Lee m22 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Thats brilliant Graham! Really insightful with the photo collection. Some new angles seen here two. The fact that there are so many different angles to take photos from are what give this layout that "tardis" affect! People could be forgiven for thinking your layout was two or three times its size, if it wasn't for the overview shots. I noticed in the thrid from last photo, you have a flying spur that may very well lead to some flying rolling stock! Is it just a headshunt? Or a railing point maybe? Thanks again for posting! Lee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1X Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 really good picture's as lee said, really explanatory. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Pretty amazing..do you have any idea of the scale distance it travels in that circuit, from start to finish? Hi JeffP, I've had rough work out and for that train to travel like it did in the pictures it would have travelled just over 30 Yards which equates to 2.6 Miles give or take an inch or so. Cheers Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 I noticed in the thrid from last photo, you have a flying spur that may very well lead to some flying rolling stock! Is it just a headshunt? Or a railing point maybe? Thanks again for posting! Lee Hi Lee, Thanks for the comments, Glad you noticed the siding to nowhere, Its something i put in for future use and will be using very soon, Smithdown Road may be exhibited next year and if so i require a larger fiddle yard for the freight line. What i'm going to do is build a board at 90' to the main one so a larger fiddle yard can be constructed on both levels, the freight line will have an additional point to make a triangular junction so trains can run in either direction without the need to reverse, The lower level will just come off of the point already there into a fan of sidings. Cheers Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmthtrains - David Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Fascinating! I'm in awe of your track and baseboard making skills. I was chuffed to bits when I got 3 point motors working and the viaduct was level David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Fascinating! I'm in awe of your track and baseboard making skills. I was chuffed to bits when I got 3 point motors working and the viaduct was level David Cheers David, To be honest its taken a few years practice to get to this stage, The carpentry i enjoy as its part of my job and track laying is the most enjoyable bit of railway modelling for me, I always sketch plans on paper first but i love laying track then Re-working it to suit etc. And electrics, well i hate it, I know its needed and i can do it but it drives me up the wall, This layout isn't finished wiring wise as i constantly put it off. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee m22 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Well it's deff a layout I'd like to see at exhibition!!!! Hope it's the case indeed. Good idea with the link for the extra fiddle yard plans.....shows just how well you'd planned this out! Regards Lee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted February 20, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 20, 2012 Hi Graham, Brilliant layout plan - and thanks for the photo "guided tour" which has helped me understand it! You said that you don't operate the return loops during a normal running session, so what path to trains take more typically around your layout? cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Fantastic layout Graham, very clever! Hope to see it in the 'flesh' some day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hi Ben, To be honest i run both UP and Down mainlines as normal circuit with fiddle yard, The bonus being that the Up trains can either go left at the junction and go onto the higher section or stay on the level and just complete a circuit, i usually go alternate ways with every train. I do use the lower loop sometimes, for example a mail train can leave the depot, loop around the right hand side of the layout, go down the helix, return around the bottom loop and come back to the mail terminal or fiddle yard. With the new extra fiddle yard i'm going to build they will be used a lot more to swap trains over. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Hello all, Not much to report on layout progress although today i have been playing around with I movie and hopefully added a link to my you tube video. Cheers Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Evening all, Like yesterdays post work on the layout has been non existent of late due to work, life etc, however with my new found skills of using i-movie i spent a few hours yesterday playing trains and filming them. Here is another short video i made, nothing fantastic but you get the general idea. I've decided to actually get on with some electrical work as well so after filming the railway yesterday i put all the stock away and put the layout on its side to get on with wiring and point motors in the fiddle yard. Oh what fun. http://youtu.be/LFIOEu4tj4I Cheers Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkie Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Hi Graham, Love how the layout has come along.. Some great shots from above Look forward to your up dates Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Evening all, What is this then? This is an extension to the fiddle yard that i'm going to need for when the layout goes to an exhibition (First one next year), It will add 5 or 6 sidings to the top level freight line and maybe 4 or 5 to the lower level outer line. The new board is 16 inches wide and slightly over 5 feet in length, I've yet to add the top level baseboard as i want to lay the trackwork on the lower level first. The top line will have a triangular junction so trains can enter and exit without having to reverse but the bottom line will just have a facing connection. I need to remove and rebuild some of the trackwork to re-align it all and then i'l be laying new sidings. