cassettes for storage during and after the exhibition: I'm really pleased with the end results and I can't wait to finish off the first three an get operating to test them properly. Regards, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi James I think using fishplates will be very flimsy and hard to connect. I went for the wiper type with two bits of wood to line up the track. Have a look on Tawbridge and my layout Yard Shunter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted January 19, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2014 Hi James I think using fishplates will be very flimsy and hard to connect. I went for the wiper type with two bits of wood to line up the track. Have a look on Tawbridge and my layout Yard Shunter. Hi Ray, I'll take a look - thanks James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted January 25, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 25, 2014 Hi again, I've had a good look around at other options for my cassettes and decided on a change. As Ray feared the fish plates are to flimsy and fiddly for reliable connection. I didn't really want to go with Aluminium angle and I couldn't rely on my woodworking skills enough to locate on the outside of the cassette in three different attachment points. I wanted to stay with locating via the track as that is the thing I am interested it lining up - any other method is relying on a link of different dimensions or datums. Locating the track also had the advantage of transmitting the power. I don't think this is original, and many similar examples are present on the internet, but I've gone for soldering lengths of track to the outside of the current track. While playing with some offcuts I noticed that the top of the code 100 slid nicely into the current track and missed the chairs neatly. So I soldered up the rail and filed on a lead in - please excuse the soldering: I have redone the piece of 'transfer' track between the scenic board and cassette as I was unhappy with the quality of the alignment and the power feeds were in the way of the 'locating' track. I then tested the quality of the joins with my fussiest engine....the 08: I'm really happy with the result and the track has the advantage of aligning the cassette track vertically too as it knits together. It slips together nicely and transfers the power ok - although I think I'll add a separate snap fit track feed as a back-up to wear over time. I was going to 'fix' the ends of the cassette track on screws too but I've now left it free to move - I find this leaves enough flexibility to make location easier and takes some of the strain of imperfect alignment away from the soldered joints. I had to dig out the layout to make sure the fiddle yard track aligned better so it gave me the chance to photo my new Gaugemaster buffer stop, and new phone box and post box (not fixed down yet): And here is what I bought with my Christmas money - my sixth 37 - I just love the look of them! This is the weathered version out of the box: I haven't turned the lights on with this layout since July - but now I'm full of enthusiasm for my next show at Easter! Cheers, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcampbell Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 The rail alignment idea seems like one of those simple but effective ones! You might find stiff wire as effective and easier to solder, such as single-core mains cable. I've used it for similar ideas before and it is stiff but very slightly springy, and it can be bent with pliers to give you a hockey-stick lead-in making alignment easier. I built a box-file with a removable cassette that had a slightly more elegant solution of concentric brass tubes, though in this case I wanted to be sure of vertical alignment as well as horizontal, and I only had one double-ended cassette to worry about! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted April 5, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2014 Hi all, Its a few weeks to the Ilfracombe show and I've built all the cassettes I need - 9 'full size' ones as below and a few shorter ones for running around locos and DMU's. I've managed to produce them all from offcuts of ply I had around me, which I think is resourceful, but my wife thinks it proves I bought too much to start with! I've also added some crocodile clips to the fiddle yards, and feeds to the middle of the cassettes, just in case the power feed from the mating rail is not consistent enough: I've also added to my engineering stock and weathered and kadee'd them: And I also sold my n-gauge roundy roundy through my local shop the other day. I had the money in my hand for about ten minutes, and then handed most of it over for this beauty!!!: It is a quality model - with a weighty solid feel to it - really pleased with how it looks on the layout. I'm not sure if I'll have time to dust it with the airbrush before the show. All the best, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Its a few weeks to the Ilfracombe show and I've built all the cassettes I need - 9 'full size' ones as below and a few shorter ones for running around locos and DMU's. I've managed to produce them all from offcuts of ply I had around me, which I think is resourceful, but my wife thinks it proves I bought too much to start with! Pah !!!! Women, they always know best and see the negative side of us Blokes !!! Layout looks great James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted April 6, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2014 Will be good to see Braybridge at Ilfracombe in a couple of weeks. I'll there with my son and his layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Nice job on the wagons ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted April 8, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2014 Thanks guys, Look forward to seeing you next Saturday Richard. regards, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 What an absolutly fantastic little layout, really enjoyed reading through this and the scenics are really nice indeed. Got my thoughts rolling to what i want to do next now hahaha really nice track plan too and super simple. Great work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Hi James I see you have alignment of the cassettes salted. The parcels service unite looks the part. See you at llfracombe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted April 19, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2014 Hi James, Good to see you again today. I've added a couple of photos (Ray said that he also took a few). Oh!, you do have too much stock ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted April 19, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2014 Hi Richard, Good to see you and Ray again today. Thanks for taking the photos - I rarely got in front of the layout, let alone took photos. You can never have too much stock! Hope to see you at Exeter. Cheers, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
exmoordave Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Hi James it was really good to see you and your layout again and sorry our chat was cut short by the summons from the domestic authorities!!! By the way I have just checked and I don't appear to have a copy of the layout details, so I wonder if you could let me have a copy please? Many thanks in advance & best wishes Exmoordave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hi James It was great seeing you again yesterday and Braybridge looking as good as usual. I took some pics and hope like them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 The plan included a wills occupational bridge - but I fell in love with the new skaledale GWR girder bridge in my local shop and had to shoe-horn it in! Having just read through the entire thread I can honestly say the only problem with your modelling is that it's so good it shows up the fact Hornby didn't put any detail on the inside of the bridge girders!! That is some superb modelling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Module00 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Hello, a really nice and good layout ! I like it very Well. Congratulations ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted January 1, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hi, Happy new year to you all. Shameless bump I'm afraid - I have decided to sell this layout and I wanted to 'advertise' it here too - It is listed in the classifieds section. Regards, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY NORWOOD Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Hi James Sorry to read that you are selling Braybridge, It is a fanastic model and very well built, hope the new owner will put it on the exhibition circuit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold jamest Posted January 2, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2, 2015 Thanks Ray. I enjoyed building and learning from it, and the real shame would have been to leave it gathering dust in my garage. cheers, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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