RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 3, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2012 finally managed to make a bit of space in the garage to put up some baseboards that i got from the "free to a good home" section of the classifieds an absolutly cracking set of boards, 12ft in total with fiddle yard areas both ends, brilliantly built, solid as they come, so what am i going to do with them, that is the problem, i have a rough idea what i want to do, want to avoid going down a warmington route again, dont fancy a TMD but i quite fancy a station this time here are the bare boards... the thing is the longest unit i have is the 4 car 168/0 which stretches over the centre line from the edge of the main section, as can be seen here.... the thing i have in mind is to actually make the main running lines elevated so most of the station sits on top of the right hand fiddle yard area, there is already baton fitted so its just a case of adding the base board to it, the whole station and throat would then be up in the air (on a low viaduct as such), much like moor st, for operational interest i'd add a 2nd separate line running under the station (much like the new st lines do), the main reason being i have OHLE locos and units, i could then add a link between the upper and lower levels, as if moor st to didcot had been electrified i do want the layout to be midlands based purely because of my passenger stock being chiltern, london midland, xc etc. i'll kick about a few ideas and see what i come up with, the only down side at the moment is the garage has no electricity, heating, lights etc, so modelling time will be limited! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1X Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 sounds like a good plan ,will follow with interest ,now you have got me thinking! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 A Moor Street alternative extension using the old Curzon Street Building? Could be adapted to come in at a high level, i think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 BTW Jim, did you get the Birmingham Post Moor Street supplement a couple of years ago? If not I picked up a few and think I have spares. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 3, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2012 no ive not seen the moor st article, a couple of years back i was blissfully trundling up and down the country with coal trains having never been to moor st in my life, how times have changed! whatever i decide to do i need to combine the chiltern units with things like desiros, freightliner 86, drs and ews locos etc, be it together or adjacent to each other, i like the idea of a supposed "new link" between new st and moor st, obviously im not going to try and build moor st though! i have an extra 5ft long baseboard from the same builder that i can cut in half and add to bits the fiddleyard area at both ends at 90 degrees so i can get the 4 car units "off scene" they would have to be double decked though! i'm going to make the layout transportable/collapsable but am building it for home use only this time rather than for exhibition use Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Sounds like an interesting project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted March 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 4, 2012 Neverwazza completion of the Duddeston Viaduct - through running from Bordesley to Aston? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 4, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 4, 2012 Neverwazza completion of the Duddeston Viaduct - through running from Bordesley to Aston? that did cross my mind Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 8, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 been having a play around with random bits of wood to try and get an idea of what i want to do, the pieces obviously aren't the right size but you should get the idea first up is the board on top of the fiddleyard area, the 168 is sat roughly where i want the bay platform to be, the piece of wood splitting the unit in half will be cut down flush obviously, same at the other end where the track will simply dissapear between buildings or something! this next picture shows what i want to achieve with the elevated "viaduct" area, the wood is nowhere near as wide as it needs to be, it will infact be slightly tapered, wide at the end where the unit is down to the slightly thinner station throat, you can also see the incline this picture is to show i should be able to fit 4 tracks in, 2 through roads and 2 bays, the board will also be further across here as the incline will come from under the lower yard, this will result in the through platforms being slewed slightly (as per the real moor st!) as can be seen below, this will allow the incline to run along the retaining wall as such the Bachmann boxes in the picture below are representing what i hope to be "snow hill tunnel" where the tracks will dissapear into the upper fiddleyard area on top of this will be a road (with the obligatory bus sat on it) which will drop down past the front of the station concourse, if i have the room it will also drop down behind the station to baseboard level at the centre join where it will have a jn with with the road i've got planned to go under the whole station, much like moor st queensway doe as i've said before the layout will be a home one, not for moving around however im hoping to get a shed built for it, for that reason im not going to build the fiddle yards