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HealeyMills Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Hi Graham, Wow, even more trackwork! The plan looks good, I shall be watching this closely - please keep the posts coming. Cheers Lee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitbull1845 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I find your fiddle yard just as interesting as the front Graham... I'll be watching the developments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Hi Graham Where is your first exhibition? I'd love to see your layout in the 'flesh' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Thanks for the reply's gents, Glad you find the fiddle yard interesting Scott, I must admit i find it a lot more fun than the front for the play value. Joe i've had an invite to the Tonbridge show next year, really looking forward to it as it goes, pity its the opposite end of the country from your good self. On the layout front no work has been done, I'm flat out working at the moment so no time for modelling, still the odd hour or so to browse RM web though. Cheers Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hello all, Managed to get an hour working on the layout this evening, I've had a bit of a rethink about the fiddle yard, well only the top bit. I was going to make a triangular junction so trains could enter and exit without having to reverse but after laying some track it revealed how complicated to operate it at exhibition would be. So to make things easier i'm just going to run a fan of sidings off of only one point making the whole thing simpler and a lot easier to wire up. The other thing that has arisen is that i have had to swap the top and lower level sidings. What i wanted to do is have the top sidings at the back and lower at the front but by switching these i can make slightly longer sidings, Not ideal but it'l do. I laid the lower track tonight and have cut the timber for the upper level now just need a few more hours in the day to get on with it. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 OH MY GOSH! This is amazing! Can't believe I didn't notice it sooner! Will be following with great interest. Can I ask: where did you get the retaining walls from? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted May 5, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 5, 2012 I hope I don't sound patronising when I say that this is what N Gauge does best - loadsa railway in a small space, but somehow without the spaghetti-bowl effect that compact OO layouts so often managed in my yoof. And it certainly resembles metropolitan NW London as I knew it, with lines appearing and disappearing while the traveller tried to recall where from and to! As Southernboy said, the viaduct intersection is clever - but not contrived. Very successful - more, please! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 Thanks for the reply's gents Hi MNG, the retaining walls came from International models, There a german make if i remember rightly and are embossed polystyrene about 2 foot long. Hi Ian, Not patronising at all i take it as a huge compliment, Its exactly what i was trying to achieve. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Thanks for the reply's gents Hi MNG, the retaining walls came from International models, There a german make if i remember rightly and are embossed polystyrene about 2 foot long. Hi Ian, Not patronising at all i take it as a huge compliment, Its exactly what i was trying to achieve. Graham. Are these the ones?: http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Main_Catalogue_Index_Retaining_Walls_40.html If so, how long did they take to arrive (being abroad) Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Hi MNG, yep there the ones, They didn't take to long to arrive, The company is based in the UK. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Hello all, I have spent the last few weeks working flat out with no work on anything model related for what seems like an age so this weekend i decided to devote some time to the layout, The main job for today was to fit the upper section of the new fiddle yard board. Yesterday evening i cut the plywood required and also some polystyrene, I'm very conscious now about weight so rather than fitting timber at intervals and screwing everything together i opted to glue some 2inch polystyrene direct to the baseboard then 9 mm ply on to that, Once all was glued down i put lots of weight on it and left it overnight to cure. This morning all was dry so i started to work on the removable bridge over the lower line, nothing to complex just 9mm ply cut to shape then some 4mm ply glued to the sides to stop it warping. The reason i have gone down this route is i don't really want to have track joint at such an important place, What i'm doing is using 3rd radius Peco curves on both levels which can be removed when the fiddle yard is dismantled. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.