i keep mentioning as this module will become part of a small roundy roundy layout instead of an end to end one, when it does the tracks entering the tunnel (and the other end) will have to curve to the right instead of left as it would do with a fiddleyard fitted as the layout will be sat with its back to the wall, these are things i need to consider when building it in the garage then moving it to a shed, i was going to put accessory decoders etc on the rear of the scenic section (in the recessed area) but if i do they will be unaccessable when its put in situ i'm going to concentrate on getting the cosmetic side of things built upto the tunnel entrance and above but the other end, the bit above the other fiddleyard area will probably stay a blank canvas until its in the shed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted March 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 I think that you will probably get a better result by having two levels but not bother with the incline between them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 8, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 i did consider it but i think the link will make it more interesting, especially if and when it becomes part of a roundy roundy layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 11, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 11, 2012 i've just cut back the sidewall and fitted a piece of mdf to the top of the fiddle yard, got to do the same the other side for the upper level, thing is i've been having doubts about what i want to achieve now, maybe the link between levels will be a bit overkill after all? in my mind im building it to be part of the shed layout i hope to build this year but part of me is thinking when i build the shed i want the layout to be completly new what do i do? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 26, 2012 ive had a bit of a think about what i want to with the boards, basically the length of train i want to fit on there has meant a change of plan, instead of an elevated station im now going to do a terminus with unit depot alongside otherwise nothing would fit on there! i ended up ditching what was going to be the lower hidden fiddle yard and cutting off the side and front boards giving me another 3ft of scenic area im still going to do it multi level but only ever so slight, basically the depot is going to be higher than the station area but on the outside of the board so you have to peer over it to see the station, however there will be no backboard at the station end so you can still see the platfoms from the other side i tried a few setups, only to decided to let my 7 year old have a go at what he thought was best and he came up with a better idea than i could!! here are a few pics of what ive been upto...... overall view of the layout, the station will be on the right, the missing polystyrene sheet is only because i need to buy another sheet of it, the depot will be on the elevated part to the left with a chord down to ground level, the station is on 1 inch polystyrene and the depot is on 2 inch high risers the depot should hold a 5 coach train as can be seen with the loco hauled set, i recon i could get 3 roads in there, i may well add a couple of extra roads towards the left of the boards, units could come on, change ends and park up out the way this view is from the back of the layout, the front 2 units are parked in what i hope to be the station, the other 3 are in the depot area looking back towards the station i recon a simple 2 platform setup should suffice, should hold 6 coaches with any luck this is what i hope to be the link between the depot and mainline, probably going to use a 3 way point so i can have a single lead to the fiddle area the fiddle yard area is currently 3ft long however i have a spare baseboard that can be adapted and added at 90 degrees so i should get 6ft of storage area hopefully this SHOULD be the last change before i start actually fixing things down!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 28, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 28, 2012 had a bit of a play with the boards yesterday to see how i would go about turning the idea into reality, anyway while i was pondering the problem i spotted a stack of unused battoning in the corner of the garage from a previous diy job, grabbed a couple of pieces of it down and placed them on the boards, as it happened they seem just about the right height for the base to the depot area i then found another 2 pieces of baton, 1/3 the height of the other stuff which is just the right height for the station area dug out my trusty mitre saw (50p bargain from the local flea market!) and cut the baton down to fit the first board similarly did the same for the 2nd board, lined the 2nd lot of batoning up to the stuff on the first board using a steel rule as a spacer, i have attached them using grab adhesive but will also add a couple of wood screws from below once its fully cured as backup the piece 90 degrees to the rest is so i can add a futher board at the same level as the depot to the furthest board. i then cut the mdf board along the join between the boards on both the depot and station level, the station side doesn't go to the back of the board but i may well change that, however if i dont i can have the "road level" lower than the station level ever so slightly this is the left side of the layout showing what i hope to be the incline between the running lines and depot and the slight rise into the station, i have also plonked a board onto the 90 degree piece i mentioned above to get an idea of how the raised scenic area will look regards the trackwork i was thinking of having a single lead off to the fiddle yard and a terminus station however as i am looking at this becoming part of a larger shed layout (not much larger) im going to have it "shed ready" and have a double track heading off scene ( just one lead in use at the minute though via a crossover) and the station will have through platforms so when i get it into a shed i can remove the fiddle yard and continue the layout at both ends, i will however still try and keep this section fully transportable so should i decide to want to show it its just a case of removing it from the shed as it stands now the layout is 12ft long, with the fiddle yard removed it is 9ft, if i get a 12ft long shed i can place the layout centrally along one wall and build 1 1/2 ft of perminant boards either end running along the front and back elevation of the shed if you see what i mean! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Hi Jim. Looks like the layout is progressing nicely. I noticed you have some of (what looks like) the Bachmann Sub Terrain trackbed. Have you used this before? I'm thinking of using some of this for my bedroom layout which due to space limitations will have two levels. What do you put on top to lay the track on? Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 29, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2012 i've not used the sub terrain trackbed before, i got the inspiration from 250bobs layout, seems to take a lot of hassle (and maths) out of making inclines! i was thinking of plaster of paris then lay cork on top......anyone? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 1, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 1, 2012 done a bit more with the boards today, also you may have noticed the title has changed as i've committed myself to what i want to achieve first up today was carrying on with the batoning, completing the central board and continuing the end scenic boards batons this pic is of the batoning similarly with the central boards offered up i then cut an L shaped piece for the transision area, basically a 2 lane road will come from ground level on to the flat (possibly the road entrance to the sidings), it will then continue onto the (not yet cut) left hand board over on the incline side this is how i want the track to drop and join the mainline offering up the track to see just how much width i'd need i have used a PH design track spacing tool which gives the perfect "6ft" gap between the tracks (as well as platform height etc) being as the track is going to be straight it should look good once laid down i then marked up where i want the exit to the fiddle yard to be i have allowed for the provision of Dapol OHLE as i will be running my desiro on the layout in the end i moved it over slightly using a block of wood as a spacer so the track would be perfectly straight for the whole length of the layout at the station end leaving the track at the scale "6ft" apart will give me nice wide platforms, enough room for an overbridge etc next up is to get some points ordered so i can crack on with the track design, of course before i get anywhere near track laying Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 5, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2012 got some points from a fellow rmwebber for the layout so i had a go at placing them on the layout to see how i would do for space, basically got a left hand, 4 right hand and a y point, all medium radius, having placed some of them on the mainline i realised that they would take a lot of space to fit in the connection to the depot as well as a crossover so i recon ill get a 3 way point for the mainline, the points i got today however are perfect for the depot also as well as the points i've cut the final piece of wood for the left hand board, although i didnt want to overdo the "railway" and add a nice it of urban scenery i recon i may put the shed there and just have the sidings as holding sidings, i have placed some track down to see how it looks i could get a 3 car unit into a depot if i put it there the sidings could hold the loco hauled set as well as the 4 car unit the points can be moved a bit but its quite tight!! a 165 on the incline to the shed im going to lay wooden sleepered track in the depot/sidings area and continue the steel sleeper track on the mainline, i'll most likely make a flush hard standing between the siding lines anyway Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Hi, Looks good Jim, will be following this with interest! Keep up the good work! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 7, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2012 picked up some track from haslington models earlier today (and a few wsmr coaches) so cracked on with placing it on the boards to see if i could get the loco hauled set in the siding amongst other things, i haven't cut any of the code 75 track and have filled gaps with some code 100 i had spare just to see how it would look general overview of the sidings im going to move the first set of points right up to the baseboard edge, that will make the siding long , it will be mounted on wood rather than the polystyrene you see here and i will have to chamfer the existing board as the point will need to be on a very slight incline to be able to get a sensible drop down to the mainline i've added an extra siding to the right hand board, this will have a knightwing fuelling point or 2 between them the other end will be the shed, only a 2 car building but the sidings will fit a 3 car, i have got a couple of peco inspection pits to fit inside the shed the chord down to the mainline, i'm going to put a 3 way medium radius point in there, i've also got a catch point to go on the slope back to the sidings the loco hauled set fits nicely in the long siding, full wrexham livery set, next job on them is to debrand them! to get an idea of the drop here is the wrexham set "departing" back over to the station here are a few pics to illustrate the difference in height between the station and sidings general view from the end of the layout i also took a few prototype pictures on wembley the other day, getting ideas for the retaining wall next to the incline im liking this stuff different type of wall and another probably gonna do something similar with the ballasting, walkways between the lines with lights etc dont think im going to try and scratchbuild this though!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 8, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2012 popped upto trident trains in dagfields earlier to pick up a couple more lengths of the stel sleeper track, while i was in there i noticed that richard had a 3 way code 75 point and a left hand point so i got those too so i could crack on with the layout, i also picked up a few other bits and bobs like point motors etc richard is very good on all things dcc, while i was there he advised me how to wire up the points to work via the accessory decoders i'll be fitting, its not so much the wiring to the decoder but how to wire electrofrog points which he explained to me in single sillibull words so i think i've got the gist of it, the point motors i've bought are seep, the type with the polarity switch so it should be simple enough anyway here are some more piccies first up the 3 way point, saves a lot of space the next thing is the bit of centre board that i have changed from polystyrene to wood so i can put the point as far back as possible and fit a point motor in there, basically i put slightly lower legs on the outside edge then planed and chamfered the piece of mdf at the top so the point is not too bent! next up i glued down the incline pieces and trimmed the end a bit, as you can see there is also a catch point fitted the next thing i decided to do was have a look at the cork base i intend to lay, first up i cut some cork to fit round the points looking at it i've decided i'm going to lay a wide base of cork down as a trackbed then add the above track width cork on top, that way i can get a nice ballast shoulder with a lower centre gully if you get what i mean this is the wide cork base, i'll add the 2nd piece of cork as i go along in the station area the wide cork base is 10cm wide leaving me with 4cm of platform either side i've decided to concentrate on the mainline part first as that the simplist bit, the only points are the ones on the left hand side so they can be wired up easily enough and the tracks are all straight the yard will be a bit more complicated, as the points are all going to be up from the main baseboard (mounted under the 1" high scenic board) so i will have to drill large holes through the main board below each point so i can get to them if i need to, i will however once the point positions are finalised on the top board, fit and wire them up then fit the board to the layout if you see what i mean! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack00 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Looking really good, nice to see gradients/inclines, rather than flat track... Great theme aswel, i have a few pics of chiltern railways DMU's at Marlybone if they are of any use? although you may already have hundreds lol. Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 15, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 15, 2012 bit of a lack of progress this week as the wife and kids are home but i have had a few ideas, im going to completly cut the baseboards away between the batoning for the high level, that way i can reach the upper board to fit things like point motors and lights easier than trying to reach through holes to fit stuff scenic wise i have glued down the main cork mat on the mainline and have cut the pieces to go under the flexitrack ready so i can get the ballast shoulder when i eventually do that job, im not going to double up the cork in the depot area though as i'll be adding walkways. been thinking about how to get a bit of operational variety and when i build the shed im going to add a wheel lathe, well at least the swarf chute on side of the building, that way i can run locos, wagons and coaches into the yard for tyre turning loco wise, as i need a shunter to move wagons and coaches around the lathe i picked up the ltd ed Bachmann NSE 03 from modelzone, i also won a lok-sound micro off ebay so that is going to be fitted and reblown by bryan at howes, i thought it would make a nice change from an 08, justified by the fact chiltern have industrial shunters in the fleet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 16, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 16, 2012 a few pics of the work i described above baseboard holes top layer of cork onto the base layer jut got to lay the right hand side in this picture hopefully the holes will make the electrics a bit simpler (as well as reducing the weight a bit!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Looks great. Nice work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.